Cheryl St.John's Blog: Books from the heart....

Sarah Melissa St.John

The winner of a signed copy of Rake With a Frozen Heart is...





ANGELA HOLLAND



Congrats, Angela! You will enjoy the story!

Marguerite Kaye is one of my lovely Harlequin Historical friends, and I invited her to my blog so you could meet her and learn about her stories. She has a free read and we're holding a drawing, so please read to the end!



I think I’d better think it out again, Fagin sings in the musical Oliver, while he’s reviewing his situation. I’ve had these words going round in my head over the last few weeks as I’ve been reading the reviews of my current book, Rake with a Frozen Heart. 

People have been saying great things, by and large, and I’ve been thrilled to bits reading them. As every writer knows, it can be very lonely, locked away in your writing den with only your characters for company. There’s usually a long gap too, between finishing a book and seeing it in print. Lots of time, in fact, for doubt to creep in, and Rake with a Frozen Heart was a long time in the making. It was written, re-written, abandoned and re-written over a couple of years. By the time I got to the proof-correcting stage, I frankly had no idea whether it was any good or not. 

So to say that the first positive reviews were a huge relief is a bit of an understatement. But after I’d got over the initial glow, and stopped counting up the stars awarded, and toasted my hero and heroine umpteen times, and bored my friends silly by reading out the good bits, I began to notice the other things reviewers were saying. The bits that suggested I could do better. So like Fagin, I reviewed my situation, and it was a very enlightening process. 

Several reviewers mentioned the fact that I make important points several times over. I say something. Then I say it again in another way. And then I say it again, just in case the reader missed it the first two times. Slapping the reader around the face with a wet fish, was the way one writer later described this tendency to me, which made me laugh, but it’s really not something I want to do to my readers, so I’m going to be working very hard to make sure there’s none of that in my next book. 

Historical inaccuracies, I find it difficult to forgive myself for. I addressed my hero, who has many titles, by the wrong one. Bad, bad, bad. I called spectacles lorgnettes at a time when lorgnettes were apparently opera glasses. This sparked a bit of debate on my Facebook page, and it turns out I might just have been able to get away with it, but I should have checked. From the same reviewer I discovered that ‘mauve’ was a Victorian colour unknown in the Regency. Something else I won’t forget. 

But the biggest thing I learned was that if you’ve got the right hero and a heroine, then readers are willing to forgive you a lot. My heroine, Henrietta, has a habit (as my mum says) of opening her mouth and letting her belly rumble. Henrietta says what she’s thinking when she should just hold her tongue. But she’s also a very strong young woman with a very determined mind of her own, and though she loves my dark and brooding hero, she won’t sacrifice her principles for him. I wouldn’t say Henrietta was universally loved, but she was picked out for comment by almost every reviewer. I’d always assumed the hero was more important than the heroine. Henrietta has made me realize that it’s probably the other way round. And that’s had serious repercussions for the heroine in my current work in progress, who, I realized after thinking about those reviews, had far too passive a role in her journey toward her happy ever after. 

Of course, there are some reviews, thankfully few and far between, that you can’t learn anything from, especially those dreaded one-liners that say, I hated this, without any explanation. I take a deep breath when I read those, and repeat (through gritted teeth) ‘you can’t please all of the people all of the time.’ Which is true, but I’d like to know why I didn’t! 

The best thing of all about reviews though, any reviews, is the simple fact that they tell me there are people out there reading the stories I’ve written – because honestly, there have been times when I’ve wondered. Reviews, emails, or comments on Facebook or Twitter, knowing that my book has given someone else has enjoyed what I’ve written gives me a lovely wee glow. 

Thank you to Cheryl for inviting me along. 

I have a signed copy of Rake with a Frozen Heart to give away so one of you can decide for herself what you think. Just leave a comment.  

Visit Marguerite's websiteRead her exciting free on-line read, Titanic: A Date with Destiny Order from Amazon: 



CHECK BACK!

ON MONDAY I WILL ANNOUNCE THE WINNER OF MARGUERITE'S DRAWING

Look what I got in the mail today!









