Meanwhile, Back in Frontier Seattle

I have been fascinated by the Mercer Belles since I was a girl. I’ve written about them before. I even started an 8-book series about some of their fictional members coming to frontier Seattle and finding their happily-ever-afters. But the second book in the series introduced the Wallins, a family of five brothers and their sister, and they quickly took over the series.

Now the publisher, Love Inspired, has brought their story to life again, in a print and ebook duet with Texas Cinderella by the bestselling Winnie Griggs.

Wanted: the perfect partner

Texas Cinderella by Winnie Griggs

After life on her family's farm, Cassie Lynn Vickers relishes her freedom working in town. Until her father suddenly demands she come home. Her only option? Convince handsome newcomer Riley Walker to marry her. Riley is on the run to keep his niece and nephew safe from his crooked half brother. But a delay in Turnabout, Texas, shows him everything he didn't know he was missing: home, family—and Cassie Lynn.

Would-Be Wilderness Wife by Regina Scott

Drew Wallin's brother is determined to see him married—so he kidnaps Drew a prospective bride. Not only is Catherine Stanway beautiful, but she's a nurse who can help their ailing mother. Catherine has traveled West to use her skills to save lives, not to find a husband. If she gives in to Drew's matchmaking family, she'll be risking her already bruised heart. But maybe it's time she takes the ultimate risk!

You can find the duet at fine online retailers and booksellers near you. There was one other character associated with the Wallins that readers have been begging to receive a happily-ever-after. Keep an eye on this space for the publication of Scout Rankin’s story, coming April 18.

Amazon 

Barnes and Noble 

Apple Books 

Kobo 

An independent bookseller near you 

The Book Depository, free shipping worldwide 

Booksellers, Then and Now?

Admit it—you walk into a bookshop and time stands still. I can spend hours that feel like minutes wandering the stacks, finding treasures I never knew existed. The History of England by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens (a book I’ll discuss at a later date), The Lore of Ships, and The American Country House. If you are truly fortunate, you may meet a bookseller who understands your tastes and your reading history and so can recommend your next great read. But in nineteenth century England, booksellers might have a different job indeed.

Take this passage from A Book of English Trades: Being a Library of the Useful Arts, originally published in three volumes between 1804 and 1805:

“The Bookseller of the present day is a person of considerable importance in the republic of letters, more especially if he combines those particular branches of the trade denominated Proprietor and Publisher: for it is to such men our men of genius take their productions for sale: and the success of works of genius very frequently depends upon their spirit, probity, and patronage.”

[Stops for a moment. Basks in the thought of being a creator of “works of genius.”]

Now, the writer knew whereof he spoke. His book was printed for Tabart and Co., of 157 New Bond Street, London, and sold among the school and juvenile books. Without Tabart’s patronage, the book might never have reached a reading public. And I admit that I find it interesting that a book to help children know whether they wanted to be such things as a brick-maker or a cooper would sell so well (it was in its 7^th printing by 1818) on a street reported to cater to the aristocracy.

The description about being a bookseller goes on to talk about how the trade also sees to the creation of encyclopedias.

“These bulky and valuable volumes . . . would never have made their appearance had not a Bookseller, or a combination of Booksellers, entered upon the speculation of employing men of science and learning in the various departments of these works and embarking large capitals in the undertaking.”

I am intrigued as to how these booksellers a) identified the men of science and learning, and b) convinced them to write for the encyclopedia.

[Stops for a moment, creative wheels turning, as she considers the matter.]

Today, of course, actual stores selling books are harder to find in America, and none that I know of commission the creation of encyclopedias. On the other hand, we have online a wealth of ways to purchase and develop books.

For example, Google Plus has an option to rent a book for a short time. In fact, three of my Love Inspired Historicals, Would-Be Wilderness Wife, Frontier Engagement, and Instant Frontier Family, are on sale through February 2, 2017, for only 99 cents each for a 24-hour period. 

How fast can you read? J

Congratulations--Great Books!

As some of you know, this past week is the time when many a romance author sits sweating at her computer, trying not to pick up her phone every few minutes to see if anyone called. That’s right, this is the week when the Rita^TM finalists are announced.

