by Roseanna White | Feb 24, 2011 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
In the course of writing my Annapolis story, I read through a lot of Poor Richard’s Almanack, filled with fun proverbs by Ben Franklin. I had a secondary character who quoted him constantly, and it was a ton of fun to try to weave in my favorites of his adages through the story.
One that I liked best, and which it was tricky to find a place for, was “Clean your finger, before you point at my spots.” Love that–such a clever way of saying the “clear the plank from you own eye before you point out the speck in mine” sort of thing.
Not long after I found a way to fit it in, my prayer time brought another scripture to mind that dealt with something similiar–you know the one, it says something about how God doesn’t want our sacrifices so long as we bear a grudge against our brother. To go first and settle things with him, then come back to Him.
These two things really got me thinking. How often do we ask God for something, while we’re holding a grudge against a brother or sister? How often do we not understand why something isn’t working out, yet we refuse to see our own blame? Assuming I’m not alone in the world, the answer is A LOT.
Am I jealous over others’ successes, when I ought to be rejoicing with them? If so, why should God give success to me? Am I bitter over a slight or false accusation some made against me or mine? Then why should God iron out the situation? Am I determined to find the flaws in my spouse so that I can better “understand” how I’ve been injured over the years? Then why should God strengthen my marriage?
Something I realize anew a couple times a year is that I can’t change anyone else–but I can, with God, change ME. I can’t snap my fingers and have success. But I can pray and rejoice with my friends when they do, and be a good steward of what I’m given. I can’t make people treat me fairly. But I can love them when they don’t, and work to keep relationships solid so that if a break does come, it’s not through fault and blame. I can’t make my husband do every little thing I want him to do, and if I look for things to complain about, no doubt I’d find some. But instead I can love him and ask the Lord to change me and my outlook on things. Stop resenting my honey for not getting up early with the kids, for example, and instead ask the Lord to give me the energy to do so and recognize the why of this stuff–that unlike me, my hubby doesn’t often sleep well at night.
Get what I’m saying? It’s easy to blame others. Very easy. But that’s not what God wants us to do. He instead wants us to be aware of our own flaws so that we can seek His strength in our weakness. He wants us to cleanse ourselves until we’re blameless–that way, if He does ask us to address the blemishes of others, we do it out of love, not with a filthy finger that will just make things worse when we go poking them in the chest in accusation.
This is perhaps one of the hardest things God regularly asks of me, but I can’t deny its importance. Letting Him work on me is an ongoing task . . . but one that has helped me see it’s not about what is going on in my life, but about how I react to it. It’s not about the spots of others–it’s about how clean I am.
by Roseanna White | Feb 23, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Okay, not really. But one of the interesting things from wars of centuries gone by is that officers captured in battle were often sent, not to a prisoner-of-war camp or any other detention center as we think of them, but to a parole town.
A what, you ask? (Or I did, anyway, when I first heard of them, LOL.) A parole town. A town authorized to hold these higher-ranking enemies in semi-freedom until such a time as they were brought to trial, traded for officers held by the other side, or released. Interesting, eh?
The prisoners in these parole towns would have enjoyed a far better life than ones kept in prisons or camps. They were men who were either very high profile, respected, wealthy, or otherwise trustworthy. (Keep in mind this was back in the day when war, on some levels at least, was gentlemanly.) But if they left the town . . . well, then things got bad for them, and they were sent straight to prison.
And what did the townspeople think of all this, you ask? Well, let’s just say that there are quite a number of tales of young folk putting pretty girls up to luring the prisoners to a meeting place just past the border they were supposed to honor, and then having the authorities waiting for them. Poor saps. Thought they were getting a kiss and instead got sent straight to jail without collecting their $200. 😉
Down near Annapolis, there’s a portion of town (once its own town) called Parole. I never understood it until some research I did for a college brochure explained the idea of a parole town and that Parole was formed for just this purpose during the Civil War.
It came up again when I was researching where to set a Regency idea I had, and I realized that the town I liked best was in fact a parole town during the war then going on with France. Pretty nifty. =) I fully intend to make my hero tell horror stories of the French soldiers to my heroine, just to make her jumpy. Oh yes. He’s that type, LOL.
Happy Wednesday, everyone!
by Roseanna White | Feb 22, 2011 | Uncategorized
After week upon week of telling you about what books I’m reading, it occurs to me that I’d like to know what you’re reading too! (And, well, my eyes suffered considerably from a nasty cold/flu thing I had last week, and I couldn’t read without pain, so I have nothing else to talk about, LOL.)
So who are your favorite authors? Favorite books in a genre? What new release are you chewing your nails waiting for?
I’m really looking forward to Julie Klassen’s Girl in the Gatehouse. Also really looking forward to MaryLu Tyndall’s Surrender the Night.
How about you?
Oh, and as a reminder, I’m the featured author over at
ACFW this week! There’s no giveaway, but it was a fun interview, and it’s pretty awesome to see my face on the homepage of this great organization! (Yes, I achieved it by filling out a form and making it into their first-come, first-serve system. What of it? LOL)
by Roseanna White | Feb 21, 2011 | Word of the Week
Okay, so this week’s word isn’t so much a simple word as the explanation of a name. And maybe I’m the only nerd in the world to get excited about realizing the reason for this one, but just in case . . .
