Transitions by Nancy M Bell

 

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As November trundles it way along toward the end of another year, separated only by the depths of December from yet another turn of the wheel, I start to think of the transitions in my own world. The sharp green exuberance of those years between, oh say, six and fifteen. Those years when the whole world lay ahead of me and I could be whoever or whatever I could dream about. The security of not having to worry if there was going to be food on the table for supper and a roof over my head. My only responsibility to care for my cat and my garden in the summer. All the golden and glorious opportunities that lay just beyond that border of almost a grownup but not quite. It relates to the Celtic cycle of Maiden, Mother , Crone. Oh, and wasn't the Maiden part of the journey glorious. More so than I realized at the time as I was always yearning forward, impatient to move on- to get there. Wherever 'there' was at the time.

The years between fifteen and twenty were interesting. Remember that Chinese curse? "May you have an interesting life." It seems that a female teenagers middle years are full of angst and strife. You're in between a child and an adult. Not quite old enough to truly understand some of the ramifications of some dubious decisions, but not young enough to excused on the basis of innocence. In a sense those teen years were a journey on innocence lost, but also a vast wealth of growth and a faint grasp on maturity. That being said they were good years, full of horses and friends and silliness. Midnight raids on horseback to the surrounding cornfields and later in the year the apple orchard. Riding in the moonlight, gathering in the stables until all hours secure in our little circle of yellow light cast from the barn. I learned that love could be transitory and words didn't always mean what they seemed to. First love, that real first encounter that comes after the tender throes of puppy love are left behind and you venture in the realm of more adult relationships, can be wonderful and devastating at the same time.

Leaving the Maiden years behind, I moved into the Mother stage at a fairly young age. Though not when I was married in 1977. You were expected to get married have kids. Which I did, but also continued with my work with horses which I loved. I don't think the Mother stage ever really ends, even when those kids are older than I was when I had them they are still my babies and I worry over them. Another stage of growing supposedly wiser and smarter. Hmmm. 

As I approach the last year of my sixties, I reflect on the transitions in my life. The lost of my dad and then 8 years later of my mother. Whether we realize it or not, our parents remain an anchor in our lives, our north star or lodestone, and when they are gone if left me feeling a bit rudderless. But now, I take on the role of anchor for my kids, although I'm sure they don't see it that way. I remember when I was about to turn 20, that was the most meaningful birthday. I would never be a teenager again. It was time to grow up. (or so I thought- there was still a lot of growing to do). Now as I near the seventh decade in my journey, I am still looking forward and reaching for the next adventure. I guess being a Crone does not necessarily mean I can quite growing and maybe, just maybe, actually achieve some semblance of maturity. Life if full of transition, big and small. Just as the seasons change and revolve, so too do our lives. What is that Macdonald Carey says on that soap opera? "Like sands through the hour glass, these are the days of our lives."

Until next month, stay well, stay happy     

It's a Kind of Magic by Victoria Chatham

 

COMING IN SEPTEMBER 2025

Writers have a lot of words to play with, roughly one million of them in the English language. How we choose them and in what order we place them eventually becomes the stories we tell and the books we read.

Some books are long, others short, and others in between, but in all those words lies magic. The magic holds us spellbound, so as readers, our only option is to turn the page to discover what the author’s characters have in store for us. Read a romance or a fantasy and succumb to the enchantment of that author’s creativity. Savour the words on the page.

My words

So, where did all those words come from? Research has shown that our million or so words have developed over the last fifteen thousand years since the end of the last Ice Age, giving or taking a century or two here and there. Reputed to be the oldest words in our language are ‘thou’ and ‘mother.’ Currently, the longest word in English is forty-five letters long and is a medical term referring to a lung disease contracted from inhaling fine silica particles. Check any good English dictionary for pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

It is not likely a reader would find that in a novel, but what about the shortest words? That good old stalwart indefinite article ‘a’ is the first that comes to mind, but don’t forget the pronoun ‘I’, which is always written in upper case. Numerous three-letter words exist, as any Scrabble player will appreciate, but not as many two-letter words. Of these, my favourite is the ubiquitous ‘up’.

