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Peeking into the Past

September 28, 2024 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as Alina K. Field, Historical Research, Quarter Days

One of the most enjoyable things about writing historical fiction is falling down the research rabbit hole.

Yes, I know authors of contemporary fiction have to do research also. Not disrespecting other writers. Just saying that historical research is, in my view, lots more interesting.

I especially like to read memoirs, and collections of letters. I have a couple of print books in my memoir collection, and more that I picked up from Google Books and Project Gutenberg. Though social norms and societal expectations might have changed, people’s wants and desires haven’t changed that much.

Another print book recently came into my collection, from my sister who was shuffling her collection of books for a cross-country move. It’s our grandmother’s geography text from her school days:

Old like Us

I’m up there in years, and as I was the second youngest of all the many grandchildren, this book is also old. In fact, it’s from the century before last. It was copyrighted in 1897, and that’s the year Grandma received it, inscribing it with her name and “her Book, Dec. 26, 1897.”

What I love is that, like a kid from my generation, the grandma who I knew as a very old, very proper octogenarian doodled and scribbled on the interior and exterior covers. In one place there are her initials in a pin-point design; in another, a penciled flower drawing; and a math problem when she maybe ran out of scrap paper.

And then there are these schoolgirl ditties from others:

Remember me early

Remember me late,

Remember me at

The Golden Gate

And this one:

Dear friend,

Love me little

Love me long

Love me when

I’m dead and gone

And:

These few lines are tendered

By a friend sincere and true

Hoping but to be remembered

By an honest friend like you

And this last:

Dear Sister

When on this page

you chance to look

remember it was

your sister that

wrote this in your book.

That one is rather poignant, because grandma’s sister died the following year.

A Budding School Teacher

Grandma was seventeen when she acquired this book, and she went on to become a country schoolteacher before marrying, having six children, and carrying out her share of the responsibilities of running the family farm–gardening, canning, cooking, cleaning, clothing everyone, etc. Her only water was pumped from a cistern, and she cooked on a wood stove. It makes me tired thinking about it!

Do you have any old treasures like this in your personal collection? Share in the comments, please!

Have a wonderful autumn, and I’ll see you at my next Quarter Days post.

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The High Road/The Low Road

June 28, 2024 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as A Wallflower's Midsummer Night's Caper, Loch Lomond, Outlander, Revenge of the Wallflowers, Scotland, The Jacobite Rebellion

The Bonny Shores of Loch Lomond

Welcome to another Quarter Days’ Post

I celebrated the summer solstice a few days early with the release of my latest novel, A Wallflower’s Midsummer Night’s Caper, Book 15 in the multi-author Revenge of the Wallflowers series. More on that below, but first…

Midsummer in the far north

A visit to Scotland has been on my bucket list, and I was finally able to get there a few weeks ago. It’s a country of dramatic landscapes and many, many, many castles. Here’s one of the abandoned ones:

photo of Dunnottar Castle in Scotland — Dunnottar Castle

The rainy weather made for dramatic vistas and cloud formations.

A photo of the fairy pools on the Island of Skye in Scotland — The fairy pools of Skye

Outlander

Everywhere we went, folks asked if we’d watched the series, Outlander, based on the books by Diana Gabaldon.

While Outlander has been a definite boon to their tourist industry, it seemed to me that many of the people we talked to really do treasure their proud, defiant past. They’ve moved on from tragedies but they haven’t entirely forgotten them.

The Culloden battlefield museum commemorates the Highlanders’ defeat by the British in 1746. What followed that battle was an attempt by the victors to destroy the Highland way of life.

Concerned about another rebellion by Highlanders, the British banned Highland dress and bagpipes. It would be years before author Walter Scott popularized Highland life again in his novel Waverley.

The High Road/The Low Road

By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond,
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond.

Chorus:
O ye’ll tak’ the high road, and I’ll tak’ the low road,
And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye,
But me and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond.

A photo of Loch Lomond in Scotland — Loch Lomond

After Culloden, not all captured rebels faced execution. Some were allowed to return to Scotland to share descriptions of the terrible punishment meted out by the British. Those spared death took the “high road” up and down mountains, through the glens, across rivers, on the long and difficult journey from England. The others–those drawn and quartered–sped along home to Scotland over the “low road”, their spirits escorted by the fairies, sadly, unable to reunite in this world with their true loves.

