It's time! Time for the next book in our Stained Glass Legacy series to release.
Regina Rudd Merrick is guesting on my blog today to talk about the memories and research done to write a book set in the time when she was a little girl. Do you think you could do the same?

When I began writing Window of Peace, all I had was a story outline for the Stained Glass Legacy series, of which mine is second. Heather Greer’s Window of Opportunity is book one (1920s), mine is book 2 (1970), Amy’s Window of the Heart is book 3 (current day), and Erin Howard’s Window of Time is book 4(dystopian future).
How hard could it be? I was alive in 1970. I remember it well.
Tip #1. When you think something’s going to be easy, hold that thought.
Yes, I was alive, but I wasn’t an adult in 1970, like my characters. I was six. Six years old. My PARENTS were in their 20’s!
I started researching the time period. The clothes, I remembered. I’d just been going through old photos of my family, so that wasn’t hard. 

Every family begins somewhere, right? All the way back to Adam and Eve. Stories are no different. Characters all need a back story, a beginning, a place to come from.
Well, when Heather Greer, Regina Merrick, Erin Howard, and I all started planning out our stories, we realized this. Heather discovered a neat website where you can actually plug in names and dates and make a family tree. Since all of our stories are based on the same family, this was perfect. We could add and update as we wrote, and each could see the other's changes. Some of us even added pictures of our inspiration. Erin's the only one still needing to plug in her people, but hers are way in the future, so this could look interesting. ;)

Do you love history? I have a fondness for it, though maybe not as much as my history teacher husband. ;) And now, my friend Heather Greer has dabbled in it too. She's taking over my blog today to tell you a bit about her newest book.

​Did you know that even though potato chips were first invented in 1853, it wasn’t until 1926 that someone had the brilliant idea to package them in wax sealed paper bags so they could be marketed to the masses?
Did you know that in 1926 what is considered the first aerial bombing on US soil took place outside Marion, Illinois at the site of Shady Rest, a known gangster’s establishment?
Did you know that Harper’s Bazaar was Harper’s Bazar in the 1920s?
Neither did I. Not until I began writing Window of Opportunity.
Being a contemporary romance writer, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I began developing Evangeline and Brendan’s story. I’d read a lot of historical fiction. Not being a fan of history class, fiction was where I learned the most about the past. But I’d never attempted to write a historical story. Too much research was involved for my liking. At least, that’s what I believed.