WAS LIFE SIMPLER BACK THEN?

The novel I am currently writing is set in Chevy Chase, Maryland and a little village in the western part of the state beginning in 1908. The working title is 'Between the Shadows' taken from two lines in the book. 

 A view from Louisa's bedroom window.
The way the tree outside quivered in the breeze caused the light to tremble between the shadows.

 Louisa speaking to Jackson, the hero, about how the light plays prisms through the crystal chandelier in the foyer.
“Yes, I believe that is what it is called. I love the way it casts colors between the shadows.”

In order to saturate myself into the era, I've been reading and watching everything I can find to fit the storyline in order to build a mental image of life in the early 1900s.

The period is referred to as the Edwardian in England and the Gilded Age in America. For the wealthy, life was opulent on both sides of the Atlantic, but with different attitudes and standards. Many an English estate was cash poor. Whereas in the US estates were both land and investment rich, and women could inherit, as viewers have seen in the series Downton Abby.

I cannot say life was simpler in those days. The life expectancy was shorter, disease more rampant and life-threaten such as the influenza breakouts. My great great grandmother succumbed to one of those. Child mortality and women dying in childbirth was also higher. Women and minorities were treated as second class citizens. Children worked in dirty factories, and orphans were castoffs.

But on a positive note, the clothes were beautiful and feminine. Men valued a handshake and their word. People went to church on Sundays, and ministers preached the Bible, not self-help sermons. Morals were valued. Women gained the vote. The first Mother's Day was celebrated in 1908, and baseball became America's pastime.

As I am writing 'Between the Shadows', I find myself transported back to a place I visited often in my childhood. I had a great aunt and second cousin that lived in a grand house in Chevy Chase, and my father would take us over to visit when we were kids. From the foyer was a staircase leading upstairs. It was closed off and we were not allowed to go explore the upper story. I wanted to so badly. Instead I imagined bedrooms with antique furniture, poster beds, Persian carpets, and marble fireplaces. I can recall the ride down Connecticut Avenue, the estate houses lining the road, the country club on the right.

'Between the Shadows' will be romantic fiction, a story of love between two different classes of people, and their challenges to accept and hold on to that love. 

How do you imagine the Gilded Age? Would your life have been better or worse off, shorter, poorer or richer? Was life simpler back then?

WRITER, DON'T GIVE UP

Scenario.

You've written a proposal and started writing. You are immersed in the characters and the storyline of this new novel. You've gotten 30,000 words into it. But you've gotten  'no' from publishers your agent submitted to. Maybe there are a couple that have not replied back, but it's been months. Do you finish this book you love? Or do you dump it and try to come up with something else hoping to get a contract?


I'm currently writing an Edwardian era novel without a contract. I love this story and my hero and heroine. This is a new era for me. I've loved the research -- the clothes, culture, innovations, the changes from a more rural relaxed life to a more modern urban one. The first book in this series takes place in Chevy Chase, MD, a then budding suburb of Washington DC. The story will then move to a small village way out in the mountains of western Maryland near the Savage River. It is a lovestory between two people of opposite natures, upbringings, and lifestyles. It's also about the love and compassion for orphans, for a down syndrome child, for the elderly, and the poor.

I hear you. What publisher would not want to contract a book like that?  

I can't abandon these characters that I've come to know so intimately.  I've had readers ask me when the book is going to come out, that they are excited I'm writing a romance in this era. I tell them, 'no contract yet'. My heart is being poured into this story like no other. If you saw the main characters and the storyline, you'd know why. Often it has become my escape from the worrisome world around me. I'm drawn back to another place and time, and into the minds of two people who fall desperately in love with each other, and committed to the lot God hands them.

If I shelf it, I know I'll lose something in the process. This is a writer's life. The business side is something else altogether. It is about sales, money, profit. For the writer it is our life's blood, our hearts, the air we breath. We have to write, no matter what. We keep on writing, and for those of us who are believers we keep trusting the One who gave us the gift of writing.

