Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter, by Carrie Fancett Pagels - Cover Reveal

Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Isn't this a gorgeous cover that White Rose/Pelican Book Group created for my upcoming release?  Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter is set in the 1740's in France, Germany, and Colonial America. It releases in June, 2016 in ebook and softcover.  The NetGalley download for bloggers will be available in July, so bloggers, please mark your calendars!  

American Colonies Celebrate New Years

By Susan F. Craft
Author of the Xanthakos Family Trilogy



Wassailing

         New Year's Celebrations in the colonies were as diverse as the countries the settlers immigrated from.
        The custom of paying New Year's calls originated in New York, where the Dutch held open house on New Year's Day and served cherry bounce, olykoeks [doughnuts] steeped in rum, traditional cookies (flavored with caraway, lemon and sometimes cider), and honey cakes along with hot toddies, punches, eggnogs, tea, coffee, and chocolate.
        In Maryland, “New Year's Day Collation at Mount Clare: Crab Imperial, Oyster loaves, Boned Turkey Breast with Forcemeat and Oyster Sauce, Fried Chicken, Maryland Ham, Fruits in White Wine Jelly, Beaten Biscuits, Sally Lunn, Apricot Fool, Minced Pies, Pound Cake, Light Fruit Cake, Maryland Rocks, Little Sugar Cakes, Coconut Jumbles, Peach Cordial, Syllabub, Egg Nog, Sangaree.” (The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook, Mary Donovan et al [Montclair Historical Society: Montclair NJ] 1976 (p. 176)
       

        People of Dutch descent ate nieuwjaarskoeken or knieperties – crisp cinnamon flavored wafers topped with whipped cream. The wafers were heated in special wafer irons that imparted a design on both sides of the cake.
        In many of the colonies, young women got together, prepared a large bowl of wassail and carried it from house to house, sharing the warm drink with their neighbors and receiving small gifts in return. This was called “wassailing.” Wassail is the name of a heated, spiced ale. The name comes from the Middle English, waes and haeil, meaning “health to you.” The drink consisted of mulled (i.e. heated) cider or ale, with sugar, ginger, cinnamon and other spices mixed in. Pieces of toast would be floated on the top of the bowl.
       

        “Apple-howling” involved taking a wassail bowl into an orchard, encircling a tree, and while rapping the tree with sticks chanting the following:

Stand fast root, bear well top,

Pray God send us a good howling crop;

Every twig, apples big;

Every bough, apples enou;

Hats full, caps full, Full quarter sacks full.

 

        “Nog money” involved Scots children going from house to house on New Year's Eve begging for bread and cheese.
        The usual New Year's gift was a capon. Another gift that was commonly given was an orange with cloves stuck in it. A ribbon would be tied around a fresh orange, and then the entire exposed surface would be covered with whole cloves and then dusted in cinnamon.

        Colonists of German and Swiss descent ate sauerkraut on New Year’s Eve. Made of cabbage that has been fermented through the process of pickling by lactobacilli, sauerkraut derives its name from the German words for “sour” and “cabbage.”
        Southern colonists ate “Hoppin' John and greens” on New Year’s Day. This dish consists of black-eyed peas mixed with rice, onion and fried bacon slices served with the leaves and stems of either mustard, collard or turnip greens. (This is still a tradition in the South.)
      
        An old Scottish New Year’s Blessing
        May the blessing of light be on you - light without and light within. May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire, so that stranger and friend may come and warm himself at it. And may light shine out of the two eyes of you, like a candle set in the window of a house, bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm. And may the blessing of the rain be on you, may it beat upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean, and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines, and sometimes a star. And may the blessing of the earth be on you, soft under your feet as you pass along the roads, soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day; and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it. May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under it quickly; up and off and on its way to God. And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly. Amen.

Susan F. Craft is the author of the Xanthakos Family Trilogy that spans from 1780 - 1835 and from the Blue Ridge Mountains, to Charleston, SC, to the NC Outer Banks.

