by Roseanna White | May 16, 2018 | Cover Designs
At this point in time, I have designed more covers for Melody Carlson than any other author–something I certainly wouldn’t have imagined I could claim a few years ago, LOL. But given that she now has sixteen books out with WhiteFire and more in the works…yep. That’s a lot of covers. ?
Her upcoming series with us is set in 1915 Oregon, so I rubbed my hands together in anticipation over this one. It’s an era I obviously know well in terms of fashion, having researched it for years. Which of course means I also knew how hard it was to find stock images that get it right.
But I had a secret weapon up my sleeve when I sat down to tackle the series concept for this one–Matti’s Millinery. I’d contacted this wonderful seamstress’s site before about the possibility of using their images, and I knew they were willing to chat, were reasonably priced, and had some great Edwardian selections. So after some conversations with them and Melody, I did indeed find a model who would work perfectly for Anna, the heroine of Melody’s new Legacy of Sunset Cove series. Yay!
The first book in the series is Harbor Secrets. Newspaperwoman Anna McDowell finally goes home to Sunset Cove with her teenage daughter after running off to get married as a young woman–but only because she receives word that her father has suffered a stroke. Desperate to make things right with him before its too late, Anna goes back to the idyllic coastal town only to discover it’s not so idyllic anymore. Oregon’s statewide prohibition has brought trouble to the town in the form of rum runners. Can Anna, with her investigative reporter’s instincts, keep her father’s newspaper afloat and help weed out the troublemakers from Sunset Cove?
For this first cover in the series, Melody said she’d like to see the character from behind, small and distant rather than in the foreground. That means I’d need full-length images of the model, which Matti’s Millinery did thankfully have.
This was our favorite for this first book.
It’s really perfect. Anna, a no-nonsense businesswoman in many ways, frequently wears suits that are nearly masculine in style, so this jacket is perfect. And even the hair color is right! Pleased that I had the oh-so-important model figured out, I turned to backgrounds.
Each book in the series will feature a beautiful Oregon coast scene. For Harbor Secrets, I really liked this one.
Sizing it for the book cover–which involved stretching the sky a bit–gives us this.
Then we add the model. Eagle eyes may notice that I flipped her around so she’s facing the water and the largest portion of the cover, and also that I deleted the hand that had been positioned on the column, cutting it instead at the elbow, so it looks like both of her arms are in front of her.
This is a fine foundation, but I wasn’t wild about having the dress be brown, so I decided to make it a teal/blue to better coordinate with the water color.
So this is good…but I wanted the cover to be a bit moody, to better hint at the mystery Anna is out to solve. Step one was to add the Sutro filter.
I was loving that, so it was time to turn to the title. I wanted to go art deco, to really solidify the era feel, and I tried out So. Many. Fonts. Eventually I decided on Carlton. Here it is with just the title…
Obviously needs something more, so I decided to add some art deco elements to frame it.
That’s better! Plus it gave me a good place to put the series name and number, just on the top and bottom…
Nearly there! The only thing left to do was add Melody’s name. And voila! The finished cover!
So there we have it! A cover that hints at mystery, establishes the era, and features a small-sized heroine from behind, as Melody requested. She loved how it turned out, and so did I! What do you think?
A B O U T T H E B O O K
A Peaceful Coastal Town…Threatened by a Storm of Secrets
It’s 1916 when newspaper woman Anna McDowell learns her estranged
father has suffered a stroke. Deciding it’s time to repair bridges, Anna
packs up her precocious adolescent daughter and heads for her hometown
in Sunset Cove, Oregon.
Although much has changed since the turn
of the century, some things haven’t. Anna finds the staff of her father‘s paper not exactly eager to welcome a woman into the editor-in-chief
role, but her father insists he wants her at the helm. Anna is quickly
pulled into the charming town and her new position…but just as quickly
learns this seaside getaway harbors some dark and dangerous secrets.
With Oregon’s new statewide prohibition in effect, crime has crept
along the seacoast and invaded even idyllic Sunset Cove. Anna only meant
to get to know her father again over the summer, but instead she finds
herself rooting out the biggest story the town has ever seen and trying
to keep her daughter safe from it all.
by Roseanna White | May 14, 2018 | Word of the Week
If you’ve been hanging around my blog since 2011 (there are a few of you–you know who you are, LOL), then you may remember that I’ve featured this word before. And you may remember it solely because it was first ever Word of the Week.
