I must be honest with you from jump street. What I knew about Quakers was formed by elementary school stories about William Penn and movies like The Angel and the Bad Man and Friendly Persuasion. It took meeting real-life Quakers who kindly corrected my ignorance to free me of clichés and caricatures I hadn’t realized I harbored. The first thing they informed me was officially they are the Religious Society of Friends and they refer to themselves as Friends. So decades later when I created inspirational historical romances set in the 1880s in which my African-American characters have been helped by Friends, I scurried down a wonderful new research rabbit hole.
I Iearned that four Friends in Germantown Pennsylvania wrote one of the earliest protests against slavery in 1688. In 1700 on May 7th — one hundred eighty years before my stories are set — William Penn began monthly meetings for African Americans that promoted manumission. However, Friends weren’t always that quick to invite African Americans among them and it took another eighty years for the denomination itself to take a public stand against slavery. Donna McDaniel and Vanessa Julye document this journey in their book, Fit For Freedom, Not For Friendship. Prior to the American Revolution Quakers owned slaves and shared the same attitudes about African Americans as non-Quakers in American society. McDaniel and Julye do give the Society kudos for being the first large Christian denomination to require its members to stop participating in slavery.
I was amazed to learn that I was familiar with African-American Quakers by name but didn’t know they were Quakers. I knew of the abolitionist and back-to-Africa work of Paul Cuffe (1759-1817). I didn’t know Cuffe established the Friendly Society of Sierra Leone in 1811. Probably the most famous African-American Quaker known to me is Bayard Rustin (1912-1987). I had always known of Rustin’s civil rights and gay rights activism, but I never knew he was a Quaker.
I was grateful to encounter new names and new stories. Freed slave Cyrus Bustill (1732-1806) helped found Philadelphia’s Free African Society and was himself a conductor on the underground railroad. His family continued as prominent black Quaker leaders, one of whom — Gertrude Bustill Mossell — became one of the first black women journalists and journal editors in the United States. Another new name was Vera Mae Green (1928-1982). Green championed international human rights and Caribbean anthropology. She did a study, “Blacks and Quakerism” in 1972-73 for the Friend’s General Conference and participated in a significant way in a session in 1979 with Quaker sociologists on peace in the Middle East.
Though I don’t get to use all I learn in my writing, I love discovering these hidden histories which make the tapestry that is history in general so colorful. So for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card, what are some surprising historical facts you’ve come across.
One Breath Away by Michal Scott
Sentenced to hang for a crime she didn’t commit, former slave Mary Hamilton was exonerated at literally the last gasp. She returns to Safe Haven, broken and resigned to live alone. Never having been courted, cuddled or spooned, Mary now fears any kind of physical intimacy when arousal forces her to relive the asphyxiation of her hanging. But then the handsome stranger who saved her shows up, stealing her breath from across the room and promising so much more.
Wealthy freeborn-Black Eban Thurman followed Mary to Safe Haven, believing a relationship with Mary was foretold by the stars. He must marry her to reclaim his family farm. But first, he must help her heal, and to do that means revealing his own predilection for edgier sex.
Then just as Eban begins to win Mary’s trust, an enemy from the past threatens to keep them one breath away from love…
His smile turned up the heat in his gaze. Mary frowned, painfully aware the smell of her passion lingered in the air, despite the woolen barrier of her skirt.
He stepped forward so his hand-stitched boots stood toe-to-toe with Mary’s second-hand shoes. “Eban Thurman, at your service, Miss Hamilton. May I get you something to drink?”
At her service? The air congealed. Mary gasped, trying to suck in air too solid to inflate her lungs.
“No—no, thank you. I’m not thirsty.” Her stutter mimicked the tremor between her thighs. She clasped her hands and planted them hard against her lap.
“It’s a really hot night.” He turned his hand palm up in a silent plea. “Perhaps you’d find a waltz more cooling.” He eased his fingers into her clenched hands. “May I beg the honor of this dance?”
“Beg?”
“Yes, Miss Hamilton.” He tilted his head, slanting his smile to the right. “Beg.”
“You don’t strike me as the begging type, Mr. Thurman.”
“To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.” He tongue-swiped his full lips as if he’d just tasted something he wanted to taste again. “I know when it’s time to beg.”
She pursed her lips into a frown, fought back the urge to grovel and won. Barely.
The fingers around hers, clean and huge and strangely slender, hadn’t moved, hadn’t trembled. Their stillness aroused her. His stillness aroused her. Her lips quivered. She inhaled deeply against the surrender summoned by that tiny tremor.
Resist the devil and he will flee.
