Biltmore the Estate and Giveaway Christmas Ends November 16th

Welcome back! Debbie Lynne here with more on the Vanderbilts. But today I'm going to be talking about the Biltmore House. I have a GREAT GIVEAWAY! It's getting to be that time of the year when we are starting to turn out thoughts to the holidays. So I'm giving away a copy of A Biltmore Christmas and I'm giving away a beautiful Biltmore Christmas ornament!  Leave a comment (I'd love to hear what you'd put in your dream house) and don't forget your email addy so I can contact you should you win. Happy reading!

By Valerius Tygart - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2826627

I love the Appalachian mountains and I'm not alone. By 1880 passenger trains had come to Asheville, NC, making the town only a day's journey from New York. The quiet mountain town full of fresh air, hot mineral springs, and beauty became the perfect resort for busy city people.

George Vanderbilt visited Asheville in 1888 with his mother and was captivated by the area's beauty. He was hooked and immediately started purchasing land for his estate. When it was all said and done, George had acquired 125,000 acres! As he planned his new endeavor, Vanderbilt modeled his dream on European and English traditions where the country estate showed wealth, significant land ownership, pursuit of physical well-being, and the importance of family and friends.

By 1889 construction had begun! This French Renaissance Chateau was the largest undertaking in residential architecture. With 250 rooms, it nearly took a whole city of skilled craftsman six years to complete this fairy tale castle. 

Together with Richard Morris Hunt (architect) and Frederick Law Olmsted (Landscape designer), George Vanderbilt brought his vision to fruition. The three men worked closely together, building a strong friendship, focusing on the same goal—making a unique American country estate.

By JcPollock - Self-published work by JcPollock, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1220643

December 24th, 1895 the house George Vanderbilt has poured himself into is opened to friends and family, full of beautiful decorations and holiday festivities. The home consists of 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. It sports a very masculine Billard Room giving men a place to retreat. Doors concealed in the fireplace lead to a smoking room and a gun room, which are just a few of the marvelous rooms adorning the Biltmore Estate. 

It would take me another six posts to touch on all the rooms that Vanderbilt saw fit to build, but I'll mention a few that I found interesting. There is a 72 x 42 foot Banquet Hall with 70 foot high ceiling arches, a breakfast room, a music room, a 90 foot long Gallery, a library containing over 23,000 books, a gymnasium, a trophy room, indoor swimming pool, and the last room I'll mention but certainly not the least is the bowling alley. 

By Kristiebracag - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52286518

In 1889 Biltmore Village was purchased by Vanderbilt, formally the town of Best. Already consisting of a railway station, two small inns, a grist mill, and a few houses, Vanderbilt added cottages, shops, a school, post office, Church, laundry, hospital and the Biltmore Office Building. 

I hope you've enjoyed learning a little more about the history of the Biltmore Estates. I didn't even touch on the landscaping, so if you want to learn more you can go to www.biltmore.com. All pictures used are from the Biltmore website. 

If you'd like to have Biltmore wallpaper on your computer go to their photo gallery and they give you free downloads! 

Don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what would be your dream room or feature in a house along with your email addy to be entered to win A Christmas at Biltmore and a beautiful Biltmore Christmas ornament. For an extra entry drop by http://seriouslywrite.blogspot.com/2013/11/embracing-rejection-what-you-can-learn.html (this link won't work until the 16th) on November 16th and leave a comment and then come back here and let me know you stopped by to see me on Seriously Write and I'll give you a second entry to win.


Debbie Lynne Costello is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. She attended Heritage University, where she studied Journalism and worked in the editing department. She has completed five full length novels set in the Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA area in the late 19th century and is now seeking homes for them.

She and her husband have four children. They live in upstate South Carolina with their family. In her spare time, she sews, paints, knits, camps (in a fifth wheel) and plays with the grandbabies.
WEBSITE: www.debbielynnecostello.com BLOG:  www.theswordandspirit.blogspot.com BLOG: www.fictionaddictionfix.blogspot.com 

Ellis Island-Exploring our Roots by Debbie Lynne Costello PLUS a giveaway!

