Creating a Home Library - A Labor of Love, Part 2 by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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In my February 7th post I wrote about how I was turning an unused room in my house into a long-desired home library. Good news - it's finished!

It was indeed a labor of love in more ways than one. I mentioned last month, how much I love being surrounded by my books. The other "love" part of this labor is that the room in question used to be my mom's bedroom. We lived together since shortly before my dad passed away in 1996. About three and a half years ago my mom had to move to a nursing home because of rapidly increasing dementia. She died on December 16, 2024. During the time she was in the nursing home I didn't do much with her room. Mostly, I just kept the door shut because I couldn't bear to look at her empty bedroom. 

Before Mom went to the nursing home, when she was still enough in her right mind, she and I talked about what would become of her room after she passed away. She was open like that. Talking about her own passing didn't bother her. Mostly, she wanted to know that the people she left behind would be alright. During one of those conversations, I broached the idea of turning her bedroom into a home library. At first she didn't say anything and I was worried that she didn't like the idea which was a surprise to me since she loved books and reading almost as much as I do. When I asked if she objected, she said, "No. I think it's a wonderful idea. I was just thinking that I wish I would be here to see it."

So, Mom, this library is in your honor! I truly believe that as I was creating it she was watching over my shoulder and nodding approvingly. If her gentle spirit is a presence in my new library, it will be a blessed place.

                 
    Table for doing research for novels                            Reading nook

   

Mom's shelf with her diploma in elementary education from the University of Vermont, 

her graduation program, and her name plate

Historical Research by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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Have you ever wondered why it seems that a lot of time elapses between books from authors of historical fiction? It can feel like a long frustrating wait, especially when authors of many other genres seem to pump out books at lightning speed. There are several variables that determine how much time it takes to write a book such as the speed at which any given author writes, the amount of outlining (or lack thereof) done ahead of time, and the number and depth of revisions to name a few. But for most authors of historical fiction, the preliminary research can easily take just as long as the actual writing of the book. Sometimes, longer. This is not to say that authors of other genres don't do any research. They do. But historical research seems to be naturally more in-depth.

I usually take anywhere from six months to a year for research before I even begin to write. Once I start writing, I will still stop several times for more research because something invariably comes up that I didn't realize I was going to need to know about before I started.

So what does that initial research look like? Maybe I'm a bit old school, but I still favor using books for research so that's where I start. Right now I'm in the research phase for the next Irish book (so those of you who are fans of Kelegeen and Erin's Children, there will be a third and, most likely, a fourth book with these characters). The next book will be set during the American Civil War. Even though the setting is Worcester, Massachusetts, some characters will go to fight in the war and at least one of them will be a POV (point of view) character. So part of my research is on the Civil War in general then narrow in to focus on the regiments that were sent from Worcester and the battles in which they took part.

I will also need to know about everyday life in the 1860s including foodways, how holidays were celebrated (Christmas was finally becoming a "thing" in New England by then), fashion, etc. I'll need to know what was happening in Worcester during that time which I will learn about from reading the City's annual reports for that decade. Women were becoming more independent so some of my non-Irish female characters may take up employment. I will need to know where they might have worked and what that was like for them.

The books being used for research for my next Irish novel (yes, all of them!)

While what I plan to write determines what I will need to research, my research also informs what I will write. As I do the research, I often come across something very interesting and decide I want it in my story. Then I may need to learn even more about it. The research and the writing are co-dependent in this way. There are a lot of rabbit holes one can go down while researching. Fortunately, most of them lead to something that can be used, if not in the current manuscript, then in a future one.

I do not stop at books, though. I will also include websites, trips to museums (I foresee several to the Worcester Historical Musuem), chats with Tom Kelleher, my dear friend and favorite historian, and whatever else presents itself as needed.

Like most authors of historical fiction, I strive to create books that are as historically accurate as possible while also being stories in which my readers can totally immerse themselves. And that, dear readers, takes time.

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An Illicit moment, Outcast Artist in Bretagne - WWII heartbreak and forbidden love, by Diane Scott Lewis

 

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It's WWII, and August, the German Commandant, is falling for the Englishwoman Norah. Threats are on all sides. He wants to destroy Hitler, but will Norah destroy his heart? How could they possibly make this work? His attentions will compromise her.

