Sandra Byrd's Blog, page 9
March 8, 2019
January 14, 2019
January Newsletter Giveaway!
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November 7, 2018
Cornish Pasties
Delectable Cornish Pasties
As the author of contemporary foody books, The French Twist Series, I am accustomed to including tasty food and recipes in my novels. It was, therefore, a delight to include Cornish pasties in a historical, my new book, Lady of a Thousand Treasures. Proper Cornish pasties are particular to Cornwall, England’s far west county, though meat and potato hand pies are eaten in many different countries around the world. The word pasty sounds very much like the word pastry, though we tend to think of pastries as sweet and not savory. Both derive their names from Latinate words for paste—a mix of flour and water—and they can include other delectable combinations such as pasta. No wonder hungry schoolkids have been known to eat paste!
Cornish pasties were thought to be a perfect lunch for blue-collar workers, especially the coal miners of Cornwall, who descended into the coal pits and often could not come back up for lunch. They took their comestibles with them. I love the Agatha Christie television series starring her famous detective, Hercules Poirot, and Cornish pasties have a cameo toward the end of The Cornish Mystery episode when one of my favorite people, Chief Inspector Japp, has a nibble. A friend pointed out that Cornish pasties even appeared in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, “The Return of Malcolm Merriweather.”
I thought you might enjoy munching on one of these lovelies while reading my book or someone else’s, or watching Poirot or old returns, so I thought I’d include a recipe. The traditional pasties include uncooked meat and potatoes as well as turnips (they all bake together in the oven), but I adapted this for our family’s taste. If you like turnip, or carrots, or anything else, feel free to adapt this to your family’s tastes! With no further ado, here is my tweaked recipe. “Enjoy your meal” (British for Bon Appetit)!
Click the link below to download a printable 3×5 recipe card for my “Cornish Pasties”!
Teacups and Coffee Mugs from Our Fourth Annual Exchange!
Thank you to everyone who participated! We’ve grown larger each year, and I hope you’ve made a new friend, received a beautiful cup, and are enjoying some autumnal tea.
October 24, 2018
Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #11
Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’re just joining us, the hunt begins at www.LisaBergren.com, with Stop #1. If you complete the loop of 26 stops, writing down the clue on each author’s site, you can enter to win all 25 books as well as Amazon gift cards, an iPad and more!
Without further ado, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to my guest for the Scavenger Hunt, Tamera Alexander. Tamera is a master of historical fiction, an author who consistently writes novels that draw you into their stories and hold you fast until the final page.
I have not had the pleasure of reading With This Pledge – yet. But it’s on my immediate TBR list.
Here’s her professional bio, in case you’d like to learn more: Tamera Alexander is a USA Today bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers of inspirational historical romance. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, not far from the Southern mansions that serve as the backdrop for many of her critically-acclaimed novels.
For more info or to contact Tamera, here are some handy links:
www.TameraAlexander.com
Facebook
Twitter
Here’s the summary of her latest book:
Sorely wounded and disillusioned, a decorated Mississippi sharpshooter clings to life after the Confederacy is dealt a heavy blow. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Clouston’s quietly held principles oppose those of the Southern Cause—but when forty thousand soldiers converge on the fields of Franklin, Tennessee, the war demands an answer. From the pages of history and the real love letters between Captain Roland Ward Jones and Miss Lizzie Clouston who met—and fell in love—following the Battle of Franklin (November 1863), With This Pledge is the story of unlikely romance first kindled amid the shadows of war.
You can purchase her book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound, Christian Book, or your local bookstore.
And here’s her EXCLUSIVE content that you’ll only find in this hunt!
When Fiction Becomes Real…and Visa Versa
by Tamera Alexander
I often wonder how Captain Roland Ward Jones and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Clouston—real people who lived in the 19th century—would feel knowing that their lives and love letters are the inspiration for a 21st century novel.
Captain Roland Jones and Lizzie Clouston are the real life hero and heroine in With This Pledge who met and fell in love at Carnton in Franklin, Tennessee during the Civil War, following the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864.
In researching and writing Roland and Lizzie’s love story, I’ve had the extreme pleasure of connecting with Captain Jones’ great-great-great-great grandson, David. (Quite a thrill for this history loving author!)
