In The Name of Love Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

http://bwlpublishing.ca/authors/donaldson-yarmey-joan/

Two family stories in the name of love

#1

My husband and I lived on an acreage and my husband work in the country for an oil company. Therefore he didn’t make it into town to buy me a Valentine’s card. So early Valentine’s morning he went outside and packed some snow into a pile. He got a can of red spray paint and painted a heart with an arrow through it on the snow. He also printed Be My Valentine on it. I could see the pile of snow from the kitchen window for months as it was the last snow to melt in the spring.

#2

My mother had moved from Alberta to B.C. to pick fruit and then got a job at a store in Vancouver. Mom’s parents, my grandparents sold their farm in Alberta and bought an acreage near Vancouver. My father was in World War II and was repatriated to Vancouver when it was over.

When dad left the army he got a job and began to look for a place to buy. My grandfather’s health was bad and so they decided to sell their acreage. One of mom’s friends was my dad’s sister and my dad found out about it through his sister. He bought my grandparents acreage and met my mother. They married seven months after meeting and were married for fifty-four years.

The way dad put it: He bought the acreage and got the daughter for free.

Casting Characters by Nancy M Bell

His Brother's Bride click here to learn more.

Who would I cast to play my characters...hmmmm good question. I have honestly never connected my characters to any actor or actress. I think it would be far too easy to let the characteristics associated with a particular actor take over my character in the novel. I'm not sure the reactions and actions would be true to my character or coloured with the traits of the real life actor.

That being said: Here's go at it

For His Brother's Bride Lord, I don't know! This one is very roughly based on my grandparent's story and I'm having a hard time finding actors who suit them. I don't need anyone too pretty and delicate. It's getting hard to find good character actors anymore.

Okay, I'm digressing because I'm coming up with a blank here. Okay back to the task at hand.

His Brother's Bride

For Annie Baldwin Amanda Plummer

For George Gary Oldman

For Peter Eddie Redmayne

None of these really look like what I pictured when I was writing the story but they were the closest I can find. I guess it would help if I watched more movies? My grandfather was a lot like Leonard from The Big Bang Theory so maybe Johnny Galecki might be a better choice for Peter.

Sorry faithful readers, that's the best I can do with this one. Until next month, stay well, stay happy and keep reading!

Just for fun, this is a picture of my grandparents, my uncle and that's my mother , the little one on the floor. This was taken outside Sprucedale Ontario near Doe Lake on my grandparents farm. My great grandfather Capel Baldwin St. George owned the land just across the lane from them. Photo was taken by Aunt Lottie (Charlotte Hines nee St. George

So Much Research So Few Words by Nancy M Bell

Research, Research, Research. Where to stop and how much to use.

When I was writing His Brother's Bride I ran into road blocks many times regarding historical facts. My heroine travels by train from Eganville Ontario to Sprucedale, Ontario. Seems simple, yes? Actually, no. Some of the lines that were in existence in 1917-1918 are no longer in use. Schedules have changed, routes have altered. So off I went delving deeply into railroad history and tracing routes on maps and Google Earth. It took an immense amount of time but out of all the information gleaned, I only needed to use very little. Such are the joys of writing accurate historical fiction.

The story line roughly follows my grandparents' story, so next I scoured all the family documents I could lay my hands on. I have the actual letter my grandfather received from his brother's captain informing him of his brother's death. Emails to the Library and Archives of Canada resulted in pages of war records for both my grandfather and great uncle. Interesting reading to be sure, but again only a small part of the information was pertinent to the story. The danger of research is, well let's face it, it's addictive. One lead takes you to another and before you know it the whole day is gone and you've not written a single word of your manuscript and have accumulated literally masses of information, most of which while intriguing is of little or no use to the project at hand.

I have a few decades worth of my great grandfather's journals. Day by day accounts of early pioneer life, made all the more interesting because it speaks of my ancestors and mirrors the many stories my grandmother and grandfather used to tell us. I have the journal where my great grandfather writes that my grandmother was born. Also the one where my grandfather comes on the train to meet my grandmother after the war. I wasted a lot of time reading journals, but again used only bits and pieces of the information.

Which brings us to the meat of the problem. Now that you've accumulated all this data, the inclination is to try and fit it all in, use every scrap that you've gleaned. Which, unless you're writing non-fiction or a university paper, is the kiss of death to your reader. Extreme will power must be exerted to rein in that tendency to stuff all the info in.
I'm hoping I have been successful in that endeavour.

The sources of research information are vast and varied. Talking to people who were alive in that era or who remember family members' stories are great. Also, out of print books on the time period or subject, though hard to find at times are invaluable for getting a feel of the cadences of speech spoken in the chosen era you are writing about. Abe's Books on line is another good source, as is ExLibris. Contacting associations connected to your topic can be immensely helpful. Networking with other authors in your genre is also a good resource.

In short, be wary of getting lost in your research, sift through your amassed information and like spices in a stew, use sparingly and where it is most appealing. Check your sources for authenticity, be sure the information you are gathering is accurate and correct. Don't rely on only one source or a small selection of sources. More is better, so you can pare it down to what is truly essential to your story.

Happy researching! Until next month, stay well, be happy.

Drawing Closer through Research

His Brother's Bride was a journey for me. The premise if based very roughly on my maternal grandparent's story. From my grandfather I learned compassion for all living things. He taught me how to pick up a bee in a cloth and set it free outside, and how to bathe kittens sore eyes with tea bags. Recently, I received my great-uncle's WWI records as well as my grandfather's. Seeing their Attestation Records with their signatures on it and the stark reality of the notation "missing after action" followed a week later by "killed in action" on Uncle Joe's papers highlighted how senseless war is for me. My grandfather was his only family, I can only imagine how Grampa felt when he got the letter from Uncle Joe's captain. Grampa was in France as well with the Train Corps where he was a Sapper.

