Meredith Allard's Blog, page 9

Salem Witch Trial Book News: Down Salem Way a Semi-Finalist for the Chaucer Award

I’m pleased to say that Down Salem Way, the prequel to the bestselling paranormal historical Loving Husband Series, made it as far as a semi-finalist for the Chaucer Award in Early Historical Fiction Pre-1750s.

It was a thrill watching Down Salem Way make its way from longlisted to shortlisted to semi-finalist. Of course, it’s a cliche to say that it’s an honor just to be nominated, but to watch Down Salem Way hold its place as the list of nominees grew shorter was a thrill, especially since Down Salem Way is a prequel.

I would imagine it’s harder for a prequel to receive such honors since there’s a whole story that takes place before Down Salem Way. Luckily, the judges thought Down Salem Way was strong enough to stand on its own. Down Salem Way has already won the B.R.A.G. Medallion, so I think the novel is doing all right.

I always laugh whenever I remember how hard it was for me to write Down Salem Way. I was convinced that DSW had to have the same past and present storylines as the other books in the Loving Husband Trilogy, but no matter how hard I tried couldn’t get the two storylines to merge. I decided on a whim to make Down Salem Way strictly historical fiction, as in James’ journals from the time of the witch hunts, and I feel very lucky that readers have responded so positively to James’ story.

I thank the judges at the Chaucer Award for allowing Down Salem Way to make it to the semi-finalist stage, and I thank the readers who have enjoyed the story of how James and Elizabeth Wentworth fell in love during the travesty of the Salem Witch Trials.

Happy Holidays! Victorian Christmas Posts and an Excerpt From Christmas at Hembry Castle

I’m going to be taking the rest of December off in order to focus on the final stretch of finishing And Shadows Will Fall. Whenever I’m deep in writing mode, as I am now with ASWF, it’s hard to participate in real life because my head is so firmly caught in the world of whatever story I’m telling. Reality can really get in the way when I’m writing a novel. Luckily, it’s the holiday season so I’ll have a lot of time to concentrate on this new story about the Wentworths!

I wanted to finish 2022 by sharing two of my favorite Christmas at Hembry Castle posts. My personal favorite is the one with the recipes from Mrs. Beeton’s famous cookbook. I’ve tried the Syllabub and it’s delicious, so if you’re looking to have some authentic Victorian flavors at your holiday table, give one of those recipes a try.

Freebie alert! As a special gift for my readers/followers on this blog, I’m giving away digital copies of Christmas at Hembry Castle. Fill out the simple form below. In the name blank, yes, definitely include your name but also let me know whether you’d prefer a mobi, epub, or pdf version. Don’t forget to include your email so I know where to send it. Happy holiday reading!

If you haven’t read the first book in the series, never fear. Christmas at Hembry Castle stands on its own, so you don’t need to read When It Rained at Hembry Castle to enjoy the holiday fun with Edward, Daphne, and the others at Hembry Castle.

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Hannukah and Christmas come out at virtually the same time this year, so when I’m not writing I’ll be cooking. I wish you the happiest of holiday seasons and a wonderful new year. I hope that 2023 is whatever you wish it to be.

Here are two Victorian Christmas posts. Be sure to check out Mrs. Beeton’s recipes!

Mrs. Beeton’s Recipes for a Perfectly Proper Christmas

Victorian Christmas Tradition s

If you’re in a holiday reading mood, here’s an excerpt from Christmas at Hembry Castle. In case you’re keeping track, this is Chapter 1, A Meddling Ghost. Enjoy!

* * * * *

The shadows were about again, long along the winding roads, high upon the hills, deep into the valley below, casting a deathly pallor over the tree-lined path leading toward the grand old manor. The castle, known as Hembry in polite society, looked a specter in the night. Accompanying the shadows were the echoes, a sense of a haunting. And why shouldn’t Hembry Castle be haunted? The house was ancient enough to have seen three centuries pass and the comings and goings of more souls than it could ever be expected to remember. 

Who knew from whence such sounds came? The old floors groaned under whatever weight crossed them. Church-like beams cracked like decrepit bones as they leaned closer toward each other, ever closer. Certainly, the stately home was well tended and much loved, but still it creaked occasionally as the old will do. If you listen closely you might hear footsteps on the curving stairs, whispers in the halls, and flutters of damask curtains caught in open drafts. 

The later the time the more menacing the shadows grew. With the disappearance of the moon behind rain-filled clouds there was little light, leaving long, distorted shapes. Cumbersome trees shed their red, orange, and gold leaves, pointing finger-like branches at the black-looking grass. And still the shadows. Shadows have always provided a good place to hide, especially on a dark autumnal night that threatened wet and cold. Especially for a ghost. 

He was a patient ghost, standing back, not wishing to intrude. He hovered near the window and peered into the servants’ hall, squinting through the opaque glass that could have used a good scrubbing, hardly a surprise since the servants were busy polishing and buffing upstairs all hours of the day. The ghost glanced about, perhaps a bit nervously, perhaps not. He knew to take care not to be seen. He was not an iridescent spirit, pale and translucent. Had most people in the castle seen him they would have fainted. Has he come back from the dead, they would ask? Has he been stricken by some preternatural magic that gives life to the lifeless?  It was the right time of year for it, certainly, as they headed toward All Hallows’ Eve. Throughout England were those with their fascinations about magnetisms, perceptionisms, spiritualisms, and other isms. Let the family think what they may. Rather, the ghost decided, let me stay out of their sight so they don’t think of me at all. It’s better that way. 