On a Happier Note

I prefer my romantic stories to have happy endings, don’t you?

My latest release is a happily-ever-after story about a young lady spurned at her first ball by her brother’s friend.

As Midsummer Night’s magic unfolds and passions rise, will a repentant duke be well and truly punished, or will a vengeful wallflower be caught in her own game?

A Midsummer Night’s masquerade at her family’s country home presents the Honorable Nancy Lovelace with the perfect opportunity for revenge against the man who ruined her first London season—a man she’s known since childhood, a man she’d once thought she loved. With the help of her crew of younger relatives, she’ll give him his comeuppance.

Thanks to his bad behavior, Simon Crayding is now known to society as the Swilling Duke. When an old school chum invites him for a Midsummer Night’s party, he jumps at the chance to lick his wounds among friends and apologize to his friend’s sister, Nancy, because apparently, he’s done something to hurt her, he just doesn’t remember what.

It soon becomes clear that Nancy will not easily forgive. Never one to resist a challenge—or a beautiful lady—Simon vows to persevere. As the night unfolds and passions rise, will Simon be well and truly punished, or will Nancy be caught in her own game?

Available wide in eBook and in print at Amazon. Find your favorite bookstore here: https://books2read.com/aWallflowersMidsummerNightCaper

I hope you enjoyed the Loch Lomond story. I had no idea before what the high road/low road of the song signified. Happy summer, and I’ll be back in September with another Quarter Days’ post.

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Astronomical Events and Romance?

March 28, 2024 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as astronomical events, romance fiction

Mr. Moon meets Mrs. Sun—or is it the other way around?

There’s a big solar eclipse coming on April 8^th! It’s predicted to be a spectacular one, witnessed by over 32 million people.

We know that the paths of the moon and the sun will line up. The moon will block the sun and cast the earth into darkness, while “deep pink geysers of nuclear fire shoot from the Sun’s edge” as described in the link I just mentioned.

That amazing ring of fire!

A total solar eclipse is such a startling event that before the science of astronomy developed, humans came up with different ways to explain the sudden darkness.

Some cultures evoked gods, demons, dragons, and other mythological creatures to cope, while others explained the eclipse in terms of a romantic union between the moon with the sun. Check out some of the mythology in this post from Almanac.com.

The right place at the right time

Eclipses aren’t often visible where I live, due to either wrong geography or a lack of a clear sky. (Fog? Smog? Who knows?) The sky darkened noticeably during last October’s eclipse, but there was so much cloud cover, I couldn’t view what was only a partial eclipse in our area.

However, on April 8^th this year, I’ll be on an airplane flying home above the cloud cover from a most romantic event, a family member’s wedding in New York City.

Maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to witness something through the airplane window, or while I wait for my connecting flight. I’d better shop for some eclipse shades!

Year of the Comet

Comets are another astronomical novelty.

I don’t know of any romance relationships ascribed to comets, but there seems to have been a spectacular relationship between the comet of 1811 and the grapes–and wine–produced that year.

Vin de Comète (comet wine) is the name given to the 1811 vintage of wine. (There’s a 1992 movie about a chase across Europe for a bottle of Vin de Comète with Napoleon’s seal.)

One sparkling wine made during this era was made famous by a courageous and innovative French woman vintner, the Veuve (French for widow) Clicquot.

Astronomical, or perhaps Gastronomical Inspiration

The Veuve Clicquot, and the fabulous champagne she made helped inspire a story I wrote last year. The Veuve herself doesn’t appear until the epilogue, but it’s her demand that spurs the hero’s quest, and she also sends him home to England with a precious and very valuable case of Vin de Comète.

Under the Champagne Moon first appeared in the October 2023 Bluestocking Belles collection, Under the Harvest Moon, and tells the story of a young Frenchwoman and the ex-soldier who’s looking for her.

I’m happy to announce that it will be available in its own edition on April 16^th! Here’s the beautiful new cover and a bit about the book. Buy link to follow, but you can find out more at my website, https://alinakfield.com/book/under-the-champagne-moon/.

