Holiday History – Jingle Bells

by Roseanna | Dec 2, 2024 | Holiday History, Word of the Week

My son shook my world last year when he got in car after youth group and pronounced, “Did you know ‘Jingle Bells’ is actually a Thanksgiving song?”

Whaaaaaaaaaat?

Mind…blown. I sputtered. I gasped. I thought he was pulling my leg.

So of course, I had to look it up. And sure enough, the song was not written to be part of the Christmas season, despite it now being the most ubiquitous of Christmas songs. Nope. James Lord Pierpont, a native of Medford, Massachusetts, wrote the song to commemorate the annual sleigh races held in his hometown around Thanksgiving.

It’s believed that he originally composed the song around 1850, but it wasn’t published until 1857, with the title “One Horse Open Sleigh.” By that time, Pierpont had relocated to Savannah, Georgia…so maybe he wrote these snowy lyrics in fond remembrance of something he no longer got to participate in. 😉 The public was quick to adopt the song…and to change its name. That phrase from the refrain was just too good to resist!

“Jingle Bells” was first recorded on an Edison wax cylinder in 1889…which means people have been listening to recordings of it for 135 years now!

Do you know all the verses of “Jingle Bells”? It tells quite a fun story of a couple in the sleigh race!

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2024 Black Friday – Cyber Monday Sale!

by Roseanna | Nov 29, 2024 | Holidays, Sales

It’s that time of year again! As we contemplate all we’re thankful for, our thoughts also move toward those we love and how to make their Christmas special.

This year, my shop is going to be offering one main coupon, but will also have special sales on things I have a lot of!

Use the coupon any time between now and Monday night at 11:59 pm ET.

Celebrate2024

Use coupon code CELEBRATE2024 at any time this weekend to save

25% off

your whole order!

The only things excluded from this coupon are items already on sale (pre-order books) and special editions with painted edges.
Coupon cannot be used in conjunction with other sales.

Celebrate2024

Plus Mega Sales on…

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for only

$10!

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Get Jewel of Persia (Classic Edition)

for only

$7.50!

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So Thankful

by Roseanna | Nov 28, 2024 | Thoughtful Thursdays

On this day of gratitude, I am overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with thankfulness. Overwhelmed with blessing. Overwhelmed with the faithfulness of our God.

Last Thanksgiving, I wouldn’t have dreamed that in the year to come, I’d go through cancer. I certainly wouldn’t have thought, had someone told me what was coming, that I’d come out of it feeling so humbled and blessed. Yet here we are. With a long road still ahead of me, but gratitude filling my heart as I look back on where I’ve been.

Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness. Thank you for holding me so securely in the palm of your hand that I could not, for even a moment, doubt. I could feel no fear. I could experience only the smallest amount of sorrow. Thank you for bringing me through this, for obliterating the cancer cells from my body, for setting me on a path to full healing.

Thank you, family, for your endless support. For meals cooked and delivered, for the willingness to drive me to appointments, for gas money and check-ins, for loving me through every moment.

Thank you, friends, for your endless prayers. For a mailbox bursting with cards and “encourgement bombs.” For notes and emails that not only brightened my days with promises of those prayers, but which edified me as a writer and a person.

Thank you, strangers, whose names I didn’t recognize but who gave of yourselves, your hearts and your means, to support me in this time, proving that the family of God is bound by love that goes beyond all understanding.

Thank you, Church, for being the hands and feet of Jesus.

Tears are filling my eyes as I’m writing this, reflecting on the year it’s been. It’s a year I don’t want to repeat. A year of sickness and exhaustion and pain, when I focus on the physical. But a year of uncountable blessings too. A year that has left me in awe of this amazing community.

Thank you for being part of my life, part of my journey.

Word of the Week – Thank

by Roseanna | Nov 25, 2024 | Word of the Week

Did you know that thank is to think what song is to sing? It’s true! Think and thank are derived from the same ancient root, and in fact, thank used to just mean “to think, to remember, to recollect.” But then it began to take on the meaning of “to think of or remember fondly,” and only then “to think of with gratitude.”

The noun and verb forms of the word both evolved at the same time and trace their roots back to the original Germanic language…which is why other Germanic languages still have words that sound very similar to our English “thank” and mean the same thing. (Those changes in meaning happened before the word even entered English.

So as we contemplate what we’re thankful for, let’s really give it some thought…and even better, let’s make sure all our thinking circles around to thankfulness.

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It’s Release Day! An Honorable Deception

by Roseanna | Nov 19, 2024 | Announcements, Book News, Books

Welcome to the Launch Day Celebration
for An Honorable Deception!

