Historical Christmas Party

 

All of us at Colonial Quills blog and Colonial American Christian Writers welcome you to our party! We also have a Facebook Event from 2-4 pm Eastern Time Wednesday, December 15, where you can show off your party gowns and interact with our authors even more! We're sharing that event with friends from the HHH blog, too, so one or more will join us in the afternoon! 

Shannon McNear

Greetings and salutations, gentle readers! I am so excited to get to share this story with all of you.

The daughter of a renowned English artist and explorer, Elinor White Dare journeys to the New World seeking a fresh start and a place to put down roots. What she finds will shake the very foundations of her faith and yet rebuild what she knows of God’s goodness and mercy, even in loss.

This "what if" historical explores the possible fate of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, the first attempt at English settlement in America, 20 years before Jamestown.

To celebrate the release of this novel, I am giving away a small "Reader's Retreat" gift bundle, with a signed copy of Elinor (or any of my other books of your choice) accompanied by an "adventure" journal, cranberry rose candle, and two other books by friends of mine, which I had signed at this past July's Mississippi River Readers Retreat. For a chance to win, please comment with your favorite place to curl up and read!

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Pegg Thomas

Merry Christmas!

I'm showcasing my newest release, Maggie's Strength, for today's party.

Maggie Kerr is a survivor. Taken captive at age eleven during the battle at Fort McCord, she's learned to adapt and to trust no one. Promised in marriage to a Huron warrior she fears, Maggie risks everything in a run for her freedom.

Content to ignore the rising animosity between the British and the Ottawa villagers he calls his friends, Baptiste Geroux plants his fields, limping behind his oxen and waiting for his brother to return from the west. Until the day a woman in danger arrives on his farm.

When more tribes join Pontiac in an all-out war, Maggie and Baptiste take refuge at Fort Detroit. He’s distrusted for being French. She’s scorned for being raised by the Hurons. Together they forge a fragile bond—until Maggie's past threatens their chance at happiness.

Follow me on my newsletter for updates and announcements! 

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Naomi Musch

Many happy returns of the season to one and all! I'm happy to hang out with you here today and over on the FB event page. My featured NEW book that releases in just a couple weeks is called Song for the Hunter, and I'm giving away a Kindle copy here on the blog.

30% off through Dec. 16 at the
publisher's site with the
code BESTFRIEND

Song for the Hunter is a sequel to my 2019 Selah and Book of the Year finalist Mist O'er the Voyageur. Here's a brief description of the story:

Métis hunter Bemidii Marchal has never played his flute to court a maiden but considers the possibility at Fort William’s Great Rendezvous. However, when rescuing his sister causes an influential man’s death, the hunter becomes the hunted. Bemidii flees to Lake Superior's Madeline Island. Carrying a secret, Camilla Bonnet travels into the wilderness with her husband where tragedy awaits. Left alone, she fears Bemidii but is forced to trust him. Friendship grows and turns to deeper feelings. Then Bemidii discovers more about the man he killed. Now the secret he hides might turn Camilla’s heart away—and demand his life.

You can read the first chapter on the publisher's site here: https://shoplpc.com/song-for-the-hunter/ or if you want to listen to me reading, you can hear the first few pages (not the whole chapter) on my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/qtogfNVqTsQ

To enter for an e-copy of Song for the Hunter, just leave a comment about your Christmas plans--what you're excited about, what you're reading, your favorite food, anything! And don't forget to mention your interest in Song for the Hunter!

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Gabrielle Meyer

Merry Christmas, to one and all! I'm thrilled to be back at Colonial Quills sharing in the Christmas festivities. I can't wait to join everyone at the live Facebook party.

Today, I'll be chatting about my upcoming release, When the Day Comes. It will release on May 3, 2022 with Bethany House Publishers. Here's a little more about the story.

How will she choose, knowing all she must sacrifice?

Libby has been given a powerful gift: to live one life in 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. When she falls asleep in one life, she wakes up in the other. While she's the same person at her core in both times, she's leading two vastly different lives.

In Colonial Williamsburg, Libby is a public printer for the House of Burgesses and the Royal Governor, trying to provide for her family and support the Patriot cause. The man she loves, Henry Montgomery, has his own secrets. As the revolution draws near, both their lives--and any hope of love--are put in jeopardy.