The ghost was comforted by the sight of the housekeeper at Hembry Castle along with his dearest niece, both on their way upstairs, back to bed, presumably. The ghost glanced at his pocket watch and shook his head, annoyed by the time. What were they doing awake at this hour? The thought of Daphne, his niece, left him hollow inside. How he wished he could be at her wedding! He could not have wished a better husband for her than Edward Ellis—of that he was certain. Edward and Daphne were perfect for one another. He knew it the first time he saw them together at luncheon at Hembry, the way they gazed at each other until they felt other, intrusive eyes drilling them with relentless curiosity, when they turned tomato-red faces to their wine glasses, which couldn’t be refilled quickly enough. 

The ghost moved away from the castle, not floating, merely walking, certain to stay under cover of darkness. He crossed the grounds at a quick pace and found himself on the outskirts near the decorative mock castles and the Greek temple façades. He stopped at the tree-lined avenue, contemplating his childhood home. He exhaled with pride at the dignity of the place, the sand-colored limestone that rose majestically heavenward, as though its very presence had been ordained by a Higher Force. The winding river crackled as it jumped the stones, the water running faster from the constant rains they had been receiving. He turned to leave, the ghost. He meant to be on his way. Though he was still well hidden, the morning sun would break soon and his cloak of invisibility would vanish.

And yet he could not leave. He walked toward the castle once again, close enough to see through the library window. The ghost sighed. He had been cursed by his birth, landed into an earldom he was not suited to. He wanted to travel. He wanted to do what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it. Suddenly, the ghost saw his younger brother, Frederick, looking rather ghost-like himself as he wandered into the library. Seeing Frederick slumped and downcast, rubbing his hands together for warmth since the fire had died away, the ghost felt guilty. Suddenly, every mistake the ghost had ever made weighed on him. Now he, the ghost, was slumped and downcast, feeling the burden of Hembry Castle that he had thrust on Frederick’s shoulders.

Checking upward to see the sky still covered in obscurity, the ghost crept closer to the old house, sneaking forward like a thief in the night. The library glowed gold from the candles Frederick had lit on the mantelpiece, the light surrounding Frederick like a halo. Finally, with a sigh the ghost felt rather than heard, Frederick sat at the desk, though he stood again just  as quickly, pulling his mouth into a flat line. Frederick, Earl of Staton, looked as though he wanted nothing more than to go, perhaps to Sicily, or Luxemborg, or Boston. 

Frederick ran his hands through his graying hair. Now nearly seven-and-forty, the Earl of Staton was handsome with his bold features, not unlike the ghost, who would have been 50 years of age on the 12th of August of the Year of Our Lord 1871 had anyone thought to celebrate his last birthday. But the ghost checked himself. He had seen the flowers on his grave in the family plot at the edge of Hembry grounds. He knew they thought of him, spoke of him with great warmth and even a tear or two. He knew they missed him as he missed them. 

“I should have given it more thought,” the ghost said aloud to the rain now splattering his bowler hat. “I should have considered how my actions would affect my family. Perhaps I’ve only ever thought of myself when there are so many who think of me.” He was embarrassed, the ghost. Ashamed, even. 

Peering through windows is never as much fun as one thinks it will be. The ghost wanted to be on the other side of the glass. He wanted to speak soothing words to his brother. The ghost guessed that his brother was thinking of his life before he had been left with the never-ending task of being earl, dreaming of his life in Connecticut with his American wife and American daughter, of a time when he was his own man and free to do his own bidding, which, as earl, he no longer was. 

The ghost wanted to examine his brother more clearly but he didn’t dare risk being seen under any circumstances. He didn’t want his brother or his mother to collapse of a heart attack at the sight of him standing before their eyes, plain as day even in the darkness. These brief glimpses of his beloved family were all that were available to him. This would have to do. Forever, the ghost thought sadly. I cannot be with them. I cannot speak to them. I cannot help them when they need me.

I cannot help them when they need me.

The ghost pushed an inconvenient lock of chestnut hair under his hat. Despite his misgivings, he crept closer still, his eyes focused on his brother’s careworn brow. 

I cannot help them when they need me. 

And then he wondered. 

Might I help them? When they need me? 

He was nearly in his brother’s line of sight now. He watched Frederick, now seated again, his head languishing in his hands. What was causing Frederick such grief? Was there some problem that could be solved, or was it the weight of the mantle of the Earl of Staton? Yet Freddie is such a natural at this, the ghost thought. He handles everything with diligence and ease in a way I never did. It’s better that I’m on this side of the glass and he’s there. It’s better for the castle, the estate, the people who live and work here. Better for everyone. 

Except, perhaps, for Frederick.

“How might I help?” the ghost asked the sky. Even from a distance there must be something I can do. But Freddie cannot know that I’m here, that I’m heartily sorry for what I did. 

And then the ghost had a thought. He covered his mouth with his hand to stop the laughter from drawing Frederick’s attention his way. Of course! He had not done right by his family in life, but he would make up for it now. He would make amends for the havoc caused by his untimely demise. He would help them all. 

