by Roseanna White | Dec 16, 2015 | Holiday History, Holidays, Remember When Wednesdays
I’ve blogged many times over the years about different Christmas traditions throughout history, and how we apply it to our lives.
There are probably more my search just isn’t finding, because I distinctly recall reflecting on the differences in New England versus mid-Atlantic or southern American traditions in Colonial days, and I’m sure that’s in any of those links. 😉
But today I wanted to talk a bit about our traditions. Here are a few that my kids love.
- Every year, their grandmother takes them out shopping for a new ornament, and they pick out our (real) tree.
- Making gingerbread cookies. We could make nothing else, and they’d be happy.
- Decorating. In my life, I think I’ve spent a total of about $20 on Christmas decorations–everything else has been given to us by family. And let me assure you I have PLENTY of decorations. Every year, I resist getting them out (because it’s work, man, LOL), but every year, when I have those evergreen garlands hanging from windows and doorways, I’m utterly charmed.
- The Christmas train under the tree. No, this isn’t an electric one that chuffs around. It’s just Rowyn’s wooden track, but he and Xoe build it around the tree every year as soon as it’s is up and decorated.
- Going to church. The Christmas Eve candlelight service is well loved, and Xoe has declared that “Christmas on church day would be the coolest thing ever.”
- Our countdown chain. We did it the first year as an art project for school, cutting and coloring strips of construction paper and taking one link from the chain each day. Now Xoe also counts down the days until December so she can make it. =)
- The music! While Rowyn will occasionally groan when I turn a Christmas station on, he also loves the ones we sing in church, especially one of the praise and worship songs called “Born Is the King (It’s Christmas)” (or as he refers to it, “The du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du song.”)
- The pickle. Even if it was a department store hoax (it’s kinda shocking how many traditions were started by stores!), my kiddos love trying to find the pickle ornament on the tree.
I know there are more, but I won’t bore you. Instead, I’d love to hear about a tradition your family makes sure never to miss!
Then brace yourself, because tomorrow I’m getting thoughtful about why Christmas is depressing for so many people…and how maybe we can adjust our mindset.
by Roseanna White | Nov 18, 2015 | Remember When Wednesdays
I’m feeling unaccountably tired (and, ahem, lazy) this morning. So I thought I’d just share some of the historical covers I’ve done recently. Not going to do a behind the scenes post right now (cause that takes energy, LOL), but if any catch your eye and you want to know more about the process, just let me know!
A couple months ago I was designing covers for WhiteFire and came up with these for a really fun novella collection (in two parts) that we’re publishing in 2016.
Here are closer images of the two volumes.
As you can see, they both feature the same model, but in different positions, and in the background is a picture of historical Austin, Texas. Awesomely, the city skyline is from an old postcard we’ve been given permission to use! So these two are clearly part of the same set, and yet different enough to be memorable. The authors are setting these 8 novellas based on Jane Austen’s novels in historical Austin and have included in them all a school called “Austen Academy.” They based the descriptions of the academy on a certain old house, which you see in the series badge. Fun, huh? =)
I also designed covers for the individual novellas, which will be on sale individually in digital formats (compilations will be available both digitally and in print). Well, the first four are ready. The others will come later, since Vol 2 doesn’t release until next September. 😉
Again, I wanted a design that spoke to the series aspect–and the fact that they belong in that first volume–but had something individual. So they’re all on the background of their volume, but with an image of their heroine. And of course, the novella title is large rather than the series title.
Not long after these covers went live, I got two inquiries on cover design from writers of Jane Austen fan fiction. =) That resulted in two covers for each.
Those first two are full-length novels by Brenda Webb.
Next up were two collections of P&P-based short stories by Renee Beyea.
As a side note, I found it so much fun to work with these authors and see the different ways they viewed Elizabeth and Darcy!
Then it was time for another fun one that required some characters with attitude.
(How fun is that??)
And I’ll leave you today with some Christmas covers!
This first one sounds super-interesting, following the cloth eventually used to swaddle the newborn Christ on its long journey through the house of David.
