Moonlight Romance Authors: June 2013

Monday, June 24, 2013

Love Triangles – Tara Fox Hall and her novel Taken in the Dark guest bloggers @LallaGatta Blog - LallaGatta

Inspiration for SEE ME (Part 2 of using early photography as inspiration for your next novel)

Inspiration for SEE ME…

By Natalie-Nicole Bates

Last week, I discussed the different types of 19th and early 20th century photography. Today, I'll put that into action.

I did not begin as a writer. For many years I was simply a book lover who turned reviewer. About two years ago, I decided to start writing my own novel. A year later, I was a happily published author of two contemporary romances.

I was always fascinated by paranormal romance. But as a reviewer, I watched the paranormal market literally explode. Vampires, werewolves, shifters, even zombies were making appearances at an alarming rate. Writers were writing these markets and writing well.

So what to do?

Inspiration came fast. I am an avid collector of Victorian-era photography. To me, there is much beauty in these old photographs, and to my delight—much inspiration as well.

My first published paranormal short story, Antique Charming, was centered on a cabinet card from 1896 of a man standing outside of a funeral home.

1896 cabinet card from my collection

Antique Charming was successful, but could I write a paranormal that would be a longer length than Antique Charming?

Once again, I returned to my photographs. I had recently bought a Carte de Visite (1860’s) of a beautiful little girl about age 3, her photo surrounded by a memorial wreath. In my mind, Baby Charlotte was born.

Inspiration for Baby Charlotte from my collection. Carte de Visite mentioned in SEE ME

SEE ME begins in 1896, where we meet sixteen year old Charlotte. Charlotte always knew she was special, but never knew why. She believed it all stemmed from a near drowning incident when she was three. An incident her family members refused to speak of.

Her hunch comes true one day in 1896 during a lumber yard fire when her true powers reach fruition.

One very small photograph from the 1860’s suddenly became one huge idea for a novella.

I then went in search of my Daniel Tremont, the hero of SEE ME. Daniel’s inspiration is a magnificent 1860’s Daguerreotype of a young man. The matt on this photograph is purple, which is usually the colour of significance for mourning, which means this young man probably passed away young. He was perfect.

Sometimes what you know well can be a powerful ally. In writing, this is so true. I took my love for Victorian photography and turned it into a plot for a novella that combines romance, paranormal, and a touch of my beloved horror.

Inspiration for Daniel Tremmont

Daguerreotype from my collection

Full case-note the purple mourning matt

I hope you will read SEE ME, now available at Leap of Faith Publishing. To view the photographs that inspired both SEE ME as well as Antique Charming and a small sampling of my collection, visit my new blog Ghosts and Phantoms at: http://ghostsandphantoms.blogspot.co.uk/

Buy Links:

SEE ME is available from Leap of Faith Publishing and Amazon.

Antique Charming (short story) available through Books To Go Now Publishing.

Social media links for Natalie-Nicole

Blog

Twitter- @BatesNatalie

Facebook

Street Team Sign up

Monday, June 17, 2013

A Brief History of 19th Century Photographs (Part 1)

A Brief History of 19^th Century Photographs for Historical Writers (Part 1)

By Natalie-Nicole Bates

For historical writers, the various types of photography available in the 19^th century can be a valuable resource. My short paranormal, Antique Charming is centered around a Victorian-era cabinet card. My paranormal romance novella, SEE ME, is also inspired by 19^th century photographs. Getting your terms right is essential for any writer interested in using photography in their historical manuscript. It’s more interesting to say your heroine in 1850 was holding in her hands a beautifully encased Daguerreotype of her beloved, rather than just a simple photograph.

Let’s begin with the earliest form of photograph and my personal favorite-

The Daguerreotype-The first successful photographic process made on a light sensitive silver coated metallic plate. The surface of daguerreotype is mirror-like and unstable. You must tilt the image to view it properly. Daguerreotypes are most often displayed in thick glass covered cases. Daguerreotype photography rapidly spread throughout the United States in the early 1840’s.

