A Dime for Your Stories

By Suzanne Norquist

I write dime novels—or I would have in the mid-1800s. They provided cheap, fun entertainment to the masses, unlike more expensive, serious literary works. I would have been in good company with the likes of Louisa May Alcott, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Many lesser-known and part-time authors also contributed to the genre. Financial compensation was attractive to a prolific author who could write one story after another quickly.

Erastus F. Beadle is considered the father of the dime novel. He had this to say about his project:

"The idea occurred to me in '59, and I began publishing in '60. The state of the book market was then peculiar. Everyone was publishing books with thick paper and wide margins—trying to see how little they could give their readers for a dollar or a dollar and a half. . .Everyone said [the dime novel] would fail, but it didn't."

A couple of factors contributed to the industry's success. One was the development of lighter, cheaper paper along with improved printing processes. Another was the literacy of the masses. Railroads aided in national distribution of the novels. Soldiers in the Civil War used the stories to stave off boredom as they waited in camp, and factory workers needed a diversion in their off time.

Many of the early stories centered around Indians. They branched out to include western adventures and romance. Detective stories followed later.

Dime novels weaved tales of dramatic adventures, ones that were too over-the-top to be true. They followed basic formulas, and virtue always won out. The exaggerated nature of the stories caused many to criticize the novels and the people who read them.

According to an 1885 newspaper article in the Pueblo Chieftain, a trustee of a library in Boston attempted to "cure" small boys from reading the novels. It's a "disease with its own poison." He created a scrapbook of boys who read the novels. Presumably, these boys performed stunts they’d read about and suffered the consequences. After studying the scrapbook, "[The boy] asks the person in charge of the reading room for a better class of books."

Lower-class Americans openly read dime novels. Those in the middle class read them too but were embarrassed to admit they enjoyed the mindless entertainment.

Women purchased romance and adventure stories. Though the majority of the authors were men, a number of them were female.

Authors wrote detective stories before the heyday of dime novels, but these books undoubtedly contributed to the budding genre. Dime novel detective Frank Reade was the first to use the word sleuth to denote a detective. Before that, the term referred to a bloodhound trained in tracking.

In the early 1900s, pulp magazines (made from inexpensive paper pulp) slowly replaced dime novels. The stories didn't really change, but the medium for sharing them did.

Like in the days of the dime novel, everyone longs for a good story. Since I write fun stories for the masses, I would have been a dime novel author in the mid-1800s.

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”Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection

Four historical romances celebrating the arts of sewing and quilting.

Mending Sarah’s Heart by Suzanne Norquist

Rockledge, Colorado, 1884

Sarah seeks a quiet life as a seamstress. She doesn’t need anyone, especially her dead husband’s partner. If only the Emporium of Fashion would stop stealing her customers, and the local hoodlums would leave her sons alone. When she rejects her husband’s share of the mine, his partner Jack seeks to serve her through other means. But will his efforts only push her further away?

For a Free Preview, click here: http://a.co/1ZtSRkK

Suzanne Norquist is the author of two novellas, “A Song for Rose” in A Bouquet of Brides Collection and “Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection. Everything fascinates her. She has worked as a chemist, professor, financial analyst, and even earned a doctorate in economics. Research feeds her curiosity, and she shares the adventure with her readers. She lives in New Mexico with her mining engineer husband and has two grown children. When not writing, she explores the mountains, hikes, and attends kickboxing class.

She authors a blog entitled, Ponderings of a BBQ Ph.D.

An Old-Time Hero: Joshua James

by Naomi Rawlings

"You have to go out. You don’t have to come back."

Two years ago I did a series of posts about the Unite States Life-Saving Service. (If you want to brush up on what exactly the Life-Saving Service was and how they went about rescuing people from wrecked ships, here's a link to some of my old posts). 

"You have to go out. You don’t have to come back." This was the unofficial motto of the U.S Life-Saving Service, a precursor to the United States Coast Guard. Back before helicopters and radar and power boats, life-saving teams braved stormy waters with little more than rowboats, storm suits, and life rings.

Out of the hundreds of men that risked their lives for the life-saving service, one man stands out as

the most decorated and most well known. His name is Joshua James, and he lived in Massachusetts. At the age of ten, James watched his mother and baby sister die when the ship they were sailing on got caught in a storm and wrecked a half mile from the harbor.