The Rita awards are akin to the Academy Awards for the romance writer’s world. Either an author or her publisher enters the book initially into the contest, where it is judged for its ability to beguile. Romance as a central theme and a satisfying ending are a must. Those books that score highest become finalists and undergo a second round of reviews before one is awarded the coveted prize at a red carpet ceremony at the Romance Writers of America® annual conference in July.

While there are a number of categories (and I congratulate all the finalists!), here are the novels most likely to be of interest to those who love the nineteenth century. One warning—I did not check level of sensuality, so some of these may be HOT:

A Noble Masquerade, Kristi Ann Hunter

Bella and the Beast, Olivia Drake

Earls Just Want to Have Fun, Shana Galen

Falling into Bed with a Duke, Lorraine Heath

If the Viscount Falls, Sabrina Jeffreys

It Started with a Scandal, Julie Anne Long

Say Yes to the Marquess, Tessa Dare

Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress, Theresa Romain

The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy, Julia Quinn

Tiffany Girl, Deeanne Gist

Tremaine’s True Love, Grace Burrowes

While none of my books was a finalist (sob!), I am absolutely thrilled to report that Would-Be Wilderness Wife won a prize of its own. RT Book Reviews, the premiere review magazine for the fiction industry, bestowed upon it the Reviewers Choice Award for best book of its kind for 2015. What an honor!

Aren’t we fortunate there are so many wonderful books to read?

Could You Have Been a Mercer Belle?

We’ve talked a bit about how back at the end of the Civil War, an enterprising young man named Asa Mercer decided to bring widows and orphans from the East Coast to marry lonely bachelors on the West Coast. The heroines of my Frontier Bachelors series have so far all been fictional members of Mercer’s party. They left everything—family, friends, vocations—to travel around the continent to pioneer Seattle. One of the questions readers often ask me is whether I would have been willing to be a Mercer Belle.

The answer took some thought. Could I have been as brave and bold as those ladies?

Widow Allegra Howard, heroine of The Bride Ship, boarded the Continental to sail with Mercer because she was fleeing oppression. In her case, it was in-laws determined to run her life down to the last moment, including telling her how her daughter should be raised. Many of the real-life Mercer Belles were fleeing economic oppression. During the war, they had worked in factories and mills, bringing much-needed income to their families. But the returning soldiers would take their places, leaving them out of work. They hoped to find opportunities on the frontier.

Catherine Stanway, heroine of Would-Be Wilderness Wife, came to Seattle hoping to start anew. Her father and brother were killed in the war, leaving her alone in the world. The real-life Mercer Belles had also seen loved ones—sweethearts, fathers, brothers—die, and the men who returned in some cases came back hollow shells with no interest in marrying. They hoped for a brighter future in the West.

Rina Fosgrave, heroine of Frontier Engagement, came to Seattle to become her own person. Raised by charlatans who made her believe she was someone special, she wanted to contribute something to society. The real-life Mercer Belles also felt strongly about giving back. Many saw it as their mission to be a civilizing force on the new frontier.

Maddie O’Rourke, heroine of January’s Instant Frontier Family, wanted more than what she had. An Irish lass with a skill for baking, she’d served as a laundress in New York, lugging heavy loads up and down three flights of stairs and laboring in the heat and harsh chemicals. She dreamed of a nice house rather than a tenement, leisure time with her family instead of endless, back-breaking work. The real-life Mercer Belles also looked beyond what was expected of them. Asa Mercer may have accepted bride money from a number of men, but that didn’t mean the ladies had to marry them! They went on to be lighthouse keepers, teachers, and yes, wives and mothers of the next generation in the Northwest.

I like to think I look for opportunities to make the most of my skills, that I see the possibilities in the future, that I give back to society, and that I’m willing to work for what I want. Maybe that makes me good material for a Mercer Belle.

What about you? 

Food for the Heart

We hear a lot about heart-healthy recipes, but sometimes what we need is sustenance that feeds our inner being. With Thanksgiving coming, Marissa and I wanted to share a recipe for you to enjoy. Normally, I look for nineteenth century recipes, but this year, I decided to share a family recipe for a dessert that would have been around in the nineteenth century, on both sides of the pond.

