Chatting with Elspeth Lawrence from A Cherished Betrothal by Denise Weimer

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Today we’re hosting Elspeth Lawrence, the heroine of A Cherished Betrothal, for a cup of tea. We catch up with her partway through her story as told in Book Three of the Scouts of the Georgia Frontier, the latest series launched by Denise Weimer and Wild Heart Books. 

Right now, we’re sitting down in Ninety-Six, South Carolina. It’s a national park in the countryside in 2024, but in 1775, it was a crossroads of trade and commerce in the Carolina backcountry. Elspeth, do you live in Ninety-Six?

Elspeth: No, I live with my father, who is a minister, on our mission to Cherokee children between here and Fort Charlotte, which sits on the Savannah River and the border between South Carolina and Georgia. I’m in Ninety-Six visiting Roger Bailey and his mother for the celebration of my birthday.

The Baileys must be very good friends of your family, then?

Elspeth: Yes. My father has great respect for Roger Bailey, a planter and justice of the peace. He’s known to be a moderate in these parts. Folks are divided ever since South Carolina established a Council of Safety and started talking about forming their own government against the king. After the fighting at Lexington and Concord, you know. The truth is, at twenty-two, I’m getting older, and Father would like to see me settled with a respectable man.

Your father thinks you should wed this Roger Bailey, this moderate?

Elspeth: Well, if he can convince me to consider it. After my birthday dinner, I’m not so certain where Roger stands. He had a guest that night, this awful man named Thomas Brown, who railed against what the Sons of Liberty had done to him when he refused to sign their Association. Frankly, both sides seemed to bear some fault. Father and I want to stay out of the trouble between the patriots and the loyalists. We are here to be a bridge between the settlers and the Cherokees who live just the other side of the river.

Elspeth, I read your back story (see below), and I must say, I’m perplexed about your work at your father’s mission. Did you not lose your mother and sister in a brutal attack in 1760 by the Cherokees? 

Elspeth: That’s true. Well, my mother died and my sister was taken captive at the Long Canes massacre. I only survived because Alex Morris hid me in the canes by the creek. Alex’s brother and father died in that attack, and Alex was terribly wounded. But together, we survived. It almost killed me, though, when his mother took him to live on the Georgia coast near her family. I’ve always wondered what happened to him, and when he showed up with the South Carolina Rangers when the patriots took over Fort Charlotte, I couldn’t believe my eyes. 

Alex must have been delighted to see you after so long.

Elspeth: Actually…he didn’t even remember me. Or the attack. It’s as though he’s blocked it all out. But I think God has brought him here to face his past and heal from it. I know it’s possible because it took me a long time, but God has helped me to do so. Maybe He will use me to reach Alex. He has to forgive the Cherokees if he’s going to fulfill his duty to the rangers. Both the patriots and the loyalists want the Cherokees on their side. And folks are saying fighting could break out any day. Maybe right here, in Ninety-Six.

Patriots, loyalists, Cherokees…this seems like a volatile situation. Not to mention, it sounds as though you have two men in your life. You say Alex doesn’t remember you, but you light up at the mere mention of his name. How can you consider Roger as a suitor if you have feelings for Alex?

Elspeth: I can’t tell him this. Don’t tell him this. Don’t tell my father either. But I’ve always loved Alex. You can’t survive something together like we did and not have a bond. But right now, he seems to want to avoid me almost as much as he’s drawn to me. I can tell he still feels the need to protect me. To find out what happened to my sister if he can. So yes, I’m stuck in the middle. Of two men. Of two sides on a coming war. And I know I’ll have to make my choices soon. I pray to God I make the right ones. Because not only my own future but the fate of a nation could hang in the balance.

More about A Cherished Betrothal – Book Three of the Scouts of the Georgia Frontier

1775

Alexander Morris bears the childhood scars of the Long Canes massacre that killed his brother and father. His dark past forces him into the lonely life of Georgia Ranger, and eventually, to join the bordering South Carolina Rangers that revolt against the Crown. When he’s posted to the fort erected to defend the community once decimated by the massacre, duty demands he court the loyalty of his sworn enemies, the fierce Cherokee warriors.

Elspeth Lawrence never forgot the boy who sacrificed himself for her at Long Canes—any more than she forgot the younger sister taken captive. She’s learned to not only forgive but help minister to the Cherokees at her father’s mission. Alex Morris’s arrival at nearby Fort Charlotte stirs Elsie’s memories and her emotions. He doesn’t even remember her…or the long-ago attack. But the bitterness that simmers just beneath his stoic exterior—as well as her courtship by a local landowner—challenge their undeniable bond.

When Alex uncovers a long-held secret and a plot to sabotage patriot talks with the Cherokees, he must choose between his desire for revenge and his love for the girl he saved long ago

Denise Weimer writes historical and contemporary romance from her home in North Georgia and also serves as a freelance editor and the Acquisitions & Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books. A wife and mother of two daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

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Book Review: Trail to Clear Creek by Kit Morgan

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260 pages

Independently Published

September 8, 2018

ISBN: 978-1794240117

Part of the Thanksgiving Books & Blessings Collection One, Trail to Clear Creek is a delightful story with lots of twists and turns. Author Kit Morgan knows how to pack a lot into a novella-length book. The female protagonist and her sons are English, and the author did a good job of capturing the cadence and slang of the British dialect. Honoria has several challenges – to follow her dead husband’s dream, survive on a wagon train journey, and figure out how to live in the American West. The other characters who made up the community within the train were unique, some likable, some not so much! I loved the male protagonist, Jefferson Cooke. An integrity-filled, gentle soul, he is just what Honoria needs. I liked how he was with her boys. Even though he wasn’t their father, he expected respect and gave them a firm but fair hand, leading by example.

