Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Carolyn Miller

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Carolyn Miller!

Linda: Welcome to my blog! Congratulations on your upcoming release, Midnight’s Budding Morrow. An intriguing title - where did you get the inspiration for your story? 

Carolyn: Thanks so much for having me, Linda! The title for Midnight’s Budding Morrow came about as I am a fan of John Keats and enjoyed his poem ‘To Homer’ which includes this phrase. The three titles in the Regency Wallflowers series are all based on lines from this poem. For Midnight’s Budding Morrow I wanted to create a more Gothic Regency story, and this book explores some of the challenges of mental health, and how even in the depths of pain there is hope that is available. We might be suffering our midnight, but God promises that joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5) 

LM: What draws you to the Regency time period? Is there some aspect of the era that most readers don’t know about? 

Carolyn: I’ve enjoyed how the Regency era holds an almost mythical fantasy element, where we, as modern readers, ascribe all kinds of romantic notions of chivalry and gentlemanly behavior (thanks, Mr. Darcy) to a time period where people were much like us, but just wore prettier clothes and had to hide the truth behind politeness. And while I like creating stories about lords and ladies, in this new series I’ve enjoyed using more regular people and exploring some of the more challenging issues of the time, like how ailing soldiers managed life after war, financial issues, even laudanum addiction. I think readers can underestimate just how much the world was changing in the early 1800s, through war, medical and technological advances, political and social upheaval, and exploration of the world. There are many fascinating aspects to write about in this era. 

LM: What sort of research did you have to do to ensure accuracy in this story? 

Photo: Pixabay/
Jonathan Cannon

Carolyn: One of the most fascinating resources I used was Letters from Flushing by ‘An Officer of the 81st Regiment’ (1809), with eye-opening details about the sickness that decimated England’s army in the Netherlands, and which I’ve referenced in James’s account of his time in this part of the Dutch coast. As this book is set in a Northumberland castle by the sea I also used a booklet titled The Romance of Northumberland by Arthur Granville Bradley (1908). I love using real-life accounts and blending them with fiction. 

LM: You’ve also written some contemporary novels. How was that different than penning historical fiction? The same? 

Carolyn: The first books I ever wrote were contemporaries, and my new Original Six series is using (much rewritten and edited!) versions of some of my first stories, such as Love on Ice and Muskoka Blue. I love writing contemporary, these books are fun and funny yet still woven with faith threads, and the research is not nearly as demanding (ie I don’t have to research whether words were in use at the time!). I’ve found switching between the two genres works as a kind of mental palate cleanser and can see things more clearly in the Regency world after spending time with my hockey players and their sassy, strong heroines. 

LM: What writers have most influenced your career?

Carolyn: It’s probably no surprise that I’m a fan of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer (my first Regency, The Elusive Miss Ellison, came about as a challenge to blend Austen and Heyer’s wit and social observations with a strong faith component). Other authors I’ve been inspired by include Susan May Warren, Becky Wade and Carrie Turansky. 

LM: What other projects are on the docket for you? 

Carolyn: So many! This year I have another two books releasing in the Original Six series (Big Apple Atonement and Muskoka Blue), then there are another two books in the Independence Islands series (Rebuilding Hope and Refining Josie), then next year I have an Australian gold rush story releasing as part of a Barbour novella collection titled ‘Across the Shores.’ Plus I have some more hockey stories, the last Wallflowers book (Dawn’s Untrodden Green) and maybe a rom-com as well. Life is pretty busy! 

LM: Where can folks find you on the web? 

Carolyn: I’d love people to visit my website and sign up for my newsletter at http://www.carolynmillerauthor.com. I also post regularly at my author page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarolynMillerAuthor And Instagram https://www.instagram.com/carolynmillerauthor/

About Midnight's Budding Morrow:

Can real love grow between a wallflower and an unrepentant rogue? 

Sarah Drayton is eager to spend time with her best friend at her crumbling Northumberland castle estate. Matrimony is the last thing on her mind and the last thing she expects to be faced with on a holiday. Yet she finds herself being inveigled into a marriage of convenience with her friend’s rakish brother. 

When James Langley returns to his family’s estate, he can’t be bothered to pay attention to his responsibilities as the heir. War is raging and he wants only distraction, not serious tethers. But his roguish ways have backed him into a corner, and he has little choice but to obey his father’s stunning decree: marry before returning to war, or else. Suddenly he finds himself wedded to a clever and capable woman he does not love. 

Sarah craves love and a place to belong, neither of which James offered before returning to the battlefront. Now, everyone around her thinks she married above her station, and they have no intention of rewarding her for such impertinence. It isn’t until her husband returns from war seemingly changed that she begins to hope they may find real happiness. But can she trust that this rake has truly reformed? 

When tragedy strikes, this pair must learn to trust God and His plans. Will they be destroyed...or will they discover that even in the darkest depths of night, the morning still holds hope?

Pre-order link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0825446546

Traveling Tuesday: Travel During WWII

Traveling Tuesday: Travel During WWII 

Photo: Pixabay/
Rene Rauschenberger

Until March 2020, when that-which-shall-not-be-named occurred, most people traveled without a second thought. For the most part, airfare and gasoline were affordable, so folks took regular vacations to visit family or simply get away, perhaps going somewhere they’d never been or return to a favorite location. Then lockdown happened, and travel came to a screeching halt. Now allowed with certain mandates and policies attached, trips are no longer the easy excursions they once were. 

Perhaps this has given us some appreciation for travel (and the severe shortage thereof) during World War II. 

Passenger air service continued during the war, but was primarily used for the war effort: either troop transport or civilian travel on defense industry business. The commercial airlines were pressed into military service, so they only way you could travel by air was to receive permission by the military or federal government. The naval situation was much the same with oceanic travel only done by the military (to say nothing of the danger of taking a ship across enemy-filled waters.) 

Photo: Pixabay/
Siggy Nowak

Train travel was available to civilians, but crowded with military personnel who took priority, so it was often difficult to get a seat. There was large-scale migration to industrial centers as people took jobs in the defense industry, and many women followed their husbands to military camp. 

Travel by car was limited by gasoline rationing, so people carpooled or took public transportation (buses or local trains) which again were severely overcrowded. However, drivers who used their cars for work deemed essential for the war effort were classified differently and received additional stamps. Others were limited as follows: 

• Class A: Three gallons per week 
• Class B (factory workers, traveling salesmen): Eight gallons per week 
• Class C (essential war workers, police, doctors, letter carriers) 
• Class D: Motorcycles 
• Class T: Truckers 
• Class X: Politicians and other “important people”

Photo: Pixabay/Cindy Jones

Coupled with the long hours that people worked (often six days a week doing defense work) they generally limited vacation and long-distance travel. In an interesting aside, major league baseball was incredibly popular, and a special letter from President Roosevelt, known as the “Green Light Letter,” approved continuation of the sport, but a directive from the Office of Defense Transportation ordered that all spring training take place north of the Potomac River and east of the Mississippi River to cut down on travel. 

Do you still take travel for granted or has that changed? 

_________________________

Spies & Sweethearts

She wants to do her part. He’s just trying to stay out of the stockade. Will two agents deep behind enemy lines find capture… or love? 

1942. Emily Strealer is tired of being told what she can’t do. Wanting to prove herself to her older sisters and do her part for the war effort, the high school French teacher joins the OSS and trains to become a covert operative. And when she completes her training, she finds herself parachuting into occupied France with her instructor to send radio signals to the Resistance. 

Major Gerard Lucas has always been a rogue. Transferring to the so-called “Office of Dirty Tricks” to escape a court-martial, he poses as a husband to one of his trainees on a dangerous secret mission. But when their cover is blown after only three weeks, he has to flee with the young schoolteacher to avoid Nazi arrest. 

Running for their lives, Emily clings to her mentor’s military experience during the harrowing three-hundred-mile trek to neutral Switzerland. And while Gerard can’t bear the thought of his partner falling into German hands, their forged papers might not be enough to get them over the border. Can the fugitive pair receive God’s grace to elude the SS and discover the future He intended?

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/m0Od9l

Fiction Friday: The Leavenworth Case

Fiction Friday: The Leavenworth Case 

Set in Baltimore, Maryland and Gunnison, Colorado, Ellie’s Escape takes place during 1878. Part of my research is to read catalogs, magazines, and books from the time period. One of the novels that Ellie could have read was The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katherine Green. 

Green was a poet and a novelist, and is credited with being one of the first writers of detective fiction. Her books are known to be well-plotted and legally accurate. She is often referred to as the “mother of the detective novel,” and Agatha Christie indicated in her autobiography that Green influenced her writing. 

The novel was published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons and weighed in at 475 pages. It became an immediate bestseller in America and Europe and shot Green to fame. Popular with both men and women, the book was also read by people of all ages. The author’s New York Times obituary stated that The Leavenworth Case was her most famous novel. Unfortunately her work has fallen into obscurity. 

A wealthy retired merchant, Horatio Leavenworth, is shot and killed in his library (shades of Clue, anyone?) Investigator Ebenezer Gryce (who would go on to star in future novels) and lawyer Everett Raymond look into the case and determined that no one could have left the house prior to the discovery of the body, creating what is known as a closed-room mystery. 

By using her knowledge of the criminal and legal industries, Green created a book that was technically accurate and included realistic procedural details. A coroner’s inquest, expert testimony, scientific ballistic evidence, a schematic drawing, and reconstructed letter hearken to future police procedural mysteries. The first “suspicious butler” also plays a role. 

The format includes a narrator who assists the detective, newspaper accounts of the case, wills and a large inheritance, a second murder, and a final confrontation which are aspects that would become standard elements in later detective fiction. Are you familiar with any of Anna Katherine Green’s novels? 

_____________________

Ellie’s Escape 

She’s running for her life. He needs a trophy wife. They didn’t count on falling in love. 

Ellie Wagner is fine being a spinster school teacher. Then she witnesses a bank hold up and can identify the bandits. Fellow robbery victim Milly Crenshaw happens to run the Westward Home & Hearts Matrimonial Agency so she arranges for Ellie to head West as a mail-order bride. But her groom only wants a business arrangement. Can she survive a loveless marriage? 

Banker Julian Sheffield is more comfortable with numbers than with people, but he’s done well for himself. Then the bank president tells him that in order to advance further he must marry in six weeks’ time. The candid, unsophisticated woman sent by the agency is nothing like he expected, but time is running out. When her past comes calling, does he have what it takes to ensure their future?

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QZ14KKZ

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Marie Sontag!

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Marie Sontag!

LM: Thanks for joining me today. Congratulations on your most recent release Yosemite Trail Discovered. What was your inspiration for the story? 