At its most basic, its definition means moving to a higher position, but how many ways can it be applied? We wake up and get up. Topics come up. We call someone on the phone. We line up and can work up an appetite. A drain can be stopped up, so we open it up – or, more likely, the plumber does. We clean up the house, warm up leftovers, and respond to our teenager’s ‘Wassup?’ And then there is that universal, slightly risqué phrase referring to pregnancy, knocked up. 

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There are several suggestions for its origin, but it likely dates from about 1760, when the Industrial Revolution developed in what was then Great Britain. The workforce needed to staff factories sprouting up like mushrooms was gleaned from the ever-increasing number of people moving from the country to towns and cities. Used to getting up as soon as it was light and going to bed when it was dark, these people radically adjusted their lives, as being late for work usually meant instant dismissal. 

The role of the knocker up was to tap on the bedroom window, making sure they were awake and preparing to go to whatever grimy hellhole employed them at low wages for twelve to sixteen hours a day, six days a week. The person doing the knocking, using a long pole with a knob or crown on its top, might be paid a small sum for the service. They might cover several miles in an area, walking up one side of the street and down the other. Once factory horns and reliable alarm clocks were invented, the practice of knocking up gradually died out, although, in one area in northeast England, it continued into the 1960s.

This post began with 'Writers have a lot of words to play with,' and the magic is I have only played with five hundred and fifty-six of them. There could have been so much more.

Victoria Chatham

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Why I Write Romance by Victoria Chatham

 

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I have always enjoyed reading romance novels, from my first Georgette Heyer Regency romance to the latest contemporary romance. For me, they were and are pure escapism which is why I now write romance. Romance Writers of America defines it as ‘two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.’

Over the years, many people I have met who discovered I am an author have told me they could write a romance as “It’s only a basic formula, after all.” And as one close friend, who should have known better, once said, “Two people meet, fall in love, get married, have two children and a dog. The end.” She had utterly ignored the times she had seen or heard me almost pulling my hair out while trying to determine the nuances of building my characters to make them not only unique but also plausible or deciding what subplot would best create confusion and conflict in their burgeoning relationship.

As with any genre, those subplots and conflict are necessary parts of the storytelling process to keep your reader engaged, but in a romance novel, the love story must be the main focus. Romance novels swing through a whole arc from sweet to super hot and in many subgenres, from historical and contemporary to fantasy, young adult, and paranormal, and more. At each end of the heat scale, they can swing from spiritual to sexy. Whatever the heat level, our romantic couple must risk everything for each other before they get their happy-ever-after or happy-for-now ending.

I love putting my very proper Regency heroines into unexpected and sometimes dangerous situations. They are not simpering sampler stitchers but real live flesh and blood up and at ‘em in your face type gals. As I have often been told, my heroines are far too out of the box for a traditional Regency romance, but those are the kinds of characters I like, so that’s what I write and make no apologies for.

My heroes, the guys who often raise their eyebrows at the shenanigans my gals become embroiled in, are, indeed, my heroes. No one is perfect, but they are perfect enough in my eyes to take centre stage and support, thwart, or otherwise involve themselves with these feisty, fearless females. They are usually aristocratic lords, the epitome of the English ton, who often have to step outside of their rigid social structure to deal with the uppity females in their lives.

My research into the historical facts for the Regency years (strictly 1811 – 1820) is in-depth and solid enough to create my characters’ worlds and costumes realistically. Visiting museums is a must and I had fun with the bonnets at the Costume Museum in Bath, UK.

 I was shocked when I discovered that novels set before 1950 are considered historical. My historical romances cover the years 1814 to 1818 (Regency), 1907 to 1918 (Edwardian), and 1935, the last being Book #1 in BWL Publishing Inc’s Canadian Historical Brides Collection.