The three books that make up the trilogy are The Chamomile (nominated for a 2016 Christy Award); Laurel; and Cassia (nominated for a 2016 Christy Award).

Happy Christmas from the Colonial Quills

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
                                                    Luke 2:10-11

Wishing you a blessed and happy Christmas from your friends at the Colonial Quills.

Moravian Christmas by Denise Weimer

Perhaps you’re unaware that many of your church Christmas traditions can be traced to the Moravians, Czech Protestants who split from the Roman Catholic Church 60 years before Martin Luther posted his thesis in 1517. These traditions came to the Colonies in the 1700s, spreading along the Eastern Seaboard. Moravian churches still exist today and practice these beautiful traditions, and if you’re near North Carolina, you might enjoy a visit to the historic Moravian village of Old Salem during the holiday season.

Putz – The Gospel demonstrated in miniature from Isaiah’s prophecy of Jesus’ birth

through the flight of Jesus’ parents to Egypt and the visit of the wise men, using figurines, moss, pine cones, drift wood stones, houses and animals. In this traditional home or church display used to teach children, the manger scene becomes the focal point.

Moravian Star – First believed to have been created as a geometry project for boys in an 1850 German boarding school, the 26-point, illuminated paper stars were soon sold and shipped to the U.S. Paper stars became plastic and tiny whale oil lamps or candles became small bulbs. Today, Moravians display this star on their porches or in their windows from the first Sunday of Advent through Epiphany (January 6).

Candle Tea – Arts and crafts fair started by early Moravians. Today, hostesses at these early December events often dress in the costume of mid-1700s women, with the ribbons on their caps denoting their marital status. Guests enjoy sugar cake and Moravian coffee while watching the making of beeswax candles, tinware and stars.

Lovefeast/Vigil – Styled after the common meal Christians partook as described in the book of Acts. The vigil began in Germany when Bishop John de Watterville provided children candles wrapped with bands to

remind them of Christ’s birth, passion and wounds, using beeswax candles to illustrate the purity of Christ. The band became a red paper frill to catch the drippings. At modern lovefeasts, participants enjoy Moravian coffee and buns, sing carols and end with what has become the traditional candlelight service, taking the light of Christ out into the dark world.

Merry Christmas from Colonial Quills bloggers!!!

Post by Denise Weimer

Christmas at Schoenbrunn in 1773

Christmas at Schoenbrunn in 1773
by Tamera Lynn Kraft

Schoenbrunn Village

In the wilderness of Ohio in 1773, a small band of missionaries and Lenape Indians celebrated Christmas at Schoenbrunn Village, the first settlement in Ohio. They’d come to this wilderness and started the village a year earlier to preach the Gospel to the Lenape, also known as the Deleware. 

The missionaries, both white and native families moved from a town in Pennsylvania called Bethlehem. Moravians had come to Bethlehem years earlier when a preacher named John Wesley had donated the land to them. But the Lenape had been forced west as more white men had moved into the area, so the Moravians decided to move west with them.

Life was hard in Schoenbrunn. Cabins were quickly made and community gardens were planted that included beans, corn, and squash. Most villages also planted potatoes and turnips next to their cabins. The rest of their food came from hunting. But the real danger came from the many Indian tribes surrounding the village, some of them hostile.

Schoenbrunn School

They didn’t have time to build a fence to keep out varments and the first Ohio church until Spring, 1773, but they did manage to build a school, the first built in Ohio. The school taught both boys and girls, a first for the colonies, how to read the Scripture in their native language and in English. The Moravians printed a Bible in the Lenape language.

The village council was led by David Zeisberger and including white Moravians and Lenape converts. The rules for the village were established by the Lenape Christians. These missionaries did not consider the native converts to be beneath them but instead brothers in Christ.