I’m a strong-willed individual, and I moved several times while growing up because of my dad’s job. In fact, I attended three high schools, and you haven’t lived until you’ve tried to fit in with teenage girls. But the experiences helped shape my character.

Having said all that, I cannot imagine what it would be like to pare down my belongings to the bare essentials, pack enough food for weeks, and travel thousands of miles in a covered wagon. I’ve ridden in wagons during farm festivals and between the hard bench and constant swaying, the allure dried up pretty quickly. Without bringing the story down, the author conveyed the tedium and danger of being part of a wagon train as well as the unpreparedness of Honoria for which the West was like a foreign land.

I also like how the author addressed blending Honoria’s and Jefferson’s families. In the best of circumstances, that would be difficult. Add a cross-country journey, grief of lost spouses, and the kids dealing with the loss of parents, and the situation would be even more challenging. The two sets of children are very different from each other and dislike each other immediately. Without the maturity to deal with what they are feeling, squabbles start, then escalate to more.

Likewise, Honoria and Jefferson must learn to blend their relationship. On the trail! Having both been widowed, yet having very different experiences, they bring baggage to the table, lots of baggage. Again, Ms. Morgan has done a great job of creating realistic scenes and situations the pair must deal with as time passes. My heart went out to the couple.

Messages of hope, faith, forgiveness, and God’s sovereignty are effectively woven throughout the story, leaving the reader with food for thought. A highly enjoyable read.

A Chat with Jubilee Walker from Tim Piper’s The Powell Expeditions

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Tell us something about where you live:

I was born and raised on a 160-acre farm in central Illinois, about fifteen miles north of Bloomington. My parents built a modest farmhouse, where I grew up reading dime novels in my loft bedroom and dreaming of a life of adventure. When I was ten years old, my father died, and my uncle came to live on the farm. I helped him build a cabin and furnishings from timber off the farm. After he died at Shiloh, I used his cabin as my private retreat, where I continued reading adventure stories and imagining having my own adventures one day. When I was seventeen, my mother died, and I set off to see some of the West. While I was away, the farmhouse and barn burned down, but my uncle’s cabin survived. Today, the farm lies fallow, and I live in the cabin, when I’m not off somewhere on an adventure.

Is there anything special about your name? Why do you think you were given that name?

Jubilee is not a common name, but it is not one I’m ashamed of. I don’t mind being called Jubilee, but most people call me Jubil. I’ve seen a similar name spelled Jubal, but I’ve never known anyone else named Jubilee. My parents named me with the intent of the word in mind—an event for celebration. My mother had a very difficult time while she carried me and a difficult delivery that meant I would be their only child. They named me Jubilee to celebrate my successful birth and my mother’s survival.

Do you have an occupation? What do you like or dislike about your work?

I am in the outfitting business. On my first trip West, I made travel money by working part-time at Warner and Company Outfitters in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I struck up a good relationship with the Warners and agreed to open a new store in my hometown with Mr. Warner’s son, Luke. The Council Bluffs store caters to overland travelers and army posts, but Luke and I cater to travelers in the age of the railroad. My passion for adventure and my acquaintance Major John Wesley Powell, a family friend, has brought expedition outfitting into our business. I very much enjoy testing out our products by using them in the field and helping my partner create improved versions. I don’t mind helping customers select products or the general labor of operating the store, but the recordkeeping and money-handling aspects I leave in Luke’s more capable hands.

Who are the special people in your life?

My parents and my uncle will always be in my heart. As my best friend, Nelly Boswell, and I have grown up together, our relationship has become more complicated. I am hopeful that our relationship will continue to deepen, but my desire for a life of adventure and Nelly’s independent nature make our future together unclear. Nelly’s family has treated me like one of their own for as long as I can remember. Her twin brothers, as troublesome as they may be sometimes, help Luke and me with our store. I owe the Warner family a great deal, for having such confidence in me and encouraging me to live my dreams. And Luke Warner has become for me the brother I never had. I also befriended a Pawnee scout named White Dog during a wagon-train trek across the plains. I hope that friendship grows.

What is your heart’s deepest desire?

To marry Nelly and have a family. But the world is full of adventure and beauty, and I want to experience all of it. I hope to somehow have both a life of adventure and be happily married to Nelly, even though I recognize these desires might not seem complementary. I’d also like to expand my reputation as an adventurer and make my business with the Warners more successful. And of course, I want to make all the people close to me proud.

What are you most afraid of?

Living a lonely, tedious life. Growing up, I honored my father and mother and never complained about life on the farm, but I knew the life of a farmer was not for me. The routine of the chores, the dependence on the weather for success, and the solitary existence all go against my nature. But a man who is too restless to stay at home and be a good husband and father may be destined to spend his time alone. This is not what I want for myself, but I have to be true to my nature.

Do you have a cherished possession?

My parents’ farm is my only remaining link to them, and although I have no interest in farming the land, I have no interest in selling it either. My saddle horse, Star, who I do not think of as a possession so much as a family member, was my father’s until he died. I can’t recall a time when she was not with me. I treasure my father’s Henry rifle, one of the first models made. It is as true and reliable as he was. My mother’s ruby ring is one of the few luxuries she owned and one I hope to someday place on Nelly’s finger. White Dog’s medicine bag is also a treasured keepsake. He gave it to me for saving his life, and it holds spirit tokens that supposedly wield the power to protect me from danger.