A glimmer of pink glowed along the bottom of the sky, the rain easing its dart-like pelts with the coming light. The ghost knew it was time to disappear. But it was all right. He could wait. He would bide his time until he had a plan. It was the least he could do. It would be a challenge since he could only work under the cover of the shadows. After all, ghosts do their best work when no one else can see. 

Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hannukah (or both like we do), Poppy sends you happy holiday wishes. See you in January!

Historical Fiction Inspiration: Watching the Salem Witch Trials

To get myself back into the flow of life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony while I’m writing And Shadows Will Fall, I just rewatched The Crucible, which is a story I love. Whenever I teach American literature, one of my favorite lessons is always when we read and watch Miller’s work. There’s such depth to the story and it provides much for us to think and talk about. It’s always helpful for me to see the period costumes, the wooden houses, the horse-drawn carriages, and the farming since it helps me visualize what I’m writing about.

It’s important to remember that Miller’s play is an allegory where the witch hunts represent the finger-pointing madness of McCarthyism where no one was safe from accusations of Communism. For anyone familiar with the real-life events of the Salem Witch Trials, it’s easy to say that The Crucible is more fiction than fact. However, the point of the play is not to illuminate the real-life events of the witch hunts but to make a point about how easily we turn against each other when it suits our purposes.

The names of those involved in the witch hunts are true and the general events are based on fact; the specifics of the play, however, not so much. Abigail Williams was 11 and John Proctor was in his 60s. I feel confident saying that the real-life Proctor looked nothing like Daniel Day-Lewis.

To know about the Salem Witch Trials and allow for the way it’s presented in The Crucible, you have to accept Miller’s story for what it is—a parable about how vulnerable we are to our own weaknesses. Miller was a master at dialogue—there is not one word out of place—and Proctor’s speech at the end (where he cannot sign a false confession) sums up perfectly why so many of those convicted of witchcraft wouldn’t falsely confess despite the fact that confession would save their lives.

If you shop online then you’re familiar with those lists of “If you like this, you’ll like this…” Sometimes I find those lists annoying, but the day I watched The Crucible another title popped onto my TV screen—Three Sovereigns for Sarah. I wasn’t familiar with this movie starring Vanessa Redgrave, but in a way, the 1985 film is the perfect companion piece to The Crucible since Three Sovereigns for Sarah is also about the Salem Witch Trials.

The main difference is that Three Sovereigns is based more on factual accounts; in fact, much of the dialogue in the film comes directly from transcripts from the trials in 1692. Three Sovereigns is about three sisters—Rebecca Nurse, Mary Easty, and Sarah Cloyse (played by Redgrave)—caught up in the horror of the witch hunts. Rebecca and Mary are hanged after their witchcraft convictions, while Sarah survives, barely, because she was jailed away from the others due to the prisons in Salem and Boston overflowing with suspected and convicted witches. Twenty years later, seeking to clear her sisters’ names, Sarah is given three sovereigns, one for each sister, meant to appease her loss under such tragic circumstances.

Watching the film version of The Crucible does give a sense of life in Salem in 1692, but really I watch The Crucible for the pinpoint perfect dialogue and the message within the story (and, yes, for Daniel Day-Lewis). Watching Three Sovereigns for Sarah gives a more accurate account of what really happened during the witch hunts. As someone who is once again writing about the Salem Witch Trials, both The Crucible and Three Sovereigns have played a role in helping me bring Salem in 1692 to life.

I’ve downloaded The Scarlet Letter onto my Kindle, the classic from Nathaniel Hawthorne (a descendant of Salem Witch Trial magistrate John Hathorne, Nathaniel having added the w to his surname to avoid a direct connection to his decidedly unsympathetic ancestor). The Scarlet Letter is not about the witch hunts, but it is about life in Puritanical Massachusetts, which will also help me get a feel for the time. I’ve also discovered a documentary about the Salem Witch Trials from the History Channel, and I’m looking forward to the new perspective that will bring.

I look at it this way: as a writer, I get to watch TV and read classic literature and call it work.

Character Inspiration: Sarah Alexander and Elizabeth Wentworth

Fans of the Loving Husband Series are familiar with Elizabeth Jones, the greatest love of James Wentworth’s life. She is the woman he sees across the dining room table in Salem Village in 1691, and her beauty and warmth capture his heart forever. But where did the idea for Elizabeth come from? And who came first, Elizabeth or James’ future love, Sarah Alexander?

To answer the second question first, trying to figure out who came first, Elizabeth or Sarah, is like a chicken and egg question. On the one hand, you think the chicken had to come first because how can you have an egg without a chicken to lay it, but then you think it had to be the egg because where would a chicken come from if there wasn’t an egg to hatch from? You can’t have Sarah without Elizabeth. They’re too intertwined. Chronologically, Elizabeth was first since she married James in 1691, and James and Sarah married in 2011.

Writing the novel was more complex than following the chronology, though. My initial concept was for Her Dear & Loving Husband to be a completely modern novel. In my mind, Sarah came first because she was the character I saw inhabiting the world of Her Dear & Loving Husband. The larger background story that includes the Salem Witch Trials didn’t come to me until I decided where to set the novel. After I decided to set the story in Salem, Massachusetts and include the witch trials, suddenly Elizabeth Jones appeared.

