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 Stephanie Landsem, and her newest release, The Well.

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The Writing Life: A Peek Into My Office, by Stephanie Landsem

I didn’t always have a great writing space in my house. My husband worked from home most of the time and the office was his domain. Therefore, most of The Well was written on the dining room table, in coffee shops, or while waiting on kids at guitar lessons or karate class.

Then, my husband moved out. Don’t worry, he still lives with us. But now he has a shiny new office in town and I have a whole room just for me. Of course it has the basics: a desk, a laptop, bookshelves overflowing with writing manuals and research books. But it also has four items that I’ve found make my writing days more (ahem) productive:

Kettlebells: Writing means sitting. Butt in Chair and Hands on Keyboard sometimes means atrophied muscles and a bottom that starts to resemble the contours of my office chair. My kettlebell is the antidote to mid-afternoon slump. About twenty swings and my heart rate skyrockets, my brain gets a jumpstart, and I’m ready to get back to work.

Kouch: Sometimes, the kettlebell doesn’t look all that appealing. Then, I convince myself that if I just stretch out on the couch, I can do my research more comfortably. Twenty minutes later, I wake up refreshed and ready to go back to my desk.

Kitties: Unless the three amigos of our household decide that they, too, are in need of a nap. Then they

A view from my office

climb up and start to purr, making it impossible to get back to work for at least an hour.

Kids: Of course, what writing den would be complete without kids? Especially in the summer, I’ll hear the door creak open and one of the girls will ask ‘what’s for lunch?’ Or my teenage boys will start band practice with their buddies. So when the vent beside me amplifies the cymbals crashing in the basement band room, I plug in my earbuds and get back to work.

Even with the less productive aspects of my office, nothing beats working at home—no commute, no dressing up, and I make my own hours. But here’s the best part: after I’ve done my research, pounded out my wordcount, and checked in on Facebook and Twitter, I can close that office door behind me, have lunch with my girls, and listen to the band.

Stephanie Landsem writes historical fiction because she loves adventure in far-off times and places. In real life, she’s explored ancient ruins, medieval castles, and majestic cathedrals around the world. Stephanie is equally happy at home in Minnesota with her husband, four children, and three fat cats.  When she’s not writing, she’s feeding the ravenous horde, avoiding housework, and dreaming about her next adventure—whether it be in person or on the page.

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow, when you can enter to win a free copy of her debut historical novel, The Well!

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Did You Know? ~ Defininitions of Olde Cooking Words

In previous blog articles I've included recipes from the First American Cook Book 1796. I mentioned a few ingredients that I had to look up, and I thought a list of olde cooking terms might be in order. This list of words I've come across and is not by any means complete. If any of our readers have more to add, I'd love to hear from you.

Bullace - a wild plum
Custard kettle - double boiler
Dutch Oven - iron kettle on three legs with flat bottom and heavy iron lid
Emptins - an American term for the English "ale yeast"
Fair - to describe water as clean, pure.
Firkin - small wooden canister used for butter or lard
Frowy - stale, sour
Furmenty - food mad of wheat boiled in milk
Gallipot - small glazed earthen pot
Gem iron or pan - muffin tin
Gridiron- a grated iron utensil used for broiling meat over coals
Haslet - edible innards of an animal use for roasting (heart, liver, etc.)

Lade - to load using a ladle or scoop
Loaf sugar - refined sugar that has been formed into a conical mold
Pannikin - small pan
Pearlash - a baking powder-type substance made from ash
Race - a root
Saleratus - sodium bicarbonate ( baking soda)
Slack - moderate heat
Stive - to pack tightly
Tree Sweetnin' - maple syrup
Wallop - to boil, motion made by rapidly boiling



 

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Doing What I Love by Author Stephanie Landsem

Before we begin, we have exciting news! You can come back on Friday for a chance to win a copy of Stephanie's latest release. Think, summer reading.

And now, this is what Stephanie wanted to share. . . 

I didn’t start out wanting to write historical fiction. In high school and my first year of college, I loved science and knew—just knew—that was what I wanted to study.   Then, I took my first history class. I left that classroom like a love-struck teenager. 

I took another, just for fun, and by my sophomore year, I knew I couldn’t deny my true love anymore. I called my dad and told him I wanted to change my major to history. 

