Guest Blogger: Christina Cole

I’m thrilled to be here today at Storm Goddess Book Reviews and More. I appreciate the invitation, and I always enjoy the opportunity to share a few thoughts about love, about writing, and about mixing the two!

I’m also pleased to offer a “giveaway” of Happily Ever After, my latest sweet historical romance. To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post. Tell me one technology you couldn’t live without. Contest will run through 6:00 AM (Central Daylight Time) Sunday morning, March 10. I’ll be using “Random.org” to choose a winner. Good luck! If you’re the winner, I will contact you immediately so please be sure I have an e-mail address or a Facebook contact so I can send you a message. Thanks!

Being a romance writer is exciting, especially in this day and age when technology has changed the fiction-writing industry in radical ways we could scarcely have imagined when I first began writing...many long years ago.

My first stories were written in pencil on ruled notebook paper. As a child, I loved sitting outside on our screened-in porch during summer rainstorms. It was always a special time and place for dreams, for imagination, for fantasy. Throughout the years, I continued to use the old-fashioned, pencil-and-paper method for much of my writing, and even now, there are times when I’ll grab those antiquated old tools and jot down a few lines, a paragraph or two, or maybe even a page.

Sometimes it’s a way of -- literally -- reconnecting with our writing. The tactile feel of a pencil or ink pen in our hands can actually stimulate something in our brains, alerting us that “It’s time to write”. I know many writers who use this technique to break out of a slump or “writer’s block”. Temporarily changing our writing methods can also help us change the pace of a story, or lead us down new avenues of creative thought. Whenever we shake up our old routines, we’re shaking up our minds, as well.

Technology has not only played an important role in my life as a writer, but it plays a role, too, in the stories I tell. As a historical romance writer, I not only have to have a story to tell, I have to have factual information to back up the details. There’s an old adaga that “The devil is in the details”, and with historical fiction, that’s definitely true.

My bookshelves are lined with history books, including many reference books, such as Everyday Life in the 1880s, and Frontier Medicine. Best of all, modern technology has simplified research. Where I once had to visit libraries for information, sometimes even sending off for inter-library book loans for specific books, now with only a few clicks, I can be on-line searching out facts on every conceivable topic. Of course, we all know that not everything on the Internet can be believed, but it does serve as a great starting point.

Another advantage to writing historical romance is that by choosing to set a story close to home, I have opportunities to learn about my area’s history. I love sharing little bits and pieces of the knowledge I gain with readers, such as this information about a theater in Kansas City, now only a distant memory:

~ ~ ~

Had Anne ever been to the splendid opera house at Fifth and Walnut? Probably not. Although The Gillis had opened fifteen years earlier, Anne had only recently come to Kansas City. George would delight in taking her to a performance there. Boxes at The Gillis were outrageously expensive—costing as much as twenty dollars apiece for some presentations—but it would be well worth the price to see the look on Anne’s beautiful face as she stepped inside the ornate four-story structure and gazed upon the polished walnut interior and dazzling glass chandeliers. Would she prefer a Shakespeare play? Or a classic opera?

Eager to put his plan into motion, George moved away from the composing tray and began rifling through a filing cabinet. The Gillis always ran an advertisement in The Weekly Courier. He pulled out a folder, located their latest ad, and frowned. The weekend’s performance would be one of those dreadful, cheap melodramas they’d lately begun presenting.

~ ~ ~

This litle “snippet” is from Happily Ever After, my latest historical romance from Sweet Cravings Publishing. The story takes place in 1898, and yes, twenty dollars was outrageously expensive. A quick check with an online “inflation calculator” shows that twenty dollars in 1898 would be equivalent to over five hundred dollars today.

Fortunately, George Mather could afford it. Unfortunately, his plans to take Anne to the opera house fell through with the appearance of Nathan Grisham, a rival for Anne’s affections.

Of course, no matter how many technological advances we make, and no matter the era in which fictional characters live, some things -- like love itself -- never change. Love is enduring, love is always, love is forever. There will always be love stories to tell, and I’m delighted to share my stories of love.

~ ~ ~

Here are the links to use for purchasing the e-book. "Likes" are also appreciated, so please check out the different booksellers and share a little love for historical romance.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

$5.99

Available at:

Sweet Cravings Publishing

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

All Romance Ebooks

Bookstrand

Now available in E-book format. Paperback release coming soon!

About Christina:

Christina Cole fell in love with words at a very young age. She’ll always be grateful to her grandfather and his patience as he taught her the joys of reading. Throughout her childhood she loved telling tales. She begged and pleaded for her mother to type them, but soon -- with her grandfather’s guidance -- learned to type for herself on his old Underwood.

Things have changed now. Her grandfather is gone, and so is the old typewriter, but Christina’s love for story-telling has remained strong. She now does her typing on a computer in a cozy little writing room filled with books, treasures, and a much-cherished photograph of her grandfather.

She is married, lives in the midwest, loves history, hates winter, and is happily at work on her next historical romance.