Example of a Daguerreotype from my collection

Because of its instability and labor-intensive process, the daguerreotype was quickly replaced in 1854 by

The Ambrotype- This photographic process was done by imaging a negative on glass, backed by a dark surface. The ambrotype was much less expensive to produce and lacked the shiny surface of the daguerreotype, but the general consensus was the ambrotype was visually unappealing.

By the mid 1850’s, the ambrotype was supplemented by

Example of an ambrotype from my collection

The Tintype- Introduced in 1856, the tintype was a positive photograph made directly on an iron plate varnished with a thin sensitized film. Tintype “film” is the same as the final print, so the image appears reversed (left to right) from reality. Compared to earlier techniques, the tintype is simple and fast to process, which made it a hit at carnivals and fairs. The photographer could prepare, expose, and varnish tintypes within a few minutes and have it ready to present to the customer. There is no actual tin used in the process. Like the daguerreotype and ambrotype, tintypes were often cased.

The Carte de Visite is a photograph the size of a visiting card and became enormously popular around 1854 when they were regularly traded among family and friends. It was usually made of an albumin print, which was a thin paper photograph mounted on a thicker paper card. By 1870, carte de visite was supplemented by the popular

Example of Carte de Visite from my collection

Cabinet Cards- which is essentially the same process as carte de visite. The main difference is the cabinet card is larger and usually included the photographer’s logo and advertised their services on the reverse side of the photo. Around 1880, the cabinet card displaced carte de visite.

For approximately three decades following the 1860’s, the commercial portraiture industry was dominated by carte de visite and cabinet cards. However, the public was soon clamoring for outdoor and candid photographs as well as varying sizes of photos which could be enlarged or small enough to collect in scrapbooks.

With the affordable Kodak Box Brownie camera introduced in 1900, the public rapidly began taking their own photographs and led to the decline of the cabinet card.

I hope this brief history of 19^th century photography will spark your interest and inspire you to look to the beauty of vintage photography when planning your next historical novel.

NEXT UP: Putting these inspirations to work for your next novel.

Bio:

Natalie-Nicole Bates is a book reviewer and author.

Her passions in life include books and hockey along with Victorian and Edwardian era photography and antique poison bottles. Natalie contributes her uncharacteristic love of hockey to being born in Russia.

She currently resides in the UK where she is working on her next book and adding to her collection of 19^th century post-mortem photos.

Visit Natalie online at www.natalienicolebates.com

Social Media Links for Natalie-Nicole

Blog

Twitter @BatesNatalie

Facebook

You Tube

Street Team Sign Up

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Regina Paul

Natalie-Nicole Bates

Natalie-Nicole Bates may be new to the world of publishing, but she’s always been a fan of books and is an active book reviewer. Now she gets to see what’s it’s like on the other side of the book fence when her paranormal romance, Antique Charming, is released through Books To Go Now Publishing this fall and her contemporary romance, Change of Address, will be published in January 2012 by Secret Cravings Publishing.

In addition to her love of books, Natalie also has an uncharacteristic love of hockey which can be attributed to the fact she was born in Russia. Natalie now resides in the UK with a collection of Victorian and Edwardian era photography, her favorites being the post-mortem photographs. Visit Natalie-Nicole online at Natalie-Nicole Bates.com

Tara Fox Hall

I'm an OSHA-certified safety and health inspector at a metal fabrication shop in upstate New York. I have a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a double minor in chemistry and biology from Binghamton University. My writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense, erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. I am the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Me series. I also coauthored (with Eric Dietrich) the nonfiction book Forbidden Conversations. I divide my free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice. Visit me at Tara Fox Hall.com

Lindsay Townsend

Lindsay lives in Yorkshire, England, where she was born, and started writing stories at an early age. Always a voracious reader, she took a degree in medieval history and worked in a library for a while, then began to write full-time after marriage.

Her first unpublished historical found her an agent and the second got a publisher in London interested. They wanted her to write with a modern setting, which she did – several romantic thrillers set in Greece, Italy or on Dartmoor in the English West Country - and enjoyed it, but historicals are really her first love. Lindsay is currently writing medieval romance for Kensington, who published ‘A Knight’s Vow’in 2008 and are following it with ‘A Knight’s Captive’ in spring, 2009.

