A Thank You to Those Who Served

 Post by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

November is a month when I ponder and consider all the reasons I am thankful for. Thanksgiving is by far my favorite Holiday. November also has Veteran's Day. While we usually remember our servicemen and women, I want to take the time to honor all those who have served over the years, especially women, in service to their country and causes.

Image (C) Doris McCraw

From Deborah Sampson and Sybil Luddington in the Revolutionary War, Dr. Mary Walker in the Civil War, and Dr. Rose Kidd Beere in the Spanish-American War to those who served as nurses, doctors, and combatants in recent conflicts.

Women have always served their countries, not just in the United States. From the Viking Warrior to the women warriors of the Indigenous People, we honor their commitment.

Esther Walker - Veteran of the Civil War
Image (C) Doris McCraw

So, as we prepare to end the year, take some time to thank those who have served, both men and women and remember their sacrifice. We are their beneficiaries.

Until Nest Time

Doris McCraw

My Thanksgiving Blessings by Jan Scarbrough

Needing to come up with this month’s blog, I looked through my files and found a blog from ten years ago. My life has changed so much, but I remain thankful for the same things.

 

2014: It’s popular to give thanks this time of year. I’m thankful for the basics—God, country, and my health. I’m especially happy for family—a husband who’s put up with me for almost fifteen married years. I give thanks for two wonderful children and two wonderful stepchildren, who have given us a total of NINE grandchildren, all boys except for one beautiful princess.

 

2024: My health has gone through its ups and downs over the years. I’ve survived two cancer treatments and am in remission. I’ve been hospitalized for other ailments and am now doing fine. Sadly, my husband of twenty-four years died in June. But I give thanks for Bill, his life, and his love. He’s with God now. And as for grandchildren: TEN, all boys except for one beautiful princess who is a freshman in college.

 

Ten years ago, I gave thanks for my pets, now two dogs and two cats, all rescues. Have you ever had a coonhound tree a raccoon in your back yard? I’m also thankful I can still ride beautiful American Saddlebred horses. My main ride is a mare named Maggie. I take a lesson on her once a week.

 

Being able to write romance novels makes me thankful. Plus, I’m grateful for all my writing buddies! They keep me grounded and connected. And as I said in 2014, I’m thankful for my readers—those who spend money on my books and/or review my books and sign up for my newsletter (www.janscarbrough.com).

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm taking a break from blogging this month, but I wanted to pop in and wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. 

Sarah Josepha Hale & the Thanksgiving Holiday (Repost from 2020) ~ Julie Lence

courtesy NNDB 

 Sarah Josepha Buell was born October 24, 1788 in Newport, New Hampshire to parents who believed in education for males and females. Her growing up years she received an extensive education and married lawyer, David Hale. The couple had 5 children, but sadly, David died during their 9^th year of marriage, leaving Sarah to raise their children. To earn an income, Sarah began writing poetry, and penned the famous, Mary Had a Little Lamb. She teamed with Reverend John Laurie Blake and helped establish American Ladies Magazine, taking on the position of editor. She moved to Boston and remained there until 1837, often using the magazine to promote women’s issues such as education, child rearing, and reinforcing a woman’s domestic role. She didn’t support the suffragist movement or women entering politics because she believed both would limit a woman’s influence in the home, that women shaped the morals of society and encouraged them to write morally uplifting novels.

 

courtesy NHPR.org

Louis A. Godey bought out America Ladies Magazine in 1837 and changed the name to Godey’s Ladies Book. He offered Sarah the editor position. She accepted and moved to Philadelphia, where she remained editor for 40 years. During that time, she championed civil rights, secured funds to preserve George Washington’s home and to construct the Bunker Hill Monument, both of which are still open today, and helped found Vassar College for women.   

 

courtesy Wikipedia

Throughout her childhood, Sarah celebrated Thanksgiving. She published Northwood: A Tale of New England in 1827, which included a chapter on the Thanksgiving celebration. Many areas in the northeast part of the country celebrated Thanksgiving, but at the time she was editor for Godey’s, Thanksgiving was not a federal holiday. Hoping to rectify that, she began lobbying state and federal officials to pass legislation to make Thanksgiving a national holiday, going so far as to set the holiday on the last Thursday in November. Her requests were mostly ignored, nor was she the first to suggest such a day of thanks. George Washington called for a national day of thanks after the Revolutionary war, and both John Adams and James Madison issued their own proclamations. Nothing was ever done until the Civil War.

 

courtesy wsj.com

Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, issued Thanksgiving Day proclamations in 1861 and 1862. Abraham Lincoln called for a day of thanks in April 1862 and the summer of 1863s, and Sarah continued to lobby for a national holiday by sending letters in September to Lincoln and William Seward, who was Secretary of State. She firmly believed a national holiday might ease the tensions between the north and the south and finally realized her hard efforts when, one week after receiving her letter, Seward drafted Lincoln’s official proclamation making the last Thursday in November an official day of Thanksgiving. 