Libby's life in 1914 New York is filled with wealth, drawing room conversations, and bachelors. But the only work she cares about--women's suffrage--is discouraged, and her mother is intent on marrying her off to an English marquess. The growing talk of war in Europe only complicates matters.

But Libby knows she's not destined to live two lives forever. On her twenty-first birthday, she must choose one path and forfeit the other forever--but how can she choose when she has so much to lose in each life?

In honor of my new release, I would like to give away an advanced reader copy. They won't be available until February, but the winner will be one of the first to get a copy in the mail! I will choose a winner from among the comments on this blog post. Merry Christmas!

Be sure to follow me on Facebook and subscribe to my newsletter!

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Carrie Fancett Pagels 

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas, as my English ancestors would say! 

Did you know that at the end of my colonial novella, Mercy in a Red Cloak, there is a Christmas scene? This book, like my two 2021 releases Behind Love's Wall and Butterfly Cottage, is set at the Straits of Mackinac and on Mackinac Island! I do have an audiobook of Mercy in a Red Cloak, also, and will be giving away reader's choice of format, including audio code if preferred! And in 2021 my pre-War of 1812 book, Holt Medallion finalist The Steepchase, released in audiobook and I have audiobook codes for Christmas giveaway, too!

From all of us at Colonial Quills blog, we would like to thank you for your readership! You're a blessing to us and we pray our blog posts have blessed you as well!

The wreaths pictured in the post are from Colonial Williamsburg. We hope you'll allow us to serve you a cup of tea, or a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, and bring around some trays of Christmas treats for you to enjoy! 

The blessings of the season to you all!

Fort Michilimackinac by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Firing Demonstration Fort Michilimackinac

I have previously posted here on Colonial Quills about Fort Michilimackinac, located in Mackinaw City, Michigan. You can visit the reconstructed site which is maintained by the Michigan park system. My current story “The Fruitcake Challenge” is set outside of Mackinac City in a lumber camp in 1890.  This area is strategic to the Great Lakes because the Straits of Mackinac converge as at this point. In between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan, Mackinac Island was a location of special spiritual importance to the tribes who lived in the area of Upper Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Although it may seem like a long distance to travel, various tribes did travel extensively through the region, typically by canoe, during this time.

French Voyageur Reenactor - Fort Michilimackinac

The French occupied this area from the 1600’s on, including Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City. They enjoyed good relationships with the natives. Some of the soldiers intermarried. This was also the time of the French voyageurs and trade was brisk. Many of the names of towns, and many of current residents today, are of French origin. The region was predominantly Catholic and many famous priests, including Father Marquette, came on missions from Europe. But that changed after the French-Indian War. The French surrendered the fort to the British after the war. And of course the British weren’t Roman Catholic, so that changed things as well. A priest was part of post life for the French. Not so for the British.

House and garden at Fort Michilimackinac

The transition was anything but smooth. The native tribes were unhappy with the British military’s high-handed behavior and their failure to treat them with the respect they received from the French. Instead of a happy intermarriage they now were basically under the rule of the British. Pontiac’s Rebellion later resulted, with devastation visited upon Fort Michilimackinac. A new stasis was achieved afterwards, however, between the natives and the English. Within a generation, though, war again commenced, with the American Revolution.

Fort Mackinac on the bluffs, formerly Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City

When it became clear that Fort Michilimackinac could not easily be defended, the British garrison was moved to Mackinac Island. The fort was basically dismantled and transported across the convergence of Lakes Huron and Michigan to the island and reassembled high above the bluffs, overlooking the harbor. What wasn’t taken was basically burned so it wouldn’t fall into enemy hands.

He who controlled the straits basically controlled the brisk fur trade, which had brought wealth to the French and was now controlled by the British. After the American Revolution, the island was surrendered to the Americans and hence so was the fort. Growing up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and living so close to the straits, I was blessed to be brought up hearing about the influence of the French, the Native Americans, and Americans and I’ll be honest—less was stressed about the British. They occupied the area for only a relatively short period of time and weren’t particularly “nice” about it.

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Thank you to the volunteers and employees of the Michigan State Parks in Mackinaw City, at historic Fort Michilimackinac for allowing me to get these photographs.
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Giveaway: Copy of Carrie's bestselling novella "The Fruitcake Challenge" (set in Emmet County Michigan) to one commenter.

Question: When you think about what today is America do you ever consider who lived on the land during the colonial time period?