Marie: As a resident of California for over 58 years, I never heard the story of how non-Native Americans first entered Yosemite. The more I researched, the more I realized this "'clash of cultures" story needed to be told. 

LM: You had a full career as a middle-school teacher. Was it a natural progression to become an author of YA fiction? What can you tell us about your journey to publication? 

Marie: I always had a hard time going to sleep at night, and as a little girl, I’d make up stories in my head to pass the time. I started writing them down in junior high, but never thought of writing as a career. While teaching social studies and language arts in middle school, I couldn’t find adventurous historical fiction to help my students relate to the time periods we studied in class, so I began to create and share them with my students. When publishers bought the books, it moved me into a fun and challenging career as I retired from teaching. 

LM: What is your favorite aspect of writing? 

Marie: My favorite aspect of writing is sharing the adventurous stories in my head with young readers and getting them excited about history. 

LM: What do you do to prepare for writing? 

Marie: Since I write historical fiction, I do a lot of research. I also visit places I write about, if possible. I continually attend writer’s conferences and read books about writing to improve my craft. 

Photo: Pixabay/David Mark

LM: Yosemite Trail Discovered is part of a series. Did you intend to create a series when you wrote the first book California Trail Discovered? Are there more books coming? 

Marie: I initially envisioned the Whitcomb Discovery Series as only one book, but as I wrote it, I saw it would be too long, so I made it into two books. In the first book, the main character, Daniel, is thirteen. In book two, almost three years have elapsed and Daniel finds himself in the California gold fields. Book one is for middle grade readers, while book two is more for young adult readers. Friendships Daniel has in book one blossom into romance in book two. At this point, I only envision this as a two-book series. 

LM: You’ve accomplished quite a lot. What is one thing you wish you could do? 

Marie: I wish I was still young enough to teach in the classroom, but time moves on! I am so thankful for the young, dedicated teachers who give their all for today’s students. 

LM: What is your next project? 

Photo: Pixabay/Sasin Tipchai

Marie: I’m finalizing edits for a book coming out in August 2022, Underground Scouts. This YA historical novel tells the story of six teen Boy Scouts and Girl Guides who joined forces with the Polish underground army in 1944 to oust the Germans from Warsaw during WWII. In the future, I hope to write a book about a Spanish character who later became a Mexican citizen, then joined forces with the Texans when they fought for independence from Mexico. My research question I hope to answer is, “Why did this character (Lorenzo de Zavala, first vice-president of the Republic of Texas) change his allegiance from one country to another within a span of sixteen years, all before the age of thirty-six? 

LM: Where can folks find you on the web? 

Marie: I love connecting with readers. Here are some of my social media links: 

Email: mariesontag@mariesontag.com 

Webpage: https://www.mariesontag.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mesontagauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/profsontag

Author Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMarieSontag

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-sontag-27195b9

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mesontag

Google Scholar: tinyurl.com/2jmkj6p7

About Yosemite Trail Discovered: 

Join sixteen-year-old Daniel Whitcomb as he juggles a growing relationship with Virginia Reed, one of the survivors of the Donner Party, helps his Miwok friend learn how to read and write, and manages the account ledgers for his guardian, Jim Savage at his trading posts in the California gold fields. Is Jim correct when he says, You can't possess what you can't protect? Does that justify fighting the Yosemites after they attack Jim's posts, or the Mariposa Battalion's entrance into Yosemite to rout out the Ahwahneechee? And will Daniel ever make it back to Illinois to solve the mystery of his parents' deaths? 

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TTMZJHB

Traveling Tuesday: Spies in Other WWII Theaters

Traveling Tuesday: Spies in Other WWII Theaters 

Photo: WikiImages

As shared previously, (http://www.lindashentonmatchett.com/2022/04/traveling-tuesday-spies-in-wwii-france.html), many brave man and women worked as spies and resistance fighters in occupied France. However, thousands more worked around the globe in occupied and unoccupied areas to gather intelligence and thwart the plans and operations of the Axis powers. 

Born in Litmanova, Slovakia, Maria Gulovich was eighteen years old when World War II changed her life. A school teacher like her mother, Maria continued to teach even after Germany overran her country. Life was hard, but she managed. Early in 1944, a Jewish friend asked her to hide his sister and her five-year-old son. Later Maria would say, “I never intended to hide anyone. My sister brought the woman’s brother and he was crying and I’m a softie.” He asked if she could hide them for a few days under the woman could find something else. She never did. Maria was reported to the authorities, but fortunately for her the officer was a member of the Resistance. He agreed to move the woman if Maria would act as a courier for the Resistance. Additional tasks included smuggling radios and rescuing downed airmen. 

Photo: WikiImages

Krystyna Skarbek was a Polish agent of the British Special Operations Executive, and has been referred to as the “bravest of the brave.” Vera Atkins, her handler described her as “very brave, very attractive, but a loner and a law unto herself.” She served in France, Poland, and Hungary where she often posed as a journalist. She performed surveillance of the rail, river, and road traffic on the border between Germany and Romania and provided intelligences about Germany’s oil transports from Romania’s Ploiesti oilfields. At great risk to herself, she met with a Gestapo commander claiming to be a British agent and used threats, lies, and a two-million franc bribe to obtain the release of several SOE agents. She spent much of 1940 traveling between Poland and Hungary, obtaining crucial information that was passed to SOE headquarters. After being arrested in Budapest, she feigned symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis by biting her tongue until it bled. The Germans released her, and she fled the country. 

