by Roseanna White | Jan 2, 2013 | 17th-19th Centuries, Remember When Wednesdays
Okay, is it seriously Wednesday? We’re having some holiday-induced confusion around here, don’t know about you. Totally feels like Monday…
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Emma Stone is my pick for
casting Marietta Gaines |
But since it’s not, it’s time to get back to my Remember Whens. =) And since I just turned in
Whispers from the Shadows before Christmas break began, that means it’s time to start prep for book number 3! (Still unnamed…)
I’ve only just begun research, so I don’t have a ton of fun tidbits to share yet. But I thought I’d give you a sneak peak of what I’ll be working with, which will in turn give you a hint of some of the fun to come. =)
The book (whatever she shall be called, LOL) opens with my heroine, Marietta Gaines, transitioning from second-mourning to half-mourning. Now, those of you who aren’t up on Victorian mourning traditions (which is probably all of us, LOL), don’t know what in the world that means. So a brief (very brief) description.
Full Mourning
First year after death of spouse
Widow must wear unrelieved black and will not participate in social events
Second Mourning
Six months to one year after full mourning ends
Widow will add a white lace collar to her black mourning gowns and will begin doing some social activities
Half Mourning
Three to six months after second mourning ends
Widow will transition to gray and lavender, but will not wear any brighter colors, and will resume normal activities.
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An evening gown that would be
appropriate for half-mourning |
So as you can see, mourning really lasted no less than a year and a half and sometimes as much as two and a half years. We have this idea that it was exactly a year, which is true of full, first mourning. But moderns tend to forget about that second year.
My book starts with Marietta coming down the stairs in color (lavender) for the first time since her husband’s death, and feeling guilty about transitioning after only a year and three months. Not because it’s premature, but because she knows her late husband would be none too pleased with the secret courtship his brother has been paying her.
Marietta’s going to be a fun heroine to get to know. At the beginning of the book, she’s a bad girl (and I haven’t written one of those in years!). Perhaps not so much by today’s standards, but by Victorian ones for sure. She’s got the femme fatale thing going on, has been using her womanly wiles for years to get her way, and feels like the black sheep–worldly and concerned with her social status–in a family that has always been altruistic and not materialistic. She’d rather be exchanging repartee with actors and poets than worrying with politics or the war. And she’s eager for her mourning to end so she can get on with life–with Devereaux Gaines, her brother-in-law.
At least until her grandfather informs her in the first chapter that Dev is in fact the villain of our story. 😉 And calls her to account for squandering her gift–perfect memory. She’s been using it all these years as nothing but a parlor trick, but now he needs her to utilize it for the greater good of their country. A task which will require her, for the first time, putting something else above her own needs.
Yep, me and Marietta (and Dev and hero Slade) are going to be having some good times around here over the next few months. =)
Happy 2013!
by Roseanna White | Dec 31, 2012 | Uncategorized
Well, here we are–the last day of 2012. My year ended with quite a few inches of snow this past week, and with the promise of a very busy 2013. So as is my custom, I wanted to take today to look back over the year with only a few short hours left in it.
At the end of 2011, I’d just gotten a three-book deal with Harvest House, but I hadn’t signed the contracts yet so hadn’t been able to announce it. Now, of course, we all know that it’s the Culper Ring Series, and
Ring of Secrets is only two months out!
Working on this series has been an amazing blessing to me. While I miss having the time to spend on my biblicals (and while I intend to squeeze out the time for another one of those this next year), the Culpers have taught me lessons I didn’t realize I needed to learn. Lessons about waking up each day and asking the Lord, “What can I do for You, for what You’ve called me to, today? How can I help others?”
I’ve so enjoyed working with the team at Harvest House, too. Each and every one of them I’ve talked with is simply amazing, and they’ve thrown their faith onto me, which is both humbling and exhilarating. They’ve uttered phrases about my career with them that I’ve dreamed of for decades. And we have more in the works together that I can’t announce quite yet…but which will keep us working together on other projects after the Culpers are finished. So thrilled about that!
But there were some disappointments in 2012 too, career-wise. I vaguely hinted in my 2011 wrap-up that I’d had other offers too. Which I did…but which fell through. And oh, but those hurt. Stories I had poured sweat and tears into, stories that I so fell in love with…so them languishing in my computer caused me some time of mourning. Three of them–three novels, one finished, one a third finished, one still a beautiful proposal–lay waiting for their turn. And while it isn’t as though I don’t have a ton of books waiting in my computer, these three were special. More, they had been wanted, had been given offers…and then that hope had fallen through.
This being me, though, I raise my chin and say, “Okay, so it wasn’t the time for them. Yet. But I know they’ll have their day.” And in the meantime, I stay so busy with the definite projects that the ache fades. Doesn’t disappear, but it fades.
In 2012, WhiteFire also contracted a banner number of books for us. In 2013 we’ll have a title releasing every month, which is pretty darn amazing for this small press with the big dreams. We have some fabulous authors working with us now, and these books…wow. That’s about all I can say. WOW. I’ve taken over the cover design as well as editing, which has been a ton of fun. And now I’m wondering how to balance all the editing with all my writing, with all our home schooling, LOL. Should be an adventure!
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| There are a few others still awaiting covers, too. =) |
Home schooling has been going really well this year. We’ve found our groove, are loving Sonlight, and Xoe’s getting more independent with a lot of her work. She’s doing amazingly, and regularly amazes me with her questions, insights, and creativity. Gotta say, though, I’m intimidated at adding Rowyn to the schedule in the next year, LOL.
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| Xoe in the party scene of The Nutcracker |
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| Rowyn on my lap, waiting for The Nutcracker to start |
Overall, it was a good year. I took two trips to Texas (within a month–yeah. Wow.), had a great conference, am privileged to work with so many awesome people, and know I’m on the career path the Lord’s been planning for me for years.
It’s been a good, busy year. And as I look toward 2013, I know that I have a lot of work coming my way. Tomorrow I’ll be focusing on the looking-ahead.
So how about you? What have you learned this year? What joys have taken you by surprise? What disappointments did you have to conquer? And what are you looking forward to in 2013?
by Roseanna White | Dec 30, 2012 | Uncategorized
It’s that time! I’m only two months away from the release of Ring of Secrets, and the marketing team at Harvest House has asked me to compile my list of influencers.
What, you ask, is an influencer? Quite simply, it’s someone who agrees that, in exchange for the publisher sending them a free copy of a book, they will (assuming they like it) do some or all of the following:
- Post reviews on retailer sites
- Buy a copy for everyone they see in the grocery line
- Blog about it (assuming they have a blog)
- Have the cover tattooed across their forehead
- Talk it up to all their friends
- Take out an airplane banner ad for it
- Request their Library stock it
- Invest in a giant blinking sign for their roof that says “Buy Ring of Secrets!”””
- Request their bookstores stock it
- Leave some bookmarks/postcards with libraries or stores or in waiting rooms
😉 Okay, so I doubt anyone would do all of those, LOL. But if you’re interested in taking on some influencer tasks, email me at roseanna at roseannawhite dot com with your address and what you’ll be able to do to help with the influencing. (I have a limited number of spots left, so hurry!)
And, and in case you’ve missed the blurb…
Love Has No Place in a World of Spies
1779—Winter Reeves is an aristocratic American Patriot forced to hide
her heart amid the British Loyalists of the city of New York. She has
learned to keep her ears open so she can pass information on British
movements to Robbie Townsend, her childhood friend, and his spy ring. If
she's caught, she will be executed for espionage, but she prays the
Lord’s protection will sustain her, and Robbie has taught her the tools
of the trade—the wonders of invisible ink, secret drop locations and,
most importantly, a good cover.
Bennet Lane returns to New York from his Yale professorship with one
goal: to find General Washington’s spy hidden among the ranks of the
city’s elite. Searching for a wife was supposed to be nothing more than
a convenient cover story for his mission, but when he meets Winter, with
her too-intelligent eyes in her too-blank face, he finds a mystery that
can’t be ignored.
Both are determined to prevail at any cost…and each is committed to a
separate cause. Will God lead them to a shared destiny or lives lived
apart?
by Roseanna White | Dec 20, 2012 | Uncategorized
I’ve been down with a cold for two days, plus am gearing up to turn in Whispers from the Shadows tomorrow–which means one last go-through. Yay!