David has shared the love letters between Roland and Lizzie with me, along with the family history (as have the wonderful folks at Carnton), and this rich wealth of resources and intimate insights have made the writing journey for With This Pledge a wonderful one. But it hasn’t been without its challenges. Weaving real history with fiction can be tricky. Add to that a cast of characters which is largely based on real people…and the challenges multiply!
I first visited Carnton in the fall of 2007 after my husband and I moved to Nashville following 17 years in Colorado. I purchased my ticket for the tour in a small trailer on the grounds and walked up a worn path toward the house.
As the docent unfolded Carnton’s history and turned time back on itself, I fell a little in love with the home that day—and with the McGavocks, the real family who lived there. But it was the living, breathing memory of what happened within those walls and on the surrounding hallowed fields of a bloody Civil War battle that stayed with me through the years. That kept pulling me back to Carnton.
And now, 11 years—and 15 novels—later, it’s those same living, breathing memories that have inspired me to write about this home, this family, and the remarkable people who lived, worked, fought and died at Carnton.
Christmas at Carnton, a Carnton novella, released in October 2017 and was written specifically to launch this brand new Southern series.
Thanks for stopping by on the hunt! Before you go, make sure you WRITE DOWN THIS CLUE:
Secret Word: to tell.
Got ‘em down?? Great! Your next stop is #12, Tamera Alexander’s site. And if you get lost, a complete list of the loop with links can be found on Lisa Bergren’s website.
Giveaway: Leave a comment with your favorite holiday recipe for a chance to win a hardcover copy of Lady of a Thousand Treasures. US residents only due to shipping costs. 
A Time Traveler’s Treasures
I love to travel to many places, but I also love to travel to many times, eras out of reach for a visit except through literature and film. I choose to write historical novels because, through them, we can time-and-place travel together, you and me.
Journeying through books has limitations, though; we must use only our imaginations. But we are sensory people, and that is why I think objects from the past—treasures, as Ellie, my heroine in Lady of a Thousand Treasures, understands—have such a pull on us. We touch something that a real person, with hopes and dreams much like our own, touched dozens or hundreds of years earlier, and suddenly the centuries between us disappear.
I have a friend—let’s call her my friend of a thousand treasures—who works as an antiquarian, and she owns many such treasures. She is willing to share some of her trove with me, and so I can share some of her prizes with you.
Ladies’ Porcelain Patch Box
In the ages before smallpox was scourged from the earth, women sought—as they do now—to minimize their scars and blemishes with cosmetics. One tool was the use of beauty marks, small rounds (or sometimes hearts) of black fabric affixed to the face with glue or honey, covering an unsightly spot in a flirtatious manner. After the patches were removed, at the woman’s toilette, she would save them in lovely porcelain “patch boxes.”
Buckingham Palace Dinner Plate, Queen Victoria’s Reign
Although it’s fun to handle and hold something once owned by a commoner such as myself, it’s even more awe-inspiring to hold something that might have been touched by royalty and was certainly used by the nobility. This plate, created by Minton, was part of an extensive set that graced the table of Queen Victoria. Who held it? Whose meal was presented upon it? What would have happened to a wash girl if she’d dropped it? If I close my eyes when I hold this plate, I can imagine myself both eating at the beeswax candlelit table and washing the plate, below stairs, by tallow candlelight, too.
One interesting fact about the Minton company is not as well known. It was rumored that Prince Albert himself was secretly among those who helped design their tiles. Perhaps that is one reason Her Majesty chose their wares to grace her table.
Nutmeg Grater
Although in modern times acquiring fragrant spices is as easy as reaching for a container on the grocery store shelf, it was not always that way. When England, via their East India Company, began transporting spices from east to west, those spices were dear, indeed. As such, they became not only a way to flavor food and drink, but they were a status symbol of sorts. Men would carry a portable nutmeg grater with them, and after acquiring a cup of punch for themselves or their dance partner, they grated some of the aromatic powder atop the filled glass, where it floated as a symbol of wealth and affection.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these historical tidbits. If so, please journey with me to Victorian England and the many treasures to be found in my new novel, Lady of a Thousand Treasures.
September 17, 2018
Fourth Annual Teacup and Coffee Mug Exchange!