Then we have a fun Western novella that’s part of a bundle you can get. I’ve worked with Heather Blanton before and loved taking the “Heather” design styling into the holidays. And then she also recommended me to another author in the same collection. A Mountain Man’s Redemption was one of those covers that I put together not AT ALL following her questionnaire, simply because that photo wouldn’t let me go. I sent it to her rather wincingly, fully expecting to have to go back to the drawing board and make one like she said she wanted, LOL. Instead, she loved this one as much as I did!
So there we have it. My lazy morning, but following months of productivity. (And those are just the historical covers! I’ve been a busy girl, LOL.)
Do you have a favorite? Any you want to see the design process on? Let me know!
by Roseanna White | Nov 11, 2015 | Remember When Wednesdays
Sometimes it’s a little weird to be on a writing schedule a full year ahead of publication–while I’m brainstorming ideas for a whole new series and wrapping up edits on the final book in the current series, readers are still waiting for book 2’s release in a few months.
But since The Lost Heiress is at least out now, LOL, and I’ve been getting lots of questions about whether book 2, The Reluctant Duchess, is about Brice, I thought I’d take a few minutes to talk about these next hero and heroine.
In short, YES. It’s Brice’s story. 😉 (Wow, that was a short blog. Back to work now…LOL)
In case you haven’t seen the cover yet, here it is, with my heroine, Rowena.
I am so in love with that red dress…*blissful sigh* And the model is a great Rowena. I describe her as having honey brown hair and silver-grey eyes. She’s the heir to a Highland earl (women could inherit titles in Scotland if there were no sons). She’s also in desperate need of a hero to rescue her from a bad situation.
Cue Brice.
When one writes a “perfect” character, one gets a little nervous that reader feedback will be “He’s too perfect! Totally unrealistic!” But given that Brice, called Lord Worthing in The Lost Heiress, was just a secondary character, I guess I got away with it. 😉 Heir to the Duke of Nottingham, some of his confidence no doubt comes from his position in society. And the fact that he’s handsome. (I picture him rather like Justin Gaston…)
But Brice is certainly more than charming. He’s a man of deep faith, and that faith informs everything he does. That faith has given him a knack for seeing things most people don’t, and for knowing when and what to pray that people are always surprised by.
Obviously, Brice needed a fabulous love story. But what kind of love story does the silver-tongued charmer get??
An unexpected one. I had to pair him with someone totally unlike him. Someone who distrusts charmers. Someone who has absolutely no interest in becoming a duchess (Brice has inherited the duchy before the opening of book 2, so that I didn’t have to worry with shifting title names within the book. #YoureWelcome). Someone who at once needs the help he can offer and feels it’s worthless if she can’t help herself.
And Brice, who is always right . . . well, Brice gets a taste of what happens when he assumes he’s right and isn’t. (Cue the maniacal laughter.)
So while Brice isn’t quite “perfect” in this book, he’s still a man of compassion and faith and honor, and I hope the readers who fell in love with him in The Lost Heiress will love him even more in The Reluctant Duchess.
Meanwhile, I need to get back to editing his sister’s story in A Lady Unrivaled. So if y’all will excuse me now . . .
by Roseanna White | Nov 4, 2015 | 20th Century, Remember When Wednesdays
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 least not in speech. Oh no. That would be far too simple.
So I read all I could find on how to address them. I scratched my head at what seemed really weird to me, and double checked it with those fiction writers who have made a career of this sort of thing. They agreed with the weirdness. So I went with it. And, of course, have heard from a few readers that I’ve got it all wrong, LOL. So I went back to those experts, who assures me that, no, I’m right. Small consolation when my readers don’t realize it, snicker, snicker.
But I thought I’d give us all a quick crash course–you know, just in case you’re ever dining with an Edwardian duke.
Now, we have it easy as commoners–the duke is just Your Grace when speaking to him. When speaking of him, you go with the full Duke of Stafford (because that’s the duke in my first book, so what other duke would you possibly want to dine with??) You never, never, never call him “my lord” or “Lord Stafford.” Dukes are too high up the social ladder to get a mere “lord.” If you become very good friends with him (despite your own lowly station, ahem), you may call him “Stafford” without the Duke part.