I am currently working on a cozy mystery series, but I have no doubt that I will eventually return to where it all began and write romance

Victoria Chatham

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Canadian Historical Brides ~ Quebec

                                                                    Belle Canadienne at  Amazon

                                                     

This charming cover is a romantic 19th century vision of what was, according to my research, a far harsher reality.  Women were scarce in all frontier colonies, but those who did dare the journey were as strong and probably just as ready to put the past behind them as the men for whom they are destined.

Jeanne Joly is among them. Brought up in a comfortable bourgeois home in the port city of Brouage, Jeanne runs away with a handsome sailor to La Rochelle. Her outraged father predicts she will rue the day she allowed her heart to rule her head. Now, a teen-age romance will decide her future.

Jeanne believes that "love conquers all" and so it does--for a few years. The little family is poor, but her husband adores her and her new in-laws are welcoming. However, sea-faring in the 1630's is a fraught calling and the day comes when neither her husband nor any of his shipmates return home. Within a few years, Jeanne's little boy too, becomes a victim of the ocean when he ventures too close to the waves.

A chance encounter with a charismatic lady shows her a way to escape both her "ruined" past and her current poverty. Soon, Jeanne is on her way to the undiscovered, wild country along the St. Lawrence River.  

Here's an excerpt from the newest entry in the Canadian Historical Brides Series, Belle Canadienne. It is available as e-book in all formats and in print.

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Ocean and sky! Ocean and sky!

Jeanne had never before sailed out of sight of land.  To see nothing but the ship surrounded by so much deep, deep water and feel herself riding over such massive swells--like hills that endlessly traveled beneath the ship--was a new and frightening experience.  Agathe had sailed to the Canary Islands with her brother and all the way down the coast of Spain, too, but even she appeared full of wonder at the endlessness of the Atlantic. 

In Jeanne's earlier coastal voyages, the welcome shout "Land Ho" had come quickly, but now a month had passed and they were only half--or, perhaps a third – of the way to their next sight of land.  Only time alone would tell. A single heavy two-day storm through which they had passed had made both women seasick and afraid for the first time in all their sailing lives... 

Below the main deck were those who were emigrating.  A few had wives with them.  Some of these folks were tradesmen--cobblers, coopers, and smiths--who had been engaged to work only for an indenture's term in New France.  There were soldiers and some carpenters too.  Two of those were indentured, but there was also the ship's carpenter and his apprentice. 

As well, peasant farmers were among the passengers, men who were promised land after they served a three-year term of indenture to the gentlemen seigneurs among whom the new land had been divided.  Their job would be immense for they would be clearing virgin forest, breaking sod, and facing the savages.  After their term of indenture was over, just as such peasants did in France, they would continue to pay rent to the mostly absent seigneurs who held title to the land on which they labored.  It was a hard bargain, this Jeanne understood, but she also knew that farmland was almost impossible to obtain in France if you were a younger son.  These brave paysan were willing to take the chance...

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Also in the Canadian Historical Brides series:

Fly Away Snow Goose

a residential school story set in Northwest Territories

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Teens caught by the Mounties and sent to an Indian Residential School in 1950's. Based on actual survivor stories, this is a tale of terror, endurance, escape, survival, and love, as 4 children journey home through the Canadian wilderness.

~~Juliet Waldron

The books I forgot I'd written...by Sheila Claydon

                                                     

 

                                                                                        

Find my books here

                              

Golden Girl, my first book, was published in the 1983, and because things were very different then the money I earned was enough for me to fly my family to Munich in Germany to stay with very dear friends. My husband had flown before on business, but for me and my two children it was another first. We had a brilliant time in Munich and then in Salzburg in Austria, something we all remember to this day, often reminiscing about the highlights when we get together. 

