Christa Bedwin's Blog, page 3
February 17, 2019
Venetian Renaissance Quiz Day 5
The Venetians got a corner on the European sugar market long before anyone else, and guarded their production and trade secrets jealously and violently. Sugar was an extreme luxury in the Middle Ages and a massive source of profit.
Today's Question: What Mediterranean island did the Venetians subjugate for a century to force them to grow sugar for Venice? (They didn't even allow the locals to grow their own food gardens for a long period, which forced the locals to rely on their Venetian overlords.) What queen was reigning at the time this island helplessly fell into Venetian hands?
Bonus question:
Another heroine of mine comes from a wealthy family in Enlightenment-era (1790s) Edinburgh. She objects to eating sugar on philosophical grounds (she thinks people should stick to honey and good old-fashioned Scotch whiskey). Why might she be opposed to her peers' consumption of sugar?
Some sweet resources to whet your appetite:
www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/...
www.visitcyprus.com/files/cultural_routes/...
www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/...
www.sucrose.com/lhist.html
www.fergusmurraysculpture.com/cyprus/...
A note on resources and research: a tricky thing about researching the history of Venice and other European histories in English, can be that British and American scholars have often just lumped all continental achievements, including Venetian ones, in as "European" (particularly in anything written down by the British aristocracy, who liked to maintain the myth of British supremacy in all things, and so didn't like to applaud others' achievements too loudly, even while they admired them). So you may have learned more about Venetian achievements during your past studies, than you previously realized.
Another tricky thing is that people might not like to admit the past -- such as locals not wanting to remember the century they were enslaved. As we see in one of the resources above, the period of enslavement is glossed over, and the sugar business is presented as a benign trade arrangement, if you don't know how to read between the lines.
February 13, 2019
The projects on my waiting-to-write or working-on-writing list
Riley Cole offered us this great question on the Hearts through History romance writers' discussion list:
"Jayne Ann Krentz (Amanda Quick) believes every writer has a core story they spend their careers exploring. She describes hers as romantic suspense-a passionate relationship intertwined with a murder mystery-and it's something all her books explore, across the 3 genres she writes. Have you identified a core story of your own?"
What a great question! It really made me think. What an interesting definition of a writer's life -- and accurate I think.
I realized it all goes back to some silly thing my mother once said to me: "Never marry someone from your home town."*. (Good job, mom! I've never married anybody! *yet)
In all of my romance stories, the hero and heroine are from different, often conflicting, cultures, or, they're displaced. Having been raised on a ranch as an heiress with a strong sense of land being part of one's character, the places and societies people come from (city-country, country-country, and now, time travel!) always play a strong role in my stories.
And there is almost always some travel.
The first one was two east-coast people, displaced as so many Canadians were by the decline of fishing and the oil money out west. They actually WERE from the same place, but found each other out west.
The second one has a feisty (arrogant, like I was raised!) heroine from a cattle ranch who falls unwillingly for someone she originally labels a city boy turned mountain playboy from the east. (And after she gets taken down a peg, she learns how to get off her high horse and be happy.)
The third one has two people from the same home town, grew up together and best friends, but when romance blossoms and he pulls away from their relationship, she decides to get over him by going to Australia. And he follows, and keeps finding her, and she keeps running away, so it's kinda fun. He catches her eventually and makes his love/intentions clear so she stops running away.
The fourth one has two Australians travel to Asia.
Another two characters who are very strong but also quite naughty so I haven't written their novel yet, is Mariko and Max -- she's an Asian-Canadian in Vancouver and he's a BC country boy -- her culture, and her blossoming into the person she wants to be, and his nice-guy Canadian culture, are big parts of their characters.
In the fifth one, I started to reach even further than just places -- I started to long for finding an old-fashioned man, I guess. I couldn't get a date when I lived on a west coast island, and I thought how nice to have a hero from the Venetian Renaissance... and now I can't stop writing time travel. Love the interactions of cultures, attitudes, time periods. And my dragon jumped into that story, the one that lived with us on our west coast island, and then magic started seeping into my books too. Water-themed magic in this first dragon one for me.
The sixth one two cousins meet when one inherits a house in Edinburgh and falls through time to the enlightenment. The cousin from the past is delighted to come into the future and forge an amazing life with an amazing man with modern attitudes. It's really interesting to contrast the two women's self-esteems as the modern cousin also develops her romance with a fellow historian. Though they look nearly identical, one believes she's beautiful and the other doesn't -- only because of what each has been told about herself in their lives. And... yes, the hero is American, and he and heroine travel to Provence as their story develops.
In Blodwyn's Redemption, also in-progress (but sort of on hold while I make money for son's upcoming university education), I take a city girl down a peg this time. Villainess Cynthia from Caterina's Renaissance loses her memory and is tossed back through fire to just-post-Roman-era Cornwall. She learns to love herself and everyone around her in the simpler context of early medieval life, so that when she regains her memory about the wealth-hungry villain she once was, she has a new perspective and resolution to mend the harm she has done. Seeing an early medieval energy healer in busy, noisy Toronto is also a very interesting perspective on modern life. And the magic in this book is all light/fire based.
In the dragon book that follows Blodwyn's Redemption, phoenix magic connects an 18th-century Acadian woman (Acadians who survived their terrible expulsion and imprisonment and thrived back in France were certainly phoenixes -- born of fire) with an WWII Navajo man (was in Europe as a code talker during the war, but tumbles back through time to her).
So. Sense of place, that's my answer, and thank you for the amazing question, Riley!
Christa
www.christabedwin.com
"Jayne Ann Krentz (Amanda Quick) believes every writer has a core story they spend their careers exploring. She describes hers as romantic suspense-a passionate relationship intertwined with a murder mystery-and it's something all her books explore, across the 3 genres she writes. Have you identified a core story of your own?"
What a great question! It really made me think. What an interesting definition of a writer's life -- and accurate I think.
I realized it all goes back to some silly thing my mother once said to me: "Never marry someone from your home town."*. (Good job, mom! I've never married anybody! *yet)
In all of my romance stories, the hero and heroine are from different, often conflicting, cultures, or, they're displaced. Having been raised on a ranch as an heiress with a strong sense of land being part of one's character, the places and societies people come from (city-country, country-country, and now, time travel!) always play a strong role in my stories.
And there is almost always some travel.
The first one was two east-coast people, displaced as so many Canadians were by the decline of fishing and the oil money out west. They actually WERE from the same place, but found each other out west.
