by Roseanna White | Nov 28, 2012 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Okay, this was
not what I intended to blog about today, but a friend shared the link, and now I’m too excited to write about anything else. =)
In a recent press release, AMC (as in, awesome channel that has
Mad Men and
The Walking Dead and those other hit shows…) has ordered the pilot of a new series called
Turn…based on the exploits of the Culper Ring as told in Alexander Rose’s
Washington Spies.
Now, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, then you know that
Washington’s Spies is the book I used as my primary research for
Ring of Secrets. So the fact that a TV show will be based on the same…well, that’s pretty cool!
It looks like production of
Turn will start in 2013, which means
Ring of Secrets will be out well before the show. My gut-reaction to that is that this is good–it’ll be clear that my book isn’t a spin-off of the show, but if
Turn takes off (as AMC’s series have done lately), then anyone looking up similar books will find mine. Sweet!
Curious as to my take on this book that has inspired a series? Well, I posted a review last year, which I’m happy to share again.
~*~
Originally posted on 5/17/11
Would you believe I haven’t read
any fiction in the last week-plus? Primarily because I’ve spent my free
time doing research for a story idea. So I figure, eh, might as well
talk to you about that! =)
I’ll
confess it from the start–I don’t read much non-fiction. Why? Because I
read so much of it during college that I just got burned out on it. But
apparently it’s now been long enough since then (where did that time
go, anyway?) that I can read it again without feeling at all put out
about it. Handy, since in looking up info about the subject of my newest
idea, I came across a very interesting-sounding book that I knew would
be helpful: Washington’s Spies by Alexander Rose.
My
Library didn’t have this one, but thanks to the wonders of ILL, they
had it for me in three days, and I cracked it open with genuine
enthusiasm. I haven’t read any non-fiction on the Revolutionary War
since college (and then it was more political treatises of the era, not
history of the war), so I found this to be a wonderful refresher on the
history in general. Better still, it focused entirely on the use of
espionage in the war, by both sides. And really, what could be more fun
than that? 😉
Rose
doesn’t follow a strict chronology in this–he follows stories, usually
about the particular people, and uses those to take him from point to
point. Which means you know exactly where to flip back to if you need to
remind yourself about where someone was born, or who his father was,
but locating a date for a particular action of his requires the help of
the index.
The
writing of this book was never dry and at times downright witty. I
actually chuckled at several places. And at several others I found it
necessary to interrupt my reading to share a particularly interesting
factoid with my hubby. Mr. Rose found many ways to integrate
little-known facts from the day that only had the smallest thing to do
with the main subject; and he integrated them in such a way that you
knew without doubt he had submersed himself fully in this era as he
wrote the book. Something I, as I writer, certainly appreciate.
I
did find a few typos in the dates given, like saying something happened
in 1778 that happened in 1780. Typos which I understand, but which
confused me endlessly, LOL.
Overall,
if you’re a history buff who loves reading about lesser-known portions
of well-loved times, this is a fabulous book. It presents a fair, honest
picture of what life was like from 1776-1784, not embellished by
glamorous ideas or romance.
But no worries–I plan to embellish with plenty of romance when I write a novel set in the time. 😉
by Roseanna White | Nov 21, 2012 | Holiday History, Remember When Wednesdays
|
| The First Thanksgiving by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1912 |
It’s my day on
Colonial Quills, and in this busy week of pie-baking and turkey-thawing and dressing-making, I thought I would give everyone, both here and there, a quick, beautiful prayer from our forefathers to help us all reflect on the holiday.
This prayer comes from a volume of Puritan prayers entitled
The Valley of Vision, compiled by Arthur Bennett, which I quote several times in
Ring of Secrets. He doesn’t say who wrote each one, but I am always struck by the sincere, heart-wrenching faith of those who penned these words. I pray this one speaks to you today.
Praise and Thanksgiving
O my God,
Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admired, adores, loves thee,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before thee
in ceaseless flow.
When I think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.
I bless thee for the soul thou hast created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it,
though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou hast given me,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing senses to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of my limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding,
for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for my fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly.
I love thee above the powers of language
to express,
for what thou art to thy creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time
and eternity.
Amen
May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving tomorrow!
(And look, look, I redesigned my website! Whatcha think? www.RoseannaMWhite.com)
by Roseanna White | Nov 14, 2012 | Ancient World, Remember When Wednesdays
I’ve always been intrigued by Egyptology, so including Egypt in my new biblical idea I’m toying with is a lot of fun. Of course, trying to pinpoint an exact year to set this thing in is more complicated than it sounds. I want my characters to interact with Abram and Sarai, but scholars can’t agree on when, exactly they lived. There’s quite a range of possible years given, as much as a thousand years apart depending on which school you belong to.
Picking one randomly didn’t seem fun, so I instead decided to pick my date based on the history of the pharaohs. And when I was reminded of the missing pharaoh, I decided that would be oh-so-much-fun to explore!
 |
| Mentuhotep III, father of the missing pharaoh |
See, in the Middle Kingdom, there’s this seven year stretch when records of the pharaoh have been obliterated, giving rise to the idea that he was assassinated, overthrown, and his predecessor had his records removed to make himself more legitimate. Archaeologists did eventually find mention of a Mentuhotep IV that seems to fit in that seven-year period…especially when they realized that his vizier (second in command) had a name only one vowel off from the next pharaoh. Obviously, the theory is that the vizier overthrew his pharaoh, seized the crown, and so began the twelfth dynasty.
I love this! Not just because of the intrigue, but because that lack of record gives me freedom to create this pharaoh however I please. =) The other theory (about the change of dynasty) is that Mentuhotep just died without heirs, but I don’t know why he would have been erased from the records in that case…so I decided he has daughters. That’ll work. And a sister. A sister named Aziza…
And working from this theory also gives me a great character in the vizier, Amenemhet. (I’m calling him Nem. I can only go so far with this unpronouncable-to-English-speaker names, LOL.) What kind of guy would be a king’s dedicated right hand, only to kill him and take his crown after seven years? The same kind I need for my story, mwa ha ha ha. And of course, I always explain the motivation through my totally-fictional characters.
 |
| Relief of Amenemhet from his mortuary temple |
This is going to be fun! Disappearing kings, usurping viziers, undiscovered history…oh yeah. Just my speed.
by Roseanna White | Nov 7, 2012 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
I’ve got a little cushion of time before I need to start work in earnest on my third Culper Ring book–and need to take another week or so before diving into edits on Whispers from the Shadows–so I thought I’d enjoy using my writing time to revisit the biblical world. =)
Though neither Jewel of Persia nor A Stray Drop of Blood are exactly new anymore, I still get a lot of reader feedback about them, and I’ve heard quite a few times that my readers are waiting for another biblical fiction from me. Well, I’ve got some ideas!
Of the four or five jotted down in my Ideas folder, I decided to dedicate some time to the one most fully developed in my little ol’ brain. Want a sneak peek? Eh? What was that? Well, okay then. A quick look at what I’m playing with. 😉
The idea started, as my bib-fic ideas often do, with a sermon my dad preached. Actually, in this case, with two. He did a sermon on Melchizedek which I found oh-so-interesting, but it didn’t make any ideas really pop in terms of story. But then a couple weeks later he preached on one of Jesus’s parables. And that got the juices rolling. What if, I thought, the story were true? What if it were set in Old Testament days? What if (a light goes off) it were in the times of Melchizedek? Oo! Oo! Oo!
And LOL–I’ve never written anything that takes place quite that early in the Old Testament, and let me just tell you, I’m already learning, only 10 pages in, that it’s a whole different world than Persia or Jerusalem of Jesus’s day. Oh, the research I have to do! But I’m having fun. And my hubby is rubbing his hands together at the thought of another biblical for WhiteFire someday. 😉
I’m still debating titles and would love some feedback! My heroine, Aziza, is Egyptian, from the house of Pharaoh. My hero is the son of Melchizedek, who most OT scholars believe to be Shem, son of Noah (which is so interesting in and of itself!). And thus far (again, only 10 pages in here), I can tell you that a song is very important to the story–it seems Aziza hears a mysterious melody half the time, calling her away from Egypt. Symbolic, of course, of the Lord calling her. So. My title ideas thus far.
Leading the votes…
The Song of Midnight
Midnight Song
I really like these, but WhiteFire will have Veiled at Midnight by Christine Lindsay in the next year or so, so I want to have some other options in case they end up sounding too similar. So…
The Princess of Salem (bleh)
The Pharaoh’s Sister
Daughter of Egypt
Egypt’s Daughter
Song of the Night
Song of the Sands
Song of the Stars
Any other brilliance? Well, to inspire you, I’ll share the cover I created to inspire me. 😉 Whenever I finish this baby, she shall look like so. Well, the title will obviously read whatever I decide. But you know. The design will be this, LOL. Isn’t it fun? I had a blast going all Ancient Egypt on it. 😉
by Roseanna White | Oct 31, 2012 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
One thing that I have found to be super fun in my current series-in-progress is my epilogue. Ring of Secrets was set during the Revolution, with Winter and Bennet as heroine and hero. But my epilogue jumps 31 years to 1811, when war with England threatens again. That’s where I establish that the historical spies which call themselves the Culper Ring may just have taken up the mantle again in the War of 1812, when the man who had once been their leader sat in Congress. (I mean, hello! Right?)
As everyone no doubt knows by now, last Thursday I wrapped up
Whispers from the Shadows, book 2 in the Culper Ring Series. And as I drew near to The End, I began rubbing my hands together, realizing I got to do the same thing again–write an epilogue that jumped through time to introduce the next book, as yet unnamed.
I’m not sure if I can adequately explain how or why this is so much fun for me, LOL. But I think it has to do with the fact that while I’m writing one book, I’m already plotting out the next. I already have an idea of who my new characters will be, what sets them apart, what makes their story tick. Yet in this case, I’m introducing it from the point of view of my existing characters. At the end of
Ring of Secrets, they’re talking about their kids and how their son, Thad, has brought them this news that makes them sure war is on the horizon again.
Whispers from the Shadows takes place another three years after this epilogue, so it was like a little snatched moment–chronologically part of neither story, yet also part of both. It’s the trade-off of the baton.