After that I sold three more books, The Hollywood Collection, Empty Hearts and Bouquet of Thorns. Then things began to change. An editor who was working with me suddenly left the publishing house and her replacement didn't like my next manuscript. Too much story apparently and not enough romantic action! Once I read a couple of the books she was pushing I realised I didn't stand a chance. Not with that publishing house anyway. And worse still, I was never going to be able to write that stuff, so I put away my typewriter (yes it was a typewriter in those days) and found a proper job that brought in a regular wage. It was a sort of needs must with two growing children.

Fast forward twenty-five years and it was a different world. Not only had I retired but digital books were now a thing. And suddenly all the stars aligned in my favour because that publishing house went out of business (all those books with no stories!!) so the copyright reverted to me. I approached a digital publisher with some trepidation because it was a long time since I'd written anything other than annual reports, newsletters and company reports and I didn't know if my stories stood a chance. The news was good though and those four books were soon back on the market, this time in digital print. That gave me the confidence to start again, and that's when I found Books We Love. 

Many digital and print books later, the copyright of those original books again reverted to me as another publishing house bit the dust. Too busy writing for the hugely successful Books We Love and treasuring the support that all its authors get, I ignored them for a long while. Then one day I had an epiphany. Would Books We Love republish them? Jude was more than helpful, dismissing my concerns that they were written so long ago that much of the content would seem out of date. So now they are re-published yet again, but this time as Retro romances, and with the year they are set in clearly marked at the start of the first chapter. I had to re-edit them of course, but with much nicer covers they have now been part of my Books We Love stable for several years. They are also published under my own name, not the pseudonym I used before. 

And this brings me to a whole new situation. We have just had our loft cleared, no longer having any use for the myriad belongings that have been clogging it up for years, and not wishing to leave it for someone else to deal with when we get too old to cope. The only things left are the Christmas decorations, suitcases, photos and a stack of long forgotten manuscripts. Amazed they were still there, I started reading them, and yes, they still have a lot of story, but the romance is there too. I haven't decided what to do yet because I know they will need editing, but I'm tempted. Will Books We Love be interested? Will I be able to update them or will they have to be published under a retro label again? I haven't had the thinking time to start something new for quite a while now, so is this recent discovery what I need to get me writing again? Time will tell. In the meantime I'm enjoying revisiting my past.

Careers for Characters by Victoria Chatham

 

AVAILABLE HERE

In my historical romances, careers, as we understand them today, did not exist for my heroines. Young ladies of quality were trained from a young age to look for an advantageous marriage, manage a household, and raise a family. However, my leading ladies all had a streak of independence and wanted more than being lady of the manor.

Emmaline Devereux followed in her father’s footsteps and became a spy in the Peninsular Wars. Juliana Clifton learned to swordfight because she didn’t want her brother to have all the fun. I knew next to nothing about sword fighting, so I watched several YouTube videos, but my understanding of methods and techniques with different swords grew to a new level when I attended some fencing classes.

Lady Olivia Darnley loved books and knew her way around libraries. One of my Regency belles, Hester Dymock, was an herbalist and healer. Charlotte Gray learnt map-making skills from her father and millinery from her mother. Phoebe Fisher grew up on a farm and became a competent horsewoman. My Brides of Banff Springs heroine, Tilly McCormack, became a chambermaid at the famous Banff Springs Hotel. The heroine of my new cozy mystery series is a sixty-six-year-old retired primary school headmistress.

I don’t recall having to create a career for any of them, as they all evolved organically. Charlotte Gray was the only one who gave me any trouble. As I saw it, Charlotte’s story was about being a lady’s companion in a quiet country home. I thought she might become the vicar’s wife, very genteel and respectable, but Charlotte wanted adventure, so that was what she had, and then some. It took me a while to figure out a connection between spying and map-making, smuggling and millinery, but once I built her backstory, it came together quite quickly.