     Discovering family genealogy has become a popular hobby for Americans. We want to know more about where we came from. Little did the government know that the passage of the "Steerage Act of 1819" requiring all arriving vessels to deliver their passenger manifests to the U.S. Government and be reported to Congress would prove an invaluable piece of the puzzle in our quest. This document holds the key for many as an important starting point in researching their family history, thus making Ellis Island a strategic place to begin their investigation into their family tree.
     My grandmother's side of the family has managed to track the Veatch name back to the time of William the Conqueror.  Because of that I know that my family from my grandmother's side never entered through Ellis Island. My great (8 times) grandfather and uncles were in America to fight the Revolutionary War, long before an immigration depot was considered. I know my great-grandfather Joe Lisuzzo and his brother (on my father's mother's side) stowed away on a ship at age 16 and 17 out of Italy and came to America. So I know they never went through Ellis Island. However, my father's father's side were out of Germany and very well may have come through the Island. I thought it'd be interesting to look into this place that so many of our ancestors were processed through.

By Don Ramey Logan - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37572722

Gibbet
By Flominator - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=661494

     Somewhere between 1674 and 1679, Ellis Island (at this time it was called one of the three "Oyster Islands") was granted to Captain William Dyre. Dyre was the collector of customs and would become mayor of New York. During his ownership, the island was renamed Dyre's Island. For the next one hundred years, the island had many owners and some very interesting names. Some of the noteworthy names went back to the time when the island was used to execute pirates. Anderson was a well-known pirate in the mid 1700's. He was caught on the island and executed by the Gibbet. The Gibbet was a man size cage that held the rotting corpse together to warn others of what their fate may be should they commit the same crime. Because of that, the island was referred to as "Anderson's Island" or "Gibbet Island" (Here's an interesting article on the Gibbet http://www.ushistory.org/oddities/gibbet.htm).

     In 1774 a New York merchant named Samuel Ellis purchased the island. In an ad for its sale in 1785 Ellis called it "That pleasant situated island". The Island was a favorite spot to dig for oysters or visit the tavern Ellis built there and to enjoy the view of New York's bustling harbor. Ellis never was able to sell his island, and his descendants inherited it after he passed away in 1794.

                                                    Public Domain Wiki
     In 1808 New York State bought the property.

The government saw the value in Ellis Island with its clear view of the entrance to New York Harbor. They built Fort Gibson which gave them strategic value as a defense post.

    The Immigration Act of 1891, established the Office of Immigration and began to administer immigration affairs. The government also appropriated money to build a new immigrant inspection station on Ellis Island. The Immigration Act assigned the Marine Hospital Service the responsibility of examining the immigrants and insuring their good health before entering the United States.

                       Prior to construction of the first immigration depot on Ellis Island, they doubled the island's size with landfill. A ferry slip was dredged and a dock installed next to the main building site. Several older buildings from the island's military post days were modified and used. On January 1, 1892 the first immigration building was opened.
     Economic depression kept the immigration numbers low and Ellis Island processed fewer than 20,000 immigrants annually. In 1897 the wooden structures were destroyed by fire, but the government immediately rebuilt with fireproof buildings.

      Ellis Island processed almost 12 million immigrants through the immigration station between 1892 and 1954 when the station closed. However, by 1924 the anti-immigration legislation which was designed to establish quotas according to nationality caused a significant reduction in numbers of immigrants allowed to enter the United States of America. 

                                               This was filmed on July 9th, 1903 by Edison Studios. It shows

    immigrants disembarking from the steam ferryboat William Myers. 

     So now some fun and interesting facts about Ellis Island.

Frank Puglia was born in Italy in 1892. He came through Ellis Island in 1908. If you don't recognize his name you might recognize some of the classic movies he acted in. Films like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Casablanca, and Jungle Book. He was originally cast as the undertaker, Bonasera in 1972 hit 'The Godfather', but due to illness he withdrew from the role shortly before shooting began.
    