The second one has a feisty (arrogant, like I was raised!) heroine from a cattle ranch who falls unwillingly for someone she originally labels a city boy turned mountain playboy from the east. (And after she gets taken down a peg, she learns how to get off her high horse and be happy.)
The third one has two people from the same home town, grew up together and best friends, but when romance blossoms and he pulls away from their relationship, she decides to get over him by going to Australia. And he follows, and keeps finding her, and she keeps running away, so it's kinda fun. He catches her eventually and makes his love/intentions clear so she stops running away.
The fourth one has two Australians travel to Asia.
Another two characters who are very strong but also quite naughty so I haven't written their novel yet, is Mariko and Max -- she's an Asian-Canadian in Vancouver and he's a BC country boy -- her culture, and her blossoming into the person she wants to be, and his nice-guy Canadian culture, are big parts of their characters.
In the fifth one, I started to reach even further than just places -- I started to long for finding an old-fashioned man, I guess. I couldn't get a date when I lived on a west coast island, and I thought how nice to have a hero from the Venetian Renaissance... and now I can't stop writing time travel. Love the interactions of cultures, attitudes, time periods. And my dragon jumped into that story, the one that lived with us on our west coast island, and then magic started seeping into my books too. Water-themed magic in this first dragon one for me.
The sixth one two cousins meet when one inherits a house in Edinburgh and falls through time to the enlightenment. The cousin from the past is delighted to come into the future and forge an amazing life with an amazing man with modern attitudes. It's really interesting to contrast the two women's self-esteems as the modern cousin also develops her romance with a fellow historian. Though they look nearly identical, one believes she's beautiful and the other doesn't -- only because of what each has been told about herself in their lives. And... yes, the hero is American, and he and heroine travel to Provence as their story develops.
In Blodwyn's Redemption, also in-progress (but sort of on hold while I make money for son's upcoming university education), I take a city girl down a peg this time. Villainess Cynthia from Caterina's Renaissance loses her memory and is tossed back through fire to just-post-Roman-era Cornwall. She learns to love herself and everyone around her in the simpler context of early medieval life, so that when she regains her memory about the wealth-hungry villain she once was, she has a new perspective and resolution to mend the harm she has done. Seeing an early medieval energy healer in busy, noisy Toronto is also a very interesting perspective on modern life. And the magic in this book is all light/fire based.
In the dragon book that follows Blodwyn's Redemption, phoenix magic connects an 18th-century Acadian woman (Acadians who survived their terrible expulsion and imprisonment and thrived back in France were certainly phoenixes -- born of fire) with an WWII Navajo man (was in Europe as a code talker during the war, but tumbles back through time to her).
So. Sense of place, that's my answer, and thank you for the amazing question, Riley!
Christa
www.christabedwin.com
Riley Cole offered us this great question on the Hearts t...
Riley Cole offered us this great question on the Hearts through History romance writers' discussion list:
"Jayne Ann Krentz (Amanda Quick) believes every writer has a core story they spend their careers exploring. She describes hers as romantic suspense-a passionate relationship intertwined with a murder mystery-and it's something all her books explore, across the 3 genres she writes. Have you identified a core story of your own?"
What a great question! It really made me think. What an interesting definition of a writer's life -- and accurate I think.
I realized it all goes back to some silly thing my mother once said to me: "Never marry someone from your home town."*. (Good job, mom! I've never married anybody! *yet)
In all of my romance stories, the hero and heroine are from different, often conflicting, cultures, or, they're displaced. Having been raised on a ranch as an heiress with a strong sense of land being part of one's character, the places and societies people come from (city-country, country-country, and now, time travel!) always play a strong role in my stories.
And there is almost always some travel.
The first one was two east-coast people, displaced as so many Canadians were by the decline of fishing and the oil money out west. They actually WERE from the same place, but found each other out west.
The second one has a feisty (arrogant, like I was raised!) heroine from a cattle ranch who falls unwillingly for someone she originally labels a city boy turned mountain playboy from the east. (And after she gets taken down a peg, she learns how to get off her high horse and be happy.)
The third one has two people from the same home town, grew up together and best friends, but when romance blossoms and he pulls away from their relationship, she decides to get over him by going to Australia. And he follows, and keeps finding her, and she keeps running away, so it's kinda fun. He catches her eventually and makes his love/intentions clear so she stops running away.
The fourth one has two Australians travel to Asia.
Another two characters who are very strong but also quite naughty so I haven't written their novel yet, is Mariko and Max -- she's an Asian-Canadian in Vancouver and he's a BC country boy -- her culture, and her blossoming into the person she wants to be, and his nice-guy Canadian culture, are big parts of their characters.
In the fifth one, I started to reach even further than just places -- I started to long for finding an old-fashioned man, I guess. I couldn't get a date when I lived on a west coast island, and I thought how nice to have a hero from the Venetian Renaissance... and now I can't stop writing time travel. Love the interactions of cultures, attitudes, time periods. And my dragon jumped into that story, the one that lived with us on our west coast island, and then magic started seeping into my books too. Water-themed magic in this first dragon one for me.
The sixth one two cousins meet when one inherits a house in Edinburgh and falls through time to the enlightenment. The cousin from the past is delighted to come into the future and forge an amazing life with an amazing man with modern attitudes. It's really interesting to contrast the two women's self-esteems as the modern cousin also develops her romance with a fellow historian. Though they look nearly identical, one believes she's beautiful and the other doesn't -- only because of what each has been told about herself in their lives. And... yes, the hero is American, and he and heroine travel to Provence as their story develops.
In Blodwyn's Redemption, also in-progress (but sort of on hold while I make money for son's upcoming university education), I take a city girl down a peg this time. Villainess Cynthia from Caterina's Renaissance loses her memory and is tossed back through fire to just-post-Roman-era Cornwall. She learns to love herself and everyone around her in the simpler context of early medieval life, so that when she regains her memory about the wealth-hungry villain she once was, she has a new perspective and resolution to mend the harm she has done. Seeing an early medieval energy healer in busy, noisy Toronto is also a very interesting perspective on modern life. And the magic in this book is all light/fire based.
In the dragon book that follows Blodwyn's Redemption, phoenix magic connects an 18th-century Acadian woman (Acadians who survived their terrible expulsion and imprisonment and thrived back in France were certainly phoenixes -- born of fire) with an WWII Navajo man (was in Europe as a code talker during the war, but tumbles back through time to her).
