Melissa Jagears - Historical Romance Writer

Finding tiny bits of historical detail to lend an authentic air to your historical novel.

2012-02-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

I'm setting my next novel in 1905 and needed to know some "simple" things like what my character would put in her hair to style it, what she might be reading, etc. So, instead of a history book, I looked for a contemporary magazine.

In this free 1905 Harper's Bazar - I'm loving looking through the ads for books and products that my characters may have ordered and read.

You can glean so many things from reading the ads. I especially found the ads on open seat ladies pants, dress shields (that absorb generous perspiration without smelling), a toilet cream that was supposed to be able to remove a suntan, asbestos dining table pads, and other such things rather entertaining. But I found other things quite useful, what they wrote about what was fashionable in hair dos and the "everyday" problems they faced that made them send off for the "toilet creams that can take off your tan."

And if you want to know what books your characters might be discussing, with Kindle offering a lot of public domain books for free, you might be able to read some for free. Here are the books (that I could find for free on kindle) that are advertised in 1905. They were likely quite popular, I would think, to make it into the magazine.

I am ECSTATIC to find the manners book advertised to my heroine. I think I'll have her read it and act accordingly. :)

Manners and Social Usage by Sherwood

Vergilius A Tale of the Coming of Christ

A Dog's Tale by Mark Twain

The Lady of Loyalty House A Novel

The Flight of Pony Baker A Boy's Town Story

The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain

The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

Roughing It by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

In Search of the Unknown

Bruvver Jim's Baby

Extracts from Adam's Diary, translated from the original ms. by Mark Twain

February's Beautiful Cover - The Guardian Duke

2012-02-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

There are so many good covers to choose from this month. Check out allthe new releases for February at my Index and see for yourself.(They're all up except for a few that release later in the month.) But this one won easily. Why? Because there is a castle, and not only that, the subtitle is "A Forgotten Castle Novel."

I really don't understand how Medievals don't sell--I'll buy anything with a castle on it, and I know I'm not the only one. Oh well.

Not only is the big splash of red nice, but it makes me think of Little Red Riding Hood, which makes me think of Fairy Tale, and who doesn't like to read a Fairy Tale? And there's a castle background. Did I mention the castle? :)

I remember seeing the making of a cover awhile ago and it was for this one. Just the photography shoot for the model, but interesting nonetheless.

Currently Free Kindle Historical Romance

2012-01-09T08:54:00.001-08:00

What are Heroes?

2012-01-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

I was looking up a list of Heroic Qualities to assign my new Hero and Heroine and came upon a nice list and some other sites you might find interesting.

A list of heroic qualities.

The Hero has changed throughout history. So if you are writing Medieval, it would probably be a good idea to make him more Medieval than Modern.

Watch the heroes of your favorite movies (and books) and what is it that you love about them? This writer wrote out her thoughts which I thought were nice. Read the comment too. :)

And this is why as an ESL teacher I feel for my students

2012-01-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

Three poems putting confusing word pairs together for even Native English speakers to stumble through along with the history and citation of the poems.

Here are the first stanzas of each.

The Chaos

Charivarius (G. Nolst Trenité)

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer............................

This site has a pronounciation key for the above poem whether you speak

British or American English if you happen to be able to read the phonetic

alphabet. In case you want to check yourself.

Hints on pronunciation for foreigners

TSW *

I take it you already know of tough and bough and cough and dough?Others may stumble, but not you,On hiccough, thorough, lough** and through.Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,To learn of less familiar traps?.....................................

Word pairs

misc

At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
They were too close to the door to close it. 
It was difficult to coax the coax cable through the conduit.
The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. 
The buck does funny things when the does are present. 
The dove dove into the bushes. .....................................

Beautiful Cover - The Rose of Winslow Street

2012-01-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

I have seen this cover coming up and I can't tell you how much I've been waiting to get it just for the cover alone. I'm not sure, but I do think this is the prettiest cover I have ever seen. The almost two-tone thing is just gorgeous and who wouldn't want to use that gate for a photo op? Then I read a review that says the hero is absolutely wonderful, so I'm even more excited that it releases today.

Currently Free Kindle Historical

2011-12-20T08:48:00.001-08:00

I've read this one long ago, great book, non-typical ending.

Dercember's New Release's Beautiful Cover - The Loom

2011-12-14T15:13:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it is about this cover, but it says to me, "This is a good literary read that will make me think about deep topics." I wonder if that's what I would find if I did read it. Hmmm

How Many Kings

2011-12-06T17:09:00.001-08:00

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;I&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;
It's the season for one of my new favorite songs. Love these words! I'm generally not impressed with contemporary song lyrics, but this is definitely an exception.

Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe, after all we've projected,
A child in a manger?
Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mother's shawl -
Just a child -
Is this who we've waited for? 'cause...

How many kings step down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn Savior
All that we have, whether costly or meek
Because we believe.
Gold for his honor, and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he will suffer
Do you believe?
Is this who we've waited for?

All for me...
All for you...