Are Sarah and Elizabeth precisely the same person? Not quite. Obviously, they share similarities, but Elizabeth lives in the late 17th century; Sarah lives during our era. The differences between them are the differences you might expect from two women who live in two different centuries.

Sarah was easier to conceptualize since she’s a modern woman. I can’t say that there was one major inspiration for Sarah. For most of the characters I write, I imagine a favorite actor in the “role” of the character, which gives me a sense of mannerisms and speech cadence while I’m writing. I didn’t have a particular actress in mind for either Sarah or Elizabeth. They were complete figments of my imagination, which can work well since I can allow my imagination to run wild. In fact, I didn’t have a specific actor in mind for James, either. Every other character in the Loving Huband Series had a well-known actor in the “role.” Call it my Loving Husband dream team. But the leads—James and Sarah/Elizabeth—were completely from my own imaginings. 

Elizabeth is more of a mystery in Her Dear & Loving Husband. We see her in snippets throughout the novel, and we have some sense of her personality, and we understand why James was so devastated by her loss during the witch hunts. But we don’t learn much more about her. She’s there in the background, a shadow that haunts both James and Sarah, but by the end, she’s relegated to her role as a memory.

My inspiration for writing Down Salem Way came from the fact that I felt like there was more to explore about James and Elizabeth’s experiences in Salem in 1692. I wanted to know Elizabeth better. I wanted to see more of James and Elizabeth together, happy, content in their lives together, and I wanted to examine how it all fell apart, through no fault of their own.

Character inspiration can come from anywhere. It can come from books, movies, TV shows, music, people you know, favorite actors, or your imagination. My imagination was my main tool for creating both Elizabeth and Sarah. What I’ve learned from writing both Down Salem Way and And Shadows Will Fall is that you can go home again—at least when you’re writing fiction. I wanted to explore Elizabeth’s character a little more, and I have been able to do that. That is why I love writing fiction. 

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Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

It’s Thanksgiving week here in the U.S., with the official holiday this Thursday.

It’s funny that no matter how old I get, every year I have to remind myself of the same things. No matter how the year went, I realize that I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a job teaching at a school I like. I live in a beautiful part of Southern Nevada. I get to write stories for readers all over the world. I live a quiet, simple life, true, but the truth is, I don’t need much to feel content. I need my computer (to write with), my cats (to laugh at), my kitchen (to try out my new bread machine), a few good books (to lose myself in), and maybe a good movie or two (to laugh or cry with).

To celebrate Thanksgiving this year, I thought I’d share the links to my research into life in Colonial Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Bay Colony research posts are some of the most popular posts on this blog, and the information is coming in handy as I’m working on the next installment of the Loving Huband Series, And Shadows Will Fall, which returns James and Sarah to the time of the witch hunts.

True, the Salem Witch Trials occurred in 1692, while the settlers we celebrate on Thanksgiving arrived earlier that century. It’s also true that most of what we think we know about “the first Thanksgiving” isn’t correct. Even so, the day can be meaningful if we take time away from the insanity to focus on what we have to be thankful for.

Enjoy the posts. Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

Christmas in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Clothing in Colonial Massachusetts

Cooking in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Daily Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Food in Colonial Massachusetts

Goodwives in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Jobs in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Character Inspiration: Mr. Wentworth the Younger

For those of you who don’t follow me on Facebook, you may not know that Down Salem Way has been shortlisted for the Chaucer Prize in Early Historical Fiction Pre-1750. I’m very excited. I know it’s a cliche to say that it’s an honor just to be nominated, but the truth really is that it’s an honor just to be nominated, especially since Down Salem Way is one of my favorite books (at least of the ones I’ve written!).

Thinking of Down Salem Way has made me a bit nostalgic for the days when I was writing it. I had just finished my Ph.D., and for the first time in three years, I finally had the time to focus on this story I had wanted to tell since finishing Her Loving Husband’s Return.

One of the challenges of writing Down Salem Way was showing the James Wentworth we know and love from the Loving Husband Trilogy while at the same time revealing what he was like as a much younger man. How much would you change between the ages of 30 and 300+? Quite a lot, I would imagine. James certainly changes in nearly three centuries.

We already know a bit about James’ life from the Loving Husband books. We know that James is his father’s assistant in the mercantile trade when they first arrive in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691. We know that James completes his doctorate since he’s a professor when we meet him in Her Dear & Loving Husband. We know how James meets Elizabeth, at a community gathering, and we know that Elizabeth is a farmer’s daughter. We also know that James never forgets his beloved wife. The memory of Lizzie keeps him going until he finds Sarah.

As with any coming-of-age story, there has to be growth. The characters have to develop some new understanding along the way. In a sense, Down Salem Way is James’ coming-of-age story. Bildungsroman is a fancy-pants way of describing a story where the psychological and moral growth of the main character is a central theme. Since Down Salem Way is a prequel, we don’t get the full impact of James’ psychological and moral growth until Her Dear & Loving Husband. Still, Down Salem Way acts as a stand-alone story, so you don’t need to read Her Dear & Loving Husband to appreciate Down Salem Way.

But even in Down Salem Way we can see the beginning traces of the man James Wentworth will become, the man we will grow to love as he continues his story through the Loving Husband Trilogy and into The Duchess of Idaho.    

