A Writer's Notion by Roseanna White

A Writer's Notions

by Roseanna M. White

I don't know about you, but I tend to make assumptions. Not just about people, but about the ways things are...and the way things were. For a historical writer, that can be dangerous, LOL.

Back in the day when writing was just fun, when it was my way of winding down and expressing pent-up emotions, I didn't always bother researching like I should. And that's okay, since it was just for me. But one of the reasons I sometimes let that slide was because I would find things that contradicted my assumptions...which changed my story...and I had no clue what to do with that.

Once I determined to write for publication, though, that laziness had to go. And when I found contradictory information, I had to learn how to integrate it into my plot. Sometimes it's a simple matter of tweaking this or that. It changes things, yes, but nothing huge. Other times, though...other times it affects the whole premise.

I ran into this in the early days of Ring of Secrets. When I got the first niggle of an idea to base a book around the historical Culper Ring, America's first spy ring and the most trusted intelligencers of George Washington during the Revolution, I had these ideas. And honestly, my first scratches of research bore it out. That they were low-tech action heroes. James Bond with earlier gadgets. Jason Bourne during the Revolution. I rubbed my hands together and though "Oo, this is going to be fun!"

Then I got down to the serious research. As in, reading books instead of 200-word articles online. And as this portion of research is for me, it frankly involved some disappointment. Because I read actual documentation of the Culper Ring, you know what I found? That these weren't super spies. They weren't even trained. They had no history with espionage, their codes were flawed, they had nothing to do with the biggest event of the Revolution--Benedict Arnold's capture--even though those websites had led me to believe they had, and all the things they did help with were fairly small to my way of thinking, and spread out over a year. That doesn't exactly qualify as high-action for a romantic suspense.

So as I read my primary research book, Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose, my mind had to churn through my whole premise again. Did I want to write this book in a new way? Did I want to let go of my assumptions? Could I write the book under the banner of the facts, or should I forget the historical basis and make up my own spy ring?

There was some waffling in my mind. Because at first, I really didn't like reality, LOL. But I have this deal I make with myself when writing historicals: facts are sacred, motivations are up for grabs. I never, ever let myself change actual history, the events recorded by observers. (Okay, so I might fudge the phase of the moon now and then, but I beg forgiveness for that, LOL.) But I do let myself alter why people did the things they did, figuring that historians are only guessing about the reasons anyway. Even when people record their motivations, are they always honest? Who knows. So I can do with those what I will. But here? Could I work within those parameters here?

I kept reading, and the more I read, the more I got a grasp on what would become my absolute favorite part of Ring of Secrets. The very thing that made me moan and groan became my new, better premise. Because I realized that I didn't need super-spies in my book. I needed people. Normal, everyday people who were doing something extraordinary. And that is what the Culper Ring turned out to be. They were sickly farmers, they were nervous shopkeepers, they were over-confident sailors and soldiers with absolutely no grasp on how to accomplish this task assigned to them. They were creative and inventive and determined...and terrified. 

And that, with this book as with many other I've written, turned out to be the most amazing thing. Because my assumptions tend to simplify things. My vision starts out so narrow. But when I embrace the facts and let go of my notions, I discover what God's vision had been at the time. And needless to say, His is so much richer. So much fuller. So much better than my imaginings. 

It's my prayer that Ring of Secrets can show readers just a portion of what the real, original Culper Ring accomplished during the Revolution. That they were people just like us who stepped up, who fell to their knees, who put aside their fears...and who changed history forever.

~*~

Roseanna M. White pens her novels under the Betsy Ross flag hanging above her desk, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When she isn’t writing fiction, she’s editing it for WhiteFire Publishing or reviewing it for the Christian Review of Books, both of which she co-founded with her husband. 

www.roseannawhite.com | www.facebook.com/roseanna.white | www.twitter.com/roseannamwhite

Order from Amazon | Order from B&N | Order from ChristianBook

Come back on Friday when Roseanna teams up with The Borrowed Book to give away a copy of her latest release!