I'm trusting God on this project, even though I've gotten rejections. He will place it where it needs to be. I've been told I'm one of the hardest working authors in the Christian industry, that I'm easy to work with, and meticulous. Yes, I agree I am those things. And I'm patient. In God's good time this book, this series will be written and be in my readers' hands.

Writers have to be diligent in their work and patient in order to keep going. We face rejection and disappointment, that our writing has to be the thing that holds us up, that and faith. In the midst of all this there is great joy. Joy in a story unfolding that never was before. Joy in sharing it with others. Joy hearing from someone who read the story how it changed their lives. The sweetest thing I ever read in a review was a woman said after she finished reading Before the Scarlet Dawn, she went into her little girls and hugged them while they slept, being thankful to have them.


So, author. What do you do in a situation like this? You've gotten rejections. Do you finish this book you love? Or do you dump it and try to come up with something else hoping to get a contract? You finish it! You keep believing one day that book will find a place. It could be a diamond in the rough that later, maybe years later, you bring out and polish to a high sheen. Just don't give in or give up.

Bringing back to your readers your out of print novels.

Ever hear the saying ‘take the bull by the horns’? Sometimes you have to do just that in order to make your dreams a reality. This post is about publishing a backlist of books that have gone out of print with your rights reverted back to you. Remember it is your career…no one else’s. It takes a tough skin in this business and you have to have initiative and passion to make it happen. No matter what rejections or delays come your way, know this—your out of print books do not have to languish in obscurity.

Back in the early 1990s, I began writing after my cousin, a world famous romance writer, handed me one of her books. I read it and the desire to write stories rekindled in my being. First I wrote a novella, just to see what I could do. Then I wrote my first full-length novel, and I was so wet behind the ears that I had no idea about word count and ended up with a 150,000-word manuscript. 

In 2001, The Rebel’s Pledge went to a print on demand company, and was out of print by 2005. I went on to write and publish six more novels, and in the summer of 2011, I set out to revise The Rebel’s Pledge according to publishers’ guidelines, but had to set it aside for a time to work on The Daughters of the Potomac Series. My then agent presented the idea of publishing my backlist of books, three in total, to Kindle and CreateSpace, since I now have a following of readers. When I discovered that well known authors, such as Robin Lee Hatcher, Kathi Macias, MaryLu Tyndall, and Lena Dooley,  were reissuing their out of print novels, I was even more intrigued. 

Late in the spring of 2012, I finished my revisions and tightened up the book to 93,000 words. I decided to go ahead with it, with the help of my husband Paul. He uploaded and formatted the file. My son designed the cover. When I found a Charles I gown on a website made by a UK designer, I emailed her and asked for her permission to use the gown on the cover. She was more than happy to oblige, and I gave her credit in the book. 

Now, with Kindle they have templates you can use that will upload your title onto the one you choose.

One piece of advice. Before you approve your Kindle copy, upload the book to Create Space for paperback. Order a review copy, and check your front and back cover, and inside layout. Sit down with red pen in hand and carefully read through your hardcopy, circling anything you want to change. You can go back to your book and make corrections before you approve it.

Here are the nuts and bolts of Amazon Kindle. Authors upload their book, cover, and go through the steps toward approving their book for Kindle. They set the price, although with Kindle Publishing Select there is a low and high end price you can go. You own all the rights but with KPS you keep your ebook version exclusive to Amazon Kindle. Authors received a 70% royalty. Amazon has the Lending Library, and for each time your book is acquired through LL, you receive a royalty depending on the amount Amazon has in an overall pot and how many books are loaned out that month. Authors are given a 90-day window to belong to KDP Select. During that time, you are given 5 days to offer your ebook for free. What? Give it away? That’s right. Your ebook will get into the hands of hundreds, maybe thousands of readers. You have a greater chance readers will want your other books. The Rebel’s Pledge hit the bestsellers list in its genre through this program. 

I am now exploring Amazon’s audio book program. It would be thrilling to have an audio version of The Rebel’s Pledge. It is astounding to me but the ebook version of The Rebel’s Pledge is out selling my other novels. It could be the price and word of mouth. It's only 2.99. Who knows?