Read an excerpt:

“I realize that.” But August still yearned to know; it had been so long since someone cared—if she cared. “Tell me what is in your heart.”

Norah turned and met his gaze. “I’m not one to mince words. I’m rather blunt, as you’ve pointed out.”

“Then let’s be honest, please.” His throat felt raw. He should let it go, allow her to dismiss him.

She sighed and blinked quickly. “I have feelings I shouldn’t have.”

“Ja. As do I.” Two lonely people, or something more? Silence followed, punctuated by rain and the whistle of wind around the building. Her eyes looked huge, and startled, even in the shadows. A woodland creature; but was he a savior or a predator?

Finally, he said, desperate to say something, “May I see what you’ve done so far on the portrait?”

She smiled, looking relieved by the change in subject. “No, not yet. I want it to be completed first.”

He moved toward her, playfully. “Just a peek won’t hurt.”

She spread her arms as if protecting her masterpiece. “Mais non. I’ll tell you when.”

August took a long step toward her. Fräulein Cooper came forward at the same time. They bumped into one another, her breasts right below his chest. He clasped her upper arms. She stared up at him, lips parted, inviting, yet wary. Past helping himself, he lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. A tightening started low in his body.

She quivered beneath his hands, but didn’t move away, her breath warm on him.

Thunder boomed and rattled the windows. The rain pounded like drumbeats on the roof. The gunshot sounds from his nightmares faded.

“This is wrong, especially for you,” he whispered into her mouth.

“I know. Terribly improper. We shouldn’t.” She remained in place, her form delicate under his fingers, and kissed him back with a tiny moan.

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband and one naughty dachshund.

Apple Peels and Snails to Snare a Husband in the Eighteenth Century, by Diane Scott Lewis

 

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To celebrate February, the month of love, with Valentine's Day, I delved into the superstitions of the past when a village lass searched for her one true love.

Folklore abounds in the villages of England around the single girl’s search for a husband—as in the eighteenth century marriage was what most young women had to look forward to, or they’d be ridiculed and regulated to spinsters, farmed out as governesses, or forced to live on the charity of their family.

Most of these search-for-true-love customs revolved around the seasons.

 
At the ruined Abbey of Cerne Abbas in Dorsetshire, girls flocked around the wishing-well in all seasons. To obtain their heart’s desire, they’d pluck a leaf from a nearby laurel bush, make a cup of it, dip this in the well, then turn and face the church. The girl would then “wish” for presumably a man she already has in mind, but must keep this wish a secret or it wouldn’t come true.

Other customs included, in Somersetshire on May Day Eve or St. John’s Eve, a lass putting a snail on a pewter plate. As the snail slithered across the plate it would mark out the future husband’s initials.

On another ritual to this end, writer Daniel Defoe remarked by saying: “I hope that the next twenty-ninth of June, which is St. John the Baptist’s Day, I shall not see the pastures adjacent to the metropolis thronged as they were the last year with well-dressed young ladies crawling up and down upon their knees as if they were a parcel of weeders, when all the business is to hunt superstitiously after a coal under the root of a plantain to put under their heads that night that they may dream who should be their husbands.”

Throwing an apple peel over the left shoulder was also employed in the hopes the paring would fall into the shape of the future husband’s initials. When done on St. Simon and St. Jude’s Day, the girls would recite the following rhyme as they tossed the peel: St. Simon and St. Jude, on you I intrude, By this paring I hold to discover, without any delay please tell me this day, the first letter of him, my true lover.

On St. John’s Eve, his flower, the St. John’s Wort, would be hung over doors and windows to keep off evil spirits, and the girls who weren’t off searching for snails in the pastures, would be preparing the dumb cake. Two girls made the cake, two baked it, and two broke it. A third person would put the cake pieces under the pillows of the other six. This entire ritual must be performed in dead silence-or it would fail. The girls would then go to bed to dream of their future husbands.

On the eve of St. Mary Magdalene’s Day, a spring of rosemary would be dipped into a mixture of wine, rum, gin, vinegar, and water. The girls, who must be under twenty-one, fastened the sprigs to their gowns, drink three sips of the concoction, then would go to sleep in silence and dream of future husbands.