My mother makes the best apple pie, hands down. Her pie even won a ribbon years ago at what is now our state fair. The secret is the addition of lemon juice, I’m convinced. It’s a family favorite and never fails to win smiles of approval. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Ingredients

Pastry for 9” two-crust pie

1 to 2 tsp of lemon or pineapple juice

1 to 2 Tbsp flour, depending on the fruit’s juice

2/3 to ¾ cup of granulated sugar

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1 Tbsp butter, cut in small pieces

6 to 7 cups thinly sliced, pared, cored tart apples (Granny Smith were my father’s favorite)

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine juice with flour, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Line pie pan with one of the pastry crusts. Place half of the apples in the pie pan. Sprinkle with half of juice/sugar mixture. Top with remaining apples, heaping in center, then add the rest of the juice/sugar mixture. Dot with butter; top with remaining crust. Poke holes through crust to let steam escape. Bake 40 to 50 minutes.

Marissa and I will be off next week, celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends. As for me, I had news that gladdened my heart this week. Would-Be Wilderness Wife has been nominated for a coveted Reviewers Choice Award from RT Book Reviews, the premiere review magazine for the romance industry. I’m hopeful that means the book touched a number of hearts. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Drew Wallin's Cabin Stands Today!

Like many authors, I scour the internet for period-correct pictures to use as writing aids.  They help me envision how my hero and heroine looked, what they wore, where they lived, and how they lived.  I had chosen a very special cabin as my inspiration for the home of Drew Wallin, my hero in March’s Would-Be Wilderness Wife.  I’d never seen one like it.  It was originally built by David Denny in the late 1800s in Seattle, so I knew it was not only fairly close to my time period but also perfect for the frontier Seattle that is the setting of my story. He built it originally as a real estate office to interest people in land, coincidentally land that the Wallins would have owned. It was later used as a school and another business, and a rumor circulated that Chief Sealth, for whom Seattle is named, built it.

Yes, it was a lovely cabin.  I was happy to write about Drew living there.  What I never expected was to find it.  Here.  Now.

I was driving my husband to Federal Way to meet up with a friend who was taking him to a workshop.  “We’ll pass a park,” I said, nose glued to the map on my smart phone, “and then you turn left.”  Glancing up, I saw we were passing a park.

A park with Drew’s cabin sitting on the grass.

I gasped.  I choked.  “Did you see that?” I demanded of my husband.  “That cabin!  That was Drew’s cabin!”

“What cabin?” my husband asked.  “Am I supposed to turn left somewhere?”

I got him safely to his friend’s, then turned the car around.  All the way back, I kept watch, and when the driveway opened up for the park, I pulled in.  There it was, just as I remembered it.  It had to be a replica, right?  I mean, two-story log cabins from the 1800s don’t generally survive in our world.  And it hadn’t been built in Federal Way, nearly 30 miles south of David Denny’s claim.  How could it have made the trip? 

Scrambling up to the cabin in the early morning light, I peered into the windows.  A sign proudly proclaimed it the restored David Denny cabin.

I was stunned.  I was delighted!  It was as if a little part of Drew and Catherine had found its way into my world.

And now yours.  If you ever get to West Hylebos Wetlands Park in Federal Way, Washington, you can see it for yourself.  The cabin has been lovingly restored by the Federal Way Historical Society.  Drew’s box bed is missing, alas, but you can imagine them sitting around the hearth, planning the next day’s adventure.  I certainly did!

Asa Mercer and Mea Culpa

No, those aren't the names of Hollywood’s latest It couple.  As I've written  before, Asa Mercer was the first president of the University of Washington, then the Washington Territorial University.  He figured large in the first book of my Frontier Bachelor series, The Bride Ship, as the real-life “Emigration Agent” who persuaded dozens of women to travel from the East Coast to civilize pioneer Seattle.  I tried to depict Mr. Mercer as a shrewd fellow who was focused on a goal:  bringing brides for bachelors.  I read any number of biographies on him.  And they all confirmed his claim to be the first president of the Territorial University. 

What they didn't mention was when he stopped being president.

