by Roseanna White | Jun 9, 2011 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
How many times in life do we get do-overs? Do we get to fix the things we’ve done wrong and make them better? How many times do we have the chance to rebuild, to repair, to refine before anyone sees our first attempt?
I know there are many times I wish we could do this more. Wish we could un-say, un-watch, un-hear something. Times I wish we could tweak a few details of ourselves, of our decisions, of our pasts to make things just a little better, a little more considerate, a little more lovely.
The other day I got my first round of edits on
Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland, and as I read through the comments of my awesome editor, I find myself thinking, “Thank you, Lord, for the chance to improve this.” The story certainly has its merits, the writing’s mostly solid . . . but thank heavens I get to incorporate the advice of a team before it hits the shelves. Thank you, God, for letting me alter a few things. Tighten here, shift there, add, delete, reword.
And yet as I add a new dimension to my heroine’s relationship with her family, as I open her eyes a little more to the realities of her world, it makes me realize that in life, it’s not usually so simple. It’s not just a matter of hitting the backspace key a few times. We can never hit Edit / Undo. We can’t make our inconsistencies just go away with a few keystrokes, a few thoughts. Three weeks of work doesn’t make any of us ready for the world to view us (even taking into account the need yet for polish and
Shine).
But you know what? We’ve still got our second chance. We can never undo, we can never erase. We’ll always have to deal with consequences for our words and actions. But we have that blank page waiting. A clean slate. A chance to start anew. We have a Savior who can cover our blemishes with His perfection. Will others still notice the flaws? Oh, they’re good at that–just like I’m sure someone will always find the errors in my books and call me on them.
But just like it’s a huge blessing to have an editor, and the chance to edit, so is it an amazing thought to consider that in life we have a Savior, and the chance to be cleansed of our sin. And just as now that I know what she’s looking for I’ll be sure to incorporate as much as I can of it into each new work, so do we fashion ourselves after what the Lord wants once we’ve accepted His precious grace.
I hope everyone is having a great week!
by Roseanna White | Jun 8, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
I’m cheating today. For your taste of something historical, I’m going to direct you to
Colonial Quills, a blog for which I’m a contributor. Today one of our members is posting on
18th century dancing, and it’s a fun, informative post. =)
Why am I being so lazy, you ask? Well, in part because my kids won’t let me sit still for five minutes thus far this morning, and my son’s going to need another breathing treatment here in a few minutes. In part because I’m staring at the screen with a total lack of genius when it comes to blog posts today. And
that is the case largely because I got my edits for
Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland last night, and all spare brainpower is now engaged in brainstorming a few small changes. =)
So.
Hop over to the Quill. Say a prayer that my boy-o’s breathing issues are resolved by the time I need to leave him with his grandmother tomorrow. And say another prayer that I do justice to the potential in my book with these edits. =)
by Roseanna White | Jun 7, 2011 | Uncategorized
I’d been hearing great things about Courting Morrow Little for a good while now–things great enough that I was really beginning to regret sending that book out to another reviewer instead of hoarding it for myself. 😉 So when I was lucky enough to win a copy through a contest, you can bet I didn’t waste much time in cracking it open. And once I opened it . . . well, it didn’t take long to turn the last page!
Morrow Little was raised in the wilds of Kentucke, near a fort where her father preached every Sabbath. But after an Indian attack that killed her mother and baby sister and stole her brother from them when she was five, her beloved home always carried a shadow of fear with it. Especially when a Shawnee war-chief and his son kept showing up out of the blue. Spending some time in Philadelphia with her aunt provided a reprieve, but it doesn’t make the fear any better once she returns to Kentucke. This is her home–but she still fears it as much as she loves it.
Tensions are ever rising between the settlers and the Indians, but Morrow hopes things will improve once some soldiers from Virginia arrive. But with her father’s health failing, Morrow’s concerns aren’t just for the war between the Bluecoats and the Redcoats and Indians–her concerns are for her own future, and what will become of her when she loses the only family she has left in the world. Will she be forced to marry just to survive . . . or dare she follow the forbidden lure of her heart?
I’m really not sure what I expected from Courting Morrow Little, but as I began to get a picture of what would shape this book, I fell in love. Morrow is a wonderful heroine–pretty, but unaware of it. Sweet, but with weaknesses and fears that make her totally relatable. And through it all, a desire to be more faithful, stronger than she thinks she can be.
This is a book that makes you stop and think about what really makes a loyalty, what really determines which side is right and which side is wrong. It’s a book that will open your heart, challenge your mind, and touch your soul as you follow the life of one young woman as she seeks the right the live and love and learn of her Father’s will.
Having been researching a similar era but very different setting, I especially enjoyed the little touches of history that I know for a fact are obscure, and which therefore show what a thorough, excellent job the author did in making sure each detail was as accurate as possible. From the elegance of British-help Philadelphia to the wilderness beyond where the white man had ventured, Courting Morrow Little breathes life into the world the characters would have lived in and will make you gasp in appreciation for this Creation our Lord has crafted.
This is a book history lovers, romance lovers, and anyone who loves a good, solid story will enjoy. Laura Frantz has written a keeper–and you can bet I’ll be reading her next book the second it arrives!
by Roseanna White | Jun 6, 2011 | Word of the Week
Passport – it’s pretty literal. “The authorization to pass through a port.” Not surprising, right? What surprises me is that the word (and hence the concept of a noun to embody it) is from around 1500. I had no idea it was that old!
