Carrie Lofty's article "The Trials and Triumphs of Unusual Historicals" was published this week in the RWA's Romance Writers Report. You can read the article here.
If you're a new reader joining us for the first time after seeing the article, welcome! Our readership stats have doubled since this time last year, so we hope interest in unusual historicals is growing!
To our new readers, the site schedule is as follows: themed historical posts on Monday-Wednesday; excerpts on Thursday; announcements on Friday; and interviews with book giveaways on Sundays. You can see the calendar of our upcoming posts and guest spots here. Check it out and see if your favorite unusual historical author will be interviewed soon. If you have suggestions about who to interview, or if you're an author who writes unusual historicals, please email Carrie.
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In addition, Carrie has just posted her November contest. Win a $25 gift certificate from Amazon or Barnes & Noble, plus a copy of WHAT A SCOUNDREL WANTS when it's released on December 2.
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Texty Ladies will be featuring a four-part workshop on plotting by Jacquie Rogers starting Monday, November 3rd, and lasting all through the month. Plot your book and win a prize!
Also, the Down Home Ever Lovin' Mule Blues pet pictures contest final round begins November 1st, so drop by Jacquie's contest page and vote for your favorite!
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Although it's not a historical, we're excited for Jean Adams as she releases A PLACE OF HEALING this week through The Wild Rose Press. Here's the blurb:
Holly Spicer has vengeance on her mind. She wants to get the men who murdered her partner and she'll see it through even if it kills her. She travels to a secluded beach to calm her mind and plan her revenge.
Sexy psychologist turned movie star, Adam Benedict, is determined to stop her. He must call on his old training to keep the courageous cop alive. But nothing, not even Adam's love can stop her.
Can Holly's troubled soul find peace? Can she find her healing place in Adam's arms?
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Anna C. Bowling's March 2009 release ORPHANS IN THE STORM has a gorgeous cover. Here's the blurb:
The Hidden Countess: A black robe brought Jonnet Killey to the Isle of Man and a black robe would take her away to the noble English family she has never known.
The King's Man: All Simon Burke wants is to carry out his mission to return Jonnet to her birth mother and secure the funds to help finance Charles Stuart’s return to British soil.
An Adventure in Exile: A new life awaits Jonnet, with a mother on the brink of madness and a treacherous uncle who will stop at nothing to keep Jonnet's inheritance to himself. While the end of exile nears, danger mounts. Can Simon and Jonnet depend on their newfound love to sustain them while the storm of treachery rages around them?
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Join us Sunday when our guest author will be new Unusual Historicals contributor Elizabeth Lane. Elizabeth will be talking about her latest release THE BORROWED BRIDE, set in Colorado in 1899.
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We'll also draw the winner of Terry Blain's KENTUCKY GREEN. There's still time to leave a comment for your shot at winning!
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Have a good weekend. If you have an announcement to make for next week, email Carrie. See you next week...
Happy Sunday to you! This wee we welcome author Terry Blain, whose first book KENTUCKY GREEN is being reissued by Wings E-Press. As Kentucky Dream this story finaled in the Golden Quill contest in both Best Historical and Best First Book category, winning Best First Book.
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In 1794, April Williamson, a young Philadelphia widow, is determined to return to her childhood home of Kentucky. She refuses to let her fear of Indians or the hazards of the journey deter her. She coerces Dan McKenzie, a civilian army scout, into escorting her although he believes the frontier is no place for a woman. As the son of a half-breed, Dan's only concern is to see the fighting between the Indians and the settlers stop. Amidst the dangers and the hardship of the journey, Dan and April fall in love. But a dark secret in Dan's past means April cannot be his.
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What's so unusual about KENTUCKY GREEN?
It's the more the time frame, 1794, than the frontier stetting. It's after the American Revolution, but before what most people think of when they think of the words "frontier" and "the west" which conjure up visions of the Great Plains west of the Mississippi. But for the early settlers, the western frontier was the uncharted wilderness beyond the eastern tidewater, the land first glimpsed by frontiersmen such as John Finley and Daniel Boone. This was the first wave of the western expansion by the white settlers. And from the point of view of the Native Americans, an invasion of there territory.
