Creating Tension Without Using Gratuitous Violence: A HOSTAGE TO HERITAGE, Book Tour Stop 4

How far do crime fiction authors need to take violence in their stories to generate sufficient tension? Over on Mysteristas today, I have some ideas about getting the point across in a wartime setting without going overboard. Stop by and see if you agree with me.

A Hostage to Heritage just received its fourth five-star review on Amazon. “Ms. Adair truly deserves to be called the ‘Mistress of American Revolution historical fiction,’” says the reviewer. Oh, my. I’ll take that tiara. Thank you!

Remember these Goodreads giveaways this week:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Hostage To Heritage by Suzanne Adair

A Hostage To Heritage

by Suzanne Adair

Giveaway ended April 26, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Regulated for Murder by Suzanne Adair

Regulated for Murder

by Suzanne Adair

Giveaway ended April 26, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

**********

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The Unforgettable Hero: A HOSTAGE TO HERITAGE, Book Tour Stop 3

What makes the protagonist of a book or movie not just memorable but hauntingly unforgettable? Over on The Ladykillers today, I have some ideas about that. Stop by and see if you agree with me. Tell us who’s your favorite fictional hero.

Remember these Goodreads giveaways this week:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Hostage To Heritage by Suzanne Adair

A Hostage To Heritage

by Suzanne Adair

Giveaway ended April 26, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Regulated for Murder by Suzanne Adair

Regulated for Murder

by Suzanne Adair

Giveaway ended April 26, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

**********

Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

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Hurricanes, Redcoats, Skyping: A HOSTAGE TO HERITAGE, Book Tour Stop 2

I’m chatting with mystery author Beth Groundwater on her blog today about hurricanes, redcoats, and Skyping. Stop by and comment by Thursday night, and we’ll enter you in a drawing to win a copy of A Hostage to Heritage. Thanks!

Remember these Goodreads giveaways this week:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Hostage To Heritage by Suzanne Adair

A Hostage To Heritage

by Suzanne Adair

Giveaway ended April 26, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Regulated for Murder by Suzanne Adair

Regulated for Murder

by Suzanne Adair

Giveaway ended April 26, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

**********

Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

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Release Day for A HOSTAGE TO HERITAGE, Book Tour Stop 1

A Hostage to Heritage book cover

It’s Release Day for A Hostage to Heritage! Huzzah! The book is available as a paperback and in multiple ebook formats (Kindle, Nook, iTunes, Kobo).

A boy kidnapped for ransom. And a madman who didn’t bargain on Michael Stoddard’s tenacity.

Spring 1781. The American Revolution enters its seventh grueling year. In Wilmington, North Carolina, redcoat investigator Lieutenant Michael Stoddard expects to round up two miscreants before Lord Cornwallis’s army arrives for supplies. But his quarries’ trail crosses with that of a criminal who has abducted a high-profile English heir. Michael’s efforts to track down the boy plunge him into a twilight of terror from radical insurrectionists, whiskey smugglers, and snarled secrets out of his own past in Yorkshire.

Today is also Stop 1 of the A Hostage to Heritage blog tour. I’m a guest on Jean Henry Mead’s Mysterious Writers blog, talking about the creative process and where all those redcoats come from. Please stop by and say hello.

Remember these Goodreads giveaways this week:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Hostage To Heritage by Suzanne Adair

A Hostage To Heritage

by Suzanne Adair

Giveaway ended April 26, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Regulated for Murder by Suzanne Adair

Regulated for Murder

by Suzanne Adair

Giveaway ended April 26, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

**********

Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

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Revolutionary War Days 2006 at Camden

Acrobat at Revolurtionary War Days

Traditionally, the November reenactment in Camden, SC is one of the more well-attended for reenactors and spectators in the South. It always draws a variety of sutlers — merchants who sell period items such as wool fabric, clay pipes, wooden bowls, horn spoons, pewter buttons, and jewelry — plus artisans who demonstrate period crafts, such as candle making and blacksmithing, and entertainers, such as this acrobat. I enjoy strolling Sutler Row at Camden, and it’s dashed hard to keep from spending money there because everyone is so friendly and helpful.

Saturday morning, 3 November, the panel discussion on non-traditional roles of women and girls during the Revolution (Leslie Sackrison, Dr. Christine Swager, and me) went smoothly, as if the three of us had done the panel together several times before. It was also well attended. The State, one of Columbia’s newspapers, gave us publicity in the 2 November edition. Joanna Craig of Historic Camden wants us on the schedule for Camden 2007 and will try to generate more interest among the general public. Redefining the role of women in history is a timely idea. It’s a theme touched on by many historical fiction authors, such as Mary Sharratt. At the conference for the Historical Novel Society 9 June 2007, I will be on a panel discussion about this topic. How exciting to be in the forefront of this “wave.”

I missed seeing the battle on both Saturday and Sunday. I was selling and signing books. But I heard the battles both days went well, and from the sounds of the cannon and musket fire, the reenactors on the field were putting on their usual entertaining show for spectators.

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason, and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!

Suzanne Adair and Guy Fawkes

For my family and me, one of the high points of Camden each year is the Bonfire Night celebration on Saturday night. Bonfire Night is a fine, old British fete celebrated by colonists even during the Revolution to commemorate Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. (Guy Fawkes was one of a group of conspirators who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament with kegs of gunpowder 5 November 1605.) If you think our Guy looks a bit worn out, it’s because he’s been tortured a bit.