Fans of the Loving Husband Trilogy know John Wentworth as a kind, loving father. In Down Salem Way we see John in his full glory as his merchant business thrives. Throughout the story, James is referred to as Mr. Wentworth the Younger. James recognizes that he doesn’t have an identity of his own because others see him only as John Wentworth’s son. With Lizzie’s help, James realizes, perhaps for the first time, that he can live his life on his own terms. When the witch trials turn everything in Salem into madness, we watch James struggle with this new reality and we understand his angst.

I realize that aspects of life during the late 17th century seem wrong to modern-day eyes. For most of history, women were expected to be seen and not heard. You can argue that’s still true to an extent, but I’d much rather be a woman today than at any other time in history. In Salem, under Puritan rule, women couldn’t speak for themselves. When a woman claimed to be attacked by someone’s shape, a man had to file the complaint on her behalf. Women had no legal rights, and every aspect of their lives was determined by men. There are times in Down Salem Way when James puts his foot down as the head of his small family. Though Lizzie bristles, she gives in, which would have been expected of a 17th-century goodwife.

Outlander author Diana Gabaldon said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that historical novelists are afraid to write about the truth of the past because that truth often doesn’t fit with our current way of thinking. But if we’re going to write historical fiction then we must be honest about the time we’re writing about.

Since James is the head of his family he can forbid Lizzie from attending the witch trials, which he does. The rum John Wentworth sells overseas is traded for human beings who are sold as slaves. Family members would accuse each other of witchcraft, even when those claims resulted in the accused languishing in prison or being hanged. It isn’t pretty, but that’s the way it was.

As a society, we’re still struggling with the same issues that have plagued us all along—false accusations and gender and race inequality being high on that list. The things James writes about in the 17th century are not the same things he writes about in the 21st century. But that’s what happens when you’ve lived more than 300 years—you learn a little something along the way, if you’re lucky.

So who is Mr. Wentworth the Younger? He’s a newly married young man finding his way in the world. He’s learning what he doesn’t want—working with his father in the mercantile business—and he’s learning what he does want—to return to university with his wife by his side. He’s more insecure than the older James, but most of us are more insecure when we’re younger, aren’t we? The James Wentworth we know and love is found in his love for Elizabeth. His affection, his devotion, and his passion for his wife are limitless. In this dear and loving husband we find a love story that will transcend time.

As I continue with James’ story in And Shadows Will Fall, I’m looking forward to sharing this unexplored aspect of his life with everyone. I hope And Shadows Will Fall will touch readers the same way Down Salem Way has.

Thank you for being my readers.

Character Inspiration: Modern-Day Salem Witches

Sometimes when I’m writing a story I have to stretch a bit for a character as I try to figure out exactly who this person is. Writers are like actors in the sense that we have to understand the evolution of the characters we’re writing about. Sometimes I have to struggle to understand who these characters are, what they want, and how they grow (or don’t) through the story. Sometimes I get lucky and the characters come fully formed.

That was the case with the mother/daughter witches Olivia Phillips and Jennifer Mandel in the Loving Husband Series. I’m both thrilled and amazed that Olivia has turned out to be such a beloved character in the stories. Olivia plays an important role in the three trilogy novels (Her Dear & Loving Husband, Her Loving Husband’s Curse, and Her Loving Husband’s Return) as well as the newest book in the series, The Duchess of Idaho.

In their witchy ways, both Olivia and Jennifer materialized out of thin air to guide James and Sarah toward their destiny. I knew fairly early in the writing of this story that it would take place in Salem, Massachusetts, and I knew that it would include elements of the Salem Witch Trials. With James being James, I knew that there would be a supernatural element to the story as well. By the end of the first draft of Her Dear & Loving Husband, I knew that Sarah would discover her first inkling of the paranormal world through a psychic reading.

When I first started writing Her Dear & Loving Husband I knew virtually nothing about Salem, Massachusetts except that it was the epicenter of the witch hunt hysteria in 1692. Since I knew the story would go back and forth between the 17th and 21st centuries, I had to learn about Salem in its present-day reality. It didn’t take much of a Google search to realize that 21st-century Salem is a hotbed of modern mysticism. I haven’t yet been to Salem during October, but it looks to be a lot of fun with all of the Halloween and psychic festivals.

Even here in Las Vegas, there are magical, mystical shops that sell incense, books of spells, candles, and other witchy accessories. I was thrilled to discover that such shops exist in abundance in Salem. Of course, Sarah would visit one, and that would be where she’d have her psychic reading. Who would run the shop? Who would give Sarah the reading? It had to be someone Sarah knew or was at least acquainted with. Being new to Salem, and not being someone with an inherent belief in the mystical world, Sarah needed a push in the direction of getting that psychic reading, and that push came in the form of Olivia Phillips.

I have this odd habit of putting favorite actors into the “part” of characters I’m writing to help me get a sense of the characters’ movements and their cadence when they talk, as well as other mannerisms, and I definitely had someone in mind while writing Olivia Phillips. While I’ll never reveal my sources, I have had readers who contacted me saying that they guessed who Olivia was based on, and they were right! It amazes me when readers read with such an eye for detail. As of yet, no one has guessed the actor who stood in Jennifer’s shoes while I was writing Jennifer’s scenes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone guessed who she was at some point as well.