When he was fifteen, James joined a group of volunteers from the local humane society was the launched a surfboat to go rescue passengers from a floundering ship named Mohawk. That was Jame's first life-saving rescue, but he went on to spend the next sixty years of his life rescuing sailors. First, he worked as a volunteer life-saver for the Massachusetts Humane Society, and then he worked as a station keeper for the U.S. Life-Saving Service. He's credited with saving over 200 lives, and was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal from the life-saving service as well as several other medals from the Massachusetts Humane Society. 

James died at the age of 75, after returning from running a life-saving drill in stormy weather. He apparently paddled for over an hour with the other men of his crew while they tested a new surfboat. Upon returning to the beach, he died of a heart attack.

I modeled the hero in my newest Eagle Harbor novel after Joshua James. My fictional Elijah Cummings grew up in Eagle Harbor, Michigan, on the shores of Lake Superior. He spent two years sailing the Atlantic Ocean and saw life-saving teams in action. After his father drowns in a storm, Elijah returns to Eagle Harbor. Unable to sit by and watch when ships flounder coming into port, he starts a volunteer life-saving team. But the icy conditions and strong storms prove difficult for his volunteers and secondhand equipment. He soon finds himself fighting for the U.S. Life-Saving Service to establish a legitimate station—as well as fighting for the woman he’s loved for fifteen years.

Giveaway: Answer one of the questions below to be eligible for a paperback copy of either Love's Unfading Light or Love's Every Whisper. Winner's choice.

Question: Do you enjoy novels where the characters have unusual jobs and hobbies? Do you personally know anyone with a dangerous job that puts their life at risk? How do family members respond when a person they love has a risky job?

*****

Love's Every Whisper

Victoria Donnelly simply wants to do something right, at least once in her lifetime. With five years of failed courtships behind her and the calendar inching closer to another birthday, she's determined to redeem herself and snag a proposal from a wealthy childhood acquaintance, Gilbert Sinclair. But returning to Eagle Harbor stirs up long forgotten memories. And worse, old affection for her betrothed's enemy. 

Elijah Cummings has loved Victoria for fifteen years. But fishermen's sons don't marry shipping barons' daughters. He knows it. She knows it. The entire town knows it. Resolved to keep his distance from Victoria, Elijah focuses on establishing a much needed life-saving station, risking his own life by rescuing sailors stuck aboard shipwrecks. 

He knows how to save drowning sailors, but how is he to save a woman from the biggest mistake of her life—without destroying both their hearts in the process? 

Purchase Love's Every Whisper for $3.99

Purchase Love's Unfading Light (Eagle Harbor Book 1) on sale for $0.99 through 10/2

THE FIRST ROMANCE NOVEL? By Cynthia Hickey

Ah, Romance. Every young girl yearns to experience it. With Valentine’s Day approaching, I thought it might be fun to research the “first” romance novel. What a task! Every literary country in the world lays claim to having the best novels, but it wasn’t until the late 15^th to early 16^th century during the Renaissance period and the invention of the printing press that novels became more easily attainable. But, the late 18^th Century in Germany saw the beginning of the romantic movement.

Once we entered the modern age of literature, novels abounded and romance sprouted among the pages and in the hearts of readers across the world.

According to Wikipedia one of the earliest romance novels was Samuel Richardson's popular 1740 novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, which was revolutionary on two counts: it focused almost entirely on courtship and did so entirely from the perspective of a woman protagonist. In the next century, Jane Austen expanded the genre, and her Pride and Prejudice is often considered the epitome of the genre.

Austen inspired Georgette Heyer, who introduced historical romances in 1921. A decade later, British company Mills and Boon began releasing the first category romance novels. Their books were resold in North America by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd, which began direct marketing to readers and allowing mass-market merchandisers to carry the books. Romance has never been the same!

According to the She Knows Book Lounge e-magazine, these are the ten best romantic novels to date. How many have you read?

Love Stories That Stand The Test Of Time

Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

1. When you think of a great romance novel, Jane Austen's name will inevitably come up. And Pride and Prejudice will, too. First published in 1813, but now one of the most popular novels in English literature that has been made into countless movies, it's the story of Elizabeth Bennet, the second of five daughters with a witty and sarcastic sense of humor that her father is trying to marry off. She meets and develops a complicated relationship with Mr. Darcy and both must learn to overcome their differences before they can ultimately be together.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Anna Karenina