What do you expect the future will hold for you?

I hope that Nelly will continue to tolerate my restless spirit and even love me as more than a friend, in the way that a wife loves a husband. The outfitting business suits me well, but I hope to contribute to America’s settlement by being involved in the exploration of the last remaining wilderness areas in our great West.

What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story?

As I grew up daydreaming about a life of adventure, I was concerned that my nature was too meek and commonplace to withstand the demands of a life of danger. But I have learned that being honest, hardworking, pleasant with people, and calm in the face of danger are traits that make me valuable to bolder men who need reliable helpers to succeed where most men can’t.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you?

I am unlikely to ever be a problem drinker. While I enjoy an occasional glass of wine, my time with Major Powell in the Grand Canyon cured me of ever developing a taste for whiskey.

Tim Piper is retired from a long career in Information Technology and has been a lifelong hobbyist musician. In his earlier days he was an avid hiker and backcountry camper, but his adventures these days are less strenuous and more comfortable. He lives in Bloomington, Illinois, with his cat, Maggie, who is no help with his writing, but is a stellar companion. He began his education at Illinois State University as an English major, but life circumstances put him on a more pragmatic path, and he graduated with a BS in Business Admin, a degree he finds appropriately named. You can stay in touch with him at www.timpiper-author.com

Meet Sylvie from Laura Frantz’s The Seamstress of Acadie

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Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.

Tell us something about where you live. 

I’m Sylvie Galant, an Acadian, who lives in the contested territory of Acadie or as the British call it, Nova Scotia, Canada. My homeland is all I’ve ever known and my family owns the hectares of my great-grandfathers, a legacy of farmers, cattlemen, and fishers. With the mountains at our back and the sea before us, we dwell in what visitors say is one of the most beautiful places on earth. 

Is there anything special about your name? Why do you think you were given that name?

I’m named after my great-grandmother, Sylvie, who first came to the shores of Acadie in the early 17th-century. I’m delighted that my name honors my ancestry and we can keep my family history alive. I hope to name my own daughter Sylvie and, if I have a son, Bleu, after my beloved elder brother. My name is a bit of departure from tradition. Most Acadian women are named Madeleine, Cécile, Françoise, Anne, Jeanne, or Marie after their godparents. Interestingly, when Acadians marry, the women keep their maiden names their whole life long.

Do you have an occupation? What do you like or dislike about your work?

I am a seamstress. My mother always said I have a gift for stitches. My first project was a little sampler which she pronounced nearly flawless when I was only five. I have since sewn the clothing of my immediate family, both men and women, and have even been employed by Fort Beauséjour as a shirtmaker for the soldiers who occupy the garrison there. But my favorite garment to make is a fancy dress. I can usually stitch a detailed gown in ten days. 

I love all the choices of fabric to craft garments. Silks and taffetas and brocades are especially lovely to work yet challenging. I find it very rewarding when someone wears something I’ve made and takes pleasure in it. I dislike having to sew by firelight or low light during the day. It can wreak havoc on your stitches, not to mention your eyesight! 

Who are the special people in your life?

My little sister, Marie-Madeleine is the joy of our lives. She is sunshine to everyone she meets. I adore my older brother, Bleu, who is often away from Acadie working for Hudson’s Bay Company as well as his many other pursuits, some of which shall not be named here. And I cannot forget my other brothers, Pascal and Lucien, who remain at home and help my beloved father and mother with their many tasks.

What is your heart’s deepest desire?

To marry and have a family someday. I have not yet met the man but it is wonderful to imagine him out there, somewhere, prior to our paths intercepting. And I hope to use my gift as a seamstress to benefit others. I do not think of it as merely sewing but creating beauty and adorning whoever wears the garments of my hands and heart. Also, I long to know Christ better and better. To hear “well done, good & faithful servant” when my earthly race is done. 

What are you most afraid of?

Acadie has been fought over by the English and the French for hundreds of years. Both countries want us to take an oath of loyalty but my people remain peaceful and neutral. All we desire is to live in peace but turmoil is all I’ve ever known. I hope never to lose my homeland, the place Acadians have lived for generations. But the fighting continues and might result in something dire. 

Do you have a cherished possession?

That would be my sewing kit. It was given to me by my maternal great-grandmother when I was four years old. She brought it to Acadie from her homeland of Scotland when she was young and left it to me upon her passing. Though it looks quite plain being made of linen, it has all the tools of my trade within – needles, thread, scissors, thimble, and bodkin. 

What do you expect the future will hold for you?

 I sense my future might change violently and quickly based on the escalating war around us. I pray not, but these English who rule over the American colonies and parts of Canada seem to have a voracious appetite for more land no matter who it belongs to. 

What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story?

My story has caused me to examine my own life in a profound way. I now look at how I respond when circumstances are out of my control. What is my reaction to calamity? In what or who do I place my trust? If the worst happens, what do I have left? My priorities are shifting and centering more on my relationship with the Lord because that is the one constant in life. 

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you?

Though I appear quite serious, far moreso than my younger sister, I experience a great deal of joy in the natural world and plying my needle as a seamstress. I love my family and friends and my faith. I am quite blessed despite my fears and an uncertain future. 

Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!

Laura Frantz is a Christy Award winner and the ECPA bestselling author of fifteen novels, including The Rose and the Thistle, The Frontiersman’s Daughter, Courting Morrow Little, The Lacemaker, and A Heart Adrift. She is the proud mom of an American soldier and a career firefighter. Though she will always call Kentucky
home, Laura lives with her husband in Washington State.

Laura Frantz
www.LauraFrantz.net

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Book Review: The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor

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384 pages
Publisher
Berkley
Publication date
June 13, 2023

This novel was inspired by actual events using fictional characters. We’ve all heard of the evacuation of British children during WWII but I for one hadn’t heard about the attack and subsequent sinking of a ship carrying evacuees to Canada. The story begins with two women: Alice doing her part by volunteering to escort these children and Lily, a mother making the difficult decision to send her children away to where she’d thought they’d be safer. There was an escort convoy but the problem was the escort ships left before the children’s ship was safe. The parents hadn’t been told they wouldn’t be escorted all the way to Canada. Of course everyone knew it was dangerous but choices had to be made and the best hoped for. One article I read said 15,000 children were killed or seriously injured in Britain during the Blitz.

We see the Blitz on London, travel with the characters to shelters in the middle of the night, nearly every night for a time. It’s understandable that the British people thought their children needed to be sent to somewhere safer. They didn’t know if, like France, they might be invaded by the Nazis.

When the unthinkable happens, Alice and some of the children she is responsible for, along with some other adults, board the last lifeboat to leave the sinking ship. After they realize they wouldn’t be rescued (in real life it took until the next day for a ship to come to the site looking for survivors) they made a plan to sail to Ireland. They had drifted away from the search area and assumed to have not survived. There are storms, ill passengers, too little food and water. The author is so skilled with painting the story that the reader can imagine it all. It’s heart wrenching. There are moments of insanity brought on by too little nourishment and sleep. There is nothing they can do to help the sick. But there are wondrous moments too. Alice retelling the story of Moby Dick to the children to entertain them. A sometimes brunt but charming man named Owen who takes daily swims outside the lifeboat, incredibly beautiful sunrises and visits from curious whales. Alice learns more about herself than she ever would have without this experience and grows to believe in herself and her purpose in life. Lily, back at home, is a recent widow. She must deal with guilt, fear, and depression. Obviously the sinking of the ship with her children on it is devastating and life changing. So much happens in just eight days! There are times in the story where I couldn’t see how they could possibly find healing, but as with other Hazel Gaynor novels, there is hope and a satisfying ending.

Don’t miss the author’s note. This is a part of history that was a failure on the British government’s part but also something that was learned from. So many children (and adults) lost their lives in this attack (Only 13 of the 90 children onboard through the evacuation scheme survived.) and their memory deserves to be preserved. The authors does this with this well-written, intense, and stirring novel. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Cindy Thomson

Meet Daniel Hawkins from A Lasting Legacy by Cynthia Roemer in the Chiseled on the Heart Collection

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Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.

Tell us something about where yourself:

My name is Daniel Hawkins. My wife’s name is Maggie, and we have a wee one on the way. We make our home in a modest cabin in Loudoun County, Virginia. 

Ah! You have a wife. I enjoy love stories. How did you meet, and how long have you been married?

It seems I’ve always loved Maggie. We grew up as neighbors and attended the same church services as children. When Maggie blossomed into a young woman, I found countless reasons to stop by her home for a visit. She welcomed my company, and soon we became inseparable. Sadly, we were married but a few months when I joined the militia to fight against the British in the spring of 1814.

So you are a soldier? Is that your profession?

I was a farmer by trade before joining the militia. My stint in the army ended prematurely due to a devastating injury that changed the direction of my life entirely.

I’m sorry to hear that. How was your life altered by your injury?

I returned home a broken man, having lost my will to try or even live. Farming was no longer an option, so I withdrew from everyone, including Maggie. I saw no purpose in living and basically gave up for a time.

Sounds miserable. What brought you out of such a slump?

I credit my dear wife’s earnest prayers, along with my brother-in-law, Jonathan’s, tenacious attempts to pry me from my self-pity. On a trip into town, the Lord began to stir my heart to renewed purpose. I noticed a wooden cradle in the store that would have been perfect for our coming child. As Christmas neared, I wished to surprise Maggie with it. But money was scarce, so I gave up the notion and decided instead to try my hand at fashioning one myself.

Wow! But you said you were a farmer. Did you have any sort of carpentry skills?

I come from a family of whittlers and carvers. As a boy, I watched my father carve and build, but never really caught interest in trying the craft myself. But I had inherited my father’s carving tools which had been passed down to him from his uncle Silas. When I mentioned the idea of building a cradle to Jonathan, he was all for it and agreed to supply the wood.

That’s great. And did your cradle turn out well? Did you carve anything else?

I shall leave that for readers to assess and discover as they delve into my story, A Lasting Legacy.

Sounds good. What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story?  

That on my own strength, I am nothing. The Lord is the Master Craftsman of my soul. He alone brings strength, purpose, and healing to our lives. We only need look to Him in our time of need, and He will supply what we need. Instead of giving up, we must look up to our Heavenly Father.

Wonderful insights for us all. Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better, Daniel!

