Adventure at the Manor House

Today’s Adventure: The Last Camellia, by Sarah Jio

 

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 Sarah’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/sarahjioauthor. Find links to all the authors below--follow any of them to keep up with the latest adventures.

Here’s Sarah:

The year is 1940. The world is on the brink of war. Can you imagine being barely twenty years old and leaving your home on the quiet, safe Atlantic Coast and traveling to an unknown country to an unknown manor house, where you will be required to go beyond your comfort zone in ways you’ve never even imagined?

My character, Flora, in my fourth novel, The Last Camellia, does just that. She’s brave, she’s bold, and for those she loves, she’s willing to do the unthinkable.

I thought a lot about adventure while writing Flora’s character, namely because I still regret not spending a year in Europe during my college years (I stayed home for the reason many of us do: a relationship that ultimately didn’t end up working out).

But I got to be adventurous and travel alongside Flora in writing this novel—at least, in spirit. I followed her on her voyage to England, roam the great halls of the Livingston Manor, explore the gardens, and ultimately make life-changing discoveries. It was the adventure of a lifetime—for both of us.

To enter the giveaway, please like Sarah’s Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/sarahjioauthor.  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

The adventures continue on Sunday with Deanna Raybourn's Spear of Summer Grass, in which a determinedly scandalous and independent woman journeys to the heart of Colonial Africa and finds a landscape that will change her and a man with strength to match her own.

Deanna's the author of The Dead Travel Fast—a Gothic adventure in Victorian Transylvania—and of  the bestselling Lady Julia Grey series featuring Victorian sleuth Lady Julia and her enigmatic partner, private enquiry agent Nicholas Brisbane, nominated for five RITA Awards, an Agatha Award, and numerous Dilys Wynn, Last Laugh, Daphne du Maurier, and Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Awards. The first book in the series, Silent in the Grave, won the 2008 RITA for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements, while the fifth adventure, The Dark Enquiry, was a New York Times bestseller. 

Be sure to come back on Sunday to read Deanna's guest post and find out how to win a copy of her book.

Adventure in Paris

Today’s Adventure: Where the Light Falls by Katherine Keenum

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 Katherine’s website, http://www.katherinekeenum.com. Find links to all the authors below--follow any of them to keep up with the latest adventures.

Here’s Katherine: 

When I joined the Unforgettable Adventure giveaway, I thought I remembered my main character, Jeanette Palmer, actually using the word “adventure.” Yes! On p. 278 she has been forced to borrow money from an older relative and asks anxiously, “Has the adventure worked out for you, Cousin Effie? The whole thing, I mean—coming to Paris?”

Change the question: “Will the adventure work out for you, reader? The whole thing, I mean—going to Paris with Jeanette and Effie?”

Adventure means finding yourself somewhere new, facing unexpected challenges. It means not always knowing what you are doing or what comes next. If those are the criteria, then writing a novel is an adventure—and so is reading one from a new author. You can’t judge by past experience; you just have to take a chance. How might the chance pay off if you head to Paris with Jeanette?

From the company she keeps on this group blog tour, you can guess that romance will be part of Jeanette’s story, yet it is not what she sets out to find. Jeanette is a naive but determined young woman who crosses the Atlantic in 1878 to study painting. The last thing she expects is to meet an older man haunted by a war and fall in love with him. My hope is that you will fall in love with both of them—that you will be swept up in Jeanette’s talent and ambition, immerse yourself in her friendships with other women artists, experience Paris with all your senses, then feel achingly Edward’s attractions and sorrows. If you remember the characters long after you finish, I’d call the adventure a success.

But that leads to a last question: “What are you looking for in an adventure? What makes a book worthwhile to you?” 

GIVEAWAY: To win a free copy of Where the Light Falls, leave a comment on Katherine's blog any time before August 13. If you choose to comment on an archived post, be sure to include the phrase “Unforgettable Adventure Giveaway.” The winner will be selected randomly and contacted by e-mail (your e-mail address is automatically recorded by the website but it will never appear publicly).

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

  

The adventures continue tomorrow with Sarah Jio's The Last Camellia, in which a sought-after flower draws connects two women across half a century with echoes of intrigue and danger.

Sarah is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of THE LAST CAMELLIA, BLACKBERRY WINTER, THE VIOLETS OF MARCH (a Library Journal Best Book of 2011), THE BUNGALOW and MORNING GLORY (coming on 11/26/13!)–all from Penguin (Plume). A longtime magazine writer, Sarah has contributed to major magazines and publications, including Glamour, O, The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Redbook, The New York Times, NPR and others.

Be sure to come back tomorrow to read Sarah's guest post and find out how to win a copy of her book. 

