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

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Tik Tok 

Goodreads

Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

Website

 

Purchase Links

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Too Much the Lion Release Blitz #rabtbooktours

US Historical Fiction/Civil War

Date Published: 05-13-2025

Publisher: Bariso Press

 

The soldiers did the fighting; the generals, the Infighting

In the waning months of the American Civil War, a delusional Confederate commander makes a desperate attempt to change the course of the South’s dwindling hopes by invading middle Tennessee. The tragic result of Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood’s misplaced hubris devastates his Army of Tennessee and alters the lives of the citizens of Franklin, Tennessee.

In a historical novel reminiscent of The Killer Angels, Too Much the Lion follows a handful of Confederate generals, infantrymen and local residents through the five days leading up to the horrific Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. The lives of soldiers ranging from Major General Patrick Cleburne to Brigadier General Hiram Granbury and from Sergeant Major Sumner Cunningham to Corporal Sam Watkins will be forever changed by Hood’s decisions and mistakes.

Franklin civilians like apprehensive and loving mother Mary Alice McPhail and teen Hardin Figuers, desperate to serve the Confederacy but too young to enlist, are ensnared in the events that will bring death and devastation to their very doorsteps. Devout Confederate Chaplain Charles T. Quintard must reconcile his religious beliefs with his support of slavery. Slaves like the elder Wiley Howard and the inquisitive young Henry B. Free are trapped on the fault line between what has been and what could be.

Too Much the Lion offers an unvarnished account of the dying days of the Confederacy in a powerful and moving narrative of honor and betrayal, bravery and cowardice, death and survival. Told with poignancy and honesty by an accomplished novelist, Too Much the Lion achieves for the Battle of Franklin what The Killer Angels did for the Battle of Gettysburg, providing a classic fictional account of one of the Civil War’s pivotal encounters.

 

About the Author

Preston Lewis is the award-winning author of more than 50 western, historical, juvenile, and nonfiction works.  In 2021 he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his literary achievements.

Western Writers of America (WWA) has honored Lewis with two Spur Awards, one for best article and the second for best western novel.  He has received ten Will Rogers Medallion Awards (six gold, two silver and two bronze) for written western humor, short stories, short nonfiction, and traditional Western novel.

Lewis is a past president of WWA and the West Texas Historical Association, which named him a fellow in 2016.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and a master’s degree from Ohio State University, both in journalism.  Additionally, he has a second master’s degree in history from Angelo State University.  He lives in San Angelo, Texas, with wife Harriet Kocher Lewis.

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Blog

Goodreads

 

Purchase Link

Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Too Much the Lion Teaser #rabtbooktours

 

US Historical Fiction/Civil War

Date Published: 05-13-2025

Publisher: Bariso Press

 

The soldiers did the fighting; the generals, the Infighting

In the waning months of the American Civil War, a delusional Confederate commander makes a desperate attempt to change the course of the South’s dwindling hopes by invading middle Tennessee. The tragic result of Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood’s misplaced hubris devastates his Army of Tennessee and alters the lives of the citizens of Franklin, Tennessee.

In a historical novel reminiscent of The Killer Angels, Too Much the Lion follows a handful of Confederate generals, infantrymen and local residents through the five days leading up to the horrific Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. The lives of soldiers ranging from Major General Patrick Cleburne to Brigadier General Hiram Granbury and from Sergeant Major Sumner Cunningham to Corporal Sam Watkins will be forever changed by Hood’s decisions and mistakes.

Franklin civilians like apprehensive and loving mother Mary Alice McPhail and teen Hardin Figuers, desperate to serve the Confederacy but too young to enlist, are ensnared in the events that will bring death and devastation to their very doorsteps. Devout Confederate Chaplain Charles T. Quintard must reconcile his religious beliefs with his support of slavery. Slaves like the elder Wiley Howard and the inquisitive young Henry B. Free are trapped on the fault line between what has been and what could be.