About: A Lasting Legacy is one of four novellas included in Chiseled on the Heart Christmas Novella Collection: A Christmas Legacy Novella Collection

The Gift of a Lamb by Elaine Cooper

In 1776, 14-year-old Charlotte Hawkins and her brother, 10-year-old Elias, are still grieving the death of their parents. Their parents left instructions to be sent from their home state of Virginia to live with relatives they barely know, in Connecticut. The trip was dangerous, as war raged between the Redcoats and the Americans. To make matters worse, the churches in Connecticut don’t celebrate Christmas at all. Will this be the orphans’ worst Christmas ever?

A Lasting Legacy by Cynthia Roemer

Loudoun County, Virginia, 1814. After a disabling injury sends Daniel Hawkins home from war, he struggles how to provide for his young wife, Maggie and the child she’s carrying. As Christmas approaches, he finds a sheep his grandfather carved and attempts to carve a nativity set for Maggie. When she goes into labor during a Christmas Eve blizzard, Daniel is forced to face his feelings of inadequacy. And perhaps learn that God has a plan for his life after all.

Healing within the Pieces by Candace West

Prison shackles haunt Nathaniel Hawkins upon his return home only to discover it occupied by a woman in hiding. Bad men are no strangers to Delia Evans, but the intruder who barged into the farmhouse shrinks from her. With no other refuge, they must endure each other. But have they misjudged? When the past shadows their doorstep, is a grudge worth the price of a man’s life?

The Christmas Carving by Kelly Goshorn

Wyatt Hawkins dreads Christmas. Memories from the fatal shooting of his childhood friend on Christmas Eve, 1864, has left a bitter taste in Wyatt’s mouth toward God, the holiday season, and his former fiancée, Madelyn Cunningham. As Christmas draws near, can the star he’s carving for his family’s heirloom nativity point Wyatt back to the woman he’s never forgotten and the faith he’s left behind?

Author Bio:

Cynthia Roemer is an inspirational, award-winning author who enjoys planting seeds of hope into the hearts of readers. Raised in the cornfields of rural Illinois, she enjoys spinning tales set in the backdrop of the mid-1800’s prairie and Civil War era. Cynthia feels blessed the Lord has fulfilled her life-long dream of being a published novelist. It’s her prayer that her stories will encourage readers in their faith. She and her husband reside on the family farm and will soon celebrate their 30th Anniversary. They have two grown sons, a daughter-in-love, and a spoiled cat named, Chad. Visit Cynthia online at: http://www.cynthiaroemer.com

Purchase Links:

Amazon: scrivenings.link/chiseledontheheart

B & N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chiseled-on-the-heart-elaine-marie-cooper/1144047005?ean=9781649173300

Books-A-Million:  https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Chiseled-Heart/Elaine-Marie-Cooper/9781649173300?id=9015476519879

A Chat with Lady Bird Johnson and the characters from Christmas Tree Wars by Delores Topliff

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Merry Christmas 1966 from US First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson

“I’ll start this interview by saying with Lyndon in the White House, my favorite roles as First Lady are decorating the White House Christmas Tree and supporting my national Wildflower Initiative to save America’s native plants and beautify our landscapes. I’m combining those this year by decorating our White House tree with hand-painted wildflower ornaments. Did you like the sneak peek I gave you?”

“Absolutely. You’re outdone yourself and we got great photos. How did you choose the tree?”

“That’s my favorite part. I love a good love story. Don’t you?”

“I’ll say! And so do our readers.”

“Our White House Tree, like the Rockefeller Tree, is chosen through a contest with growers all over the country submitting their trees. This year it boiled down to two neighboring farms in Wisconsin.”

“Neighbors? Imagine the competition.”

“Even more when they’re feuding because one’s Norwegian and the other Swedish.”

“That sounds like a bad movie. I can tell where this is heading.”

“Not this time. This one’s different. The Norwegian’s forestry major niece, Marcy, and the Swede’s financial planner son, Kris, dated in high school and he’d carved their initials inside a heart on the trunk of one tree before they graduated and went separate ways.”

“How sad.”

“But if a romance is meant to be, it works out.”

“You’re right, Mrs. Johnson. So more was going on than raising Christmas trees?”

“Call me Lady Bird, and yes there was.” Her dimples flashed. “But let the young people share their story as they told me. Marcie? Fill our reporter in.”

Marcie: “Sure. Uncle Halvor’s problem with tree blights inspired me to study forestry to find answers. When the blight and his finances reached their worst, I arranged to do my last university semester at home to help. Now Kris should tell you his part.”

Kris: “Gladly. When Dad sent an S.O.S. that he needed me home short-term or our farm could go under, he didn’t say Marcie had come back.” He squeezed her hand. “That was a great surprise. It didn’t take us long to reconnect.”

Marcie: “I’ll say. And then Kris told me about the contests and if we competed to supply the White House Tree, it could increase sales and publicity.”

“Even though you knew only one of you could win?”

Kris: “That was the hardest part. At first I promised myself I’d go back to professional life in New York City if it wasn’t the Lundquist Farms tree. But by then I was loving our small town more than ever—and also a certain special forestry major.” He gave Marcie a quick hug. “Until I finally realized there was something I could do about who won.”

“What do you mean?”

Marcie blushed. “Don’t give it away, Kris. Make them read our story.”

“You’re right.”

Lady Bird: “They’ll love it when they do. And I’ll do even more when you two come see me again after Christmas.”

Kris: “You will?”

Lady Bird: “Yes. You didn’t think the fun would end here, did you?”

Marcie: “Wow. I can’t wait to find out.”