Book Spotlight: The Moses Quilt

About the Book

"The Moses Quilt is a contemporary novel that bridges racial and generational divides. With a realistic and compassionate look into a twenty-first-century dilemma, multiple award-winning author Kathi Macias introduces readers to a confused and apprehensive young woman, Mazie Hartford. Facing major decisions about the love of her life and her future, she must also wrestle with a nagging question about her family's past. She finds the answer to her questions in a most unexpected way—her great-grandmother's Moses quilt. As her great-grandmother begins to explain how each patch represents a story of courage and freedom, Mazie must decide if she has the courage and freedom to overcome her own personal fears and prejudices."

Book Trailer

About the Author

"Kathi Macias is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 40 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences. She won the 2008 Member of the Year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) and was the 2011 Author of the Year from BooksandAuthors.net. Her novel set in China, Red Ink, was named Golden Scrolls 2011 Novel of the Year and was also a Carol Award Finalist; her October 2012 release, Unexpected Christmas Hero, was named 2012 Book of the Year by BookandAuthors.net. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband. You can find Kathi at www.kathimacias.com."

Want More?

• You can buy the book now at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, or Christianbook.com!

•  Check out all of the other stops on "The Moses Quilt Virtual Book Tour" by clicking the image below:

Read More

Sunday Devotional: The Former Days

“I suppose I shouldn’t look back,” my friend said, reminiscing about skiing with her husband in the early years of her marriage—something that, years later, seems a foolish indulgence. Ministry, family, financial pressures all combine to make her older, her outlook wiser and more realistic ...

Or is it?

I thought about her words for a moment. “Why not? I asked. “Be glad you have those memories to look back on.”

Am I suggesting she waste valuable time mooning over a past that she can’t bring back? Absolutely not. There’s a balance to be struck, after all. “Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’” Solomon admonishes in Ecclesiastes. We do ourselves no favors to be so mired in the past we can’t function in the present.

On the other hand, our past and our memories of it are exactly that—ours. They’re part of the fabric of who we are, another element in the tapestry that God promises He will work together for our good.

I wonder if it isn’t time for us to stop feeling guilty about where our pasts have led us.

If it was sin, then call it so—lay it before God and move on. But the blessings we enjoyed? Wouldn’t it be better to do as the recent worship song says, take every blessing He's poured out and offer it in praise?

And not only for past blessings, but present ones.

“When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God....lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up....then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth ...” (Deuteronomy 7:10-14, 17-18)

The last thing any of us wants is to be in a place down the road where we are asking ourselves, Why were the former days better...? I don’t believe in a prosperity gospel or in formulas that guarantee desired outcomes of our Christian life. But could it be that it’s the practice of reveling in God who is blessing us, and not just in the blessings themselves, that keeps us in the place of blessing? Or that God brings us to those places of dryness to make us lift our heads and remember that all blessings are from His hand, whether past or present?

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the LORD.
...Shall we indeed accept good from God,
and shall we not accept adversity?”
In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 1:21, 2:10)

Read More

Winners!!

Happy Saturday, BB fans! Thanks to everyone who participated in our "puzzling" Friday giveaway! Keep all those facebook and Twitter notifications, coming!

This week's winner is Wendy Newcomb - The Lesson by Susan Woods Fisher! 

Congratulations, Wendy! Thank you all so much for stopping by The Borrowed Book!

Read More

Weekly Drawing

It's Fun Friday at The Borrowed Book!

To enter:

Leave the time it took you to complete the puzzle in the comments section as well as your email address for notifying you if you've won. Winners will be drawn from ALL of the times, so the person with the fastest time may not be the actual winner, but by leaving your time, you double your chances.

Want another entry? Tweet your puzzle time and mention The Borrowed Book, get another entry. RETWEET our Tweet, get two entries!

Post your puzzle time on BB's Facebook wall and...you guessed it...get another entry!

Post it on your OWN Facebook wall and you could get as many as FIVE entries.

It's all a way to spread the word about the great giveaways on BB. So c'mon! Help us spread the word, and have a little fun at the same time. :-)

This week's puzzle feature is brought to you by Susan Woods Fisher and her newest release, The Lesson.

