Happy Easter!

Spring and Easter, you can't have one without the other! I'm sharing a bit of Easter history today in honor of Easter Sunday. I love this time of year when the grass begins to green and buds form on trees. Growing up we'd have new dresses, bonnets, gloves and an Easter corsage. We'd go to church and then celebrate with the entire family. Some of my fondest memories are when we'd find our candy-laden baskets, dress for mass, and then go to eat. My grandmother would be dressed in her best and even put a lacy square on her head, corsage on her spring coat and gloves on her hands. She was always impeccably and properly dressed. Sadly, those traditions have gone to the wayside.

This year the meal will be at my house, my children are older so no bonnets or Easter dresses (although they will have baskets). Lamb, ham, gnocchi (we're Italian you have to have pasta on every holiday), whiskey glazed carrots, and roasted asparagus. For dessert - panna cotta with a blackberry wine sauce.

While not a romantic holiday like Christmas, New Years or Valentines Day, Easter is still a wonderful, fun time of year. Easter signals new beginnings, growth and the start of warmer weather. For us Western, New Yorkers warmer weather is always something to celebrate. And it seems, many romances bloom during the Spring as well.

 

History of Easter in Scotland~

In pre-Christian times, there was a Saxon festival called “Eastre”. Later the festival was integrated with the Christian festival. Easter is also linked to Pagans and some of its traditions are even followed today. According to Christian scripture, Jesus rose from his tomb three days after his crucifixion. Today Christians celebrate the resurrection two days after Good Friday and three days after Maundy Thursday. According to historians the death and resurrection of Jesus is interpreted to be between 26 AD and 36 AD. Christians also believe Easter has the season of church year called Eastertide. Traditionally this Easter season lasts for forty days i.e. from Easter Day to Ascension Day. Some people feel the egg is a Pagan symbol, however there isn't a lot of supporting evidence of this.

How the Scottish Celebrate!

Easter in Scotland is a rich church celebration. Traditionally Easter is a time for relaxation and leisure. In most parts of the country huge fires are lit on Saturday as a mark of Pagan tradition. Easter in Scotland also means fun activities. The Easter fun days includes egg hunts, horse displays and battle re-enactments. Coming to traditions and rituals, all the people in Scotland unite for the services held in churches throughout the country.



Scottish Easter Food~

Hot cross buns containing spices and fruits are enjoyed. I used to work in a bakery during high school and hot cross buns were a popular item. While many people use dough to form the cross on the top, we used frosting. Yum! Other feasts for the day include eggs, potatoes and lamb.

And of course chocolate!

 

Sources: 
http://www.fundootimes.com/festivals/scotland-easter.html  
http://www.theholidayspot.com/easter/history/icons/easter_egg.htm 
http://www.familyfocus.scot/2016/03/true-meaning-easter/

Constantly Learning the Craft

As a writer, I feel you need to constantly work on your craft. There are numerous ways to do this and each author works differently, however here are a few of my methods for being a life long learner.

Listen to your editor: For my first novel Wolf’s Castle, I accepted ALL of the comments, grammar, and structure recommendations. With For The Love Of A Gypsy, much of the same, but I also discussed a few of the changes, and now wish I'd pushed for more discussion. For Heather In The Mist, there weren’t as many line edits, however more of plot questions from the editor and I made huge changes and sent back first edits with a very different book. In my opinion, the comments from the editor helped me re-evaluate what I had and with a cold eye I cut those darlings.

Read, read, and read some more: A writer has to be a reader. I know some authors who do not read any books written in the genre they write. I can see the logic behind this. I, however, read everything and anything. This includes books, magazines, and newspaper (online and the old fashion paper ones) articles. You never know where inspiration will strike. Although I am a historical writer, a contemporary situation may influence my story, something I can tweak to make it historically relevant.

Craft Articles: I haven’t been to conferences in a few year, but in the past I did enjoy going to writing classes and attending workshops. Over the summer I read a ton of articles on the writing craft. I searched them out and read them one after another. As a tech geek, I decided there has to be a better way, so now I use the RSS feed to have articles funnel to my Twitter feed. Now I can look at articles from several writing blogs. 

Here are some of the articles I recently read:

• 2 Ways to Tell You’re Beginning Your Story Too Soon
• 3 Ways You're Killing Your Story's Tension
• Character Motivation
• How To Write Diverse Characters: A Simple Test 
• How to Research Your Book Smarter, Instead of Harder

 

There are so many intelligent voices out there in blog land and I like the various topics that range from conflict to characterization to social networking for authors. All tools to add to my writer toolbox!

What do you do to keep perfecting your craft?