Currently Free Kindle Historical Romance

2011-11-21T20:22:00.000-08:00

Currently Free Kindle Writing Books

2011-11-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

Currently Free Kindle Historical

2011-10-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

Speaking at Kansas Authors Club Annual Convention

2011-10-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

I was so happy to be able to speak at the Kansas Authors Club here in my area today. We had a very cramped room for my Techniques for Beginners class, but floor-seating room only is a lot nicer than begging people to come into your room so I was ecstatic.

For those of my attenders (or just blog drop ins) the conference handout sheet with all the links can be found on my "What I am doing" page, but here's a link here as well.

And a link to my "Free Internet Writing Courses" post.

I have a tendency to talk too fast and with the amount of information I was covering, I bet I was doing 90 to nothing. Hopefully they had their speed listening ears on and realize that each topic is a class on its own. Hopefully the links on the handout will lead down the path to learning more about some of those rules, buzz words and techniques.

And if you are here because you came from my class, give me a shout in the comments section! I hope you enjoyed the convention.

Beautiful Cover - Maggie's Journey

2011-10-05T23:12:00.000-07:00

Each month, I'm inputting all the new historical fiction releases into the Inspirational Historical Fiction Index, and so I've decided I'll highlight my favorite cover fof the month here. I already featured A Necessary Deception a long time ago before it came out, and I still think it's my favorite, but this is my next: Maggie's Journey

I saw this at conference and it has the richest colors. I like really rich colors on my covers. I'm not a yellow girl, but the deep tones are very nice. Though I kinda wonder about the lady's outfit, does it seem steampunky to anyone else? Now that's a clothing fad I could get into if I weren't such a wallflower!

Popular by Decade

2011-10-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

Writers Dreamtools- History by Decade - Shows what things were popular (books, music, catch phrases) by decade all the way back to 1650)

Second ACFW Conference - St. Louis

2011-10-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

I am blessed to have been able to attend ACFW's National Conference again this year. I had to take my 9 month old with me and that right there should have told me I was crazy to attempt it! But I guess I'm crazy. I loved meeting my crit partners and seeing "my girls" again. My friend, Sarah, and my crit partner, Naomi, "battled" it out in the Genesis contest and Sarah won. (Sadly, I was attending the baby so I didn't get to clap.) I spent most of my time (besides tending the baby) trying to meet as many people as possible. It's amazing how many more names and faces I knew from a single year's worth of networking. I also spent a lot of my time talking to agents and about agents since I really want to go that route first if at all possible. Nothing earth shattering to report, but I learned a lot and have a few proposals and fulls to send out again.

Currently Free Kindle Historicals

2011-10-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

10/1/11

19th Century Manly Slang

2011-09-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

Manly slang from the 19th Century - Love "saucebox" think I'll try to bring that one back!

Farm Weekly Flyers

2011-09-30T21:13:00.000-07:00

Farm, Field, and Fireside - A list of farm weeklies from the late 1800s to early 1900s that you can search

Most Popular Given Names for the 19th and 20th century

2011-09-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

Popular Given Names US, 1801-1999 - Straight from the Censuses

Free kindle Historical Romance

2011-09-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

Highland Blessings
by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Currently Free Kindle Historical Romance

2011-09-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa
by Melanie Dobson

Sons of Thunder
by Susan May Warren

Great Plains History

2011-09-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

The Encyclopedia of the Great Plains - Scholarly articles on the Great Plains

Currently Free Kindle Historical Romance

2011-09-01T07:47:00.000-07:00

9/1/11

The Preacher's Bride
by Jody Hedlund

A Hope Undaunted
by Julie Lessman

My Heart Remembers
by Kim Vogel Sawyer

No Place for a Lady
by Maggie Brendan

A Daughter's Inheritance
by Tracie Peterson and Judith Pella

Museum Fashion Blog

2011-08-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

Fashion Institute of Design Museum Blog - There's a lot of 1900s things, but there are a lot of older garments discussed and seeing the actual choices of fabric color of women's dresses instead of black and white pictures gives you an entirely different feel of how non-sedate they were.

Costume fashion plates

2011-08-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Festive Attyre Historical Costuming - Renaissance, Victorian and Early 20th Century fashion plate links

Huge Civil War Article Page

2011-08-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

The American Civil War Homepage - Links to tons of article, bios, primary sources

What a Seriously Romantic Gutsy Man!

2011-08-16T23:52:00.000-07:00

Currently Free Kindle Books of Interest to English Majors aka Word Nerds

2011-08-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

8/15/11

I'm an English Major--Now What?
by Writers Digest

Portable MFA in Creative Writing
by Writers Digest

1870s Statistics

2011-08-15T07:47:00.001-07:00

A pdf file of statistics for the 1870s decade.