It just so happens that Olivia has her own psychic shop in Salem, located on scenic Pickering Wharf, and she knew to expect Sarah at the Witches Lair not because of any psychic visions but because Olivia’s daughter, Jennifer, knows Sarah from the university library. After all, Sarah needs friends in Salem, and Jennifer, with her steady heart and open mind, is a good match for Sarah.

By the way, the scene of the psychic reading was inspired by a real-life incident. My mother returned to university as an adult to get her degree, and she took a religious studies course. One of the assignments she had to complete was to go to some sort of psychic reading and write about the experience (yes, this is what happens to Sarah in the story). I went with my mother just to see what it was like, and it was kind of fascinating, to be honest. The psychic was a young girl, about university age herself, and a lot of what she said was general and could have applied to anything. But then she said something about a move far away, which did startle me because I was planning on moving across the country and I don’t recall having given any clues in that direction. That psychic reading, with some modifications, of course, ended up in Her Dear & Loving Husband. Just goes to show–you never know what experiences are going to play out later in your fiction!

With all the mysticism to be found in present-day Salem, Massachusetts, and since Olivia is a psychic, is it that much of a stretch to say, yeah, the mother and daughter duo practice the Wiccan religion among other things. As the Loving Husband stories continue we realize that it’s not just pagan practices that Olivia and Jennifer participate in. They cast real spells that have real consequences for James, Sarah, and everyone they love. They are, in fact, real witches. Real witches in Salem, Massachusetts? Who knew?

It was a coincidence that the place where I chose to set the story of the Loving Husband Series, Salem, Massachusetts, is a place where mystics, psychics, and others in touch with the supernatural world choose to congregate. Sarah needs an introduction to the paranormal world. After all, she has James waiting for her.

Olivia and Jennifer are the perfect companions for Sarah as she discovers a whole world beyond what her logic and senses tell her.  Olivia is the warm, motherly, wise, compassionate person I wish I had in my life, and from what readers have told me, many of you feel that way about her as well. Jennifer is the best girlfriend we love to confide in. Sarah is lucky to have found two such kindred spirits so soon after moving to Salem. And Olivia continues to add her charm, and her magic, to the Loving Husband Series.

Happy Halloween With the Wentworths

Photo by Taylor Rooney on Unsplash

Happy Halloween everyone!

I’ve made no secret of the fact that autumn is my favorite time of year, even if it is still a bit warm here in Southern Nevada. I have my bags of candy at the ready, though to be honest I end up eating the candy myself since we have few trick-or-treaters around.

I did make some delicious pumpkin chocolate chip bread, which I’ve been devouring single-handedly. Luckily for me, pumpkin season isn’t over yet! If you want an easy-to-make bread with great pumpkin flavor, check out this recipe from Mom on Time Out. It goes great with lemon ginger tea.

Of course, Halloween means vampires, witches, and ghosts, so I thought I’d share the Halloween scene from Her Loving Husband’s Curse featuring my favorite vampire and ghost, James and Sarah Wentworth.

Enjoy!

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James awoke to the clunk-clunk-clunk of nails hammered into seventeenth-century wood. He pulled aside the blackout curtains and raised the blinds, seeing the sunrise-colored autumn leaves drop one by one to the wilting lawn while storm clouds gathered over the bay, adding more gray than black to the night. He was waking earlier since it was getting darker earlier, a good thing with Sarah waiting for him.

Orange and black. That’s all he saw when he walked into the great room—orange and black. And pumpkins. Witches, ghosts, skeletons, Frankensteins, even, he sighed, vampires decorated the walls and the bookshelves while strings of glowing plastic pumpkin lights lined the diamond-paned windows. A display of autumn harvest squash sat in a Happy Halloween basket on the granite island in the kitchen, and he saw the witch-themed potholders hanging from hooks.

Sarah skipped toward her husband like a dancing preschooler. “What do you think?” she asked.

“Is this a joke?”

“You live in Salem and you think Halloween is a joke?” She stood on her toes and reached her arms around his neck. “Besides, who better to celebrate Halloween than a vampire husband and his ghost wife?”

James was too distracted by the decorations to answer. He hated Halloween for all the same reasons he hated Dracula. If humans thought ghouls and goblins were their greatest threats, how little they understood. When he looked at Sarah he half-expected her to be orange and black and wearing a pointed witch’s hat. She must have seen his agitation because she dropped her arms and stepped away.

“Jennifer told me you’re a grouch around Halloween. You’re looking a little puckered, Doctor Wentworth.” She walked toward the decorations as though she were siding with them against him. “They’re decorations. They’re meant to be fun, allow grown-ups to feel like kids again for a little while every year, but if you hate them that much I’ll take them down. I don’t want to look at that annoyed face for the next two weeks.”

James looked at the caricatures of green-faced, sharp-fanged, cape-wearing vampires, cackling witches on broomsticks, shapeless, booing ghosts, howling werewolves, glaring square-faced Frankensteins, and he shook his head. But he saw Sarah admiring the pumpkin-painted porcelain plates, the haunted house flags, the Witches Brew cauldron by the door, her face flushed like a costumed girl ready for trick-or-treating on Halloween night. He reached for her hand and she smiled that smile he lived for. He would do anything to keep that smile happy.

Again, the thought that she would be a wonderful mother.