Fireplace in Schoenbrunn Church

After a year and a half in Schoenbrunn, the villagers were excited to celebrate their first Christmas. They had many traditions that we still use today. They would have a candlelight Christmas Eve service called a Lovefeast. During this service, they sang Christmas hymns, shared sweet rolls and coffee together, and prayed for each other. The service concluded when they gave each child a bleached beeswax candle and a scripture to hang on their trees at home. The white candle symbolized the purity of Christ and the flame showed that Jesus is the light of the world. A red ribbon would be wrapped around the candle to symbolize how Jesus shed His blood for a lost world. 

In every home in Schoenbrunn, families decorated artificial Christmas trees with candles and papers with scriptures written on them. The trees were made by putting together a wood frame and decorating it with real pine branches. The family would also make a putz, a nativity village that included the nativity scene, the wise men, and other Biblical scenes and place it under the tree. Most Moravians gave small gifts at Christmas, but resources were so limited that the children in Schoenbrunn were happy with their candles they received at the church. After a Christmas feast, the family would read the verses hung on the tree and talk about God’s blessings at Christmas.
Schoenbrunn Village has been restored and is open to tourists.

Find out more at this link (http://www.ohiosfirstvillage.com) .

A Christmas Promise

By Tamera Lynn Kraft

A Moravian Holiday Story, Circa 1773

During colonial times, John and Anna settle in an Ohio village to become Moravian missionaries to the Lenape. When John is called away to help at another settlement two days before Christmas, he promises he’ll be back by Christmas Day.

When he doesn’t show up, Anna works hard to not fear the worst while she provides her children with a traditional Moravian Christmas. 

Through it all, she discovers a Christmas promise that will give her the peace she craves.

“Revel in the spirit of a Colonial Christmas with this achingly tender love story that will warm both your heart and your faith. With rich historical detail and characters who live and breathe on the page, Tamera Lynn Kraft has penned a haunting tale of Moravian missionaries who selflessly bring the promise of Christ to the Lenape Indians. A beautiful way to set your season aglow, A Christmas Promise is truly a promise kept for a heartwarming holiday tale.” – Julie Lessman

A Colonist takes Tea with Jane Austen

December 16th is the 240th birthday of one of the most well-known and admired authors in history, Jane Austen. We often associate her with the Regency period, but in fact she was born just months after the American Revolution began. While she was raised in genteel society in England, a daughter of a successful parson, her contemporaries in America were dressed in homespun, their father's fighting the patriot cause. So with a little twist, I'd like to interview Jane and ask her perspective on living on the other side of the great pond during the years of revolution in the British American colonies. Jane was born into a changing world, perhaps foreshadowing the influence she would have during her life. After all, I believe many of our quills were shaped by hers.

Mistress Gade: It is a pleasure having you with us today, Miss Austen. Shall we partake of tea? 'Tis one thing we have in common. I am from Boston where “the ladies here visit, drink tea and indulge every little piece of gentility to the height of the mode and neglect the affairs of their families with as good grace as the finest ladies in London.” (Tea Drinking in 18th Century America, its Etiquette and Equipage by Rodris Roth.)

Miss Austen: But indeed, I would rather have nothing but tea. (Mansfield Park) Have you any to offer, I should be most grateful. (She says, winking.)

Mistress Gade:  Touché! Yes, I know, embargoes, embargoes! Tea parties and all of that! But we are quite over that now, are you?

Miss Austen:Oh, yes. Yet it is quite unfathomable how Americans could have foregone the luxury of our good tea from the British East India Tea Company. Simply a waste.

In 1773 the British government passed the Tea Act,
which authorized the British East India Company to
ship tea directly to colonies while the government
levied a tax of three pence on each shipment. While the
Tea Act actually lowered the price of tea for colonists,
many  were still angry at being taxed at all.
Colonists responded by pressuring local merchants
to refuse the shipments, although some resisted the
pressure and continued to receive the tea.