Delores Topliff grew up in Washington state but married a Canadian so enjoys dual citizenship. She teaches Christian university classes online, travels, and published children’s books and non-fiction stories before finding her stride writing historic fiction. Books Afloat, Christmas Tree Wars, Wilderness Wife, and Strong Currents have been published since January 2021. Delores loves her two doctor sons and five grandchildren and divides her year between a central Minnesota farm and the gentle climate and people in Northeastern Mississippi. I used to make fun of snowbirds and now I am one.

Learn more at:

Website: https://delorestopliff.com

Blog: https://delorestopliff.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DEToplif

Twitter: @delorestopliff

Instagram: delorese.toplif

Newsletter: Subscribe to receive a free short story – https://mailchi.mp/919a77d66e15/newsletter-sign-up

A Chat with Maggie Morrison from Heart in the Clouds by

~ Cindy Thomson ~ Leave a comment

Maggie Morrrison from Heart in the Clouds

Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today. How will you be spending Christmas in 1942?

There’s a war on, so things aren’t quite as exciting as they once were. I took a lot of leave from my job at RAF Bottesford earlier in the year when my mother died, so I can’t go home for the holiday. I do get to spend the evening with my best friend Grace. She has invited me and some of the men we work with to celebrate with her family. 

Any of those men special to you?

Absolutely not! The airmen I work with are dreadful! Don’t even get me started … Except Alec Thomas will be there. I’m trying so hard not to like him, because I’m worried he’s the same kind of man as my ex-boyfriend, who turned out to be a real scoundrel. Alec is incredibly good-looking. You know Clark Gable from Gone with the Wind? He looks just like him, except he’s Australian so when he speaks he sounds more like Errol Flynn might. Grace says I should give him a chance, but I don’t know that I can risk it. He is such a flirt! 

So you are in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force?

Yes, but we just call it the WAAF. I joined up in ‘40, as soon as I turned 18. I wanted to do something to help the war effort and preferred air force blue to khaki and brown! Now I’m an officer. I have a little responsibility over the enlisted women, which is daunting when I’m not that much older than most of them.

And you work at RAF Bottesford? What can you tell us about your job?

RAF Bottesford is a heavy bomber station with Bomber Command, which means that our crews fly large aircraft on bombing raids over occupied Europe, mostly Avro Lancasters. It’s dangerous work, but it’s the only way we can take the fight to Hitler right now. We send the men out on night time operations in sub-zero skies, and many times they don’t return. In fact, many of them leave notes on their pillows to be sent to their families in case the worst happens. Despite having sworn off pilots romantically, I can’t deny that what they do is impossibly brave.

I work in the control tower, giving pilots permission to take off and land, and relaying messages from the ground. Mine is the last voice the pilots hear before they fly. I take that responsibility seriously because, in reality, mine might be the last voice they will ever hear. 

What will Christmas at RAF Bottesford look like?

Since the new Australian squadron arrived we’ve had terrible weather, but at least that means less flying and more socialising! They’ve held several dances in December already, some people are rehearsing a pantomime and I know the kitchen staff are planning a smashing Christmas dinner with ham and turkey, which is almost unheard of at the moment! I hope there will be seconds! On New Year’s Eve, we’ll go to the dance hall in Grantham. I can’t wait.

What about your family? Will you miss them?

Very much. I only have one sister, Rosie. She’s sixteen and currently at home with our father. I know it’s not really polite to speak about these things in public, but he is grieving my mother so very deeply right now and he has retreated into himself. Rosie only has our housekeeper Mrs. Bickham for company, and although Mrs. Bickham makes the best Christmas gingerbread in all of Warwickshire, she’s a poor substitute for our mother. At least, I’ll have Grace and her family, and all my chums from the WAAF this Christmas.

What about Alec Thomas?

We’ll see what Christmas brings, shall we?

Read about Maggie’s wartime Christmas in Heart in the Clouds, available at Amazon and other retailers. 

____________

About the author:

Australian author Jennifer Mistmorgan sometimes feels like she was born in the wrong era. So she writes romantic historical fiction set in the 1940s, against the backdrop of WWII and its aftermath. Her romances are always sweet but sometimes gritty, infused with hard-core historical research, gentle faith and foodish flair. She lives in Canberra with her family and a wonky-eared West Highland terrier. Find out more at jennifermistmorgan.com, or on Facebookor Instagram.

Interview with Evan Sinclair from Wages of Empire by Michael J. Cooper

~ Cindy Thomson ~ Leave a comment
book cover

Having run away from home in the summer of 1914 to join the Great War for Civilization, 16-year-old Evan Sinclair managed to cross the country by train, the Atlantic by steamer, and having crossed through France into occupied Belgium, he found himself with the Flemish resistance in the dangerous mission of flooding the lowlands—a singular act that stopped the Germans from reaching the northern ports and turned the tide of the war. Having played a key role in that critical mission, Evan was badly wounded and spent some weeks in a field hospital in northern France. Discharged from hospital, he and other recovering wounded soldiers are being sent back to England by hospital ship.

Ten minutes out of Calais and bound for Dover, the HMHS Austrium pitched on the Chanel swells on a cold morning in late November. Sixteen-year-old Evan Sinclair stowed his gear on the upper berth of a cramped cabin, and grasping the worn handrail, headed up the narrow steel stairwell to the ship’s deck. He stepped to the side as a deckhand descended the stairs and asked, “Y’know where I might find Evan Sinclair?”