But since so many of my readers have changed, I thought it would be fun to travel back in time 7.5 years and share again the word that started it all on my blog! I’d looked it up partly out of curiosity, to see which of the two meanings had come first, and was so surprised by what I’d learned that I shared it on Facebook. Where my friends were also so surprised that they suggested I start a blog with such things. Who knew it would still be going strong now?
So, pedestrian.
We all know its two meanings: “dull, prosaic,” and “someone who travels by foot.”
My patented Roseanna-logic insisted that the “walker” definition ought to have come first, given that it has ped (=foot) in the root.
But no! Its first recorded use is in 1716, where it meant “dull, prosaic,” in reference to literature. Why? Because if a piece of writing was “of the foot” then it was clearly as opposite as it could be of what it ought to have been–“of the mind.”
It wasn’t until the 1790s that it took on its more literal meaning of someone traveling by foot. Largely because by this time the primary adjective was already well in use and it just made sense. Also, because it did contrast nicely with equestrian.
So there you go, a look back for all you newcomers of where the blog series began. 😉
by Roseanna White | May 10, 2018 | Thoughtful Thursdays
Tuesday afternoon, I pulled back into my driveway after a lovely retreat with Stephanie Morrill, best friend and critique partner extraordinaire.
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| Arriving at our rental house, energetic and ready to go! |
If you’ve been hanging around my blog any length of time, you’ll have a good idea of what our writing retreats look like. Pretty much like this.
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| Working…working…working… |
We do a whole lot of writing. A bit of outdoor exercise. We eat…
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| What? Chocolate is the most essential food group on a writing retreat! |
We brainstorm. We laugh. But mostly, the hours are spent there at our laptops, where the word counts can pile up and the scenes-to-go list can keep on shrinking.
So in case you’re curious, here’s a day by day recap of how this year’s retreat went for me. My main project was finishing up The Number of Love, the story of Margot, little sister to Lukas from A Song Unheard and the first book in my new Codebreakers Series, which will begin next summer from Bethany House.
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| My spot. We were so happy to see super-comfy leather furniture! |
Thursday afternoon, I picked Stephanie up from the airport (it was my year to host), and we drove to a cute AirB&B house in Arnold, MD. After we got settled and chowed down on some gourmet food (or, you know…mac and cheese), we claimed our spots, plugged in our laptops (the plugs never moved) and got started. That first evening, I wrote almost 5,000 words…which it would usually take me 2-3 days to achieve.
On Friday, our first full day, we both got started early, determined to hit our usual daily goal for when on retreat: 10,000 words. We also discovered the local grocery store, explored the neighborhood a bit, and decided that the outdoor patio was our new favorite spot for meals. By the end of the day, I’d logged 11,000 words–which of course means we celebrated with ice cream.
Yes, there’s a lot of ice cream on our retreats. To reward ourselves when we hit our goal. Or, if we fall short, to console us. 😉
Saturday we kept on plugging along. We had big plans for dinner–pizza that was delivered straight to our door (not a luxury I ever get to enjoy out in the country)–and I had a major breakthrough when I realized that I could make a change to my plot that would consolidate, make the ending more active, and bring things to a much better conclusion than what I’d had planned. Woot! I realized by the end of the day on Saturday, that I would definitely be able to finish this book on Sunday. YAY!!! I reached my 10,000 words and felt like I was in a great place for the next day. So totally deserving of that ice cream.
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| My room decorated with books. #love |
Sunday, I took no pictures. Because I had to FINISH. We did take a walk, during which Stephanie helped me brainstorm my climax scenes. We ate chicken pot pies, because for some reason, these are our quintessential retreat food. And I did it. I wrote 12,000 words, which got me to the end of the story! Ish. As soon as I went to bed, I realized I’d forgotten a conversation and knew I’d need to flesh out another. But, you know. Finishedish is a perfectly valid thing to be after a 12K-word day. 😉
Monday I got up and made those additions, which took me an hour or two and added another 1,000 words to the manuscript. It came in at a really reasonable (for me) 113,000 words…which is always what I’m aiming for, but I often don’t finish up until 120-124,000 words, so this felt really great, LOL.
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| Where I worked in the mornings, while drinking my coffee |
It was then time to shift gears, and I’d so hoped I’d have time for this! I needed to plot out my next Guideposts book for the Secrets of Wayfarers Inn Series too, and I was praying I’d finish my other one with time enough to spare on the retreat for this. I started out with some basic brainstorming and researching and then hit upon the idea that really grabbed me while Stephanie finished up her last few scenes of her WIP too.