Perhaps it was the dizzying delight of finally getting to write about the Mercer Belles, a dream I've had since I was a girl. Perhaps it was the many things I wanted to research in these, my first books set outside early nineteenth century England.  Either way, it never dawned on me that Mr. Mercer might have moved on in his profession before he made his fateful second voyage around which my stories are set.

This week, while trying to determine the school year at the Territorial University for a plot point in the fourth book, I delved more deeply into University of Washington history. It seems Mr. Mercer was only president from 1861 to 1863.  In 1866, when the first four stories are set, William Edward Barnard was president of the university for the first part of the year and George Fred Whitworth (who founded Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington) was president the second half of the year.

Oh, but I hate to get things wrong!  The mistake, unfortunately, affects three books. Mr. Mercer’s role as current president is mentioned not only in The Bride Ship, but in this month’s Would-Be Wilderness Wife and August’s Frontier Engagement.  My deepest apologies, dear readers.

And I must apologize to another.  You see, I am a graduate of the University of Washington.  Mea culpa, alma mater, mea culpa.

Hearing from a Hero: Drew Wallin from Would-Be Wilderness Wife

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something about a broad-shouldered man, ready to take on the world and protect those he loves.  That’s Drew Wallin from my March release, Would-Be Wilderness Wife.  Drew has a lot on his hands, logging the massive trees around Seattle, managing his family’s wilderness farm, and improving his own claim along the shores of Lake Union.  But Drew’s driving goal is to see all of his younger brothers and sisters safely grown. He’s definitely the strong, silent type, and it takes a lot to get a rise out of him.  That’s why I enlisted his second brother, the dapper, witty James Wallin, to interview him for us.

James Wallin:  Well, you’ve finally done it this time, brother.  Gone and kidnapped yourself a bride.

Drew Wallin:  I didn’t kidnap her.  I went to Seattle trying to find medical help for Ma, and Doc Maynard couldn’t leave town. I didn’t plan on taking his nurse.  I knew what the rest of you would think.

James:  Of course!  We took one look at Catherine’s pretty face and heard wedding bells.  Better you than the rest of us.  I just bless Levi for having the brains to grab her when you wouldn’t.

Drew:  I wouldn’t call that brains.  More like stupidity.  Just be glad Catherine agreed to stay until Ma was well.

James:  Oh, I am. Even if she is the bossy sort.

Drew:  You call it bossy, I call it organization.  She herded us all into line.  We needed it.

James:  Speak for yourself. 

Drew, groaning:  Not again.

James:  Ha!  Just like when Simon tricked you into reading that poem with Catherine in front of us all.  You were playing John Alden, and she was playing Priscilla Mullins, and she asked you to speak for yourself in courting her.

Drew, smile playing about his mouth:  She turned so red when she’d realized what she’d said. 

James: And you wore that loopy grin for hours.  Scared the daylights out of the oxen.  What I don’t understand is why you don’t take her up on the offer.  She’s smart, organized, and pretty.  What more do you want, man?

Drew, smile fading:  I have enough to do trying to raise you all to take on a wife, particularly one who doesn’t know her way around the wilderness.

James:  In case you hadn’t noticed, Simon, John, and I are grown.  We don’t exactly need your tender care.

Drew:  And Levi?  Beth?  Should I just run off and leave them to fend for themselves?

James:  You won’t be far.  I can spit and hit your cabin from the main house.  You know what I think?  (Lowers his voice)  I think you’re scared.

Drew:  Terrified.  So, leave be, brother.  Besides, I don’t need to marry to carry on Pa’s name.  There are four more of you to do that.

James, raising his hands:  Don’t look at me!  I don’t intend to marry, ever.  Life’s too short to spend it worrying about the people you love.

Hm, sounds like both Wallin men need to find the right bride to help them see the beauty of love.  What do you think?

Warming Up the Wilderness

Would-Be Wilderness Wife, the second in my Frontier Bachelors series set around pioneer Seattle, was just released, and I couldn't be happier with the reception.

RT Book Reviews gave it 4.5 stars and a Top Pick for March. “Plenty of drama and a mystery that will keep readers turning pages.”

But I was truly humbled by the 5 star reviews from the delightful Britt Reads Fiction and the amazing Huntress Reviews.  Said the latter:  "The character of Catherine is a strong one. No simpering miss here! She is intelligent, brave, and knows what she wants. She is also wise enough to know when to bow to another's expertise; such as when a large cougar appears and she does not know how to shoot. Drew's character is a perfect match for Catherine. Family is very important to him. This gentleman is brave, skilled, and has much honor. I cannot express how great this story is, nor can I recommend it highly enough. Absolutely wonderful!"  

I hope you’ll agree.  Here’s a little taste:

He carried himself as proudly as a knight from the tales of King Arthur her father had read to her as a child. His rough-cut light brown hair brushed the top of the door jamb, his shoulders in the wrinkled blue cotton shirt reached either side. He took a step into the room, and she was certain she felt the floor tremble.

Finding her voice, she raised her chin. “I can help you.”

He walked down the narrow room toward her, the thud of his worn leather boots like the sound of a hammer on the planks of the floor. The blue apothecary bottles lined up on the shelves behind the counter chimed against one another as he passed. He was like a warrior approaching his leader, a soldier his commanding officer. Mrs. Witherspoon, waiting on a chair for the doctor to reset her shoulder, clutched her arm close, wide eyed. Others stared at him or quickly looked away.

He stopped beside Catherine and lay his fingers on the curved back of the chair where the elderly Mr. Jenkins snoozed while he waited for his monthly dose of medicine. Scars crossed the skin of the massive hand, white against the bronze.

Up close, Catherine could see that his face was more heart-shaped than oval, his unkempt hair drawing down in a peak over his forehead. His liberally lashed eyes were a mixture of clear green and blue, like the waves that lapped the Puget Sound shores. The gold of his skin said he worked outdoors; the wear on this clothes said he made little income from it.

He was easily the most healthy male she’d ever seen, so why did he need medical assistance?

“Are you a doctor?” he asked. Everything from the way he cocked his head to the slow cadence of the question spoke of his doubt.

Her spine stiffened, lifting her blue skirts off the floor and bringing her head level with his breastbone. She was used to the surprise, the doubts about her vocation here in Seattle. Even where she’d been raised, a few had questioned that the prominent physician George Stanway had trained his daughter to be a nurse. More had wondered why their beloved doctor and his promising son had felt it necessary to get themselves killed serving in the Union Army. At times, Catherine wondered the same thing.

“I’m a nurse,” she told their visitor, keeping her voice calm, professional. “I was trained by my father, a practicing physician, and served for a year at the New England Hospital for Women and Children. I came West with the Mercer expedition. Doctor Maynard was sufficiently pleased with my credentials to hire me to assist him and his wife.”

“So you’re a Mercer belle.” He straightened, towering over her. “I didn't come looking for a bride. I need a doctor.”

A Mercer belle. That, she knew from the newspapers back East, was synonymous with husband hunter. Obviously her credentials as a medical practitioner meant nothing to him.

Well, he might not have come to the hospital seeking a bride, but she hadn't come to Seattle after a husband either. She’d already refused three offers of marriage since arriving two weeks ago. Her friend, Madeleine O’Rourke, had turned away six. Even her friend Allegra had had to argue with two would-be suitors before she’d wed her childhood sweetheart, Clay Howard, a successful local businessman, only two days after landing.

None of them had left the East Coast expecting such attentions. When Seattle’s self-proclaimed emigration agent, Asa Mercer, had recruited her and nearly seventy other women to settle in Washington Territory, he’d talked of the jobs that needed filling, the culture they could bring to the fledgling community. Already some of her traveling companions were teaching schools in far-flung settlements. Others had taken jobs they had never dreamed of back home, including tending a lighthouse. They were innovative and industrious, just as Catherine had hoped she’d be when she’d journeyed west.

