Thursday, November 10, 2011

My NaNoWriMo Progress

Historical Novel Roundup is below.




Actually, I wrote over 2500 words on Nov. 9 but could not get on the NaNo site to update them.



You need to refresh your browser to see any further updates.


Friday, October 28, 2011

Holiday 2011! Historical Fiction Roundup!

It's that time of year again, a time of giving and receiving.. and what better than books!
Just click on the link for Comments below this post and enter information on your own books, books you know would make great gifts, books you wish someone would buy you!
Include title, author, era the book takes place, and a link to help folks find the book.  Then add a brief blurb about the book./  Practice marketing by including the reason someone would want to buy it.
You have all month.. we are doing National Novel Writing Month and don't plan to update any of our several blogs during the month of November.
Have someone you really want to thrill?  Get them a Kindle eReader!  The basic one is only $79!  If you want or need one that reads aloud though, go with the Touch or the keyboard.  The Fire looks like fun, it don't say nothin' aloud.




Other models: All-new kindle eReader!



Happy Holidays from Nan Hawthorne's Booking History!



Nan Hawthorne

Author, Beloved Pilgrim






Sunday, October 23, 2011

Those Modern Kids' Names

I was out the other day and overheard a father calling his two boys, "Hunter!  Porter!"  I've heard both boys and girls with these occupational names and wonder if the parents realize they mean what might not be regarded as so upper class.  They might have thought twice and chosen more promising names, like Lawyer or Psychotherapist..

  • Baxter - this originally was a female baker

  • Booker - a bookbinder or possibly a scribe

  • Carter - someone who drives or ships merchangise by cart

  • Chandler - a candlemaker

  • Cooper - a barrel maker

  • Hunter - someone who hunts for game

  • Porter - a person who carries something, such as baggage or cargo, or a doorkeeper

  • Sawyer - someone whose job it was to saw wood

  • Taylor - a constructor of clothing

  • Tucker - another word for a cloth fuller, who takes woven cloth and soaks it in water and urine to make it tighten up and become a denser weave.  This is the origin of the name Walker also.

  • Tyler - someone who tiles roofs.

And don't forget, all these names can be in other languages too.



Of course people have long used names, mostly for boys, that they thought of as derived from surnames.. Mason, Abbot, etc.



The good news is that names do not predict the future of the child.  Good thing too since I'm not sure how many fullers there are around any more.



"Hunter!  Go shoot a deer for our supper!  Porter, answer the door!  Cooper!  Make us a barrel to store our grain in!