by Roseanna White | Apr 17, 2012 | Uncategorized
Newsflash! I actually bought a book for myself that had nothing to do with research. This doesn’t happen often! LOL. The book that got that honor was Sanctuary for a Lady by my good friend Naomi Rawlings. Naomi may just be one of the most hilarious-yet-sweet young women I’ve ever met. She’s encouraging, loving, enthusiastic–and one talented author! I seriously enjoyed her debut novel, so of course you will too. 😉
This is an April title for the Love Inspired Historical line, which means it’s inexpensive–always a plus. I was really surprised by the depth and punch she squeezed into it though, as that isn’t always Love Inspired’s MO. It read like a full-length book–and a fabulous one, at that.
Amazon Link for Paperback
Amazon Link for Kindle
My official review:
WOW. I don’t know how else to begin this review.
Sanctuary for a Lady
combined all the elements I love most in a story–high stakes,
fascinating history, sincere faith, and such intense sparks flying
between the main characters that I thought they might ignite the
rain-sodden countryside of Revolutionary France!
Isabelle, a
duc’s daughter, and Michel, a farmer with a dream of furniture making,
are incredibly compelling characters dropped into a time where the whole
world seems to be stacked against them. Both may be dealing with guilt
and stalled goals, but what else could the two have in common? In a time
when the Terror could snatch both their lives–Isabelle’s for being
born an aristocrat and Michel for harboring her instead of handing her
over to the soldiers–how could this star-crossed love possibly find a
path through the dangers surrounding them?
I confess, I had no
idea how the author would overcome the odds, and I flipped those pages
fast as I could to figure it out! This book packs a lot of punch in its
pages–you don’t want to miss the suspense, faith, and heart-racing
romance of Sanctuary for a Lady!
Official blurb:
Running to freedom, she finds love.
The injured young woman Michel Belanger finds in the woods is certainly
an aristocrat. And in the midst of France’s bloody revolution,
sheltering nobility merits a trip to the guillotine. Yet despite the
risk, Michel knows he must bring the wounded girl to his cottage to
heal.
Attacked by soldiers and left for dead, Isabelle de La
Rouchecauld has lost everything. A duke’s daughter cannot hope for mercy
in France, so escaping to England is her best chance of survival. The
only thing more dangerous than staying would be falling in love with
this gruff yet tender man of the land. Even if she sees, for the first
time, how truly noble a heart can be….
by Roseanna White | Apr 16, 2012 | Word of the Week
There are so many fun phrases involving the word “hand” that I decided it was time to share some. =) I remember several years ago looking up “to know something like the back of one’s hand.” I had a hard time finding it but eventually discovered that it’s from the 1900s, which surprised me. So I had to take that out of the Victorian story . . .
But there are lots of “hand” phrases from way back in the day. It’s had the meaning of “worker” (as in, someone who uses their hands) since the 1580s, and a hired worker since the 1630s. The clock and watch sense is from 1570s.
Yet we didn’t give someone a hand, as in a a round of applause, until 1838.
It was used for the playing cards one person held, and a round in a card game, since 1620.
First hand and second hand information is from the 15th century, following the idea of literally handing information over. On the one hand . . . on the other hand followed by the 1600s, with a notion of weighing something in your hand, or holding two separate things.
Winning something hands down, though, is from the 1830s and is thanks to horse racing–jockeys would release the reins after an easy victory, you see.
Yep, you’ve got to hand it to the word hand (c. 1906 on that one, LOL)–it sure gets around!
On a side note, my first newsletter went out on Friday. If you missed it, you can view it here. And to be sure not to miss it in the future, sign up on my website!
by Roseanna White | Apr 12, 2012 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
As long as I’ve been writing, I’ve been drawing. Back in primary school, whenever I wrote a story I’d illustrate it. Princesses and bunnies and unicorns, singing flowers . . . yep. The norm. 😉 When I started on novels in middle school, I always tried to draw my characters and would play around with sketching book cover designs.
I’m not the artist my sister is, but it wasn’t about that–it was about making a visual for myself. Something to look at, something to inspire me. It’s why I’m liking Pinterest, and it’s also why I’ve been playing a lot over the last year or two with digital design. Am I a rock star at it? No. But I’m learning. And I’m having so much fun!
I’ve started handling the covers for WhiteFire titles, and it’s been like a treat. Gives a break to the word-crafting part of my brain but still lets me be creative. Everyone by now probably knows I designed Sandi Rog’s Walks Alone. I’m also doing Christine Lindsay’s second British Raj (can’t show ya yet because we haven’t done the photo shoot, but plugging in the perfect model shot will be a breeze). And I just tossed together one for our first contemporary that turned out really well. (Haven’t bought the images yet, so no sharing that one either, LOL.)