Orphaned by the French Revolution and rescued by a British family, Fleur Hardouin didn’t—or wouldn’t—speak, until the jolly young Gareth Ardleigh crossed her path one summer and saved her from bullies.

Fifteen years later, Fleur and the beloved lady she serves return to Cheshire. Determined to rescue them both through an advantageous marriage, Fleur tries to brush off the attention she receives from Captain Gareth Ardleigh, who’s home from the wars and as handsome as ever. Her heart longs for him, but her head knows he can’t provide the security she needs.

Gareth’s excuse for visiting Cheshire is to deliver the personal effects of his best friend who perished at Quatre Bras. But his real purpose is finding the little French girl he met years ago, for marriage—not to him, but to the Frenchman who helped save his life.

Astonished to find that Fleur has grown into a beautiful—and still intriguing—young woman, it soon becomes clear, he must choose between honoring a promise or trying to win the hand of the woman he loves.

Except for the cover, all images are courtesy of Depositphotos.com.

Happy spring, everyone! I’ll be back in June with another Quarter Days post!

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How is your Yuletide shaping up?

This autumn I managed two extraordinary (for me) writing accomplishments:

1. Some butt-in-the-chair speedy writing for a last-minute holiday collection of stories put together during a time when I was attending two different week-long writing events, and

2. Writing short (8000 words). Which of course, helped me meet the deadline. Ideas for developing secondary characters came to me later. When the rights revert to me in a few months, I just might work in some changes.

Christmastide Kisses

My story, Twelfth Night Treasure is set among some longer novellas. The tales in this collection put together by four of us Bluestocking Belles plus author friends Ruth A. Casie and Aileen Fish will help brighten your holidays:

A beleaguered uncle whose wards have run off every governess–what he needs is a wife, if only he can persuade the latest applicant
A country solicitor who becomes an earl and then finds a secret that changes everything
A very proper clergyman who battles very improper urges when he and a lady with a murky past find themselves snowbound
A viscount whose search to unearth generations-old family secrets kindles the fire of love for his lovely search partner
A former army captain who wonders if the best friend of his ex-fiancee is the woman he should have married
A vicar with a misspent youth and the duke’s daughter who brings out the best in him

Six gentlemen and the ladies with whom they discover the power of a Christmastide Kiss.

A Villainous Vicar Reforms

The hero of my story is a clergyman who happened to be something of a villain in the my 2022 Christmas story, Flowers for His Lady. He had a whole year to reform since he almost ruined his sister’s chance at happiness last year. I’ve done my best to redeem him. If you read the story, let me know if you think I succeeded!

Happy Rest of the Holidays!

Besides taking time for holiday reading, be sure to grab a kiss under the mistletoe if you can!

I’ll be back in March for another Quarter Days Post.

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9 Authors, 9 Interconnected Stories

September 28, 2023 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field, Writing tagged as Alina K. Field, Bluestocking Belles, Quarter Days, Regency romance, Romance Collections

Under the Harvest Moon

We’re less than two weeks away from the release of the latest Bluestocking Belles collection of historical romances, Under the Harvest Moon.

All new original stories by authors Caroline Warfield, Jude Knight, Sherry Ewing, Cerise DeLand, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, Collette Cameron, Mary Lancaster, Rue Allyn, and me are set at harvest time in 1815, in the small fictional town of Reabridge in Cheshire, England.

Here’s the blurb:

As the village of Reabridge in Cheshire prepares for the first Harvest Festival following Waterloo, families are overjoyed to welcome back their loved ones from the war.

But excitement quickly turns to mystery when mere weeks before the festival, an orphaned child turns up in the town—a toddler born near Toulouse to an English mother who left clues that tie her to Reabridge.

With two prominent families feuding for generations and the central event of the Harvest Moon festival looming, tensions rise, and secrets begin to surface.

Nine award winning and bestselling authors have combined their talents to create this engaging and enchanting collection of interrelated tales. Under the Harvest Moon promises an unforgettable read for fans of Regency romance.