Too Much the Lion offers an unvarnished account of the dying days of the Confederacy in a powerful and moving narrative of honor and betrayal, bravery and cowardice, death and survival. Told with poignancy and honesty by an accomplished novelist, Too Much the Lion achieves for the Battle of Franklin what The Killer Angels did for the Battle of Gettysburg, providing a classic fictional account of one of the Civil War’s pivotal encounters.

 

Foreword

Too Much the Lion is the story of the Battle of Franklin and the five days leading up to the disastrous conflict as lived by select generals, infantrymen, and civilians in the waning weeks of the Confederacy. In a war filled with tragic encounters, this was one of the most heartrending, yet least remembered battles of the Civil War, largely because it occurred in the Western Theater, far removed from the aura of Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.

The Confederate Army of Tennessee produced no Robert E. Lee, but instead fought under a succession of mediocre commanders whose battlefield triumphs were limited to a single decisive but bloody victory at Chickamauga. The army’s commanders had little else to show for the sacrifice of Rebel men and boys. Though the overall leadership lacked the tactical flair of a Lee or a Stonewall Jackson, the Army of Tennessee possessed some superb generals such as cavalryman Nathan Bedford Forrest and division commander Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, who both appear in this account, though the focus is on the lesser-known Cleburne and his division.

With more than 8,500 combined casualties, the Battle of Franklin does not make the top twenty list of Civil War battles with the most losses. Even so, Union and Confederate forces endured five of the most ferocious hours of combat during the War Between the States. Besides the hubris of Army of Tennessee commander John Bell Hood, the events of the preceding night at Spring Hill contributed to the next day’s ill-fated attack—dubbed “the Pickett’s Charge of the West”—at Franklin.

In one of the greatest blunders of the Civil War, the Union army slipped past the Army of Tennessee during the night at Spring Hill, Tennessee, and escaped the trap Lieutenant General Hood had set but failed to execute. Charges and countercharges about who was at fault echoed through the years, and historians remain conflicted about who forfeited one of the South’s last opportunities for a victory over Union forces. The interpretations of the events at Spring Hill in Too Much the Lion are entirely those of the author after considerable research and head-scratching.

In addition to the many generals mentioned in this historical novel, two Confederate infantrymen who left accounts for posterity provide perspective from the viewpoint of the foot soldier. While novels about war rightfully focus on soldiers, battle takes its toll on civilians as well, so two Franklin families—the Carters and the Figuers—provide perceptions beyond those of the troops. Two slaves serving Confederate officers as manservants—one elderly and one in his teens—also enter the narrative.

Except for two characters, all the names listed are those taken from historical accounts. The name of a Franklin doctor was fictionalized, and the last name of the slave named “Henry” was added since the historical account only listed his first name. Otherwise, the names are actual, including the lists of casualties and the causes of their deaths. The interpretation of each character is that of the author, based on his research.

Too Much the Lion is told entirely from the Confederate viewpoint, both soldier and civilian. It is important to remember that by late 1864, both Southern combatants and noncombatants had endured three years of death and deprivation. Both citizens and warriors alike were tired of war, its hardships, and the uncertainty it created for their futures.

For those unfamiliar with the organization of a Confederate army, the Army of Tennessee operated under Lieutenant General John Bell Hood in overall command of three infantry corps and a cavalry corps under the direction of Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest. This account focuses on the corps under the command of Major General Benjamin Franklin Cheatham of Tennessee. His three division commanders included Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne of Arkansas and Major General John C. Brown of Tennessee, who are pivotal in this account. Major General William B. Bate of Tennessee also served as a division commander under Cheatham, but he played a lesser role in the events as depicted in Too Much the Lion.

Three brigades under the commands of brigadier generals Hiram B. Granbury of Texas, Daniel C. Govan of Arkansas, and Mark P. Lowery of Mississippi reported to Cleburne, their division commander. Between seven and ten regiments designated by number and state served under these three brigadier generals.