We decided it was time to hit the town and went out for our only meal that we ate out of the house, LOL–at Cantler’s, which is a seafood institution in the Annapolis area. And to which I’d never been, because I hate seafood, LOL. But I’m happy to report that their blackened chicken bruschetta sandwich is THE best chicken sandwich I’ve ever eaten in my life. So. Good. We enjoyed a relaxed, leisurely lunch by the water, neither of us feeling pressed for time–not always a guarantee on the last full day.
In the afternoon, I turned our brainstorming of my Guideposts book into a rambling story synopsis, really pleased that the ideas all started coming together. We enjoyed our last ice cream celebration, did some serious laughing, and turned in.
Our last morning there, I plugged my synopsis into the requisite story development worksheet I need to turn in to my editors, got a start on the first chapter that I also have to turn in, and then we started cleaning up…and taking more pictures. 😉 After our last lunch, we checked out and headed home.
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| Our last lunch outside on the patio |
Overall, it was a such a wonderful, blessed weekend. Stephanie and I only see each other once a year, so it’s awesome to actually get to see each other face to face, laugh together, and do on-the-spot brainstorming as we work. I met all my goals and feel really pleased with how the projects came together. There’s work yet to do on both, but those deadlines no longer look like fire-breathing-monsters, so we’re good. 😉
Thanks for bearing with me as I vanish and then chat about it! Stop back tomorrow for a Friday from the Archives that remembers a day before I got my first “yes” from a publisher…and how the same friends I enjoy getting away with now to meet our deadlines were the ones to help me smile through the disappointments before we got here.
by Roseanna White | May 3, 2018 | Announcements
It’s that time of year again! I’m currently heading to the Annapolis, Maryland area, where I’ll pick up my best friend/critique partner from the airport and we’ll drive to a cute little house we rented for the next few days.
There will be brainstorming. There will be laughter. And there will be WRITING!
My goal on this retreat is to finish up The Number of Love. I’m sure I’ll be posting updates and word counts for the day on my Facebook page, so you can say a few prayers and cheer me on there, LOL. But I’ll be taking off my blogging duties for the next few days so that I can focus totally on Margot and her world. ?
I’ll see you back here on Thursday, May 10, when I’ll do a post-retreat post!
by Roseanna White | May 2, 2018 | Remember When Wednesdays
When I first turned The Lost Heiress into Bethany House, it didn’t occur to me that I wasn’t just building a world for one series…that I was, in fact, building a world for all my English-set historicals. But when I began writing my next English-set historical series, Shadows Over England, I made the decision that I’d keep it in the same world.
What does that mean? It means that there might be some common characters. It means that I’m not going to contradict in later books things I set forth in those first ones. It means that any time someone is referenced as “The Most This” or “The Worst That”, it’ll be the same in all the books.
It means that Brook and Justin and Rowena and Brice attended one of Lucas’s concerts and get a mention in
A Song Unheard. It means that Cayton and Ella commission a clockwork toy for little Addie’s birthday one year, and the clockmaker they choose is my heroine’s father in
An Hour Unspent.
When I pitched
The Codebreakers (my new series) to Bethany House, it just seemed a given that this would be in the same story world too. My editor not only liked that idea, he asked me to rearrange the books I pitched so that Margot from
A Song Unheard (who I’d originally envisioned as the final heroine in the series) was the first heroine.
It was a message on Facebook, asking me if Brook and Justin would ever make an appearance in any later books, that really made me think, “Why am I only
mentioning them but never giving them page time? Let’s see what my first characters are up to during the Great War!” And so began what I hope will be a fun crossover in
The Number of Love.
It made me ask questions I’d never asked. “Would my heroes from those previous books, which ended a year before war broke out, have signed up–or been drafted?” and “What would those previous heroines be doing for the war effort?”
Thus far, I’ve addressed Brook and Justin. Justin has joined the Royal Naval Air Force and is now a flying ace stationed at Northolt, just outside London. To be close to him, Brook and their boys are staying at their London townhouse, so that whenever he has leave, they can visit. And of course, since she’s in London, she isn’t going to be sitting on her hands doing nothing. She volunteers at Charing Cross Hospital, which receives all the wounded from the front lines, where she rather enjoys butting heads with the ward matron over what a duchess should and should not do in such a position. ?
But I’ve yet to bring up Brice and Rowena, or Ella and Cayton. So I’ll ask you guys to use your imaginations with me! What do you think my other characters from the Ladies of the Manor Series would be up to during the Great War?
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, she’s 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 books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.