So. Sense of place, that's my answer, and thank you for the amazing question, Riley!
Christa
www.christabedwin.com
"Jayne Ann Krentz (Amanda Quick) believes every writer has a core story they spend their careers exploring. She describes hers as romantic suspense-a passionate relationship intertwined with a murder mystery-and it's something all her books explore, across the 3 genres she writes. Have you identified a core story of your own?"
What a great question! It really made me think. What an interesting definition of a writer's life -- and accurate I think.
I realized it all goes back to some silly thing my mother once said to me: "Never marry someone from your home town."*. (Good job, mom! I've never married anybody! *yet)
In all of my romance stories, the hero and heroine are from different, often conflicting, cultures, or, they're displaced. Having been raised on a ranch as an heiress with a strong sense of land being part of one's character, the places and societies people come from (city-country, country-country, and now, time travel!) always play a strong role in my stories.
And there is almost always some travel.
The first one was two east-coast people, displaced as so many Canadians were by the decline of fishing and the oil money out west. They actually WERE from the same place, but found each other out west.
The second one has a feisty (arrogant, like I was raised!) heroine from a cattle ranch who falls unwillingly for someone she originally labels a city boy turned mountain playboy from the east. (And after she gets taken down a peg, she learns how to get off her high horse and be happy.)
The third one has two people from the same home town, grew up together and best friends, but when romance blossoms and he pulls away from their relationship, she decides to get over him by going to Australia. And he follows, and keeps finding her, and she keeps running away, so it's kinda fun. He catches her eventually and makes his love/intentions clear so she stops running away.
The fourth one has two Australians travel to Asia.
Another two characters who are very strong but also quite naughty so I haven't written their novel yet, is Mariko and Max -- she's an Asian-Canadian in Vancouver and he's a BC country boy -- her culture, and her blossoming into the person she wants to be, and his nice-guy Canadian culture, are big parts of their characters.
In the fifth one, I started to reach even further than just places -- I started to long for finding an old-fashioned man, I guess. I couldn't get a date when I lived on a west coast island, and I thought how nice to have a hero from the Venetian Renaissance... and now I can't stop writing time travel. Love the interactions of cultures, attitudes, time periods. And my dragon jumped into that story, the one that lived with us on our west coast island, and then magic started seeping into my books too. Water-themed magic in this first dragon one for me.
The sixth one two cousins meet when one inherits a house in Edinburgh and falls through time to the enlightenment. The cousin from the past is delighted to come into the future and forge an amazing life with an amazing man with modern attitudes. It's really interesting to contrast the two women's self-esteems as the modern cousin also develops her romance with a fellow historian. Though they look nearly identical, one believes she's beautiful and the other doesn't -- only because of what each has been told about herself in their lives. And... yes, the hero is American, and he and heroine travel to Provence as their story develops.
In Blodwyn's Redemption, also in-progress (but sort of on hold while I make money for son's upcoming university education), I take a city girl down a peg this time. Villainess Cynthia from Caterina's Renaissance loses her memory and is tossed back through fire to just-post-Roman-era Cornwall. She learns to love herself and everyone around her in the simpler context of early medieval life, so that when she regains her memory about the wealth-hungry villain she once was, she has a new perspective and resolution to mend the harm she has done. Seeing an early medieval energy healer in busy, noisy Toronto is also a very interesting perspective on modern life. And the magic in this book is all light/fire based.
In the dragon book that follows Blodwyn's Redemption, phoenix magic connects an 18th-century Acadian woman (Acadians who survived their terrible expulsion and imprisonment and thrived back in France were certainly phoenixes -- born of fire) with an WWII Navajo man (was in Europe as a code talker during the war, but tumbles back through time to her).
So. Sense of place, that's my answer, and thank you for the amazing question, Riley!
Christa
www.christabedwin.com
Venetian Renaissance Quiz Questions 1 2 3 4
I'm running a little history course on 2/22 and there will be a cumulative prize pack to be won. Just for fun.Here are the first three questions in the quiz! With answers.
Day 1I'm watching a little Swedish mini-series at the moment called The Library Thief (2011). (It's nerve-wracking!)
You probably know that the technology for the mass printing press was first produced in Germany (though the inventor did much of his tinkering with the idea while in another country -- Bonus point: anyone know which country (1 point) and who that was? (another point)).So, the library thief is taking his first book to try to fence on the black market... But what language would the book be in, if it was one of the first mass-printed books of Renaissance Europe? I think a lot of people will get this one half-right (1 point), but there's a more right answer, too (3 points).
The most extensive answer & winner was from Editor Bernadette Kearns. Something of an answer key is available in this blog post. https://cbphilosophy.blogspot.com/.../the-story-of...
Venetians were the first mass literate (nonreligious) public, and that was before Dante made the Florentine dialect the lingua franc of the larger country, so the most new books in the beginning (nonreligious ones, anyway) were printed in Venetian. And Gutenberg did much of his thinking while abroad in Strasbourg.
Misti Moyer won on the HHRW thread (she was the only entrant, but did have great answers!)
Day 2
Who was the first mass-produced writer/sketcher of printed pornography books (nothing too bad by modern standards!)
And what was his other favourite way to earn money?
Answers: Pietro Aretino (his story is worth looking up!!)
He was a blackmailer, and never made much money out of his writing (darn publishers!)
He died supposedly after falling over laughing from an obscene joke. He banged his head and died.
Day 3
Orphanages in England tend to be famous for poverty and overwork.
In stunning contrast, What did orphanages in Renaissance Venice tend to be famous for?
Answers:
It seems they were famous for their female musicians. People would travel to hear them play. Not all orphans or abandoned children were girls, but those that were, seem to have been trained in music. They even competed amongst the famous musicians of their day. Each group was comprised of 30-40 musicians.
Day 4's question:
Why were the effects of the Inquisition different in Venice, to what they were in Rome?
Venetian Renaissance Quiz Questions 1 2 3
I'm running a little history course on 2/22 and there will be a cumulative prize pack to be won. Just for fun.Here are the first three questions in the quiz! With answers.
Day 1I'm watching a little Swedish mini-series at the moment called The Library Thief (2011). (It's nerve-wracking!)
You probably know that the technology for the mass printing press was first produced in Germany (though the inventor did much of his tinkering with the idea while in another country -- Bonus point: anyone know which country (1 point) and who that was? (another point)).So, the library thief is taking his first book to try to fence on the black market... But what language would the book be in, if it was one of the first mass-printed books of Renaissance Europe? I think a lot of people will get this one half-right (1 point), but there's a more right answer, too (3 points).