But what, you ask, if you happen to marry an earl or a marquess or a baron and are yourself titled when you meet him?? Well, that is the question, isn’t it? Then it gets tricky. Other peers (as you’re called) don’t ever say “Your Grace.” I mean, really–that would be beneath you. No, no, you simply call him Duke.
Which is where that weirdness comes in. “Duke?” People say. “What a funny nickname.”
But it’s not a nickname–it’s a term of respect. A bit like saying, “Come this way, Mr. President.” You would say, “Have a seat, Duke.”
In a pinch, you might use a “sir” with him–but again, never, never, never a “my lord” or “Lord Stafford.” You would just use Duke or Stafford.
Unless, of course, you know him really well. Then you might actually give him a nickname. (Yes, even lords and ladies have nicknames!) But what nickname? Because, honestly, they never, never, never use first names–not unless you were the mother or sibling of a titled man. And even then, if it’s a title they had since birth, you’d use the title, not the Christian name. So you’re not going to call them Bill or Joe or Alex. Sorry. No, what they did was shorten or modify the name they went by.
Which was–you guessed it!–their title.
My Duke of Stafford had a friend who loved to come up with odd nicknames. Back before he inherited the duchy, he was Lord Harlow–Thate called him Harry. Then he inherited the title of Marquess of Abingdon–Thate called him Bing. So what did Thate come up with for the Duke of Stafford?
“Stafford . . . Staff . . . which reminds me of a shepherd . . . so Shep!”
More simply, my Lord Whitby would have been called, for instance, Whit. Strange as it seems to us to take a high-faluting title and then un-falute it (let’s pretend that’s a word), they did. We have scores of books of the Victorian and Edwardian era proving it.
I know, I know. The rules are complicated for how to address the nobility, and especially so for dukes and duchesses. But we all must be prepared. So next time you dine with an Edwardian duke, you’ll know just what to do.
by Roseanna White | Oct 28, 2015 | 17th-19th Centuries, Remember When Wednesdays
It’s that time of year again–the time when most of America gets ready for Halloween, and those who oppose it often take the time to explain about why.
I’m not going there, LOL. Instead, I’m looking at how some of America’s Halloween traditions got here to begin with, and what the Puritans did this time of year instead. Because, you see, it’s the 4th Wednesday of the month, which means it’s my day to post on Colonial Quills. 😉 Hop on over to read about the anticipated ear of red corn that could usher in your future, and how jack-o-lanterns came from the clash between Christianity and Druidism.
by Roseanna White | Oct 21, 2015 | Remember When Wednesdays
Last week I had a super-exciting email from the folks at Bethany House, asking for my input on poses for the book cover of A Lady Unrivaled, the third and final installment in the Ladies of the Manor Series.
Yes, if you heard giddy squealing, that was me. 😉
Now, they hadn’t selected a model yet, so this was purely an in-general question, but a fun one. And it got me thinking. As a cover designer myself, I know how much poses matter–and it’s especially true on a book cover where the figure is the majority of the composition, like in these.
(I’m still so in love with these covers!)
But in the email last week, my editor asked if I’d like to see them use any props this time (props! squee!), how I’d like to see her positioned. And oh, the possibilities!
Just looking through Edwardian photographs gives such a wide variety…
We’ve got the parasol-as-a-cane.
Which was very popular.
Or hey, just a cane!
We’ve got the show-off-the-waist ones…
(I can’t breathe just looking at that one…or this one)
And of course, some softer poses.
Endless possibilities, of course. And I love how much attention Bethany House gives this as they prepare for their photo shoots. Just look at some of these fabulously posed covers.
We tossed around some ideas, and I can’t wait to see what they settle on during the shoot and the photo selection.
But now I’m curious. What are your favorite types of poses for models on book covers? Close-ups? No faces? Something quirky? Serious? Action shot? Obviously much depends on the type of book, but which ones tend to draw you?
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.