Readers Roost

BookBuzz

Purchase Link

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Scars of Sand and Soil Release Blitz #rabtbooktours

Historical Fiction

Date Published: July 24th, 2025

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

What’s left of a man’s soul when everything he loves is taken from him?

It’s 1864, and Gabriel Cooper couldn’t care less about the civil war raging around him. Framed for crimes he didn’t commit, he’s been sentenced to a Confederate chain gang, where swampland justice rules and alligators prey on the unwary.

So when Colonel Robert Tremont rides into camp offering freedom in exchange for fighting on the front lines, Gabriel jumps at the opportunity. He thrives as a soldier, but the end of the war leaves him adrift.

Gabriel ends up in New Orleans, where he meets Simone Livingston, a fiercely independent woman with hidden scars of her own. Kept on a tight rein by her overbearing father, Simone only wants freedom—and the enigmatic Gabriel.

But Gabriel has unfinished business and a mind for vengeance. Will he be able to create a peaceful life with Simone or will his greed and thirst for retribution keep them trapped in a dangerous web of deceit—a web Gabriel fears can only be untangled with murder.

About the Author

As the quintessential queen of “what if,” Jean Kravitz channeled her active imagination to pen her debut novel, Scars of Sand and Soil. However, achieving her childhood dream of being a published writer was not a straightforward path.

Jean earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in human development and aging from the University of California, San Francisco. She went into clinical research in pharmaceuticals, but left her career when her children were born. Then, she picked up writing again, honed her craft, published articles in a small newspaper, and passionately immersed herself in historical research.

Jean has many interests, including reading, gardening, needlepoint, and learning new languages. She lives in Southern California and has a husband, two daughters, and two cats, Lenny and Penny.

Contact Links

Purchase Links

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Whiz Kid Release Blitz #rabtbooktours

Historical Fiction

Date Published: 07-01-2025

Publisher: Sunbury Press, Inc.

Whiz Kid is a powerful coming-of-age novel set in 1950 Philadelphia, where Jewish Navy veteran Ben Green faces impossible choices.

Pressured by his pregnant wife to finish his novel or take a secure job at a prestigious ad agency, Ben must also navigate the era’s class divisions and antisemitism. His best friend’s elite world clashes with his working-class South Philly roots and Jewish identity.

Temptation, ambition, and loyalty collide—especially when Ilene, a captivating classmate, threatens to unravel his carefully balanced life. As the Phillies’ Whiz Kids chase a pennant, Ben’s own reckoning builds to a climax, culminating in a surprising decision that redefines his future.

Co-written with David S. Burcat, Joel Burcat’s late father, Whiz Kid is a deeply American story of resilience, legacy, and the true cost of following one’s heart.

About the Author

Joel Burcat is a novelist and retired lawyer living in Harrisburg, Pa. His previous novels, Reap the Wind, Drink to Every Beast, Amid Rage, and Strange Fire have been award-winning thrillers. He is a Gold Medal Winner from Readers’ Favorite, a Finalist of the Next Gen Indie Book Awards, and a winner of the PennWriters Annual Writing Contest. Strange Fire was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Week.

David S. Burcat was a Navy corpsman in World War II, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania (English Literature and Dentistry), and a proud son of Camden NJ and his adopted town of Philadelphia. He worked in advertising in the 1950s before returning to Penn to study dentistry. He wrote Match Point, the novella within the novel, in about 1950. He died in 1998. Whiz Kid- A Novel is his first published book. Dave was the father of co-author, Joel Burcat.

Contact Links

Purchase Today

Monday, June 30, 2025

The Brothers Brown Teaser #rabtbooktours

Native American Literature, Family Saga Fiction, Western, Biographical Fiction, Western

Date Published: 06-01-2025

You can almost feel the red dust clinging to your skin and catch the faint scent of jasmine in the air. This is Indian Territory at the edge of everything—law and lawlessness, hope and heartbreak, where the lines between right and wrong blur with every sunset.

Told with vivid detail, this is the story of a man caught between loyalty and his past, between a brother’s shadow and the light of his own becoming. A tale of love, betrayal, and the quiet courage it takes to change your fate.

From a stagecoach town in Tennessee to the first railroad towns of the Indian Territory, we delve into the lives of the charismatic and flawed brothers, Matt and Robert. Their sibling dynamic shapes the lives of the entire Brown family, steering them down a road of familial struggles and cultural clashes.