Remember Bob Hope? I always thought he was home bred here in America. But the man famous for entertaining people as a comedian, actor, dancer and singer, as well as his support of the American troops abroad is not a native. Did you know that Bob Hope was an immigrant from England and his real name was Leslie Townes Hope? He came here with his family and passed inspection at Ellis Island on March 30, 1908, at the age of 5.

Bela Lugosi pass inspection in 1921. In 1920 he had illegally entered the United States in New Orleans, when he failed to return to the merchant ship he served on. Surrendering to Immigration Service officials in New York later on, he was brought to Ellis Island. Bela Lugosi became a famous actor. His best known role was playing Count Dracula.
  

In 1942 President Roosevelt issued an order authorizing the relocation of people with "foreign enemy ancestry" living in the United States (120,000 Japanese, 11,000 Germans, 3000 Italians were detained across the country). Serving as an internment camp throughout World War II, thousands of people were detained on Ellis Island. The majority being Germans, but some Italians and Japanese were also held.
   
     Ellis Island is federal property and throughout history has been considered in New York, however the United States Supreme Court appointed a Special Master to mediate a dispute. In 1998 a ruling came down that the original island belongs to New York, but the part added after 1834 belongs to New Jersey.

     If you'd like to find out more information about Ellis Island the National Parks Service has a wealth of information.

I'm giving away a copy of Devotions by Beth Moore. Share some of your genealogy research or leave a comment to be entered. Giveaway ends July 14th. Good Luck! Can't wait to chat with you.

Debbie Lynne Costello is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. She attended Heritage University, where she studied Journalism and worked in the editing department.

Her stories are set mostly in Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA during the late 19th century.

She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina. She spent thirteen years coaching cheerleading and trying to make a difference in young girls’ lives. In her spare time, she sews, paints, knits, camps (in a fifth wheel) and plays with the grandbaby.

EVERY QUILT TELLS A STORY - Cynthia Hickey

I came late to quilting, not actually starting my first one until 1993 when I needed something to do with all the fabric scraps left over from the clothes I made for my children and foster children. I had bins full of fabric way too cute to toss out. Although I came late to the game, my ancestors did not. Every one of my grandmother's beds was covered with a quilt she had made, either from her day dresses or from her children's clothes. Waste not want not, she always said. History is full of quilts used to tell a story. Stories of pioneers making their way across country in covered wagon, stories of slaves headed to freedom, their route told by signals sewed into quilt squares, and quilts that tell of family memories. These are my favorites. The ones where a mother can say, my child wore this on such and such day, or my grandmother received this one as a wedding gift. Pure treasures, every one. As a child, I played matchbox cars on a nine-block, pretending the blocks were houses and the rectangular pieces were the roads. Here is a picture of one of my most treasured possessions. A quilt made from my dear grandmother's day dresses. Faded and see through in some areas, I still won't part with it for nothing. Although my children are grown, and foster children moved on to other homes, I can look at this next quilt and tell you each child that wore the outfit and when. This last quilt is a quilt top given at some point to my maternal grandmother. It contains embroidered squares of relatives. One square simply says "Mama". My mother gave me this quilt hoping that I would someday put a backing on it. I intend to, but that day hasn't yet come. This is also the type of quilt depicted in the novella which released March 1. A story of four cousins who must come home to fulfill their dead grandmother's wish of reconciliation by finishing a family quilt. Do you have a quilt that tells a story? On the one-year anniversary of their grandmother’s death, four cousins from a fractured family converge on beautiful Colorado Springs to fulfill the terms of her will. They will piece together a quilt—and perhaps find a way to mend the hurt feelings and old feuds. Each young woman brings long-buried desires to the meeting. . .and each must face the calamities of the past—and the present. Can a torn and ragged family be stitched back together?
Leave a comment (and your email address) for a chance to win a copy of Threads and a $25 Amazon Gift Card. The winner will be chosen on the 6th. Multiple comments throughout the month enable you to also win these: Grand Prize- Kindle 2nd Place Prize- $25 Amazon gift card For each day you comment on CFHS you receive one entry in the kindle and $25 Amazon gift card giveaway. Comment on every post in the month of March and earn 31 entries!