More Christmas Cookies

Here's a fun Christmas cookie recipe. Chocolate Meltaway Brownie Bites!

If you have a book club, these would be a hit served with hot chocolate.

From Hershey's Kitchens
https://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipe-details.aspx?id=8608&name=Chocolate-Meltaway-Brownie-Bites#

Comfort Food for Writers & Readers

Hershey's Peanut Butter Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1-1/4 cups chopped pecans or walnuts, divided
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
• 1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, melted*

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2 baking pan.
2. 2 Combine melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl; beat well. Add flour, cocoa and milk; beat until blended. Stir in 1 cup nuts. Pour into prepared pan.
3. 3 Bake 25 to 30 minutes or just until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Melt 1/2 cup butter and peanut butter chips in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Add sweetened condensed milk, stirring until smooth; pour over baked layer.
4. 4 Place chocolate chips in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 45 seconds; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, just until chips are melted when stirred. Drizzle bars with melted chocolate; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup nuts. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Cut into bars. Cover; refrigerate leftover bars. About 36 bars.

You can find this recipe here: 
http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipe-details.aspx?id=3336&name=Peanut-Butter-Fudge-Brownie-Bars#share_modal

A Review by Brenda Hurley for Before the Scarlet Dawn,

"Before the Scarlet Dawn" is the first book in 'The Daughters of the Potomac Series'. The story begins in Derbyshire, England, in 1775. Eliza Bloom's father, a Vicar, is on his deathbed. The love between him and his daughter is a true Christian love, both unconditional and deep.

Immediately following his death, Eliza is evicted from the only home she has even known. Meeting up with a childhood acquaintance, but now a grown man, Hayward Morgan catches Eliza's eye and heart. However, Hayward is prejudiced against Eliza's social standing, and believes she is 'beneath his station' in life. He knows that Eliza is beautiful in outward appearance, but she also possesses a beautiful and strong-willed inner spirit.

Through a turn of events, Hayward marries Eliza. Traveling with her devoted maid Fiona (who is like a mother and friend to Eliza), the three travel together to Maryland in America, to begin life anew in the vast wilderness and colonies.

Eliza eventually gives birth to a precious daughter, Darcy, whom she loves dearly along with Hayward. Eliza wants nothing more than for Hayward to actually "say" the words 'I love you', aloud. But from his domineering and cruel father, he learned NEVER to say those words to any woman, nor to announce any sentimental feelings -- as that would surely be considered a sign of weakness. His father taught him that -- 'man is the master, and to be obeyed', and woman the door-mat. And now, being a proud, prejudiced and stubborn individual, Hayward can only love Eliza's outer beauty. As to loving the person she is on the 'inside', his love is conditional and hardened toward her -- to prove he is 'the man' of the household, and, in control.

When Hayward goes off to War to be a Patriot, the days turn into several years. Eliza never stops loving Hayward with everything in her, hoping that both patience and time will win him over to saying he loves her. Many hardships come along in his absence though -- trials, ordeals, terror, and losses. But also comes along the neighbour Halston, who is more than willing to help the ladies out through these various trials and ordeals -- while showing and expressing his true inner feelings without shame.

Learning of Hayward's eventual death, Eliza in a weakened state of heart and mind, a time of devastation from extreme loneliness and despair -- turns to Halston's open arms ... to be consoled and comforted.
Later, it is learned that Hayward did not die in the War, and he returns home. Eliza has to live with her shame and deceit, until eventually Hayward guesses her secret.

In shame, anger and unforgiveness ... he sends her away from their home, away from their daughter, and back to England. Although Eliza begs and begs for Hawyard to forgive her, he cannot break the walls of pain, ice, and hardness around his prideful heart.

Eliza, so filled with her grief and guilt, searches for a new life. And mostly, for forgiveness. Can she once again find it ? Can God forgive her, and restore her heart to peace and contentment ? Will she "let go, and, let God" heal her ?

If you have ever struggled with being forgiven, then this book is for you. Read on to find out what happens in this exciting saga -- where you will identify with -- life's -- battles, hardships, pain, and even .... overcoming.