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When we start writing, we are encouraged to write what we know. I knew very little about any skills my heroines needed other than using herbs and horseman(woman)ship. I’ve been around horses since I was five, and my life-long interest in herbalism at age nineteen. Spying during the Napoleonic Wars was rife, and the Duke of Wellington was rumoured to have a network of some four thousand spies. I have always liked maps, so it wasn’t too hard to work that theme into Charlotte’s story. The millinery, not so much.

As the author, you can choose any career for your character, but they will tell you what they like and don’t like, what they can and can’t do, and what they might want to learn. Authors may use their own experiences of a career, as John Grisham did with his legal thrillers, or let their imaginations run wild as J.K. Rowling did with Harry Potter. With judicious research, you can build careers for your characters about which you, the author, know nothing. Dick Francis, the author of over forty horse-racing-related thrillers, had many different careers for his characters, from a glassmaker to an art forger, a horse transporter to a meteorologist, a barrister to a movie star playing detectives on the big screen.

I needed to learn about ranching, cattle, and rodeo stock for my contemporary Western romances. One of my heroines was a lady rancher, another a photojournalist, and the third an interior designer. You might wonder about those last two characters, but those leading ladies became involved with ranchers, so they had to have their own careers.

Once an author has the career background, has done the research, and has begun writing, what emerges is as authentic as possible. However, I hope none of my future characters wants to climb mountains or be a trapeze artist, as I have no head for heights.  

Victoria Chatham

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Tom Thomson Book Launch a huge Success! by Nancy M Bell

 

To learn more about Nancy's books click on the cover please.

The book launch at The Purple Platypus Bookstore in Castor, Alberta was huge success. There was tons of fun,  door prizes, swag bags and of course a reading from the book. There was a great turnout with over 20 people joining me in the cozy confines of the bookstore. It's such a pleasure to support and be supported by an independent bookstore. Castor is a small town in east-central Alberta and The Purple Platypus draws patrons from as far away as Red Deer and Wetaskiwin. I'm so happy that the lovely Lynn Sabo agreed to host this book launch. Even though the day outside was a bit dreary, the warm and companionship within was wonderful. 

Not to mention I sold lots of books which was good for me and the store. So win win.

As anice way to cap off the day I got the first look at the cover for my upcoming book Night at te Legislature, a Manitoba paranormal set in the Manitoba Legislature building. This one is the first book in BWL Publishing's news collection The Paranormal Canadiana Collection which will feature a novel set in each of Canada's provinces and territories.

Until next month, stay well, stay happy

 

Two for the Price of One by Victoria Chatham

 

AVAILABLE HERE

A reader asked me, "Why have two amateur sleuths when you could have had one?" That was a good question, but apart from the flip response of "Why not?" I admit my characters came about because I so enjoyed Dashiell Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles stories. OK, so that dates me, but I don't mind. Hammett is probably best known for The Maltese Falcon but wrote many detective novels and short stories, some of them no doubt prompted by his years working for the Pinkerton Agency.

Nick and Nora first appeared in the novel The Thin Man, published in 1934. Nick is a retired private eye, and Nora is a wealthy socialite. They both like to drink and have a good deal of flirtatious banter between them. They also had a dog, Asta, who was a Miniature Schnauzer in the novels but was played by Skippy, a Wire-Haired Fox Terrier, on screen. The Nick and Nora characters, played by William Powell and Myrna Loy, appeared in films from 1934 to 1947, had a radio show from 1941 to 1950, and a TV series from 1957 to 1959. 

Later, another couple created by Sydney Sheldon caught my attention. The TV show Hart to Hart starred Robert Wagner as Jonathan Hart and Stephanie Powers as his wife, Jennifer. They also had a dog, a Lowchen named Freeway. The series began in 1979 and ran for five seasons until 1984, followed by eight made-for-TV movies.