It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!!!

I am so, SO excited to welcome the final book in the Imposters series into the world…because let’s face it. Yates has been chomping at the bit very impatiently for his turn to take center stage. I love that we’ve had his POV in the first two books, so we already know him pretty well. We know his good heart. We know his sense of humor. We know how devoted he is to his family. We even know how hard he’s worked to get over his feelings for his sister’s childhood best friend, Lavinia.

So…what is Yates’s story? Who will win his heart, when he’s both intrigued by his beautiful and mysterious new client, Lady Alethia, who is so desperately in need of the peace and security she finds when she’s whisked away to Fairfax Tower to keep her safe from men out to kill her, and Lady Lavinia, who recruits herself into the Imposters when Marigold and Gemma are both a bit indisposed with coming babies?

Yep, we’ve got a love triangle, but where it’s the hero deciding between two equally wonderful women. And whenever people ask me who he’s going to end up, I have a ready answer: Penelope the monkey, of course! 😉 Seriously, Lavinia and Alethia even look similar from behind, which is why I specifically requested that the lady on the cover not have her face fully visible. Which one is that lovely model representing?? You’ll have to read to find out! (Mwa ha ha ha!)

Scroll down to learn more about the fun I’ve plotted up for this release!

Live Event!

Join me for a Facebook Live video tonight, Tuesday November 19, at 7 pm Eastern! (You can watch it afterward too, and I’ll try to answer any questions in the comments!)

Behind the scenes
Fun facts
Short author reading
What’s coming next

Visit Roseanna M. White on Facebook

An Honorable Deception focuses on Yates, Alethia, and Lavinia, so here’s a bit more about them!

Confession! I generated these images with MidJourney long before I plotted out the book, and it was actually the fact that these two ladies looked pretty similar that inspired a HUGE part of the plot!

Working left to right, here…

First we have Lady Alethia Barremore. Lady Alethia is the daughter of a (fictional) viceroy of India, so she spent most of her life in India. Her best friend, her only true friend, is Samira, her ayah (Indian nanny). When her family moved back to England when she was about twelve, Samira was obviously dismissed…but they’ve stayed in touch. Samira is the only one who knows the dark secret Alethia has struggled to escape. But when Samira goes missing, Alethia knows it’s that same secret rearing its ugly head and threatening to consume them all.

Lord Yates Fairfax may be an earl, but he’s the most unconventional one you’ll find in Edwardian England. He prefers his gymnasium to Parliament and feels a keen responsibility for the people who rely on him and the family estate, Fairfax Tower, for their livelihood. His sister is his favorite person in the world, with the circus performers who have retired to the Tower being close behind. “A veritable circus strongman,” Yates keeps a strict physical routine so that he can support his sister in their acrobatic feats, which aid them in the secretive private investigation firm of which he’s become the head. Yates is fun-loving and always quick to see the bright side of things…but the secrets they begin to uncover in this new case will challenge even him.

And finally, Lady Lavinia Hemming. Lavinia has been reeling ever since her mother’s duplicity and betrayal was revealed in A Beautiful Disguise. How can she ever trust anyone again? The only people she knows are safe are Yates and Marigold, and when she overhears that they’re the Imposters and invites herself into the organization, she finally finds something that sparks life in her heart again. But does being the daughter of a traitor make her half a traitor? Will she ever be anything but a burden to those who love her, few as they may be? She’s desperate to find her purpose…but when she does, it’s something she never would have thought herself capable of.

Launch Team Spotlight

All of a Kind Mom

Launch Team Spotlight

Bea R

Launch Team Spotlight

Erin L

Launch Team Spotlight

Faith O

Launch Team Spotlight

Lovely Words

Launch Team Spotlight

Melissa G

More from the world of the Imposters

There’s So Much to Explore!

Learn more about the Edwardian circus that defined the Imposters’ childhood, get fashion tips from Lady M, explore the theater of the day, meet the team, pet the animals, go behind the Top Secret stamp to learn about intelligence in the early 20th century, train yourself to be a private investigator, and dive into some fun and games!

Explore More!

Shop the Imposters Collection

Lions, sprayed edges, handmade vintage style bags, peacock stationery, and more!
To celebrate this release specifically, I ordered some adorable stuffed animals from an amazing brand, Wild Republic, and created Penelope the capuchin monkey with a pink tutu. We also have Leonidas the Lion (he really roars!) and Pardulfo the leopard!

Also, I regularly joked, whenever someone asked me with whom Yates would end up, “Penelope the monkey, of course!”
So some of my reader friends demanded a “Team Penelope” T-shirt. Who was I to argue? LOL