Two of the four brigades in Brown’s division appear in this account. Commanders of those brigades were brigadier generals States Rights Gist of South Carolina and Otho F. Strahl of Ohio. While other generals and combatants show up in this account, their roles are nominal in this telling of the story of the Battle of Franklin.

In compiling this narrative, the author has attempted to stay within the historical framework of the events leading up to and culminating in the Battle of Franklin and its aftermath. Occasionally, time elements may have been compressed or slightly altered for the sake of the overlapping narratives from the different viewpoints.

If nothing else, perhaps Too Much the Lion will drive readers to the historical accounts of the Battle of Franklin to make their own assessments and draw their own conclusions of the tragic encounter in the waning months of the Civil War. If Too Much the Lion accomplishes anything, perhaps it will give Patrick Ronayne Cleburne his due as one of the noble generals of the Civil War, much like The Killer Angels elevated Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain into the public consciousness.

Too Much the Lion is a novel of war, and war is the failure of man to live up to the “better angels of our nature” as President Abraham Lincoln first used the term in his 1861 inaugural address before the start of the conflict that killed more Americans than any other in our nation’s history.

By its very nature, however, any novel of war is also an anti-war novel, for it shows the dire consequences on individuals of political and military deceit and hubris. Perhaps Too Much the Lion offers lessons for today if we are honest and humble enough to accept them.

About the Author

Preston Lewis is the award-winning author of more than 50 western, historical, juvenile, and nonfiction works.  In 2021 he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his literary achievements.

Western Writers of America (WWA) has honored Lewis with two Spur Awards, one for best article and the second for best western novel.  He has received ten Will Rogers Medallion Awards (six gold, two silver and two bronze) for written western humor, short stories, short nonfiction, and traditional Western novel.

Lewis is a past president of WWA and the West Texas Historical Association, which named him a fellow in 2016.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and a master’s degree from Ohio State University, both in journalism.  Additionally, he has a second master’s degree in history from Angelo State University.  He lives in San Angelo, Texas, with wife Harriet Kocher Lewis.

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Blog

Goodreads

 

Purchase Link

Amazon

Scars of Sand and Soil Cover Reveal #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

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Tik Tok

Snow on Magnolias Release Blitz #rabtbooktours

Historical Romance

Date Published: July 16, 2024

 

 

One terrible lie, a desperate measure to save her past, just might destroy her future…

 

Award-winning author of historical fiction presents a new novel of love and lies, secrets and sensuality, and the hands of fate weaving it all together.

 

The Civil War is over and Christmas beckons. Magnolia Merryweather, backyard horse breeder, is eager to celebrate for the first time since the war began even as she continues to grow her business. She envisions a calm, prosperous life ahead after all the terror of the past four years. Only, all of her plans are thrown into disarray when her secret lover returns and starts asking pointed questions she can’t answer without disruption and disaster following.

Bryce Day comes home to Alabama after he’s discharged from service in the First Alabama Cavalry USA, though with guilt weighing on his heart. He knows his neighbors won’t cotton to his Unionist bent and the woman of his heart likely won’t give him a second chance after his silence during the war. He’s dreamt about settling down with Lia and starting their own family. That’s what he fought for, came back to her for. Only, she’s hiding something from him. How can they have any hope of a loving life together with lies and secrets between them?

About the Author

 Award-winning author Betty Bolté writes authentic and accurately researched historical fiction with heart and supernatural romance novels. A lifetime reader and writer, she’s worked as a secretary, freelance word processor, technical writer/editor, and author. She’s been published in essays, newspaper articles/columns, magazine articles, and nonfiction books but now enjoys crafting entertaining and informative fiction, especially stories that bring American history to life. She earned a Master’s Degree in English in 2008, emphasizing the study of literature and storytelling. She has mentored new fiction writers, and has judged numerous writing contests for both fiction and nonfiction. She lives in northern Alabama with her loving husband of more than 30 years. 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Pinterest

Instagram

TikTok

BookBuzz

 

Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N

Apple

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

Amazon

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.

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

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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway