Word of the Week – Cameo

Word of the Week – Cameo

by | Feb 24, 2020 | Word of the Week

I’m having so much fun going through my old Word of the Week entries and redoing some of the oldest ones. I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember all these tidbits I’ve looked up in the past! LOL. This one comes to you from 2011. Appropriate, again, since I’m editing the book I mention below, Dreams of Savannah, to release in the Winter 2020/21 season from Bethany House!

I can’t tell you how much time I spent
chasing rabbits down trails (literarily speaking) for a one-line
mention in my books. Like, did they have bells over the doors in 18th
century New York? Hard to discover.
This last week, one of my random
questions was, thankfully, easily answered. I wanted a character to
mention a cameo necklace, which I was pretty darn sure were around and
popular by the 1860s, but I’ve been wrong before. So I looked it up.
I was pleased to see that cameo,
by which I mean a carved stone with two layers of color, has been
around since the 16th century. Cameos maintained a steady popularity for
centuries–Elizabeth I had a sizable collection, as did Catherine the
Great. And since Queen Victoria favored them, they even stuck around
during the fast-changing fashion of the 19th century.
In 1851 the word was attributed
to “a short literary sketch or portrait.” Very much related to the
pendant, which commonly depict a bust or figure (though not always). And
so this sense was also transferred to the stage/film in 1928, when it
came to mean “a brief role that stands out from other minor parts in a
performance.”
I have a cameo necklace I
inherited from my great-grandmother, and I love it. =) There’s something
so very romantic about those treasures from times past . . .

Thoughtful About . . . Our Faults

Thoughtful About . . . Our Faults

by | Feb 20, 2020 | Thoughtful Thursdays

I’ve been thinking a lot about character lately. The kinds I write, yes…but also our characters. And how, really, the two are pretty much the same, hence the shared name. 😉

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I remember back in the day when I was a 12/13-yr-old, writing the first draft of the book that eventually became The Lost Heiress. As I wrote Brook, it didn’t take me long to realize she was a bit too, er, perfect to be a likable heroine. I’d paid attention to the lessons in my literature class–I knew that a good character was supposed to have–gasp–faults.

But Brook was, at that point, Idealized Me. She was what I wished I was. So I remember sitting down with a notebook and a pencil and scratching across the top of the page “Brook’s Faults.” I added things like “bad temper” and “impulsive.” Things I really couldn’t claim, but they seemed like more fun for a heroine than my faults.
The more stories I’ve written, the more characters I’ve poured onto the page, the less likely I am to ever enumerate their faults on a piece of paper. Do they have them? Sure. Faults…maybe weaknesses…sometimes it’s more an emotional injury…occasionally it’s what modern society would even deem an illness–mental or physical.
But as I’ve been pondering these things over the last week, thinking especially about the weaknesses that we might try to fix with medication, the kinds we have to manage, something has struck me.
The very things that we try to get rid of, to manage, to moderate, to medicate; the things we try to ignore, make excuses for, or are ashamed of…those are the things through which God uses us. The way by which He reaches us. They are the things that make us aware of our need for Him, and sometimes they’re the things through which His voice even comes.
That really made me stop and think. I’ve always imagined that God uses our strengths–which of course He does. But our hurts? Our insecurities? Our illnesses? The things the world tells us we ought to obliterate at any cost? How are those anything but bad?
Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

In some cases, they do definitely need to be addressed–I’d never say they shouldn’t be! But through the addressing, God usually teaches us something. Through the managing, He reveals Himself. Through the hardship, He whispers grace and strength into our spirits.

When we’re lonely, we reach out for Him. When we’re sick, we lean on His arms. When our mind isn’t working as it should, there may be more room in it to hear Him. When our tempers rise, we often speak a truth that needs healing.
We all have our faults, whether we’re Christians or not. But what I’ve come to appreciate about those faults as I write them into my characters is that it’s in our very weaknesses that His strength best shows. A lot of society isn’t going to understand that–they’ll call us crazy, accuse us of listening to voices in our head, think we’re irrational.
They have a point. 😉 Faith isn’t rational. It goes well beyond that. But it’s when it’s irrational, radical even, that it changes us. Changes our families. Changes the world.
Because when we let Him work not only through our strengths, but through our weaknesses, then we’re making everyone around us think, “Why? How? Who?”
The answer to all those questions is the same: Jesus.
How has He worked through a weakness in your life?

