History’s Story
20th Century History Articles
With so many series set during the Edwardian era, Roseanna M. White has learned a lot about the early 20th century! In these posts you’ll find the research she used for her books, as well as highlights about the areas in which they’re set. Peppered throughout are posts about her books set in those years as well.
Piper’s Hole
If there’s anything more beautiful than a cave carved from a cliff by the sea, I’m not sure I’ve seen it. There’s just something breathtaking about that visual reminder of the power of the waves, isn’t there? Words like erosion and corrosion just don’t capture the...
A Tour of the Abbey Gardens
The Abbey Gardens In “Welcome to the Isles of Scilly,” I gave you an overview of this beautiful island chain and introduced you to some of the main places my heroine, Libby, visits in The Nature of a Lady, including a quick peek of the Abbey Gardens, with a promise of...
Welcome to the Isles of Scilly
It should come as no surprise that I'm excited about The Nature of a Lady, the first book in the Secrets of the Isles series. But I have to say, one of the things I love most about this series is the setting: the Isles of Scilly (pronounced "Silly"). And so, I...
Remember When . . . Watches Appeared on the Wrist – Part II
Last week I started telling you about Hans Wilsdorf and the founding of Rolex. It was getting a bit long, so I figured I'd better break it up into two posts. 😉 As a quick reminder, I'd told you a bit about Hans's early days and his determination to create a great...
Remember When . . . Watches Appeared on the Wrist – Part I
I'm posting my "Remember When" a day early this week, in deference to Independence Day tomorrow. Just pretend it's Wednesday. 😉 These days, when someone asks you what time it is, you might just pull out your cell phone. But until recently, that certainly wasn't the...
Remember When . . . Big Ben Joined the Skyline
When the design for A Name Unknown, book 1 in the Shadows Over England Series, was shone to me and I saw the spine for the first time, I was so excited to see the series logo they'd come up with. Big Ben's clock tower. Big Ben says London. Which is what the designers...
Remember When . . . The Ballet Was Cutting-Edge?
The cast of ABT's Coppelia, a classical comic ballet Last weekend, my daughter danced in the final ballet for Appalachian Ballet Theater. After 23 years, the only classical ballet studio in our area decided to shut down...their building is being sold, Beth, the...
Remember When . . . Styles Shifted?
As I dive into working on the first book in The Codebreakers, my story world advances a couple years, to 1917. And as I build my Pinterest board, I end up looking at a lot of fashion. So naturally, you get to take a tour with me through WWI styles. =) As always, the...
Remember When . . . The Family Moved?
Cornwall In writing the Shadows Over England series, I did a lot of studying of the geography of England. For book 1, I only had two scenes in London, and then the rest was in Cornwall. So the fact that my family's big trip to England fell during the writing/editing...
Remember When . . . She Played the Violin?
I thought it would be fun to take a quick look today at Willa's violin...or, rather, violins in general, and some info that appears in A Song Unheard about this beautiful stringed instrument. Violins and other stringed instruments like them began appearing in the...
Remember When . . . The Senses of Cornwall
Y'all, A Name Unknown releases in six short days. Less than a week. It's all getting so close! Yesterday I was packing up the pre-orders that had come into my shop for signed versions, which really brings the excitement home. So today, I wanted to share with you guys...
Remember When ~ The Library at Kensey Manor
We are book lovers. I am, and I assume you are too, if you're here reading the blog of a novelist. 😉 We have all dreamed of walking into a room like the library in Beauty and the Beast, right? The idea of all those books in one place . . . it's bliss. Pure and...
Remember When . . . We Toured Through London?
Confession: when we went to England in September and spent a night in London, I wasn't happy about it. I'm not a city girl. I don't enjoy the hustle. Or the bustle. Or the traffic. Or the tall buildings. Or the pace. Or . . . pretty much anything about city life. So...
Remember When . . . I Began An Hour Unspent?
This week marked my self-appointed deadline for beginning my next book. I just realized that An Hour Unpsent is not only the third book in the Shadows Over England Series (which begins July 2017), but it will also be my 16th published novel...and my 34th finished...
Remember When . . . Piper Sail Came on the Scene?
Photo courtesy of Stephanie's editor--the first to get her hands on the hardback You'll be seeing more about this book from me in a couple weeks, when it releases. But I had to give y'all a sneak peek now, because there are some extras you can get if you pre-order,...
Remember When . . . The Davies Sisters
If one researches art in Wales, one will come across two sisters--a lot. If one researches music in Wales during World War I, one will come across them again. If one researches how soldiers adjusted to life back at home after the war . . . you get the idea. You'll yet...
Remember When . . . A Virtual Tour
Today, for a change of pace, I thought I'd take you on a little virtual pre-tour of the sites of my books--particularly the ones I might get to see next month in England. =) These first ones are places I won't see, but which Brook and Justin, Rowena and Brice...
Remember When . . . History Came Alive
I'm a historical fiction writer--and a historical fiction reader. I have always loved to learn history (or reinforce it) through a fictional story. For me, for my mind, that makes facts stick in ways that an article or non-fiction book seldom make it do. It makes it...
When You Sit Down to Dine with a Duke . . .
Yes, I did it. I made things complicated for myself--I wrote a series of books about the nobility of England, complete with all their complicated rules on what to call people. Even worse, I wrote books about dukes. Who aren't treated like the rest of the nobility, at...
Remember When . . . The Island Was Isolated?
Gracious, my blogging has been sporadic! Sorry about that, all. I came home from vacation and was completely swamped by work. A good thing, but I kept totally spacing what day of the week it was and what that meant concerning blogs. 😉 But this being me, you can rest...
Remember When . . . We Went Out for Tea?
I found myself in an interesting place in my story the other day. I needed my heroine to be out somewhere, away from her chaperones, where she could meet with another young lady of whom they didn't approve. It needed to be someplace public, but that wouldn't raise any...
Remember When . . . The Serfs Were Artists?
Oh. My. Gracious. So. As I was debating what servant POV I was going to use in the third installment of my Ladies of the Manor Series, I decided it would be fun to have it be the lady's maid of the villain rather than the heroine. Though of course, she couldn't just...
Remember When . . . They Were All Blinged Out?
In my upcoming Ladies of the Manor Series with Bethany House, my main characters are largely comprised of the British nobility. And because of certain reasons, jewelry comes up rather often. For book covers and whatnot I've had to search out photos, so I thought it...
Remember When . . . Marriage Laws
Historical writers always need to know marriage laws for their particular setting. Well, maybe not always, but it comes up a lot. 😉 And they vary a lot from state to state, even county to county. Thankfully, in this digital age, many states have their archives...
Remember When . . . the King was Crowned
Let's blame it on being an American--I know little about the details of how a king (or queen) becomes a king (or queen). In my head, it's an instant thing when the previous monarch passes away. A bit, I suppose, like the swearing-in of the vice president as president...
Remember When . . . King Edward Reigned?
Confession: I knew the Edwardian era followed the Victorian, and that it was because King Edward VII followed Queen Victoria on the throne of England. But it took me a ridiculous amount of time to realize that King Edward = Prince Albert, known as "Bertie" in the...
Remember When . . . We Went to Scotland?
Loch Morar, Highlands, Scotland It's been a long, long time since I've had to research something totally new. The Lost Heiress may be my first Edwardian English book, but I've done the England research about a gazillion times for the previous versions. All I had to do...
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Remember When . . . It Was Modern (Almost)?
A week ago and a half ago, I typed the final words In The Lost Heiress. I still have some major edits to do, but the first draft is done. Again. 😉 Always a great feeling. And this is the first time in a long...long...long time that I've finished a book that has some...