Thoughts on Writing a Series by A.M.Westerling

 The Ladies of Harrington House is the first series I’ve tackled as I usually write single title, stand alone stories. My process remained the same - before I start writing a book, I spend some time researching the time period. The Ladies is a Regency era series, a period I’m familiar with so I didn’t need to do much research. The series originally consisted of three novels however an opportunity arose to write a Christmas novella so I turned that into the prequel. For all the books, I spent a few days getting to know my characters and coming up with plot lines.

I usually keep a letter size file folder for every book I write. In it are my character arcs, notes to myself, daily writing progress and print outs of material I’ve found online that I think are worthwhile to have in hard copy, particularly if it’s something I can use for other books ie names, Regency slang, Regency clothing, types of carriages, etc.

However, in the case of The Ladies of Harrington House, I put together a series bible in a three-ring binder as I needed to keep track of details throughout all the books as of course the characters appear throughout the series.

I have separate sections for Sophie, Leah, Catherine and Evelyn, plus sections that are pertinent to all four such as a description of Harrington House and its servants and a description of the fictional town of Trewater. At the front I have a map of Cornwall marked with the location of the Harrington lands. 

A close up of the character tabs - in case you're wondering, Evelyn is included in the Characters section - I suppose I could add a tab for her but I know where to find her so it works.

Peaking out from the back (above) are the pertinent research print outs of Cornish history, covering such things as mining, smuggling and fishing in the area.

As I write, I jot down notes for each character in their appropriate section to make sure I’m consistent with their appearance and to keep the names straight. This is particularly important the deeper into the series I go.

I’m more of a pantser but I always have certain scenes that I know I will be including. In Sophie’s Choice, it’s the scene in the library where Sophie finds incriminating papers on Bryce. In Leah’s Surrender, it’s the shipwreck scene. I’ve just started Catherine’s Passion and already I know I will be including a scene where a mining disaster will involve the hero, Julian. For Evelyn’s Christmas Beau, the prequel, it’s the final scene under the mistletoe.

Over the years I’ve learned not to spend too much time plotting because invariably my characters run the show. When that happens, I know I’m on the right track!

It’s the first time I had to write a series blurb and this is what I came up with:

The Ladies of Harrington House is an exciting new series from BWL Publishing that is set in Regency era Cornwall. Three sisters, three stories: Sophie Harrington, the independent minded one determined to choose her own husband. However, has she lost her heart to the wrong man? Leah Harrington, the prim and proper miss. She survives a shipwreck but can she survive heartbreak? And Catherine Harrington, the quiet musician. Will her passion for the keyboard lead to passion in a man’s arms?

The first two books are already available HERE. 

 

Evelyn's Christmas Beau will be available in October of this year and Catherine's Passion is coming in January 2022. 

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For the Love of Chocolate by Victoria Chatham

 

AVAILABLE HERE

 

If you read Regency romance, you will probably be familiar with the hot chocolate our heroines enjoy. We still like our hot chocolate today, whether flavored or topped with whipped cream or both. Opening a can of cocoa powder or an individual serving sachet is so much easier for us to make than it was for the Regency maid or cook. Ours is practically instant, and theirs took a good thirty minutes of work to produce a cup of silky rich hot chocolate. But from where did this fascination of ours for chocolate in all its guises come?

Anybody who likes chocolate in any form is probably familiar with the term 'food of the gods,' which reverts to chocolate's Aztec and Mayan origins when only the rich and powerful drank it. Cocoa comes

Cocoa pod and beans

from the beans, or seeds, of the cocoa tree pod. The beans could be given as a wedding gift or used as currency to buy a pig or a slave or used in official and religious ceremonies. An illustration in the Codex Tudela shows the traditional method of creating the froth the drink was famed for by pouring the liquid from one cup to another with a considerable gap between them. When the Spaniards arrived, they couldn't quite get the hang of this method, so they invented the molinillo, a type of whisk still used today.

Cocoa beans were first imported from Mexico to Seville by the conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1585. By the 17th Century, chocolate was a popular drink in France. In England, the first chocolate house was opened by a Frenchman in the Queen's Head Alley near Bishopsgate in London in 1657. Chocolate houses were the then equivalent of our coffee shops today and were a club of sorts for wealthy and elite all-male clients. White's Club, the haunt of gentlemen of the ton in many a Regency tale, was originally a chocolate house. Opened in 1693 by an Italian, Francesco Bianco, alias Frances White, the house was described by Jonathan Swift as 'the bane of the English nobility.' Such was chocolate houses' reputation for being hotbeds of gossip amongst social climbers and ambitious politicians that Charles II tried to ban them in 1675.

Ladies, of course, could not step foot in such establishments, so they drank their hot chocolate in the comfort of their own home. Not such a comfortable job, though, for the staff who had to prepare these drinks. Purchased in hard blocks about four inches wide and one or two inches thick and packed in a linen bag, in this form, chocolate would keep for about a year.

