tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post7607022031488610723..comments2024-03-29T05:48:17.640-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: Getting historical: Susanna Kearsley and VANISHED DAYSJungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-4611613909323168682021-10-28T00:48:46.554-04:002021-10-28T00:48:46.554-04:00Thank you, Jenn. I hope the book lives up to expec...Thank you, Jenn. I hope the book lives up to expectations!Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-8576594026875184322021-10-27T19:19:59.690-04:002021-10-27T19:19:59.690-04:00Oh, I love Susanna's work and I've heard a...Oh, I love Susanna's work and I've heard amazing things about this book! Very excited to add it to my short list!Jenn McKinlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13589365995413467367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-6910584710880651722021-10-27T17:33:51.101-04:002021-10-27T17:33:51.101-04:00Hope you enjoy it, Kathy!Hope you enjoy it, Kathy!Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-72104694815046354992021-10-27T17:06:41.699-04:002021-10-27T17:06:41.699-04:00Oh, this one sounds fantastic! I'm adding it ...Oh, this one sounds fantastic! I'm adding it to my list right now!Kathy Reelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17004247271452356577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-68165105928905380742021-10-27T16:54:30.746-04:002021-10-27T16:54:30.746-04:00HA! Remember that Pogo?
Albert:"What do you ...HA! Remember that Pogo? <br />Albert:"What do you do when you don't know which way to turn?" <br />Pogo: "I don't turn."Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630366214207785339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-66348399927191828702021-10-27T16:02:37.769-04:002021-10-27T16:02:37.769-04:00Thank you, Teri. I'm glad you enjoy the storie...Thank you, Teri. I'm glad you enjoy the stories.Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-18192106548747648542021-10-27T16:02:17.081-04:002021-10-27T16:02:17.081-04:00Thank you! You can always sample the first chapter...Thank you! You can always sample the first chapters of any of my books at my website, and learn more about the individual stories, and browse the galleries of photos I took on my research trips: https://susannakearsley.com/<br /><br />That way you can decided beforehand if a particular book might be more to your liking. Some, as I said, have more mystery, and others have stronger romantic threads. Each has its own unique blend.Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-61455494515454354652021-10-27T15:58:16.990-04:002021-10-27T15:58:16.990-04:00Hi Deborah, and thank you for the welcome. The Win...Hi Deborah, and thank you for the welcome. The Winter Sea is always a good place to start with my books, although you don't have to read the books in order. The historical story of The Winter Sea does continue in The Firebird, but The Vanished Days has bits that overlap the action of The Winter Sea, and some bits that precede it, so it's not a strictly linear trilogy, and it's not even a proper trilogy since I'm sure there will be more books yet before I'm done with the Morays and Graemes. I hope you enjoy the read!Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-25162962227275281522021-10-27T15:54:38.185-04:002021-10-27T15:54:38.185-04:00Julia, there were many turning points in that war,...Julia, there were many turning points in that war, and in the Seven Years' War that preceded it. Turbulent times, that divided many families.Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-6547579615219645922021-10-27T15:33:38.126-04:002021-10-27T15:33:38.126-04:00Thank you for those kind words, Pat. We could go m...Thank you for those kind words, Pat. We could go mad thinking about the roads not taken, which is why it's always safer to keep our focus on the road ahead, I think :-)<br />Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-77417200773588731372021-10-27T15:28:45.578-04:002021-10-27T15:28:45.578-04:00Thank you, Diana! If it makes you feel better, man...Thank you, Diana! If it makes you feel better, many Scots don't know about the Darien expedition, either, or at least they don't know the whole of the story. Although, to be fair, there's so MUCH Scottish history it's difficult to keep it all in one's mind.Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-28848389426140230332021-10-27T15:27:11.181-04:002021-10-27T15:27:11.181-04:00You, Hank, are exceedingly good for my self-esteem...You, Hank, are exceedingly good for my self-esteem :-)<br /><br />And yes, decisions and choices are everything, when books are taking their shape.<br />Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-38436814389983625782021-10-27T15:26:01.016-04:002021-10-27T15:26:01.016-04:00"What if?" is always how a story starts ..."What if?" is always how a story starts to grow, for me. There's a wonderful quote by Lord Dacre that says, "History is not merely what happened: it is what happened in the context of what might have happened." So I always try to keep that in mind, and consider what MIGHT have happened, if things had pivoted in a different direction...Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-10254514214547455212021-10-27T15:23:03.698-04:002021-10-27T15:23:03.698-04:00I agree, Karen. Being able to bring history down t...I agree, Karen. Being able to bring history down to the personal level and focus on people instead of the larger events helps to bring it to life for me, too. <br /><br />As for the incident Hank is referring to, it was an historian, and I probably didn't tell the story very well to Hank because I wasn't facing the poor woman down, I was apologizing, because I'd been going on about how historians so often get things wrong and perpetuate misleading accounts and leave people out of the official record, and here this woman had been very patiently sitting in the audience of one of my events and then she piped up and told me she was an historian, and I felt terrible. So I was quick to reassure her that I do rely on GOOD historians and their work, to point me in the direction of the sources that I need. And there are many good historians out there, believe me. Anyhow, it was a valuable lesson for me to learn, to give a little more thought to the feelings of who might be sitting in front of me, when I'm complaining :-)Susanna Kearsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12675951272027527098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-4164101282686787892021-10-27T13:50:02.780-04:002021-10-27T13:50:02.780-04:00Do tell, Susanna!Do tell, Susanna!Karen in Ohiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13846039203123720312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-2874488859033889392021-10-27T13:28:18.793-04:002021-10-27T13:28:18.793-04:00This book is in my TBR pile. I’ve read all of Susa...This book is in my TBR pile. I’ve read all of Susanna’s books that I can find and they are wonderful.Teri Soareshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09857726595089810271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-79790765481543838662021-10-27T13:15:46.191-04:002021-10-27T13:15:46.191-04:00Julia,