Introducing Jennifer Uhlarik

Hello, everyone. My name is Jennifer Uhlarik, and as of this moment, I’m an award-winning, pre-published author. My genre of choice is Historical Western and Western Romance stories, which is just plain funny, since I’ve lived my life in the Midwest or on the East Coast, and always in the suburbs of some largish city. But when God plants a love for something in your life, it grows, and at the tender age of twelve, God planted a love for writing and westerns in my heart. Neither has waned since.

Other hats I wear include that of wife, mother, grandmother, taxi driver, zookeeper, church small-group leader, daughter, sister, and friend. Former jobs include temp work, school teacher, small business owner, marketing director, office assistant, video store clerk, and even professional gift wrapper. Of all my jobs and responsibilities, my favorite is my family.

My husband is a 23-year veteran of our local Sheriff’s Office, with plans to retire and move to his “next” career in another two years. We met in church in 2005, married in 2007. We each had children from previous marriages, so we are blessed to love my hubby’s adult son, his bride, and a beautiful grandson, as well as my teenaged son. I’m proud to say that my step-son and his bride are currently working and going to college to set themselves up for the future. My son is in his freshman year of high school, and active in everything from Boy Scouts, school chorus, guitar, and a local ministry that uses skits to teach abstinence from drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and premarital sex.

Outside of my writing and family, I’m a fairly simple person. I enjoy reading, especially studying the Bible, but also different types of fiction, crafts, shopping, photography, watching movies, traveling, and playing with my pets. We’ve got two dogs and two cats, each one with their own unique personality. Between all these things, my life can feel full to overflowing, but God has blessed us in all aspects. I can’t complain.

I’m a graduate from the University of Tampa, where I majored in writing and minored in music. I used to play a mean piano, but now the only keyboard I “play” is on my computer. If you’re not familiar with the University of Tampa, it’s quite a showpiece in downtown Tampa. It’s situated on the Hillsborough River, and the main administrative/classroom building is Plant Hall, a gorgeous Victorian building with tons of gingerbread trim and topped by Moorish minarets. The building was originally The Tampa Bay Hotel, a historic winter resort created by railroad and shipping magnate Henry B. Plant in the late 1880’s. The hotel took Tampa from a sleepy village to a thriving town, and boasts several interesting and famous patrons. Some included Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, baseball legend Babe Ruth (who signed his first contract in the grand dining room), Red Cross founder Clara Barton, French stage and film actress Sarah Bernhart, Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, novelist Stephen Crane, and even the Queen of England. So walking the hallways of my alma mater often meant a walk through history and caused my writer’s brain to churn with questions and ideas of conversations and events that happened on some spot where I stood. I often daydreamed about just what a loud and boisterous group Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders were, and whether the other patrons got any sleep at all while they were there.

Of all the historic figures that set foot on the Tampa Bay Hotel/University of Tampa property, which one would you have most liked to meet?

Preview: Next month's giveaway--a beautiful vintage pin.

Southern Coastal History and the Lighthouse Lady

                                  Writing to Inspire, Encourage and Enlighten



The Early Bird gets the fish?

Hi. I’m Marilyn Turk, and I’d love to tell you about all the published books I have for you to read. I’d really love to, however, I can’t. Yet. My books are still waiting to find just the right home so that my future readers will have the exciting opportunity to read them. So let me just say I am very honored to be part of this esteemed group of writers!

Unlike many of the writers on this blog, I have not spent my whole life wanting to write a book, but I wrote – in my diary mostly. English was always easy for me, and I thought it was for everyone, so I chose a career in sales, which seemed more exciting. Shame on me, I didn’t appreciate the gift God had given me to write until much, much later. Meanwhile, the books I loved to read were historical fiction, allowing me to travel backwards through time. I pictured myself in the settings, imagining what it was like to live during those periods.