A Team Effort in Planning

The members of the Bluestocking Belles plus participating author friends Collette Cameron and Mary Lancaster are spread out all over the globe. Thank heavens for the wonders of social media, messaging, Google Drive, and Zoom that make communication and collaboration rapid and easy. Or at least easier!

The hardest aspect of organizing was finding a good time for a Zoom meeting that would accommodate Elizabeth in Australia, Jude in New Zealand, Mary in Scotland, Rue in Nicaragua, and the rest of us scattered over U.S. Eastern, Central, and Pacific time.

But we did it, and just about a year ago, after much preliminary research and chatting, we finalized our story world and deadlines as a group and then each presented ideas for the individual characters and stories. Later, we shared in beta-reading drafts and final copy before submission to Jude Knight (who is also an editor) for the final editing.

When a character wandered into another author’s story, the creating authors chatted separately. So, for example, my heroine, Fleur, encountered the heroine of Rue’s story, Charite, and offered a description through Fleur’s point of view that had to be adjusted after Rue’s critique and input. Caro’s doctor hero appears briefly in my story, in one scene with my hero, and later in a scene at the home where my heroine resides where he’s come to deliver a baby.

There’s more, yet each story is a standalone romance delivered in each author’s unique voice. You can preorder your copy for only 99 cents and have it pop onto your eReader on release day, October 10th.

The special pricing will be good through October 17th. Plus, if you haven’t read last year’s Bluestocking Belles collection, Desperate Daughters, you can pick up a copy of that for only 99 cents through October 4th!

And Here Are the Stories: Under the Harvest Moon

Moonlight Wishes and Midnight Kisses by Collette Cameron
A scarred veteran with no future, Courtland Marlow-Westbrook wants to be left alone. Scottish heiress Avery Levingtone never stopped loving him and is determined to win his love again. Will these former sweethearts find happiness together, or will the wounds of the past keep them apart?

The Morning Light by Caroline Warfield

Adam Wagner is meant to save lives, not take them. He is haunted by Waterloo. The horror of it keeps him from those he loves. Meg Barlow doesn’t understand how Adam could turn his back on her so thoroughly, but she isn’t about to let him get away with it.

A Harvest Blessing by Rue Allen
All the battles are over, or are they? When Captain Thom Owen is forced into a false engagement, he must escort his pseudo-fiancée home to meet his father. Can an English vicar’s son and a French Comte’s daughter find love despite their differences?

Coming Home by Mary Lancaster

Old memories, new love
Home from Waterloo, Captain David Buckley contemplates settling down near his hometown of Reabridge—only it is full of painful memories. The mysterious Lady Lorna falls literally into his arms, and he begin to understand the true meaning of love and home.

Under the Champagne Moon by Alina K Field

Fleur Hardouin’s heart longs for Captain Gareth Ardleigh, but she needs an advantageous marriage.
Gareth has promised to find Fleur—on behalf of another man.
Now he must choose between honoring a promise and trying to win the hand of the woman he loves.

A Quiet Heart by Elizabeth Ellen Carter

Widowed at Waterloo, where she also nursed the wounded, Veronica Petersham promised a dying man to bring his effects to a family in Reabridge. She falls ill just short of her goal, in the milking shed of kind and stoic Martin Bromelton.
Perhaps there is hope for the future after all and the opportunity to find love once more.

A Love Beyond Time by Sherry Ewing
Eight years ago, Hannah Pownall had her heart broken by a young lord.
Captain Brandon Worthington returns to the town of Reabridge to recover from the war and finds the girl he once loved still unwed. Can love at first sight be reborn after heartbreak, proving a second chance is all you need?

The Widow’s Harvest Hope by Cerise DeLand

The new Earl Barlow returns home from Waterloo, intending to live by his own rules. The woman he loved and lost years ago visits for the Harvest festival—and he plans to offer Vicky Wright what they both want. Can a lady who has lived by the rules throw them all away to seize her last chance for happiness?

Love In Its Season by Jude Knight

The Battle of Waterloo lost Jack Wrath the use of one arm and ended his career in the cavalry. He has no place to go and nothing to offer. Gwen Hughes has a business to run and no time for romance. Under the harvest moon, two people who believe romance has passed them by finally reach their season for love.