On Halloween, a girl going out alone might meet her true lover. One tale has it that a young servant-maid who went out for this purpose encountered her master coming home from market instead of a single boy. She ran home to tell her mistress, who was already ill. The mistress implored the maid to be kind to her children, then this wife died. Later on, the master did marry his serving-maid.

Myths and customs were long a part of village life when it came to match-making.


Source: English Country Life in the Eighteenth Century, by Rosamond Bayne-Powell, 1935.

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband and one naughty dachshund. 

How to Make a Killing Writing Murder Mystery by Vanessa C. Hawkins

 

 

 Vanessa Hawkins Author Page

    So if you've been keeping track of the Books We Love Website (which... if you haven't, why not?) then you know that the upcoming Canadian Historical Mystery Series is on its way! My book, entitled Twice Hung, is the tenth book in this exciting new venture, and I am excited to tell you a little bit about it. 

It's a murder mystery. 

    No, but seriously, it will be one of the first serious mystery novels that I've wrote, and while I've been doing a ton of research on how to create some good mystery, I have come across a few tips I thought I'd share with ya'll because... well, I luv ya all a bit! 

I was going to pick meme that highlighted how much I loved my blog readers but... 
this meme was way more me...

So NUMBER ONE!

The Victim: Yeah, they may not be around much, but they are still very important to the story. Whether or not your mystery started with their untimely demise, it's important to know about the events that led up to it. Who was your victim and why did someone want them dead? Why were they in the wrong place at the wrong time, and/or what was their relationship to the killer? What is also important was their character. Did they have it coming, or should we sympathize with the newly dead? 

TWO!

The Murderer: This may be the most interesting character in your story, after the main protagonist. Knowing who they are is essential in creating not only a great story, but one that keep readers turning pages. I love gray area people, and by that I mean creating characters (not just antagonists) with a bunch of flaws. I believe its a key to being human and gives writers a way to allow their protagonists to overcome personal obstacles. How is the murderer similar to the protagonist? How are they different? Do we sympathize with them at all? Keep your reader guessing. 

THREE! 

Red Herrings: Mysteries are the most fun when there are plenty of twists involved. However, that sometimes means keeping one step ahead of your readers. Subtle hints are key, but give too many and they may guess the end before it comes. Think George R. R. Martin and Jon Snow... (Maybe that's the REAL reason he hasn't finished the books, because everyone had already guessed the ending.)

FOUR!

Foreshadowing: As mentioned above, suble keys are great, especially when you finally get to the "Ah ha!" moment. If the ending doesn't make sense, or seems out of left field, it's probably because it is, and because you didn't leave enough puzzle pieces for the reader to collect. This can really make or break a mystery for me, because if the ending doesn't seem justified, it just makes me think that the author was too dumb to outsmart me and if that's the case then... wow... really?

... it's possible...

 FIVE!

Beta Readers: Get someone else to read your book when you are done. This applies to anything you write, but is especially important for mystery novels. It's hard to know if the clues you left behind were sufficient or way too obvious, but for a beta reader, they can tell you if they saw the ending from a mile away, or if it didn't pack enough punch. 

So that's it. My sure fire way to create a mystery novel. I'm sure there are way more tips, but these were my integral five. Twice Hung will be out next year, and I am so excited! In the meantime, check out the cover image, and head on over to Books We Love to discover more about the series and read some super exciting blurbs! 

Cheers! 

  

Stick Season

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 Welcome to Stick Season here in Vermont!

What is it? It's that time when the leaves have left the trees but the snow has yet to visit.   Inexact, to be sure, like our maple sugaring season...more dependent on Mother Nature than on the calendar. 

Stick Season in Vermont is a time of transition. The days are shorter, the nights are colder. We start to nest indoors. It's time for contemplation, for walks among the downed leaves.

For me, it's a great time for cooking up plots for future novels, for trying to understand my characters and stories of books in progress, while enjoying our landscapes, transformed to an almost black and white beauty of bare limbs and grey skies letting us know that winter is on the way.

The Fall of the House of York

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Reviewers say:

"Juliet Waldron's grasp of time and period history is superb and detailed. Her characters were well developed and sympathetic."

"One of the better Richard III books..."

