A little Music History

Hi, there. So glad you chose to be with me today. A few days ago, while doing some research, I came across an interesting tidbit that I want to share. I don’t know if it will show up in any future books, but I just thought it was cool. Come along, as we talk about singing.

I grew up in country churches, where hymns were sung to a piano. We sang songs like, “Amazing Grace”, “Just As I Am”, “Victory in Jesus”, and “Pass Me Not Oh Gentle Saviour”. Worship music was something fancy churches sang down town or something we sang at church camp.

Fast forward several years. My family and I attend a church down town where worship music is common. Our praise and worship team do songs like, “Chain Breaker”, “Amazing Grace, My Chains are Gone”, “Revelation Song” and “Jesus Messiah”. The instruments accompanying the singing include a piano, guitars, drums, a cello, and once in a while a mandolin. Something more important has changed, though-my heart, because God is too big to fit in just one type of music.

But, lest you don’t believe me, let’s rewind time back to 1650. We’re in Scotland, and there is a new book of psalms put in metrical form. In other words, lots of somebodies rearranged the words in the book of Psalms from the Bible and put them to metre. The tunes are interchangeable, just make sure you keep the timing. Some radical things are happening here, and not everyone is convinced that God will be pleased with this type of worship. I mean, it wasn’t so long ago that the singing was done in latin. And, don’t forget, we’re not supposed to add or take away from the Scriptures. Yes, these metrical psalms are the correct words, but they are all jumbled up so that the songs rhyme. *Gasp*

Now, step ahead in time a few years into 1700’s America. Immigrants are flooding into this English conglomerate of colonies, and since we’re Scots, for now, we’re taking our Psaltery with us. There are some English writers who are coming up with their own worship songs that aren’t necessarily from the Psalms, but we’re going to be careful of them. I mean, do you know anywhere in the Bible where it says, “Alas, and did my Saviour bleed and did my Sov'reign die? Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?”

When I begin writing about new characters and times and places, I like to research what type of music was popular. If possible, I like to listen to it, to try and get a better feel of what my characters felt like, what they said and what they might have thought. When I typed in “1700’s music”, though, I found that while Google and Youtube have music from that time period, my characters probably would not have heard it until much later in life. What they would have been familiar with were songs sang in church. What kind of church singing? Well, metrical psalms, of course.

The first song I found was based from Psalm 130. Check it out on Youtube. The second was Psalm 23 put to the tune of “Amazing Grace”. Beautiful. Take a listen.

What type of music brings you into His presence? What type of singing lifts your soul? We are all different, and there is no right or wrong answer. As long as it is bringing glory to God, He will love it.

Coming up soon I’ll be doing an author interview and a giveaway, so stay tuned to my Facebook page for updates. Ever heard of Heather Day Gilbert? I’ll be creating an event, so y’all won’t miss it.

Until next Tuesday, have a fantastic week, and hop on over to facebook.com/adkinsandwells/ for lots more fun stuff.

Blessings.

The Photo Shoot

Happy Tuesday. So glad you could spend your day with me. I’m learning how to post pics in a document, so you all can get a glimpse of the photo shoot from last night. Ready? Here we go.

First, a little background info. My newest book, which is set to release in a couple of months takes place both in modern times and in the past. The heroine of today returns home from war, wounded and finds a book about her ancestors who fought at the battle of Shiloh in the Civil War. So, I had to find period costumes and houses that looked like they were built in the 1800’s. Thanks to my family and friends, we picked out 2 locations and 2 dresses for my model to try.

Our first stop was a little, stone house nearby.  

My model had a disagreement with a spider on her dress, we got bug bites, but we laughed as the photographer clicked away. 

The light was fading fast, so we hurried to our second location, the historic Tompkins House here in Cedar Grove.

The owners were to home and gave us permission to shoot away.

Afterward, we banged on the door with the old-fashioned knocker and showed our pictures to the owners. They graciously allowed us to come in and take more. All in all, a fun-filled evening and a successful photo shoot.

Just FYI, pictures and blind people don’t always make the best combinations. Without help from my oldest daughter, you wouldn’t get to see these pics, nor would I have a model looking so pretty for the cover of my book.

Many thanks to the one who lent us the costumes, those who did my girl’s hair, those who drove and snapped pictures and the encouragement along the way. Looking forward to releasing this book.

Interested in voting on which pic we use for the cover? Come on over to facebook.com/sjwellsauthor/ and be sure to click “like”. A contest is coming soon, plus chances to preorder print copies. Lots of fun stuff just around the corner.

Until next time, remember the one who loves you the most, your heavenly Father.

Some Thoughts on Research and Some Other Random Stuff

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about some updates. One thing I didn’t mention is the book I started last spring, the one I blogged about. The series on that story is all here, and each post begins with “Pondering A Story”, if you want to check them out.

The reason I haven’t mentioned Miss Mercy and Gabriel is because I’ve been busy finishing up and editing the book soon to be released, “His Yankee Wife”. Also, the end of the school year happened, and I went a little crazy trying to finish. But, now that summer is here, “His Yankee Wife” is almost ready and things have slowed down, my mind is returning to the 1700’s.

Yesterday, I was doing a little research and came across an interesting tidbit. In 1752 Britain and others changed from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian. On Wednesday, Sept. 2, folks said their goodnights and awakened the next morning to Thursday, Sept. 14. Many grew angry and blamed the British government for stealing 12 days of their lives. Another change was New Year’s. Celebrated on March 26, they had to get used to Jan. 1. Ever wondered why Orthodox Churches celebrate Easter on a different day? Blame it on that crazy change in calendars.