Dad, a man of few words, didn’t say what I knew he was thinking. What kind of job can a history major get? No, what he said was, “Do you love it?” And I answered, “Yes, I really love it.” After a long silence, in which I’m sure he was wondering if I’d be moving back in with him and Mom in three years, he said. “Then do it. Worry about the rest as it comes.”

And so I gleefully changed my major from Chemistry to History and paged through the course catalog, trying to decide between classes on the early Russian Empire, ancient Greece, or medieval Europe. So many choices, and only three years to cram them all in.

With my debut historical fiction, The Well, releasing in June, I find myself amazed that I can sit down every day and do what I love the best.  And whether I’m plotting, writing a rough draft, or fine-tuning a manuscript, whenever I get stuck or can’t seem to get something just right, I go back to my true love—history—and always end up inspired.

Plotting

When I’m looking for a story idea, writing a synopsis, or outlining a plot, I remind myself that the story is in the history. My imagination might supply the details, the dialogue, and most of the characters, but the real story is already there, just waiting to be discovered in historical texts, scholarly works, and—in the case of The Well—the pages of the Bible. 

Time and again, I’ve discovered that actual events are more riveting than anything I can pull from my imagination. Much of the story in The Well came from scholarly commentary on the Bible and my research into Samaritan history.

Rough Draft

When I’m writing the rough draft and find myself with a lackluster chapter, I go back to my research.  Invariably, I find something fascinating that I can work into the story: a new setting or a historic tidbit that can move the story foreword and immerse the reader in the setting. 

While writing The Well, I went back to the Bible and my documents on Samaritan history and came away with new details that made the story shine.

Editing

Sometimes editing can get tough. I get bogged down in the details, frustrated, and know I’m too close to my material to see the flaws. That’s when I start looking at pictures. Photos of ancient ruins, paintings, and pictures of artifacts re-invigorate my sluggish brain and get me back on track.

For The Well, I started a Pinterest board of the many photos that I found in my research, and often went back to them for inspiration.

Whenever I get stuck in writing—and it happens pretty often—I always turn back to history and, so far, my true love has always come through.

Stephanie Landsem writes historical fiction because she loves adventure in far-off times and places. In real life, she’s explored ancient ruins, medieval castles, and majestic cathedrals around the world. Stephanie is equally happy at home in Minnesota with her husband, four children, and three fat cats.  When she’s not writing, she’s feeding the ravenous horde, avoiding housework, and dreaming about her next adventure—whether it be in person or on the page.

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Romance Book Spotlight ~ Love's Miracles

I had the pleasure of helping Sandra Leesmith prepare this book for re-release, and I'm excited to have been a part of this journey! Check out my awesome client and Love's Miracles (with its beautiful new cover, designed by Lena Goldfinch) below: 

About the Book

"Dr. Margo Devaull came to Dominic Zanelli's mountain retreat confident that she could help this Vietnam veteran overcome the torment that kept him apart from the world. But her training as a psychologist had not prepared her for the tragic, explosive contradictions brewing inside him. For here was a sensitive artist who could be gentle – and a man whose eyes flashed with violence and pain when he told her to leave and never come back. Yet Margo did come back, slowly gain his trust, and awaken the sleeping needs of his heart. Only by reliving her own wounded past and helping Zane confront a terrible memory from the war could she set them both free – and save their last chance for love."

About the Author

"Sandra loves to hike, read, bicycle, and write. She lives in Arizona with her husband and a Labrador retriever. During the hot summer, she and her husband travel throughout the United States in their motorhome, where she enjoys the outdoors and finds wonderful ideas for her next writing project. You can learn more about Sandra and her books at www.sandraleesmith.com."

Want More?

• You can add the book on Goodreads!

• In honor of Memorial Day weekend and the book's re-release in Kindle format, you can get the book for FREE! The promo ends tonight (the evening of May 27th), so don't wait to snag a copy! If you miss it, it will only be $2.99 after that, so you'll still get a great deal. :)

• This book is currently on tour in the blogosphere - check out the schedule, the special giveaway, and more HERE! Today's stop is Bluerose's Heart. 

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Sunday Devotional: To Praise the Beauty of Holiness

The king receives the news: “Your enemies are coming. There’s a huge army amassed and it’s on its way.”

He knew they didn’t have the military strength to defend their nation. There was no time to call on their allies.