Mistress Gade: You are referring to the Boston Tea Party, I take it? 

Miss Austen: Ironically, that event occurred on December 16th, my very birth date, two years prior. But what I don't know is why did the "Sons of Liberty," as you call them, who participated in the Boston Tea Party disguise themselves as Indians? 

Mistress Gade: The punishment, if caught, would be severe so a disguise of some sort was in order. The act of wearing “Indian dress” was to express to the world that the colonists identified themselves as “Americans” and no longer British subjects. As it turned out, only one man was arrested after dumping the tea into Boston Harbor. 

The act of wearing “Indian dress” was to express to the world that the American colonists identified themselves as “Americans” and no longer considered themselves British subjects. - See more at: http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/boston-tea-party-disguise#sthash.6Iriwkp8.dpuf

Miss Austen: The harbor must have smelled like a giant urn of tea. Seaweed tea? I did hear that the colonists cultivated alternative infusions. 

Mistress Gade: We called them Liberty Teas. We made Labradore tea from the Red Root Bush, Yeepan tea from the Carolinas coast, Indian Lemonade tea from Red Sumac berries, and a favorite, Red Raspberry Leaf tea which some said were “as good as any other tea, and much more wholesome in the end.” 

“as good as any other tea, and much more wholesome in the end.” - See more at: http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/tea-blog/liberty-teas-of-colonial-boston#sthash.U4YUse3m.dpuf

Yeepann

Hyperion

Hyperion

Miss Austen: Although, we in England did hear that rumors were perpetuated that our tea should not be consumed because it was poisonous, caused great ills, and frightful nervous disorders. 

Mistress Gade: I have read as such, though I never knew it to be true. How long did it take for those in England to hear news from the colonies? 

Miss Austen: The news of the Boston Tea Party reached London the following month, in January. Regular passenger service from the Provincials (the colonies) across the Atlantic took from five to six weeks. So when the war began in April of my birth year, 1775, news reached England at the end of May. And when American declared their independence the following year, likewise, about a month. But then news would further trickle on by means of newsprint and letters. 

Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, New York City,
by Johannes Adam Simon Oertel. The New York Historical Society

Mistress Gade: Some of our citizens remained loyal to King George. How did the English really feel about our war for independence? 

Miss Austen: Surprisingly, about half the population were in support of America's freedom. In fact, a famous British potter, Josiah Wedgwood, produced creamware demonstrating his support for free trade in America.

Mistress Gade: And you? 

Miss Austen: I was just a girl at the time. We spoke of much more pleasant things in the parsonage where I lived when I was young. Yet, the war did challenge my family’s Tory views of class, a state Church and limited democracy.

Mistress Gade: How has war influenced you? 

Miss Austen: War has been the backdrop throughout my life in England. "The American War of Independence" (as we call it), the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the "American War" in 1812. Two of my brothers entered the Royal Navy at young ages and proceeded to become admirals. Another was also in the military for a short period of time. Their service mainly involved the French. I did offer some allusions to the military within my novels, but never dwelt on war outside of England, such as true to my society. Truly military celebrations may have influenced our fashions, but our conversations seldom.

Mistress Gade: We often associate you with the Regency period of England, is this a correct association? 

Miss Austen: It is. Although, it is also true to associate my life with the Georgian period which encompasses the reign of his father, King George III from 1760 until his death 1820.  However, in 1811 a regency was established when King George was declared insane and his eldest son, George IV, assumed his father's duties. It was during his regency that I was published. In fact, I was charged to dedicate my novel, Emma, to the Prince Regent. One cannot always be as selective as one wishes in such matters. So, that is where the term regency comes from. But it is not as simple as all that in your country, is it?

Mistress Gade: Not at all, especially as our historical eras are not associated with rulers. Our colonial period is from 1492-1763 followed by the Revolutionary period of 1764-1789. Then comes the era of the New Republic during 1790-1828, and so. It appears that, for the most past, our colonial years through becoming an independent nation coincide with your Georgian era.

Mistress Gade: Would you tell us about your writing and publication.

Miss Austen: I was merely eleven years of age when I wrote my first short stories and poems. At seventeen I wrote my first novel, Lady Susan. I continued to write Elinor and Marianne (later known as Sense and Sensibility), Northanger Abbey, First Impressions (Pride and Prejudice) and revise my work all before the century turned. Yet, I was not published until 1811.

Mistress Gade: When did your novels become available in the United States of America?

Miss Austen: Trade embargoes ensued once again during the American War of 1812, as you know, so my novels did not reach your shores until about 1815 or so. I learnt that some American printers reproduced my books without even seeking my express permission.

Mistress Gade: I regret to hear that. Perhaps it shall aid in popularizing your writings in time to come.  I do thank you for this enlightening coversation, Miss Austen. It has been a pleasure getting to know you.

Miss Austen:You are most welcome, Mistress Gade. Perhaps we shall have tea again on another ocassion.

Mistress Gade: That would be most delightful.

Miss Austen: Indeed.

Jane Austen lived at a time when novel reading had become one of the major forms of entertainment for the middle classes. New works were prohibitively expensive to buy, but there were various methods of sharing and borrowing the latest fiction through circulating libraries, subscriptions libraries and reading clubs. Though widely read, the novel’s status was not high. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/jane-austens-social-realism-and-the-novel#sthash.NNjql0y5.dpuf

Jane Austen lived at a time when novel reading had become one of the major forms of entertainment for the middle classes. New works were prohibitively expensive to buy, but there were various methods of sharing and borrowing the latest fiction through circulating libraries, subscriptions libraries and reading clubs. Though widely read, the novel’s status was not high. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/jane-austens-social-realism-and-the-novel#sthash.NNjql0y5.dpuf

Jane Austen lived at a time when novel reading had become one of the major forms of entertainment for the middle classes. New works were prohibitively expensive to buy, but there were various methods of sharing and borrowing the latest fiction through circulating libraries, subscriptions libraries and reading clubs. Though widely read, the novel’s status was not high. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/jane-austens-social-realism-and-the-novel#sthash.NNjql0y5.dpuf

Jane Austen lived at a time when novel reading had become one of the major forms of entertainment for the middle classes. New works were prohibitively expensive to buy, but there were various methods of sharing and borrowing the latest fiction through circulating libraries, subscriptions libraries and reading clubs. Though widely read, the novel’s status was not high. - See more at: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/jane-austens-social-realism-and-the-novel#sthash.NNjql0y5.dpuf

Colonial Christmas and Hogmanay

Finding things to share about colonial Christmas celebrations can be an interesting experience. Others have written about the importance of Advent to colonial folk, and how Christmas was seen more as a season with a spiritual focus rather than a particular holiday or event. The Colonial Williamsburg history website has an excellent article discussing colonial Christmas traditions, which I found very useful when researching for my Pioneer Christmas novella, Defending Truth. Along with the spiritual focus, and various traditions that included decorating the churches with green boughs, Christmas included plenty of gaeity and frivolity, especially in the eastern, more populated parts of the colonies. Presbyterian missionary Philip Fithian shared in a 1774 diary entry:

When it grew to dark to dance. . . . we conversed til half after six; Nothing is now to be heard of in conversation, but the Balls, the Fox-hunts, the fine entertainments, and the good fellowship, which are to be exhibited at the approaching Christmas.

But Christmas was considered so strongly a Catholic or even Anglican tradition (Christmas does, after all, come from the term "Christ Mass") that many denominations either didn't think it worthy of notice (Peter Kalm notes that the Quakers ignored the holiday at first) or because of doctrinal differences, felt it ungodly to indulge in the frivolity of the holiday. David DeSimone mentions how after sharing eastern Virginia's lavish Christmas celebrations, Philip Fithian must have been disappointed while serving in the backcountry of Virginia the following year:

Christmas Morning--Not A Gun is heard--Not a Shout--No company or Cabal assembled--To Day is like other Days every Way calm & temperate-- People go about their daily Business with the same Readiness, & apply themselves to it with the same Industry.