Welcome to my Fourth Annual Teacup and Coffee Mug Exchange!
Love tea? Coffee? New friends? Join us and get a beautiful treasure and a new tea-pal in the process. It’s very simple to participate! You agree to send a carefully packaged teacup and saucer (or a coffee mug) to someone, and she agrees to send one to you. Please select something to give that you would like to receive as a gift. You must use tracking and insurance, as I cannot be responsible for lost or damaged mail. If yours doesn’t reach your tea-pal, you’ll be responsible for claiming the insurance and sending a replacement.
Once all of the names are gathered, Renee will match partners and send each set of new friends the email and mailing address of their tea-pal. (You must be a newsletter subscriber to participate.) You and your tea-pal will correspond via email if you like, and ship your treasures to one another by Tuesday, October 9, 2018. Please send a picture of your teacup and saucer or mug to Renee, after you receive it. She will place everyone’s teacup photo in a collage to feature on my website and social media pages.
Again, please keep in mind that you are participating in this exchange at your own risk. USPS Priority Mail includes tracking and up to $50 insurance with the cost of shipping to cover any damages. Easy peasy!
I can’t wait to meet my new tea-pal. The set in the picture, above, is the beautiful English set I’ll be sending to her (photo credit @treasuresfromtheuk). What will you send to your new friend?
September 6, 2018
Lady of a Thousand Treasures Preorder Giveaway: Enter to Win Cornish Pasties from the British Pie Company!
I love the enthusiasm of readers who order Lady of a Thousand Treasures for themselves, or a friend, before it’s officially on sale – meaning they will be among the first to read the book! Because of that, I’d like to reward these readers with an exclusive giveaway raffle. My friends at the British Pie Company will ship four Cornish Pasties (read the book and you’ll learn the role they play therein!) to one lucky pre-ordering reader.
The guidelines for the drawing are listed on the Rafflecopter form below. Please email my assistant Renee (steelergirl83@gmail.com) if you have any questions or concerns!
Thank you for supporting my books!
August 16, 2018
August Postcard Giveaway: Enter to Win Mist of Midnight or A Lady in Disguise!
This is an exclusive giveaway for my newsletter subscribers. If you don’t want to miss out on future giveaways, be sure to sign up to receive my newsletter!
Giveaway is open internationally. Void where prohibited.
July 31, 2018
Road Trippin’ with Tyndale and Cathy Gohlke: Stop #8
Welcome to Tyndale Fiction’s Road Trip Scavenger Hunt! We’re so happy you are here. To participate, collect the keywords through all 13 stops in order, so you can enter to win our grand prize giveaway
Some details:
The adventure begins on Wednesday, August 1. You’ll have two weeks to make your way through all the stops (giveaways will close on Tuesday, August 14).
While you do not have to start at Stop #1, keep in mind that the grand prize giveaway phrase will begin with the word you collect at that first stop.
To complete your submission for the grand prize giveaway, be sure to collect the keyword within each author’s blog post, submitting the final, completed phrase in the form hosted on this page.
Also, be sure to enter the giveaways these authors are hosting on their blogs!
Enjoy the journey—we hope you’ll discover new books along the way as you hear from Tyndale Fiction authors about road trips, the settings of their novels, and more!
Happy road tripping!
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Please join me in welcoming my friend Cathy Gohlke and the Crazy4Fiction Scavenger Hunt to my blog today. Cathy is a bestselling, three-time Christy Award and two-time Carol and INSPY Award-winning author who writes novels steeped with inspirational lessons, speaking of world and life events through the lens of history. She’s written stories set during the Civil War, the turn of the twentieth century, and the sinking of the Titanic, but her latest novels have been set during WWII and usually feature beloved works of literature or iconic historic figures. Her newest, Until We Find Home, takes place in England’s storied Lake District (home of Beatrix Potter—she and beloved author C. S. Lewis both make appearances in the book). Travel with Cathy there today!
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My latest WWII release, Until We Find Home, takes place in England’s breathtaking and storied Lake District, near Windermere. I saw Windermere as a safe haven—safer than many places in England while under German attack—for French and Jewish child refugees and for British evacuees, and as the site of the hastily built village of Calgarth, where flying boats were manufactured for England’s WWII military use.
