by Roseanna White | Oct 12, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
I had a moment about a month ago when I was working up a new proposal idea, this one set in Civil War era Georgia. Yes, during that moment I realized my Civil War history was rather rusty. Ahem. But it was the “compared to” that gave me pause. Because you see, my Civil War history is rusty compared to . . .
* The Greco-Persian War
* The uprisings in Roman Jerusalem
*The Revolutionary War (and its aftermath)
*The War of 1812 (okay, this earns a sort-of)
* Certain key aspects of the Napoleonic Wars
And that’s where my bafflement came from. How in the world did I become a writer of war novels??? I mean, seriously. I write romance. Love stories, if they’re not typical romance. My stories always come to me as boy meets girl, they’re driven by the characters.
Yet here I am again . . . plotting out a book set during a war. I shake my head at myself. And laugh. And get down to history. =)
I started with the things most pertinent to this story–the Confederate Raider ships and the Union blockade on the Southern ports, and finally the Battle of Port Pulaski. Really, this is barely a slice of Civil War history. In a way, that’s going to make the research easier. But I still have to get the broader scope in my research so I know the hows and whys and whats and wheres that always enrich a story.
I’ve done some basic internet research, and now I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of a book through the wonders of ILL called Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War, by Jacqueline Jones. I’m really looking forward to devouring this book, which promises a fresh look at race relations, the impact of the war, and a look at everyday life in Savannah during the war. Exactly what I need to know. =)
So this not-a-war-writer who somehow keeps coming up with stories set against a backdrop of war is diving into yet another one. With the happy thought that some of my research will be able to double for another, later book I have planned too. You know, the one in the series that covers three different (you guessed it) wars.
Sigh. LOL.
by Roseanna White | Oct 11, 2011 | Uncategorized
The last two weeks in home school, I’ve been reading My Father’s Dragon to my daughter. This is part of our curriculum, but it was so delightful that I figure I’ll talk about it here, just in case anyone wants to take note. š
One of the most interesting features of this book to me as a writer is the fact that the narrator is apparently the child of the main character–who is himself a child in the story. I found this so neat. We know the name of the character–Elmer Elevator–but more often than not the story is told like this: “So my father set sail for the Isle of Tangerina.”
Now, there are a few reasons why this book was a hit in my house. First of all, though it’s a chapter book, it has fun illustrations throughout the book, which my daughter took especial delight in. Second, it’s a story of imagination and even critical thinking. As Elmer Elevator sets off on an adventure to find and rescue a baby dragon who’s being abused by the creatures of Wild Island, he has to solve problems every step of the way–and most of those problems are the wild animals on the island who have enslaved the dragon and who are fiercely protective of their island against “the invasion”–namely, Elmer.
Luckily, the old tomcat who told him of the dragon also gave him advice on exactly what to pack in his knapsack. Those items save the day at each step, and it was tons of fun to figure out how he would use things like 17 lollipops, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and chewing gum to get himself out of impending doom.
Fanciful enough to engage the kiddos and clever enough to grab the parents, this is a book I highly recommend for you to get and share with your kids. And if yours are anything like mine, you’ll end up with some adorable pictures of this dragon that spring from your little one’s imagination throughout the story, before we get to see the illustrator’s interpretation at the very end.
A delight for the whole family, it’s easy to see why this won the Newbury Honor when it was written!
by Roseanna White | Oct 7, 2011 | Uncategorized
Today I have another guest post for you, this time from Staci Stallings. I think you’ll really love the message she highlights in this–I know it hit home for me this morning!
As with last week, if you leave an encouraging comment for Staci, you’ll be entered into this month’s giveaway. More details at the end. But first, the main event!
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Iāll Win It For You
The game was tight. Archrivals had faced off for three and a half periods in a seesaw battle that was going down to the wire. As the clock ticked down, the two sides traded the lead back and forth. Neither could be assured of victory because with the game so close, anything could happen.