Robbie Shade - Fireworks over Edinburgh (Wikipedia)

The Scots-Irish Presbyterians in particular frowned upon Christmas, but there's evidence that the New Year was well observed. The Scottish New Year, or Hogmanay, a word which means the last day of the year, roots from Norse, Gaelic, and French terms and traditions, some of which involve children going door-to-door to request small gifts and sweets (sound familiar?), and some which involve giving special gifts to the poor. There's also much made of the "first foot," or the first person to set foot inside your house on the new year, beginning at midnight, and the traditional giving of gifts to the household for good luck, and then the hospitality shared with guests

We really don't have any way of knowing how extensively Scottish settlers held to the old traditions, but in recent years Colonial Williamsburg has included Hogmanay in its New Year's celebrations. With such a rich history of Advent, Christmas, and New Year's combined, is it any wonder that the month of December often feels like one long party?

Colonial American Medicine

by Elaine Marie Cooper

Mary placed his hand back on his chest and remembered how those wounds from the thorny bushes had prompted her to bring the slippery elm to soothe his abrasions.

She made a paste out of the crushed bark and water and then spread it over his hands. He smiled.

“You have a soft touch, miss.”

“’Tis the slippery elm that is soft, sir. ‘Tis an old Indian medicinal.”

                               Excerpt from Road to Deer Run

When our ancestors came over on the Mayflower in 1620, it wasn’t just the founding of the first successful white colony in the United States. The date also signified the beginning of Colonial American medicine.

Onboard the Mayflower was a surgeon named Giles Heale who returned to England after accompanying the passengers to the new world. But William Bradford wrote that Dr. Samuel Fuller was surgeon and physician to the Pilgrims. While the group brought many of their traditional cures from Europe, the Native Americans taught the Colonials many new cures such as mashed cranberries to use as a poultice for wounds.

One of the well-documented uses of Colonial medicine took place when Edward Winslow brought medicinals to the dying Indian sachem, Massasoit. Winslow’s detailed journal describes arriving at the bedside of the Indian chief who had not swallowed anything for days. Seeing that Massasoit’s tongue was swollen and “furred,” Winslow scraped off the “corruption” and managed to get the chief to swallow a “confection of many comfortable conserves.” The tribe noticed an immediate improvement in his condition. Encouraged by this turn of events, Winslow searched for medicinal herbs and managed to find only strawberry leaves and sassafras root, which he boiled and strained. Massasoit swallowed the herbal drink and continued to recover.

Winslow wrote, “we, with admiration, blessed God for giving His blessings to such raw and ignorant means, making no doubt of his recovery, himself and all of them acknowledging us the instruments of His preservation.”

Indeed, it was often God that the colonists turned to for healing of their maladies but gleaning the herbs of the land became a supplement to their prayers.

Most women learned the uses of numerous medicinals to help their families recover from illness. Hyssop for respiratory ailments, yarrow to stop bleeding, slippery elm for wounds and stomach distress, mint for headaches—the list is long and each herb often had multiple uses.

While these plants were often beneficial, excessive use could prove dangerous, even deadly.

Multiple herbs and treatment, including bleeding, were described in a small book called “Every Man his own Doctor” or “The Poor Planter’s Physician.” It was written anonymously by a practitioner in Virginia in order to help the poor survive their illnesses. It was quite popular in the colonies, especially for those without access to a physician.

Medicinals in Colonial America are fascinating to study, especially since many are still used in homeopathic teas and other preparations. Colonial medicine lives on.

Elaine Marie Cooper is the author of Road to Deer Run, which releases December 10th. Her previous releases include the award winning Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany's Calendar. She will have three more Colonial era releases in 2016. 