Apart from Nick and Nora and the Harts, Agatha Christie penned the Tommy and Tuppence novels, the first of which was released in 1922. Tommy and Tuppence were childhood friends who later married. Tommy is known for his common sense, while Tuppence has a daring streak. His cautiousness is matched by her curiosity. There were five Tommy and Tuppence books, the last published in 1973, so we see Tommy and Tuppence grow from childhood friends to an elderly couple. 

My characters, Lord Randolph Buxton and his wife Lady Serena, grew out of these stories, but I set them firmly in the Edwardian era for no reason other than liking the fashions. The first book was published as Always A Lady, but after a couple of questions from readers, I decided to rework it as Cold Gold and add more to their story. Cold Gold is set in 1907. The next book, On Borrowed Time, is set in 1913 and answers a reader's question about what happened to the Pinkerton agent character from Cold Gold. Shell Shocked is set at the end of WWI in 1918 and, as all three were novellas, were published in one volume as The Buxton Chronicles.

So, not only two for one but also three for one. Enjoy.

Victoria Chatham

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Changing Horses by Victoria Chatham

 

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After writing ten historical romance novels and three contemporary western romances, I am itching to try my hand at writing a cozy mystery.

So why change horses in mid-stream? Much sage advice has been written about whether an author should change genres. Although I have enjoyed every bored lord and feisty heroine in my historical romances and sexy ranchers and their ladies in my contemporary westerns, my go-to reading for light relief has always been mysteries and, more recently, cozy mysteries.  

Part of building an author brand is promising your readers sure-fire content and delivering it, so for an author, changing genres might be the kiss of death as there is a chance of losing readers. In the past, it was almost a must-do to have a pen name for a separate genre—think Nora Roberts writing mysteries as J.D. Robb—which might mean a workload that would daunt many authors. Two names might require two websites, newsletters, e-mail addresses or whatever media platform the author prefers.

However, this isn’t always the case. Jude Devereux writes historical romance with a side of paranormal and mystery under her name. Carolyn Brown and Alyssa Cole both write historical and contemporary romances. In these instances, and I’m sure there are many more, the author is the brand. If readers like your work, I think they will follow you out of curiosity, if nothing else.

Whether romance, paranormal, YA, sci-fi and more, every story contains the who, what, why, where, and when writing principle of journalism, which carries over into all fiction. Who are the leading characters? What are they doing, specifically what is being done to whom? Why is it being done? Where does that old road lead, or where will the spaceship land? When did XYZ become a vampire, or did ABC know FGH was a werewolf?

The classic cozy mystery format is that a body is found, often on the first page but usually in the first chapter, an amateur sleuth investigates and reveals the murderer. 

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It sounds simple, but starting with the problem is like working backwards compared to my previous books. What I like most about cozy mysteries is that there is no bloody description of gunshot or knife wounds or other causes of death. Sometimes, there is no description at all, only the information that someone has been found dead. This cuts out much research into weapons and the feasible wounds they produce—likewise, any police or legal protocols. A cozy mystery is not a police procedural, so there is little need for more than a detective on hand or a detective inspector and his sergeant, as in the Midsomer Murders TV series.

I have several more historical romances that I could write, but thankfully, my publisher has accepted my proposal for three cozy mysteries. I have my characters, the victims, and the plots, and I've created the village where all the stories take place. Now, I'm ready to start writing. It remains to be seen if my readers will enjoy them. I could lose some, but on the other hand, I could gain a new following. Time will tell.  

Victoria Chatham

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Story From a Small Kingdom

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Why after 500 years would anyone care about an August battle which ended a 423 year-long line of Plantagenet Kings? When Richard III died, so, in a manner of speaking, did the medieval world.

Of course, I didn't think of things that way when I was ten after reading The Daughter Of Time by Josephine Tey. As my mom was a passionate Anglophile, taking up this (then) obscure interest was a great way to please her and to amuse the academic adults in my life. English history was the most important European history to a young colonial brought up in the 1950's U.S. (Glad that's over!)