My epilogue for Whispers jumps even more than that of RoS. Forty-six years later, when South Carolina secedes from the Union that Thad and his family have fought their whole lives to protect…but what to do in this one? How to introduce my next Culper? See, since this isn’t really part of either story, I hadn’t already had it planned out. Nothing hinged on it. Yet it must hit just the right note to provide both closure to one tale and introduction to the next. It must intrigue, it must charm, yet it must also show the happily-ever-after.
 |
Emma Stone, my model for Marietta
photo by Georges Biard, 2011 |
So in this one, I decided to use as a setting the wedding of my heroine from book 3, Marietta. By the time the next book opens, she’ll be widowed and on the brink of coming out of mourning, the Civil War raging. She’s the granddaughter of Thad, his favorite because she’s so unlike the rest of the family–with such potential, yet refusing to embrace it. She’s the difficult one, the one who probably turned her parents’ hair gray. Book 3 will begin with him forcing her eyes open to what she brought into their family, and the book will be largely about her struggle to change, to learn to trust herself and her God, in an extremely high-pressure situation in which not only her life is on the line, but the life of the President.
But here? She’s just a pretty redhead he’s watching through the doorway as she twirls around the dance floor in her white silk hoop dress. She’s laughing, being charming. Totally oblivious to all the secrets. Fun, fun, fun.
Of course, since these snippet epilogues jump so much, I always find myself ready to write them and then having to pause to go, “Wait! I have no clue about the research for this. When should this be? What would they be wearing? What day of the week was it??”
 |
| Page from Godey’s featuring 1860s wedding dresses |
I obviously knew some of it–hoop dresses, whoo! But it’s a fun change to consider. That my characters would have changed over those 30-40 years too, their dress and mannerisms, their interactions with each other. What was once new and exciting is now comfortable and expected. The love that had been an explosion is now a carefully maintained flame.
Yep. Fun.
And now, between books as I am momentarily, I get to brainstorm–one of my most favorite parts of writing. So don’t be surprised if for the next month or so, you get some tidbits from me on other eras! And then, soon enough, I’ll be immersed again in that dreadful War between the States.
by Roseanna White | Oct 24, 2012 | 17th-19th Centuries, Remember When Wednesdays
Today a good friend of mine, Dina Sleiman, is celebrating the release of her latest novel, the debut title for Zondervan’s new Zondervan First digital line. She wrote this fabulous guest post for us over at the Colonial Quill, and I thought it would be a treat for you guys too. =) As one may be able to tell from the title, Love in Three-Quarter Time, a certain dance is featured in Dina’s novel. And she’s here to tell us a little bit about it. I’ll tease you here (mwa ha ha ha) and then direct you to the CQ for the rest of it. Take it away, Dina!
~*~
The Forbidden Dance
No, I’m not talking
about the tango. In the late 1700s and early 1800s the waltz was
considered quite a scandalous dance. It gained popularity on the
European continent by around 1780, but was still scorned in
respectable circles in England and the United States. It wasn’t
until the Prince Regent introduced the waltz at a ball in 1816 that
it was accepted in England. As for the newly formed US, all we can
say for certain is that it was a standard dance by 1830.
For my new novel, Love
in Three-Quarter Time, I assumed that as in
all things fashionable, Americans would have followed close on the
heels of their British cousins. I showed the waltz being introduced
to Charlottesville, Virginia, by a trend-setting plantation matron in
1817. But the waltz of the Regency (or in this case late Federalist)
era was quite different than the waltz we know today. It was closely
related to the cotillion, and it incorporated a variety of handholds
that could, in fact, turn a bit risqué in the wrong company.
Here are just a few lines
from a very lengthy poem called “The Waltz,” written by Lord
Byron in 1813.
Endearing
Waltz! — to thy more melting tune
Bow
Irish jig and ancient rigadoon.
Scotch
reels, avaunt! and country-dance, forego
Your
future claims to each fantastic toe!
Waltz
— Waltz alone — both legs and arms demands,
Liberal
of feet, and lavish of her hands;
Hands
which may freely range in public sight
Where
ne’er before — but — pray “put out the light.”
Methinks
the glare of yonder chandelier
Shines
much too far — or I am much too near;
And
true, though strange — Waltz whispers this remark,
“My
slippery steps are safest in the dark!”
To read the rest,
go to Colonial Quills!
~*~
In the style of Deeanne Gist, Dina
Sleiman explores the world of 1817 Virginia in her novel Love in
Three-Quarter Time. When the belle of the ball falls into genteel
poverty, the fiery Constance Cavendish must teach the dances she once
loved in order to help her family survive. The opportunity of a
lifetime might await her in the frontier town of Charlottesville, but
the position will require her to instruct the sisters of the
plantation owner who jilted her when she needed him most. As Robert
Montgomery and Constance make discoveries about one another, will
their renewed faith in God help them to face their past and the guilt
that threatens to destroy them in time to waltz to a fresh start?
http://dinasleiman.com
Okay, this was not what I intended to blog about today, but a friend shared the link, and now I’m too excited to write about anything else. =)
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. 