I grew up on stories of life in the Ontario bush when my mother was a child. How the wolves would come to the door in the winter and scratch and howl. The black flies swarming in the early spring, neighbors falling through the lake ice while drawing wood, horses and people lost. Life was hard, but it was also good.

Below is a poem I wrote to honour my Grandfather.

Grampa P

I was young when you left us
But I remember still your quiet ways
The way you bore the scars of the Great War
That stole your health and your youth
Not to mention your brother, Joe

I have the pencil written letter on crumpled paper
From his captain telling you of his death
You never spoke of it or the war
I can still see you picking shrapnel from your cheek
As you stood at the sink shaving

You taught me by example
That all life is sacred
From you I learned to nurse the sick and wounded
Animal, plant and human
And how to catch a bee in a cloth against the window pane
Carry it to the door and let it fly free again

I was only young when you left us
But thirteen is old enough to remember you
And your ways and your lessons that weren’t meant as lessons
It was just you going about your life
You walk with me still

This is taken on the Sprucedale farm, my grandfather Herb Pritchard, my grandmother Lois holding my mother on her hip, Aggie St. George (my great grandmother) Lottie Hines (great aunt) and Capel St George (great grandfather)

Seeing their faces and reading my great grandfather's journals brings these people back to life. Research gives an opportunity to reach into the past and touch our roots. Both personal and humanity as a whole. I recently did a course on Hadrian's Wall and seeing the barracks of the Roman army and the aged solidity of items centuries old was profoundly spiritual for me. We are just a link in the chain that stretches behind us and ahead of us, like the stripes on a chipmunk's back that go from the head of his knowing to the tail of his remembering.

I do hope you enjoy my contribution to the Books We Love Canadian Historical Brides series. His Brother's Bride releases today! March 1, 2017. Please stay tuned to this blog for more enticing details about upcoming books in the series.

Now, for your reading enjoyment...A teaser from His Brother's Bride.

July 1st 1916 Dominion Day celebrations were a bit more subdued than previous years. The war to end all wars as H.G. Wells declared on August 14, 1914 was well into its second year of conflict. Luxury items were starting to become scarce. But in the small town of Eganville, Ontario on the Bonnechere River things weren’t as impacted as they were in larger centres.
The harvest promised to be a bumper crop this year, so optimism was high. Annie shoved her hat pin deeper into the nest of her hair, hoping to keep the new straw hat from coming adrift. She was crammed in the bed of the buckboard with her brothers and sisters. Except for Hetty, of course. Riding with a gaggle of siblings was beneath Hetty Baldwin newly betrothed to Clarence Hiram. Dust rose from the well-travelled road, everyone from the surrounding countryside seemed to be headed into town. She leaned over the side of the wagon and peered ahead. Thank goodness, they were almost there. Once Father found a strategic place to park the buckboard, Annie planned to slip away into the crowd and avoid being saddled with her younger sibling. Rotha was two years older than her and could take her turn looking after the little heathen.
On another note, Annie wanted to be out of earshot when Father clambered up onto the back of the wagon and began his hell fire and brimstone preaching. While she admired his convictions and his passion, it was more than a little embarrassing when he got so enraptured that spittle flew from his mouth. The wagon jolted to a halt and she hurried to disembark, being careful not to snag her full skirts on the heel of her new boots. She admired them for a moment before shaking her skirts down to cover all but the toe. It wouldn’t do for Mother to seize the opportunity to lecture her about vanity or showing her ankles.
Giving her skirts one last shake to remove the dust, Annie twisted the strings of the small crocheted purse securely around her wrist. Hetty’s high clear voice preceded her appearance prompting Annie to slip between two groups of gossiping older women and make good her escape from family responsibility. She grinned while putting more space between herself and the wagon. Surely Hetty’s voice could cut glass, given the chance. Stifling a giggle she wriggled past the crowded doorway into Arlo’s General Store. With her small hoard of pennies she purchased some licorice whips and peppermint sticks. Not wishing to linger and be discovered by her siblings who were sure to be headed in this direction, Annie left the establishment as unobtrusively as possible.

Till next time- stay well, be happy and keep reading!

Welcome to Ontario! by Nancy M Bell

Hello everyone and Happy New Year! This is my first post for the Books We Love Canadian Historical Brides Blog. My story is set in Ontario, starting in the Renfrew area near Arnprior and Ottawa and then moving to SPrucedale which is near Georgian Bay and the tourist town of Huntsville. Interesting side tidbit here, Hunstville is the home town of Bobby Orr of Boston Bruin fame. His brother has a sports store in town. But I digress. I live in Alberta now, but I grew up in Ontario and spent my summers in the Kawartha Lakes district. My mother was born in a log cabin near Doe Lake which is just outside Sprucedale. This story is very roughly based on my maternal grandparent's story and takes place during World War 1. I will share more on the story later but first let me show how beautiful this part of Ontario is. The pictures below were taken near the Maple Syrup House which is just north of Burk's Falls and south of Sundridge, Ontario. It is mixed bush with many maples and pines. Moose, bear, deer and many other animals call it home.

These are from a lovely trail through the bush where I encountered a moose but didn't manage to get a picture.

Since it's New Year's Day I'm not going to keep you any longer. Wishing you a happy and prosperous new year and hope to see you here often. Oh, almost forgot, the title of my novel is His Brother's Bride and it is scheduled to release the end of February 2017.