While my elders drank their afternoon cocktail and indulged me, I would passionately argue the case of "who murdered the princes in the Tower." If you don't know, well, these were the sons of Richard's brother, King Edward IV, the ones who vanished while in Richard's keeping. Richard, until then a faithful younger brother, had been appointed "Protector" because Edward's sons were minors. I soon read many more Ricardian histories (so-called for those books that dealt with the very short reign of Ricard III) and became a kind of young lobbyist for this (then) little known late medieval King. 

If you know Shakespeare's Tudor propaganda piece, you know that Richard III was the original wicked uncle, as well as a murderer of just about every other kinsman/royal who ever crossed his path. He was "crook-back," his physical deformity matching his wicked mind. God sent Henry Tudor to defeat him and deliver England from a tyrant.(!) 

Richard III

History, however, isn't quite so cut and dried. Richard of York was slain by a man whose claim to the English throne was supported--not by God--but by the treachery of power-hungry  noblemen and women, and it rested upon an extremely tenuous claim through an illegitimate line. Henry VII, as he became, was "The Godfather" of the next murdering, famous/infamous English dynasty. His reign set a kind of record for beheadings of kinsmen and those he believed were rivals. He set up an organized program of legally extorting the high nobility, in order to break their power. These actions he took evenhandedly, not sparing those who'd betrayed Richard to support him. He had something of a record for judicial murder--at least, until the reign of his son, Henry VIII.

No saints here, whether of the White Rose Party or the Red! Check out the feudal history of any country in the world, and you'll see the same story, universally. Looking back dispassionately, something I can do after many, many more years of reading world history, all I see is one gang of vain, self-serving, murderous, paranoid, grasping 1%ers succeeding another. It's just "human beings being human," only in the worst possible way. 

Henry VII

Despite all "older and wiser caveats," I wrote Roan Rose, because this was a story I "owed" my childhood obsession, Richard. Besides, take away the aristocratic, medieval window dressing, and here's a story worthy of an opera--or a series TV show, like Succession. Family feuds, vast wealth, sibling rivalry, hubris, greed, addiction, betrayals by the score, and unions made with passion and unions made for gain, are similarly on display. 

This, however, is more of a "downstairs" story, which allows me to explore what the life of ordinary people was like during this turbulent civil war period. A personal "body servant" was privy to all manner of royal secrets. Faithful Rose loves both her mistress and her master, who are, by the accident of birth, both placed loftily, high above her. They can hardly see her, this couple whose hearts she can never truly possess.  "Loyaulté me lie," ("Loyalty Binds me") was Richard's chosen motto. Perhaps it's even more true of this fictional commoner who remains so dear to my heart, Roan Rose.

                                                                             

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"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..."

(Amazon reviews)

 

~~Juliet Waldron

Which Book and Why? by Victoria Chatham

 

AVAILABLE HERE

I was recently asked which of my books I enjoyed writing the most and why. I had to think about that as each has a place in my heart. My first Regency romance, His Dark Enchantress, was followed by His Ocean Vixen and His Unexpected Muse because my large cast of characters wanted to tell their stories.

The same happened with my second Regency series, Those Regency Belles: Hester Dymock, Charlotte Gray, and Phoebe Fisher. My Edwardian series, The Buxton Chronicles, started with the story of Lord Randolph and Lady Serena Buxton in the novella Cold Gold, followed by On Borrowed Time and Shell Shocked. When I began writing contemporary Western romance, I only intended to write one stand-alone title. Still, there are now three: Loving That Cowboy, Legacy of Love, and Loving Georgia Caldwell.  

 

Each has brought me joy and given me grief. Characters have wandered on stage in scenes where they didn't belong. They were intrusive, nosey, and noisy until I listened to what they were telling me. That might sound strange to non-writers, but any writer will tell you it happens. Sometimes, the only way to further a plot is to sit quietly and let the characters tell their story. Then, it is up to me, the author, to fit all the puzzle pieces together.