Mountain Slang

2011-08-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

Dictionary of Mountain Talk -- old time rural slang

Currently Free Kindle Historical

2011-08-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

8/9/11

Pompeii
by T.L. Higley

Free Ebook - Heart of Gold

2011-08-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

8/9/11

Wyoming, 1902--Ranch foreman Charlie Welch suspects his boss's daughter has returned home with purely selfish motives--she wants money.
After being estranged from her father for years, Opal Bright hopes her homecoming will result in both reconciliation and a solution to help the orphanage she sponsors back home in Omaha.
When Charlie and Opal find themselves mixed up with a ragtag group of bandits and trapped in an abandoned gold mine, they must risk everything to survive... including their hearts.

Civil War Medicine

2011-08-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

American Civil War Surgical Antiques - Tons of photos of medical equipment, etc. from Civil War era

Currently Free Kindle Historical Romance

2011-08-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

8/1/11

Ransome's Honor
by Kaye Dacus

Vigilante's Bride
by Yvonne Harris

Waterfall
by Lisa T. Bergren

The Frontiersman's Daughter
by Laura Frantz

Sixteen Brides
by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Hiding Research Notes in Word or Invisible Footnotes

2011-07-31T22:13:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I can't handle having separate research notes for my manuscripts--I have to shuffle through all my notes to find my source to prove that my research--time consuming and frustrating.

I want to have them in my manuscript itself. I don't want to have to save a separate document since the manuscript changes and grows and I don't want to have to keep remembering to change both documents. So how do I make invisible footnotes?

Well, I found two ways: hidden text and Hiding Markups

The first way, hidden text, is text you write inline into the manuscript itself. This may mess with your spacing.
Write your sentence, then put the note you want next to it. Highlight the note, right click the mouse, click format, check the hidden box. It will now have little dots under it. Go to Words Menu>Word Options>Display> and then toggle back and forth between hidden to make it appear and disappear.

When you send this to others to read, they will only see it if they have the hidden toggle on (doubtful), but you can easily get rid of all the hidden notes by making another copy so you don't lose yours, select Replace>More Options>Format>Font>Hidden, then click replace all and every hidden note will disappear.

But I don't like the spacing problems this might create, plus they aren't the easiest to see unless you highlight it, adding more steps. However, this method keeps you from accidentally erasing your notes when you don't see your notes.

Hidden Text
Pro: Cannot be accidentally erased when working with your document if you can't see the note, You can send a copy of your document to others and most likely no one will think to look for hidden text though they could if they wanted to.
Con: Have to press quite a few mouse clicks, Can mess with your spacing depending on how you highlight your hidden text, Not as easily seen unless you color them before hiding them, Still have to make a clean copy if you absolutely don't want anyone to find your notes.

So, can comment bubble notes be hidden? Yes, in a different manner.

Write your sentence and then highlight. In the review tab, click new comment. Write your information in the bubble. Now you have a note, but you can see it. In the tracking section of your review tab, click "Show Markup" check or uncheck "Comments" to toggle between seeing notes and not seeing notes. This way of hiding research notes will not mess with your formatting, but every time you add a new note, you'll have to toggle "Comments" in "Show Markup" to hide them again if you don't want to see them if they bother you while typing.

But I'd choose to leave them visible, because if you delete the word, you can accidentally erase the note that goes with it. You can, however, cut and paste, and the comment bubble will move with it.

Now, sending it to others requires you to make another copy again where all of your notes will show up, but you only have to press one button to get rid of them. In the review tab, press the little arrow button under the "delete" comment. The menu has "Delete all Comments in Document."

Comment Bubble Shown in Markups
Pro: Does not create spacing issues, looks more organized, very few mouse clicks
Con: Can accidentally be deleted when messing with the document if you don't see the note, You must make a clean copy for others because the notes by default will show up when the document is opened

I had thought I'd looked up the date of a word in my WIP, but I guess I hadn't because it was wrong. Now, I'm going to add comments into my manuscripts of my research, internet links, etc. to prove my sources for what I've looked up connected right to the text I needed the research for, and I'll be able to see instantly if I haven't tied research to something someone may call into question. Then when I send the manuscript off for an edit, I'll just make a clean copy for them.

So not exactly super smart, making research notes but still having to make a clean copy for critiquers or editors so they won't see your personal comments, but it will work for me, I think. I'll see!

Birds

2011-07-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Check out bird ranges, what time of year they'd be where, typical chirps, behavior description, and pictures here: Cornell Lad of Orinthology

2011-07-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

Check out one of my critique partner's new book trailer!

Writers, Are you exercising your hands?

2011-07-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

Trying to do a handstand because my 4 year old asked me to revealed that my right wrist couldn't take the strain, and since then, I've noticed a dull ache in it continually. Talking to hubby, I was speculating what I could have done, I don't remember ever straining it--duh, carpal tunnel syndrome is heading my way with all the typing I've been doing the last 2 years.

So I'm scrambling for what to do to prevent it--don't wait until you feel something!

Universtity of Maryland CTS Prevention - scroll down for exercises

Wrist Wand - if the above don't help, I may be checking out getting or making one of these.