Word of the Week – Fiddle (dedee, faddle, and sticks)

Word of the Week – Fiddle (dedee, faddle, and sticks)

by | Feb 17, 2020 | Word of the Week

This is another re-post, from way back in 2011…and I couldn’t resist sharing it again now, given that the most famous use of fiddle de dee is undoubtedly from Gone with the Wind, and I’m currently editing my upcoming novel, Dreams of Savannah that has a very similar setting. ? So on to the words!
Everyone knows what a fiddle is, right? Or what it means to fiddle. It’s a Violin. More, it’s a colloquial use (that usually denotes the rural or country or south) at this point. Why? Interestingly, the word fiddle has been used since the late 14th century (!!!), so it’s a perfectly legitimate use. Why the connotation? (Let’s keep in mind that I LOVE what has become termed
“”fiddling.” I like the more formal Violin too, but the fiddle is so much
fun!)
Interestingly, it’s been
relegated to such use largely because of the other words containing fiddle that mean “nonsense.” Funny, huh? We’ve got fiddle-faddle used
since 1610 for “nonsense.” Fiddlesticks has meant the same since 1620.
Fiddlededee combines the nonsensical with contempt and has since 1784.
From what I can tell, there’s no particular reason why “fiddle” got used in all these words, but it’s certainly had an effect on the root word.
Fiddle now has associations with nonsense.
Maybe that’s why I like it so well. ?

Cover Reveal! A Portrait of Loyalty

Cover Reveal! A Portrait of Loyalty

by | Feb 14, 2020 | Book News, Books, Cover Designs

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

And how better to celebrate love … and love stories … than by putting a face to my next book. 😉 Ahem. Or at any rate, when I was told I could share this week, I decided that doing a Valentine public reveal would be super fun!
I can’t quite believe that The Codebreakers series will be coming to an end already in September, but I’m so excited about how this final book, A Portrait of Loyalty, has turned out. For those of you following along, this is the one that I completely rewrote back in November. As in, totally. But I love how it turned out, and so do my editors, so phew!
If you’ve read On Wings of Devotion, then you’ve already met Lily Blackwell and Zivon Marin, who will be our main characters in A Portrait of Loyalty. Lily is a volunteer at the hospital where Arabelle works…and is also a photographer employed by the Admiralty to alter photographs for the war effort. Zivon Marin is a Russian cryptographer who flees to England in the wake of the revolution in Russia.
Here’s a general idea of the story:
Zivon Marin was one of Russia’s
top cryptographers, until the October Revolution tore apart his world. Forced
to flee after speaking out against Lenin and separated from his brother along
the way, he arrives in England driven by a growing anger and determined to
offer his services to the Brits.
Lily Blackwell sees the world
best through the lens of a camera—and possesses unsurpassed skill when it comes
to retouching and recreating photographs. With her father’s connections in propaganda,
she’s recruited to the intelligence division, even though her mother would disapprove.

After Captain Blackwell invites
Zivon to dinner one evening, a friendship blooms between him and Lily. He sees
patterns in what she deems chaos; she sees beauty in a world he thought
destroyed. But both have secrets they’re unwilling to share, and no one is quite certain where Zivon’s loyalties really lie—until his enemies are discovered to be far closer than he’d
feared, and only Lily’s skills can save him.

Now the moment you’ve been waiting for. The cover! 
Ready?
.
.
.
Set!
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.
.
Voila! 


Don’t Forget to Enter the Valentine’s Day Giveaway!!!

Enter via the Rafflecopter link below!
The Be Our Valentine Giveaway!

The Be Our Valentine Giveaway!

by | Feb 10, 2020 | Giveaways and Contests

It’s Valentine’s Week!

So how better to celebrate than with six English-set historical romances? I’m thrilled to be teaming up with some of my favorite authors to bring you an amazing giveaway!

How It Works

It’s beautifully simple. =) Just enter the giveaway form below; there are two possible entries for each author, so do as many or as few as you like!
The giveaway runs from Monday 10 February until Saturday15 February. It’s open to anyone, no matter where you’ll from. One winner will be sent all six books!
Please share with your friends who enjoy historical romances as much as you do! 😉
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