Silently she called upon the truth in this scripture for rescue. The devil waited. She stared at the hand on hers, helpless against the appeal, the allure of temptation.
She swallowed hard, opened her mouth to say no, but her tongue refused to cooperate. She huffed out a breath and shook her head. “I—I can’t. I don’t know how to waltz.”
“Well, you’re in luck.” His lips bowed in a smile, full, broad, and hypnotizing. “I’m an excellent teacher and I bet you’re a fast learner.” He gave her fingers a squeeze. “Shall we?”
He really wanted to dance with her. She blinked, speechless. A warning voice protested.
Resist.
Her heart countered.
Surrender.
She firmed her lips, heaved a sigh then accepted his invitation.
As a writer, it’s important to refill my muse. I relax by taking photographs of nature. One of my favorite places to visit is the marsh.
At the marsh, I never know what type of bird or animal I’m going to see. This spring, a young Great Blue Heron has arrived. He’s gorgeous, and I hope he stays.
I often see eagles at the marsh. On rare occasions, one lands nearby, and I can take close-up photos.
With the spring migration beginning, I keep watch for new birds flying through. This spring I’ve had the pleasure of seeing several new ducks.
Shore-birds are interesting to watch. One of my favorites is the seagull. They have such interesting attitudes.
Take care, and wishing you a wonderful spring!
Contest
***ONE winner will be drawn from everyone who posts on my guest blog post about, ‘Nature’s Inspiration – Life At The Marsh,’ on Delilah’s blog between 18 April 2021– 25 April 2021. The winner will receive a signed copy of His Woman, book #2 in the bestselling The MacGruder Brothers Series.
About the Author
A retired Navy Chief, Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense. Books in her award-winning MacGruder Brothersseries have been translated into five languages. Diana has spoken at the Library of Congress, Lady Jane’s Salon in NYC, and appeared in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happy Ever After,” MSN.com, Atlantic County Women Magazine, and Texoma Living Magazine.
After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world. After the release of the bestselling MacGruder Brothersseries and The Oath Trilogy, she released the bestselling The Forbidden Series.
Diana looks forward to the years of writing ahead and meeting the amazing people who will share this journey.
I love the word “wonder.” The second I read it I see me, with my eyes wide-open radiating awe, my mouth rounded in an O of surprise, my mind bright with amazement. Songs like “God of Wonders” and “Wonderful Wonderful” make my heart sing. So imagine my delight when I started the research for this post on my favorite fairytale and learned that another description for fairytale is “wonder tale.”
The term “fairytale” is derived from the French conte de fées, i.e., short stories that contain all manner of nonhuman characters, not just fairies, and wonderment. I date my love for fairy/wonder tales back to my NYC public school days. In September during the first week of class, you received your subject books, one of which was a reader. You wrote your name and class on a bookplate then dug in for a year’s worth of reading. These books were broken up into three or four sections. I can’t remember what they were, but the final section always contained illustrated fairy tales. It is from those school readers that I first read about Rumpelstiltskin, the Shoemaker and the Elves, Puss in Boots, and the Three Billy Goats Gruff. I particularly loved the ones with talking animals. My favorite of all is The Bremen Town Musicians, a story that appeared in Grimms’ Fairy Tales in 1819.
Briefly, it’s about a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster, all who have become old and of no use to their different owners. They set out to find the freedom they deserve as musicians in Bremen. They come upon a cottage in which thieves are counting their booty. The animals scare them off and enjoy the food left behind. When the robbers send one of their band to retake the cottage, the animals vanquish him. He hurries back with tales of a monster from which he barely escaped with his life. No longer troubled by humans, the animals settle down in the cottage to the life of freedom and plenty they deserve. Although the animals never made it to Bremen, the town has a famous statue erected in their honor. Take a look at the statue here: https://www.bremen.eu/tourism/attractions/bremen-town-musicians.
I think about the little girl I was, who enjoyed reading over and over about these animals’ exploits. As an adult, I can see how each animal determining their own destiny and supporting one another would appeal to an urban kid growing up in the turbulent and heady days of the Civil Rights movement. How could the spunk of the Bremen Town Musicians not inspire me when I was seeing on television or overhearing adults talking about African-American people working together and not allowing others to determine their worth? I even see the Kwanzaa principles of kujichagulia (self-determination) and ujimaa (collective work and responsibility) at work in the story which adds another level of enjoyment to my favorite “wonder tale.”
So how about you? Do you have a favorite fairy/wonder tale? Share its title in the comments for a chance at a $10 Amazon gift card.