 

A true pioneer for women, Sarah retired from Godey’s 1877. She died two years later in her Philadelphia home at the age of 92. She’s buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery and a blue historical marker resides at her home on Spruce Street.  

11th Annual Cowboys & Christmas Celebration

 

It's that time of year!

The 11th annual Cowboys & Christmas Celebration to raise funds and awareness for the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund is coming next week on November 14!

The JCCF is a non-profit organization that assists rodeo athletes who’ve sustained catastrophic injuries and are unable to work for an extended period.

Back in 2013, I was researching details for The Christmas Cowboy, the first book in the Rodeo Romance series. I wanted to know how much medical care an injured cowboy would receive at a rodeo versus going to the hospital.

In the story, the hero is a saddle bronc rider named Tate who sustains an injury at a rodeo. In an attempt to get my facts straight for the story, I reached out to the Justin Sportsmedicine Team®. Through mobile medical centers, they provide care at more than 125 PRCA rodeos annually. Their responses to my questions were extremely helpful and I was so impressed with them, I wanted to do a little something in return.

So I launched a campaign to donate a portion of my book sales to the JCCF during the month of December.

In 2015, I added the month of November to my promotion, giving two months to raise funds for JCCF. Then I extended the promotion period for my Read a Book, Help a Cowboy campaign to October 1!

If you enjoy rodeos and the cowboys who make them possible (or reading about them in books), I hope you’ll take a look at the JCCF. It’s a great organization that really does make a difference when these cowboys are injured.

And I hope you’ll take a look at my books, too!

Now through Christmas Eve, I donate 10 percent of my net profit from every book purchased (digital, paperback, hardback, and audio!) to the JCCF. 

Come join us for a day of fun, games, giveaways, guest authors, books, and cowboys on November 14! Hope to see you there!

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield grew up on a farm where her childhood brimmed with sunshine, hay fever, and an ongoing supply of learning experiences.

Shanna creates character-driven romances with realistic heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”

When this award-winning author isn’t writing or testing out new recipes (she loves to bake!), Shanna hangs out at home in the Pacific Northwest with her beloved husband, better known as Captain Cavedweller.

Medicine in the 1800’s

By Kristy McCaffrey 

Doctors who practiced in the 19^th century were generally followers of Benjamin Rush. He was a well-known physician in the 18^th century who graduated from what would later become Princeton University at age 14. A brilliant and devoted practitioner who cared deeply for his patients, he nevertheless championed the principle of extreme purging and bloodletting. He believed all diseases were due to a morbid excitement induced by capillary tension, and the counteraction of treatment and outcome became termed as “allopathic” (cure by opposites). A smaller group of doctors were known as homeopaths and eclectics, but they were far fewer in number.

Benjamin Rush

 

In the 19th century physicians were generally held in low esteem, but between 1890 and 1910 there were impressive scientific advances. They included practical methods to measure blood pressure and temperature, standardized eye tests, electrocardiograms and x-rays, chemical and bacteriological tests, diphtheria antitoxin, vaccines for rabies and typhoid, the Wasserman test (a test for syphilis antibodies), and the drug Salvarsan (also known as compound 606) for the treatment of syphilis. These developments greatly advanced the practice of medicine along with the standing of physicians, which reached its peak in the 1920s.

The American Medical Association (AMA) was established in Philadelphia in 1847 in response to widespread medical quackery, the unregulation of medical schools, and the unreliability of medical journals. The AMA reached its power between the periods of 1890 to 1920. It had a Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry, which regulated the pharmaceutical industry. It had a section for New and Official Remedies. The AMA also changed the focus of advertising. Earlier, companies advertised directly to the public. The AMA was able to stamp that out, allowing only advertising directly to physicians. The Council on Medical Education had the force of law, and the state licensing boards followed what the AMA wanted. The result was steadily rising standards.

Pre-Order THE SWAN

Amazon | Apple Books | Nook | Google Play

(it will also be available at Kobo and in paperback on release day)

Oklahoma Territory
November 1899 

Dr. Anna Ryan has been spurned by the Dallas medical community for the simple reason of being a woman. Wanting more than a rural practice alongside her mother, also a doctor, Anna accepts an invitation from a mentor to join a private hospital for disabled children in Oklahoma City. But when she falls in with a band of women attempting to liberate a town of innocents, she’ll need more than her medical training to survive.

Malcolm Hardy has skirted the line between lawlessness and justice since escaping the mean streak of his father and his no-good half-siblings a decade ago. In Oklahoma Territory he created enough distance from his family name to find a quiet purpose to his days. But then Anna Ryan walks back into his life, and his hard-won peace is in jeopardy.

The last time Malcolm saw Anna, she had been a determined girl he couldn’t help but admire. Now she was a compelling woman who needed his help to find The Swan, a mysterious figure with a questionable reputation. But one thing was clear—Anna’s life path was on a trajectory for the remarkable while Malcolm’s was not. Surrendering to temptation would only end in heartbreak.