For the passed 3 years, I have been immersing myself in 1860’s America. I have watched documentaries on the Civil War, downloaded 2 albums of Civil War era music, studied how they dressed, what they ate, where they went, how they spoke, the lasting effects of the war between the states, and I could go on and on. A lot of useless, or rather useless for now knowledge is hid up in my brain. So, I don’t have to tell you how hard it is to get used to a different century when it comes to this new story. But, this is how it works for me.

Back when I wrote, "A Moment in Time" I had to delve into Scottish history and the Scotland of today. What they wore, what they ate, how they spoke, I even had dreams of visiting Scotland. :) But, I literally had to get as close as I could in order to get inside my characters’ heads, especially the hero, Colin. Then, when I began working on “His Yankee Wife” I had to do the same. Now, I need to know as much about this other time and place in order to become my characters.

Researching the 1700’s in America is actually pretty easy, thanks to Colonial Williamsburg and their website. There are videos and articles galore detailing what they ate, how they talked, and I’m hoping someday to go down to Virginia and visit. Listening to the type of music from back then is easy, as well, thanks to Youtube. Only problem is my heroine is rather poor and would not have had access to operas or concerts. Neither does she have a piano forte, harpsichord or violin. Her indentured servant can sing though, so she’s in for a treat. :) I’m looking forward to immersing myself in Colonial Virginia, though.

In the meantime, plans have been made for a photo shoot for the cover of “His Yankee Wife”. The hair stylist has agreed to do my model’s hair, and 2 costumes have been picked out for my model to try. We also have a location, a little, stone house a few miles away. I spoke with someone yesterday about a few braille business cards to hand out when my friend and I do our presentation at the NFB state convention in September, and my friend, Anita and I are thinking of going live on facebook.com/adkinsandwells to promote our book coming out soon, “Ducking into UEB”, a textbook that teaches unified English braille to 4-12 graders and older learners.

Yikes, it sounds like I’m busy. It’s what I love, though. But, I think I’ve been typing too much for today. So, I’m going to hop off here and play around with a shawl I started knitting this morning. Need to give my brain time to wander into the past. Take care, come back next Tuesday when I’ll tell you all about that photo shoot.

Be blessed.

4th of July Miracle

I’m a day late, but if you will bare with me, faithful readers, I have a story to tell. It’s a story of family togetherness, improvisation and simple blessings. Read on, because today I’m talking about 4th of July miracles.

Once upon a time, there was a mom who was blind who felt sad that she could not drive her daughters to see the 4th of July fireworks. Knowing from previous experience, sighted drivers are few and far between, she prayed for help from the Lord.

Around 9:45 pm on July 2, she was in her daughters’ bedroom hearing their prayers and hugging and kissing them goodnight, when there came a pop from outside. “Was that fireworks?” She asked.

“Yes,” her daughters said, glancing out their bedroom window into the backyard.

“Let’s go out and watch,” said Mom.

So, there on the steps to the back porch, Mom and girls sat. The girls kept their faces turned toward the night sky, ooing and awing over each burst of color. “I can feel it in my chest,” the oldest said.

“I want to sneak and watch the neighbors,” the youngest said.

For fifteen minutes, laughter bubbled up, and a closeness, warm and peaceful settled over the backyard, as each firework lit up the dark sky, outlining the steeple of the church one street over. When the display ended and Mom and girls were walking back inside, the girls exclaimed over the fireworks that they had been able to watch for free and without any of the crowds found in the city. Mom rejoiced over the simple, straight forward way that God had answered her prayer.

Two nights later on the 4th, Mom was once again telling her daughters goodnight, when that all-to-familiar popping was heard again. Out the door they went, Mom’s ears pricked and girls eyes wide open. After a few minutes, the youngest got bored and went back inside, but the oldest girl stayed outside, describing each firework to her mom who could not see. Thirty minutes later, the night around them quieted, and both Mom and daughter joined the youngest inside where they hugged, kissed and said their prayers. Another night of firework watching was behind them that did not include searching for a driver nor dealing with crowds. God had answered twice. I suppose you could call it a double blessing, a 4th of July miracle.

When I was growing up, several elderly folks tried to discourage me from getting my hopes up about marriage and children. How could I change a diaper? How would I manage if my house caught on fire? How would I know what my children needed? What would I do about going places? These were questions that haunted me at first, but they also fueled my determination to prove them all wrong. I could get married and have children, and I could do it as well as anybody else.

I don’t know who was putting off the big fireworks over the weekend, but I hope they know how thankful I am for them. Those fireworks went off practically over my backyard; my girls saw them with no difficulty. I had been feeling a little down that I didn’t have a ride to the fireworks displays in the area. However, nothing could have been better than the ones my girls and I were part of both Sunday and Tuesday nights. We laughed and teased each other, sat close together on my back steps and just enjoyed our time together. Money can’t buy that kind of happiness. After all, it isn’t the quantity of time, money or material things that is important, it is the quality of time, the realization that money isn’t important and the absence of material things that puts us in a position to hear from our Creator. Remember that the next time this world and its cares start to choke out your relationship with your heavenly Father.

So, what did you think of the story? Would love to hear from you, and be sure to follow the blog. Lots of exciting things coming up.

Until next time, be safe, remember to smile and hold your love ones a little tighter.

Blessings.