Better To Marry Than To Burn
Freed Man seeking woman to partner in marriage for at least two years in the black township of Douglass, Texas. Must be willing and able to help establish a legacy. Marital relations as necessary. Love neither required nor sought.
Excerpt from Better to Marry than to Burn…
She sidled up to him, cupped his erection and fondled his balls.
“Ready for bed or ready to bed me?”
He moaned, placed his hand atop hers and increased the pressure. Already hard, he hadn’t imagined he could get any harder.
“Is that beautiful brass bed new?”
He gulped. “Ye—yes. Bought it—bought it for the honeymoon.”
“I’m ready to be bedded now,” she whispered. “Or is that something we must negotiate?”
All thoughts of dinner vanished.
“No,” he rasped, leaning forward, as hungry for her lips as he was to be inside her.
“Good.” She stepped back, out of reach. “But, let’s be clear…” She bent over, so her butt protruded toward him. She massaged each buttock so her crack parted invitingly. “Tonight it’s the Greek way or no way.”
He blinked, stunned by this demand to be taken anally. His master had had books filled with drawings, depicting naked Greeks wrestling. Those pen and ink depictions flashed before him now. Arms constrained by arms, legs entwined with legs, butts and groins enmeshed in snug contortions. He’d love to take Queen that way, experience first-hand the erotic intimacy etched in the men’s struggle-laden features.
He took one step toward her then stopped. No. One day, he would…but not tonight. Not their first time. Their first time would be the nose-to-nose, chest-to-breast, cock-to-vagina coupling he’d hungered five years for.
Thank you to Delilah for inviting me to be on her blog!
I’m Ella Quinn, and I write light-hearted Regencies. My latest release is The Most Eligible Viscount in London, book 2 of The Lords of London. I’m also an Army veteran stationed in Germany with my husband who’s trying to recover from his second retirement. He’s going to have to figure it out within the next 18 months. I’m ready to get back to my boat. We also have a Great Dane who has been on the boat and loves meeting people in marinas and a cat who has not yet been on the boat.
Contest
For a chance to win a FREE download tell me whether retiring on a boat is your idea of heaven too!
The Most Eligible Viscount in London
In bestselling author Ella Quinn’s intriguing new Regency trilogy, a dashing suitor must decide if love and marriage are mutually exclusive…
Viscount Gavin Turley is convinced that love matches cause nothing but trouble. Still, after months of courting, he’s fallen for Miss Georgie Featherton. He’s passionate about her, in fact. But words of love are not an indulgence he will allow himself. When he presents Georgie with his marriage proposal, he will lead with his head—not his heart. His qualifications as a husband are excellent, after all. What could go wrong?
No sooner does Gavin kneel on one knee than Georgie’s heart goes aflutter with joy. Finally, the proposal she longed for had arrived. Yet Gavin seemed to be listing his credentials for a business partnership, not a romantic union. Without a declaration of love, Georgie can only reject his offer—unless the ladies of the ton, and Georgie’s grandmama, have anything to do with it. For sometimes it takes a wiser eye to see the love behind a guarded heart—and a clever scheme to bring it out of hiding…
I know that during the pandemic and stay-at-home orders and such, most people have developed fantastic new hobbies, discovered talents they never knew they had, blah, blah, blah. (Me totally jealous) I’ve started working on a degree, so I have no time for anything new between that, work, and writing.
But Spring has come to shine down on me anyway.
Spring is here, and I am so excited. The first bloom of flowers is out. Honestly, I don’t know if they have sprung up or someone had planted them. I don’t have a green thumb at all. I have tried to grow plants, but they all die on me.
Now, you would think that a woman, whose mother had a menagerie of green plants and flowers all through the house when growing up, said woman (me) would know how to at least keep a succulent alive. Sadly, no. In 48-hours, I killed a succulent given to me for Mother’s Day two years ago. It should have been a hint when my daughter started laughing when the event greeter handed it to me with happy day wishes.
When the greeter offered with cheer, “It is almost impossible to kill this plant.”
My daughter answered, “Not for my mom.”
“Oh, ye of little faith.” I shook my head at my daughter as we walked out. Only to hold my head in shame two days later when it was withered, brown, and dead in its little mason jar.
Am I the only one who can’t grow flowers and lush green plants? Please, someone, tell me I am not alone. LOL.
Since I can’t seem to get my green thumb on, I do many clicks with my phone camera when I see flowers around me. It doesn’t matter if I’m at work, or walking in the park, or if they are the plants growing at my neighbor’s house. I wish I knew what the plants were, but I’m not generally concerned about the type only if it is pretty or interesting. Like the picture below that is a cabbage-like-looking plant or flower. I walked by them again a few days ago, and now they look completed different; there’s no pink, not so pretty after they finished blooming, so no new picture.