“Right here. That’s me.”

The man handed him a piece of paper. “This just arrived for you.”

In the half-light he could make out the words. 

NOVEL PASTIMES WISHES TO INTERVIEW EVAN SINCLAIR PLEASE RESPOND

Evan frowned and thought, “What the hell does that mean? Then he called out to the deckhand who had begun climbing back up the steps. “Hey! They want me to respond. How am I supposed to do that?”

“At the wireless office. Come with me.”

Evan followed the deck hand up the stairs and soon found himself on the bridge. There the deckhand nodded at a closed door.

Pushing it open, Evan saw a young man reading as he reclined, feet up on a low desk between a typewriter and a burnished brass telegraphy set. Looking up from his copy of Argosy All-Story Magazine, he asked, “Are you Evan Sinclair?” 

“Yes.” He held up the paper. “I believe this came from you. What do you make of it?”

The young man shrugged. “They want to interview you.”

“About what?”

“If you’d like, we can find out right now.” The telegraph operator sat forward and readied his hand over the key-type transmitter. “Shall we?”

“Do you have time for that?”

“For now, I do. There’s nothing in the queue, and they’re waiting for your response at the destination station in London—”

“London? Isn’t that too far away?”

“Not at all—we can transmit wireless over twice that distance.”

“How?”

“Morse code by radio waves. Do you want to do this or not?”

“Sure,” he said and watched as the operator began tapping the brass key. Once he stopped, Evan asked, “What did you transmit?”

“I told them that Evan Sinclair is standing by for the interview with Novel PASTimes.” The operator moved his headphones up from his neck to his ears and reached out to bring the typewriter forward. “They’ll get back to us soon enough and I’ll type out the responses for you—” 

Before he finished speaking, Evan could hear the shrill staccato of the Morse code from the operator’s earphones. As he began typing, Evan leaned down and read the message.

WELCOME HOME HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A HERO

         A hero? he thought. Are they referring to what I did to help flood the polders? Evan said nothing for a few seconds while the images flashed through his head—the bright moon over the lowlands, the partisans exposed by the sluice gate, the German machinegun from within the protecting nest of sandbags, firing and firing, smoke from the gun rising in the air, desperate and failed attempts by the partisans to silence it, with pistol, with grenade. He remembered crawling over smooth stones in the mud, trying to reach the dark shelter of the poplars, there the foliage blocked out the moonlight and he was able to stand and hurl smooth stones with his sling into the machinegun nest, again and again, drawing their attention away from the partisans at the sluice gate. And, finally, moonlight shining on rising water as the polders flooded—

         The telegraph operator cleared his throat. “Do you want to reply?”

         Evan nodded. “Tell them – I’m not sure what they mean.”

         The operator tapped out the message, and the reply came quickly, and the young man typed it out.

FLOODING POLDERS KEPT GERMANS FROM TAKING NORTHERN PORTS AND WINNING THE WAR NOW THEY WONT NOT NOW NOT EVER

He knew that was true. The key to a quick German victory was to seize the port cities of northern France and Belgium. But slowed and stopped with the flooding of the lowlands, their progress had ground to a halt. And everyone knew that without a quick victory, Germany would have none. And though the subsequent trench warfare was horrific and grinding, it contained Germany and drew out the war, and a longer war would end in Germany’s defeat.  

Which is why I left home to join the Great War for Civilization, he thought. To make a difference. And I did. 

He spoke a shortened version of those thoughts to the operator who tapped them out into the wireless radio waves bound for London. After a few minutes the next question came.

THERES TALK OF YOU RECEIVING THE VC

 The Victoria Cross? Evan shook his head in disbelief. Britain’s most prestigious decoration? They’d give it to me for throwing rocks at Germans? The ones who really deserve a medal are the Flemish partisans who died at the sluice gate, the ones who actually flooded the polders—Emile Peeters and Hendrik Geeraert.

Evan proceeded to dictate these thoughts to the operator who tapped them out. Evan made sure that he got the spelling of their names right.

After a few minutes the next question came, the shrillness of the code less jarring as Evan was getting used to it. He read the typed transcription.

WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO ONCE YOU GET BACK TO ENGLAND

Before speaking, Evan considered how to reply. I’m pretty sure my dad left Utah to look for me in England. He’s probably back now—at our old house in Oxford. I definitely want to spend some time with him—to mend fences after the way I ran off. And once I’m fit for service I want to get back to the fight, that is, if the war is still going on. But not on the Western Front—I’ll ask for them to send me to Cairo. 

         Dictating these thoughts to the operator, Evan hoped that his father might hear the news before he arrived at the front door in Oxford. As he waited for the tapping to stop, his thoughts turned to a beautiful young nurse he had met while hospitalized in France. I’d really like to get back there for a quick visit—to see her again—

         “Uh-oh!” the operator cut into his thoughts. “I’ve got someone in the queue now. I’ve got to sign out with NOVEL PASTimes, and take this.”

         “No problem. I’m glad we’re done,” Evan said as he watched the operator hunch over listening as he typed out the incoming message.

GERMAN U BOATS SIGHTED IN CHANNEL BEGIN EVASIVE MANEUVERS

Evan’s breath caught as the operator grabbed the message and ran out to the bridge, yelling for the captain.

