Research-Extinct Surnames

 In Smuggler's Captain, The Woodbead Foundling Chairty are the bad guys. That's no spoiler, I promise! Those sorts of "charities" were about as common as the scams we see today. But where did the name Woodbead come from?

First, let me tell you the difficulties I have in naming--anything! Everyone needs a name and they all have to be different! Please don't get me started on how I have to force myself to use different beginning letters. Can't all begin with the same letter, it gets confusing. For everyone, especially me!

So, being the writer I am, I keep notes. (I use a sticky note, don't judge!)

But Woodbead. It's unusual, which is cool. I found it by a simple search: "extinct British surnames".  I found a couple sites on that, there are so many more resources about last names, their rise and fall, and their prevalence. It's pretty cool.

10 Rare English Surnames About to Go Extinct - Ancestry Blog

Woodbead Name Meaning & Woodbead Family History at Ancestry.com®

Not Smith and Jones – Rare British Surnames On The Cusp Of Extinction - MyHeritage Blog

Tidbit Tuesday-British Citizenship

In Smuggler's Captain, Nadia is neither a natural born British Citizen nor a naturalized one. As an unmarried woman, she does not have her husband's protection and her father has ever sworn allegiance to King George III.  

From the very long but informative Wiki article:

Individuals born in the dominion were citizens regardless of the status of their parents: children born to visitors or foreigners acquired citizenship (see Jus soli). This reflects the rationale of natural-born citizenship: that citizenship was acquired because British-born subjects would have a ‘natural allegiance’ to the crown as a ‘debt of gratitude’ to the crown for protecting them through infancy. Therefore, citizenship by birth was perpetual and could not be, at common law, removed or revoked regardless of residency.

By the same reasoning, an ‘alien’, or foreign born resident, was seen as unable to revoke their relationship with their place of birth. Therefore, at English common law foreign-born individuals could not become citizens through any procedure or ceremony.

So yes, Nadia's father could have sworn allegiance to the British Crown, becoming a British denizen (subject but not citizen) and unable to hold office. Doing so required the king to grant him a patent. Or he could have petitioned Parliament to grant him (and therefore Nadia) naturalisation, but frankly, neither Nadia nor her father really wanted the attention. Nor did those bringing her into the country, Kaya and Paul for their own reasons. 

Other resources: British National Archives and The British Home Office. 

Self Care Monday- keep going

I found this in my photo memories. Not sure where it's from, which social media I found it on originally. But it's true. Keep on!

Cover Reveal!

 Here's my new cover for Smuggler's Captain. Let me take a moment to squee! I adore it!

This is book 1 in Nadia & James's series, as currently plotted a 3-book series all with a HEA. (Promise!) There was a lot to tell for their journey and one book didn't do their romance justice. This series is part of the Conrad Chronicles, an overarching series that started with Husband of Convenience and Sins of a Rogue, Kaya and Paul's journey, and will continue with many more stories throughout the Napolean Wars.

Smuggler's Captain Available for Preorder!

Smuggler's Captain is not available for preorder!

He's on mission of vendetta. She's determined to rescue victims of a ruthless slaver ring.  They don't want to need each other as much as they do.

Nadia Koltsova escaped St. Petersburg in the dead of night. Injured and terrified, she found sanctuary in London with a family of her own making. Ten years later, she’s determined to protect that family. Taking a midnight stroll into a human smuggler’s warehouse? Check. Alone? It was necessary. With only a dagger for protection? She was most definitely prepared.

Captain James St. Clair is searching for the same group of smugglers. They’ve killed one of his men and he’s determined to bring the murderers to justice. At any cost. He does not expect the witty, capable woman with the wicked dagger who insists she’s more than capable of taking care of herself. He also doesn’t expect to want her as fiercely as he does.

They both need help discovering the missing people. Just perhaps not each other’s help.

Forced to depend on the handsome captain, Nadia is determined to protect her heart. But James’s sly wit and burning passion for justice melt her resolve. His kisses weaken her knees. How is she supposed to defend herself against a man who shares her desire for justice?

But he’s still in the British army and Nadia, well, she’s a smuggler. This isn’t a match made in heaven. Or is it?

Tidbit Tuesday-The Marshes

 The marshes and canals around The Thames and Limehouse made transport somewhat of a chore as we look at it. Normal for people living in the 1790s, however. I previously wrote about some of the research I used for Limehouse in Smuggler's Captain. But with the canals, it made the boating industry all the more viable for those living and working in the area.

Today you can take a walking tour of the area, which sounds amazing! But it's much more built up than it was in 1797 when Nadia and James meet on the docks.

This is a great link to the area. 

John Boydell's view of the riverside at Limehouse in 1751 shows respectable houses and shipyards crowding onto the riverfront

Self Help Monday-Help

 One of the best things about Star Wars: The Clone Wars (the cartoon) is the opening scene. One episode had something about asking for help is harder than receiving it.

Yup. So very true.

It's all about who you ask and how, trust has as much to do with asking for help as the asking itself. Am I any sort of expert in asking for help?

Nope.

Because it's hard to know who to trust with what you need help with. Find those people. Learn to open up, even if it's not with the hard stuff but with little things. Ask for help for tiny little A so when you need help with BIG OLE' D, you know who you can trust to be at your side.

Tuesday Tidbit-townhouses

If you've read enough historical romances, you might know the layout of a Georgian/Regency townhouse. Here's are 2 floorplans I refer to when setting up the rooms for Smuggler's Captain. The second one is more simplistic than the first, but I like them both.

Self Help Monday-Silence

 Sometimes it's the quiet that helps. Sitting in silence for a few moments to get yourself back on track. I recently listened to Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra and he recommends 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening. 

Listen, with that long in silence, I'll be asleep in about 5 minutes. 

However, sitting in the quiet for a few moments while you push all the drama of work to the side and remember why you're on this earth, what your mission is here, that's totally worth it. Remember the big picture.

Research-Limehouse

 I know nothing about the docks and wharves of any city, let alone London. That is not my specialty, but I'm a librarian and kick ass at research. Smuggler's Captain opens with Nadia searching the warehouses in Limehouse for a missing child.

Limehouse, named for the lime kilns that worked in the area since approximately the 1350s, was part of the marshes off the Thames, near Wapping. Limehouse was known for shipbuilding, ship chandler (supplies for ships), and rope making.

Why did I choose Limehouse when there are more than a dozen such places along the Thames? I liked the name. 🤷 I was going to use Isle of Dogs (not really an isle but a peninsula), also because of the cool name, but that was farther than I wanted.

The Regency Underworld by Donald A. Low

Limehouse East London - Discover Local London History (eastlondonhistory.co.uk)

History of Limehouse - The London Language Foundation ( LLF ) (londonlf.org)

Limehouse - Wikipedia

Limehouse 1905 | Victorian london, London photos, Old london (pinterest.com)

Self Care Monday-Thank You

 I recently finished the book Happy Money: The Jamapese Art of Making Peace with Your Money by Ken Honda. I had heard him speak on Mindvalley and really liked how and what he had to say. The biggest takeaway for me was thank you. He told a story about how his mentor was asked to loan a large sum of money to a man and agreed, but told the man he had to say arigatou something like 100,000 times. I forget the exact number.

The man agreed and when it came time to make the loan, the man no longer needed it because he found that saying thank you so often during the day changed his relationship not just with money but with everyone in his life.

Hey, it can't hurt! 

So, thank you.