Carrying "the Guy"

This year, my sons received the honor of carrying the Guy to the bonfire as we processed through the camps. Imagine torches in the night, drums beating, and a mob chanting, “Treason! Burn the Guy! Kill the Guy!” Perhaps that’s why British expatriates elsewhere in America are apt to have the cops called on them by American neighbors who mistake their jollification for a bit of backyard human sacrifice. The Camden cops don’t even bat an eyelash at us — some of them are even reenactors — and didn’t stop the Guy from being tossed onto the bonfire, where he ignited, along with all the fireworks planted within him, to provide us with a thrilling show. For an interesting twist on Bonfire Night, check out Carola Dunn’s mystery, Gunpowder Plot.

After the fireworks, Historic Camden treats reenactors to a feast of heavy hors d’oeuvres in the candlelit dining room of the Kershaw-Cornwallis house. (The house is named for Joseph Kershaw, owner in 1780, and Charles Lord Cornwallis, who briefly occupied the house in 1780.) Because there’s 18th-century dancing afterwards, some reenactors trot out their finest period clothing for the night, and this is where you see elegantly-attired men and women in velvet and lace. One fellow pulled out all the stops: white wig, black satin suit, loads of lace at his throat and wrists, black shoes with red high heels, and a painted-on mole beside his eyebrow. He looked like Mozart.

Fan rules

Women used the positioning of their fans at dances in the 18th century to communicate messages to potential suitors. Here’s a list of some of the signals and interpretations. The comedic theater got a lot of mileage out of misinterpreted fan signals. After a few drinks, it’s easy to forget (or pretend to forget) what signal means yes and what means no.

I admit to being a “Ramada Ranger” for this event and not camping out. By the time we left the dance, the ground was already covered in frost, and I just couldn’t envision sleeping in sub-freezing temperatures in a British Army tent as benefiting my booksignings every weekend through Christmas. Gotta vacuum the straw and grass from the inside of my car and air it out to dissipate the smells of wood smoke and burned black powder. Business as usual after a weekend of reenacting fun.

Here’s a Huzzah! for my family for helping with the mechanics of the booksigning. And another Huzzah! for Joanna Craig for providing me with the opportunity to participate on the panel and sell more copies of Paper Woman.

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Walnut Grove Plantation 2006 Living History and Battle Reenactment — and My First Booksigning

Tremendous improvements have been made to Walnut Grove Plantation since my last visit, in 2001. In addition to a new visitors’ center, the site features a pavilion with a fireplace, focus of activities during rainy or chilly weather. At the pavilion last Friday night, 6 October, the Spartanburg County Historical Association held its annual fundraiser for the plantation: live bluegrass music, South Carolina upcountry BBQ with scrumptious hushpuppies and ribs, and an open bar. And if you came dressed in your 18th-century finery, you didn’t pay the $60 admission fee!

During dinner, the Historical Association held a silent auction, the donated items ranging from bags of dog food to ceramics to woodworking. Dressed in my polonaise gown, I quickly homed in on board members to learn how I could donate a copy of Paper Woman to the auction. In no time at all, they had the book set up on one of the auction tables. My pleasure to contribute to such a worthy cause.

Saturday 7 October delivered the type of weather that wool-clad reenactors relish: cloudy but not rainy, and highs in the lower 60s. The tree leaves on site were just beginning to turn color and helped make the grounds lovely. As usual, the crown and patriot encampments were separated, and most of the sutlers and tradesfolk set up for business in the patriot camp. Plenty of things to see there. I was so busy chasing details for my booksigning that I didn’t get to spend much time in that section of camp, but I did spot blacksmithing, soap making, food preservation, surveying, and dressmaking.

Milking a goat at Walnut Grove Plantation

One lady brought her goats and demonstrated how to milk them. She had for sale goats’ milk cheese and shampoo and soap made from goats’ milk.

The historical incident that puts Walnut Grove on the map for the Revolution involves loyalists under “Bloody” Bill Cunningham who barged into the house and killed three patriots. Kate Barry, wife of the owner, slipped away to warn her husband, and he returned in time to spare the house from being torched. But spectators at reenactments want to see battles, so Walnut Grove follows its staging of the three patriots’ killings with a fictitious battle reminiscent of backcountry skirmishes that occurred all the time in the Carolinas. Plenty of musket fire and black powder smoke, colorful uniforms, noise, and “death” on the battlefield. The spectator crowd numbered several hundred, and a good time was had by all.

Signing books at Walnut Grove Plantation

After the battle, the staff at Walnut Grove turned the mike over to me. For the debut of Paper Woman, I read a passage from the book and tied the action found therein with what had happened at Walnut Grove. And then I sold books to total strangers — an amazing feeling! Was I nervous? Not really. I felt very much alive and enjoyed everything about the afternoon. I’m grateful to everyone who purchased books from me and was delighted to connect with each reader at an individual level.

Here’s a Huzzah! for my family for helping with the mechanics of the booksigning. And another Huzzah! for the folks at Walnut Grove — Becky Slayton, Jim Crocker, and Jennifer Furrow — for allowing me the opportunity to debut my novel in such a lovely location.

Next up: the Crystal Coast Book Festival, 20-21 October 2006.

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