Bragging Rights

Victorian Anthology!

I am so excited!  Several months ago, a few of the Scandalous Vics got together and thought to themselves (outloud) “Selves, what if we wrote a few short stories and tried to sell it to Wild Rose Press as an Anthology?”  And the selves answered, “Well that sounds like fun.  Let’s give it a try.” 

AND THEY DID IT!  THEY SOLD IT!  WOO, HOO!

I am beyond excited, and I am so proud of my fellow Vics that I can’t stop smiling.  You women Rock!  Now it’s time to tell for you all to chime in here and fill in what I can’t. . .

In the Shadows:
We went with whatever part of the Civil War we wanted. Set in October 1861, I chose boockade running (because Rhett Butler was just that sexy) and female spies. My English hero doesn’t care much for the war, but he’s willing to make money so he can ask the woman he loves to marry him. The woman he loves isn’t who she claims, but what’s a man in love to do but help her out of a jam?

I loved researching this, the blockade running was so interesting and I now know where Margaret Mitchell got all her stuff on Rhett. Strong female spies are underused, and I hope to be able to write another story with one soon.
                          ~Isabel

 Angel of My Dreams:     

This is my story and I had a ball writing it. It’s the story of a present day Civil War reenactor, who falls in love with the ghost of a Civil War nurse.

The story weaves its way back and forth through time in this love story between two people separated by more than a century. I used my own experiences as a Civil War reenactor as well as picked my husband’s brain to get the military reenactor’s perspective.  ~Susan

The Colonial and the Cottontail

I’ve heard writers say “This story was a joy to write” and always thought they had their tongue in their cheek when they said it.  But now I understand.  This story was AMAZING to write.  Actually, I feel guilty taking credit–this story pretty much wrote itself.  The entire plot line came to me within 15 minutes, and as I researched the details filled themselves in before I even knew I needed those details.  Besides being easy, the joy came in learning what for me was an amazing bit of history I’d never heard anything about.

It involves the Confederate raid of St. Albans, Vermont, and the–well, let’s put it plainly–corruption of the Canadian colony’s legal system that resulted once the raiders’ were captured.  Weaving a love story through these historical facts was fun, although I may need therapy since I didn’t know Becca, my heroine,  was living in my head until now.           ~Jennifer

 LONG WAY HOME

I started writing this story as an event that happened to my ancestors in Georgia. That didn’t work, and it sort of rewrote itself into something out of my imagination. It’s still set in Northwestern Georgia where my ancestors lived during the Civil War, but the town of Witherspoon is a fictitious name. My family lived in Rome, which acutally was taken over by the Yankees in an orderly manner, thanks to a very compassionate and organized Yankee officer. There still were many hardships, of course, but not like in the places where homes were burned and women abused. I enjoyed researching the time period, as I always enjoy reading about the nineteenth century in America.

 In LONG WAY HOME, twenty-year-old Parmelia Bailey is determined to protect and provide for her younger brother, mother, and grandmother while the men of the family are off fighting the War. She promised her older brother she’d also look after his fiancée and her family. As fighting nears them, she must bring the other women from their isolated farm to her grandmother’s home in town. To do so, she has to steal her own horses that were confiscated by the Yankees when they took over her hometown. Later, learning ruffian Jeff Lawson is on his way back to the area is a terrifying shock. Jeff promised Parmelia she’d be sorry she refused his proposal, and she knows she’ll be dead if Jeff finds her. Who will help her? Darrick McDonald deserted her once. Can she trust him now? 

Torn from his hometown by a series of family crises, Darrick McDonald left Witherspoon intending to return for Parmelia as soon as he had the resources. The War’s outbreak interfered. Now he’s back as a Captain in the Union Army, on special assignment from General Grant. Darrick and his six handpicked men are charged with capturing ruthless Jeff Lawson and Lawson’s raiders. Darrick will go to any lengths to stop his old childhood nemesis before Jeff harms anyone in their hometown–especially Parmelia. Is there any chance she’ll forgive Darrick and they can marry and make their home here in the place he loves? 

Hope you’ll read the anthology and enjoy our stories as much as we enjoyed writing them. ~~~Caroline

 Got another 4 star review from Romantic Times! Yes–I am bragging. Or at least celebrating.

Eagan’s talent for creating fast-paced stories and three-dimensional characters makes for a nonstop tale. Adding a large dose of sexual tension, a memorable cast of secondary characters and the theater backdrop simply multiplies readers’ enjoyment.
SUMMARY:Boston-bred Lee Montgomery is the black sheep of his family, a gambler and a rogue who breaks hearts and doesn¹t stay in one place.
Then he neets Jessica Sullivan, the aloof actress who piques his curiosity by spurning him. For Jessica, being attracted to Lee is a danger she can¹t afford. No one knows she¹s still married to the cad who abandoned her six years ago. But Lee¹s not about to give up. He craves unleashing the passionate women inside the ice-cold lady. As he works to lure Jessica into his arms, danger looms in the form of murder, an ex-husband, a kidnapping and his family¹s intervention. With the help of his remarkable family and friends he and Jessica just might find their way to happiness. (Zebra, Jan., 320 pp., $4.99) Kathe Robin

 

NO DECORUM ~ A Story of the 1864 Red River Campaign by Mary Ann

My story takes place in Camden, Arkansas, which was the hub of the Union Trans-Missippippi Army in their last ditch effort to take control of the Red River and gain access to Texas.

Juliet Burnham is the beautiful strong-willed daughter of a respected clergyman. The only thing she’s missing is a man who’s her match. That’s when Union forces occupy her town, and handsome Yankee Sergeant Randolph Newton visits their church. He sits in Juliet’s pew, and her decorum flies out the window.  Within days, and with her father’s help, they secretly wed at the courthouse and embark on a feverish honeymoon in the parsonage and vicinity. Their time together is measured in hours and minutes.

While the bloody Red River Campaign rages through Arkansas and Louisiana, the Confederate and Union forces jockey in and out of position in Camden. Before the Union army can make its escape back to Little Rock, Randolph is taken prisoner by the Rebel army and marched to a notorious Confederate prison, Camp Ford, near Tyler, Texas. Separately, they endure the horrors of war. Will their love survive the changes thrust on them and their world?

The Anthology authors hope you will read and enjoy our stories.  Mary Ann