Currently Free Kindle Historical Romance

2011-07-24T14:26:00.001-07:00

7/24/11

Stealing Jake
by Pam Hillman

Dates for family nickname use

2011-07-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Mother
mamma 1570s or earlier
mama 1707
mum 1823
mummy 1839
mommy 1844
momma 1852
mom 1867

Father
dad, daddy 1500 or earlier (universal, probably prehistoric)
papa 1681
pa 1811
pop 1838
poppa 1897

Sister
sis 1650
sissy 1846

Brother
bro 1660
bubba 1860

Grandmother
granny 1660
grandmamma 1749
grandma 1793
gran 1863

Grandfather
grandpappa 1753
granddaddy 1769
grandpa 1814
granddad 1819
nana 1844
grandpappy 1853
grandpop 1860
gramp 1898

Extended family
auntie/aunty 1787
coz 1550
cuz 17c.

Compiled from www.etymonline.com

Kindle Giveaway

2011-07-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

If you are willing to sign up for Pam Hillman's announcement newsletter, you can win a kindle with a copy of her book on it. Click the Picture.

BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency: Forget Everyone Else

2011-07-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

More encouragement to keep on with Book #4-so I'm keepin' on Keepin' on.

BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency: Forget Everyone Else: "Me: 'I don't know. Anytime I think I'm writing something that's going to cause a stir, it doesn't.' Husband: 'And then you write about unic..."

History Cookbook

2011-07-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

History Cookbook - Recipes and photos of cooking the item, even podcasts of meals throughout time--even all the way to prehistoric. I think it's fun that on each page they include a recipe of something you might want to avoid--like gruel or hardtack (but they still give you the photos and recipe if you don't want to avoid tasting it)

And even general food and health facts are included --look to the left hand side, I almost missed it!

What writing utensil would your character use?

2011-07-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

History of writing - Timeline of different writing utensils with pictures

Jane Austen's Quill Pen - Explanations and picture representations on how to get/use a quill pen

History of writing instruments

The history of writing utensils - This one has a nice vintage fountain pen ad to look at--plus I'm now following it looks like some good research info posts!

Toys in 1885

2011-07-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

Newspapers are so fascinating. Laramie Weekly Sentinel March 15, 1884

You can get the following children's items at Watkins in Wyoming in 1884: "The children are not to be robbed any more."

At the 5 cent counter:
10 marbles
a jumping rope
10 slate pencils
a rubber ball
a set of dominoes
a base ball

At the 10 cent counter:
silver cups
castors
mouth organs
musical balloons

At the 25 cent counter:
fancy workbox with needles, thimbles, scissors, etc. --all complete
dolls
doll heads
rubber dolls

I have to admit, I'm really curious about that musical balloon.

Civil War Photographs

2011-07-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Original Photographs from the Civil War - Click to make them larger and see the captions

Free Kindle Historical

2011-07-01T10:54:00.001-07:00

7/1/11

Breathe
by Lisa T. Bergren

Free Kindle Historical

2011-06-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

6/30/11

Surrender the Wind
by Rita Gerlach

Antique and Vintage Clothing

2011-06-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

AntiqueDress has photos of vintage and antique dresses they've sold and that are for sale. Not replicas, not drawings--very neat.

Historic American Newspapers

2011-06-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

Historic American Newspapers - Chronicling America has papers from 1860-1922

BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency: Meeting an Agent at a Conference

2011-06-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency: Meeting an Agent at a Conference: "Will you be presenting any workshops at the RWA conference this summer? If I saw you there and if (Big BIG IF) I had the confidance to appr..."

Places to Find Writing Contests for Book Manuscripts

2011-06-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

Stephanie Smith's Contest Chart - do a find of the web page to look for the kind of contests you want, there are a lot on this page!

Romance Writing (RWA) Contests

Seekerville blog has a monthly contest update, look in the archive for the month and it will give you the upcoming contests. But be quick! Sometimes there isn't much time from the beginning of the month update before the deadline.

Royalty Free Music

2011-06-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

If you are making your own book trailer, free music might be a coveted thing! Incompetech

Currently Free Kindle Historical Romance

2011-06-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

6/16/11

Surrender the Heart
by MaryLu Tyndall

Free Kindle Historical

2011-06-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

6/15/11

Gods and Kings by Lynn Austin

Description of hats

2011-06-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Parker's Millinery and Mercantile has a lot of replica hats available for sale, but what are great are the descriptions. I think I might actually be able to describe those hats now besides fluff and stuff. :)

Historical Cosmetics

2011-06-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Learn what European women had access to and their beauty routines.

Texas Almanac

2011-06-06T10:01:00.001-07:00

An Archive of Texas Almanacs

Native Plant Database

2011-05-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Native Plant Database - find when and where something's blooming

Currently Free Kindle History Book

2011-05-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

5/21/11

Their Last Suppers: Legends of History and their Final Meals

A Necessary Deception

2011-05-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

My beautiful cover posts are the covers that makes me want to buy the book without even reading the blurb. Maybe seeing them all together I'll learn what it is in the artwork that persuades me to buy it without reading a single word.

If you'd buy A Necessary Deception without reading anything about it either, what do you think it is about the artwork that compels you?

I do wonder about this book because of the title and the smiling character. They seem opposed, she seems to be enjoying the deception, so is it a funny book? From what I know of the author, I wouldn't expect it to be. If it isn't a funny book then I don't think I would have gone with a smile, though I'd still buy it for the cover alone. And I love how the "A Novel" is centered on her glove. Beautiful Font and the "A" in the "N"s swirly bit is just awesome. I'm finding it funny how attracted I am to the Title Font.

Two Free Kindle Writing Books and Austen Spinoff

2011-05-11T18:57:00.000-07:00

Kindle Free Book on Query Letters

2011-05-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

This is an always free book from Noah Lukeman on Query Writing. If you have a kindle, you can get it from Amazon now. If not, you can go download it as a PDF.

Currently Free Inspirational Historical Romance

2011-05-09T10:07:00.001-07:00

5/9/11

A Vote of Confidence
by Robin Lee Hatcher

Supporting Authors

2011-05-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

Jody Hedlund has a good article on what you can do to help authors.

If you want to keep seeing their books on the shelves, help them make sales, and they'll keep supplying you with books, so if you love an author, here are some easy things you can do.

Using Google Book Search for Promotion

2011-05-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

We CAN! promote our books had a interesting post on how to plug a preview of your book into Google Book Search to draw readers through Google Searchers here.

Word of Mouth - To Win Her Heart

2011-05-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

Having completed his sentence for the unintentional crime that derailed his youthful plans for fame and fortune, Levi Grant looks to start over in the town of Spencer, Texas. Spencer needs a blacksmith, a trade he learned at his father's knee, and he needs a place where no one knows his past. But small towns leave little room for secrets...

Eden Spencer has sworn off men, choosing instead to devote her time to the lending library she runs. When a mountain-sized stranger walks through her door and asks to borrow a book, she steels herself against the attraction he provokes. His halting speech and hesitant manner leave her doubting his intelligence. Yet as the mysteries of the town's new blacksmith unfold, Eden discovers hidden depths in him that tempt her heart.

Levi's renewed commitment to his faith leads Eden to believe she's finally found a man of honor and integrity, a man worthy of her love. But when the truth about his prodigal past comes to light, can this tarnished hero find a way to win back the librarian's affections?

***

I LOVED this hero (so like my hubby). And I couldn't put it down, even attempted walking and reading at the same time. Not sure you can give a book higher praise than that. :)

The first book in the series is free on Kindle right now if you want to try out the author. A Tailor-Made Bride.

Currently Free Inspirational Historical on Kindle

2011-05-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

5/1/11

A Tailor-Made Bride
by Karen Witemeyer

Making Waves
by Lorna Seilstad

Word of Mouth - Finally a Bride

2011-04-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

Keep your eyes wide open for romance in Lookout, Texas. Noah Jeffers enters town determined to make up for past misdeeds. Reporter Jacqueline Davis is determined to nail her story. Will she uncover Noah’s secret before he can capture her heart? With nowhere else to go, ex-con Carly Payton returns to the Lookout boardinghouse. Garrett Corbett is looking for an upstanding wife, not some jailbird. What will he do when overpowered by Carly’s unassuming appeal? Does love deserve a second look?

If you've read the first two books in this series, you'll want to see how they end up and this book nicely wraps up the stories. However, the author provides enough background to the other characters that you won't be lost if you didn't read the first two.

Currently Free Kindle History Book

2011-04-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

4/5/11

The Secret Holocaust Diaries
Nonna Bannister

An Eye for Glory

2011-04-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

The Healer's Apprentice

2011-04-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

Making Home Work: Interview with Author Anne Greene: Home

2011-04-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Free book drawing for a Historical Romance on my other blog this week. Check it out.

Making Home Work: Interview with Author Anne Greene: Home: "by Naomi Rawlings I'd like to welcome author Anne Greene to our blog. Anne will be back Wednesday as well, giving advice on how she manage..."

Currently Free Inspirational Historical on Kindle

2011-04-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

4/1/11
The Homecoming
Dan Walsh

The Edge of Light
Ann Shorey

Paper Roses
Ann Cabot

Editorial Anonymous: Sitting On Your Hands Is Never Part of Your Job

2011-03-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Editorial Anonymous: Sitting On Your Hands Is Never Part of Your Job: "I submitted some work to a major U.S. publisher almost a year ago. A few months later, I received a personalized, lengthy, warm email from ..."

BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency: It's Not You, It's Your Query

2011-03-31T12:02:00.000-07:00

BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency: It's Not You, It's Your Query: "I know this is something we’ve discussed before on this blog, but after (holy crap!) almost five years of blogging, there are bound to be th..."

