Category Archives: Charleston Tides

History Behind the Story – Outtakes

Charleston Tides History Behind the Story – Outtakes

There were a few historical tidbits covered in Charleston Tides that didn’t quite merit their own posts, so I thought it would be fun to do a lightning “History Behind the Story” round covering five “outtake” topics.  As always, there are a few spoilers ahead if you haven’t read the series. Here we go!

Continue reading “History Behind the Story – Outtakes”

Updates to Q&As

Hi friends! I have updated the answers to a couple of my previous Q&As to provide greater clarity. I just wanted to officially note them on the blog to flag them for you, but you will also find them in their places on the Q&A tabs. Thanks!

Q: Do you write Christian Fiction or General Market?
A:  General Market.  For now, I do not feel led to market my books as Christian Fiction.  I am a Christian, and there are Christian elements in my books because I try to write authentically, and faith is such a deep reality for me.  It would be impossible for me to take faith out of my characters’ lives when I am trying to craft three-dimensional figures who reflect real life.  I receive God’s inspiration and seek His guidance as I write.  However, readers should be aware that I do not seek to mold my writing to any narrative generally required of authors who publish and market as Christian Fiction.  I write organically and authentically to myself and my characters, and I am not bound by editorial guidelines as to allowable themes, moral tones, or character resolutions. My books are General Market – Historical Fiction/Contemporary Fiction that happen to have characters who have/grapple with faith.

Q: Does Charleston Tides stand alone?
A: No. You need to start with Book 1, Southern Rain, and continue with Book 2, Northern Fire, to get the full story and understand everything that happens in the series. In that way, the series is a bit like a saga, but I don’t call it that because the word “saga,” in addition to just meaning a long story, which this is, also can mean a highly emotional, heroic tale, which this is not.

An Elite Free Black Family in Victorian Charleston

Welcome to the last post for the History Behind the Story Series for Charleston Tides!  My sister is in graduate school in Charleston. When I heard that she was researching elite free Black women in Charleston around the time of the Civil war, I knew I wanted to request a guest post from her.  [Warning: There will be a few spoilers in the next paragraph if you haven’t read Charleston Tides. Just skip it if you need to and go on to the next!]

Continue reading “An Elite Free Black Family in Victorian Charleston”

Reconstruction Violence and Insurgent Movements

Welcome to the third installment of the History Behind the Story Series for Charleston Tides.  Today’s topic is very broad, and there is no way we could even scratch the surface in one post, so I am going to state the very basic facts to give you an idea of the enormity of the issue.  I will also specifically focus on the aspects of this subject with which I chose to grapple in Charleston Tides.

Continue reading “Reconstruction Violence and Insurgent Movements”

Charleston’s Festivals of Freedom

Welcome back to the History Behind the Story Series!  Since Southern Rain was first published, I have been writing a series of articles which give you the background on the events that happened in my books or the historical choices I made when writing them.  There were ten articles in total for Southern Rain, five for Northern Fire, and the following is the first of the four articles that will dig into the history behind Charleston Tides.  Note that there are usually a few spoilers which pertain to the historical aspects of the books. Okay, here we go!

Continue reading “Charleston’s Festivals of Freedom”