After Charlene Raddon shared Ukrainian eggs a few weeks ago, she sent me one she'd made. I was even more blown away to see an actual egg, rather than a photo. This egg is going into my curio in my office, where it will be safe. I will be amazed every time I look at it.



Thank you, Charlene! What a generous gift.

His family destroyed hers. But Wade
Cummings's job offer—to care for his recuperating father—is impossible
to decline. Schoolteacher Abigail Wilson can swallow her pride for the
sake of a summer paycheck that will help her sister. And when Abigail's
employment ends, old loyalties will separate the feuding families once
more.



If there's anyone in town stubborn enough to deal with
Wade's cantankerous father, it's Abigail. It's just a business
arrangement—and a temporary one, at that. Her good opinion shouldn't
matter a lick to Wade. Yet their different backgrounds belie a
surprising kinship. Perhaps unexpected love will be their reward for the
summer's inconvenient match.



READ AN EXCERPT

Long time author friend, Charlene Raddon has a special talent (besides writing great stories) that I couldn't wait to share with you. Prepare to be impressed!







Dying
Ukrainian eggs is tons of fun and a good way to take a break from writing for a
while. I got hooked on these eggs at least twenty years ago when a friend
invited me to dye Easter eggs with her and her daughter. There I was introduced
to the dyes and a bit of the techniques of dying with a wax resist method.



The dying
of eggs, called Pysanky, for Easter has been a Ukrainian custom for
generations. They were given as gifts and were believed to ward off evil since
spirits fear roosters and chicken eggs. Oddly enough, the word Pysanky means
"to write".





These are examples of the eggs Charlene has made







Every facet
of the dying is symbolic. Eggs that were mostly white were given to young
people because their lives are yet an open book, while the darker eggs were
reserved for older people. Numerous symbols are used: trees, triangles, birds
(wishes), flowers, ladders (prosperity), crosses, suns, moons, stars, animals
(wealth and prosperity), curls (protection from evil), fish (Christ), and
various forms of the unending line representing the continuity of life. 



Colors
are also symbolic. White is purity, of course. Gold-spirituality,
orange-endurance, red-happiness, purple-royalty, brown-earth and harvest, and
black-the center of earth, eternity. I'm only giving you a taste here. There is
much more to be said on the symbolism of Psanky.







First you
must obtain a good egg. I like to go to poultry producers to get double-yokers
because they're larger and often stronger. Duck and goose eggs are larger and
excellent for dying. I have also done an ostrich egg. I use a drill to put a
small hole in the shell. Then I insert a piece of wire to break the yoke. There
are various ways to blow the contents out of the egg. For dying, I use
non-edible aniline dyes dissolved in boiling water with a tablespoon of vinegar
added. A large selection of colors is available at online stores. The first
step is to decide on a design. 



Basic lines can be drawn on the egg lightly with
a pencil. Beeswax is applied in a thin line using a tool called a Kistka, sort
of like a pencil with a tiny metal cup on the end filled with melted wax. This
is the traditional Kistka. I cheat and use an electric one with interchangeable
heads. Once the wax has been applied wherever it is desired to keep the egg
white, the egg is placed in yellow dye, or whatever is the lightest of the
colors you plan to use. Thus you dye from light to dark, ending usually with
black.






When an egg
is finished, it is time to remove the wax. This can be done in an oven set at a
low temperature with the eggs placed on nails driven through a board. I simply
use a candle, wiping the wax away with a dry, clean cloth as it melts. A final
cleaning is done with cleaning fluid before the egg is lacquered to strengthen
it and make it shiny. Then the egg is placed on a suitable stand and placed out
of the sun where it will be safe from breakage. 



There are several online sites
for buying Ukrainian eggs and dying supplies. The interest in Pysanky seems to
be growing. 




Visit Charlene's website and learn about her books.

 

Jennie Marsland asked if I'd seen Ukranian Easter eggs, and I hadn't, but I went to look. Gorgeous!