Part of that puzzle is the research that each book requires. Even though I had read many Regencies, and still do, when it came to writing my own, I researched each element as it occurred, whether it was the fabric for a lady's dress, a gentleman's cologne, an ornate hot chocolate cup, or the stagecoach timetable from London to Bristol. I did the same for all my books, but Brides of Banff Springs was the one I enjoyed writing the most, as Tilly McCormack was the gutsy kind of heroine I like. I also collaborated on Envy the Wind in the Canadian Historical Brides Collection. The premise for the Collection was that the stories had to be historically accurate and must contain a bride and a sweet romance suitable for readers of age thirteen and upwards.

I made many trips to Banff to delve into the archives in the Whyte Museum, spend time at the hotel, which is now the Fairmont Springs Hotel, and browse the Banff public library shelves. I talked to as many people as I could about the town's history to bring the story of Tilly McCormack to life. I recently discovered that my accountant, a distant relative of one of the real-life characters in the book, has read it several times. 

And that, after all, is what matters. However much I might enjoy my characters and the situations I may put them in, it is always so satisfying to know they matter to the readers, too. You can find all my books here:

 

https://bookswelove.net/chatham-victoria/

Scroll down the page, click on the cover, and choose your market source. Happy reading!

Victoria Chatham

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Serendipitous Serenity by Victoria Chatham

 

AVAILABLE HERE

 

Serendipitous: Lucky in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries.

Serenity:          State of calmness, quietness, stillness, peace.

I don’t know about you, but I have always found cemeteries interesting. From ancient moss-covered and mostly unreadable headstones in old English churchyards to the Gothic splendour of Highgate Cemetery in London, the resting place amongst other notables of singer George Michael and Karl Marx, author of The Communist Manifesto, cemeteries can be places of calmness, quietness, stillness, and peace. I make no apologies for the use of a bit of alliteration in the title, as the two brief definitions perfectly describe my recent visit to cemeteries in Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Ross Bay Cemetery

I have visited Victoria several times, and this trip finally made it to Christ Church Cathedral, which deserves its own post. Beside the Cathedral is the Old Burying Ground, and my friend and I picked up a cemetery map showing the various memorials. We toured through the cemetery, stopping at the Historical Marker installed in 1958 to commemorate the centennial of the Fraser River Gold Rush, which has the history of the Old Burying Ground carved onto it.  

As fascinating as each tomb and obelisk was, we were both impressed with the Tombstone Group. The City of Victoria cleared the Old Burying Ground in 1908, leaving some stones in place. One tomb still standing is for Hannah Estes, a black woman born into slavery in Missouri who died in Victoria in 1868. My friend and I were intrigued by Hannah’s story.

Hannah's headstone

A quick internet search found that Hannah was married to Howard Estes, also an enslaved person. At that time, it was common practice for enslaved people to take their owner’s name, in this instance, Scotsman Tom Estes. Hannah and their three children lived apart from Howard, who managed to buy his freedom from Tom Estes for $1,000, but it cost him the enormous sum of $4,000 for his family. They made their way to Canada and eventually settled on Salt Spring Island.

Smooth sailing

We were on a mission to find Howard’s resting place, so we took the ferry to Salt Spring Island. The day was perfect as we drove from Fulford Harbour through the town of Ganges to the cemetery. We weren’t sure what we would find, but we didn’t expect so much history. Yes, we did find Howard’s grave. Although his name is misspelled, it does not detract from the fact that this man did so much to keep his family intact.

Howard's headstone

 There was so much more in this calm, quiet, peaceful place. It was well worth the trip. If you want to know more about Hannah and Howard, I have included the links below. Serendipitous serenity indeed.  

Victoria Chatham

  AT BOOKS WE LOVE

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 MY WEBSITE

 

 Images from the author's collection.

Links for more information on Hannah and Howard Estes.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/salt-spring-island-estes-stark-1.7115501

https://www.saltspringarchives.com/Estes_Stark_Family/