How did you know about Susanna's books...Julia,<br /><br />How did you know about Susanna's books? I cannot believe that I did not know about the books before today, even though I follow many bookstagram accounts on Instagram.<br /><br />DianaBibliophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764234701385787238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-87121189670720547972021-10-27T13:14:48.587-04:002021-10-27T13:14:48.587-04:00Debs, I love anything set in the Scottish Highland...Debs, I love anything set in the Scottish Highlands too.<br /><br />DianaBibliophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07764234701385787238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-13138393883340396372021-10-27T13:05:57.441-04:002021-10-27T13:05:57.441-04:00YES! I asked Susanna about that is, too, as I bet ...YES! I asked Susanna about that is, too, as I bet Hallie did. And Susanna has a great story about facing down a history teacher...Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630366214207785339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-51961278076670156082021-10-27T12:46:28.562-04:002021-10-27T12:46:28.562-04:00Congratulations Susanna on The Vanished Days.
I l...Congratulations Susanna on The Vanished Days. <br />I love history, Scotland and a good story and I’m looking forward to reading this book.<br />I intend to have a look at your other books as well. I like to discover new to me Canadian authors.danielle-momohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02004302871652952720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-16784074903799941612021-10-27T12:22:48.958-04:002021-10-27T12:22:48.958-04:00Hi, Susanna, and welcome to Jungle Red! Your cover...Hi, Susanna, and welcome to Jungle Red! Your cover is indeed stunning, and I love anything set in the Scottish Highlands so I am very much looking forward to this! (Actually, I'm starting with The Winter Sea, so I can enjoy the progression of the books.) Also looking forward to listening to your interview with Hallie.<br /><br />I do love reading and learning about pivotal moments in history. I've been watching both Call the Midwife and Grantchester on PBS. The storylines on both shows are now into the mid sixties, and it's interesting to see their takes on that pivotal moment.Deborah Crombiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16988750789088153601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-13680056415154428222021-10-27T12:15:11.715-04:002021-10-27T12:15:11.715-04:00Laughing here, because that's my weakness as a...Laughing here, because that's my weakness as a writer -- constantly second-guessing myself. At some point you just have to take a breath and forge ahead.Hallie Ephronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04759439029582054503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-39101158944971774542021-10-27T12:13:49.660-04:002021-10-27T12:13:49.660-04:00OMG sounds like the grist for a terrific novel! Fa...OMG sounds like the grist for a terrific novel! Fascinating, Julia.Hallie Ephronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04759439029582054503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-14368799641795237392021-10-27T12:11:14.214-04:002021-10-27T12:11:14.214-04:00I love Susanna's books! As for turning points ...I love Susanna's books! As for turning points in history, there were a lot of them in the opening days of the American Revolution. One of the most dramatic: Henry Knox, a young Boston bookseller with an interest in military history, was given the mission by George Washington to bring the heavy artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga back to Boston. Knox and his men - well, I'm going to cut and paste from Wikipedia here:<br /><br />Knox went to Ticonderoga in November 1775 and moved 60 tons of cannon and other armaments over the course of three winter months by boat, horse, ox-drawn sledges, and manpower along poor-quality roads, across two semi-frozen rivers, and through the forests and swamps of the lightly inhabited Berkshires to the Boston area, covering approximately 300 miles (500 km). Historian Victor Brooks has called Knox's exploit "one of the most stupendous feats of logistics" of the entire American Revolutionary War.<br /><br />Those cannon drove the British out of their stronghold in the city, forcing a retreat to Nova Scotia. It effectively ending the war in New England, and proved to the rest of the colonies that the mighty British army could be defeated. If the cannons had been stuck, or sunk; if the men in Knox's group had given up; if the British had caught wind of the plan and sent a troop to stop them...<br /><br />Oh, and every good piece of historical fiction needs a heroine, so how about his wife Lucy Flucker, who married him against the wishes of her parents (her brother was an officer in the King's army!) and was known to follow Henry along on his various campaigns.Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09553268569509053159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-71859112216433093892021-10-27T12:07:43.329-04:002021-10-27T12:07:43.329-04:00I love learning history through well-researched fi...I love learning history through well-researched fiction. Throw a mystery in and I'm in hog heaven. Your writing and characters are so rich, Susanna, I am in awe. You are one of the authors on my must- buy list. As for turning points, don't we all at some time wonder what would have happened if we'd done this instead of that?Pat Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12732230586783432052noreply@blogger.com