Category Archives: Appalachia

Sadie Hawkins’ Day, not a Leap Year Event, But Fun, Nevertheless

(Image from Sadie Hawkins’ cards at http://www.postcards.org) When I was a teen girl, I enjoyed the school-sponsored Sadie Hawkins’ dances. We didn’t exactly go for the girl asking the boy to the dance (like a date). But we did follow some … Continue reading

Posted in America, American History, Appalachia, Austen Authors, customs and tradiitons, dancing, film, giveaway, history, holidays, legends and myths, marriage, marriage customs, Pop Culture, romance, tradtions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Cecil Sharp’s Influence on “Amending the Shades of Pemberley” + a Giveaway

As with many folk songs, the author and date of origin of “Hush, Little Baby” remain an unknown. The English folklorist Cecil Sharp collected and notated a version of this song found in Endicott, Franklin County, Virginia in 1918, but such simply means the song had been around much longer, passed down from generation to generation, with little changes in it depending on whether one’s ancestors were from Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, or Northwest Europe. Sharp, himself, found a different version with complete lyrics in Micaville, North Carolina. A version recorded by James Madison Carpenter on a wax cylinder in the early 1930s in Durham, North Carolina, can be heard online at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website. Naturally, that date is well past the time of my story, but Cecil Sharp discovered such songs over and over again. If you have never heard of Sharp, you will be surprised by all he accomplished. Continue reading

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Major General Adam Stephen, Real-Life Model for Doctor Spurlock in My Tale, “Captain Stanwick’s Bride”

In my tale “Captain Stanwick’s Bride,” I based Elizabeth Spurlock on my own 8th great-grandmother, a Powhatan Indian Princess. But where did I find the inspiration for the lady’s husband? Easy enough to answer. I am from West Virginia originally, … Continue reading

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A Closer Look at “One Minute Past Christmas” by George T. Arnold and Regina Jeffers

I came to this story late in the aspect that the nucleus of it was written by my former journalism professor. When I read it, I liked it, but I had the feeling that something was missing. Even so, I … Continue reading

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A Closer Look at “The Road to Understanding”

In my short eight years of writing fiction, I have written a variety of genres/settings: retellings, sequels, Regencies, paranormal, cozy mysteries, vagaries, contemporaries, and inspirational. I will admit many of my 34 novels fall under the big “umbrella” of Regencies, … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Appalachia, book release, British history, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Great Britain, historical fiction, Jane Austen, marriage customs, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Wilderness Road, Setting for “The Road to Understanding”

According to Ancestry.com, the Wilderness Road “was only a crude trail; only pack teams could cross the mountains. Pioneers coming from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas before 1796 found it necessary to unload their Conestoga Wagons at Sapling Grove … Continue reading

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Release of “The Road to Understanding” with an Excerpt and a Giveaway

Back in 1984, I went into labor 5 weeks early in the middle of my Theatre/Acting class. That early delivery was the joy of my life, especially as I had lost two previous children. Over the April 16-17 weekend, I … Continue reading

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“One Minute Past Christmas,” a Holiday Short Story + a Giveaway

Are you sick of Halloween already? Dreading Thanksgiving? Are you ready for Christmas? Then I have just the thing to bring a bit of the HOLIDAY Spirit. In 2012, a gentleman friend released a Christmas-based eBook short story, which his friends … Continue reading

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