First, the chocolate was grated into a powder and placed in a pan with milk or water, maybe with a little wine or brandy in it, or even a flavoring of cinnamon, nutmeg, or flowered waters like orange blossom or rose. Then the pan was put on the stove, and the contents were brought to the boil. Constant stirring prevented the mixture from scorching. When it had boiled, the pan was removed from the heat. The contents were then whisked to blend the mixture with a chocolate mill, known in France as a molinet, and in Spain as a molinilla. Eggs, sugar, and thickening agents such as flour, corn starch or sometimes bread were then added to the pan. The cook would spin the chocolate mill between her hands, like rubbing two sticks to start a fire, further mixing the ingredients. Once that was done, the pot was put back on the heat and again brought to the boil, being stirred all the time by the cook, who must have had a strong arm. A little cream might be added, and then another good whisking would be required to produce the essential froth without which hot chocolate was not considered fit to be served.

Nothing but the best silver or porcelain would do for this beverage to be served from for the upper classes. Chocolate pots were tall and slim and often had an elegant swan-necked spout. They might even have a finial of polished wood or ivory on top of the lid. Some had a hole in which the handle of the whisk

Trembleuse

 could be inserted so the chocolate mixture could be spun again to produce that all-important froth before pouring. Chocolate cups often had a holder in the centre of the saucer and were known as a trembleuse in France and a mancerina in Spain. When the habit of drinking hot chocolate spread to the rest of society, pots were made of sturdier materials such as pewter and pottery.

The history of chocolate is as deep and rich as the end product. Dark chocolate is reputed to have excellent qualities, from improving blood flow and lowering blood pressure to being rich in antioxidants. It can improve your mood and improve brain function. Amongst its nutritional qualities, it contains Vitamins A, C, D, B-6, and calcium, magnesium and potassium. In fact, in ratios per 100 grams, chocolate is richer in potassium than a banana. There is so much more to this marvelous treat that it should be a food group on its own. So, from the food of the gods to being feared by some religious bodies as exotic and decadent, to whether you like large or small marshmallows in your hot chocolate, we enjoy it in all its forms.

Victoria Chatham

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To swear, or not to swear? That is the question.

Visit Dean's BWL Author Page here:  https://bookswelove.net/hovey-dean/

Early in my writing career, a polite librarian cornered me after a reading. She said, "You're such a nice, polite, young man. Why do your characters swear like mule skinners?" I explained that the use of strong language built the persona of some characters. Hardened criminals don't use garden party language, and my bad guys used the words and phrases appropriate for their characters.

Shortly after that I was approached by a writer whose manuscript had been returned by his publisher for a rewrite. The editor said his evil characters were too polite and his publisher directed him to add character-appropriate profanity to their dialogue. He'd read one of my early books and decided I knew the right words and how to use them in context. Laughing, I explained that I'd worked with several people who could turn the room blue when frustrated or irate. Personally, I choose not to use those adjectives, but my saltier characters sometimes throw out a profanity. I declined the request to teach him how to swear. He contacted me later, having toughened up his character's language, and receiving another rewrite request from his publisher. The editor told him that yes, he'd inserted some profanity, but he obviously didn't know how to use it in proper context. The writer was aware of the words, but didn't know who to use them as his dark characters would/should.

After writing two very dark novels, I got feedback from a variety of people. Some likened my dark stories to popular east and west coast authors whose bloody, violent books caused nightmares. Three others made me introspective. My sister-in-law, a well-educated and well-read woman, said she set books aside if there was an "effenheimer" on the first page. She didn't need to read any further. Two others were ministers, people I respected and whose opinion I valued. One took me aside and asked why I wasn't writing what was in my heart, rather than writing hard-boiled stories that I thought mystery readers wanted. The other minister echoed the feedback from my sister-in-law, "I'm sure your books are good, but I haven't got past the first swear word."

My following books were cold cases, with long dead bodies and less salty murderers. I received feedback about how much the readers liked the protagonists and their empathy. I won a Northeastern Minnesota Book Award (NEMBA) for my characterization of life in the region. I went a step further and wrote a series of virtually bloodless cozies with zany senior citizens. No one swore. Readers told me they laughed until they cried.

In 2019 I started a new series with BWL Publishing featuring Doug Fletcher a US Park Service ranger. In Stolen Past, Doug investigates a mysterious death and is teamed up with a Navajo Nation Police officer. They don't swear, even while investigating a murder and the theft of artifacts from the Navajo reservation and park service land. In the second book, a surly teen fires off a few strong words to establish him as a pain in the butt, but the rest of the book is free from profanity.

In four subsequent books Doug Fletcher investigates crimes in Texas, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. I use profanity sparingly, if at all. I sometimes need to establish a character's dark persona, but a single swear word, or even the phrase "He swore like a sailor" is enough to paint the character without writing the actual string of profane words. I often leave the actual expletives to the reader's imagination.

So, I leave it up to you. To swear, or not to swear. What do you prefer to see in the books you read? If you're a writer, what's your approach to the use of profanity?