History comes Alive!

by Barbara Phinney 

I continually get compliments from readers of my historicals on the research and history used. And I have to beam with satisfaction.

You see, I love research. There are some writers who hate it, and that's okay. They write wonderful contemporaries. Their research is in everyday life. 
For my Love Inspired Historicals, I bent to my love of the middle ages. Namely, the Norman period. 

It started in high school, but really took off when I traveled to Colchester, England, to visit my sister. Colchester is a town steeped in history. Rome made it their capital on the island, and William the Conqueror ordered a castle to be built there from the ruins of several previous castles. Queen Boadicea fought the Romans there, Old King Cole was said to have his castle there, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was written there. 

History grabbed me and I knew I wanted to write a story set in Colchester. 
It look many years, but Bound to the Warrior and Protected by the Warrior blossomed from my visit. (Sheltered by the Warrior is due out in February. You should see the cover! It's gorgeous!))

Bound to the Warrior

Protected by the Warrior

And when my husband gave me the The Doomsday Book (a reprint, of course!) I was swept even further out on the sea of history. And the other books I have acquired kept me on that sea. (There is one I cannot find anymore. It was entitled The Short History of the English People. All 1100 pages of it!)

My readers say that they've learned so much from my books. One said she learned what peat was used for. Another said she'd learned so much about daily life and midwifery and another said she now loves the Norman period of history because she's read my books. 

I am so grateful to God for this gift. In retrospect, I enjoyed geography more in school, although my history teacher was the kind of man who got fully involved in retelling history for us. He made it come alive. I still remember this little, bespectacled man, arms flying as he described what the Norman soldiers encountered as they tried to fight the Welsh, those tall, white-robbed men coming down the Welsh hills, singing to prepare themselves for battle. The pious, stodgy Normans must have thought they were angels! Now that's a tactic not taught in the army's basic training!

But me, third row back, near the window, hand holding my head up for most of my school day, well, I was captivated.

And I am blessed to be able to captivate readers with snippets of history. Life in a castle is more than a noblewoman strolling the parapet or bathing in rose scented water. It was hard, and the noblewoman's life was dedicated to keeping her castle safe from everything from enemy soldiers to the dreaded fever that could kill everyone. The lady of the keep was known to have ordered extra battlements built, preparing for a siege until her baron husband returned to free them. One Scottish queen took it upon herself to ensure each child in her castle, no matter what position the parents, was fed a decent meal each day. She would feed them herself with her own spoon, if necessary. 

That's the history I want to incorporate into my historicals. 

What is your favourite period of history? Is there any historical story that has caught your interest? Were you even interested in history in school?

Tell us in the comments section. I'd love to read them. 

Barbara Phinney

Living Generously-Barbara Phinney's perspective

Years ago, a man new to our church said to me, "By not giving generously, a person misses out on God's blessings."
I mulled over his comment for years and now that we are doing generous living devotional at our church, I'm beginning to see that what this man said was so true. 

It started after Hurricane Sandy hit the northeast United States. I want to do something to help. All I could think of at the time was to lower my romantic comedy, All For A Good Cause, to the lowest price Amazon would allow, in an effort to cheer up a few of those people with this fun story about charities that get out of hand.
(Yes, you may roll your eyes. I did. Such an effort was hardly sacrificial.)
Then, this week past, my church sent out an e-mail saying that a woman in nearby town has made the proper arrangements to send supplies down to New York and New Jersey. This was my chance to be really sacrificial.
Let me back up for a moment. Last week, our bank gave us a yearly review of our accounts to see if they could save us some money. It turned out that they couldn't save us anything, just update our account. Oh well. C'est la vie.
So, back to the present, last Friday, my husband and I settled on an amount we would spend, about $125, to buy toiletries, baby supplies, winter boots, and such to contribute to the supplies going to the United States.
And might I add, that I get a little pleasure out of this, too. I get to shop! Of course it was limited by my husband's limited patience, but I still had fun!
After we got home, it was like Christmas for me, sorting through the presents, packing them up, putting them in boxes and laundry baskets to take to our church.

I also decided to pray that the Lord would help me not look for a blessing, not to expect one, but to give this simply because I wanted to be obedient.
After I was finished, I returned to my writing, knowing that I should not check the sales of my independently published books because I had specifically asked for no blessing.
The phone rang. It was our bank. The woman who had given us our banking review apologized for giving us incorrect information. The account we just switched to offered a signing bonus of 15,000 points, equivalent to $125 in cash! 
The blessing had come from the least likely place and taught me a valuable lesson. Don't go looking for blessings, don't ask for them, just give generously, and know that your Father will give back to you, in His own way, thanking you for taking the first step.

Has God surprised you lately? What blessings did you receive that you can encourage us with today?