Photo: WikiImages

A Russian whose family fled to France after the 1917 revolution, Nathalie “Lily” Sergueiew was a double agent who worked for MI5 under the code name “Treasure.” The German Intelligence Service tried to recruit her in 1937, but she declined. After France fell, she agreed to work for the Abwehr who sent her to Spain. Upon her arrival in Madrid, she contacted the MI5 representative (and how to you find that out??), indicated she was a German spy, and offered to work for British Intelligence. She was accepted and sent to England. Her handler noted that Lily was “exceptionally temperamental and troublesome.” She sent false information to the Germans, and is credited with playing a significant role in deceiving them about the location of the D-Day landings. Her messages were re-encrypted in the German Enigma machines, providing Bletchley Park with excellent “cribs” used by other Abwehr networks. After the liberation of France, she returned and served in the French Women’s Army Service.

 __________________ 

Spies & Sweethearts

She wants to do her part. He’s just trying to stay out of the stockade. Will two agents deep behind enemy lines find capture… or love? 

1942. Emily Strealer is tired of being told what she can’t do. Wanting to prove herself to her older sisters and do her part for the war effort, the high school French teacher joins the OSS and trains to become a covert operative. And when she completes her training, she finds herself parachuting into occupied France with her instructor to send radio signals to the Resistance. 

Major Gerard Lucas has always been a rogue. Transferring to the so-called “Office of Dirty Tricks” to escape a court-martial, he poses as a husband to one of his trainees on a dangerous secret mission. But when their cover is blown after only three weeks, he has to flee with the young schoolteacher to avoid Nazi arrest. 

Running for their lives, Emily clings to her mentor’s military experience during the harrowing three-hundred-mile trek to neutral Switzerland. And while Gerard can’t bear the thought of his partner falling into German hands, their forged papers might not be enough to get them over the border. Can the fugitive pair receive God’s grace to elude the SS and discover the future He intended?

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/m0Od9l

Welcome back, Lorri Dudley!

Welcome back, Lorri Dudley!

Linda: Congratulations on your recent release, The Marquis’s Pursuit. I’ve enjoyed the Leeward Islands series and look forward to reading this story. What was the inspiration? 

Lorri: The hero of The Marquis’s Pursuit, Max Oliver Weld, Marquis of Daventry, was the spirited and confident eight-year-old boy from book one, The Duke’s Refuge. Max was the son of the island schoolmaster who turned out to be a duke in hiding. Having three teenage boys of my own, I wanted to discover how Max matured into his role as a marquis, what it would be like to return to the nostalgic island where he’d been raised, and what kind of woman would capture his heart. His best mate, Charlie, battles consumption, so Max takes him to Nevis’s famous healing springs, determined to see God heal his friend, but God plans to mend hearts first. 

LM: What draws you to the time period where you set your stories? 

Lorri: I love the chivalry of the Regency Era, where honor and reputation were worth dueling over. Also, the romantic aspect of couples engaging in courtship at balls and country dances. The tiered social classes ranging from the opulent splendor of the aristocrats and gentry to the working servant classes and destitute poor allow for an underlying current of tension and fodder for plot points. Add to that, the issue of slavery coming into question on islands where over planting and erosion has diminished production of their cash crop—sugar. 

 

LM: The Leeward Islands are not exactly a tourist destination that I’m aware of. How did you discover them, and what made you decide to set your books there? 

Photo: Pixabay/
Heike Kaldenbach

Lorri: My husband and I traveled to St. Kitts on an awards trip, and I fell in love with the quaintness and beauty of the island. St. Kitts is one of the Leeward Islands (a chain of small islands that include: Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Martin, and Guadeloupe—to name a few). I loved the idea of exploring different islands together with my readers and calling the compilation the Leeward Island Series allowed me to island-hop in various books. My favorite spot was Nevis, so three out of the six books take place there including The Marquis’s Pursuit. Nevis boasts of white sand beaches, rich mineral hot springs, rainforests, lush foliage, and a sugar and spice history complete with Caribs, pirates, and a legacy of slavery and colonization. It also helped that the island was under British control during the Regency Era. 

LM: What sort of intriguing information did you uncover while researching The Marquis’s Pursuit? 

Lorri: Part of Max and Charlie’s backstory is that they chose to go to India as missionaries instead of taking a grand tour after university. Max carries guilt over Charlie’s first symptoms of consumption appearing during their mission trip, and while in India, Max was also traumatized by the Hindu practice of sati (which plays symbolically into the heroine, Evelyn’s life). Sati was a voluntary act of a Hindu widow who would courageously follow her husband into the afterlife by dutifully throwing herself into the flames of her husband’s funeral pyre. In some instances, involuntary acts were recorded where widows were drugged or tied with wet rope to the bodies of their deceased husbands. Some widows were pressured to sacrifice themselves by sati rather than be a burden to their families. The act of sati is now illegal and frowned upon in India. For more information, check out these resources: https://kashgar.com.au/blogs/history/the-practice-of-sati-widow-burning and https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/the-dark-history-behind-sati-a-banned-funeral-custom-in-india/

LM: In addition to being an author, you have many family obligations. How do you balance your responsibilities with meeting deadlines? 

Photo: Pixabay/
Theodor Moise

Lorri: I tend to be lopsided more often than balanced, but I’m a stickler for deadlines. I try to pace myself with attaining a certain word count each week instead of by the day, because—let’s face it—life gets in the way. If I’m only able to write forty words one day due to my boys’ sports schedules, tests, or (Lord help me) teaching them how to drive, I just have to make it up later in the week. I’ve been known to bring my computer with me almost everywhere. I’ve sat up in the stands of wrestling meets typing away, in my car during sports practices, and especially on planes. I get up early (4:30 am), hit the gym, and then sit down and write before heading to the office and later to sports practices. I’m blessed in that I’m able to reserve Fridays for writing, but I have to protect those hours like precious jewels. 

LM: What advice do you have for fledgling writers?

Lorri: I tell people it takes fortitude, grit, and passion. There’s a wall I hit around 60,000 words where doubts plague me. I wonder if my manuscripts are any good, if I’m making any sense, and if people will hate it. I thought this would get easier after the first book, but then there’s the added pressure of questioning if this book will be as good as the last one. I have to muscle through and keep my fingers on the keyboard. 

 

Learning how to be a better writer and the process of getting published takes grit. One must constantly be seeking feedback, critiques, and criticism. It’s how we improve, but the process can be brutal. At first, I shed a lot of tears, but over time, I’ve learned to shake off the hurt and appreciate different perspectives. I’ve also worked on creatively finding solutions. 

 

Writing is much easier when it’s a passion. If no one purchased my books, I would still write. It’s my creative outlet where I get to play pretend as a grown-up. The catharsis I received from writing helped me not to give up when in the valleys of the writing/publishing cycle. 

LM: You seem to be coming to the end of the Leeward Island series (I only see one more book listed on the book page). Is that true? What do you have planned next? 

Photo: Courtesy of PBS

Lorri: Yes, the last book in the series, The Heir’s Predicament, has begun the editing phase. After that, I have been tossing about ideas with my publisher about either a Regency spy series or a Boston Brahmin series. Boston Brahmins period is best described as a New England version of the Regency Era. It was a time of prosperity between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, where fortunes were made from textiles, trade, and suitable marriage alliances. I also would love to head back to the islands with either a Windward Island series or a Greater Antilles series. 

LM: What else do you want folks to know about you? 

Lorri: I’m a mother of three teenage sons who go through six gallons of milk a week. I’ve been forced to become an expert on aggressive sports, like football, lacrosse, basketball, and wrestling. I broke up fights all my boys’ lives, but now, go figure, I’m supposed to cheer for them to rough someone up. My household’s high testosterone level is why I use writing romance as my escape, but my husband and boys give me lots of insight into the hero’s perspective, and I love my family dearly. 

Linda: Where can folks find you on the web? 

Lorri: 

Website: http://www.lorridudley.com

Publisher's site: http://www.wildheartbooks.org

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lorri-Dudley/e/B082Z5P6LJ/ 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-marquiss-pursuit-lorri-dudley/1139465706?ean=9781942265481 

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-marquis-s-pursuit 

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1567447070 

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-marquis-s-pursuit-the-leeward-islands-series-book-5-by-lorri-dudley

Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58121822

About The Marquis’s Pursuit 

She's desperate to keep her secret hidden, but he's a determined Marquis.

As the son of a duke, Maxwell Oliver Weld, Marquis of Daventry, is allowed entry into the finest of London’s ballrooms, access to political figures, and advice from the best physicians. Yet, his wealth and contacts won’t heal his friend, Charlie, who is dying from consumption. Hopeful for a miracle, Max persuades Charlie to sail across the Atlantic to stay at the Artesian Hotel on the island of Nevis and bathe in its famous healing springs. Max’s optimism is washed in doubt as the truth unravels about the hotel, its hot springs, and the beautiful caretaker. 

The blaze of Evelyn Mairi Sheraton’s fiery side has long been snuffed out. Hunted by a vengeful man from her past, only fortitude and the island’s sanctuary have kept Evelyn alive. She will do whatever it takes to keep her precious secret safe, even work for the demeaning Artesian Hotel owner, Edward Rousseau. However, when a jaunty marquis and his ailing friend arrive, sparks ignite, but Evelyn fears the revealing of her secrets will burn her to ash. 

The elusive Evelyn may tend to Charlie’s well-being, but she stirs Max’s protective nature. He’d like nothing more than to remove her from the wretched employment of Edward Rousseau, yet that might endanger Charlie’s health even more. Refusing to give up on a miracle, Max waters her guarded heart, certain beauty will rise out of ashes. But when her secrets come to life, will love be worth the price?

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B094X4DQZ3

Western Wednesday: Communication in the Old West

Western Wednesday: Communication in the Old West 

Photo: Pixabay/Jan Vasek

I’m not the most savvy of technology users, and I was a long holdout on getting a smartphone. Unsurprisingly, the need to keep up with and communicate with family was the impetus for my upgrade. Texting was excruciating on my tiny flip phone, and there was no ability to send or receive photos. 

Westward expansion after the American Civil War sent hundreds of thousands of people across the nation. Some fled to escape the horrors of the war, others because they lost their homes. A great number craved adventure. Whatever their reasons, individuals packed what would fit in a covered wagon, paid their fees to the trail boss, and set out for a new life. More than a few left behind family, and telephones wouldn’t become commonplace for decades. 