Crest and Motto of Richard III

On a sunny late summer morning in August, 1485, near Leicester, two armies faced one another. The King of England, Richard III, arose at dawn. Tradition, and Shakespeare, claim that he had had a bad night, although this can never be known now, 537 years later.  The King often traveled with his own bed. One night earlier, he had slept in his royal bed, for he had brought it along with his baggage train from Nottingham Castle. Perhaps too large and bulky to be used in a battlefield tent, the royal bed had been left behind at an Inn in Leicester.  Richard was known as a man who "slept ill in strange beds" and so preferred to maintain regularity in his sleeping arrangements.

Chaplains probably said Mass for the King on that fatal morning, as this too was standard practice on Medieval Battlefields, before he broke his fast with watered wine and bread. His esquires would have begun to armor him. His open crown, set with jewels, was set upon his helm, and then, mounted upon his favorite white charger, Whyte Syrie,* he began to direct the disposition of his army. 

According to John Ashdown-Hill, Historian and member of the Royal Historical Society: ..."When John de Vere, one of Henry Tudors most experienced commanders, saw the royal army advancing to oppose them, he swiftly ordered his men to hold back and maintain close contact with their standard bearers. In consequence the rebel advance ...ground to a halt..." This manuever drew the rebel forces into close formation, with the French mercenary pikemen held in reserve. Ashdown-Hill speculates on why, at this point, the sight of his hated distant cousin sent him charging to destruction. 

"Perhaps out of bravado, or from a sense of noblesse oblige, or possibly because he was suffering from a fever and not in full possession of his faculties, Richard called his men around him and then set off with them at a gallop to settle Henry's fate once and for all." 

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The Amazon Kindle version

 Ashdown-Hill (The Last Days of Richard III) speculates on why, at this point, the sight of his cousin sent the king charging to destruction. (Certainly, Richard did not know what Henry looked like, but he would have seen his standard and known he surely stood nearby.) 

"Perhaps out of bravado, or from a sense of noblesse oblige, or possibly because he was suffering from a fever and not in full possession of his facaulties, Richard called his men around him and then set off with them at a gallop to settle Henry's fate once and for all."  

It was a risky move. In chess, this would be the same as sending one's king across the board to directly attack the rival king. 

Richard's legendary charge came near to succeeding. Richard himself slew Tudor's imposing standard bearer, William Brandon, but this is the moment when the wily foreign mercenaries Henry had brought with him drew together in a phalanx, protecting Henry and keeping him out of harm's way. Richard's cavalry hurled themselves into the pike wall so created. Many, including Richard, were unhorsed. At the same time, the remainder of the King's cavalry came crashing in behind. The  Yorkist army was now in dissarray.   

John de Vere and Lord Stanley, both still hanging back--de Vere because he was an experienced soldier, Stanley, waiting to see which way the battle would go--now seized their opportunity. Stanley's men fell upon the milling mass of the royal cavalry. They caught the King on foot and he was soon overwhelmed and slain by a pack of enemy soldiers. 

Richard's bravery has never been questioned, even by the Tudor chroniclers. 

"King Richard was slain, fighting manfully in the midst of his enemies." - The Croyland Chronicle.

When Richard fell, de Vere wheeled and attacked the Duke of Norfolk. During the initial clash, Norfolk lost his helmet and caught an arrow in the eye. The Yorkist side had now lost both captains. The leaderless army began to collapse. 

Michael Jones, whose 2016 military history, Bosworth, 1485, believes that Richard's charge, while a throw of the dice, was in fact "the final act of Richard's ritual affirmation of himself as rightful king." Ashdown-Hill says that Richard "acted in full accord with the late medieval literary tradition."  

After his accession, Henry Tudor would soon confirm this first impression, as the kind of man who preferred judicial murder to a face-to-face duel. While there would soon be a host of Yorkist family members executed on various trumped up charges by him, there is no record of Henry VII even lifting his sword at the battle which would establish his famous dynasty. 

What can I make of my own long fascination with this still controversial character, this long dead English King? In many ways, Richard was the last of his kind. His brief reign marked the end of the  Plantagenet Kings, and from this time forward, historians habitually date the beginning of modern times. Richard's pagentory charge was a medieval aristocrat's decision to play the role of king--a leader of his men--in the most heroic fashion possible. 