Research for this book led me, along with traveling friend and author Carrie Turansky, through a Lake District adventure. Here is what I learned:
The Lake District in April is strewn with Wordworth’s swaying daffodils, lifting their golden trumpets to the sky, and newborn lambs tottering beneath their mothers over greening fells. May finds the woodlands carpeted in sapphire—bluebells so blue you know the fairies mean to steal your heart, lilacs so fragrant you’re sure you’ve entered heaven, and month-old lambs frolicking down hillsides, butting their weary mothers’ sides in search of lunch.
Skies of spring radiate drama—blues and grays in every hue, clouds filled with stories, and the fells and meadows green as emeralds. Rain falls most days, though rarely all day, so carry an umbrella and raincoat when you go—or your mac (mackintosh), as the Brits say.
By June, roses bloom in profusion, draping arbors and spilling through gardens, tumbling over stone walls and garden gates. Strawberries—lush, plump and juicy—are everywhere. Drenched in cream, they tantalize the tongue. Mornings and evenings can be chilly enough to warrant a cardigan and welcome a steaming pot of Earl Grey or even a fireside nap. Don’t forget those lovely British scones at teatime, dripping in butter and jam or Devonshire cream.
Plan your days—they’ll whisk away. The train takes you to Windermere Station, where you can walk or find a taxi to a reserved B and B.
Local bus tours offer trips through the land of Wordsworth—Hawkshead Grammar School, where William carved his name in his desk (a tradition of the day); Esthwaite Water, five miles in perimeter, which he walked each morning before school; St. Oswald’s churchyard in Grassmere, where the Wordsworths are buried; Dove Cottage, where William Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, and later his wife and children lived. The gift shop by Dove Cottage will satisfy all your Wordsworth wants.
Visit Grassmere’s original gingerbread shop near St. Oswald’s church for a scrumptious taste from the past. Once you’re hooked, find a similar recipe on my website.
And then there’s Beatrix Potter (Heelis)! Bus tours abound. When she was a young girl, Beatrix spent summers in the Lake District with her brother, Bertram, and their parents. See Wray Castle, where Beatrix and her family spent her sixteenth birthday. The view from the stone wall is my favorite—and the one I keep on my Facebook profile.
Though a gallery boasts some of Potter’s original artwork and shops sell copies on gift items galore, my favorite Beatrix Potter site was Hill Top Farm, the first home she owned in the region. Each room is filled with things Beatrix loved and included in her books as characters—like the dolls, Lucinda and Jane, their dollhouse, and figurines that inspired her. Seeing her writing desk inside and her homey, abundant gardens outside, and in the vicinity the breed of sheep she loved and raised as an older woman, thrilled my heart. I felt I’d stepped back in time.
There are lakes to inspire and fill your soul, and magnificent peaks to hike if you’ve a mind. You’ll need sturdy boots, a mac, a walking stick, a flask of tea, and a trusty guidebook. You’ll find giant stone ruins from ancient folk and imagine their worship or science. Low stone walls—built by hand, with thousands of flat stones—hedge fields and gardens and crisscross the fells. But don’t worry, people expect you to cross their land on public walkways—just treat it kindly. Leave town for the countryside, where there is no light pollution, and witness thousands of millions of stars in the night sky.
Cross Lake Windermere by ferry and watch the breathtaking Lake District rise and encircle you from its center. Then write and tell me that you’ve been there, how you’ve been changed, and that life will never be the same. I’ll understand.
Next, join me in person June 2020 for a unique trip through Israel to Oberammergau’s Passion Play, on the Saving Amelie Tour—inspired by another of my books.
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Here’s the Stop #8 Important Information:
You can purchase Cathy’s book, Until We Find Home, here
Clue to write down: places
Link to Stop #9, the next stop in the scavenger hunt, on Cathy’s Site!
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Be sure to visit Stop #7 on Diann’s site and read all about my road trippin’ adventure!
Bonus Giveaway: To enter to win this beautiful London coffee mug and $25 Starbucks gift card from me, sign up for my bi-monthly newsletter and leave a comment on this post letting me know that you have done so! My August newsletter will feature details on how you can participate in my annual teacup and coffee mug exchange.
For a bonus entry, leave another comment with where you would like to visit in Great Britain!
