http://kathleenbittnerroth.com Writer of Evocative, Compelling Historical Romance Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:33:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Oprah occasionally features child prodigies on her show. One of these special children was a sixteen-year-old girl who oil paints—in three entirely different styles. She has been called a modern day Monet and her paintings sell for $15,000+ apiece (probably a whole lot more after Oprah’s show). The girl was discovered ... http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/2010/06/i-colored-outside-the-lines/ Years ago an Alabama grandmother gave the new bride the following recipe. This is an exact copy as written and found in an old scrapbook, complete with spelling errors (For you non-southerners, wrench means, rinse)   RESIPE FOR WARSHING CLOTHES Build fire in backyard to heat kettle of rain water. Set tubs so smoke wont blow ... http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/2010/06/1880s-recipe-for-washing-clothes/ Some of you may make a habit of dialoguing with your characters before you begin to write a novel. Others may not have heard of the idea. I have done a form of this for years, but never applied it to characters in my novel until I began reading a ... http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/2010/05/a-surprise-dialogue-with-my-heroine/ When we think of the Roman soldiers, unless we are particularly fond of that period of history, most likely our images and impressions come more from Hollywood than from anywhere else. However, what the film industry does not show is the background of the common Roman soldier. Did you know ... http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/2010/04/roman-soldiers/ An artist friend who is about to give birth to a huge one woman art exhibit emailed me with the following: I am having a freaky couple of days. I am working on my large piece for the exhibition. Although it is going pretty well, I am having a stream of ... http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/2010/04/creativity-flew-the-coop/ With regard to men reading the Romance genre, let me share this: Among other things, my husband holds a double Ph.D. in political science and economics, speaks five languages, is a member of the (exceedingly boring to me) International Heraldry Society (he can interpret most any coat of arms at ... http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/2010/03/thoughts-on-men-reading-romance/ Do you ever wonder where some terms come from? Recently, I read a novel where the hero was raised by his father to always "keep a stiff upper lip." Consequently, he was out of touch with his feelings and nothing much moved him. So I decided to look into the ... http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/2010/03/keep-a-stiff-upper-lip/ Quick, who wrote the novel Typee? Oh, please leave a comment if you knew this right off. Quickly, who wrote Omoo? Leave a comment if you knew this as well. Now quickly, who wrote Moby Dick? Ah, sigh, Herman Melville. Did you know he wrote the other two as well? Before he wrote Moby ... http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/2010/02/writing-what-you-love/ So, how did I go about choosing the two winners of Lori's debut WILD HEART? Very scientifically. Hamish McDuff, my little Westie, hangs around my desk when I write (so he is there most of the time). He has the strange habit of laying on any paper that happens to ... http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/2010/02/announcing-the-winners-of-lori-brightons-debut-wild-heart/ http://kathleenbittnerroth.com/2010/02/be-sure-to-leave-a-comment-for-a-chance-to-win-one-of-loris-fabulous-books-two-winners-selected-friday-february-5th/