Matt always idolized his oldest brother, Robert – a smooth-talking charmer who taught him at a young age to live hard and win big. Following Robert’s footsteps, Matt is drawn into a life of high-stakes games and deception. Then he meets Milla. Sharp-eyed, brave, and unafraid to speak the truth, Milla is a woman rooted in her Choctaw heritage, carrying both strength and sorrow in equal measure. For the first time, Matt imagines a different future. But the past doesn’t let go easily and buried secrets never stay buried for long, clawing their way back to the surface when you least expect it. Now, Matt must choose between what consumes him and the life he wants to build.

Set against the raw beauty of the Choctaw Nation, this is a powerful story of blood ties and hard choices, of the people we love and the ones we betray. Gritty, tender, and unforgettable—this is where redemption begins.

Excerpt

Albert kicked the door once, twice.

The window lit up with the light of a lamp. Through the window he saw Milla jump out of bed. He kicked the door harder.

Milla wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and stood at the bedroom door. “I told you I don’t want you here anymore,” she yelled. “You can just go...”

“Milla, open the door! It’s Albert!” He kicked again, struggling to hold Matt upright. “Matt’s hurt bad!”

She dashed to the door and let her brother-in-law in.

Albert held Matt tight around the waist and draped Matt’s left arm over his shoulder as the pair stumbled across the threshold. “Help me get him to the bed. I’m going for Doc Poor.”

Milla lifted Matt’s other arm over her shoulder and sat him on the bed, holding him steady. “Hurry,” she gasped.

Albert grabbed the coat hanging by the front door and ran out of the house.

“What have you gotten yourself into, Matt?” Milla pulled his coat off and unbuckled his holster, laying it on the nightstand. The sight of his shirt and pants covered in blood and dried mud sent a chill through her veins. He fell sideways on the bed and then she saw it—the cut on the back of his shirt.

“Owww!” Matt cupped his hand protectively over his wound, but the pain was too intense. He cried out again.

“You hold on, Matt. Albert went to find Doctor Poor. You just hold on now.” It was an order.

Matt gasped for air, then spoke in fits of agony. “They... got... Robert.” He strained to sit up and failed. His body fell limp, then he fell silent.

“Who got him?” Milla tried to roll Matt over, but he wouldn’t budge. Gasping at the sight of the blood on the bed, she backed away, hands trembling.

Is he dead?

Did he die?

Albert bolted straight up in bed and strained to listen. What was that? He thought he heard a horse neigh, but all he heard now was the creaking of the loose shutter and his own breath. But there it was again, the sound of a horse.

He stretched to look out the window. And there it was, the shape of a horse in the front yard.

Throwing off the blanket, Albert fumbled for his pocket watch on the nightstand and held it to the window. In the moon’s light, he saw it was near two in the morning. The horse was neighing again, louder and longer this time.

Albert glanced out the window as he slipped on his pants; it was Matt’s horse, Girl. The moon lit the corner of the yard where she stood, stomping her front right hoof on the frosted ground in distress.

In his bare feet, he flung open the door and rushed to the panicked horse. Matt sat slumped in the saddle, unconscious or dead. He couldn’t tell.

“Matt?” Albert touched Matt’s leg, but he nearly slid from the saddle at Albert’s touch. “Matt?”

The blood on his coat and shirt told Albert all he needed to know. It was bad, and it looked like he’d been bleeding for a while.

Without thinking, Albert mounted the horse, wrapping his arms around Matt to hold him steady, and rode as fast as he could to Matt’s house. Doc Poor lived on the back side of the field behind Matt’s place. He would take Matt home, then go wake the doctor at once.

About the Author

Raised on the beaches of South Texas, R.G. Stanford has always been drawn to stories that transcend time. That passion was ignited in 1976 with the discovery of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, and deepened with The Feast of All Saints just a few years later. Though historical fiction wasn’t an immediate calling, a personal journey into genealogy changed everything.

With no close relatives nearby, R.G. Stanford turned to online resources in search of extended family. That search became a twenty-year journey through genealogy websites, Federal Census records, the National Archives, and old newspapers. Along the way, R.G. Stanford uncovered incredible stories about her family and the people who once lived in the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory.

Compelled to record the truth of her family in the lore, sprinkled with imagination, R.G. Stanford is a history lover, a research buff, and a passionate genealogy enthusiast. She is also a mother, a grandmother, and a teller of stories, now living near Orlando.

