Summary: Turn of the century novelist Lilly Westbrook learns that being faithful to her calling means more than just putting pen to paper. It’s the summer of 1899 in Newport, Rhode Island, and Lilly Westbrook is struggling to conceal her career from family and friends because of the stigma attached to dime novels. Lilly feels good about her secret—after all, she’s enlightening working class girls with her books and honoring God by using her talents to His glory. But her secret is threatened when Jackson Grail, a former suitor, becomes Lilly’s new publisher. He’s determined to revive his floundering publishing house by maximizing their most promising–and most secretive–author. His plan? Find...
Manage the blogs you follow…
Follow a dozen blogs all in one spot! No flipping from page to page: Google Reader. This may have been around for a while, but I’m slow on the technological updates. I highly recommend this! It has already made my life easier and it is accessible from any computer rather than flipping though your “favorites,” which is limited to your own computer. There’s my plug for Google! (No, I’m not a paid advertiser, though that would be nice.)
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Review: She Walks In Beauty
Summary: For a young society woman seeking a favorable marriage, so much depends on her social season debut. Clara Carter has been given one goal: secure the affections of the city’s most eligible bachelor. Debuting means plenty of work–there are corsets to be fitted, dances to master, manners to perfect. Her training soon pays off, however, as celebrity’s spotlight turns Clara into a society-page darling. Yet Clara soon wonders if this is the life she really wants. Especially when she learns her best friend has also set her sights on Franklin De Vries. When a man appears who seems to love her simply for who she is and gossip backlash...
Thoughts on characters
What makes a great character? The Elizabeth Bennetts, the Scarlett O’Haras, the Harry Potters…What is it that captivates the audience and molds those characters into literary history? My official conclusion: it’s the quirks. There must be something unique about the character that sticks in your mind. The stereotypical characters are quickly forgotten. But when it is a stereotypical character with something so unforgettable, he or she becomes exactly that. Unforgettable. One of my favorite examples: Violet from Lynn Austin’s A Proper Pursuit. This Christy-Award winning book is full of rich historical detail surrounding the 1893 Chicago World Fair, but what makes it a truly beautiful read is the characters. We’ve...
Review: From a Distance
Summary: What happens when the realization of a dream isn’t what you imagined… and the secret you’ve spent a lifetime guarding is finally laid bare? Determined to become one of the country’s premier newspaper photographers, Elizabeth Westbrook travels to the Colorado Territory to capture the grandeur of the mountains surrounding the remote town of Timber Ridge. She hopes, too, that the cool, dry air of Colorado, and its renowned hot springs, will cure the mysterious illness that threatens her career, and her life. Daniel Ranslett is a man shackled by his Confederate past, and he’ll do anything to protect his land, and his solitude. When an outspoken Yankee photographer captures...