The most extensive answer & winner was from Editor Bernadette Kearns. Something of an answer key is available in this blog post. https://cbphilosophy.blogspot.com/.../the-story-of...
Venetians were the first mass literate (nonreligious) public, and that was before Dante made the Florentine dialect the lingua franc of the larger country, so the most new books in the beginning (nonreligious ones, anyway) were printed in Venetian. And Gutenberg did much of his thinking while abroad in Strasbourg.
Misti Moyer won on the HHRW thread (she was the only entrant, but did have great answers!)
Day 2
Who was the first mass-produced writer/sketcher of printed pornography books (nothing too bad by modern standards!)
And what was his other favourite way to earn money?
Answers: Pietro Aretino (his story is worth looking up!!)
He was a blackmailer, and never made much money out of his writing (darn publishers!)
He died supposedly after falling over laughing from an obscene joke. He banged his head and died.
Day 3
Orphanages in England tend to be famous for poverty and overwork.
In stunning contrast, What did orphanages in Renaissance Venice tend to be famous for?
Answers:
It seems they were famous for their female musicians. People would travel to hear them play. Not all orphans or abandoned children were girls, but those that were, seem to have been trained in music. They even competed amongst the famous musicians of their day. Each group was comprised of 30-40 musicians.
Day 4's question:
Why were the effects of the Inquisition different in Venice, to what they were in Rome?
December 18, 2018
18 things I'm grateful for about my writing career in 2018
What are you grateful for in your 2018 writing? Sometimes when we forget to count it feels like we're sitting still! Here are 18 things I am feeling the love about in 2018. Looking forward to more great stuff in 2019, and I would love to learn about what you-all are feeling great about!
1. I came second in the Windy City writing contest this year with a new manuscript. Cool. Validation!2. I'm up to nearly 30 reviews (from strangers!) on my biggest thing published in 2017 (Caterina's Renaissance) and they include beautiful words that make me cry, like "best book I've read all year" and "this is one of the most addicting books I have read in a long time" and "I want more!" “Loved this story… Didn’t want this to end.” Motivation! I am contributing to the happiness of the world.3. By rejecting a publisher who wanted Caterina's Renaissance, and deciding to aim higher than that particular opportunity, I've started to meet super-interesting writing and publishing people who are writing, publishing, earning, getting it done. It is really inspiring me! And teaching me a lot.4. I got invited to be in boxed sets, which sold books and helped me meet more cool people who inspire me, introduce me to yet more successful writers, and teach me loads.5. I learned about Book Bub builders and have found some great... media partners (business people) who help with that. 6. I met a very good cover designer and I know she’s there to play with ideas with me when I need/want complicated covers.6. I finally (after 19 years as a professional editor myself) met an editor for my fiction that I jive with and keeps me going and loves my work, and notices things like when you have two 6.s in a list of 18.7. And I did one of my novella covers on my own with Canva this year and that actually worked fine (for that little novella starting off the Scottish Cream Tea series, which just makes me smile and feel all warm in my heart while also letting me bang my girl power drum).8. I have about 8 plots and sets of characters just bursting out of me and waiting for me to find the time to get them all written. I look forward to the universe helping make that time for me to get that done!9. I got invited to be in another boxed set, which required me to write a short thing, which I didn’t know I could do, really. So I learned about people publishing shorter books on Amazon. The new format and ideas about length are spurring on my creativity and letting me publish, dream, write, get energy from some fun shorter novellas (like the fluffy little “Scottish Cream Tea Series”) while I still work on the longer ones (like Blodwyn's Redemption, sequel to Caterina's R.)10. I spent most of the year in France and learned, all through my body, heart, mind, and writing self, what it feels like to be truly relaxed, to have enough: enough time, friends, money, love. So loved, not just by romance partner but by everyone around me. Came back to North America, where most of the people you meet aren’t quite as openly joyful/loving as I got used to in my French home (though some are!), but I’m clinging to those lessons of happiness and enoughness and the easy, joyful, enabling bubble of no judgment. Grateful I know what that mental/emotional place feels like and believe that I’ll be able to recreate that in my heart wherever I am.11. I am super-grateful for how fun and cool and beautiful and weird and interesting my characters and their adventures are. I love them. It’s always a treat to make time to spend with them.12. Love how writing historically accurate time travel with magical realism is ALLOWED in the current market because I can make the rules and readers love it! In the old days we weren’t allowed to genre-bend like that. 13. Also love how writing historically accurate time travel gives me an excuse (as if I needed one) to super-duper geek out on studying history, talking to history friends and meeting new history friends when I need to find people who know things I don’t know yet but wonder about.14. Grateful that my world travels have given me so many enchanting places to locate new books.15. People in my neighborhood keep asking if they can buy my books at the local store... I really need to go sort that out soon!16. I love audiobooks for my own consumption (like trying to sleep when the old guy downstairs is watching noisy TV… interesting aspect of living in elegant 1920s apartment building with oldsters for neighbors… they still watch blaring TV instead of Youtube with headphones!). And when I am ready to create an audiobook, thanks to the kinds of writing business connections mentioned above, I know who can do that and how to find more people who do that and particular issues I might need to know about. I feel so enabled! Know what I mean?17. I’m super-grateful for my relatively comfortable and moderately adventurous life that allows me the inspiration and conditions to create stories that inspire others, make them happy, hand them bits of wisdom here and there, and for heart-warming friends like Mary and Minerva and Becca and Despina from the RWA, and encouraging friends on Facebook, who keep me going!
18. Amazon sends me bits and bobs of money every month... some month soon, that will be quite a lot of money! An amount that will let me write inspiring, adventurous, cool, romantic, delicious fiction full time so I can get all those eight plots down (there’ll be more springing to life before I’m done, like dandelions in spring time and all summer long) AND put my son through university. And it could happen any time.