From the sideline, the coach watched his team getting more and more apprehensive as the seconds ticked away. They were missing shots they never missed. They were missing opportunities they didnāt miss. Even their body language said, āThis is bad. We might lose this one.ā
With less than a minute left, the coach called a time out. Now he knew that every girl on that court had been over the plays a million times. They didnāt need elaborate help to set up a play for a last second win. They needed to calm down and play the way they knew how to play. So when they bent into that huddle, the coach told them something more than a little unconventional. āGo out there. Play the game. Have fun. Do your best, and Iāll win it for you.ā
No pressure instructions. No you have to win this or we lose to our rivals. No anxiety-inducing strategy. Simply, āGo play, and Iāll win it for you.ā
To my way of thinking, that was an audacious statement because in reality, it wouldnāt be the coach taking the shot that would win or lose the game. He would be standing on the sideline with no direct control whatsoever. However, this coach knew something about the training these girls had been through, and he knew without a doubt they could do it. The problem was they didnāt know they could do it, and so, he let them rely not on themselves for the win but on him.
The amazing thing to me when I really started thinking about this statement is that what that coach told his team is exactly what Jesus tells each one of us: āGo out there. Play the game. Have fun. Do your best, and Iāll win it for you.ā
We think itās all on usāthat we have to get everything right, do everything perfectly, or our āwinā will never materialize. In fact, we get sucked into this mentality that Heaven may be just out of our reach no matter what we do. However, I think the reality is that Jesus is the coach standing on the sideline having full faith that we can do everything Heās trained us to do. We can love just like Heās shown us. We can give; we can liveānot because we can do it on our own but because Heās right there, and He has faith that we have been given everything we need to win through Him.
Iām sure you know the end of the story. When the buzzer sounded, the team who had just gone out, had fun, and done their best was victorious.
One day the final buzzer of your life will sound, and the question at that moment will be this: Did you allow Jesus to be your coach? Did have faith that He would win the game for youāor are you still trying to win it yourself?; Itās a question worth contemplating. (Copyright, Staci Stallings 2003)
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A stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. (Pick up the Price of Silence now for only $0.99! ) Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staciās stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! Thatās what keeps Staci writing and you reading. Although she lives in Amarillo, Texas and her main career right now is her family, Staci touches the lives of people across the globe every week with her various Internet endeavors including:
Books In Print, Kindle, & FREE on Spirit Light Works:
http://stacistallings.wordpress.com/
Spirit Light Books–The Blog: http://spiritlightbooks.wordpress.com/
Andā¦ Staciās website http://www.stacistallings.com Come on over for a visitā¦
Youāll feel better for the experience!
Connect with her on Twitter: @StaciStallings
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This month’s giveaway is for the WhiteFire lineup! You can enter for a chance to win by leaving a comment below for Staci. For an extra entry, follow Staci’s blog (and let me know in a separate comment that you do). You can also enter here and here.
by Roseanna White | Oct 6, 2011 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Round about five and a half years ago, my family started a church. Why? Because we felt the conviction to worship on the Sabbath, and there were no sabbath-keeping churches around whose doctrines we believed in. So we became a branch church of a Seventh Day Baptist church in Pennsylvania and went about establishing ourselves.
These past years, we’ve rented two different buildings, trusting the Lord to provide one of our own in His time. And the time has come. This last week we stepped into our new old church for the first time as owners and knew beyond doubt we were home.
This might be hard to understand if you’ve never attended a small church bound by the restrictions of the place you’re renting, but wow. It’s so amazing to realize we can now do whatever the Lord asks of us, without having to ask the building’s owners for permission! Book clubs and movie nights, dinners and clothing drives. All sorts of things we’ve been wanting to start but couldn’t.
On Sunday I went over and scrubbed the hardwood in the sanctuary. I got sweaty, sore, and tired, but it was a labor of love. An offering to the Lord. An investment in this home He’s given us. We as a congregation have a lot of hard work ahead of us to make this old country church vibrant again, but it’s work we’re looking forward to.
And I love pausing a moment to look at when things happen. In the life of the church, it came exactly when we needed it to, when we had worked through some issues and were ready to surrender entirely to Him. And personally, it came just as I am (momentarily) between projects. One book is finished, at committee, and ready to be decided on in the next week (pray, please!!). The one due out in December has undergone its final edits, so I have nothing more to do on it right now. And my next project is still awaiting approval from my editor, so there’s no point in diving in if she’s going to ask for major changes to the idea. I’ve got a ton of editing to do for WhiteFire, but that’s all.
So here I am . . . ready and able to give of my time.