So last week when Harvest House sent me a cover questionnaire for
Ring of Secrets, I was pretty giddy. I
love this stuff! I got to answer questions about what my characters look like and provide links to images that match what I had in mind. I got to explain the fashion of the day, the setting, the time period. I even got to give them ideas for cover design!! Will they use those ideas? Eh, who knows. But I certainly had fun sharing my thoughts, and my editor had fun reading them and browsing the fashion sites I’d linked to. =)
Yep, in my mind this cover stuff, the images, the sketches are as enjoyable as writing. Well, for the hour or two they take, LOL. I wouldn’t want to do it all day, but I’ve discovered that it fulfills a need for me. Lets me flex my little brain in new ways and create something that I can see, right away. So much fun. And it leads to a book cover. Which is, hands down, one of the best moments of publishing. Opening up that file for the first time and going, “Wow. There she is. My baby. And oh, isn’t she lovely!”
Eagerly awaiting that moment with
Ring of Secrets. Must be patient, must be patient, must be patient . . . =)
by Roseanna White | Apr 11, 2012 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Last week I was chatting with a mother and daughter who had read and loved Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland, and they mentioned how much they love Wiley. Which, of course, made me realize I’d better finish up that proposal for a sequel wherein he’d be the hero so my agent can get it out to my editor. See if we can get the publisher to agree that a story about Wiley would just be perfect. 😉
Thinking about that so soon after trying to figure out an actor to represent Thad, hero from my second Culper Ring book, made me realize that one of my potential Thads would in fact be the perfect Wiley. So sorry, all you fans of James Paul Marsden–he’s out of the running for Thad and gets the distinction of being my fun-loving, fiercely loving Wiley Benton. =)
For those of you who have read
Annapolis, you know Wiley pretty well. On the whole, he’s a fun fellow. He himself says in Lark’s story that he detests being in a foul mood–it doesn’t suit him. Wiley would much rather be laughing, teasing, joking . . . but when someone he loves is threatened or hurt, then you’d better watch out. Because underneath the smiles, Wiley is a warrior who knows how to fight to win.
Also in
Annapolis, Emerson accuses Lark of being like her brother, ready to charge into battle like a hothead, not caring about the consequences. Well obviously, I couldn’t let that go ignored when plotting out Wiley’s story. We’re going to see plenty of his fun-loving, gentle side. And we’re also going to see Lieutenant Benton charge into action–and nearly lose all he was fighting for because of it.
The funny thing is that while I was searching for some historical events to anchor this story around, I realized that
nothing . . . happened in the year 1784, after the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Nothing happened in 1785. Or in ’86. Or . . . you get the idea, LOL. There were things, of course, just not that could reasonably have a part in a story set in Williamsburg. And given how history played a HUGE role in
Annapolis, that was kinda frustrating.
But then I stumbled across some fun little tidbits. Like, did you know that Virginia passed an act in ’83 freeing any slaves who had served in the Revolution on their masters’ behalf? But some were denied because they were in intelligence and not just regular soldiers. Hmm . . . I can work with that. Not that Wiley’s slaves could have gone in his place, as he was there himself, but still . . . I can work with that.
And also interesting was when I looked up the College of William and Mary, which is in Williamsburg. It has some fun traditions dating back to before the Revolution, including the very first Greek-letter fraternity, a secret society that wanted to take fraternities back to their roots of academic excellence and away from revelry. (Yeah, um . . . whatever happened to that? LOL) Naturally, Wiley has to have been one of the founding members back in ’76, before the war took him away. Fun, eh? Secret handshakes and all that jazz.
And so my Wiley has a face and a story. Not that we have any idea if that story will be snatched up by my publisher, but let’s hope so. Because oh, this guy deserves his love story. And boy, is he going to get one, with the most unlikely of heroines . . . 😉
by Roseanna White | Apr 9, 2012 | Word of the Week
Last Friday I journeyed with the kids, my sister’s family, and my parents to the Pittsburgh zoo. We had a great time seeing all the animals, and even the car ride was fun (over two hours away). On the way home, somehow or another we got talking about food, and Xoe asked me, not for the first time, why hot dogs are called hot dogs.
Hmmm… I promised to look it up, and promptly did so. =)
Firstly, a hot dog is defined as a particular type of sausage, usually served on a split bun. Check. And in the 1890s, sausages were sometimes referred to as “dogs.” Why? Well, ahem, there was apparently a suspicion that some sausages contained dog meat. And while I didn’t see any documentation on it, the articles said this suspicion was “occasionally justified.”
Ewww. Awww. =( I didn’t tell Xoe that justified part. Just that some people accused sausage makers of it.
Anyway. So earning the name “dog” was just because it was in the sausage family. The fact that they were served on buns made them a quick and easy meal when on the go, and apparently a little boy in the 1890s rushed up to a vendor and said, “Give me a hot dog! Quick!” and it stuck. (Yeah, sounds like lure, doesn’t it? LOL) It was popularized by a cartoon that really got the name stuck.
What’s even more interesting is that it only took 6 years from “hot dog” to go from the accepted name of that particular sausage to a verb used when someone’s showing off. By 1906, “Hot dog!” as an expression of approval had gained its place too.
So now that we’re moving toward the season of picnics and cookouts, you’ll know why you’re tossing hot dogs on the grill and not frankfurters or weiners or plain ol’ sausages. 😉
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.