Contact Links

https://mybook.to/TheBrothersBrown

Facebook

Instagram

Purchase Links

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Paperback

Thursday, June 26, 2025

The Brothers Brown Book Blitz #rabtbooktours

Native American Literature, Family Saga Fiction, Western, Biographical Fiction, Western

Date Published: 06-01-2025

About the Author

Contact Links

https://mybook.to/TheBrothersBrown

Facebook

Instagram

Purchase Links

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Paperback

https://mybook.to/TheApacheKid

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

The Apache Kid Teaser #rabtbooktours

ARMY APACHE SCOUT (The Apache Kid Chronicles-Volume 1)

Fiction / Indigenous / Historical Fiction / Native American

Date Published: 06-03-2015

Publisher: Hat Creek

From Army Scout to Outlaw, from Hero to Legend.

He survived the embers of the fires and murders at the Camp Grant Massacre of the Apache. Young Has-kay-bay-nay-ntayl ("brave and tall and will come to a mysterious end"), a child known by many names but later feared and revered as the Apache Kid-grows up in two cultures where survival means choosing between loyalty and betrayal, his people and their overseers. Trained by the legendary Al Sieber and other former military officers, the Kid makes a meteoric rise to prominence as a First Sergeant of scouts, a warrior whose skill and leadership helps win the U.S. Army's fight against renegades and maintain peace between Apache bands at San Carlos Reservation.

But neither war nor peace are ever simple. When forced to make an impossible choice between his own People or the Army, he chooses his People. His choice leads the Army to imprison him at Alcatraz. Released early by the Army, Arizona Territory tries to imprison him again but he, with seven other Apache on the way to Yuma Penitentiary, escape and become the object of the greatest manhunt in Arizona history. The only one to survive the manhunt, Kid becomes both a ghost and a legend, the most feared border outlaw for the next ten years before vanishing into Mexico.

Seen through Kid's eyes, The Apache Kid: Army Apache Scout brings to life the thrilling and tragic journey of Apache Kid as a young man and the best of the Army's Apache scouts.

Excerpt

Redmond nodded down the arroyo. “I’ve already put some bottles out for targets. They’re about fifty paces apart. You can just barely see the glint off the one at three hundred yards. Which one would you like Kid to use for a target, Al?”

Sieber leaned against the corral fence post and stared down the arroyo at the little berms. He scratched the whiskers on his cheeks and made a face as though deep in thought. “I can barely see that last bottle in this light. Why don’t you just shoot the most distant one you think you can hit. That ’73 Winchester you’re carrying would have to shoot like the bullet was following a rainbow to hit anything at three hundred yards. I don’t think that would be a fair test of your shootin’ ability. Go ahead and take a shot.”

I wasn’t sure what Sieber was talking about when he mentioned bullets and rainbows, but I was sure I could hit the most distant bottle. I flipped up the ladder sight and set the notch piece for three hundred yards. Sieber watched me with one raised eyebrow that said I was going to make a fool of myself. Redmond had a little smile. He’d heard enough stories about my shooting from others that he believed he knew what I could do.

I levered a round into my rifle’s chamber, sighted at the distant glint and, at half breath, squeezed off a shot. There was a short delay, and then the bottle at three hundred yards exploded into many shattered pieces. Sieber’s jaw dropped. He looked at me and then back where the bottle was and shook his head. “Kid, that was one great shot. Can you do that for the bottles at one and two hundred yards?”

I nodded, set the ladder notch to two hundred yards, levered a new round and, taking aim, shattered that bottle. I flipped the ladder sight down since the rifle was accurate without it at one hundred yards, levered another round into the firing chamber, and quickly blew that bottle into many sparkling pieces of glass.

Sieber looked at me and grinned. “You don’t miss, do you? What’s your longest shot?”

I grinned back at him. “I no miss. Use Father’s buffalo gun. Shoot deer on edge of clearing in Galiuro Mountains canyon. Father say best shot he ever see with his buffalo gun.”

Sieber laughed. “I expect that it was. You must have exceptional eyesight. Did you use a telescopic sight on the rifle?”

“Hmmph, I see far. Nothing on rifle. What is telescopic sight?”

Sieber smiled and shook his head. Redmond said, “It’s a big eye like those used in soldier glasses and another little eye attached to the ends of a long brass tube. That combination makes things easier to see and hit at a long range. Your People call this big eye in a tube a ‘Shináá Cho.’”

About the Author

W. MICHAEL FARMER blends over fifteen years of research into 19th-century Apache history and Southwest living to create richly authentic stories. A retired PhD physicist, his scientific work included laser-based measurements of atmospheric aerosols, and he authored a two-volume reference on atmospheric effects.