Currently Free Inspirational Historical on Kindle

2011-03-22T23:32:00.000-07:00

Currently Free Kindle History Book

2011-03-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

Best Little Stories from the Civil War: More than 100 true stories

Get 75% Off Both Weiland's Books During Read an E-Book Week

2011-03-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

Get 75% Off Both K. M. Weiland's Books - Click Here for coupon, good until March 12, 2011.

A Western Historical and a Medieval Novel. Comes to being $1.25 with coupon.

The American Disregard for Words

2011-03-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

How important are words? The tongue is like a rudder that can change the course of a mighty ship. Words can destroy, or they can save.

How important is the Word of God? It can change lives, and It has.

But all I see is disrespect for words.

Children who talk back to adults or hurt people's feelings. Parents who don't chastise their children for the ill use of words. Careless facebook postings. Men who cuss in front of women. Adults who swear in front of children. Disregard for grammar and spelling. Dusty Bibles on shelves that are never opened. Popular song lyrics no one blinks at even if a young child hears or sings them. Impatient publishing of works not ready. Publishing because of an author's popularity rather than edification, beauty, or truth. People who never pick up a pen or use a keyboard when they have a phone. People who never read a newspaper or a book when they have TV or YouTube.

How blessed we are as a nation to have so many words. How dare we disregard them, degrade them, trash them. In a blink of an eye, they could be gone. In a slow ten years, the blessings could dissolve away.

But these people know the power of words; they desire the good that they can do; they respect their power--because for them, words are scarce.
What Does It Look Like to Receive the New Testament for the First Time?

Oh, that we wouldn't take the Word for granted. But we have. I'm afraid to know what the consequence will be.

How do we restore our respect, desire, and awe for words, especially those of a living God?

Currently Free Inspirational Fiction on Kindle

2011-03-02T20:59:00.001-08:00

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;lo&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>The Secret
(Seasons of Grace, Book 1)
Beverly Lewis

Somewhere to Belong
Judith Miller

She Walks in Beauty
Siri Mitchell

Michal: A Novel
Jill Eileen Smith

Love Me If You Must
(Patricia Amble Mystery Series #1)
Nicole Young

How to find Repetitive Words and Phrases

2011-02-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you have a fancy for a certain word in a chapter, but until a critique partner gets annoyed and points it out to you, you have no idea you're overusing it. If it's not a weasel word you search for normally, it may not have alerted you to its presence.

Here are three online tools to find words and phrases you overuse:

Word Frequency Counter

Phrase Frequency Counter

Wordle - shows most used words in a word cloud.

Sounds

2011-02-12T13:14:00.000-08:00

Downloadable Sound Effects

Royalty Free Sound Effects to listen to (like running water, screen doors, bottles breaking, etc. for your describing needs)

List of Animal Noise Words

Historic Organizations and Services

2011-02-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

Postal History - Found it useful to find that my town did not have a rural route set up yet in one of my books.

Word of Mouth - Lady in the Mist

2011-02-02T21:40:00.000-08:00

By virtue of her profession as a midwife, Tabitha Eckles is the keeper of many secrets: the names of fathers of illegitimate children, the level of love and harmony within many a marriage, and now the identity of a man who may have caused his wife's death. Dominick Cherrett is a man with his own secret to keep: namely, what he, a British nobleman, is doing on American soil working as a bondsman in the home of Mayor Kendall, a Southern gentleman with his eye on a higher office.

By chance one morning before the dawn has broken, Tabitha and Dominick cross paths on a misty beachhead, leading them on a twisted path through kidnappings, death threats, public disgrace, and . . . love? Can Tabitha trust Dominick? What might he be hiding? And can either of them find true love in a world that seems set against them?

I enjoyed the book, if the blurb sounds intriguing, definitely pick up a copy.

1870 Cookbooks listing the price of the food

2011-01-28T22:09:00.000-08:00

Found some cookbooks written by Juliet Corson for the average folks in America in the late 1870s. What is super neat is she writes the cost of the ingredients in the receipts. So you can figure how much a pound of flour cost in 1870 if you want to do a little math.

They are downloadable:

15 cent dinners for Workingmen's families

25 cent dinners for families of six

Family Living on $500 a year
Lots of information on how a household "should" be run.

Hero and Heroine in Total Conflict

2011-01-23T15:43:00.000-08:00

When I finish a book in my genre that impressed me enough that I wanted to learn how to write a story with similar qualities, as soon as I am done, I run through it and write up a mock scene list of the conflict presented.

The last one I did this to was Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist.

I learned something. Make every goal conflicted.

Every goal your Heroine has, make the Hero have the opposite.
And have them both have the same goal but both unable to attain it.
Then give the characters goal helpers and goal deflectors that call his/her goal into question.

The same goals keep them together as love interests, the opposite goals keep the "will they or won't they get together" story arc believable.

A similar goal in Maid to Match:
The characters both want to help orphans, but
Hero can't because he doesn't have the money and doesn't want to be tied to the town.
Heroine can't because she doesn't have the time or money and has job restraints.

An opposite goal in Maid to Match:
Hero wants to settle down, Heroine wants to be a career woman.