Wireless Telegraphy Communication between ship and shore was by Morse code, as it was for conventional telegraphy. The equipment only transmitted messages for about 300 miles in daylight, although that figure doubled or tripled after dark thanks to the refraction of long-wave radiation in the ionosphere. The wireless operators sending these messages were independent young men of the modern age who had been recruited with the promise of escaping “blind alley careers”. They chatted to wireless operators in other ships in a jaunty, mock public school slang, calling each other “old man”.

Photo of the HMHS Austrium

Michael J. Cooper emigrated to Israel in 1966 and lived in Jerusalem during the last year the city was divided between Israel and Jordan. He graduated from Tel Aviv University Medical School, and after a 40-year career as a pediatric cardiologist in Northern California, he continues to do volunteer missions serving Palestinian children who lack access to care. His historical fiction novels include “Foxes in the Vineyard,” set in 1948 Jerusalem, which won the 2011 Indie Publishing Contest grand prize, and “The Rabbi’s Knight,” set in the Holy Land in 1290. “Wages of Empire” won the 2022 CIBA Rossetti Award for YA fiction along with first- place honors for the 2022 CIBA Hemingway award for wartime historical fiction. He lives in Northern California with his wife and a spoiled-rotten cat. Three adult children occasionally drop by. Learn more at michaeljcooper.net. 

A Conversation with Jenny White from A Courageous Betrothal by Denise Weimer

~ Kathleen Rouser ~ Leave a comment


Today we’re hosting Jenny White, the heroine of A Courageous Betrothal, for a cup of tea. We catch up with her partway through her story as told in Book Two of the Scouts of the Georgia Frontier, the latest series launched by Denise Weimer and Wild Heart Books. Jenny is such a strong character, inspired by real-life Revolutionary War heroine Nancy Hart, that this short novella is written entirely from her point of view. It was originally released as Across Three Autumns in the Backcountry Brides collection.

Miss White, are you all right? I thought for a moment there you were going to drop your teacup.

Jenny: Sorry about that. We don’t have such fine dishes on the frontier. And my hands are especially rough this time of year after the harvest. My father is with Elijah Clarke’s militia, you know. Even my younger brother ran off to join them. That means most of the work falls to me. Ma’s not been strong since the birth of my youngest sister, Liberty, and my other sister, Hester…well, she’s best suited to needlework and such. I’m used to it. God made me big and strong so I could handle a plow.

I also heard you know how to handle a rifle. 

Jenny: Yes, I’m a crack shot.

Does that have something to do with the nickname the Indians gave you? What was it?

Jenny: They call me Wahatchee. That means War Woman, on account of how I stood up to them one day Hester and I were cooling down in the creek. Now I have something of a reputation in the area. Folks come to our place to fort up when they hear the Indians allied to the British are stirred up.

That’s good, but it seems a lot to ask, for one woman to protect them.

Jenny: I’m not always alone. Militia often comes and goes from here and Woburn, Clark’s settlement. We’re determined not to give Middle Georgia to the British, even though the fighting’s so fierce folks are calling these parts “the Hornet’s Nest.” But our Patriot militia will prevail. They fight like the Indians. And a lot of them are Scottish, like my father’s friend, Caylan McIntosh, who I nursed back to health after the Battle of Kettle Creek.

Your father’s friend? Is he a veteran of many fights, then?

Jenny: Oh, he’s much younger than father, but they did fight together in Florida. And he comes from warrior stock the governor brought in to protect Savannah from the Spanish and Indians.

You seem quite impressed with Caylan McIntosh. Maybe he’s also a particular friend of yours?

Jenny: I don’t know what you’re implying. Caylan and I respect each other, is all. I don’t fall for his Scottish charm. My sister is the type of woman men look for…small and delicate and ladylike.

It seems to me that on the frontier, especially in the middle of a war, a man like Caylan would value a strong and skilled woman at his side. And you already saved his life, from the sounds of it.

Jenny: He was grateful for my herb lore. I also have some pretty strong acting skills. Not only did I capture a spying Loyalist once…I outwitted a passel of British soldiers when they were looking for my father and brother and Caylan. They were even going to make me cook them my last turkey! Can you imagine? I played a right smart trick on them, if I do say so myself. 

I look forward to reading about that in your memoirs, Miss White. But it seems to me, you evaded the question just now.

Jenny: Well, maybe I did. I guess you’ll just have to read my story to find out if that knavish Scottish scout ever weasels past my defenses. I can tell you this—I’ll not make it easy for him!

More about A Courageous Betrothal – Book Two of the Scouts of the Georgia Frontier – Novella

1779

Red-haired, freckle-faced, and almost six feet tall, Jenny White has resigned herself to fame over love. Possessing the courage and wits to guard her younger siblings against nature, natives, and loyalists in Georgia’s “Hornet’s Nest” gives life meaning until she meets Caylan McIntosh, scout to Colonel Elijah Clark. 

From the time Jenny nurses the young lieutenant back to health after the Battle of Kettle Creek, she can’t deny her attraction to her father’s comrade. It doesn’t help that the vexing Highlander seems determined to dismantle her emotional armor. But when Georgia falls to the British and Caylan returns to guide Jenny’s family on a harrowing exodus into the North Carolina mountains, will his secrets and the ravages of smallpox prove stronger than his devotion? Or will a love as tough as their backwoods home lead them to A Courageous Betrothal?

Author Bio:

Denise Weimer writes historical and contemporary romance from her home in North Georgia and also serves as a freelance editor and the Acquisitions & Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books. A wife and mother of two daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

Connect with Denise here:

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