Henry was indeed a modern man, cut from different cloth, a man who had far less right to the throne than most of the people he exececuted, a man who had been poor and on the run, but who now intended to become rich by taking everything he could take from anyone who opposed him. The personal tale of Henry VII is a classic picture of a paranoid miser. This fruits of this monarch's gold hunger would--as is so often the case--be blown by his equally paranoid and indulged, vainglorious son, Henry VIII.  

I read the Daughter of Time (by popular mystery writer Josephine Tey) when I was eleven. Richard's story as she told it--here was a man "framed" by his enemies and maligned forever after--became an overriding obsession. I can still pick up my tattered Penguin paperback and find the bedraggled white rose I dried between the pages, oh, so many years ago! Today I can still remember all the kids at summer camp whose ears I talked off on a subject most of them had never heard of. Tilting at windmills in my own nerd way, I guess. 

Now, of course, I look at history--especially the kind of western history which I was taught in school--in a very different. In the great scheme of things, the innocence or guilt of an otherwise obscure English king doesn't matter much, but to this day it remains a heck of a great story. 

Roan Rose is my proud contribution to the Richardian genre. Here we hear the tale of the servant Rose, one who was privy to so much, yet still survived to tell it. 

Dear Rose! She is one of my favorite creations. I hope readers love her as much as I do.

~~Juliet Waldron  

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Growing a Short Story to a Novel

 

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Last fall I wrote a historical mystery short story and showed the first four pages to a local Writer-in-Residence. The WIR's main advice was to turn the story into a novel. I had no clue how I'd do this and she didn't offer suggestions, but I was intrigued by the idea. 

Then this spring BWL decided to publish a collection of Canadian Historical Mysteries. They assigned thirteen of their authors to write a novel set in a specific Canadian province or territory. The collection will have twelve books -- British Columbia is co-authored and Nunavut/Northwest Territories will be reunited in one of the books. I'm delighted to represent my home province of Alberta. 

BWL asked us to provide a working title and novel blurb, which they'll publish in a free guidebook as advance promotion. This got me mulling ways to expand my short story, which was set in Calgary during the 1918 influenza pandemic and told through the viewpoint of a police detective. The WIR's other suggestion was to change the protagonist to a character who was present at the victim's death, to make that aspect of the story more immediate. One of the suspects appealed to me as a point-of-view narrator, but if I let readers enter his thoughts I'd lose him as a suspect. Also, while I like experimenting with male protagonists in short stories, I prefer to write female protagonists for novel-length works. This led to my idea for a new character and protagonist, the sister of that suspect. She will be motivated to solve the crime to know if her brother or someone close to him is guilty of murder. 

I plan to keep my detective as a secondary narrator. His investigations and personal story will add many pages to the book. In the short story, he had a romantic interest in a co-worker. For the novel I'll shift his interest to my heroine to enhance their relationship. She's married, but her husband has been overseas for four years, fighting in The Great War, and she's changed during that time. Her feelings for the detective will create lots of conflict for them both. 

My other idea is to create a new suspect for this longer story; a man who opposes the war. The victim and my heroine's brother are injured veterans, who received early discharges. WWI officially ended November 11, 1918, in the middle of the second and deadliest wave of the influenza pandemic, but most of the Canadian troops didn't return until the following spring. I'd like to make the war more present in the novel than it was in the short story, from the perspectives of those on the home front. 

I'm satisfied these additions and changes will be enough to expand my 4,500 word short story to a 75,000 word novel, the median length of the books in the collection. More importantly, I'm eager to write the larger story to develop these characters and find out what happens to them in the new version. 

In effect, the short story is my novel outline. I'm sure much will change in the process of writing the book. Even whodunnit and why the person done it and how he or she done it are up for grabs. So if you read the short story, don't worry about spoilers.  After I showed the WIR those first pages, the short story was accepted for publication. It appears in the recently released Cold Canadian Crime Anthology, available on Amazon, Kobo, and other sites.

 

A new title will be one definite change for the novel. My short story title "A Deadly Flu" was a wink at my first novel, A Deadly Fall. Two similar novel titles would create confusion. 

