Author Discovery: Roseanna M White

 Roseanna M White was a name I saw a lot among my Goodreads friends and I remember wondering if and when I should read her stories and how it would stand out from other  Historical fiction authors.  I had the chance to find out when I downloaded The Lost Heiress, book 1 of the Ladies of the Manor series (still a favourite) when it was free on Amazon kindle and suddenly knew what all the fuss was about.

Why did I join in the Roseanna M White love?

💗 The plot:  Her stories are always entertaining, with a lot of fun moments between the characters and taking this reader on journeys not yet discovered.

💗The historical facts:  The author researches every topic thoroughly and I also learn something knew while I'm entertained with a great story.

💗The mystery/danger:  It is no secret that my favourite genre is suspense, and Roseanna M White always includes a bit of mystery and danger which has me on the edge of my seat for the characters.

💗The characters:  Her characters are some of the most unique, lovable and interesting ones I've met and their strong personalities, especially the female leads, makes them memorable.

I enjoyed the Ladies of the Manor series and the Shadows over England series (especially the family of thieves who is turned to spies for the government) and currently busy with Codebreaker series which was sort of in the Shadows over England series.

Even though I'm still working through Roseanna M White's backlist, I'm enjoying her stories and her latest release The Nature of a Lady 

was just as enjoyable as I've come to expect, and highly recommended to fans of Roseanna M White.

Read on for a few questions to the author...

I had the privilege to ask Roseanna M White a few questions:

1.  Tell us, in two sentences, about you.

 I’m a wife, homeschooling mom, cover designer, editor, and of a course a writer. I hate cleaning my house and love anything that deals with the written word.

 

2.  Who had the most influence in your life?

 Wow, that’s a hard one! I was blessed with an amazing family who supported me and believed in me, so it’s hard to narrow it down to just one person. So I’ll just cheat and say “my family,” LOL.

 

3.  What is your greatest accomplishment to date?

 Man, you like the hard questions! I usually try not to rank the things in my life like that, so I’ll be nice and vague, ha ha, and say that it’s having managed to make a full-time career in the publishing world while also raising and homeschooling two awesome kids.

 

4.  What is the biggest mistake you’ve made?

 Plenty, but God has always redeemed all my missteps, so I don’t live with any regrets…and it’s hard to look back on things that led me where I needed to go and call them mistakes, so I’d say there’s nothing that really jumps out on this one.

 

5.  Your stories always includes strong characters with great personalities, especially the female lead - how to you create your characters?

 Stories are ALL about the characters for me! After I come up with my general premise, I just spent time getting to know the people who will flesh them out. What traits and interests will make that premise most interesting? Who are they at the beginning? Who do they need to grow into being by the end? Through what lens do they see the world? That last one is really what helps me give them each a unique voice. Libby sees everything through a scientific eye; Beth through an adventure-seeker’s spyglass; Emily through the gaze of someone who just wants a healthy relationship with her family. That lens will color every single scene, every single interaction, and help me dig deep into the hearts of my characters—all the way down to their soul, if I’m doing it right!

 

6.  Why do you enjoy writing historical stories?

 I’ve always been a lover of history! I just love how no matter the era, you can find echoes of our lives today, yet in history, there are so many fascinating things that we’ve all too often forgotten. With historical settings, I can show Truths that might be too in-your-face if I told them in a modern setting, but which invite reflection and introspection when they’re shown through that beautiful, sheer mask of history.

 

7.  What genre do you enjoy reading?

 I read quite widely. Anything romance—historical, contemporary, suspense, fantasy, whatever—is my go-to, and most of what I read is in the Christian space, but I love branching out and trying new things, so you’ll find everything from classics to sci-fi to kids’ books cramming my shelves.

 

8.  Which authors is on your auto-buy list and give a short reason why.

 Connilyn Cossette, Jaime Jo Wright, Lori Benton, Laura Frantz, Siri Mitchell, Stephanie Morrill, Kiera Cass (because my daughter and I love to read hers “together”), Ronie Kendig, Terri Blackstock, Lisa Wingate…just to name a few. And the answer is always the same—because they write amazing books, and I’ve never encountered one I didn’t love!

(MoreToDiscover: I see a few of my favourite authors in there 😍)

 

9.  Have you discovered any new authors lately whose backlist you would like to read?

 I actually just read my first Becky Wade last week—she’s been on my TBR pile forever but I just hadn’t picked one up yet. Finally did and loved it (of course!), and now I have to get caught up!!

 

10.  Why should readers read your books - what do you hope they learn from reading your stories?

 Well, I hope readers will pick up my books and come away with a few things—an experience that leaves them full, having laughed and contemplated and ached along with my characters. I pray they come away richer. I pray that they’re thoroughly entertained, but also that God will whisper some Truth about who He is to their hearts through the pages of my stories. If I can achieve that, then I know I’m being a faithful tool in His hand, which is all I ever want me and my stories to be.

 

11. For someone who still needs to read your books, which book should they start with?

 If you love straight-up historical romance with an English setting, I’d say to start either with The Lost Heiress, which begins the Ladies of the Manor Series and sets the foundation for my English world, or this new one, The Nature of a Lady, which is set a few years earlier and doesn’t rely at all on that world I’ve build. If you love American settings, then either A Heart’s Revolution, Dreams of Savannah (both of those are stand-alones), or the first in the Culper Ring series, Ring of Secrets, which introduces you to my family of spies. ;-) If you love ancient settings, then you’ll want to go back to either A Stray Drop of Blood (the crucifixion plays a pivotal role) or Jewel of Persia (my Esther story in which Esther isn’t the heroine, but rather the best friend of the heroine). I like to give people choices, LOL.

 (MoreToDiscover: Here is the link to amazon for all the author's books: Roseanna M White)

12. Anything else you want readers to know about you?

 I’m passionate not only about fictional stories, but also about preserving OUR stories! With that in mind, I’ve started a site called www.SeeingTheStory.com, where you can tell me YOUR stories—from your life, your community, your family, etc.—either in written form, audio, or even video. Those stories will then be available for you and your family and others forever. Because it’s only when we know each other’s stories that we can truly understand each other; and it’s only when we understand each other that we can truly love our neighbors.

 

13.  Final preference questions:

13.1 - kindle/paperback/audio – Paperback!

13.2 coffee/tea – Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon

13.3 sweet or savory – Too hard! LOL. So just give me chocolate-covered pretzels and call it a day. ;-)

13.4 rain or sun – Sun

13.5 morning person or night owl – Easiest question yet! MORNING all the way!

About the author:

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are

the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. She and her family make their home in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.
see also Roseanna White