Eight Year Blog Anniversary!

Message from Administrator Carrie Fancett Pagels: Eight years and so many posts later (OVER one million three hundred page views!!!), we're still sharing our love of colonial America with our readers! Welcome to our celebration! With wonderful new contributors and ongoing fantastic colonial-era authors we are really blessed. Come sit down and enjoy a lovely high tea with us! Leave us a comment and you may find one of our many contributors pouring you a cup of tea or offering you a lovely tray of fine sandwiches, savories, and sweets . . . or one of our author giveaways!

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J.M. Hochstetler

Hello, everyone! It’s hard to believe that Colonial Quills is eight years old already. And what a wonderful journey it’s been, full of friends and fellowship and learning new things about the colonial period! It’s a real privilege to be a part of this fun and congenial group, and I’m so grateful for our talented leader, Carrie Fancett Pagels, who started this crazy ball rolling, to all the members who contribute to the blog, and to all our faithful readers!  May there be many more years ahead of us.

For the party I’m giving away a copy of my upcoming June release, Refiner’s Fire, Book 6 of my American Patriot Series—or any of the previous books in the series, if preferred.

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ROSEANNA WHITE

What a joy it's been to be part of the Colonial Quills blog! I've been working primarily in the Edwardian and WWI eras for the last few years so haven't been popping up on here much, but I still consider CQ one of my blog homes. =)

For the party, I'd be happy to offer a reader a signed copy of my June 4 release, The Number of Love.

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SHANNON MCNEAR

Welcome, gentle readers! What a huge blessing Colonial Quills has been to me for the past six years. From my first novella, Defending Truth in A Pioneer Christmas Collection, which had the amazing honor to final for a RITA® award, to The Highwayman (originally The Most Eligible Bachelor Collection and now re-released both as a single title and in a smaller collection, To Catch A Bachelor) and The Counterfeit Tory in Backcountry Brides, I've had the joy of writing colonial fiction. My first full-length in print, The Cumberland Bride, #5 of Daughters of the Mayflower, is set in 1794 Tennessee and Kentucky, technically the early Federal Era but a natural extension of my colonial research as it traces some of the early beginnings of Westward Expansion. My next release, The Rebel Bride, is a Civil War story (coming December 2019, #10 of the Daughters of the Mayflower series) but the release after that will be a return to early Federal Tennessee and Kentucky (The Blue Cloak, #5 of the True Colors series). I'm currently hard at work on The Blue Cloak, with an August 1 deadline, but in appreciation to our CQ following, I'm offering one reader's choice of my stories in print! 

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JANET GRUNST

Janet Grunst

Thanks for joining us, Colonial Quill Readers, for our eight-year anniversary. I was honored in the fall of 2011 when Carrie asked me to join this group of fellow Colonial era writers. I’ve learned so much from the other contributor’s blog posts and been touched by the encouragement and contribution of our faithful readers.

A Heart Set Free is set prior to the Revolutionary War and A Heart For Freedom picks up the characters in the early years of the Revolution. I’m hoping the final part of the series will be available before too long. This fall, I’m privileged to be a part of a Highlander collection of novellas releasing. Fellow Quiller, Naomi Much will also have a story in it.

For our Colonial Quills celebration, I will be giving away a signed copy of A Heart Set Free to one USA commenting on the blog. Enjoy the party, everyone.

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Pegg Thomas 

Hi Everyone! I'm excited to be part of this blog and this anniversary party. I don't have any new Colonial stories out - yet - but I have some exciting news! My novella In Sheep's Clothing, part of A Bouquet of Brides, is a finalist in the Romance Writers of America's Faith, Hope, & Love Awards. And it's set in Colonial Connecticut. I'm so exciterated!!! I'm giving away a paperback copy for the party. 

Comment HERE on the BLOG to be entered. But visit the Facebook page too, because there will be other fun things going on there. 

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DEBRA E. MARVIN

Debra E. Marvin

Hello Friends!

Here we are again, thrilled to celebrate with you all. So many stories and wonderful tales of history have passed across this blog's page and we believe there's a lot to come. On the blog, I'll be giving away a book cozy (book sleeve) I made, so please comment if you'd like to be entered in the random drawing. Don't you love this tall ships fabric I found?

2019 will see at least three new stories from me, and I have one with a Colonial setting waiting for a contract! Your friendship and support have been a priceless gift through this writing journey!  Thank you again Carrie and all the CQ authors and friends!

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NAOMI MUSCH

Hey there, CQ readers! I'm probably the newbiest member on the CQ team. I've been here about a year, though I've been a follower for quite a long time. I write in a few different time periods, with the colonial period and early 20th century being my two favorite. (Check out my WWI/1920s books if you enjoy that segment of history.) My last release, Mist O'er the Voyageur, is an historical romance set in the Great Lakes wilderness of the voyageurs and fur traders. It was recently a Selah Awards finalist and one of only a handful of books to receive a judge's perfect score! Mist was also nominated for a NE Minnesota Book Award. In November, watch for another American wilderness romance novella called A Tender Siege releasing in a collection called The Highlanders, in which my Scottish hero is caught up in the French and Indian Wars during the time of Pontiac's Conspiracy.