1. I came second in the Windy City writing contest this year with a new manuscript. Cool. Validation!2. I'm up to nearly 30 reviews (from strangers!) on my biggest thing published in 2017 (Caterina's Renaissance) and they include beautiful words that make me cry, like "best book I've read all year" and "this is one of the most addicting books I have read in a long time" and "I want more!" “Loved this story… Didn’t want this to end.” Motivation! I am contributing to the happiness of the world.3. By rejecting a publisher who wanted Caterina's Renaissance, and deciding to aim higher than that particular opportunity, I've started to meet super-interesting writing and publishing people who are writing, publishing, earning, getting it done. It is really inspiring me! And teaching me a lot.4. I got invited to be in boxed sets, which sold books and helped me meet more cool people who inspire me, introduce me to yet more successful writers, and teach me loads.5. I learned about Book Bub builders and have found some great... media partners (business people) who help with that. 6. I met a very good cover designer and I know she’s there to play with ideas with me when I need/want complicated covers.6. I finally (after 19 years as a professional editor myself) met an editor for my fiction that I jive with and keeps me going and loves my work, and notices things like when you have two 6.s in a list of 18.7. And I did one of my novella covers on my own with Canva this year and that actually worked fine (for that little novella starting off the Scottish Cream Tea series, which just makes me smile and feel all warm in my heart while also letting me bang my girl power drum).8. I have about 8 plots and sets of characters just bursting out of me and waiting for me to find the time to get them all written. I look forward to the universe helping make that time for me to get that done!9. I got invited to be in another boxed set, which required me to write a short thing, which I didn’t know I could do, really. So I learned about people publishing shorter books on Amazon. The new format and ideas about length are spurring on my creativity and letting me publish, dream, write, get energy from some fun shorter novellas (like the fluffy little “Scottish Cream Tea Series”) while I still work on the longer ones (like Blodwyn's Redemption, sequel to Caterina's R.)10. I spent most of the year in France and learned, all through my body, heart, mind, and writing self, what it feels like to be truly relaxed, to have enough: enough time, friends, money, love. So loved, not just by romance partner but by everyone around me. Came back to North America, where most of the people you meet aren’t quite as openly joyful/loving as I got used to in my French home (though some are!), but I’m clinging to those lessons of happiness and enoughness and the easy, joyful, enabling bubble of no judgment. Grateful I know what that mental/emotional place feels like and believe that I’ll be able to recreate that in my heart wherever I am.11. I am super-grateful for how fun and cool and beautiful and weird and interesting my characters and their adventures are. I love them. It’s always a treat to make time to spend with them.12. Love how writing historically accurate time travel with magical realism is ALLOWED in the current market because I can make the rules and readers love it! In the old days we weren’t allowed to genre-bend like that. 13. Also love how writing historically accurate time travel gives me an excuse (as if I needed one) to super-duper geek out on studying history, talking to history friends and meeting new history friends when I need to find people who know things I don’t know yet but wonder about.14. Grateful that my world travels have given me so many enchanting places to locate new books.15. People in my neighborhood keep asking if they can buy my books at the local store... I really need to go sort that out soon!16. I love audiobooks for my own consumption (like trying to sleep when the old guy downstairs is watching noisy TV… interesting aspect of living in elegant 1920s apartment building with oldsters for neighbors… they still watch blaring TV instead of Youtube with headphones!). And when I am ready to create an audiobook, thanks to the kinds of writing business connections mentioned above, I know who can do that and how to find more people who do that and particular issues I might need to know about. I feel so enabled! Know what I mean?17. I’m super-grateful for my relatively comfortable and moderately adventurous life that allows me the inspiration and conditions to create stories that inspire others, make them happy, hand them bits of wisdom here and there, and for heart-warming friends like Mary and Minerva and Becca and Despina from the RWA, and encouraging friends on Facebook, who keep me going!
18. Amazon sends me bits and bobs of money every month... some month soon, that will be quite a lot of money! An amount that will let me write inspiring, adventurous, cool, romantic, delicious fiction full time so I can get all those eight plots down (there’ll be more springing to life before I’m done, like dandelions in spring time and all summer long) AND put my son through university. And it could happen any time.
October 21, 2018
Romance writers shape the American dream… so tell me, is hyper-wealth truly that sexy?
Cherished historical romance author (and reader!) colleagues,
Something has been niggling at me for a while, and I wanted to share and ask what you think. One sexy attribute of historical heroes that seems nearly mandatory in our genre is “great wealth and a title.” A lot of authors of the stories set in Byron’s time also seem to enjoy playing with the irresponsible reputations some heirs had. Drinking. Carousing. Spending money. Not caring about their estates.
My question is this: In a world where the 8 people at the top are holding more wealth than 3,600,000,000 people at the bottom, hasn't the acquisition of hyper-wealth become a bit of a sign of mental illness? Is hyper-wealth truly that sexy, or is it just a sign of someone who is unbalanced and can’t see what’s going on around him?
In light of our current world’s problems, when we're describing a hero being sexy, saying something like “he owns half the county of Sussex” has started to turn me off.
And here’s why: What is the American dream? Owning a house and a huge amount of land and, especially, more than your neighbour? Or living in a community of people who help and cherish each other? For many immigrants to America, it was the latter. But it feels like many of the historical novels we are writing are slanted towards the former.
And what we write shapes our readers’ minds. So let’s think on this for a minute. What we write, collectively, shapes our readers’ minds, and the society we all create together.
Hyper-wealthy heroes in many historical romances I have read have more estates than they can reasonably visit. They leave their manor houses unvisited and their estates untended. Let's be clear and realistic – in the true version of this history we right about, lords who behaved like that let farms and buildings run down and turn into ruins, and left their tenants struggling to make things work and living miserable lives in extreme poverty. None of it needed to be that way, if they had had an intelligent lord who paid attention.
With the income gap increasing in our society again now, do we really still think people who own so much that they don’t bother to pay attention to it or visit it, is sexy?
Isn't it Way More Sexyto show that rich guy doing good works and caring for his estates, instead of owning loads of estates he doesn't even visit? Perhaps, reasonably selling some at decent rates to good caretakers to make sure that the people and industries of those estates are compassionately run? I mean it's all in the way we portray it. Young people are reading our books and shaping their thoughts and dreams as they read what we write. It's a responsibility.
How about this real-life guy, Titus Salt, as a hero?Yes, he was stinkin' rich, but he was also an innovator. He was one of the first guys to take a chance on Alpaca wool in England. He cared for the people who worked for him and the quality of their environment (yes, in 1853), and built them decent places to live (in fact, 823 houses, shops, a school, recreational facilities, and places of worship). Titus Salt made sure the people associated with him had a liveable way of life instead of simply buying luxuries for himself while they starved (as we can assume these hyper-wealthy historical heroes we have created who offhandedly haven’t even visited half their estates, probably did). When Titus Salt died, so Wikipedia reports, the newspapers said, "Estimates vary, but the number of people lining the route [of the funeral] probably exceeded 100,000."Now that’s a romantic hero. A hero of the people, for the people.
