~~~New Release~~~

Pearl's Will

by Sophie Dawson

Lockets & Lace #9

Will Miller doesn’t know what to think when the lovely young woman faints in his jewelry and watch repair shop--except he wants to help her any way he can.

Widow Pearl Ward, struggling to survive, needs to sell the watch-locket given to her on her eighteenth birthday. When she learns she’s expecting, he proposes.

Will Pearl’s feelings for her late husband stand between them? Can they build a life together with his mother dead set against them?

Here's an excerpt:
Will Miller opened the back of the locket and sighed. The engraving lessened the value. The piece was high quality. The cover over the watch was decorated with a five lobed clover design surrounded by scrolling. In the clover was a thin-pointed star with a small diamond in the center. The back cover repeated the design without the stone. Inside the back cover where a photograph could be placed was an engraving. ‘To Pearl Henry, From Papa and Mama, Sept. 9, 1906.” 

Will glanced at the woman who was looking intently into the lace display. She was quite thin, honey blonde hair peeked out from under her wide-brimmed hat. She was wearing the simple clothing of a working woman. Navy skirt with a matching double-breasted long jacket, white blouse with a crocheted lace collar that spread beautifully over the blue. What he could see of her face showed a slim nose, unlike his fairly broad one. He’d have to see what color her eyes were. She lifted her hand and touched the glass of the case. A lace glove encased her slim fingers. 

Will looked back at the watch-locket. It was suspended from a gold bow-shaped pin. It would look lovely on the bodice of her jacket. He wondered why she was wanting to sell it. The quality of her clothing wasn’t high-society, but it was well tailored and didn’t look worn. 

Standing, Will moved back to the counter. She came over, waiting with a hopeful expression on her face. Her eyes were a deep green, nearly the color of pine needles. Framed with long lashes, they spoke of sadness, despair, loneliness, and desperation. 

Even though Will knew what the true value of the watch-locket was, something told him to offer more. He wouldn’t tell his father he paid more for it. He’d pay for it up with his own money.

“Miss? Are you sure you want to sell this? It must have great sentimental value to you.”
She looked down a moment, then lifted her eyes again. They glittered with moisture. “Yes, but, if it’s possible, and I’ll understand if you can’t do it, would there be any chance I could purchase it back in the future?”

She must have fallen on extremely hard times. It firmed his intention to help her. It wasn’t because she was lovely, Will assured himself. Well, maybe it was a little. He hoped that wasn’t his main motivation. His Christian ethic called for being a Good Samaritan for others.

Will set the watch on the counter and named the amount he would pay her for the locket. She lifted a trembling hand to her lips. “I’ll hold it back from display so you can redeem it. At least, I can for several months. Would that work for you?”

“Thank you. You’re most generous. I’ll try to redeem it as soon as I can.”

Will picked up the locket and placed it on the workbench. Rather than pay her from the cash register, he opened his personal cash drawer and counted out the bills. He put the locket into the drawer, near the back. 

As he turned around to go back to the counter, he saw the woman lay one hand on the counter. The other she raised to her forehead. Then, she collapsed to the floor. 

~o0o~

Pearl's Will Kindle $2.99 & Print $12.99 

Also on Kindle Unlimited

International link: myBook.to/pearlswill

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So Much Lace So Little Time

By Sophie Dawson

Lockets and Lace is an upcoming multi-author series centered around the Bavarian Jewelry and Watch Shop established in St. Joseph, Missouri in the 1850’s. Each book will have a locket and some lace figure into the story as well as the characters visiting the shop at some time. Other authors participating in the series will post about aspects of their books, but since the main character in my book, Pearl’s Will, makes lace to sell I thought I’d give a little background on lace. 

Lacemaking dates back to pre-Christian times, but developed greatly during the Renaissance period. Making lace was something women could do in their homes to provide extra income. Machine-made lace was developed in the 19th century and took over most of the lace making industry.

Tape lace collar

There are many different types of lace, the names of which often reflect the town or province they were developed in. Men wore more lace than women during some eras. 

