Kristin Holt's Blog, page 17

Gingham? Why gingham?

In the 19th century American West, Gingham was more than checked fabric made of cotton--it was also striped. Any woven cotton cloth made of pre-dyed alternating threads (plaid, striped, or checked) was called gingham. Why would pioneers (or frontiersman, or Old West women) select gingham? What made this fabric practical? Why would we name an anthology with Gingham in the title?

Victorian Americans and Mardi Gras

Victorian Americans loved their celebrations, holidays, and reasons to party. Mardi Gras, in North America, has been around since pre-American Revolutionary War. I share tidbits about the background of Mardi Gras, how it was celebrated during the staid and usually straight-laced Victorian era, and some of the challenges present to law enforcement in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Wow! I can only imagine!

NEW RELEASE: Sophia’s Leap-Year Courtship

Happy "Book Birthday" to Sophia's Leap-Year Courtship! Brand new release, today, on every major eBook retail site. In celebration, I'm sharing what makes this title so different than other mail-order bride romances, AND a full scene from the middle of the book.

Introducing: GRACE AND THE RANCHER by Mary Alford

I'm pleased to introduce Mary Alford's new release, Grace and the Rancher, a Sweet, Contemporary, Christian Romance. This brand-new title is set in the Colorado mountains (my favorite!). See the introduction, presented by Lizzy, the heroine's golden retriever.

Bicycle Built For Two

A bicycle built for two plays a role in my new release, Sophia's Leap-Year Courtship. Such bicycles are romantic--and they're making a resurgence. I see them in romantic bridal photography, all over Pinterest, and the research for the book showed me just when they were originally "a thing" and how they could fit into this book. Come see!

Women on Bicycles

Though American Victorian women took to the safety bicycle in droves, newspaper and public notices of the day show that women on bicycles were not widely accepted. A public service announcement from The Woman's Rescue League proclaimed that women on bicycles were immoral, vulgar, disease-ridden, and unwomanly. Such attitudes didn't keep women from their bicycles, and with the advent of the new Safety Bicycle, women such as my character, Sophia Sorensen (Sophia's Leap-Year Courtship), took to cycling and had no interest in forfeiting the exercise and transportation.

Introducing: FINDING JOY by Melanie D. Snitker

I'm delighted to introduce a new release by Melanie D. Snitker: Finding Joy. I had the pleasure of reading this title prior to release date, and include my review inside. This Sweet Contemporary Christian Romance is book five in Melanie's Love's Compass Series. Recommended!

New Release: Gunsmoke and Gingham

Today is A Book Birthday for brand-new release GUNSMOKE & GINGHAM, five brand-new novellas by FIVE USA Today Bestselling, Amazon Bestselling, and Award-winning Authors. This bundle contains my new novella The Gunsmith's Bride--and this is the one and only place you can find it! This new box set is just 99-cents! This article contains not just the opening scene but the first TWO CHAPTERS. Come on in and meet my characters: the gunsmiths--George and Morgan Hudson (father and son), and the brides--Zylphyia and Elizabeth (mother and daughter).

Victorian Bicycling Etiquette

As with virtually all activities and behaviors in the Victorian Era, American society developed a set of etiquette rules governing bicycling. One might suppose this list is about signalling (hand gestures) or riding in pairs for protection. You might be quite surprised to see the lengthy list of do's and dont's [sic] offered up in a vintage newspaper article from 1895, and in various magazines of the day.

Introducing the REAL Sophia Amelia Sorensen…and her cookie jar

Featured in my soon-to-be-released title, Sophia's Leap-Year Courtship, is my heroine Sophia Amelia Sorensen. I didn't pull that name out of a hat...or off a list of most-common names from her birth decade (my usual practice). I borrowed my great-great grandmother's name...and her cookie jar.