Sunrise on the Bayou

I’m a southern gal, having lived in Louisiana, Georgia and Florida, so I know Southern. I know boys too, having birthed three and now have three grandsons. My husband and I live near the Gulf of Mexico where we enjoy the beauty of the coastal environment and its fish and fowl, whether boating, kayaking or fishing. I also love to play tennis, even though I’m a very late bloomer to the sport.

 

 At first I had no plans to write a book. But my interest in the Civil War fueled my exploration of history about the places where I’ve lived, and soon, my mind started asking “What if…?” So my research collided with my creativity and the seed of a book idea was planted. While working on my first book, more book ideas took root, so I now have two novels finished, with more to follow. Naturally, I write Southern coastal historical fiction. So far, each book features a lighthouse, which represents another of my passions. My website, http://pathwayheart.com, based on Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path,” has a lighthouse blog where each week I post a story about a lighthouse and relate it to a scripture.

St. Marks Lighthouse, Florida

My short stories and devotionals have been published in a variety of magazines including Guideposts, as well as, books. One of them, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Devotional Stories for Tough Times, will be given away in a March drawing.







                                                 


Sunset on the Bayou

                         I am thankful to be represented by Joyce Hart, Hartline Literary Agency.

Happy Valentine Day-Introducing Anne Greene

HAPPY VALENTINE DAY – APPROPRIATE DAY TO INTRODUCE ANNE GREENE.

ANNE delights in writing about wounded heroes and gutsy heroines who fall in love. She writes romantic historical and suspense novels. Her second novel, a Scottish historical, Masquerade Marriage, won numerous writing awards. The sequel Marriage By Arrangement releases in February 2013.  A Texas Christmas Mystery also won several awards. In 2014, her World War II novel, Angel With Steel Wings, about WASPs, women test pilots will release. Her first book Trail of Tears, an American historical, is out of print and looking for a new home soon.

Anne’s a small-town girl who makes her home in McKinney, Texas. Tim LaHaye led her to the Lord when she was twenty-one and Chuck Swindoll is her current Pastor. In 1990, Anne graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Literary Studies from the University of Texas.

Anne loves spending time with her family and friends. Her daughter lives just five minutes away and her son lives about an hour away. Anne lost her first husband to a heart attack when her children were quite young. She can share miracles about sudden death at a young age, and how God wrapped His loving arms around a grief-filled widow. The Lord gave Anne a second love-for-eternity husband who brought two young boys into her life as step-children. She can tell stories about blended families that will inspire warmth, laughter, and tears.

Anne loves reading. She sings in a one hundred fifty voice choir and paints. At every opportunity Anne travels with her retired military Colonel husband. Together they have visited twenty-five different foreign countries. She has visited every state in the United States with the exception of Alaska. This summer she hopes to take a beautiful Alaskan cruise. Perhaps she will set a novel in that glorious state.

Her  love of travel, sailing, horseback riding, history, and art, as well as her Citizens Policy Academy training, and military life sometime figure in her books. View Anne’s other books, her extensive travel pictures, her military life, and her art work at http://www.AnneGreeneAuthor.com.

Anne is active in ACFW, FHL, Sisters in Crime, and the Southwest Chapter of ACFW. Anne loves to speak to book clubs, libraries, and conferences. Her hope is that her stories transport the reader to awesome new worlds and touch hearts to seek a deeper spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus. Buy Anne’s books at http://www.PelicanBookGroup.com. Or at http://www.Amazon.com. See below for a chance to win Marriage By Arrangement.

BACK COVER BLURB FOR MARRIAGE BY ARRANGEMENT:

                                                            A MARRIAGE COVENANT

                        Why does a handsome, powerful noble of the highest rank in England stoop to marry a mere Lady of Lowland Scotland?

                                                            A GREAT SECRET

                        Are the whispered stories about him true? With his shadowy past and strange behavior what awful secret does he hide? Each change of clothes transforms him into a different man.

                                                                   

                                                            AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE

                        Can Lady Cailin keep her vow to make her marriage happy and successful, unlike that of her parents. Or to save her unborn child, must she arrange for the Duke’s accidental death?