by Leo Tolstoy

Written more than 100 years ago, Anna Karenina is still considered to be one of the greatest love stories of all time. It is the story of Anna Karenina, a married aristocrat and socialite, and her affair with Count Vronsky. The Count wants her to leave her husband so he can marry her. But once she does walk away from her loveless marriage she becomes paranoid and jealous that he will leave her. Usually a book assigned to read in school, this is one you should add to your list just because you want the experience of reading a book that many think is the best ever written.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 Gone With the Wind

by Margaret Mitchell

This novel, which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, was first published in 1936 and was also made into a movie that subsequently won an Academy Award. Set during the Civil War and Reconstruction in the South, many consider it to be more of a historical novel than a romantic one. But still, it includes a devastating love story between Rhett, with a reputation as a "bad boy" and Scarlett, a Southern belle who don't end up together for many years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Twilight

by Stephenie Meyer

 

Bella and Edward — human versus vampire — are the most unlikely of lovers, but still are brought together by forces they themselves don't even understand. But even Bella isn't safe from Edward who preys on humans, but still, they fall in love. This love story unfolds over several books in a series written by Stephenie Meyer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. The Notebook

by Nicholas Sparks

The Notebook is the story Noah and Allie who meet and fall in love as teenagers and then don't cross paths again for almost 15 years. Letters from Noah to Allie are kept from her by her mother and when Noah returns, Allie is set to marry someone else. Eventually, they do get together and so begins one of the most emotional love stories ever written. Be prepared to cry!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

One of the most unique love stories I've read, The Time Traveler's Wife, is the story of Henry, a librarian who can travel through time and Clare, the woman he falls in love with. Henry can't control when he leaves or when he comes back — he can end up in the past, present or future — so their love story takes place at all different stages in Clare's life, sometimes even her childhood. An impossible romance that still stands the test of time, it's a page-turner until the very end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. P.S. I Love You

by Cecelia Ahern

Gerry and Holly are soul mates who can't imagine life without each other until the day that Gerry dies. After Gerry is gone, Holly is, of course, devastated, and then Holly discovers a bundle of notes. Letters that Gerry wrote to Holly before he passed away, one for each of the months after his death. And as the ultimate act of love, Gerry's notes teach Holly that life, and love, must go on. This novel was also made into a movie starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler.

 

 

 

 

 

8. The History of Love

by Nicole Krauss

The title itself tells you it will be a story that tugs at the heart. This best-selling novel by Nicole Krauss, that takes place over 60 years, is the story of a locksmith named Leo who immigrates to New York after escaping Poland and is desperately missing the woman he has always loved. It also tells the story of a young girl named Alma. What ties Leo and Alma's story together is a novel that Leo has written called The History of Love. Alma is looking for a man to love her mother and discovers that she was named after the only woman Leo ever loved. As the story unfolds, the two main characters move closer and closer to meeting, until they finally do.

 

 

 

 

 

9. Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre is the story of Jane, an orphan raised by her cruel aunt. Then Jane is later sent away to school, but the headmaster also turns out to be an abusive man. Jane stays at the school and eventually becomes a teacher. After two years of working as a teacher, she yearns for new experiences, so she accepts a job as a governess and it is there she meets Mr. Rochester, who she falls in love with and marries. Only after, does Jane discover Mr. Rochester was already married to a woman in Jamaica. Jane immediately flees and finds herself penniless and hungry but is eventually taken in by three siblings. Jane soon learns that these three are her cousins. One of them, St. John, wants to marry Jane, but she refuses and she returns to her true love, Mr. Rochester, from whom she realizes she cannot stay apart.

 

 

 

 

Message in a Bottle

by Nicholas Sparks

Message in a Bottle is the story of newly divorced Theresa, who is jogging on the beach and finds a bottle with a letter inside addressed to Catherine and signed by Garrett. For reasons she doesn't understand, Theresa wants to find the lovers who are in this letter, which ultimately leads Theresa to finding her own love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One story that isn’t listed here, and maybe isn’t classified as a novel, but it is definitely a love story, is The Song of Solomon. Who can read that particular book in the Bible and not sigh?

What is your favorite romance novel of all time? Is there one you keep on your bookshelf to read again and again? Mine is Gone With the Wind. I’ve read every book on this list and while they all left me with a myriad of emotions, this one has kept with me since high school.

As an author of romantic suspense and historical romance, I love when I can inject these timeless emotions on the page and leave the reader with a smile on their face and sigh in their heart.

 

 

Multi-published author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with a new cozy series, all of which stay in the top 50 of Amazon’s ebooks for their genre. She has several historical romances releasing in 2013 and 2014 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs and two cats. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”. Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com