So what did he do? He hit his knees—then he called for the entire nation to fast and pray with him.

“O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? ⁷ Are You not our God ...  ¹⁰ And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir ...¹² O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

The whole nation was gathered there, before the Lord at His temple, to show their desperation for God’s intervention.

The word they received was surprising. Don’t be afraid! This battle isn’t yours to fight. Go down to meet the invaders tomorrow—here’s where they’re sure to cross. You’ll find them at a particular place, but when you get there, just stand and watch God work.

Well, huh. Would that be the advice you’d expect God to give? I’m sure the king expected something more like, “Gather your best warriors and ...” Or did he think of the long-ago story of Gideon, who defeated an army with the noise and light from shofars and torches, and hope deep in his heart for a similar intervention?

Whatever it was, the king took it a step further—and not only did he order the army to march down to the appointed location, but he set the best of their musicians and singers to the front, and instructed them to “sing to the Lord,” while others were to praise “the beauty of holiness.”

Early the next morning they went.

And then what happened?

²² Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. ²³ For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.

Could it be that worship was what triggered God’s power in this situation? Or at least that God wanted to make a point about the importance of praising Him?

In our own lives, events can blindside us and leave us feeling completely helpless. It seems a no-brainer that our reaction should be to go to God ... but turning our desperation into praise can feel completely alien. Yet almost without fail, every Psalm that begins with crying out to God ends with an expression of trust and worship.

We talk of God being worthy of praise, but it’s true—no one else is more worthy than He. Only He is God ... only He is holy and good, only He is all knowing and all powerful and all loving. Perhaps it’s more that focusing on who He is frees our hearts and minds from the grip of whatever struggle we’re engaged in, than enabling God to work. Whatever, praise is a powerful tool in those situations where we feel most trapped.

God may not deliver us the way He did Jehoshaphat, that king of old—or Gideon—but we never know. He just might.

²⁶ And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day. ²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. ²⁹ And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around. (2 Chronicles 20, NKJV)

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“Undeniably Yours” by Becky Wade | Kindle Fire Giveaway and 5/29 Facebook Party!

Becky Wade is celebrating her latest swoon-worthy novel, Undeniably Yours (Bethany House), with a Kindle Fire giveaway and hosting an Author Chat party on Facebook {5/29}!

One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire
• Undeniably Yours and My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on May 28th. Winner will be announced at the "Undeniably Yours" Facebook Author Chat Party on May 29th. Connect with Becky for an evening of book chat, trivia, laughter, and more! Becky will also share an exclusive look at her next book and give away books and other fun prizes throughout the evening.

So grab your copy of Undeniably Yours and join Becky on the evening of May 29th for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 29th!

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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:

Elaine K - A Heartbeat Away by S. Dionne Moore.

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

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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 S. Dionne Moore, and her newest release, A Heartbeat Away.

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Got Popcorn? We Have a Video

We're excited about a new release this month by our own S. Dionne Moore.

A Heartbeat Away is a civil war romance that takes place in Sharpsburg, Maryland. This is right near her home turf, the beautiful Cumberland Valley in South Central Pennsylvania.

The book is Sandra's eleventh title altogether (three of which have been Carol Award finalists), and the seventh in the Quilts of Love series by Abingdon Press.  Her other books include the three very fun Latisha Barnhart mysteries as well as seven historical romances set in Pennsylvania and Wyoming. Interested? Check them out here on her website.

But before you do that, we've got a special treat for you: a trailer for Sandra's new book:


       
AHeartbeatAway - Medium from S. Dionne Moore on Vimeo.

Make sure to stop by tomorrow to enter to win a free copy of A Heartbeat Away!

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The Mystery of Baby Mabel

This blog article is recycled from one of the first blog articles I wrote for The Borrowed Book. I hope our readers don't mind a re-run of sorts. We had family come into town that I hadn't seen in years, and my writing time got eaten up with hours of yakking.We shared so many memories, and some of them are family mysteries we will never solve because the people involved are long gone. 

 

But that reminded me of this family mystery that I was able to solve a year and a half ago--The Mystery of the Death of Mabel. 

Approximately twenty years ago, my grandmother and I were going through a box of old photos. I came upon one picture of a baby (see photo), and my Grandmother said, “That was Mabel. She was born two years before me and died when she was eight months old.”