                       

For a chance to win Anne’s latest release, MARRIAGE BY ARRANGEMENT, please answer the following question and leave a comment.

If you could go back in a time machine to any time in history, where would you go?

Anne would choose the nineteenth century for her time travel adventure.  Did you know about these nineteenth century inventions?

• 1804 – gas lighting
• 1814 – first steam locomotive
•              first photograph
• 1819 – first soda fountain
•             first stethoscope
• 1829 – first typewriter
• 1830 – first sewing machine
• 1834 – early refrigerator, an ether ice machine
• 1836 – first revolver, Samuel Colt
• 1837 – first telegraph
•             first postage stamp
• 1838 – Morse code by Samuel Morse
• 1839 – first bicycle
• 1846 – first anesthesia for tooth extraction
• 1849 – first safety pin
• 1850 – first dishwasher
• 1856 – pasteurization
• 1857 – first Pullman Sleeping Car for trains
• 1858 – first rotary washing machine
• 1862 – Gatling patents first machine gun
•             first dynamite
•            first tin can with a can opener
•            first traffic light1872
•            first mail-order catalog
• 1876– first telephone
•             first phonograph
• 1878 – long lasting light bulb
• 1880 – toilet paper
• 1881 – roll film for cameras
• 1877 - Player piano
• 1884– first fountain pen
•           first cash register
• 1885 – first internal-combustion automobile 
•             first gas-engined motorcycle
• 1886 -  first Coca Cola
• 1893 - first zipper
• 1895 - first picture show

• 1898 - first roller coaster
• 1899 - first motor-drive vaacum cleaner

Sounds like a slower, easier time, doesn't it? So what time would you choose? Leave a comment for

a chance to win Marriage By Arrangement.

The first award-winning book in Anne's Scottish Marriage Trilogy, Masquerade Marriage

• 
•                         Nothing is what it seems. When Lady Megan MacMurry chooses a husband from a secret list, she opens her broken heart to a Highland warrior’s

    fight for life.

•  

Anne's award-winning contemporary Christmas Mystery. 

A lady Coastguardsman searches for a killer. An oil rig troubleshooter accused of murder races to clear his name. The murderer strives to silence them both.

More Than You Want to Know About Vickie McDonough

This may surprise you, but I never planned to be a writer. The first goal I can remember having was to grow up and marry a rancher. I loved horses, and I guess that my pre-teen mind reasoned if I married a rancher I could have all the horses I wanted. In the mean time, I read every book I could find with a horse on the cover. Years later, I married a city boy who was scared of horses. I didn’t know it then, but he would one day become my most ardent champion and encourager when God led me into the writing world.

Robert and I have been married 37 years, raised four sons, one who is married, and we are proud grandparents to a super smart six-year-year old girl. She keeps us laughing with the funny things she says. Though I’m a mom and grandma, I’m also a daughter and primary caregiver to my octogenarian mom. It really is a strange thing in life when the child becomes responsible for a parent.

One of the things I like best about writing is going on research trips. I’ve visited historic towns in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, North Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and clear over to Charleston on the east coast. I love touring old buildings and homes and hearing tales of days long gone. I also enjoy taking pictures of the local flowers in the towns we visit.

 

Writing keeps me busy, so that’s pretty much my main job. Lately though, I’ve discovered that I enjoy collecting antiques, especially old quilts. I recently bought three that were made by the mother of the woman who had owned the house where the estate sale I went to was held. The quilts had been stored in her attic for over 60 years. If only they could talk. Imagine that tales they could share. (If you visit this blog on March 10^th, you'll get to see pictures of them)

If you’ve read my books, you know that I write stories mainly set in the Midwest and Texas. That’s probably because I grew up in Oklahoma. You already know I love horses, but I also have a passion for tales of the Old West—stories about brave men who cherished women and children and would do everything possible to keep them safe. I love tales of the desperate but determined women who left all they knew to travel west as a mail-order bride to marry a stranger.