(The one in the picture is French, from 1684)
Now, this is interesting to me because for the book I’m researching, time and again it comes up that people need passes. They need passes to go freely around a city held by one military. They need passes to get from one side of the lines to the other. They need passes to move freely through enemy-held land.
More amazing? You could get those passes, LOL. Which is to say, I find it funny that you can get a pass to travel through enemy territory. But then, it was usually because you were a normal, everyday person about normal, everyday business, with nothing to do with the conflict.
This is also on my mind because this week I’m getting a passport for the first time in my life. =) Heading to Niagara Falls for our anniversary trip, but also now thinking of all the other places we can go without stopping to realize, “Oh, but we’d need a passport.” Not that we necessarily will travel more, but it’s a freedom I love to savor. =)
I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!
by Roseanna White | Jun 3, 2011 | Uncategorized
Today I’m happy to welcome Margaret Daley back to my blog. In addition to being a prolific author, Margaret is also the President of the most awesome writers association on the planet, ACFW. 😉
Margaret is offering a giveaway of her latest Love Inspired Suspense novel, Protecting Her Own, which just debuted this week. To be entered to win, just leave a comment below with an email address.
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About Protecting Her Own
Nothing short of her dad’s stroke could bring professional bodyguard Cara Madison back to Virginia. But her homecoming turns explosive with a pipe bomb package addressed to her father. Cara knows two things for sure. First, someone’s after either her father or her…or both. And second, this job is too big to handle on her own. Unexpected help comes from Virginia state police detective Connor Fitzgerald. Years ago she’d walked away from him…and love. Now, despite their unresolved feelings, they must join forces—and settle their scarred differences.
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About Margaret
Margaret Daley is an award winning, multi-published author in the romance genre. One of her romantic suspense books, Hearts on the Line, won the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Book of the Year Contest. Recently she has won the Golden Quill Contest, FHL’s Inspirational Readers’ Choice Contest, Winter Rose Contest, Holt Medallion and the Barclay Gold Contest. She wrote for various secular publishers before the Lord led her to the Christian Romance market. She currently writes inspirational romance and romantic suspense books for the Steeple Hill Love Inspired lines, romantic suspense for Abingdon Press and historical romance for Summerside Press. She has sold seventy-five books to date.
Margaret is currently the President for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), an organization of over 2200 members. She was one of the founding members of the first ACFW local chapter, WIN in Oklahoma. She has taught numerous classes for online groups, ACFW and RWA chapters. She enjoys mentoring other authors.
Until she retired a few years ago, she was a teacher of students with special needs for twenty-seven years and volunteered with Special Olympics as a coach. She currently is on the Outreach committee at her church, working on several projects in her community.
You can visit her web site at http://www.margaretdaley.com and read excerpts from her books and learn about the ones recently released and soon to be released.
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What’s your latest book?
Protecting Her Own released from Love Inspired Suspense for June 2011. It’s the second book in the Guardians, Inc. Series
Fun series name! What was the hardest part to write?
The hardest part was working out the mystery/suspense plot. It was complicated and required a lot of coordination. Keep all the clues straight was hard.
That’s always so challenging! Is there a theme to this book?
Guilt and forgiveness—guilt has a way of controlling a person’s life and the inability to forgive someone can do the same thing.
So very true. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?
My favorite genre to write is romantic suspense and my favorite genre to read is suspense/mystery/thriller (with romance). I also love adventure with suspense and romance.
What are you reading right now—and what do you want to read next?
I just finished Fragment by Warren Fahy. It was very good and I’m looking forward to the sequel.
Other than the Bible, what’s your favorite of all the books you’ve ever read?
Amazonia by James Rollins—a suspenseful adventure with a touch of romance
Sounds fun! What would your dream office look like—and what does your REAL writing environment look like?
My dream office would be on a mountain overlooking the ocean below.
My real office has hot pink walls with bookcases all around the room. It is a very comfortable place that I spend a lot of time in. I have it decorated with flamingoes.
Wow, sounds so bright and cheerful! My daughter loves flamingoes. Aside from writing, what takes up most of your time?
My family (especially my four granddaughters) and my friends—I love doing things with my family and friends.
Well then, here’s a question for them too. =) If you could take your family on a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?
On a Disney cruise—my granddaughters are into Disney and would have a great time.
What are you writing right now?
I am working on the second book in A Town Called Hope Series for Love Inspired. The first one in the series will be out in December called His Holiday Family.
Any other upcoming releases we should keep our eye out for?
My first Christian historical romance (I’ve written several in the ABA market) is coming out in September from Summerside Press called From This Day Forward.
Oh, fun! I have a book with Summerside coming out in December. =) I don’t think I realized we were Summerside sisters. 😉
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Thanks for visiting, Margaret! Readers, be sure to check out her website at http://www.margaretdaley.com, and you can find purchase links for all her books there at http://www.margaretdaley.com/all-books/. And don’t forget her blog at http://www.margaretdaley.com/margarets-blog/
Void where prohibited. Entry into the contest is considered verification of eligibility based on your local laws. Chance of winning depends on number of entries. Contest ends 6/10/11. Winner will have two weeks to claim prize.
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.