Today’s
Adventure: Letters from Skye, by
Jessica Brockmole
10
Great Authors, 10 Unforgettable Adventures. With every
“Today’s Adventure” post between August 1 and August 13, you can register to
win the featured book and the grand prize of all 10 books. We’ll announce
winners on August 14. You may enter
today’s contest at Jessica’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/jessicabrockmoleauthor.
Find links to all the authors below--follow any of them to keep up with the
latest adventures.
Here’s Jessica:
Opportunity doesn’t always knock. Sometimes it slips quietly into the mailbox, folded, stamped, addressed. This was especially true in ages past, before the immediacy of email. College acceptances, job offers, invitations, declarations of love—once upon a time, they all began with a letter. An envelope that, when opened, led to adventure.
For Elspeth Dunn, a Scottish poet with more dreams than adventures, opportunity arrives one day in the form of a fan letter. The letter, from a college student in far-off Urbana, Illinois is more than a glimpse of life beyond the shores of her native Isle of Skye; it’s a line to reach it. Her correspondent, David, is a daredevil. He fills pages with his escapades, going places and doing things she’d only imagined. For David, that first fan letter is just one more adventure; for Elspeth, it’s only the first.
Elspeth wasn’t looking for adventure. She was doing the things women on Skye did in the early twentieth century—spinning, gardening, cutting peat, braiding rope from heather. She wandered the hills with a notebook and wrote poetry, published to small acclaim in London. She was content. But then that letter arrived, with its Illinois postmark and teasing praise, and she began to wonder. To wonder what else was out there, to wonder who else the world held, to wonder how far she could go.
The opportunity for adventure, no matter how small, isn’t always sought. It can arrive, unannounced and unexpected, making you wonder what more your life could be. That was true for me, when I was given the chance to move to Scotland. Like Elspeth, I was content. But opportunity quietly slipped in and I began wondering. That wondering took me across the ocean to the biggest adventure of my life.
Elspeth didn’t expect adventure, but when it arrived, she recognized it. When opportunity sends you a letter, all you have to do is reply.
To win, leave a comment on Jessica's Facebook page telling her about a time you found adventure in your mailbox!
Keep up with the latest adventures and chances to win through any of the authors:
The adventures continue tomorrow with Katherine Keenum's Where the Light Falls, whose heroine finds adventure and challenges studying painting in Paris at the end of the 19th century.
Katherine graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in English and earned a Ph.D. in medieval studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She worked in the publicity department of the New Orleans Public Schools, taught in the expository writing program at Yale University, and served as the executive editor of the book publishing program of the Council on East Asian Studies at Harvard University. She now lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband, John Keenum, and a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.
Be sure to come back tomorrow to read Katherine's guest post and find out how to win a copy of her book.
Here’s Jessica:
Opportunity doesn’t always knock. Sometimes it slips quietly into the mailbox, folded, stamped, addressed. This was especially true in ages past, before the immediacy of email. College acceptances, job offers, invitations, declarations of love—once upon a time, they all began with a letter. An envelope that, when opened, led to adventure.
For Elspeth Dunn, a Scottish poet with more dreams than adventures, opportunity arrives one day in the form of a fan letter. The letter, from a college student in far-off Urbana, Illinois is more than a glimpse of life beyond the shores of her native Isle of Skye; it’s a line to reach it. Her correspondent, David, is a daredevil. He fills pages with his escapades, going places and doing things she’d only imagined. For David, that first fan letter is just one more adventure; for Elspeth, it’s only the first.
Elspeth wasn’t looking for adventure. She was doing the things women on Skye did in the early twentieth century—spinning, gardening, cutting peat, braiding rope from heather. She wandered the hills with a notebook and wrote poetry, published to small acclaim in London. She was content. But then that letter arrived, with its Illinois postmark and teasing praise, and she began to wonder. To wonder what else was out there, to wonder who else the world held, to wonder how far she could go.
The opportunity for adventure, no matter how small, isn’t always sought. It can arrive, unannounced and unexpected, making you wonder what more your life could be. That was true for me, when I was given the chance to move to Scotland. Like Elspeth, I was content. But opportunity quietly slipped in and I began wondering. That wondering took me across the ocean to the biggest adventure of my life.
Elspeth didn’t expect adventure, but when it arrived, she recognized it. When opportunity sends you a letter, all you have to do is reply.
To win, leave a comment on Jessica's Facebook page telling her about a time you found adventure in your mailbox!
Keep up with the latest adventures and chances to win through any of the authors:
Alison Atlee, The Typewriter Girl Facebook
Jessica Brockmole, Letters from Skye Facebook
T.J. Brown, Summerset Abbey: Spring Awakening Facebook
Sarah Jio, The Last Camellia Facebook
Susanna Kearsley, The Firebird Facebook
Katherine Keenum, Where the Light Falls
Stephanie Lehmann, Astor Place Vintage Facebook
Kate Noble, Let It Be Me Facebook
Deanna Raybourn, A Spear of Summer Grass Facebook
Lauren Willig, The Ashford Affair Facebook
Katherine graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in English and earned a Ph.D. in medieval studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She worked in the publicity department of the New Orleans Public Schools, taught in the expository writing program at Yale University, and served as the executive editor of the book publishing program of the Council on East Asian Studies at Harvard University. She now lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband, John Keenum, and a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.
Be sure to come back tomorrow to read Katherine's guest post and find out how to win a copy of her book.
Looks like a beautiful book!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful book that is on my mind! Thanks Marguerite B
ReplyDelete