I didn’t realize how many types of lace there are. They fall into some main categories. Needle lace, tape lace, bobbin lace, cutwork, knitted, knotted, as well as the type that my character Pearl makes which is Irish crochet lace. Each lace has its own distinctive look. Lace has been worn as clothing decoration as well as used for home decorating.
 

Cutwork & Lace tablecloth circa 1900

I remember my grandmother having lace pinned to the arms and back of upholstered chairs in her home. I didn’t know what they were called but thought they were pretty. I messed with them all the time. They are antimacassars and were used to prevent soiling of the upholstery.

Pearl’s Will takes place in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1910, a time when lace was extremely popular not simply as an embellishment but for entire garments. Pearl makes Irish lace and supplements her income selling lace in Will’s shop. It’s one of the things that brings them together. Sorry, no more clues that that. Well, she does make an Irish lace wedding gown in the book.

IRISH CROCHET TEA GOWN, c. 1910

 Various types of lace were often combined in the same item, either garments or household items. This gown combines Battenberg tape lace with Valenciennes Lace insets.

Lace coats were also popular in the early 20th century. This one combines cutwork embroidery with Irish Crochet lace. 

 Lace was also used as decorative borders on tablecloths and handkerchiefs. 

Somewhere in the depths of my basement is a box with my grandmother's handkerchiefs. Maybe someday I'll find it and post some photos of her lace-edged handkerchiefs. 

Pearl's Will is available for pre-order starting Jan. 4 and will release Feb. 1 on Kindle and in print on Amazon.

Sophie Dawson is an award-winning author. You can find her books on Amazon at  https://www.amazon.com/Sophie-Dawson/e/B0084POHB6/

Of Jell-O, Straws, and Cracker Jack

By Sophie Dawson

I’ve been researching the early 1900’s for a book I’m writing. It is set in 1910, an era I’ve never written about before and not done much reading or study of. It’s been fun. Stuck between the Victorian era and, basically, World War I, the Edwardian era, also called the Belle Epoch it was a time of changing from the Industrial Revolution into the modern times that spanned the 20th Century.

Technological development research is always needed for historical writing. You can’t include barbed wire in the 1850’s or removable rifle magazines in the 1880’s. Neither were invented until a later time. Thus my research into what was available and in use by the general public in 1910. Here are some of the fun things I have found out that you’ll find in the book I’m working on. Sorry. I can’t tell the title because it’s part of a Multi-author series I’m involved in, and it’s still secret. BEG (Big Evil Grin)

I have to say, I had no clue Jell-O was invented in 1897. The flavors were strawberry, raspberry, orange and lemon. It wasn’t the first gelatin. The French used gelatin as a source of protein for their troops in the Napoleonic wars in the early 1800’s. In 1902, a major advertising campaign was undertaken and soon Jell-O was a household word.

We know that carbonated soft drinks were invented in the 1880’s. At least I knew that. Ice cream was a sweet treat enjoyed often. BUT, did you know that paper plates were invented in 1904 with cups coming shortly after? I didn’t. Dixie cups were the first in 1906.

Paper straws came about when Marvin C. Stone was drinking a mint julep through a rye grass straw. He didn’t like the grassy taste it gave his bourbon. Taking a pencil, he wound a thin paper strip around it and glued it together. That was in 1888. It wasn’t long before the resourceful man invented a machine to coat the straw in wax so the bourbon wouldn’t dissolve the glue. The bendy straw was invented in 1937 by a devoted father so his young daughter could sip her milkshake from a tall glass. He stuck a screw in the straw, wound dental floss around the grooves, removed both, and the bendy straw was born.

Baseball wouldn’t be the same without the seventh inning stretch singing of Take Me Out To The Ballgame with the iconic line 'Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,' at least in Wriggly Field in Chicago. The sweetened popcorn has been around since 1896. It must have become very popular very fast because the song came out in 1908. The “toy surprise” in every box wasn’t added until 1912. They went through various adaptations until they were replaced by codes to be used to play games on Android devices in 2013.

I’ve included each of these within my book. I think it’s fun to include today’s common items that date back over one hundred years. My favorite was finding out that the first individually wrapped candy was created in 1907 and marketed in 1908. They took the country by storm. My characters find it at the amusement park they went to on the Fourth of July. Tootsie Roll.

A newspaper advertisement from 1918 during World War I