O Christmas Tree

Writing the title made me think of the Christmas song by this name, but the German folk song didn't even become associated with Christmas until the early 20th century. We're going back a little further. The early 1800s saw little for the celebration of Christmas in Colonial America. Most simply followed whatever traditions they had brought from the old world, or like many Puritans, none at all. It wasn't until mid century that the desire to celebrate Christmas began to take deep root in the hearts of Americans...along with the Christmas tree.

As early as 1749 it is recorded that evergreen boughs were used to decorate the pews and alter of a Catholic church in Philadelphia, but it took a little while before people began hauling the whole tree into their houses. Not until the 1830s do we hear about the first fur trees placed with care and

decorated. Than in 1848, Prince Albert had one set up at Windsor Castle. The print of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria and their family around the tree appeared in the Illustrated London News. The fashion spread fast and by the 1850s Christmas trees had become a staple for the celebration of Christmas.

Christmas trees were at first decorated by what was available: nuts, strings of popcorn, fruit, dried fruit, candies and homemade trinkets. Then newspapers and magazines began to set the bar, offering ideas that soon made people want to set aside homey ornaments for sophisticated and uniform ones. Soon businesses stepped in, providing glittery baubles, wax figurines, and tin shapes in abundance, importing many from Germany.

In my recently released short story, "I Heard the Bells", included in the anthology A Bit of Christmas, the main character decides a Christmas tree might ease the tension between him and his brother. It is 1864 and Gabriel Morgan is home in Virginia for a couple of days at Christmas...after spending the last three years fighting for the Union Army while his family staked their allegiances with the Confederacy.

~~~

Clara’s head jerked up as Gabriel plunked a scraggly spruce just inside the door of the bedroom. “What is that?”
     He flashed a grin as he knelt to tack a makeshift stand onto the trunk. “Surely you’ve seen a Christmas tree before.”
     “Yes, but it looked nothing like that.”
     “Don’t be so quick to judge. There’s potential.” He glanced at his brother. “Remember that year Pa was away? We didn’t want to wait, so we went out ourselves. You must have been six or seven, and me maybe ten. I still remember the look on Mama’s face.”
    Probably because you saw it again when you hauled this tree past her. Clara bit her tongue.
    With no reply from Lawrence, Gabriel stood the tree upright and left. A few minutes later, he returned with a handful of nuts, a single candle, some string and clusters of crimson berries that he began to distribute amongst the branches.
     “Are those rosehips?”
     “We needed something to brighten this room.”
   

~~~

So how do you decorate your tree? With homemade trinkets, or store-bought baubles and bows?

December's Tea Party - Andrea Boeshaar, Elaine Marie Cooper, and Angela Couch

Welcome to our December Tea Party!

'Tis a festive time of year to celebrate new historical book releases! We're celebrating in Virginia's beautiful Shenandoah Valley!

Newly Released: A Thousand Shall Fall: A Civil War Novel

 A story of love, hope, and healing set in the midst of the Civil War

Nineteen-year-old Carrie Ann Bell is independent and spirited. The only thing she really fears are the Union soldiers fighting against her Confederate friends. When her youngest sister runs away from home, brave Carrie Ann is determined to find her and bring her back. Disguised as a soldier, she sets off–only to find she’s fallen into the hands of the enemy. 

TO PURCHASE BOOK CLICK HERE!

Her childhood friend Confederate Major Joshua Blevins has warned her against these Yankees: they’re all devils, ready to inflict evil on unsuspecting young women. When Colonel Peyton Collier arrests her for her impersonation of an officer, it seems to confirm all her fears.

Soon, though, she finds herself drawn to the handsome, gallant colonel. He rescued her, protected her, and has been every inch the gentleman. Carrie Ann discovers that her foe has become her ally–and more than that, someone she could love. But the arrival of Joshua in the Union camp as a spy will test her loyalties. Will she protect someone who has been like family or be loyal to this stranger to whom she wants to offer her heart? When her world is being torn apart around her, whom should she trust?

Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, A Thousand Shall Fall is framed around compelling characters and a very romantic setting in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Andrea Boeshaar’s extensive research guarantees historical accuracy and romance genre enthusiasts and Civil War buffs alike will enjoy the Christian perspectives on actual historical events.

Bio: Andrea Boeshaar is a co-founder of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and runs “Steeple View Coaching & Writer’s ER." She is the author of thirty published works, including Threads of Faith, a finalist in the Inspirational Readers Choice Awards. Andrea is also the author of a popular devotional and
regularly blogs on a number of sites.

Make your Christmas even merrier!
From now until December 10th, enter to win a Kindle Fire HD 6"

To Enter CLICK HERE!

You might also enjoy Andrea's Civil War Christmas novella Everlasting Light. The e-book is only .99 in celebration of today's tea party. It's also available in audiobook edition. 

To purchase, CLICK HERE!

Also releasing this month is Road to Deer Run by Elaine Marie Cooper.

About the book:
War is in the air in 1777 in western Massachusetts. The able-bodied men have all left Deer Run to fight the battle at Saratoga, New York, leaving the Colonial women and the elderly behind to tend the families. While news of the American victory is heartening, the personal losses are already felt by the Thomsen women in Deer Run.

Still reeling from the loss of her brother, young Mary Thomsen comes upon an unexpected and terrifying discovery: A wounded King's soldier. Her heart wants to hate, but her compassion and sense of Christian duty overcome her grief. But becoming a Good Samaritan takes a terrifying toll, and brings Mary on an adventure of fear and passion that she could never have anticipated.

Road to Deer Run first appeared in 2010 but has been given new life with a new publisher, new edits and new book cover. This new release will be available on December 10, but the paperback can be pre-ordered through CrossRiver Media here. If you use the code DEERRUN25, you will get a 25% discount through release day. You can pre-order the kindle version at Amazon here.

GIVEAWAY: Elaine Marie Cooper will send a signed copy of Road to Deer Run to one person who leaves a comment today.


Elaine's Bio: Elaine Marie Cooper is the award-winning author of Bethany’s Calendar and Fields of the Fatherless. Her re-release of the Deer Run Saga begins with Road to Deer Run this month and will be followed by Promise of Deer Run (June 2016) and Legacy of Deer Run (December, 2016). Saratoga Letters will be released by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas in October, 2016. Elaine's passions are her faith, her family, and the history of the American Revolution, the era in which her historical fiction novels are set. You can read her blog on her website here Elaine is represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary Agency. 

And last but not least... (Though perhaps they are least--I mean, they are short stories.)

 A Bit of Christmas and A Kiss is Still a Kiss are short story anthologies with one thing in common...stories by Angela K Couch!

I Head the Bells (Dec 1, 2015)

Virginia, December 1864:
Three years ago, Gabriel Morgan left his home in Virginia to fight for the Union army, despite his family and his fiancée’s loyalties to the South. Now, with battle fresh in his mind, and the war still raging, he chances a quick trip home with one prayer…to make peace this Christmas.

Shackled (Nov 1, 2015)

Arizona Territory 1883:
He came west to find freedom and ended up shackled to a chair. She’s not sure she ever wants to let him go.

Bio: Angela K Couch is an award-winning author for her short stories, and a semi-finalist in ACFW's 2015 Genesis Contest. As a passionate believer in Christ, her faith permeates the stories she tells. Her martial arts training, experience with horses, and appreciation for good romance sneak in there, as well. Angela lives in Alberta, Canada with her "hero" and three munchkins. www.angelakcouch.com

Find her books on Amazon or Goodreads! 
GIVEAWAY: Both an e-book and a print copy of A Bit of Christmas!