Before I go, I want to tell you about the cool book I’ll be giving away next month. The Stitched With Love collection is a compilation of 9 previously published novellas by some very popular authors like Cathy Marie Hake and Tracey Bateman, all which have a little something to do with sewing.

This week, I’m excited to try my hand at something new—creating stained glass art. My first class is Thursday. Ah well, I’ve blabbed on long enough about me. What kind of books do you like to read?

Vickie McDonough

www.vickiemcdonough.com

Meet Crit Partners and Best Friends Kathleen L. Maher and Debbie Lynne Costello

Colliding with Destiny by Kathleen L. Maher

Sometimes people find their calling, and sometimes their calling finds them. I think I am among the latter category. 

My husband and me dancing at our son's wedding Aug 18, 2012

I grew up in a little town called Elmira, NY, a stone's throw from Corning where they make the cook wear with the little blue flowers and the gorilla glass. Elmira has a few distinctions of its own. It is the county seat for rural Chemung County. It is where Mark Twain wrote much of Huck Finn, and it simmers with Civil- and Revolutionary War history. So in my hometown, history and writing collide, and so did I--with my destiny.

As a teen, I fell in love with the local fabric and legends. It intrigued me that so many of the soldiers who fought and died in both wars were my age then. I realized that like me, they probably didn't even know what they wanted to be when they grew up. Maybe they dreamed of working a farmstead, having a family, experiencing the love of a soul mate. Their stories came alive in my head and heart. I had to tell them.

I became a lifelong student of history and of the writing craft. It has been a very long journey. I've written and dreamed through many seasons of life--high school, college, rebellion, single motherhood, redemption, even marriage to a kind, nurturing soul mate. A sense of destiny and faith has carried me through it all--an unyielding hope that I will one day share my stories with people who need an encouraging word, a sense of commiseration, a good laugh or a good cry. To share the love of a gracious Heavenly Father with a broken, fatherless world. 

And so now, all these years later, my lifelong dream stands at the threshold of realization. I have just signed with a wonderful agent--Terry Burns of Hartline Literary Agency. And maybe, just maybe, there is a publishing house who shares my passion and who will help me fulfill my destiny to share the stories I have written as well as those that I have yet to write. Stories of the brave men and women from history who sacrificed, bled, loved, and lived inspiring lives. I may not be Elmira's next Mark Twain, but I would sure love to leave a mark on the city's history in my own unique way. 

I would be honored if you would take this journey to publication with me, and maybe even cheer and pray for me along the way. I am surrounded my a company of greatness here on this blog, and it is my earnest hope that they rub off on me and we all compel one another to good works. All I can say is it is an honor to be part of this group. And I look forward to interacting with all of you who visit.

My question for you: What do you feel is your God-given destiny? Have you found it yet or are you still searching?

To thank you for your time and connection, I am offering a gift to one lucky commenter (selected by random.org.) Please leave your email address below with your answer to my question, and I will send one of you this lovely print of an old farmstead as a token of my appreciation. I can't be sure where it was painted, but it looks very much like my region of upstate NY, sans the pretty dusting of snow we currently have.

 

Making God Chuckle by Debbie Lynne Costello

Sheriff at Virginia City, Nevada

“You have a twisted mind.” My husband’s famous words. A person can hear something only so much before they begin to believe it. He claimed only twisted minds could know the ending of a story. He did find it extremely annoying that half way through every movie we watched I ruined the end for him. Of course after the movie was over I always had to make suggestions on how it could have been better.  

I guess I’ve always loved writing and making up stories so naturally I had to give my input whether asked for or not. Life takes so many turns you never know where you will end up. And writing was one of those plans I had made. Which makes me think of a joke I just heard. 'If you want to make God laugh, tell Him you've made plans.' So where was I? Oh, yes, always liked making up stories of course my parents called them lies. LOL. Just kidding folks. But my mom surprised me with a packet full of stories I wrote from the age of seven and up. And I took every creative writing class I could in High School and then went on to journalism in college. But life has a way of taking sharp turns. I married my childhood sweetheart, had children and my writing ended…temporarily.