Remember in Disney’s Cinderella, when the alert her that a new mouse has been caught, and she picks out some clothes and goes to free him from the trap? She says something like, “Now for a name. I know! Octavius. But for short, we’ll call you Gus.”
I watched Cinderella so often as a child that I had it memorized. This name never made sense to me but . . . well, whatever.
Then as a Freshman in high school, we were studying ancient history and got to the unit about Ancient Rome. When my teacher, Mr. Harvey, said, “Then there was Octavius, who was called Augustus when he became emperor,” I actually went, “Oh!”
The whole class looked at me, probably wondering what the silly smart girl was thinking now. Mr. Harvey was the indulgent sort, so he asked me what got me so excited. I explained, “In Cinderella! She names the mouse Octavius, but then calls him Gus. I always wondered how Gus was short for Octavius–but it’s not! It’s short for Augustus!”
My classmates all got quite a kick out of that, and Mr. Harvey expressed his appreciation for Disney’s joke that no kid would ever get–and said he was impressed I remembered that, LOL.
Is this earth-shattering? No. But if you’re like me, you like to find the explanation behind those little details that never made sense, and just in case you haven’t watched Cinderella since studying Roman history . . . 😉
by Roseanna White | Feb 18, 2011 | Uncategorized
Today I’m thrilled to bring you a special guest. Yeah, it’s sort of Laurie Alice Eakes, a friend of mine from an awesome historical loop–but she comes today in the form of her latest heart-throb hero, Dominick Cherett. Get to know him below, and then you’ll find some info on Laurie Alice and where to find her wonderful historical romantic suspense, Lady in the Mist. (Click to read my review)
~*~
Hello, Dominick, and thank you so much for talking with me today! To begin, could you just tell us a little bit about yourself?
I try not to tell anyone too much about myself. That I’m English is impossible to disguise once I open my mouth, which doesn’t go over all that well here in America. They resent us from the last war and are trying to pick a new fight with us, or perhaps it’s the other way around. See, I talk about politics and get away with saying little about me.
How did you get involved in your profession? Do you find it difficult? Rewarding?
It’s tiresome. I’d scarcely call it a profession, though my father’s butler would disagree with me. He thinks himself as important as the Lord Chancellor. For my part, the uniform is uncomfortable and the hair powder! I feel like a fool. But the worst part is the menial nature of it. I was raised to be served, not serve. So perhaps this is good for me. Pride, after all, hasn’t gotten me anywhere good. That would be the reward. And then I did get to meet Tabitha. Anything I go through is worth that most important part of my life.
What’s your favorite indulgence?
Spending my free time, what little I can spare or steal, in Tabitha’s company. She might say annoying her, but I don’t think she truly means it. I make her smile, even laugh, and that. . . Well, as you can see, I’m a bit besotted.
Where do you live? Did you grow up there?
I live in Virginia, right along the Atlantic. I certainly did not grow up there. Compared to the organized green fields of Dorset, England, this is untamed and uncivilized, which rather suits me.
Do you like to read? If so, who’s your favorite author or book?
I definitely like to read. Master Shakespeare holds considerable entertainment for me, and so does Mr. Tobias Smolett. I used to read my Bible, but now it rather hurts from those points I’d rather not be poking at me right now.
If you could travel anywhere, to any time, where would you go and why?
I’d definitely go back about three years in my life and stop the events of destruction I set in motion then. But then I’d have to figure out another way to get me back here to Virginia and the lady I met on a misty beach.
~*~
You’re in love, right? 😉 Well then, you’ll want to check out Lady in the Mist on Amazon or CrossPurposes.
About Lady in the Mist
By virtue of her profession as a midwife, Tabitha Eckles is the keeper of many secrets: the names of fathers of illegitimate children, the level of love and harmony within many a marriage, and now the identity of a man who may have caused his wife’s death. Dominick Cherrett is a man with his own secret to keep: namely, what he, a British nobleman, is doing on American soil working as a bondsman in the home of Mayor Kendall, a Southern gentleman with his eye on a higher office.
By chance one morning before the dawn has broken, Tabitha and Dominick cross paths on a misty beachhead, leading them on a twisted path through kidnappings, death threats, public disgrace, and . . . love? Can Tabitha trust Dominick? What might he be hiding? And can either of them find true love in a world that seems set against them?
With stirring writing that puts readers directly into the story, Lady in the Mist expertly explores themes of identity, misperception, and love’s discovery.
About Laurie Alice Eakes
Award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes does not remember a time when books did not play a part in her life; thus, no one was surprised when she decided to be a writer. Her first hardcover was an October, 2006 Regency historical from Avalon Books and won the National Readers Choice Award for Best Regency, as well as being a finalist for Best First Book. She was also a finalist for the ACFW 2010 Carol award in the short historical category. After selling her first book in the inspirational market, she also wrote articles and essays for Christian publications. A brief hiatus in publishing climaxed with her selling thirteen books in thirteen months, to publishers such as Barbour, Avalon, and Baker/Revell.
A graduate of the Seton Hill University Master of Arts Degree in Writing Popular Fiction, And a Bachelor of Arts graduate in English and French from Asbury College, she is an experienced speaker and writing teacher, and has made presentations at local and national RWA conferences, as well as local universities and libraries.
Until recently, she lived in Northern Virginia, then her husband’s law career took them and their dogs and cats, to southern Texas, where she writes full-time and enjoys the beach whenever possible.
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.