Again, the voice. “Yes,” it said.

“Yes,” he said.

“Fine. I’ll have everything down by tomorrow night.”

“No, Sarah.” He put his arms around her though she tried to push him away. “Keep the decorations. Keep whatever will make you happy. All I want is for you to be happy.” She stopped resisting and relaxed into him. “What do you want, Sarah. Tell me what you want to be happy.”

“You make me happy,” she said. “You’re all I need. And…”

“And what? A child?”

Sarah exhaled deeply, expelling all the air from her lungs. She pulled away from James, her dark eyes unsure. “I thought there was no way.”

“If you want to adopt a child then we should.”

“What about all the reasons you had about why it could never work?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“Are you sure?” She held herself still, as though she were afraid he would change his mind and this joyous moment would fall away from her like water through cupped hands.

“There’s only one thing I have ever been more sure about, and that’s you.”

Sarah smiled. James could see the peace settle over her, an iridescent halo. She pulled him closer, closer, as though she wanted to merge with him. They were already one, James thought, each a part of the other.

Sarah looked at the orange and black surrounding them. “You’ll have to get used to the decorations. Kids like Halloween.”

James laughed. “I know, honey. I know.”

Historical Fiction Inspiration: Salem and the Witch Trials

Just a quick note for those of you who have been reading this blog for my writing posts. I felt as if this blog were headed in two directions, one for fellow writers and one for fans of my books. I decided to add my writing tips and inspiration posts to the Copperfield Review Quarterly’s website copperfieldreviewquarterly.com with new updates weekly. In case you don’t know, Copperfield Review Quarterly is a literary journal for readers and writers of historical fiction. If you read or write short historical fiction, CRQ is the place for you. This website will now be devoted to my books, historical research, and story inspirations. Everyone is invited to both sites.

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As I’m weaving through the sixth part of James and Sarah’s story, And Shadows Will Fall, I realized that the Salem Witch Trials are never far behind for the Wentworths. The infamous witch hunts of 1692 once again play a role in their story, and this time it is James who is caught in the madness.

As I’m delving back in time to Colonial American history, I’m reminded of how I came up with the idea of writing about the Salem Witch Trials to begin with.

While I was writing the first draft of Her Dear & Loving Husband (in 2010)I looked over a map of the U.S. deciding where to set the story. Nowhere popped out at me. I deliberately stayed away from the Pacific Northwest and Louisiana since other literary vampires live there. Transylvania–a no-go. I thought of my hometown Los Angeles, and then I thought of where I live now in Las Vegas, but neither of those felt right. Too bright, I think. Yes, Las Vegas is the nightlife capital of the world, perhaps a good thing for a vampire, but the Vegas scene would have added an extra element to the story that didn’t feel right to me.

I decided that if I wasn’t going to set the story in the Northwestern U.S., how about the Northeast? I pulled my map a little closer, looked at the Northeastern seaboard states, saw Massachusetts, and I thought hmmm… I love American history, and there is plenty of that in Massachusetts. Could there be some history in this story? While I was looking at the map I saw that there, in a little dot near Boston, was Salem. My history-loving brain immediately thought of the Salem Witch Trials, and I was sold on both the setting and the historical background.

The town square in Salem, Massachusetts near the Witch Trial museum.

The Salem Witch Trials were not a joke. When I decided to use the witch hunts as the historical background for Her Dear & Loving Husband, I felt as though I had a duty to share the witch trials as they were, with all of the ugliness–the terror, the accusations, the madness–along with the real people with real families with real lives who died as a result. 

Since I wanted the historical period of the witch trials to echo what was happening to James and Sarah in the present day, I needed to make sure that the historical background coincided with the present-day story. To a degree, you could say the history informed the story; in other words, once I decided on the historical period it was easier for me to shape the plot.

The Salem Witch Trial Museum

Leave it to me to write a novel set in a New England town I had never been to. I was born in New York, but we moved to the West Coast when I was seven and I consider Los Angeles my hometown. I never visited Salem when I wrote Her Dear & Loving Husband. Thank goodness for the Internet, websites about Salem, and Google Earth.

I did finally visit Salem while writing Book Two in the Loving Husband Series, Her Loving Husband’s Curse, and I loved the town. In fact, I wanted to move there. Luckily, everything in Salem was where I thought it should be.

It was a surreal feeling when I first arrived, and it had to sink in that I was actually in Salem. Hey, I might see Sarah walking these streets! Not James, of course. It was daytime and he was sleeping. Yes, I know James and Sarah are fictional characters, but they are my fictional characters, which makes them real to me (and hopefully to anyone who reads the Loving Husband novels). The first thing I did was take the red trolley car around town. Salem is an easy town to walk through,  but the red trolley is nice because the tour guides are knowledgeable and give extra insights—a Salem FYI. Did you know that Salem’s name was Naumkeag, after the Native Americans who lived there? Or that Salem is probably a shortened version of Jerusalem, Hebrew for city of peace? City of peace is a good name for that town because I did feel peaceful there.

The Friendship in Salem Harbor

There’s a quietness, a calm in Salem that I can’t associate with any other place I’ve been. It might be a New England thing, or a Massachusetts thing. But people are different there. They smile at you. Say hello. I think the seaside has something to do with it.