Here's the cover for the Canadian Historical Mysteries guidebook, which you will soon be able to download for free to read the twelve novel descriptions. 

                For updates, check out the BWL Canadian Historical Mysteries Page

   

 

My Travels in France by Diane Scott Lewis

 

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Currently writing a novel that takes place in Brittany, France, I yearn to travel there to research. But with Covid still creeping about, that is impossible. My husband is leery to fly, and I don't blame him

In 2003 we threw caution, and money, to the wind and traveled to France for an important (old) birthday of mine. We stayed in Paris on a quaint cobbled lane. 

 

The novel I was writing at the time involved a young woman in the eighteenth century returning to Paris after the French Revolution. I wanted to walk where she would have walked.

15th century street, the Latin Quarter

Paris was amazing, our room tiny but perfect. We ate in cafes, strolled along the River Seine. Browsed booksellers, visited museums. We chatted with an older Frenchman over cognac. He once lived in California. The entire French experience.

But I didn't ask for ice in my too-warm drink until he did!

We took a tour out to the palace of Fontainebleau on my birthday. It took the sting out of growing older. Now it seems so young!

That evening a French café owner sang "Happy Birthday, Madame," to me over a slice of tiramisu.

Author in front of the palace

My heroine had to go to the Luxembourg palace to ask Napoleon to release her lover. We got to take a tour, sneaking into the back of one that just happened to be going in. It was conducted in French, but we managed.

Luxembourg Palace

Before the journey, I learned just enough French to embarrass my self. But it's true, if you try to speak their language first, they'll chime in with English to help you out-or speed you along.

Napoleon's Senate chair, Luxembourg Palace

A wonderful trip, worth every Euro. We planned to return, but now I want to visit Brittany and Normandy to research the German occupation of WWII. One of these days...

Author and husband near Fontainebleau 

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband and one naughty dachshund.

To find out more about her and her books:  DianeScottLewis

How Far to Stretch the Truth in Your Writing, by Diane Scott Lewis

 

“A rich plot with building suspense, the writing is perfect and flows well. I loved this story.”   ~History and Women~

Purchase Ghost Point: Ghost Point

To purchase my novels and other BWL books: BWL

In the beginning of my writing career I was certain you couldn't move events around to suit your story. But then I read a note in a Sharon Kay Penman novel where she said she moved a battle up six months for dramatic purposes. Then I knew if you listed your 'changes' you should get away with it.

Years ago I wrote a novel that takes place on Saint Helena during Napoleon's final exile. But I wanted a twist at the end where he slips away to America. This was the farthest I've stretched the truth, or changed events, though others have hinted at the possibility, or (later on) written fictional accounts of an escape. Now I've come across a few other novels in which the French Emperor escapes his island prison. I tried to write it to where it made perfect sense and it could have actually happened. Agents at the time were horrified that I would even attempt it. No imagination!

Years later, I reviewed a novel not listed as a fantasy set in the fourteenth century where the heroine is eating tomatoes in England. Tomatoes weren't discovered by Europeans until the New World of the Americas were explored a century later. I asked the author about it. She laughed it off and said she knew.

But no author note? I mentioned in my review that she purposely had anachronisms in her novel.

Could a man survive a ship explosion in the eighteenth century and be lost for years? And the Admiralty determined there were no survivors? Well, you need to make it plausible for the reader. And you're not changing history, only stretching the likelihood that this is possible. Check out my novel, Hostage to the Revolution to find out if you agree. But to get the full story, start with Escape the Revolution.

In my recent novel Ghost Point, I do change history by combining three years of the Oyster Wars over the Potomac River into one season. I needed the drama, the murder, that happened later to enrich my plot. I made certain to mention that events were compressed for dramatic purposes.

In Rose's Precarious Quest, a novel about a woman who strives to be a doctor in the 18th c., but discovers disturbing secrets in her new village, I throw in a touch of magic near the end, though most of the novel is grounded in reality. What powers does that stone ring contain? Did the ring glow that fateful night when the villain chased after Rose's sister, or was it the protagonist's overwrought imagination?

If you want to stretch the truth, or move events around, annotate it in your author notes for readers to see. Make it as plausible as possible.

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband and one naughty dachshund.

To find out more about her and her books:  DianeScottLewis