Best Friends

But let me just say that I was always looking for some hair brain idea to make money from home. With four kids it had to be something I could work in between school, meals, practices, sewing, and my duties at church. Funny thing is I think most  of my ideas cost us money, but my hubby was forever supportive.

Charleston, SC

The years went on and I started homeschooling I found adult companionship in books. Between ruining movies for hubby and all the reading I was doing when the boys were working and didn’t need my help (any homeschool mom knows you can’t leave your kids alone for five minutes if you want them to keep working so I read) Joe looked at me one day and said why don’t you write a book.  Four months later I had finished an 110,000 word manuscript.

My Arabian

Today I have five manuscripts finished.  Four of which are 19^th century stories set in the beautiful Charleston, SC area. I am represented by a wonderful agent, Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. 

I love horses, antiques, Shetland sheepdogs, my cowboy boots, collecting antique bibles, starting new things (ask my crit partner, Kathleen Maher about that), my country, and a book I can’t guess the ending to. 
 
  

I hope that in a small way you are blessed by this new blog and that you find new friends here that make you feel at home. Thanks to all of my co-authors of this blog and to you for stopping by.

Hangs over the door of my son's ship, the USS Bataan

 March is our giveaway month to thank you for coming by. On the 7th day of March I am offering a hand made bracelet from antique silver spoons with a dangle that can be added to the bracelet to one winner and I'm also giving awat a bath gift basket to another lucky winner.

What Am I Doing HERE?

You know, when Debbie Lynne mentioned the idea about a blog for historical writers, I totally raised my hand. And then I began looking around and noticed so did a lot of others. Like, *gulp* the popular girls.

Don't worry, I left high school behind a long, long time ago, but being the shy introverted type that I am (like most writers) it's hard not to compare. Just look at the names on the side bar. SERIOUSLY, I am a blog contributor with Vickie McDonough and Laurie Kingery!!!  YES, little 'ol me. I have their books on my keeper shelves. They are auto buys.

And then there are, like twenty-seven other accomplished authors right along with them. Can you tell I'm a little star struck? So, what am I doing here? Well, I love history. I'm one of those people who doesn't know a lot about one thing, but knows a little about a lot of things. I'm also one who thoroughly enjoys research. It's one of my favorite things about writing. I know, hubs thinks I'm weird too, especially when I get all googly-eyed over antique furniture that comes through our upholstery shop.

Cody's Upholstery

This is just one of the many fabulous pieces that has come through our shop. Once, when hubs worked for another upholsterer, I got to touch really old high back chairs that were brought over from England. I can't remember but I think they were from the 16th century. *swoon*

We've seen a lot of unique pieces come through. One had a falcon's head and lion's feet. We've seen pieces that were made by professionals, and pieces that were obviously handmade by a novice.

Linda's

We even bid on one of the most unique pieces I've ever seen. It had partially naked ladies for the legs. I keep hoping this one will eventually come through. I just want to touch it and inspect the lines the carver chipped out of the wood.

Anyway, told you I was weird. And as you have probably guessed by now, I'm a tad ADD. I got so caught up in talking furniture that I forgot what I was doing here?

Oh, yeah, I love history. And I love to write. When you combine those two things together you an historical writer. Of course, I'm an historical romance writer. One who recently signed a contract with Love Inspired Historical for a Biblical romance. I'm super excited, as you can imagine. And as you can imagine, especially with the added excitement o being part of this blog, I'm kind of in la-la land.

I can't wait to share with you little tidbits I've discovered during my research for my Biblical, or tidbits on Kansas history, my other great historical love.

In March, we'll each be giving away prizes every day, as well as a Kindle, so come back and comment often. Since my book won't be out for a long while. I'll be giving away a wooden cross pendant made in Israel.

Christian was born and raised in Kansas, where she currently lives with her husband and four children. She loves to read, research,travel, take pictures, fish, visit the ocean and writing happily ever afters.

Christina dreams of visiting the Holy Land as well as walk the beaches of Donegal and many other areas of Ireland and Scotland.