She is also fascinated by the ancient world, especially Rome, Egypt and the Bronze Age. ‘Flavia’s Secret’, set in Roman Britain, came out from Bookstrand in 2008, and two more historicals, ‘Blue Gold’, set in ancient Egypt, and ‘Bronze Lightning’, set in Bronze Age Greece and the Britain of Stonehenge, have also just been released early in 2009.

Please visit Lindsay's blog.

Linda Sole

Linda writes as herself and under several other names. As Linda Sole she iscurrently published by Severn House of UK and USA. She also writes as Anne Herries for Harlequin Mills & Boon. She is happily married and lives in England with her husband. Linda enjoys visiting Spain where she loves to walk, swim and lie in the sun. Writing is her passion and she manages a few words every day, but she also loves animals and especially squirrels. She is known as the squirrel lady at her local supermarket because of all the nuts she buys for them!

Visit her website for more information.

Sarah J. McNeal

I became interested in writing at a young age. My parents didn’t allow us to have a television so my sisters and I became avid readers. We read everything from Shakespeare to my mother’s True Detective Stories that, by the way, scared the hell out of me. I submitted my first story and received my first rejection when I was thirteen years old.

I am particularly drawn to writing fantasy and time travel and have created a magical place called Valmora where winged people with various magical abilities are in constant struggle against the evil forces of the Dark Isle. Two of the books in this series are presently available at New Concepts Publishing: THE DARK ISLE and LAKE OF SORROWS. I am writing the third now: THE LIGHT OF VALMORA. I have written a time travel novel in which a woman goes back to the 1920’s to save a man from dying in THE VIOLIN that has been submitted to New Concepts Publishing. I intend to write a series of musical instrument stories including THE PIANO and one that I intend to start in the near future titled, HARMONICA JOE’S RELUCTANT BRIDE.

Until recent years, I wrote short stories, two of which were the early inspiration for the Valmora series and three other stories that were sci-fi and paranormal.

I have also written nonfiction including an article in The Charlotte Observer and a monthly newsletter from the emergency department of CMC Mercy Hospital that, unfortunately, I no longer have time to write.

Writing brings me a joy and fulfillment that nothing else can. I love creating magical worlds and people who want to make a difference. I hope that anyone who reads them will love them, too.

Please visit her website for more information.

Patricia Richardson

My desire to write began at a young age; my mind was always filled with great stories. However, my dreams, and aspirations were put on the back burner and even at times forgotten after I became married with children. Later the divorce came, which meant I had to become both mother and father to my children. I worked overtime and weekends just to support my family. The struggle to survive and give my children a healthy, loving home lasted until they were grown. Late author, Gracie Cornish, Ph.D. inspired me to follow my destiny. I met her at a place of employment, "just sit down and start writing," she told me and I did just that. I wrote every chance I got; at work, on the subway, and in my spare time at home. This all started in the latter part of 1998. That very same year God impressed upon my heart to relocate from New York to Maryland. I was obedient and moved.

The move meant that once again I had to put my writing on hold to become familiar with my new environment and learn to cope with the conditions of a highly stressful job. Most evenings when I arrived home the only thing I wanted to do was turn the ringer off the telephone and sleep. I seldom picked up my manuscript, which was kept under my bed just waiting for me not to be too tired and stressed to write. The time for writing again did not come until late in 2001 when I finally came to the realization I would always be stressed and tired from working and if I did not use the gift God gave me I would never achieve the independent financial freedom I wanted. After this epiphany I set a goal for myself; to have the manuscript completed and sent to my editor in March of 2002. Finally, in March of 2003 the book cover for my first novel, "A Place for Ida," was approved and I was published! This of course came with a price. I lost work, I cried, and I virtually had no social life. I was on a personal lockdown. I was on a mission. Most of my spare time was spent researching publishers, cover letters, and anything else I felt was pertinent to my success. Since then I established Leap of Faith Publishing and republished "A Place for Ida" and soon after published the sequel, "A Time for Jonathan."