New Release from Susan Foy

By -

Susan started writing novels in her mid-thirties at the encouragement of her twin sister, who said, "Write something for me, and I'll read it." She has completed five novels and has currently published three of them. The first two are contemporary Christian fiction and the other three are historical fiction, all with serious themes but with a dash of romance.

Ellen's Endeavors

 




Life with the Huguenots

My fifth novel, Ellen's Endeavors, was just released last Saturday. In many ways, this book was the most labor-intensive of all of them. It occurred not just in a historical setting, like its prequel Johanna's Journey, but with a specific group of people that many Americans know little about - including myself before I started researching them!

 The Huguenots were French Protestants in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France, followers of Jean Calvin (aka John Calvin). Although theologically they resembled the Puritans in England, they differed from the Puritans in the fact that they lived in an overwhelmingly Catholic country and had relatively little political power. As a result, they suffered severe persecution at different points in their history, to the point where there were nearly eradicated in France. Many Huguenots fled the country during these persecutions, ending up in Switzerland, England, Holland, and America.


Ellen's story takes place in America, when Ellen escapes her broken heart by traveling with her friend to a small town in New York settled by Huguenots. (This town, although fictional, was based on New Rochelle, NY.) Although the characters have left France, several flashback scenes describe their trials and persecutions in their home country, which become relevant as the story progresses. To research this time period, I traveled to New Paltz and New Rochelle, both towns settled by the Huguenots in America, and also read several books, one about the first-hand experiences of a French galley slave!

I also needed to research various medical procedures, since Ellen as an aspiring midwife helps to deliver a baby and also amputate a leg. I read a whole book about smallpox in order to describe a case in the story.

Writing Ellen's Endeavors was a lot of work, but also fun and educational as well. I hope that my readers will learn something about history while reading a great story!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting to know Doralyn Moore Post 1

By -
Image
  Hello, Readers. Happy New Year!  What are your plans for 2024? Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? More importantly, do you intend to keep them?            Naturally, I love to read. Every day, you’ll find me at my favorite coffee  shop, reading. When people come into the store and ask about me, they say, “You know, the lady who always comes in here and reads.” There’s nothing nicer than a hot cup of tea, a treat, and a book. I enjoy thrillers, mysteries, and contemporary fiction. Currently, I’m reading David Baldacci’s latest book, The Edge . At the beginning of the book, after one action scene, things moved slowly, but as I keep reading, they’re beginning to pick up speed.   In addition to reading, I am the author of three published contemporary Christian novels and have another one coming out in the fall of this year, Caused to Triumph . I started writing seriously in 2019 when I retired from over thirty years of employment in social services. My experience in this field p
Read more

Need an Editor? Christian Indie Authors

By -
Image
Christian Indie Editing Services  What and Why?    Over the last decade or so, independent authors have enjoyed a new era in the history of publishing. Since the debut of the Amazon Kindle, independent authors can write and release their own hard work without having to share the profits with anyone else. But, as with most things, even the best of us can use some help to put out our best work. That is the motivation behind the Christian Indie Editing Services Facebook group. We are here to connect Christian indie authors with Christian indie editors and others who provide services to authors. It is hoped that the connections we make will turn into relationships that will then help to create the fabric of a community. You are invited to become part of that community. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Steve Mathisen. I am one of the admins of  Christian Indie Editing Services and I am a writer and an editor. I have written articles, been published in anthologies, cont
Read more

Readers Love Us

By -
Image
Readers Love Us!!  We now have a new website that hosts information about Christian Historical Novels. Most of them come in a series. Many of them written by our own CIAN authors. We love helping them share their work and their series all in one unique well designed page. Have trouble following a series then just book mark our pages and come back often to pick up the next book. This is just another great feature that Christian Indie Authors is bringing about to help our readers find great clean Christian content. Books that make you laugh, cry, and entertain while reminding us all about God's love through fiction. Join us CLICK HERE  Website  Facebook Group  Contact Us Samantha Fury  is the author of  the Street Justice Series.    She's written many articles on  book covers,  for Indie Authors. She operates several Indie Groups. Editing Services, Cover Artist,  Helpful Indie Facebook Groups.  
Read more