Helpers and Deflectors

Heroine goal: to be career woman
Helper: Mother agrees, Heroine believes she can help her orphans being a career woman, wants to be charitable
Deflector: Hero, brother, Things aren't happening like she thinks they should (plot conflict)

When I set up a new story now, I will be sure to look at my hero and heroine's goal and make sure I set up something to make each one of them unattainable (preferably the hero against the heroine kind of conflict), give them one they both want, but make sure they can't get it, and throw in some helpers and deflectors to play tug of war with my characters desire to attain their goals.

Contest by Mary DeMuth

2011-01-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Win the Sally Stuart market guide, a proposal tutorial, and a 5 page critique from Mary!

See her facebook page for how to do so. Good luck!

Welcoming a Writing Distraction into the House!

2010-12-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

This little guy just moved in to thwart my writing goals, but I'm ok with that. He was born Dec. 1st.

My goal now is to edit one chapter a week on manuscripts I already have done, may be an unattainable goal at present, but it's sure smaller than normal, but I don't want to put writing on the back burner.

NaNoWriMo Win - Baby can come anytime now!

2010-11-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

So, I decided to race the baby's arrival (due on Dec. 3) with getting another book under my belt to edit since I find that to be a lot easier than writing the rough draft. I chose a short one (Heartsong length) and joined NaNoWriMo which occurs every November. This is a challenge for anyone who wants to write 50,000 words in one month. And you win the "sticker" you see above if you do.

I did actually find it helpful. Why? Because I am super competitive, and I told people I was going to do it, so I didn't want to look like a loser. So I had to keep the numbers for each day above what I was supposed to have. I am sure without it there were several days I would have done something else instead of write. Now is it a spectacular draft? Absolutely not. I'm sure it could have been a better first draft if I went a bit slower, but I'm happy enough with a crummy first draft over a half decent one and a newborn.

So now, let the baby come!

Regency and Victorian Links

2010-11-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

Jane Austen's World - blog on the details of her world

The Regency Collection

Regency World

Lots of Regency Links

A bibliography of Regency Topic Books and sites

Jane Austen Centre Online Magazine

Food and Drink of Regency England

Regency Repository

Linore Burkard's Newsletter - Very Definitely worth signing up for

Victorian Dance Resources

Victorian Links

Victorian Passage

Victorian Costume Patterns

Victorian Names

Victorian History Blog

Word of Mouth - Master's Wall

2010-11-09T09:06:00.001-08:00

Hey blog readers, if you are interested in historicals set in the first century, think about buying this one. The author, Sandy Rog, the day this book came out (Nov. 1) learned she has T-cell Lymphoma Brain Cancer and is in the hospital now fairly critical. She can't promote her book. And her publisher has been generous to add $1 to her royalties for each book sold to help her with medical expenses. She has 4 kids.
Click on the book to go to Amazon or here directly to the publisher.

HE FIGHTS FOR HIS FREEDOM. SHE FIGHTS FOR HER LIFE. TOGETHER, THEY FIGHT FOR EACH OTHER. After watching Roman soldiers drag his parents away to their death, David, a young Hebrew, is sold and enslaved to serve at a villa outside of Rome. As David trains to become a skilled fighter, he works hard to please his master and hopes to earn his freedom. However, an opportunity to escape tempts him with its whispering call. Freedom beckons, but invisible chains hold him captive to the master's granddaughter, an innocent girl with a fiery spirit. David vows to protect Alethea from his master, the murderous patriarch, and contrives a daring plan—sacrifice his own life to save hers.

Historic Foods

2010-11-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

Historical Cookbooks - Feeding America

Food Timeline and History

Historic Uses of Herbs

Found some cookbooks written by Juliet Corson for the average folks in America in the late 1870s. What is super neat is she writes the cost of the ingredients in the receipts. So you can figure how much a pound of flour cost in 1870 if you want to do a little math.

15 cent dinners for Workingmen's families

25 cent dinners for families of six

Family Living on $500 a year

Emotion Thesaurus and others

2010-10-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Check out the blog: The Bookshelf Muse

On the right hand side is a whole bunch of "thesauruses."

The emotion thesaurus will give you a whole list of action tags for confusion, shame, etc.
The setting thesaurus will give you a 5 senses list for a bank, cave, etc.
The color, textures, shapes thesaurus will give you different ideas for describing black, fuzzy, etc.
The symbolism thesaurus will give you ideas for describing death, loss etc. with similes.

Word of Mouth - Masquerade Marriage

2010-10-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

What's so cool about this one? This is a critique partner's first published book. Yeah! I got to read the first two chapters and the last chapter before she sent it in, and I recall thinking about the two main characters several days later. Check it out if you like Historical Scottish Romances. Would love to help support her by directing readers her way.