Why did you choose this time and place?
Ahhh... The time period just spoke to me. I think it's the idea of the frontier, where it took a man and a woman working together to settle the wilderness and make home and family. Which is a lesson that Dan and April learn. And, now that I think about it, it's probably because of my family.
What do you mean by your family?
I was lucky enough to grow up in a large, extended Midwest family with a rich oral tradition. I remember sitting on the front porch listening to my grandparents tell stories of when they were children, and telling to stories their parents told them. This is where I got my love of history. I like to think that some of my ancestors lived just down the road from Dan and April.
How does the history figure in your story?
Well, since this month's theme on Unusual Historicals is Expansion and Invasion, it fits right in. The colonial American desire to expand into these lands, and the British restrictions against such expansion, added to the desire for American independence. With the start of the American Revolution in 1776, early settlers west of the Appalachians were attacked by British-backed bands of Indians. In the decade that followed end of the Revolutionary War, people wanting their own land swarmed into the newly acquired Northwest Territories. Both Dan's grandfather and April's father were some of the frontiersmen who crossed the Appalachians to home stead in Kentucky.
But for every expansion, from the other side it's an invasion. The various Indian tribes did not take kindly to settlers who came in droves to settle the hunting ground that had been Kentucky. Forming a loose confederation, they turned to their traditional allies, the British who, in violation of the Treaty of Paris of 1783, still occupied forts in the Ohio Territory.
To make the Ohio Valley of Indians safe for settlers, President Washington sent expeditions in 1790 under Hammer and in 1791 under St. Clair. Both armies were defeated. Washington then gave the task to Anthony Wayne, a Revolutionary War hero. Taking time to discipline and organize the army, Wayne moved his Legion, toward the British forts.
In the character of Dan, the son of a half breed, I have a character who can look at both sides of the conflict between the settlers and the Indians. He's serving as a civilian scout for Wayne's army. He wants to see the conflict stopped before any more Indians are killed as he knows the westward expansion can’t be halted. Because he can see both sides, he's very conflicted.
What sort of research did you have to do?
Because of my degrees in history, I already was familiar with most of the political, social and economic aspects of the story. In my academic career I'd written a lot of term papers plus a huge pre-thesis for my Masters so I wasn't intimidated in by tackling a story of 90,000 to 100,000 words. What I really had to research was the costuming--since it's a romance chances someone's clothes are going to come off so you have to know what they are wearing to start. And I'm one who really loves research, so looking for any little detail I needed was fun.
What lead you to write romance?
I'd always wanted to be a history major since high school, and to me, a history teacher is a storyteller. So when I was teaching I had all this academic knowledge and everyone said "you should write a book." My excuse was that I wasn't the best typist in the world--then my husband bought a computer and so I had to write a book. So I took a class at the local university and I learned that the chances of selling are better if you choose a genre: like mysteries, sci-fi or romance.
Also, I think knowing the past in important. You know Koko the gorilla who learned sign language? When she signs "the past" she motions in front of her, when she signs "the future" she motions behind her, as we can see what in front (the past) but can't see behind us (the future). So how can we know where we want to go in the future unless we have some idea of our past?
I'd always read historical novels, and when I started reading romance I discovered the one of the elements in those historical novels was a strong romantic thread although they weren't labeled romance. And the romance element is the universality of any story. Regardless of time or setting, social customs, economic conditions, politics, wars, crusades or whatever, there is always the relationship between men and women to be explored.
Any final thoughts?
Thanks to Unusual Historials for letting talk about Dan and April's story. This was my first historical romance and I'm very glad that it's available again. For more information, please visit my website.
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Thanks for stopping by, Terry.
You know the drill, readers. Leave a comment for your chance to receive a free copy of Terry's novel, KENTUCKY GREEN. Or you can answer this question: what attracts you (or does not) to a colonial or early American frontier setting? I'm curious, myself, why we don't see more of these...