For our CQ party, I'll be giving away TWO ebook copies of Mist O'er the Voyageur. Comment on the blog to be added to the drawing, and don't forget to join us on the Facebook page on the 29th!

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CARRIE FANCETT PAGELS

I'm excited to announce that I have my first colonial release out since our The Backcountry Brides Collection released in 2018, with numerous authors from the Colonial Quills blog! I have a novella, Mercy in a Red Cloak, releasing in early June in e-book form and later in the summer in paperback! Set in the mid-1700's in Pennsylvania and in the Straits of Mackinac, my colonial scout story features Shadrach Clark who also appeared in my novella "Shenandoah Hearts" in the Backcountry Brides Collection! Shad is a sweetie and I pray readers will love reading his story!

One of my giveaways is this copy of Colonial Michilimackinac: Michigan State Parks, by David A. Armour. It's a great book and I've used it as a great research resource over the years. My own copy is well-highlighted!

Colonial Michilimackinac: Michigan State Parks, by David A. Armour

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CARLA GADE

I'm so thrilled about the Colonial Quills blog 8th Anniversary! Every year we have had a wonderful tea party to celebrate and give you updates on our writing journeys. So much has happened for us all and with the support and encouragement of all of our followers and readers. We appreciate you all so very much and offer you a great Huzzah!! 

When we first started, my debut novel, The Shadow Catcher's Daughter had just released. Although that was a 19th century western setting, my heart was really in the Colonies. I soon enjoyed a visit with our fonder, Carrie, to explore Colonial Williamsburg. With that and some additional research, my first Colonial era, Carving a Future in Colonial Courtships, novella was published and hence republished in The American Dream Romance Collection. Since first becoming published I am now the author of 11 books, including another Colonial, Pattern for Romance.

For nostalgia's sake, I'm offering Colonial Courtships to one of our commenters! By the way, my characters from Carving a Future are included in Colonial Quill's original A Forted Frontier Holiday anthology, along with other CQ author's, available for free reading here on the blog!

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Facebook Party tonight, Wednesday May 29th, from 4:30 to 5:30 PM Eastern Time. Another giveaway at our Facebook party is a copy of The Backcountry Brides Collection. This collection includes all colonial-era Christian Fiction novellas from CQ contributors!

All contributors of The Backcountry Brides Collection are
members of Colonial American Christian Writers!

A HEART FOR FREEDOM

My second novel A Heart For Freedom releases October 1^st, 2018, It takes place in Virginia during the first eighteen months of the Revolutionary War. While this is a stand-alone story, it picks up five years after A Heart Set Free ended. Heather and Matthew Stewart live on their farm and now also manage an ordinary, providing rest and food for hungry travelers.

The Revolutionary War was America’s first civil war. By 1775, the conflict in the colonies had escalated between Loyalists and Patriots. John Adams was known to have said that about thirty-three percent of the American populace supported the Patriot cause, thirty-three percent sided with the Loyalists, and thirty-three percent were undecided.

While many men and boys took up arms against the British, those at Stewarts’ ordinary and the surrounding Virginia countryside were not immune from the strife, pitting friends, neighbors, and families against each other.

Here is the blurb from the back of the book:

He longs for freedom, but he won’t risk those he loves.

Matthew Stewart wants only to farm, manage his inn, and protect his family. But tension between the Loyalists and Patriots is mounting. When he’s asked to help the Patriots and assured his family will be safe, he agrees.

She’s seen the cost of fighting England, and she wants no part of it.

In Scotland, Heather Stewart witnessed the devastation and political consequences of opposing England. She wants only to avoid war and protect the family and peace she finally found in Virginia. But the war drums can be heard even from home in the countryside, and she has no power to stop the approaching danger.

The consequences are deadly.

When Matthew leaves for a short journey and doesn’t return, Heather faces the biggest trial of her life. Will she give up hope of seeing him again? Will he survive the trials and make his way home? What will be the consequences of his heart for freedom?

I hope those who read the story enjoy it and consider writing a review on Amazon and Goodreads.

Now, I return to my writing cave to finish the third story which focuses on the younger generation and takes place toward the end of the war.

Janet is a wife, mother of two sons, and grandmother of eight who lives in the historic triangle of Virginia (Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown) with her husband. Her debut novel, A Heart Set Free was the 2016 Selah Award winner for Historical Romance. A lifelong student of history, her love of writing fiction grew out of a desire to share stories that communicate the truths of the Christian faith, as well as entertain, bring inspiration, healing, and hope to the reader. 

https://JanetGrunst.com 

Facebook Janet Grunst, Author                                                                        https://twitter.com/janetgrunst  

INDENTURED SERVANTS IN COLONIAL AMERICA

In my guest post for Colonial Quills, Coming To America, September 16, 2011, I delved into the subject of immigrants coming to the colonies as indentured servants.