The coastline along the bay is beautiful, scenic, the bay stretching into the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, the trees along the coast adding green to the blue of the water. There are the little boats chugging and bobbing in the waves, caught in the mud at low tide, and there are people wandering along, some sightseeing.

The beaches are popular and families with moms and dads and children and grandparents splash in the waves and sit in the sun. I have always found something serene about the ocean, the peace of going home, if you will, and Salem has the tranquility of the bay every day, rain or shine.

After the trolley, my next stop was the Salem Witch Museum, across from Salem Commons. I looked first at the statue of Roger Conant, who helped to settle Salem (then Naumkeag) in 1626, and he looked every bit as imposing as I thought he would. Raised several feet off the ground in the center of the road, Conant stares across the town like a disapproving headmaster over a room of unruly boys.

At the Salem Witch Museum, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it looks just as I thought it would—a large brick building, a former church, in fact. From my research for Her Dear & Loving Husband, I was already well-versed in the details of the witch trials, but I was interested in how the Salem Witch Museum portrayed those horrible days over three hundred years before. I found the way the various scenes showed the progression of the tragedy both heartbreaking and fascinating.

How does one turn against a neighbor? A friend? A wife? And not just turn on them, but spew accusations that could land the other in prison or hanged? All these years later and we still don’t know the answer, which is one of the reasons I believe that the Salem Witch Trials still fascinate us. Perhaps we recognize that such madness has happened again, and again, and again, under the right circumstances.

The Salem Witch Trials are much on my mind again these days while I’m writing And Shadows Will Fall. I think setting most of the Loving Husband Series during the witch hunts of 1692 adds a certain depth to James and Sarah’s love story that wouldn’t exist without that particular historical background.

The topic of the Salem Witch Trials strikes a chord with readers as well. Not only do fans love the historical context of James and Sarah’s story, but the most popular posts on this blog are the nonfiction historical accounts of life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the late 17th century. I didn’t realize I was tapping into a topic (the Salem Witch Trials) that many find fascinating when I began writing Her Dear & Loving Husband more than a decade ago.

One of my greatest joys in writing historical fiction is prompting readers to become interested in the history behind the story. The era of the Salem Witch Trials is one of those eras that prompts such interest, which may be why I, and the Wentworths, continue to return to it.

Witches in Historical Fiction

Since we were on the subject of vampire books last week, I thought this week would be a great time to revisit some novels about accused witches. After all, witches and witchcraft are popular themes in novels, especially historical fiction. I’ve done more than my fair share of reading and writing historical fiction set around witches, witch accusations, and witch trials. The key to remember, at least with three of these novels, is that while the characters are accused of witchcraft, they aren’t actually witches. The one that stands out in this crowd is Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt, where Mother Demdike and her granddaughter Alizon do indeed seem capable of casting spells.

Daughters of the Witching Hill

I was drawn to this book because it’s about a witch hunt in Pendle Hill that took place in late 16th and early 17th century England. Sharratt’s narrative style caught me from the first page. The novel has an interesting premise.  What if those accused of witchcraft were actually witches who interacted with familiars? Sharratt’s main characters, Mother Demdike and her granddaughter Alizon, may suffer the consequences for their knowledge of magic.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

I enjoyed reading this one because it’s similar to the Loving Husband Trilogy in that it goes back and forth between the past and the present. I read this while completing my own dissertation for my doctorate, so I could relate to Connie, a history graduate student, very well. Connie is working on her graduate thesis when she begins to have visions of a woman who was condemned for being a witch since she used healing herbs in Salem in the 1690s. Connie must unravel the mystery behind Deliverance Dane and her physick book to save herself and others.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

I loved this book when I was a teenager and I still love it. Though Speare only wrote three books for young adults, each of the three are classics. More than any other book I read when researching Down Salem Way, The Witch of Blackbird Pond pulled me into life in a 17th-century Puritan colony. One of the things I had been struggling with was finding what day-to-day life in Puritan New England looked like. The Witch of Blackbird Pond helped me uncover that daily life in detail. Also, the main character, Kit Tyler, grows a lot during this story, as strong protagonists do.

Down Salem Way

The truth is, I couldn’t have written Down Salem Way without reading the previously mentioned novels. Yes, it’s important to research the history behind your story when you’re writing historical fiction, but often other historical novels bring the past to life in a more visceral way than nonfiction history books. Even though Daughters of the Witching Hill and The Witch of Blackbird Pond weren’t specifically about the Salem Witch Trials, they still dealt with how and why someone might be accused of witchcraft. The general story of what happens to Elizabeth Wentworth is already known to readers of the Loving Husband Trilogy. Uncovering the specifics of how and why Elizabeth is accused of witchcraft was the joy and the challenge of writing Down Salem Way. Reading other historical novels about similar times and similar circumstances helped to get my imagination rolling toward the answers.

If you’re writing historical fiction, by all means, yes, research the history behind what you’re writing. You must do that, or else why write historical fiction? But don’t forget to read other novels set during similar eras. Often the creativity of fiction will prompt your imagination to soar.

And if you’re as into Halloween as I am, any of these stories can provide a night of haunted autumn reading. Get your cup of tea, a comfy blanket, and a place by the fire ready. A cat (or two) will help to secure the mood. Any variety of cats will do. I happen to have a dilute tortie and a sort-of Siamese handy.

Happy witchy reading!