Anna is the eldest daughter of Logan and Claire from THE DOVE. 

The Wings of the West Series Reading Order
Book One: The Wren
Book Two: The Dove
Book Three: The Sparrow
Book Four: The Blackbird
Book Five: The Bluebird
Book Six: The Songbird (Novella)
Book Seven: Echo of the Plains (Short Story)
Book Eight: The Starling
Book Nine: The Canary
Book Ten: The Nighthawk
Book Eleven: The Swan (Coming Soon)

 

Connect with Kristy

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The Making of an Anthology

 On October 25^th, I released my first Christmas novella as part of a five-author anthology. Christmas In The Cascades is a sweet romance collection with faith elements which tells the story of a single town over a one hundred and fifty year span.

The book takes the reader on a journey from the founding of the bell tower in 1874 to the near extinction of the town in 2024. The reader gets to stop along the way in 1910, 1967, and 1999.

If you are an avid reader, you have probably read various novella collections—maybe even holiday ones. But if you’ve never been involved in writing an anthology, I thought you might be interested to peek behind the scenes and learn a little about how the book came to be.

A couple of years ago, author Ginny Ytrupp hosted several author groups where she placed people in cohorts according to the genres they wrote. I was placed into a group with other romance authors. After meeting for several months two of the cohorts folded into one and Marissa Adams, April Kidwell, Marline Williams, Chris Daniel, and I found ourselves thrown together in a twice monthly meeting.

Our focus started simply as sharing our writing progress and goals, but before long, one of the authors, Chris Daniel, expressed a desire to write something together. We all knew of others who had done Christmas projects and everyone agreed it would be fun to try.

One of the earliest conversations I remember having—because this was a couple of years ago—was whether our book would have a theme. Would each of our novellas stand alone or be connected by some thread? We all liked the idea of a theme and some of the front runners included a family, music, or a Christmas object such as an ornament or gift that could be passed around through each story.

Once we made it to that point, it dawned on us that we all wrote in different eras and in order to write a book together we would need to choose one. It was a problematic thought because as much as possible we wanted to write for our already established readers, bringing them to the project as potential customers.

 The solution was a breath away. As each author shared their preferred time period, we realized that together we could cover a large span of time. What could survive a hundred and fifty year period, though? A family? Yes. An heirloom? Possibly. A town? Bingo.

As a western author it was important to me to locate our story west of the Mississippi and I sure was hoping for a ranch! Thank goodness everyone was on board with a western-ish vibe. One of our authors hailed from Oregon, and it seemed as likely a place as any for our setting. After poring over the map, our small fictional town of Dane’s Creek was born.

One person wanted mountains, another wanted a train station, there had to be a stream for gold panning, and we all thought our beloved town should have a bell tower. We decided the bell would represent hope—just one of the many beautiful Christmas themes we loved.

To keep track of all our ideas we started a Trello board. A depository of sorts for inspirational photos, character names, and the seedlings of our plots. We researched birds, filberts, the effects of the spotted owl protections on the timber industry, and modern day ranches in Oregon.

As our town began to take shape, one author mapped it out for us, and another took a field trip to a couple of real life bell towers to get a better understanding of how the bells worked.

After coordinating the placement of doors, staircases, uses of the attached building, and accounting for multiple changes to the tower over the years, we were ready to write. Our goal was for each person to write 25,000 words and be done by the end of December 2023. We came in mostly on time, lol. Some took longer and some exceeded their word limit (We shalt not name any names-grimace) but the project continued to roll on steadily.

A detailed timeline was needed to allow for time to read each other’s finished work, put the full collection through a team of beta readers, pay for editors, make revisions, hand it over to the proofreaders, and finally to pass it to the ARC readers and the book launch team.

Chris birthed the idea and encouraged us every step of the way. April created the collection cover and many of the individual covers. I formatted the book and communicated with betas and ARCs. Marline created a free cookbook download with recipes from our stories. She also booked a couple of podcasts, and she and April created a website - christmasinthecascades.com. Marissa agreed to house the book on her Amazon account as well as order author copies and distribute our earnings.

Overall, the experience of creating a book with a team of like-minded authors has been a rich and rewarding experience. Teamwork is not without difficulties and occasional disputes, but I don’t mind telling you we feel very proud of our accomplishment.

Several authors chose lines from Christmas carols as their titles. I tried to stick with that theme but couldn’t find anything that fit quite as well for me as the title I ended up choosing which was Finding Home.

Christmas In The Cascades is finally out in the world and while we’re not sure how it will be received, I hear whispers of a possible repeat. Might there be a sequel sometimes in the future? Time will tell.

Order your copy of this unique holiday romance anthology on Amazon. It is available in eBook, paperback and is on KU.  

Christmas In The Cascades

Hope you enjoy the stories.

Merry Christmas!

Cali Black