Indentured Servants were emigrants who signed contracts, or “indentures,” committing themselves to work for a fixed number of years, usually four to

seven, in payment for their passage. The captain would transport the indentured servants to the American colonies, and sell their legal papers to colonists; farmers, planters, and shopkeepers, thereby providing them a labor force.

That post examined some of the reasons people left their homeland to start a new life in the young colonies. It also detailed some of the challenges they endured to cross the Atlantic and what they experienced upon arrival.

Indentured servitude was a subject that has interested me for a long time and was the basis for the story I wrote, A Heart Set Free, a tale of an indentured servant who travels from Scotland to the Virginia colony in 1770.

The research I did for the story was fascinating. Since my character, Heather Douglas emigrated from Scotland; I primarily studied the people signing indentures from the British Isles.

Poverty and unemployment were rampant in early seventeenth century Britain, which prompted many to seek a better life in the colonies. Poor crop years in the eighteenth century also brought people from there and northern Europe to the colonies.

The Enclosure Acts, a series of Parliamentary Acts in England passed between 1750 and 1860, and the high cost of rents caused many from England and Scotland to emigrate. Impoverished Ireland also caused many to emigrate for what they hoped would be a better life.

The ages of men and women who indentured themselves varied in ages from the teens through those in their sixties. They came from rural areas and cities throughout England, Scotland and even Ireland.

Most indentured servants were laborers and often uneducated. As the slave

trade became more common, particularly in the south, many indentured servants learned trades. They did wool spinning, tailoring, hat making, retailing, baking, brewing, butchering, leather processing and smithing of all sorts, and the construction trades also apprenticed bondservants in carpentry, joinery, masonry, plastering, wheel-righting, and shipbuilding.

It was not uncommon for bondservants to prosper once their term of service was over.

I was surprised to learn that as many as 48% of European immigrants to all 13 colonies before 1775 were indentured. The onset of the American Revolution reduced the entry of indentured servants significantly.

If your ancestors came from Western Europe before the Revolution, It is likely that some may have been indentured.

A TRIBUTE ON VETERAN'S DAY and A DREAM REALIZED

 A TRIBUTE ON VETERAN'S DAY

Each year on November 11^th we acknowledge and express appreciation for all the men and women who have served or are serving our nation in the armed forces. This practice dates back to the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month when the armistice was declared at the end of World War I.

As someone who was raised in a military family and with two sons and a step-son-in-law currently serving, it is a day filled with humility and gratitude. As Americans, we enjoy liberty and so many freedoms only because others were and are willing to sacrifice. Many will spend vast amounts of time away from family and friends, work long hours under stressful conditions, and put themselves in harm’s way. Their service has preserved our union and allows us to pursue our plans and dreams. Take some time today and thank them.

A DREAM REALIZED

Five years ago, I was asked to submit a guest post for Colonial Quills.

Coming To America, September 16, 2011.

http://colonialquills.blogspot.com/2011/09/guest-post-by-janet-grunst-coming-to.html

It was a privilege to be invited to join this esteemed group of writers who love delving into our colonial history and sharing their knowledge with interested readers. In addition to learning so much from them, I’ve made some treasured friends.

Coming To America detailed how many Europeans without funds came to the colonies by becoming indentured servants, serving for a specified period of time in exchange for passage. This was a common method of emigration during the 17^th and 18^th centuries, and it was a subject that has fascinated me for many years. 

In the mid-eighties, I wrote a story about a woman who left Scotland in 1770 and traveled to Virginia as an indentured servant. And now after many years that story is being published. Its theme is forgiveness.

Here’s a peek into A Heart Set Free published by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas.

In 1770, Heather Douglas is desperate to escape a brewing scandal in her native Scotland. Penniless and hoping for a fresh start far away, she signs a seven-year indenture and boards a British merchant vessel headed to Virginia.

Widowed planter Matthew Stewart needs someone to help raise his two young children. The tall blond standing on the Alexandria quay doesn’t look like much after her harrowing sea voyage, but there’s a refinement about her that her filthy clothing cannot hide. Could God be leading him to take this unknown indentured servant as his wife?

When Matthew purchases Heather’s indenture, marries her, and takes her to his farm, she faces new and constant challenges. And Matthew wonders if they can ever bridge their differences and make a life together.

It is in the Virginia countryside that Heather begins her greatest journey, one of self-discovery and of maturing faith. Here, she discovers that her emotional and spiritual scars bind her far more than her indenture . . . and love will finally set her heart free. 

I’m delighted that A Heart Set Free will be released December 2^nd, 2016 and will be found at:

http://Amazon.com

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

Janet S. Grunst is a wife, mother of two sons, and grandmother of eight who lives in the historic triangle of Virginia (Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown) with her. A lifelong student of history, she has been fortunate to live overseas as well as throughout the United States. Her love of writing fiction grew out of a desire to share stories that communicate the truths of the Christian faith, as well as entertain and bring inspiration, healing, and hope to the reader. 

Janet Grunst
http://JanetGrunst.com                                                                                                                   https://www.facebook.com/Janet-Grunst-Author-385405948228216/                            http://colonialquills.blogspot.com/
Represented By Linda S. Glaz
Hartline Literary Agency