How did pioneers keep in touch? 

Photo: Pixabay/Ellen26

The most common way settlers communicated with their loved ones was through the mail service. Created in 1792 with the Postal Service Act, the US Postal Service was originally part of the federal government, then elevated to a cabinet-level department in 1872. It would not become an independent agency until the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. 

Until 1851, mailing letters through the Postal Service was an expensive proposition and did not serve many areas of the country. Additionally, there was no “regular delivery. As a result, most people used private means. Sometimes it was as easy as giving the letter to a friend, relative, business associate, or even stranger who was “heading that direction.” Another means was to hand the correspondence to the captain of a ship (Law required them to deliver all mail to the nearest post office at the first port of entry, but research indicates that didn’t always happen.) 

 

Stagecoaches were another avenue to send correspondence. In addition to people, they carried, bags, packages, and letters. Before 1810, stagecoaches were allowed to carry letters unless the route had been designated by Congress as a post road. After the Postal Act of 1810, it was unlawful for stages to carry mail on a post road or road adjacent to a post road. However, some drivers continued to offer the service. 

 

Photo: Public Domain

Private express companies (the forerunners to UPS/FedEx, etc.) were often used to carry money, packages, and legal documents, but were also known to convey letters. Until the Pony Express which delivered in ten days, then later through the use of trains, letters could take weeks, if not months to travel across the country. The telegraph was invented in 1844, but was expensive and only used in cases of emergencies. Early settlers would be amazed at the thought of cell phone usage that crosses oceans. I know I am. 

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Ellie’s Escape 

She’s running for her life. He needs a trophy wife. They didn’t count on falling in love. 

Ellie Wagner is fine being a spinster school teacher. Then she witnesses a bank hold up and can identify the bandits. Fellow robbery victim Milly Crenshaw happens to run the Westward Home & Hearts Matrimonial Agency so she arranges for Ellie to head West as a mail-order bride. But her groom only wants a business arrangement. Can she survive a loveless marriage? 

Banker Julian Sheffield is more comfortable with numbers than with people, but he’s done well for himself. Then the bank president tells him that in order to advance further he must marry in six weeks’ time. The candid, unsophisticated woman sent by the agency is nothing like he expected, but time is running out. When her past comes calling, does he have what it takes to ensure their future?

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QZ14KKZ

Mystery Monday: Ian Fleming vs. James Bond

Mystery Monday: Ian Fleming vs. James Bond 

 

Photo: WikiImages

Most folks are familiar with James Bond even if they don’t read spy fiction/thrillers. According to creator/author Ian Fleming, Bond is the “compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war.” Fleming wrote fourteen novels before his death, and thirty-four additional novels and short stories have been penned by other authors. Long before he left Naval Intelligence Division, Fleming told a friend he planned to become an author and “write the spy story to end all spy stories.” With his experience, he certainly had enough fodder. 

 

But where does Fleming end and Bond begin? 

Image commissioned
by Fleming

The character’s name was taken from that of American ornithologist James Bond, an expert on Caribbean birds and author of the definitive guide Birds of the West Indies. Fleming was an avid birdwatcher and owned a copy of Bond’s book. It is said he later told the man’s wife that “this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James bond was born.” Other characters were given names of Fleming’s school friends, acquaintances, relatives, and lovers. 

Bond is described as having “black hair falling down over the right eyebrow...a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold.” Some say Bond is a cross between Fleming and his friend, Hoagy Carmichael. Fleming also bestowed his own tastes and traits on Bond. Bond had the same golf handicap, loved scrambled eggs and gambling, and used Fleming’s brand of toiletries. In addition, like Fleming, the character was a womanizer, a heavy drinker, and smoked regularly. 

Photo: Pixabay/
Roberto Lee Cortes

Some scholars have posited that rather than an extension of Fleming, Bond is the author’s wish fulfillment, referencing the fact that the author spent most of the war at a desk, managing intelligent-gathering operations remotely. According to his biographer, Andrew Lycette, “He saw all these secret agents arriving from interesting assignations and he sort of decided he would have liked to have been more like them.” 

 

Perhaps. You be the judge. 

________________________________

Spies & Sweethearts

She wants to do her part. He’s just trying to stay out of the stockade. Will two agents deep behind enemy lines find capture… or love? 

1942. Emily Strealer is tired of being told what she can’t do. Wanting to prove herself to her older sisters and do her part for the war effort, the high school French teacher joins the OSS and trains to become a covert operative. And when she completes her training, she finds herself parachuting into occupied France with her instructor to send radio signals to the Resistance. 

Major Gerard Lucas has always been a rogue. Transferring to the so-called “Office of Dirty Tricks” to escape a court-martial, he poses as a husband to one of his trainees on a dangerous secret mission. But when their cover is blown after only three weeks, he has to flee with the young schoolteacher to avoid Nazi arrest. 

Running for their lives, Emily clings to her mentor’s military experience during the harrowing three-hundred-mile trek to neutral Switzerland. And while Gerard can’t bear the thought of his partner falling into German hands, their forged papers might not be enough to get them over the border. Can the fugitive pair receive God’s grace to elude the SS and discover the future He intended?

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/m0Od9l

Talkshow Thursday: Meet Paula Peckham

Talkshow Thursday: Meet Paula Peckham!

Linda: Thanks for joining me today. Congratulations on the release of your first full-length novel, Protected. Where did you get the inspiration for the story and its characters? 