If you happen to be a ‘blooming beauty’ and know the name of any of these flowers/plants, let me drop me a line. 😊
Claiming Caroline by Yasmine Hyde
Grover Town Discipline Series
Book # 6
Destitute after her father’s death, Caroline Douglas finds herself in a bind when the sleazy, rich business owner wants her father’s debt in full. He won’t take ‘no’ or ‘I owe you’ for an answer. She finds herself dragged to the Harlot and the Hero, forced to work off her payment. When she thinks things can’t get worse, they do. To save her reputation, she finds herself saying ‘I do’ to a sexy, overbearing cowboy. Tired of following the rules of men, Caroline decides to push back. Especially against her sexy, all-consuming husband who’s too quick with his discipline techniques.
Garrett Rand, a dairy farm owner, and brother to the local sheriff, has spent the last six months requesting the hand of one ‘crofters’ daughter. Blocked at every turn, he starts to give up on ever having her, only to discover she’s in the brothel on the outskirts of Grover Town. Willing to stop at nothing to finally claim the beauty as his wife, in his bed, he makes a deal to get her out of the clutches of one of the richest men in town. However, marrying her is one thing; keeping Caroline out of trouble is another. He’ll just have to keep her over his knee until she learns. When danger strikes the area and threatens the safety of his wife, he will do what’s needed to protect her.
Drawing ONE winner from those who comment on my Spring Is On Its Way post on Delilah’s blog between 1 April 2021 – 5 April 2021. The winner will get a signed book, candle, and $10 Amazon GC.
Sometimes, outrage motivates you. Sometimes, pleasant surprise. My African-American women photo collection started because, out of thirty-six history cards of famous African-Americans, only six were women. My discovery of classical composer Florence Price was a pleasant surprise.
I was a classical music fan from a young age. My mother had a five-record collection of Strauss waltzes that I probably wore out on our old hi-fi. Then playing pieces like the Poet and Peasant’s Overture on clarinet in junior high school seeded a love for classical music deep in my heart. I learned all I could about European composers like Debussy and Stravinsky and Vaughn Williams. As I got older I developed a love for the classical works of American composers like Aaron Copeland and Leonard Bernstein. Now, thanks to my year-long quest, first for quotes on democracy, then music and songs to keep hope alive through 2020 and now into 2021, my musical horizons have broadened yet again. Swimming in the pool of African-American classical music and jazz composers during Black History month, I discovered African-American female composers.
I’ve been swept up away by the classical works of Margaret Bonds, Zenobia Powell Perry, and Undine Smith Moore. I learned of modern works by present-day women like Valerie Coleman, Valerie Capers, Pamela Z, and Hannah Kendall. I’ve been floating along in the wonder of expanded knowledge about women musicians with whom I was already familiar, women like Hazel Scott and Eva Jessye.
Learning about the life and work of Florence Price has been one of the pleasant surprises of 2021. On my favorite classical radio station alone I’ve been introduced to no fewer than seventeen of this amazing woman’s work. Her titles range from the predictable, Sonata in E Minor, Symphony No. 1 in E Minor to the poetic, Memory Mist, Moon Bridge, On Quiet Lake to the whimsical, Goblin and the Mosquito. I’d always known about the seminal event of Eleanor Roosevelt enabling Marian Anderson to sing at the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the Revolution wouldn’t let her sing at Constitution Hall. But I only learned this year that Anderson closed her recital with Price’s My Soul’s Been Anchored in de Lord.
Born in 1887, Florence came from a family of firsts. Her father was Little Rock, Arkansas’s first black dentist. She had her first piano recital at the age of four and at age eleven wrote her first musical composition. At fourteen she went to study at the New England Conservatory for three years. By 1927 she had divorced an abusive husband and moved to Chicago where her work found support from the music director of the Chicago Symphony. In 1932 she won first prize in the Wannamaker music contest. She became the first African American woman to have her work performed by a major American symphony when on June 15th, 1933 the Chicago Symphony performed her Symphony No. 1 in E minor. As a kid when I was learning about Stravinsky and Copland and Bernstein, I should also have been learning about Florence Price. But better late than never.
I’m always moved when I learn of women who achieved as Florence did, even though they didn’t receive all the accolades they deserved in their lifetime. So for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card, share in the comments the name of an unsung woman you feel the world should know more about.