And, of course, we’ve been hip-deep in Christmas prep around here. Including gingerbread cookies and ballerina pickles. 😉
After tomorrow, Christmas break officially starts over here. Which means I’m going to take a much-needed break too, and will be taking next week off blogging. Hopefully coming back with a plate clear of some of my piled-up tasks and just bursting with inspiration.
Christmas plans in my world are pretty typical. I still need to do all my wrapping (yikes!), but the festivities will begin this weekend. A party at my fabulous sister’s, a candlelight service on Christmas Eve, where the kids will be singing “Go, Tell It on the Mountain” in their adorable little-kid voices. So cute! My niece has an absolutely amazing voice and will be wowing us with two selections, and I’ll be (throat willing) breaking out one of my absolute favorites, “Mary, Did You Know?” I’ve been practicing that one, and Rowyn has declared it one of his favorites and likes to sing it with me. Can I just tell you how sweet it is to hear a 4-year-old voice singing that song? Awwww.
How about everyone else? Big, fun Christmas plans?
by Roseanna White | Dec 17, 2012 | Uncategorized
Friday afternoon I saw only the briefest clip of the news. A reporter outside a school, and the caption under them. That was it–about five seconds. I caught “CT school shooting” and nothing more–I had two kids waiting in the living room with a bare Christmas tree. The reality of what must have just happened hit me, but I deliberately put it aside. Focused on the decorating with only a few prayers about what must have been.
I tended my kids, our dinner, our decorating. I caught another few minutes of the news while they were playing a few hours later. And as I was putting them to bed and we were saying prayers, my tongue stumbled. Usually, we pray together for those we see on the news. We pray for hurricane victims, we pray for ill relatives, we pray for any number of normal but tragic events.
But this? I whispered a prayer silently, wondered what I should say…and made the quick decision not to burden my little ones with this. Because it’s too awful, to big, too terrifying. Because they can’t live if they’re afraid to walk outside, if they’re afraid to be in a crowd. I can’t do that to them, not when they’re so young. And so I insulate. Not from everything. Not from most. But from this? Yes. Yes, I will keep their sensitive ears and hearts from this. Because it’s too much, and nothing they can do can keep them safe from this kind of violence.
I’ll be honest. I can’t process this atrocity. I can’t, I just can’t fathom that someone would do this. And you know, I don’t think we should be able to process it. I don’t think we should be able to imagine how those families feel. No one should, them included. So I will pray. I will pour out my soul to my God and know that He is big enough, strong enough, Lord enough to process what I can’t. I will pray and cry and mourn and know that He weeps with us.
In church, our bishop said he had asked the Lord, “Why didn’t you stop it?” And he heard God’s answer whisper in his spirit. Saying, “I tried. So many times I tried.”
But. But maybe the warriors refused to pause their lives and pray. Maybe someone ignored the nudge to talk to this troubled man. Maybe someone did, and the evil in the world distracted him. I don’t know. I can’t know.
But what I do know is this–we live in a world with evil. We always have. Each time something so terrible as this happens, we wonder what is becoming of our world. Well, I’ll tell you–we haven’t changed it. That’s what. Since the dawn of history people have been committing atrocities. People have been slaughtering innocents. People have been murdering children. Such cruelty isn’t new, not even close. It’s as old as man himself. It’s old and it’s horrible and it’s unthinkable–yet it’s happened countless times.
And it won’t stop until we reclaim our world. It’s not about politics, it’s not about gun control, it’s not about medication or mental health or security protocols. It’s about us. You and me and every other believer out there. It’s about what we don’t do. It’s about the prayers we don’t say. It’s about the knees we don’t fall to until it’s too late. It’s about the hearts too busy to be bothered.
Oh, Lord, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t pray. I’m so sorry I didn’t have a heart open to your whisper on Friday. I’m so, so sorry I didn’t ask you to send your angels. I’m sorry that now there are family with presents wrapped and ready and no precious hands to open them. I’m sorry that there is an entire town reeling from loss. I’m sorry that I don’t know what to do.
Show me, Father God. Show me how to change myself, my family, my church, my town, my state, my nation. Show me how to hear you and heed you. Show me how to pray. Show me how to fight what I cannot see. Show me how to love those who need you most. Show me how to be your warrior.
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. Having successfully launched two homeschool grads, she now spends her time writing fiction, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years, as well as a fantasy series and contemporary mysteries and romances. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.