“How did she die?” I asked.

My grandmother shrugged and said, “Something called phantom.”

I questioned her further, but she remembered nothing else. No clues to find out what this disease or illness was. I assumed the word phantom was her interpretation of something she’d heard as a child. Kids often hear words wrong.

My grandmother died a few years after that discussion. With her passing, I lost the only person who remembered little Mabel. I entered her into my family tree, then wrote down the few facts I knew on the back of the cardboard picture and tucked it into my genealogy notebook.

Forward about ten years. . .

I got a computer and internet access, and tried to research the disease. I used the spellings “phantom,” “fantum,” and “fantom,” but found nothing in the online lists of old diseases available at that time. Eventually I stopped looking, and Mabel’s memory and her picture were once again relegated to my genealogy notebook.

Forward to the present. . .

My husband and I were watching Marshall Dillon (the show that preceded Gunsmoke) on the Western Channel, as we do every evening lately—him on the couch, and me in the chair with my computer in my lap. During this broadcast, Doc Adams diagnosed a cowboy with “brain fever.”

What exactly was brain fever? I wondered. I’d heard of it before, but didn’t know the details. So, I Googled it. One thing led to another, as often happens with internet exploration, and I found one site that contained a long list of old-timey diseases and the modern disease equivalents.

( http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/English/EnglishC.htm )

Out of curiosity, I glanced down the list. That’s when I discovered what probably happened to Mabel.

Cholera Infantum. In all likelihood, as a youngster, my grandmother heard about Mabel’s death, and her child’s mind remembered only the last portion of the disease. . .fantum. Now I have a likely cause of death to put in my photo album with Mabel’s picture. 

Cholera infantum isn’t related to cholera at all, but the symptoms are similar. It was a ruthless, brutal summertime killer of babies. I’m not sure where the word infantum comes from. Maybe from the Latin word infantia, which means infancy?

I feel fortunate to have stumbled upon the answer to Mabel's death. I can imagine my grandmother's reaction if she were still alive. She'd perch on the edge of her chair, eyes, sparkling, and listen to me. 

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The Myth of Writer's Block by Author S. Dionne Moore

        I hate to say this, but writer’s block might just be another way of saying “undisciplined.” It’s hard to write when the words aren’t flowing. I’ve been to that store and shopped in their gift store. Those days feel like walking through heavy, wet snow, at least 12” inches deep in the blowing, frigid wind, with a wind chill factor of 0 degrees. Getting the picture?             
       The point is no one likes hard days. We want everyday to be a 2500 word count goal accomplished-within-3-hours type of day. But life just doesn’t work like that, and as creatures prone to emotion, we often find ourselves unproductive not because we can’t be productive, but because it’s easier not to be. 

Ask anyone who writes for a living, with multiple deadlines, and they will tell you that they don’t have time for writer’s block. These are the people who will be productive and make progress consistently. They are also those who new or young writers will hold in awe. “You do 2500 words a day? I wish I could do that.” Well, you can. There is no secret to breaking through writer’s block except just doing it. Sitting your soft spot in a chair, focusing on your story, and tapping out the words, one sentence at a time. 

The process of writing a marketable product doesn’t come magically but only with experience. The more you write and participate in classes on writing--absorbing the subject as a whole--the more honed your storytelling will become. You begin to understand the connection between backstory and characterization, as well as the power of defining goal, motivation and conflict before you start. Does this do away with seat-of-the-pants writing? No, absolutely not, but it is much easier to stay within the parameters of your story when you have built the framework for the character’s journey ahead of time.

Many times a writer becomes discouraged one-third of the way into writing the story and claims writer’s block, but those are the times your subconscious is probably turning you back toward your GMC and synopsis. Exploring these outlines often hold the key to the reason why the story has become derailed. This is why you need this backbone--a synopsis--pounded out before you begin writing. It will save you from deleting a lot of words. And it will become the map you use to write your story and avoid becoming mired in the myth that is writer’s block.

Moore enjoys life in the historically rich Cumberland Valley where traffic jams are a thing of the past and there are only two stoplights in the whole town. 

A three time Carol Award finalist, Moore is celebrating the release of her tenth historical romance, A Heartbeat Away, part of the Quilts of Love series by Abingdon Press. Visit her at her site: http://www.sdionnemoore.com

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