Better To Marry Than To Burn
Wife Wanted: Marital relations as necessary. Love not required nor sought…
A bridal lottery seems the height of foolishness to ex-slave Caesar King, but his refusal to participate in the town council’s scheme places him in a bind. He has to get married to avoid paying a high residence fine or leave the Texas territory. After losing his wife in childbirth, Caesar isn’t ready for romance. A woman looking for a fresh start without any emotional strings is what he needs.
Queen Esther Payne, a freeborn black from Philadelphia, has been threatened by her family for her forward-thinking, independent ways. Her family insists she marry. Her escape comes in the form of an ad. If she must marry, it will be on her terms. But her first meeting with the sinfully hot farmer proves an exciting tussle of wills that stirs her physically, intellectually, and emotionally.
In the battle of sexual one-upmanship that ensues, both Caesar and Queen discover surrender can be as fulfilling as triumph.
Excerpt from Better to Marry than to Burn…
Caesar looked at Queen. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. She swallowed hard, unnerved by the sight. Her lips trembled.
Reverend Warren smiled. “Caesar, you may kiss your bride.”
Kiss? Queen flinched. There’d be no kissing in this marriage. She’d promised to be his wife for two years with sex provided at agreed upon intervals. At the end of two years that requirement would end, and she’d be free to live as she chose. She could go anywhere she pleased, especially with the respectability of missus before her name and Caesar’s promised severance. No. This coupling made them business partners. Business partners did not kiss.
She extended her hand to seal their arrangement. He returned the handshake, but instead of releasing her, his too rough fingers imprisoned hers and pulled her to him. With his other hand, he captured the back of her head and secured her mouth to his.
A squeal of surprise parted her lips. His thick tongue swept into the shelter of her mouth. The assault ambushed her with pleasure and vanquished her resistance.
Her hands rose, as if of their own volition, and pressed against his chest. The firm muscle beneath his shirt coaxed her hands to linger, to explore— however discreetly—the muscle beneath her palms and fingertips.
Caesar broke off the kiss.
The embrace didn’t last more than a few seconds, but Queen swayed, robbed of reason and resentment.
My sincere thanks to Delilah for allowing me to return to her wonderful blog and share an update of Diana Cosby’s Romance Readers Build A Habitat For Humanity Home.
A bit of background. Romance readers are AMAZING, and SO is Habitat For Humanity, a charity that I love supporting and volunteering for. Several years ago I thought, why not pair the two and help a deserving family receive a home? And, the Diana Cosby’s Romance Reader’s Build A Habitat For Humanity House fundraiser was born.
I contacted the Habitat For Humanity office in Grayson County, Texas, where I’ve had the honor of helping with several builds and spoke with Laurie Mealy, Executive Director. She embraced the project and was thrilled at the thought of pairing romance readers, who love stories where heroes and heroines overcome challenges to make their dreams come true, with making the dream of homeownership for a deserving family a reality.
Goal: Fund an entire home – $55,000.
I kicked off the challenge by donating $200. As I write this, we’ve raised $23,735, and we’re only $3,854 away from having raised ½ the funds needed to build a Habitat For Humanity Home! Romance readers are amazing, and I have complete faith that as the stories they love, they will continue to join together to raise the amount necessary to give a deserving family a home.
How it works:
As readers send donations to Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County for the ‘Diana Cosby’s Readers Build A Habitat For Humanity House of Love,’ the total contributions are updated below the house graphic on the upper right side of their homepage. Donations can be sent via PayPal by ‘clicking’ on the house, which takes you to the donation page, or by mailing a check or money order to:
Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County
901 N. Grand Avenue
P.O. Box 2725
Sherman, TX 75091
*Please note on your donation: ‘For Diana Cosby’s Romance Readers Build A Habitat For Humanity House.’
Again, my sincere thanks to Delilah for allowing me to return to her blog, and another huge thanks to everyone for helping make an incredible difference in a deserving family’s life. For when they walk into a Habitat For Humanity house, it’s more thank mortar and wood, but a place where they can call home.
*Photos used with permission of Habitat For Humanity Grayson County, TX.
About the Author
A retired Navy Chief, Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense. Books in her award-winning MacGruder Brothersseries have been translated into five languages. Diana has spoken at the Library of Congress, Lady Jane’s Salon in NYC, and appeared in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happy Ever After,” MSN.com, Atlantic County Women Magazine, and Texoma Living Magazine.
After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world. After the release of the bestselling MacGruder Brothersseries and The Oath Trilogy, she released the bestselling The Forbidden Series.
Diana looks forward to the years of writing ahead and meeting the amazing people who will share this journey.
Contest
***ONE winner will be drawn from everyone who posts on my Habitat For Humanity post on Delilah’s blog between 15 March 2021 – 21 March 2021. The winner will receive a Mug.