Even if hyper-wealthy people existed then and exist now... do we have to present it as the sexiest possible thing? In our role as writers, idea mongers, society shapers, shouldn't we start portraying compassion and intelligence as sexier than the mere acquisition of things? Won’t that affect how young women who read our books learn to choose their mates and what people do with their money? Won’t that affect what we expect of others around us? I believe it will.
But then, I’d much rather have a man who can build me something, than buy me something. As a spinster who has looked from the outside at many marriages, the ones with husbands who DO things for their wives are so much happier than husbands who can just BUY things. So why are we teaching our readers the opposite of that?
The future needs more compassion than it needs people who value and defend a right to hyper-wealth. As writers, we fuel hopes and dreams and create our society’s future. If you ask me, a sexy powerful man is one who thinks of others – even his servants – pays his factory workers a living wage, builds liveable villages, educates his serfs, and extends a hand to help!
Or is this historical Byronic version of the “bad boy” hero simply too irresistible to so many readers that we feel it sells better? What am I missing here? I know I’m missing something in understanding this issue. I would love to know your thoughts.
Christahttps://www.biographyonline.net/business/sir-titus-salt.htmlhttps://spartacus-educational.com/IRsalt.htmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Salt
October 10, 2018
Writer interview by the inimitable Zara West
I am feeling famous today! Zara West has published an interview of me on her blog!
You can see it (and her many other author interviews!) at
https://www.zarawestsuspense.com/christa-bedwin/
Also, Zara gives the best Facebook parties of anybody I have yet experienced, and teaches amazing course. She taught one on textiles earlier this year that was chock full of fascinating facts, stories, videos, history, and stories. I just loved it. She is one fascinating lady!
And she's an international traveller with an eye for gorgeous scenery and fascinating people.
And, of course, she writes romance!
Christa
You can see it (and her many other author interviews!) at
https://www.zarawestsuspense.com/christa-bedwin/
Also, Zara gives the best Facebook parties of anybody I have yet experienced, and teaches amazing course. She taught one on textiles earlier this year that was chock full of fascinating facts, stories, videos, history, and stories. I just loved it. She is one fascinating lady!
And she's an international traveller with an eye for gorgeous scenery and fascinating people.
And, of course, she writes romance!
Christa
October 4, 2018
Long Review article about Caterina's Renaissance -- Bev Newman
This is copied over from Amazon. Seemed like it deserved a blog post of its own.
Beverley Newman
5.0 out of 5 starsAn intoxicating blend of escapism, time travel, love and ecology
25 June 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
(NOTE – I was a beta reader for this novel and also helped with the historical research. I knew from the first chapter that this book would be a good read and it did not disappoint.)
This is a beautifully crafted adult time travel novel. Christa skilfully blends the believable with the unbelievable to create a narrative that might just be possible if… If there were dragons, if time travel were possible and if we were able to choose the time in which we live.
I enjoyed the novel from start to finish and appreciated the level of research Christa put into recreating the society, attitudes, sights, sounds and smells of 16th century Venice. It made it come alive, as did her understanding of life in a small island community today. Her ability to paint a vivid picture of both people and scenery, brings the story to life. Her characters are human, and she addresses the scars and emotional baggage of their past with a great depth of understanding and compassion
.
It is clear that ecology and life in a small community, matter to Christa. She is well aware of how the threat of big change affects an island community. Not because these people are NIMBY’s but because they know their home island is special and once part of it is destroyed it will never recover. It is evident they see themselves as guardians of the land that they live on.
Christa's approach to the moral dilemma of time travel was both insightful and intensely human. The heroine asked the difficult questions and was given the space within the story to find answers. What if I know something about a significant person’s future? Do I tell and risk changing history? Do I keep silent and allow history to play out, despite wanting to protect the person from pain? How far should love and friendship go?
The hero and heroine are a very unlikely couple, who met when he was “washed” into her bed. The difficulties in communication and understanding each other’s worlds often bring humour and at other times bittersweet moments where an inability to communicate causes great misunderstanding… which is where the neighbours and the dragon prove very helpful indeed…Their relationship deepens and grows throughout the novel. Christa's weaves a tale that is sensuous yet includes understandable worries and concerns.
The relationship is aided by the dragon. Scullyruba is a wonderful character, fun but feisty. He is in many ways a voice of reason from the past. A creature who is able to slip through time, and see the mistakes people are making. He’s and is on a mission to help, albeit for his own salvation. Christa has created a fascinating character with fantastic abilities and given him a very strong personality. He facilitates the story and his interjections range from the helpful to the downright comical… ever heard a dragon sing the blues?
If you want a novel that allows you to escape the everyday world, that makes you smile and maybe shed the odd tear, then this is definitely for you.
Beverley Newman
5.0 out of 5 starsAn intoxicating blend of escapism, time travel, love and ecology
25 June 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
(NOTE – I was a beta reader for this novel and also helped with the historical research. I knew from the first chapter that this book would be a good read and it did not disappoint.)
This is a beautifully crafted adult time travel novel. Christa skilfully blends the believable with the unbelievable to create a narrative that might just be possible if… If there were dragons, if time travel were possible and if we were able to choose the time in which we live.
I enjoyed the novel from start to finish and appreciated the level of research Christa put into recreating the society, attitudes, sights, sounds and smells of 16th century Venice. It made it come alive, as did her understanding of life in a small island community today. Her ability to paint a vivid picture of both people and scenery, brings the story to life. Her characters are human, and she addresses the scars and emotional baggage of their past with a great depth of understanding and compassion
.
It is clear that ecology and life in a small community, matter to Christa. She is well aware of how the threat of big change affects an island community. Not because these people are NIMBY’s but because they know their home island is special and once part of it is destroyed it will never recover. It is evident they see themselves as guardians of the land that they live on.
Christa's approach to the moral dilemma of time travel was both insightful and intensely human. The heroine asked the difficult questions and was given the space within the story to find answers. What if I know something about a significant person’s future? Do I tell and risk changing history? Do I keep silent and allow history to play out, despite wanting to protect the person from pain? How far should love and friendship go?
The hero and heroine are a very unlikely couple, who met when he was “washed” into her bed. The difficulties in communication and understanding each other’s worlds often bring humour and at other times bittersweet moments where an inability to communicate causes great misunderstanding… which is where the neighbours and the dragon prove very helpful indeed…Their relationship deepens and grows throughout the novel. Christa's weaves a tale that is sensuous yet includes understandable worries and concerns.