Paula: I wanted to tell a story that people would enjoy and that showed a view of God that felt real. The world gets an image of God from our churches and leaders that can make it seem like Christians are perfect and judgmental. Often—sadly—that view is correct. But those of us who call ourselves “Jesus followers” instead of Christians know that is not what life with Christ is like. We’re just as flawed as the rest of the world, and we don’t always turn to God when we should. I want my stories to show those real people and, more importantly, show that God never leaves us despite ourselves. 

To form the actual story of Protected, I thought about my favorite books and cherry-picked the bits I really liked, then mashed them all together. The manuscript was pretty messy when I first typed “The End,” coming to its weighty and cumbersome end with 145K words. (Did I mention I had no idea what I was doing?) After a lot of critiquing and smoothing, the finished product is 75K, lean and mean. 

LM: In addition to Protected, you’ve been part of two novella collections. How is writing a novel different than a novella? The same? 

Paula: Due to the limited length, there is less freedom to meander. Both of my novellas are romances, so the relationship has to move along fairly quickly. In one of them, In All Things Charity, included in Texas Heirloom Ornament, the characters already know each other, but don’t have romantic feelings in the beginning. I didn’t write a love-at-first-sight story, but things kind of marched right along. In the other, A Father’s Gift, included in Christmas Love Through the Ages, it was a continuation of Protected, so my characters already had an established relationship. That gave me the freedom to develop a sub-story I hardly mentioned in the novel. Other than that, it was pretty similar for me. You block out your bones, start filling in the gaps, and keep an eye on your word count. 

LM: Protected is set in Texas during the 1860s, a turbulent time in our country’s history. The book is the first in a series. What draws you to that time period? 

Photo: Pixabay/
Gordon Johnson

Paula: I’m a fifth-generation Texan. Texans love our history, even the dark parts. There is a romanticism behind the idea of the individualism and grit in the folks who came here and settled the wild, wild West. I love horses, I think cowboys are sexy, and I relate to the strength and friendliness of the women who had to be strong to survive here in that time. 

LM: Research is an important part of writing a book, especially historical fiction. How did you go about researching Protected, and did you unearth a particular fun fact you knew you had to include in the story? 

Paula: I realized in college I really enjoy research. While researching for Protected, I found many things I didn’t already know. How to tan a hide, how to butcher a deer, how to prepare a living, breathing chicken for the frying pan, what to do if you stumble across a rattlesnake. YouTube is great for things like that. I now have some really interesting search history. 

But three facts really caught my attention. All three will become major parts of the next books in the series. One was about the Native American population the white settlers displaced (one of those dark parts of our history). Researching about which tribes lived in the area where Protected is set uncovered the fact that when Indians kidnapped white children, the children almost never wanted to come back home. Forcing them to return really messed them up. That fact will show up in book three, Pursued. 

Also in Pursued, I have a Texas Ranger character. We’ve all grown up watching Walker, Texas Ranger and seeing the bold hero who sticks up for the underdog and is full of integrity. That’s the image they taught us in school. However, I learned, to my dismay, the early Texas Rangers were often little more than vigilantes. They were responsible for some horrible things. So that will come out. 

I also learned, to my delight, Texas had an underground railroad to help enslaved people escape to Mexico. I was definitely not taught that in school. The railroad here wasn’t as organized as the one Harriet Tubman worked with, but it was there. That comes up in book two, Accepted. 

It’s super easy for me to lose hours of time that should be spent writing simply chasing research rabbits down holes. But it’s fun. For example, did you know vultures don’t have vocal cords? Instead of singing, they hiss. Of course, they do. Who wouldn’t want to know that? And I want to include everything I learn. That’s how I ended up with 145K words in my first draft. I discovered the hard way you don’t have to share every detail you uncover, no matter how interesting it is. 

LM: What is your favorite part of the writing process? 

Paula: I love it all. When I’m in the middle of a book, the story is running in the background of my mind almost all the time. The smallest thing will catch my attention and become an idea for a scene. It may only show up a paragraph. It might totally change the direction of the story. I’ve learned to jot down notes in my phone so that fleeting thought doesn’t disappear like mist. 

I like the editing, too. I love polishing the manuscript and watching it tighten up. I love finding the perfect phrase or word. 

And the friendships I’ve formed in the various critique groups I’m in have been outstanding. There is always so much to learn. I read a meme on Facebook that cracked me up because it’s so true. It says, “Deciding to become an author means agreeing to have homework every day for the rest of your life.” Yep. 

LM: What do you do to prepare for writing (e.g. listen to music, set up in a certain location, etc.)? 

Paula: I get distracted very easily, so I have to put my phone in the other room. I give myself a specific amount of time in the morning to handle emails, etc., when I first sit down at my computer, then everything else gets shut off. 

I listen to music to help me set the scene emotionally for specific things. I have a play list for the romantic scenes, and a different one for the action scenes. I’m writing Accepted now, and one of the characters will die. I’m going to need a playlist for that scene. Soundtracks from A Star is Born and Titanic might be on repeat in my house for a while. I just added “Brother Let Me Be Your Shelter”, by NeedtoBreathe, to my list. It will set the mood for a scene leading up to the death of my character as it describes our need for community. 