“I’m not interested in marriage either, sir,” she told him. “And I assure you, I am perfectly suited to deal with medical emergencies. Now, what’s the trouble?”

~~~

Would-Be Wilderness Wife is available from fine retailers such as

Love Inspired Historical at Harlequin  

Amazon  

Barnes and Noble  

Kobo  

iBooks

An independent bookstore near you   

The Book Depository (free shipping worldwide)  

Move Over Ackermann’s: Godey’s Lady’s Magazine Has It Going On

Marissa’s collection of fashion plates from Ackermann’s Repository, La Belle Assemblée, and Phillips’ Fashion are enough to make any history-loving lady swoon.  But as my stories moved from early nineteenth century England to mid-nineteenth century America, I discovered another publication that was the go-to magazine for the fashion-conscious young lady:  Godey’s Lady’s Book.

Godey’s was the brainchild of Louis A. Godey, who saw the growing need for a magazine tailored specifically to the lady of the house.  He hired a female editor, Sarah J. Hale, herself an author (often remembered for writing “Mary Had a Little Lamb”), who also ensured the rest of the staff was predominantly female.  In fact, Godey boasted at having a corps of 150 female colorers who hand-tinted the fashion plates that started every issue.

Godey’s started out by carrying articles from British women’s magazines.  In fact, the magazine had its own reporter simply to chronicle royal activities across the Pond.  Though Sarah Hale (the young woman on the left) was purportedly a huge fan of Queen Victoria, she wanted more of an American angle for the magazine.  She was also a staunch supporter of women’s rights, believing that women must be redeemed from their inferior position and placed as an equal help-mate to man in every way. 

She therefore commissioned articles, essays, stories, and poetry from American writers including Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frances Hodgson Burnett.  Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edgar Allen Poe, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow also contributed.  Articles covered health and science, crafts, dancing, horseback riding, home decorating, hairstyles and fashion, and recipes.  Every issue included two pages of new sheet music for the pianoforte.  And women paid for the privilege of reading it.  Subscriptions ran at three dollars a year when other popular magazines of the time were only two dollars. 

Despite its broad coverage, Godey’s steered clear of politics.  The Civil War was never mentioned in its pages.  One source I consulted claimed that readership was cut by a third from its high of 150,000 subscribers during the war, implying that it was because of Godey’s non-political stance.  I’m more inclined to believe that the magazine’s subscriptions fell during that time because women were counting pennies as husbands and fathers went off to war.  Regardless, Godey’s popularity led it to become a major force in America.  The magazine is credited with popularizing a white wedding in America (after Victoria did so in England), the use of a Christmas tree to crown that celebration, and the creation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Godey and Hale died within 5 months of each other (Godey in 1878 and Hale 1879).  The magazine continued on until 1898 when the next owner passed away.

But the literary legacy of Godey’s crossed the plains and helped settle the West.  Beth Wallin, the younger sister of my hero Drew in Would-Be Wilderness Wife, was a particular devotee.  And now you know why.

So what about you?  Do you think you'd be an all-American Godey's girl or an Anglophile for Ackermann's?

What the Wilderness Reveals

I received an extra Christmas present--author copies of my March release, Would-Be Wilderness Wife, earlier than expected!  I thought you deserved an extra present too, even if it is officially the new year, so I’ll be giving away a copy at the end of this post. 

First, the cover.  I must admit that my design skills are pretty rudimentary, so I am always honored and delighted when the Art Department at Love Inspired Historical takes ones of my ideas and runs with it.  My heroine, Catherine Stanway (who was introduced in The Bride Ship), is a nurse at a time when women were only beginning to be professionally trained for the role.  Her circumstances reminded me a little of another early medicine woman, played so memorably by Jane Seymour, so I sent the Art Department this picture (which is no doubt copyrighted to CBS or Sullivan Productions) as one of my scene suggestions along with a possible cabin and the forest surrounding it.

How delightful to see the final cover!  Notice the log cabin in the background and the hint of a tree behind Catherine for the forest.  I am wondering what Pacific Northwest wilderness farm has such dry brown grass, but maybe there was a drought I’m not aware of in 1866.  J 

As I often do, let me give you a hint of the actress and actor I was thinking of as physical role models when I wrote Catherine and Drew’s love story.   The lady is better known for her ability to lose a guy in ten days and going after fool’s gold than making a life in the wilderness.  And though you cannot see the gentleman on the cover, he is more famous for wielding a hammer than the ax of a lumberjack and appears to be donning a black hat soon rather than the white hat of a hero.

Post your guesses in the comments, and feel free to guess the same person someone else does.  Next Friday I’ll chose one lucky commenter to receive a signed copy of the book, a full six weeks before it hits fine bookstores near you.

Merry New Year.