The relationship is aided by the dragon. Scullyruba is a wonderful character, fun but feisty. He is in many ways a voice of reason from the past. A creature who is able to slip through time, and see the mistakes people are making. He’s and is on a mission to help, albeit for his own salvation. Christa has created a fascinating character with fantastic abilities and given him a very strong personality. He facilitates the story and his interjections range from the helpful to the downright comical… ever heard a dragon sing the blues?
If you want a novel that allows you to escape the everyday world, that makes you smile and maybe shed the odd tear, then this is definitely for you.
September 30, 2018
Reviews for Caterina's Renaissance
As of today, these all appear on Amazon. Blogger's doing funny things with the screenshots I've been trying to upload, so I'm just going to copy and paste the text of them here.
The latest one made me laugh in my tea. :)
Thank you to these reviewers for keeping me going. As soon as I post these, I'm going to spend some time working on Blodwyn's Redemption, because several of you said you're eager to see the next one! So I'd better get cracking!
Thank you,
Christa
W Smithwhab
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Unique fairy tale come to life!September 26, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition***I received an ARC of this book and voluntarily reviewed it after receiving a FREE copy.***
What would happen if you awoke to find the man you had been dreaming of for a decade in your bed? Take this premise and let your fancy run wild! It's a joyous ride that reminded me of Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander", Christine Feehan's Carpathians mixed with Doctor Who's wistful sweetness.
I usually skip to the end of books to find out what is going to happen, but here I enjoyed the journey so much that I wasn't tempted to skip to the end, and was sad to see the journey end. I fell in love with the characters, major and minor, especially the heroine Catherine, or Caterina, as the hero renames her. She has a tragic past that binds her in sadness and to see her come into her strength of character is wonderful. I want more!!!
JennyWren
5.0 out of 5 stars
Romance, time-travel and a little bit of magic.27 July 2018
Format: Kindle EditionA warm and sexy, super-romantic book. For lovers of time-travel, culture, wild places and enduring love. Oh - and dragons, of course!
mamma
5.0 out of 5 stars
I fell in love with the main character immediatelyJune 23, 2018
Format: PaperbackThis book was amazing. Christa has a way with her writing that brings the characters alive. I have to admit that I have a crush on Massimo. The creativity of her story was refreshing, and I immediately was drawn into the story from the first page. This is a book worth reading.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
RenaissanceSeptember 25, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionThis was a great read. It is magical and fantastical. I really liked the characters and I can’t wait to read what’s next in the series.
I voluntarily review for arc.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet romanceJuly 7, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
This book is such a sweet, fun romp through love and time. The characters are lovely, and their sense of adventure is wonderful. I love how Bedwin mixes magic, romance and adventure to create a light, colorful story.Connie Dean
5.0 out of 5 stars
Romance, magic, fantasy, and historical adventureSeptember 28, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionCaterina's Renaissance is a fun, enjoyable that I couldn't put it down. Caterina is a strong, female lead character and Massimo is a dream come true both for Caterina and the reader. The minor characters are also real and brimming with life. Romance, magic fantasy and history are woven together to create a plot that draws you in and keeps you wanting more! I received a free copy of this book to read and review through Hidden Gems.Melinda
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great charactersJune 23, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionYou know an author has created some great characters when I miss them after I finish the book. I was just wondering this morning what Massimo and Catherine were up to next, then I got a little sad when I remembered I was finished with the book. I want to thank her for making a strong female character! I love it.
Christine Doran
5.0 out of 5 stars
Caterina's Renaissance is a delight. I find myself thinking about it when I'm ...June 13, 2018
Format: PaperbackCaterina's Renaissance is a delight. I find myself thinking about it when I'm somewhere else. Time travel, a dragon, true love... all set oddly believably in today's world.
Wertherian
5.0 out of 5 stars
Swoon worthy time travel romanceSeptember 29, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionTime travel at it's best or at least the best I have read. Perhaps because of the sprinkling of magic... Catering and her Massimo are certainly dreamy characters. I also enjoyed Frank, Mo and Leta. I can't say much more without giving out spoiler alerts. I detest stumbling across spoiler reviews. I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Beverley Newman
5.0 out of 5 stars
An intoxicating blend of escapism, time travel, love and ecology25 June 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase(NOTE – I was a beta reader for this novel and also helped with the historical research. I knew from the first chapter that this book would be a good read and it did not disappoint.)
This is a beautifully crafted adult time travel novel. Christa skilfully blends the believable with the unbelievable to create a narrative that might just be possible if… If there were dragons, if time travel were possible and if we were able to choose the time in which we live.
I enjoyed the novel from start to finish and appreciated the level of research Christa put into recreating the society, attitudes, sights, sounds and smells of 16th century Venice. It made it come alive, as did her understanding of life in a small island community today. Her ability to paint a vivid picture of both people and scenery, brings the story to life. Her characters are human, and she addresses the scars and emotional baggage of their past with a great depth of understanding and compassion
.
It is clear that ecology and life in a small community, matter to Christa. She is well aware of how the threat of big change affects an island community. Not because these people are NIMBY’s but because they know their home island is special and once part of it is destroyed it will never recover. It is evident they see themselves as guardians of the land that they live on.
Christa's approach to the moral dilemma of time travel was both insightful and intensely human. The heroine asked the difficult questions and was given the space within the story to find answers. What if I know something about a significant person’s future? Do I tell and risk changing history? Do I keep silent and allow history to play out, despite wanting to protect the person from pain? How far should love and friendship go?
The hero and heroine are a very unlikely couple, who met when he was “washed” into her bed. The difficulties in communication and understanding each other’s worlds often bring humour and at other times bittersweet moments where an inability to communicate causes great misunderstanding… which is where the neighbours and the dragon prove very helpful indeed…Their relationship deepens and grows throughout the novel. Christa's weaves a tale that is sensuous yet includes understandable worries and concerns.
The relationship is aided by the dragon. Scullyruba is a wonderful character, fun but feisty. He is in many ways a voice of reason from the past. A creature who is able to slip through time, and see the mistakes people are making. He’s and is on a mission to help, albeit for his own salvation. Christa has created a fascinating character with fantastic abilities and given him a very strong personality. He facilitates the story and his interjections range from the helpful to the downright comical… ever heard a dragon sing the blues?