Photo: Pixabay/
Steve Bussinnine

While writing the growing love scenes for Protected, I played “Madness,” a song by Muse over and over. The song is very yearning and angsty. It set my mind perfectly on the scenes I wrote as my characters began falling for each other. Later, I heard an interview with Stephenie Meyer. They asked her a similar question about how she uses music to help her write. She said she played the entire Muse album they whole time she wrote the Twilight books. I was like, “Yeah! I’m with you, sister!” 

Music has always spoken to me, and having the right song, right music, right lyrics can really help me get my mind focused. 

LM: Your website indicates you’re working on the next book in the series, but what do you have planned past those stories? Or are you a “wait and see” kind of gal? 

Paula: I’m laughing. Protected, book one, has ten characters who could each get their own story. If I do that, it’ll keep me busy for the next decade. But I also want to explore writing a mystery. I love reading crime dramas, too, with the dramatic courtroom climax. That would be fun. So I guess we’ll just wait and see who speaks to me the loudest. 

LM: Where can folks find you on the web? 

Paula: 

Website: http://www.paulapeckham.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulaPeckhamAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulaPeckham

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulajopeckham/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@paulapeckham?lang=en

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ppeckham/books/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-peckham-927478234/

About Protected: Disaster strikes a wagon train en route to Texas, leaving 18-year-old Abby in charge of the survivors, all children younger than her. After an attempted kidnapping, the others convince her to disguise herself as a boy. Initially reluctant, Abby soon realizes life on the trail is much easier without bulky skirts. The disguise allows her to do things as “Abner” she couldn’t do as Abby. It's intoxicating.

Disfigured by fire as a child, Manny, a young cowboy, is lonely and yearns for companionship. His scars and the judgment of townspeople make it difficult for him to trust others. He intercepts the wagon train and agrees to help the children finish the trip to San Antonio. A new friendship cracks the protective walls built around his heart. Hope blooms when he meets “Abner,” and Manny’s fear of rejection slowly dissolves. 

As the weeks on the trail go by, Abby develops romantic feelings for Manny, and he values his first new friendship in years. When Manny discovers her deception, it destroys the fragile bond of friendship growing between them. Can God help the two young lovers find trust, faith, and forgiveness on the hot Texas plain?

Traveling Tuesday: Spies in WWII France

Traveling Tuesday: Spies in France 

In September 1939, France and England declared war on Germany after Hitler’s forces overran Poland. The “phony war,” when little fighting was done, lasted until April 1940 when Norway was invaded. Two months later, Germany took Paris, and France surrendered. A collaborationist regime was established under Phillipe Petain in Vichy. The armistice divided the country in half; one occupied by Germany, the other designated as free. 

Refusing to accept his government’s agreement with Germany, General Charles de Gaulle fled to England and set up a government in exile, later leading the Free French Forces and the French National Liberation Committee. De Gaulle wasn’t the only citizen who took exception to Germany’s presence. Thousands of men, women, and youth overtly and covertly resisted; some of whom became famous for their exploits, others who faded into the shadows of history without recognition. 

Photo: WikiImages

Interestingly, quite a few women-led resistance networks. While working for Georges Lonstaunau-Lacau, known as Navarre, Madeleine Fourcade created sections within unoccupied France then recruit agents for each section. The network later became known as “Alliance.” Born in Marseille and educated in convent schools in Shanghai, Madeleine married young and had two children, but the relationship didn’t last. Her husband had custody of the children, and she only visited them periodically over the years. In addition to managing networks, and performing her own espionage, she worked on the Resistance publication L’orde National. One of her most celebrated accomplishments through one of her agents was the regular collection of information about the V-1 and V-2 rocket programs. 

 

Another agent, about which little is known of her personal life, is Peggy Turner who posed as a prostitute to gather intelligence about troop, equipment, and installation numbers and locations. One story is told about her bicycling along the Normandy coast “blowing kisses at the German soldiers” while she collected information. 

 

Photo: WikiImages

American singer Josephine Baker moved to France and later agreed to spy for her adopted country. She attended parties at embassies and among high-ranking officials, writing notes on the palms of her hands and on her arms under her sleeves. She left Paris after the occupation began and set up quarters three hundred miles south where she hid refugees and Resistance members. In November 1940, under the guise of departing for a South American tour, she smuggled photographs and documents out of the country that were couriered to de Gaulle. 

These are just three examples of brave individuals who risked all in an effort to free their country. 

 

__________________________

Spies & Sweethearts (Sisters in Service, Book 1):

She wants to do her part. He’s just trying to stay out of the stockade. Will two agents deep behind enemy lines find capture… or love? 

1942. Emily Strealer is tired of being told what she can’t do. Wanting to prove herself to her older sisters and do her part for the war effort, the high school French teacher joins the OSS and trains to become a covert operative. And when she completes her training, she finds herself parachuting into occupied France with her instructor to send radio signals to the Resistance. 

Major Gerard Lucas has always been a rogue. Transferring to the so-called “Office of Dirty Tricks” to escape a court-martial, he poses as a husband to one of his trainees on a dangerous secret mission. But when their cover is blown after only three weeks, he has to flee with the young schoolteacher to avoid Nazi arrest. 

Running for their lives, Emily clings to her mentor’s military experience during the harrowing three-hundred-mile trek to neutral Switzerland. And while Gerard can’t bear the thought of his partner falling into German hands, their forged papers might not be enough to get them over the border. Can the fugitive pair receive God’s grace to elude the SS and discover the future He intended?

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/m0Od9l