A SECRET LIST... To protect his loved ones and escape the dark fate of his brothers, a noted warrior abandons his identity. Hiding from relentless soldiers who want him dead, Brody MacCaulay vows to protect the woman he loves more than life, more than freedom, more than Scotland. But his presence throws her into danger. A VOW HONORED... To escape an arranged marriage to an abusive noble, a Lowland Lady weds a stranger to save his life. But vows spoken do not make a marriage, especially when Megan MacMurry holds a different love inside her heart. A SACRIFICE MADE... Outlawed, and with a price on his head, Brody condemns himself to a life of heartbreak without Megan. Wanting her desperately, knowing he can't have her, he heads alone to certain death...

Free Kindle Books

2010-10-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

I don't have a Kindle but someone made mention of a book I was interested in and downloaded the Kindle application for the PC, then whenever you get one in the future, they will automatically move to the kindle I'm told.

But then I got sucked into looking through the free books. Some interesting books available for research, you might go into Amazon>Kindle Store>Books>History and then just sort by price lowest to high and all the free ones float to the top.

Or check this web site that updates the new books that aren't public domain that come up for free periodically.

Some interesting titles I picked up: (Have fun finding titles pertaining to your interest in history!)

An Englishman's Travels in America His Observations of Life and Manners in the Free and Slave States

Medieval People

A Journal of the Plague Year, written by a citizen who continued all the while in London

Manners, Custom, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period

And many more!

I actually purchased this one not to long ago and LOVED it:
Letters of a Woman Homesteader

Writing a Fiction Synopsis

2010-10-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, I wrote about the launchpad that got me to writing my first rough draft.

Now, I have to write a synopsis. If you try and google for samples or instructions, you won't find them easily. You'll find a lot of "they're hard to write, good luck!" and other such things that basically get you no further than where you were to begin with. Nathan Bransford's own comment on his post about writing a synopsis goes like this:

Commenter: Nathan, earlier you posted what you thought were good query letters. Could you do the same for a synopsis?

Nathan: I would like to, however I can't really share a synopsis from a client, because that sort of thing is confidential, and I haven't come across one online that I would recommend. So I don't think I'll be able to.

That right there almost made me give up, but I'm glad I clicked around just a bit more. I found my synopsis launching pad. By the way, if you don't follow Nathan Bransford's blog, you should.

Kathy Carmichael blessed me by putting up this little tutorial on writing a General Fiction Synopsis. I copied her questions into word and answered them. Once I did that, I had a really cruddy skeleton that I could work into a synopsis. Now whether it will end up any good or not, who knows, but I was able to start with some confidence.

This summary of a conference class given by ACFW gave me some more clues about how to write my synopsis to make it through a CBA acquisition meeting.

How to Start Writing Your Novel

2010-10-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

When I first wanted to start writing a book, I had the idea in my head, but the actual writing of it was daunting. So much so, I never started.

But one day, I was determined to start . . . if I could find some plan that would guarantee I wasn't just going to start writing and wander about aimlessly and never find the end. (Obviously, I am not a seat-of-the-pants writer.) But for some reason, an outline like what you write in high school didn't appeal either. And the thought of myriad notecards and postit notes all over my floor seemed too disorganized. So after some googling, I came across the snowflake. After reading Randy Ingarmanson's article on how to write a novel using the snowflake, I knew I had found my launchpad.

I started with only the first handful of steps before I got too eager to begin and did so. The next book, I decided going further with the snowflake would help me not have so many instances of writer's block, but I still don't go to the very end. I find this method very useful and hope if you land here from a google search trying to figure out how to start writing that book in your head, this link may help you out--it did for me.

Keeping your snowflake organized is easier if you use the software, but you can work without it if you don't have the money.

My First National Conference

2010-09-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I spent a lot of money I kept thinking should be spent on fixing our roof to fly off to Indianapolis for the ACFW conference. I'm about to have a baby and even though I didn't think I was ready enough to spend money on it, I figured it would probably be my last chance to attend one for several more years.

I'm glad I went. Not at first mind you, cried on the phone with the hubby lamenting that I had to go back downstairs and pick up a name tag, which means people with name tags would start talking to me. Crazy shy. But he's my cheerleader, so he convinced me I had to just do it. But then I turned into the weird one talking to people I knew from online or had met previously a long time ago, and after they nodded their head and warily answered me, they'd grab my name tag to see who on earth was talking to them like I knew them.

Being very pregnant and walking, standing or sitting in chairs so close together it was impossible not to touch the person next to you let alone move your tummy in a position of comfort with late night third trimester Charley Horses made me walk like a duck the whole time! Not the most physically easy week I've been through.

But I made some good friends.

And had some interest in my manuscript. I just ran through, polished, and rewrote the front in response to some good advice, and stepped out for the first time into possible rejection world. Looking forward to either reply. Acceptance of course would be lovely, but a rejection will make sure the government will be all right with my tax write offs because I'll have the proof that I'm a serious writer. But of course, I'm rooting on the acceptance letter as the neater proof of my seriousness. :)

If you haven't gone to a writing conference, even small local ones (I've attended two of those) are great for encouragement and advice and I highly recommend it. Plus the upside of not having to cook for several days won me over as well.