It’s a good time, a hopeful time. A time when potential and possibilities are all shimmering on the horizon. No disappointments or frustrations yet. No failures or setbacks.
In a lot of ways, it’s exactly like where I am with
Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland. It’s a pretty blissful time, these months leading up to release, when there are no bad sales numbers to haunt you or negative reviews to upset you. All potential. All hope.
I’m optimistic enough to blindly say that potential will lead to a realization of blessing. I’m realistic enough to know that’s no guarantee. And I’m experienced enough to know that no matter what comes in a month or a year, this time is meant to be savored for exactly what it is–a new beginning, unconstrained by what may come.
I’m going to enjoy it.
by Roseanna White | Oct 5, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
The year is 1814. War has been going on for a couple years already, and it’s a war that some think is overdue . . . and some think shouldn’t have happened. Depending on which side you were on, of course. š
Some British never really accepted America’s independence. Some Americans couldn’t believe that their mother-country would really impress their sailors or renew hostilities.
Both were in for a surprise when the War of 1812 broke out, and independence had to fought for all over again.
Most of you probably know I’ve been writing a story set during the Revolution. Well, that one’s finished, and the next in the series is about the son of the hero and heroine from book 1, this one set during the War of 1812. I knew from the moment I decided on a general plot what my hero was going to be like. Thad is an adventurous American, a bit reckless, totally devoted to his cause, and fearless to the point of stupidity sometimes.
But it took me some effort to figure out my heroine, and I’m still trying to wrap my brain around her. Gwyneth I originally thought would be Canadian, but the more I considered it, the more I decided it would be more fun to make her from London. Because we all know what London of the era was like, right? Regency. Ahhhhh. Blissful. Courtly manners, marriage marts, drawing room drama. A young lady of some means would be totally concerned with her Season, especially if it were her debut. With her suitors, her friends, her fashion. So what would happen if she found herself shipped off to America? During a war with the uncivilized brutes, no less?
Well, there we have some attitude. But let’s up the stakes. What would poor, displaced Gwyneth be like if moments before she set sail, she witnessed the murder of the person dearest to her?
Yes, I’m a cruel author, what can I say. š One who’s having a lot of fun imagining what my starts-as-a-typical-Regency-gentlewoman heroine might become and do under such circumstances. Will she arrive on American soil broken? Paranoid? Unwilling to trust the people she had been told to go to? Will she be defiant? Proud? Superior? Meek?
Yeah, I still haven’t figured her out completely, but I’m thinking she’ll be an interesting amalgamation of those things. Broken and defiant. Proud and meek. We’ll see how she turns out once I begin writing. =) But for now, I’m really enjoying the idea of bringing my love of British-set 19th century stories over onto American soil with these two characters.
by Roseanna White | Oct 4, 2011 | Uncategorized
So as I close the book on one historical era (with the hopes of revisiting it sometime soon!), I open the pages on another. And in so doing, open the pages of Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer-winning classic Gone with the Wind. Yes, this is research. š
But cracking open this book takes me back to childhood. Which might seem strange to some, but bear with me. My family (father excluded, that is) LOVED GwtW. We’d watch the movie whenever we had snow days, which meant several times a year. Whenever we drove south for vacation, we’d go past a huge old house that we dubbed “Tara” in honor of the O’Hara plantation. Phrases like, “But I don’t know nothing ’bout birthin’ no babies!” were common vernacular between me, my sister, and my mom. And I believe we all dreamed about that dress made out of curtains . . .
Up until my teen years, I’d only ever watched the movie, of course. But when I was in high school, I read the book. I believe I skimmed all the many paragraphs of pure history, LOL, but oh! The story of Scarlett and Rhett, even fuller and more complete in the book than in that ridiculously long movie! Be still my heart. =)
So as I prepare to dive into all things Civil War and Deep South, I thought I’d ask y’all for your favorite GwtW moments, memories, or (if this is possible) what you might prefer over GwtW from a similar era. When you settle in for a Civil War story, what do you reach for? Fiction, non-fiction?
I currently have on my desk two books and two movies awaiting me–the obligatory GwtW, both book and mvie, and then The Blue & the Gray (DVD) and The Killer Angels (book). I figure I’ll hit up the Library for more soon, so recommendations are welcome!
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, sheās 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 booksā¦to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.