Read More

Suzanne Woods Fisher: The World I Write In

My office is a little tiny laundry room. It’s so narrow that if someone wants to use the washer or dryer, my chair gets bumped as they pass. (A good excuse for typos!)

People think I’m crazy, that I should move into a bigger space and spread out. Especially, they point out, as my children have gone to college and space is freeing up. It does seem crazy—I have typed fourteen novels in this laundry room and I host a weekly radio show in it.

But I just can’t seem to move. I’ve tried a couple of times and find myself migrating back to the laundry room.

One of the reasons is very practical: the laundry room is in the heart of the house, right off the kitchen, so I can jump up and get the phone, get dinner started, answer the door. The laundry room is painfully short on horizontal surface space, I admit, but it is valuable real estate.

There’s another reason that is harder to explain.

Years ago, when I took the plunge and decided to write a novel, I kept it a secret. I spent four months in that little laundry room, quietly typing away. I didn’t tell anyone I was writing a novel. Not my husband, not my sister, not my children, not a single friend. When I was done with the first draft (remember—the first draft is the ugly draft), I made an announcement at the dinner table one evening. “I wrote a novel,” I proudly said.

My sons, who are so extremely sensitive, looked at each other and said, “That’s why there’s no food in this house!” True story.

I’m getting sidetracked. Like usual.

Fast forward a year or two. One Monday afternoon, the doorbell rang and set the dogs off on their typical bark-fest (Labrador retrievers take greeting responsibilities very seriously). I opened the door to the UPS delivery guy. He was grinning ear-to-ear. Next to him…were six stacked boxes of books.

My first published novel.

The laundry room is off the kitchen, but if you were to look at the footprint of our house, it’s actually situated only a few yards away from the front door. I’ll never forget, as I held my first novel in my hands, with that fresh-from-the-printer-y smell, the realization that it all started in that tiny laundry room, with an idea. It traveled to an agent, to editors, back with zillions of rejection letters, at long last, back came an acceptance, then revisions to the manuscript, back and forth with the editor. And here it was, back home again in another form. What a long journey!

And that’s why my office will stay in the laundry room. It just…works.

Suzanne will be giving away a copy of her latest release, The Lesson, on Friday. Be sure to stop by The Borrowed Book for your chance to win!

Read More

Did You Know? ~ Sewing Machines-Introduction

I began sewing many of my own clothes when I was 14. Using the family sewing machine, I stitched my way through high school, making my prom dresses, as well as everyday clothes. But it wasn’t until 1978, when I was 21, that I finally got my own machine, a Kenmore from the Sears Outlet Store. I loved that machine. Over the next 22 years, I used it constantly, sewing clothes for me, my daughter, and her dolls. I learned to quilt, discovering a whole new sewing hobby.  
 
But in 2000 my life was turned upside down. In years following I lost the joy I’d once found in many things, including sewing. I put my machine away, along with my stash of quilting fabric. I wondered if I would ever return to sewing or if it was something gone forever.

Then a couple months ago my stepdaughter and husband needed their pants hemmed—again. I was tired of doing it by hand so I dug out the old Kenmore. And in that simple task, I rediscovered my sewing joy. . .that peaceful feeling I used to experience when the sewing machine hummed.

Glorious day! I was ready to sew again. Unfortunately, my Kenmore wasn’t. It had grown cranky from age and neglect. Perhaps, I thought, the time had come for a new machine. And so I blithely began shopping only to discover the space age of sewing. Wow! Things have changed. Sewing machines are computer driven and do things easily that used to be so hard, like making button holes. The choices are confusing. I felt like my grandmother must have felt when she went from her old treadle machine to an electric sewing machine.

But in the midst of all this sewing machine brouhaha, I began to wonder when the first sewing machine was invented and by whom. As usual, I uncovered some interesting facts, but I’ll have to wait until next week to share those with our readers since my introduction to this topic was so wordy.

Next week. . .sewing machine patent wars.

Read More