Linda Banche and Her Historical Hilarity: The Wild Rose Press's Stop and Smell the Roses Blog Bouquet

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Stop and Smell the Roses Blog Bouquet--Novel Time

Welcome to my entry for The Wild Rose Press's Stop and Smell the Roses Blog Bouquet. Leave a comment by June 23, 9AM Eastern Time for a chance to win a PDF copy of Lady of the Stars. Note: You must check back after the contest closes to see if you’ve won. I will post the winner as soon as possible after 9AM, June 23.

My topic is Time. In my two TWRP Regency novellas, time plays a prominent role.

In Lady of the Stars, my Regency time travel, when the heroine, Caroline, suspects she's traveled into the past, she asks Richard, the hero, what the day is. He answers the day is Wednesday, July 9, 1817. I checked. July 9, 1817 was a Wednesday. Here's the calendar for 1817.

I selected that date on purpose. Astronomy is a prominent part of Lady of the Stars. Caroline and Richard fall in love as they observe the stars. Bright moonlight washes out the stars, so part of the storyline had to occur when there was no moon to interfere.

From Lady of the Stars: "The clouds thinned that very day, and the next five nights were clear and moonless, perfect for observation."

These five nights occurred on days 4-9 of Caroline's sojourn in the past, July 12-16. According to the calendar, the new moon occurred on July 14. The new moon rises at sunrise and sets at sunset, so was not in the sky to interfere with their observations.

Romantic Times has given Lady of the Stars a 4 star review. The review itself isn't online yet, but author C. J. Parker sent me a copy. From the review (I can't post the whole thing): "a quick read and a delightful short romance." Thank you, Romantic Times.

Pumpkinnapper, my Regency Halloween comedy, also makes use of the moon's phases. The story starts on September 28, 1816, at the moon's first quarter. Here's the 1816 calendar.

The times for Pumpkinnapper were more complicated because most of the action occurs in the dark after moonset. I found the times for moonrise/moonset using the US Naval Observatory website. The times are valid only with the correct latitude and longitude, which I found at the NGA GEOnet Names Server (GNS) .

At first quarter, the sun rises about noon and sets around midnight. Corrected for the latitude and longitude of Lindsell, Essex, England, using the above sites, moonset on September 28, 1816, occurred around 10PM.

Each day, the moon rises and sets about an hour later. The Pumpkinnapper climax occurs on the night before full moon, the night of October 4-5, when the moon sets after 3AM.

Here Hank, the hero, waits until he can go to Emily's, the heroine's, house to try and catch the pumpkinnapper: "Hank glanced at the clock on the mantle above the fire. Only midnight. Moonset was at three, so he couldn't leave for at least another hour."

Why did I pick the dark after moonset? All kinds of things happen in the dark. The Wild Rose Press will release Pumpkinnapper on September 30.

Do you like this level of detail in your stories?

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll hop over to the blogs of the other authors participating in TWRP's Stop and Smell the Roses Blog Bouquet. Note, all the posts in the Blog Bouquet must be posted by 9AM Eastern time on June 22. Depending on when you read this, the other posts may not be up yet.

Thank you all,

Linda

Sunday, June 14, 2009

My First Royalty Check

I just received my first royalty check from The Wild Rose Press. Enough people bought my book, Lady of the Stars, to generate some royalties.

The amount isn't much. I had to earn $25 before they would write a check. So, I made $25, but not much more.

My husband asked if I was going to frame the check. I'm going to cash it, but I'll make a copy first, and save that.

I doubt I'll receive a check next quarter. Sales tend to spurt at the release, then tail off. The good news is at least a few people were willing to pay for my story. Maybe I have some kind of future as an author.

Now for the Shameless Promotion. Next Monday, June 22, is The Wild Rose Press's Stop and Smell the Roses Blog Bouquet. Twenty Wild Rose Press authors will post special blogs and offer prizes. Leave a comment on my blog then for a chance to win a PDF copy of Lady of the Stars. Event runs from when I post my blog next week (probably late Sunday night, June 21) until 9AM Eastern time Tuesday, June 23.

Thank you all,
Linda

P.S. The above image is not my check. That picture is the check the USA presented to Russia for the Alaska Purchase in 1864.

Pages

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Stop and Smell the Roses Blog Bouquet--Novel Time

Sunday, June 14, 2009

My First Royalty Check