GUEST BLOG: My Love for Colonial America by Danae L. Samms Plus Giveaway!

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For as long as I can remember, I have loved two things: books and the American Revolution. I’m not entirely sure where they both started, but if I had to pick a moment, it would be my mother taking me to the local library and introducing a five-year-old Danae to the American Girl series. Add to that, every so often we would take our family vacations to Williamsburg, Virginia and at least one day included the historic Colonial Williamsburg.

By the time I was eight, I knew I wanted to write historical fiction. If I went into the attic in my parents’ house now and pulled out a few boxes with my name written on them in Sharpie, I’m sure I’d find more than ten incomplete journals. Almost all of them would have the first few handwritten chapters of an 18^th-century story.

The love for the time period really stayed with me. All through school I was quite the history dork like correct-the-teacher-when-they’re-wrong kind of history dork. For a “Colonial Day” in third grade, my mom even sewed an entire dress for me. That dress was my only play clothes after that. No, thank you, I would not be dressing up as Cinderella. I was Felicity Merriman.

Fast-forward to 2021. I am working my way through my Persephone series, and the only thing stopping me from being in a reenactment group is a complete inability to sew.

My love for Colonial America was just one of the influences that brought Persephone to life. For a few years, this woman from the 18^th century was quietly pacing through my mind waiting to come to life on the page. I knew how she looked and what sort of things she liked, but in order to figure out her story, I had to take in two other things I loved: Greek mythology and strong women.

As to the first, many of the story tropes we know and love were first formed in Greek myths. Personally, one of my favorite books, Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, retold the myth of Cupid and Psyche. While I do love the story of Persephone and Hades, I have never been a big fan of the idea that she fell in love with the actual uncle that kidnapped her.

Circling back to the strong women that I have read about and known, I thought, “Why can’t Persephone kill this terrible god of the underworld and run the place herself?” No doubt things down there would have been a great deal better if she were in charge.

Of course, I would love to write more about the fantastic women who had a strong influence on history. Often they are overlooked, but when we explore the cracks and shadows a bit more, we can find them. Learning even more about women like Martha Jefferson Randolph, Marguerite de la Rocque, and Deborah Sampson certainly played a role in forming Persephone and Queen of Hell.

While Queen of Hell does not quite reach the American War for Independence, I can assure you Persephone will touch it. You’ll just have to stick around for the rest of her books.

About The Book

Persephone Series: Book 1
Publication Date: November 9, 2020

1765. Persephone Nicholas has lived her twenty years with a father she cannot stand. Secluded on their plantation, Persephone feels she has a life destined for spinsterhood. “Life is Heaven for men and Hell for women” is her mantra. But on a visit to her cousin’s wedding, she meets young Mr. Elijah Parker. Opportunities show that things can be much sweeter, and Persephone begins to question her thoughts on life. As the world continues to throw her hardships and struggle, Persephone chooses to fight and master the life she’s been handed to become Queen of the Hell she living in.

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Giveaway

Enter to win a paperback copy of Queen of Hell by Danae L. Samms!

The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on June 4th. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Queen of Hell

About The Author Danae L. Samms has always been a creator. Loving books, television, and being outside fueled her imagination. Her writing began when she was four with her first play, and continued to grow to a degree in journalism. Finding newspapers terrible and websites tolerable, she paid the bills as a freelance writer. Eventually, her creativity produced a novel and a thousand ideas waiting to become novels. Regularly, she keeps up with a blog of Unqualified Advice on Writing and Everything Else. The only thing she’s been doing longer than writing is horseback riding. While horse shoes were never her forte, Danae has spent plenty of time riding and training. Most of that is with her horse Maggie.