Change of Seasons
A Guest Post by Author Jane Toombs
*****
August nights turned cold, and by the time the month spilled into September, our furnace came on before morning. Us Yoopers (those of us lucky enough to live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) know this is typical of summer nights We know these colder nights make the days take longer to warm up--a sign fall is hovering in the wings. (For grammarians: No one up here ever says “we Yoopers.” It’s always “us Yoopers.”)
We don’t have a lawn. We have a meadow, situated as we are across the road from Lake Superior. Now the Queen Anne ’s lace, the wild phlox, the black-eyed susans, Indian paintbrushes and other native wild flowers have all gone to seed--except for the goldenrod, which is still in bloom. By the end of September even the goldenrod will have gone to seed. Chances are we’ll be having night frosts.
But we still have October to look forward to. Pleasantly warm days mixed with some rain, with frosty nights. Unless we get an unusual early snow, autumn up here is gorgeous with all the bright-colored leaves on the deciduous trees.
When I lived in Southern California I really missed the seasons changing, even though once I got acclimatized I realized vegetation is slightly different during the four seasons even there..
So when I set a book in an unfamiliar place, I do careful research about seasonal changes to avoid weather and flora mistakes. When I wrote Deception’s Bride I had to be especially careful because the book is set in the 1600s in America, Formosa, Holland and England as the heroine tries to find her place in the world.
One might think I made an error having an American Indian on a sailing ship. But research showed that, in the early days, ship captains often took male Indians back to their home countries to show them off and some of these men became sailors.
So, yes, Deception’s Bride is historical, but also is full of suspense and romance, plus a few paranormal elements. While it was fun to write, I did have to do a lot of research. I will be giving away a download of this ebook to a commenter on Sara Jane’s blog.
We don’t have a lawn. We have a meadow, situated as we are across the road from Lake Superior. Now the Queen Anne ’s lace, the wild phlox, the black-eyed susans, Indian paintbrushes and other native wild flowers have all gone to seed--except for the goldenrod, which is still in bloom. By the end of September even the goldenrod will have gone to seed. Chances are we’ll be having night frosts.
But we still have October to look forward to. Pleasantly warm days mixed with some rain, with frosty nights. Unless we get an unusual early snow, autumn up here is gorgeous with all the bright-colored leaves on the deciduous trees.
When I lived in Southern California I really missed the seasons changing, even though once I got acclimatized I realized vegetation is slightly different during the four seasons even there..
So when I set a book in an unfamiliar place, I do careful research about seasonal changes to avoid weather and flora mistakes. When I wrote Deception’s Bride I had to be especially careful because the book is set in the 1600s in America, Formosa, Holland and England as the heroine tries to find her place in the world.
One might think I made an error having an American Indian on a sailing ship. But research showed that, in the early days, ship captains often took male Indians back to their home countries to show them off and some of these men became sailors.
So, yes, Deception’s Bride is historical, but also is full of suspense and romance, plus a few paranormal elements. While it was fun to write, I did have to do a lot of research. I will be giving away a download of this ebook to a commenter on Sara Jane’s blog.
Deception‘s Bride: Forced to marry a man she dislikes, Donella is relieved, though frightened, when the terrifying call of "Pirates!" ends her wedding. She's rescued by a never-forgotten man she's seen only once before. But can he keep her safe from either the pirates--or her new husband?
*****
What do I usually write? Like the seasons, I’ve gone through phases, beginning with gothics, then came contemporary romance, historical romance, including Regencies. I wrote and sold a horror book (Note: My SO finds some of my paranormals too horrific for his taste.) I love fantasy and some of my paranormals veer into that genre. Two of my suspense books the publisher labeled as murder mysteries.
These days I mostly write contemporary paranormal suspense romance. Which, actually, my early gothic were. So I guess, like when the year ends, I’m actually back where I started.
All my books can be found on my website at: www.JaneToombs.com
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