His fiction and essays have earned numerous honors, including three Will Rogers Gold and six Silver Medallions, multiple New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, and a Spur Finalist Award. His novels include The Life and Times of Yellow Boy, Legends of the Desert, and the award-winning Geronimo duology. His latest novels include Trini! Come! and the Chato Duology, featuring Desperate Warrior and Proud Outcast.

Contact Links

Purchase Links

Thursday, May 29, 2025

Dangerous Times Book Blitz #rabtbooktours

Fiction

Date Published: May 1, 2025

Publisher: Manhattan Book Group

This book's background is the prophetic but overlooked decade of American history, 1846 to 1856, from the Mexican War to the presidential election of James Buchanan. The decade was a foreshadowing of our national cataclysm. Underlying every social aspect was the nation's fatal flaw, slavery, that perverted the Constitution on which the Enlightenment ideals of a "United States" were based. And on every day, similarities to the distortions of the present decade are obvious.

I chose a Southern ethos, finding an unexpected woman to suffer and survive the decade; and three brothers, each of whom carves a unique path through it, one as a fugitive unjustly accused of murder and slave-stealing, one as an enigmatic operative across the jagged spectrum of antebellum party politics, and the eldest who inherits his family's storied tobacco plantation as its lands burn out.

The story is told chronologically, the fiction adhering to the history. Should a question arise as to which is which, any event of historical significance - no matter how bizarre or implausible -- did indeed happen.

The novel echoes ethnic truths as they were at the time. I write of intimacies as well as horrors found in historical records. Both public and private relations were often infused with their own destruction -- as were the expanding "United States" in that decade, and I fear in this one.

About the Author

After a questionable academic career at Stanford (I mean, how practical is a double major in Drama and Far Eastern Theology?), Kinsolving fled to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to play Richard II. He then attended The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art for polish. Returning to New York, he appeared as an actor under-, off- and on Broadway, as well as a saloon singer in foul Greenwich Village nightclubs. For creative diversion during these years, he acted and/or directed back in Oregon, at the Stratford (CT) Shakespeare Theater, Harvard, Dartmouth, Café La Mama, then went out and won the Best Actor of the Year award from the San Francisco Chronicle for performing at the Berkeley Rep.

Ineluctably transitioning to a second career, Kinsolving wrote a play with 84 speaking roles, was awarded a Ford Foundation Playwriting Grant, and had the play produced by the Stratford Ontario Shakespeare Festival. This led to the first of some 54 films on which he worked for every major studio (and several distinctly minor ones) in Los Angeles, London and Rome (ask him about Zeffirelli sometime) as screenwriter and script doctor. Suspecting that such a life was leading to the utter corruption of his soul (not to dare mention his body), he retreated to Carmel to write the first of five novels (a NY Times best-seller, a couple of Literary Guild Main Selections, he adds humbly, but only if asked).

While serving on the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of the Arts, he regressed happily to nightclub and fundraising performances, accompanied by the likes of Peter Duchin and Emmanuel Ax, singing at the Algonquin Hotel’s late lamented Oak Room and for one of the late Brooke Astor’s better birthday parties among many other less name-dropping venues.

Last year, he directed a musical for which he wrote the book and lyrics in the nave of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral about Johann Sebastian Bach and his family. Bach provided all the music, and proved to be very easy to work with. THAT WEEK WITH THE BACHS had the best voices in the Bay Area, including the ineffable Frederica von Stade.

He began work on the historical novel DANGEROUS TIMES between the diversions above. He knew the history, but even so, was startled by how constant the similarities are in that destructive time to what’s going on in this one.

Contact Link

Purchase Links

Barnes & Noble

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

In Harm's Way Reveal #rabtbooktours

Book 1 of The Sea Hawkes Chronicles

Historical Fiction/Nautical Fiction

Date Published: February 18th, 2025

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

The man who fights for his family is far more dangerous than the one who fights for his king.

Colonial sea captain Jonas Hawke returns home to Norfolk after a year-long voyage only to have his ship and its valuable cargo seized by the British Royal Navy. As the royal governor further tightens the noose on trade, Jonas is thrust into the chaos of a growing rebellion. Desperate to support his family, he sets out to find work. When he is denied a commission with the newly formed Continental Navy, he outfits his own vessel as a private ship-of-war and voyages to the Caribbean in search of enemy merchant ships he can capture and friends he can trust.

But dangers multiply on the unforgiving sea. The Royal Navy reacts mercilessly to the threat posed by privateers like Jonas. How will Jonas fare now that he has boldly defied the King of Britain to preserve his family? And what will happen to his loved ones while he is away, engulfed in a war to oppose tyranny in the name of freedom?

About the Author

Naval Academy and Naval War College graduate Thomas M. Wing retired after thirty-two years as a Navy Surface Warfare officer. He served more than ten years at sea and twenty-two years ashore in increasingly important tactical and operational billets. A dedicated sailor for half a century, he created the Continental Navy Foundation, served as its executive director, and commanded its brigantine, Megan D.

He wrote In Harm’s Way from a desire to explore the topic of America’s early sea warriors and how they struck fear into the hearts of British shippers around the globe. Thomas’s award-winning first novel, Against All Enemies, was released in 2023 by Acorn Publishing. He resides in San Diego with his wife and daughter and a cat and a dog. Whatever free time he has is spent on the water.

Contact Links

Facebook

Twitter: @thomasmwing1

Goodreads

Instagram

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Elephant Bones Book Blitz #rabtbooktours

Historical Fiction

Date Published: November 6, 2023

Journey through the timeless tapestry of friendship, family, and love, set against the rich backdrop of Virginia Beach. “Elephant Bones” tells the story of two inseparable friends, Joellen Bower and Emily Harrington, born a day apart in the sunlit month of July. Their lives are a testament to the unbreakable bonds formed under the shade of great willow oaks and the roots of the watery bald cypress trees in a place known as Elephant Bones.

Nestled in the Pungo borough of Princess Anne County, Elephant Bones becomes more than just a playground for the girls. It’s a treasure trove, a sanctuary, and a testament to the history of the region. For Joellen and Emily, it’s a realm of memories, dreams, and promises – from burying tiny treasures in the sand to growing up amidst the stark contrast of wealth and hardship.

Brought to life by the whims of Emily’s father and the history of the Harrington Plantation, Elephant Bones becomes a symbol of the American South and the intricate web of lives, tales, and legacies interwoven through its soil. As the girls mature, the treasures buried beneath the sands of time emerge, reshaping their destinies in ways neither could have imagined.

Dive into this evocative tale and bear witness to a friendship that challenges the tides of change, history, and fate itself.

About the Author

Michael Gleason is an old author with a new start. He and his wife, MaryAnne wrote and worked on several novels together before MaryAnne succumbed to cancer in 1998. The writing team constructed the outlines and partial stories to several books and published two of them under MaryAnne’s name.

Like many, Michael was crushed by the loss of his wife of 20 years. Shortly after her demise, he sold their 5-acre home in the Great Bridge area of Chesapeake, VA, and returned next door to his hometown of Virginia Beach where he resides today.

For 20 years, Michael stored his and MaryAnne’s writing projects on the top shelf of his home’s garage and only returned to it in 2020. He then finished his and her novel entitled Forbidden Justice which was released on Amazon Kindle in February 2021.

Now remarried, Michael lives happily with his wife Terri and their Boston Terrier, Abbey, who greets visitors vivaciously at the front door. Abbey’s motto is “Every stranger is just a friend she hasn’t met.”

Michael holds a BA and Master’s Degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, where he minored in English literature. While living mainly on the east coast of the U.S. including Maryland, Washington D.C. (where he was born), Brunswick and the Golden Isles in Georgia, Michael has enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time in Europe, including a summer studying at the University of Graz in Austria.

He invites you to read his newest novel entitled, FORBIDDEN JUSTICE and would love to receive an honest assessment of his endeavor. He can be reached at michaelgleason6999@gmail.com.

Purchase Link

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/41018186.Donna_Balon

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Sam Time Guest Post and Giveaway #GoddessFishPromotions

Sam Time

by Donna Balon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Historical Fiction, Time Travel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

When her fiancé is away on business, lonely Samantha Hunter despairs and absorbs herself in historical research. Her nighttime dreams being so vivid, Samantha believes she’s traveling to a past century. As she navigates the Victorian era rules of dos and even more don’ts, she charms Ulysses S Grant while struggling to maintain her present-day romance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt

During the night, Samantha had a vivid dream. She was in a rural town wearing her Victorian-style dress. The weather was cool so she wrapped the crocheted afghan around her shoulders. And her sockless feet were cold in her slip-on shoes.

The few men she saw were in worn, soiled work clothes and walked with purpose. The so-called roadways were not paved but dirt paths. No cars or trucks, but horses and carts. A few wooden one-story buildings scattered here and there.

