by Roseanna White | Jul 27, 2009 | Modern Mondays
I am not a health nut. I’ll confess that up front. Sure, I’ll eat healthy things–if they taste good. đ I’ll exercise . . . when I start to get unhappy with how I look. But I don’t do any of those things for the sake of themselves.
Now, my parents have decided virtuously to be healthy. My aunt is a nutritionist, personal trainer, and nurse practitioner. My mother-in-law went through this phase before David was born when she was all about keeping everything that entered her body “pure.” (She describes herself as a step removed from crazy with it at the time.)
So naturally, I decided that in my WIP I need to have a character who torments the heroine with this sort thing. =)
The heroine in my work-in-progress is the third of five children, and the rest are all boys. (Fun, huh?) Her oldest brother is my Health Nut, and he moves back from California at the beginning of the story and invites himself to stay at her house. Throughout the story, he drives her nuts by interfering with her diet and “forcing” her to exercise (no, my family would never do this, lol).
But he also makes her realize something–that foods are good for you not because of what they DON’T have, like fat and calories and preservatives. But because of what they DO, like vitamins and minerals and nutrients.
I came to this realization one day when I thought, “Well, I’m ruining my salad by putting a full-fat dressing on it.” Then I thought, “No I’m not. I need the salad because of what it has. Not just because it’s a better alternative than pizza.”
My heroine then takes it a step further and applies it to people. So often we judge ourselves on what we’re not–on our failings. But wouldn’t we rather define ourselves by what we are? Maybe I’m not in good enough shape, maybe I’m not patient enough, maybe I’m not . . . all number of things. But you know what? There are a lot of things I am too. And they’re a whole lot more important.
by Roseanna White | Jul 24, 2009 | Author Interviews and Guest Posts
Back at the ’07 ACFW conference, I walked into my very first session, sat down, and thought, “Wow. I know
nobody.” It was an agent panel, one where we turned in one-sheets on our projects and had them dissected, so I was already a little nervous. Plus, I got there really early, so there was lots of time to twiddle my thumbs. Then, after a minute or two of “Now what?” thoughts, I heard “Hey, nice bag” from behind me.
I had a nice bag (about which I was very excited), so I turned around to find a grinning-twentysomething sitting with an identical red leather bag. A, might I add, pregnant twentysomething (I was also a pregnant twentysomething, so this was instant bonding material). We started talking, and I ended up moving back to sit beside her.
Thank the Lord for red leather bags! The young woman I was chatting with is Stephanie Morrill, who has since joined my critique group and become one of my all-time best friends. Stephanie writes Young Adult fiction and is awesome at it. And since she’s the first member of our critique group to get published, it seemed fitting to dedicate my first My Friend Friday to her.
Stephanie’s first book from Revell just hit the stores July 1st. Me, Just Different is about a girl who had it all–and wasn’t so sure she wanted any of it anymore. With a light, engaging tone and an honest look into the heart of a teen whose world is shifting, Stephanie pulls the reader into Skylar’s life and never lets go.
Yes, I’m slightly biased, given that I had the honor and pleasure of working with Stephanie through every step of this–but as I remind her from time to time, I read the book before we were super-good friends and loved it then too. =)
Since September of ’07, I’ve been there praying as Stephanie submitted to agents and eventually signed with Kelly Mortimer. I’ve been there praying as Kelly submitted to every publisher under the sun. I was on Stephanie’s To Call list when she heard back from Revell and did a happy dance with her when they said, “Yes!”
When the book finally arrived in my mailbox, I jumped for Joy and said, “My niece is here!” I can’t quite call it my baby, but since Stephanie is a sister of my heart, “niece” is totally appropriate.
I’ll probably post more about Stephanie on later Fridays (when I don’t have other people begging to be highlighted, lol) and as her other books come out. But for now, check out my review of Me, Just Different and all the fun bonus matieral up at the bottom of it, including an interview with Stephanie, an article I wrote about her book and Young Adult fiction in general, and character sketches. Also be sure to check out Stephanie’s website and blog.
by Roseanna White | Jul 23, 2009 | Thoughtful Thursdays
I confess. I’m an optimist. Not just a fleeting optimist, mind you, an eternal one. As the hero in my Work In Progress just said to the heroine, “You go way beyond optimist. You donât just see the glass half fullâeven when itâs empty, you say, âYay! Now I get to fill it up with something even better!ââ That, as my husband and critique partners will tell you, is the perfect description of me.
It’s gotten to the point where it’s a joke. If someone else is called an optimist, they’ll reply, “Oh, I’ve got nothing. You should meet Roseanna.” Seriously. When the Lord was writing genetic code, he gave all the worry genes to my sister and left me with this attitude of “all’s well until you prove me otherwise. And even then I won’t be convinced for long!”
Amid my critique group, the joke has led to a new name. I said something about optimism being my middle name. Carole Brown replied with “Are you sure it’s not your first?” LOL. We all decided that maybe it was hyphenatedâRoseanna-Optimist.
I now sign all critique emails with RO, the agreed-upon abbreviation. And it suits me so well that I almost always start to sign ACFW emails that way, too. And HisWriter emails. And every other email.
Sometimes I wish I weren’t always so hopeful, since things rarely go as well as I think they will. But in general, this is a really handy attitude to have in the publishing industry. Whenever I get a rejection (not that I ever get rejections, ha ha ha), I usually reply with, “Oh well. There must be a better contract out there for me!” Of course, my wonderful agent then has to try to find it, LOL. She said a few months back, “You’re always so cheerful! I hate giving you bad news. I want to sell something for you!”
Me too. And it’s coming soon. Says RO. =)
by Roseanna White | Jul 22, 2009 | Remember When Wednesdays
Back in the day, I decided to write a book about a British noblewoman raised as a princess in some other country. When I was 13, this country was Bratinburg, a figment of my imagination. Then when I was 15 I learned more about Monaco and fell in love. So I rewrote said story to have my darling Brook raised as a Monagasque princess.
In typical me-fashion, I just made it all up;-) Made up the royal family, made up the circumstances . . . the only thing that was accurate was the name of the principality and the fact that they spoke French. A few years later I decided that didn’t cut it so did some more intense research. And then a few years after that decided it still didn’t cut it so did some really intense research.
What I learned was that I picked a heck of a time to set a story in Monaco. If I plopped my fictitious character into the Grimaldi family, her father would have been Prince Charles–the one that Monte Carlo is named after. Her little brother would have been Prince Albert, arguably one of the most influential rulers of the tiny nation, who did a lot to lead it into modernity. During those years, they lost 90% of their land when two towns rebelled and joined Italy. It was just before the 1861 war for Italian unification, Sardinia was still their protector instead of France . . . and this was just supposed to be backstory!
I had a lot of fun subtly incorporating these domestic troubles into the story, even as my character quickly left Monaco for England. Through letters and a trip back to Monaco-ville, she got to see the struggles the Grimaldis went through as they tried to find a way to stay afloat financially with so many resources lost.
The Grimaldis’ answer was the famous casino. Think what you will about gambling, but there’s one thing I really admire about this–no Monagasque citizen is allowed to gamble. Hilarious, right? They can work there, but that’s it. Otherwise, it’s purely a means of stripping foreigners of their wealth, lol.
My heroine is torn about her family’s decision to open the casino . . . how about you?
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, sheâs homeschooling her two kids, editing, 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. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her booksâŚto offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.