Adventure in the Mailbox

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: 

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

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.

Adventure by the Sea

Today’s Adventure: The Typewriter Girl, by Alison Atlee

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 giveaway at Alison’s blog and/or by liking her Facebook page. Enter at both places to double your winning chances!

Here’s Alison: 

“But did you know it is almost the best job in London a girl could hope for?”

That question of Betsey Dobson’s turned up in the earliest draft of The Typewriter Girl and survived many revisions, but it took awhile for me to understand just how much it expressed about Betsey and the adventure that changes her life.

Funny how we speak of adventure: Adventure awaits. It beckons, calls. We discover adventure, we embark upon it.

Which all suggests that we have to make ourselves available to it. A shiny new adventure might be sitting in the driveway with a full tank of gas, but it’s going nowhere until we take our place in the driver’s seat.

What I loved about writing Betsey’s adventure was how she kept letting it grow, just a little at a time. She thinks she’s made it, there at the beginning of the story. Getting that typewriting job was an enormous accomplishment for her. She thinks, If I can just hold on to this much, I won’t ask for more.

Except for the word “almost.” Almost the best job. To me, that signaled a spark inside Betsey, a belief that if she gave her dreams a little extra room to run, they’d grow. And then, anything was possible.

Remember, there are two ways to enter the giveaway: Like Alison’s Facebook page and/or go to her blog, At Issue. Do both and get two chances to win. 

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

The adventures continue tomorrow with Jessica Brockmole and Letters from Skye, an epic romantic debut spanning two continents and two world wars.

Jessica has been enamored with historical fiction since she was old enough to sit still for bedtime readings of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Now, she writes stories of her own (and is much better at sitting still). When not writing, she can be found reviewing historical fiction as part of the Historical Novels Review's editorial team.

Be sure to come back tomorrow to read Jessica's guest post and find out how you can win a copy of her book. 

Adventure in the Air

Today’s Adventure: Summerset Abbey: Spring Awakening, by T.J. Brown

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 giveaway and the grand prize at T.J.’s blog, http://teribrownbooks.com/tjblog/. You’ll find links to all the authors below--follow any of them to keep up with the latest adventures.

And now, T.J. on WWI Women and Their Flying Machines:

Come Josephine in my flying machine

Going up she goes! Up she goes!

Balance yourself like a bird on a beam

In the air she goes! There she goes!

Up, up, a little bit higher

Oh! My! The moon is on fire

Come Josephine in my flying machine

Going up, all on, Goodbye!

(lyrics by Alfred Bryan, original music by Fred Fisher, first published 1910)

     Aeroplanes play a big part in the Summerset Abbey trilogy and the eldest sister, Rowena, becomes a volunteer pilot in World War One. Did I stretch the truth too far or did I not go far enough?  Through my research I found that while the numbers were small, there were women who flew actual combat and reconnaissance missions during the war and many more who worked in aeroplane production. The following women were pilots during the war when aircraft technology was in its earliest stages: 

      Helene Dutrieu flew reconnaissance flights from Paris to check on German troop movements. 

      Marie Marvingt flew bombing missions over Germany and was probably the first women to fly actual combat missions. 

      Russia had several such daring aviatrixes: Princess Eugenie M. Shakovskaya, Helen P. Samsonova, Princess Sophie A. Dolgorukaya and Nadeshda Degtereva all flew during the war, though in different capacities.

It’s important to remember just what a fledging science aircraft actually was. For the first two years of WWI, the average life expectancy for pilots was 10-15 days to three weeks due to the rushed training and the rapid increase of the quality of German planes.

In Summerset Abbey: Spring Awakening, Rowena volunteers to transport newly built aeroplanes, as well as flying key officials,  to various military bases. When the series begins, Rowena is diffident and a bit lost. She is searching for her purpose in life. When she takes to the air for the first time as a passenger, she knows immediately that she has found it. Flying becomes her passion and she does most of her growing as a character while in the air. Volunteering for the war effort gives her adventurous spirit an outlet and changes her outlook on life.

Don’t forget to enter at T.J.’s blog, http://teribrownbooks.com/tjblog/. 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

The adventures continue tomorrow with Alison Atlee's The Typewriter Girl, whose heroine steps off the railway platform in the seaside resort of Idensea and into an adventure she could never have foreseen. 

Alison spent her childhood re-enacting Little Women and trying to fashion 19th century wardrobes for her Barbie dolls. Happily, these activities turned out to be good preparation for writing historical novels. She now lives in Kentucky.

Be sure to come back tomorrow to read Alison's guest post and find out how to win a copy of her book.