On My Dirt Road...: Laura Kamoie

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Happy New Year--2019!!

Anne here. I'm looking over the books I've read this last year as I close out 2018 and bring in 2019. Beside countless hours scouring Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, and out of print Google books while researching family history or digging up things in history that fascinate me, I've accomplished reading a stack of eleven books this year.

Each of these has taught me something valuable for 2018, and I'm ready to think about what 2019 might bring. I did the David study over months and months of slowly digesting and working through the chapters in the mornings. There's no need to purchase the CD's in order to get the meat out of it. It's very doable on your own or with a group, but I found so much depth doing it on my own. The margins of my study guide are filled with notes and thoughts, sort of like Bible journaling.

Of course, Laura Frantz's books are my all time favorite and I'm waiting for her next release to hit my mailbox this month! I also enjoyed Jocelyn Green. I found America's First Daughter, about Thomas Jefferson's daughter, at the local bookstore on the general market display and really loved it. I'm also planning to order their next one, My Dear Hamilton.

Many of you know that Jaime Jo Wright and I started a blog that we hosted for five years, Coffee Cups & Camisoles (you can find old posts through the link at the bottom of the page), and I'm excited to celebrate our ten year friendship-versary this year. We met at 2009 Denver ACFW conference, and it's been a complete joy to watch her launch her first major contracts, including The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond, with a Poe-esk feel to the split time suspense.

New-to-me-Author, Joanna Politano, brings the reader into an amazing tale of treasure-seeking in A Rumored Fortune that reminded me of George MacDonald-meets-Julianne Donaldson. I'll certainly be watching for her next release!

Last week I just typed "THE END" to my fourth full length novel and I'm ready to write up the proposal and send it off to my agent. Authors always have lots of stories on the back burners of their minds. Mine tend to spring out of things I'm researching. I've been diving deeper into the colonial period and post-Revolutionary War period where many of my ancestors traveled over-the-mountains into the hills of Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. I picked up this review, Christians of the American Revolution, to give me an overview of the moral-religious times these people lived through. It's a little heady, but still interesting and surprisingly universal to everything our world still faces.

Little sneak peek of my latest story setting...

I like to mix some nonfiction reads with my fiction reading and writing. I find it grounds me and balances me. I was profoundly impressed with Kim Meeder's stories this year after hearing her speak at a church conference. Don Miller and Sarah Arthur's books I picked up at ECPA's Art of Writing conference. There's always a slot for studying the craft of writing and story! And lastly, though I didn't read the entire book, I always have lofty dreams of reading classics, and tried to digest C.S. Lewis's The Problem with Pain.

I can't wait to find out what lies on the pages of 2019!
Readers, what did you read this past year?

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Blog post by Anne Love-







Writer of Historical Romance inspired by her family roots. 





Nurse Practitioner by day. 





Wife, mother, writer by night. 





Coffee drinker--any time.

Find me at: www.anneloveauthor.com

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Old posts at: Coffee Cups & Camisoles

Friday, February 23, 2018

Girl-Pearls & Man-Tools?!

Hey peeps. Most of my readers know I am a history geek. But I'm also a Pinterest geek. I'll be sharing a few favorite pins of the week. The visual reminders can be scenes or things that give me story ideas, or help with brain-storming fiction. But often, they are just plain fun.

This week's pin is what I'm terming girl-pearls--the chatelaine. What's a chatelaine? It's the girl version of a man-tool!

Like the Swiss Army knife or Leatherman (not that girls can't use it!), the chatelaine was worn at the waist for easy access during work. This lady's picture is titled "the nurse's chatelaine"--she may have used the scissors to cut off old bandages, a pencil to make notes on the mini clipboard, some smelling salts to revive the faint, and finally a little pillbox to dispense medications when needed. This one is elaborate and makes me glad nurses have pockets in their scrubs now! When we were in Maine this summer, my husband and I had a blast window shopping the antique stores. I found another very elaborate chatelaine in the window:

The tag on this one says it's for sale for $1,295.00--so you know why I didn't get it!! It also says, it's sterling silver, and includes a thimble, thimble case, pin cushion, patch box, and stamp box. Very cool! These are examples of 19th century ones. They were often worn by the wealthy housekeeper, might have included keychains, and was somewhat a status symbol showing the matron of the home who held sway over her domaine.

If a married woman moved to the home of her husband, under the roof of her mother-in-law, her mother-in-law would remain the keeper of the keys. But if her mother-in-law became widowed, the keys were passed to the daughter-in-law because her son became the head of the household. I would attempt to explain the complexities of mother-in-law relationships here, but you can imagine! And if there were no women in the home, the housekeeper then would hold the keys of the house. And if this housekeeper was also secretly a mistress, you can imagine that conundrum! I find it very interesting that Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie in their book, America's First Daughter about Thomas Jefferson's daughter, have a scene depicting this interesting passing of power and keys from one woman to another (no spoilers!!).

So you see, a little Pinterest pin can spin my brain to lots of interesting story threads. What if the keys were lost, hidden, kept by the wrong woman? What might she kept locked away? What secrets did the keeper of the keys hold?

Readers:

Have you heard of Chatelaines before?

Where does this pin take you for a story idea?

Do you keep girl-tools hidden in your kitchen cupboards so no one else will pirate them when you need them? Ha! I do!