If you want a novel that allows you to escape the everyday world, that makes you smile and maybe shed the odd tear, then this is definitely for you.Ralf Muhlberger
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fun, and sensual, book.June 22, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseChrista writes a fun tale, filled with mystery and a sensuality that evokes a yearning for similar experiences. Magical realism meets historical romance, for a great combination.
The latest one made me laugh in my tea. :)
Thank you to these reviewers for keeping me going. As soon as I post these, I'm going to spend some time working on Blodwyn's Redemption, because several of you said you're eager to see the next one! So I'd better get cracking!
Thank you,
Christa
W Smithwhab
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Unique fairy tale come to life!September 26, 2018Format: Kindle Edition***I received an ARC of this book and voluntarily reviewed it after receiving a FREE copy.***
What would happen if you awoke to find the man you had been dreaming of for a decade in your bed? Take this premise and let your fancy run wild! It's a joyous ride that reminded me of Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander", Christine Feehan's Carpathians mixed with Doctor Who's wistful sweetness.
I usually skip to the end of books to find out what is going to happen, but here I enjoyed the journey so much that I wasn't tempted to skip to the end, and was sad to see the journey end. I fell in love with the characters, major and minor, especially the heroine Catherine, or Caterina, as the hero renames her. She has a tragic past that binds her in sadness and to see her come into her strength of character is wonderful. I want more!!!
JennyWren
5.0 out of 5 stars
Romance, time-travel and a little bit of magic.27 July 2018Format: Kindle EditionA warm and sexy, super-romantic book. For lovers of time-travel, culture, wild places and enduring love. Oh - and dragons, of course!
mamma
5.0 out of 5 stars
I fell in love with the main character immediatelyJune 23, 2018Format: PaperbackThis book was amazing. Christa has a way with her writing that brings the characters alive. I have to admit that I have a crush on Massimo. The creativity of her story was refreshing, and I immediately was drawn into the story from the first page. This is a book worth reading.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
RenaissanceSeptember 25, 2018Format: Kindle EditionThis was a great read. It is magical and fantastical. I really liked the characters and I can’t wait to read what’s next in the series.
I voluntarily review for arc.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet romanceJuly 7, 2018Format: Kindle Edition
This book is such a sweet, fun romp through love and time. The characters are lovely, and their sense of adventure is wonderful. I love how Bedwin mixes magic, romance and adventure to create a light, colorful story.
Connie Dean
5.0 out of 5 stars
Romance, magic, fantasy, and historical adventureSeptember 28, 2018Format: Kindle EditionCaterina's Renaissance is a fun, enjoyable that I couldn't put it down. Caterina is a strong, female lead character and Massimo is a dream come true both for Caterina and the reader. The minor characters are also real and brimming with life. Romance, magic fantasy and history are woven together to create a plot that draws you in and keeps you wanting more! I received a free copy of this book to read and review through Hidden Gems.
Melinda
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great charactersJune 23, 2018Format: Kindle EditionYou know an author has created some great characters when I miss them after I finish the book. I was just wondering this morning what Massimo and Catherine were up to next, then I got a little sad when I remembered I was finished with the book. I want to thank her for making a strong female character! I love it.
Christine Doran
5.0 out of 5 stars
Caterina's Renaissance is a delight. I find myself thinking about it when I'm ...June 13, 2018Format: PaperbackCaterina's Renaissance is a delight. I find myself thinking about it when I'm somewhere else. Time travel, a dragon, true love... all set oddly believably in today's world.
Wertherian
5.0 out of 5 stars
Swoon worthy time travel romanceSeptember 29, 2018Format: Kindle EditionTime travel at it's best or at least the best I have read. Perhaps because of the sprinkling of magic... Catering and her Massimo are certainly dreamy characters. I also enjoyed Frank, Mo and Leta. I can't say much more without giving out spoiler alerts. I detest stumbling across spoiler reviews. I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Beverley Newman
5.0 out of 5 stars
An intoxicating blend of escapism, time travel, love and ecology25 June 2018Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase(NOTE – I was a beta reader for this novel and also helped with the historical research. I knew from the first chapter that this book would be a good read and it did not disappoint.)
This is a beautifully crafted adult time travel novel. Christa skilfully blends the believable with the unbelievable to create a narrative that might just be possible if… If there were dragons, if time travel were possible and if we were able to choose the time in which we live.
I enjoyed the novel from start to finish and appreciated the level of research Christa put into recreating the society, attitudes, sights, sounds and smells of 16th century Venice. It made it come alive, as did her understanding of life in a small island community today. Her ability to paint a vivid picture of both people and scenery, brings the story to life. Her characters are human, and she addresses the scars and emotional baggage of their past with a great depth of understanding and compassion
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It is clear that ecology and life in a small community, matter to Christa. She is well aware of how the threat of big change affects an island community. Not because these people are NIMBY’s but because they know their home island is special and once part of it is destroyed it will never recover. It is evident they see themselves as guardians of the land that they live on.
Christa's approach to the moral dilemma of time travel was both insightful and intensely human. The heroine asked the difficult questions and was given the space within the story to find answers. What if I know something about a significant person’s future? Do I tell and risk changing history? Do I keep silent and allow history to play out, despite wanting to protect the person from pain? How far should love and friendship go?
The hero and heroine are a very unlikely couple, who met when he was “washed” into her bed. The difficulties in communication and understanding each other’s worlds often bring humour and at other times bittersweet moments where an inability to communicate causes great misunderstanding… which is where the neighbours and the dragon prove very helpful indeed…Their relationship deepens and grows throughout the novel. Christa's weaves a tale that is sensuous yet includes understandable worries and concerns.
The relationship is aided by the dragon. Scullyruba is a wonderful character, fun but feisty. He is in many ways a voice of reason from the past. A creature who is able to slip through time, and see the mistakes people are making. He’s and is on a mission to help, albeit for his own salvation. Christa has created a fascinating character with fantastic abilities and given him a very strong personality. He facilitates the story and his interjections range from the helpful to the downright comical… ever heard a dragon sing the blues?
If you want a novel that allows you to escape the everyday world, that makes you smile and maybe shed the odd tear, then this is definitely for you.
Ralf Muhlberger
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fun, and sensual, book.June 22, 2018Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseChrista writes a fun tale, filled with mystery and a sensuality that evokes a yearning for similar experiences. Magical realism meets historical romance, for a great combination.