This must be a dream in which the clock has been turned back, Samantha thought. But where am I?

She strolled, aware she had not seen any other women. Pulling the afghan around herself snugly, she walked with her head tilted down to avoid catching the eye of any man in whatever this place was, glancing up often to learn more of her surroundings.

Then two women hurried toward her, each carrying a wooden bucket of water. Their cotton dresses hung to their ankles, with full skirts gathered at the waist of fitted bodices. Plain white cotton bonnets covered their heads, and shawls were wrapped around their shoulders. They looked at Samantha disapprovingly. Her dress was too fancy for this rural town. Moreover, she wasn’t wearing a bonnet or hat; a bare head was a means of solicitation by prostitutes. She hugged her body with the afghan, which served as a shawl to hide her uncorseted torso.

The dream seemed authentic. Despite her uneasiness, she thought, Enjoy the dream. If I don’t like it, I’ll wake myself up.

Around a corner, she spotted a few men in uniform. Soldiers. Maybe the army. This might be a small town next to an army fort, Samantha guessed. Still, not a good place for a woman.

Guest Post

Researching the Mid-19^th Century

Time travel is implausible. Readers accept this untruth for the adventure of escaping to the past. As an author, I’m allowed this one lie. Everything else must be plausible so readers can enjoy the ride.

I read over two dozen books in researching the mid-19^th century and my subject Ulysses S Grant. Grant’s and Julia’s memoirs and biographies provided much information, but other books filled in cultural details. No one book stood out as having everything needed. The norm was rather, I’d read over 300 pages to get a couple of nuggets. I summarize some of these nuggets below.

Roughing It, Mark Twain

I strived to write dialogue appropriate for this Victorian period. Roughing It is delightful and gave me hints of language usage. I discovered the word “greenswald”, which is a grassy area.

General John A. Rawlins, No Ordinary Man, Allen J Ottens

This is a biography of Grant’s chief of staff during the Civil War. From this book, I learned Grant typically had staff with him when he traveled on horseback.

In Sam Time when Grant rides on horseback to meet the protagonist Samantha, two staff officers trail him. As she watches the three men race out of town, Samantha is amazed and says, “This is the best vacation ever.”

Chloroform, The Quest for Oblivion, Linda Stratmann

In the acknowledgments the author thanks her husband for enduring “many months living with a woman whose sole topic of conversation appeared to be chloroform.” I laughed, feeling likewise, odd to be buying a book about this drug.

The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, Leander Stillwell

I used more tidbits from this book, which is in the public domain, than any other book. The author also saw Grant riding on horseback during the Civil War.

Manhunt, The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, James L. Swanson

This is in my top favorite nonfiction books. The inside cover displays the reward poster for the assassin of President Lincoln. It’s described in the Sam Time chapter “Mourning in D.C.”

Riding for Ladies with Hints on the Stable, Mrs. Power O’Donoghue

Equestrian women wore riding “habits” (clothes). Samantha wears riding clothes consistent with the descriptions in the book.

The Rise of Literacy and the Common School in the United States, A Socioeconomic Analysis to 1870, Lee Soltow and Edward Stevens

A literate population was a necessity for a young democratic nation. Although informal and sporadic, children often did learn to read, especially the bible.

In the early chapters of the book, Samantha meets the young Peyton sisters and asks them if they know A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. They say “yes”, which is plausible.

The Corset, A Cultural History, Valerie Steele

This is the go-to book for everything about corsets. After reading this book, I concluded corsets during the 19^th century performed the function of a 20^th century brassiere. They were typically worn snug but not tight.

Manners and Morals of Victorian America, Wayne Erbsen

This is a handbook, the front cover of which includes a drawing of a man helping a woman descending a buggy. Victorians considered a woman’s waist an erogenous zone. The front cover illustration correctly displays the man holding onto the elbows of a woman—not her waist—as she rests her hands on his shoulders. In Sam Time, Samantha descends from of buggy with Grant’s help in this same manner.

All the Modern Convenience, American Household Plumbing 1840-1890

Maureen Ogle

I learned indoor plumbing and water closets were available to the in some cities and affluent areas in 1880. In Sam Time, Samantha visits the Grants at their Long Branch, New Jersey, beach home. The home would have had a water closet, and Samantha excuses herself to use it.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Author Donna Balon debuts Sam Time, a novel well-researched and professionally edited by quality talent from the publishing industry. Donna resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her husband.

Website: https://samtimebook.com/about/

Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/donnabalon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card.