Those bygone days…When did it begin…this fascination with the past? The earliest I can remember experiencing an attraction for days gone by is when I was nine years old and we were on a month long trip to Europe.
Traveling around Europe for a month, you say? At the age of nine? You must have grown up in a privileged family. While I was blessed in many, many ways, I would hasten to add that there were eight of us (four adults, four children) traveling around Europe in a VW Bug for a month. I was stuffed in the cubbyhole in the back.
My older brother, my mom, and grandmother were in the backseat (my dad had to stay home and work, bless him). My uncle and aunt and their two toddlers rode in the front, and then all of the luggage was strapped to the top. Does that give the month long venture new perspective?
Still, to me…it was heaven. And it’s where I trace my roots of my love for history.
My mom encouraged me to keep a diary and to put my pictures in a photo album when we returned, and I’m so glad she did. Although admittedly, it’s funny to look back at these albums and the precious few pictures we took back then, and compare them to the plethora of hi-res digital photos we take now and share instantaneously around the world.
In Germany, we toured the castles along the Rhine River, and I remember pressing my hand against the cold stony walls and trying to soak up the history, to feel the lives of the people who’d lived there, what they’d felt and thought, how they’d lived. It made a lasting impression on me.
Now speed ahead to the teenage years and to church youth group on Sunday nights. After church, we’d run grab something to eat then we’d head toward downtow
n Atlanta to one of the many antebellum mansions that were long ago abandoned and boarded up, and we’d do what any group of self-respecting church youth would do…
We’d find the loose boards on the windows on the backside of the mansions and we’d slip inside with our flashlights.
And oh…that love for history and of times gone by would rise up in me like a tide. And thanks to American History being a favorite subject (along with English Lit), the historical events of that era would come alive inside me. But it wasn’t until much later in life that I’d finally feel the nudge to take up the pen and write, to give those stirrings inside me a voice.
My current release––A Lasting Impression, a Belmont Mansion novel––is a story that, I’m convinced, started taking root in me many years ago as I first touched the walls of those thirteenth and fourteenth century castles, and then the stony walls of the basements in those old, boarded up Southern mansions.
I get chills just thinking about being in those places again and at how the seed of my fascination for the past––and the stories I write now––were born inside me such a long time ago.
So tell me, do you share this love of history? And of story?
If you do, can you retrace its roots? I’d love to know where your fascination with history or story began, and where that love has led you in life!
Warmly,
Tamera
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TAMERA ALEXANDER is a bestselling novelist whose works have been awarded or nominated for numerous honors, including the Christy Award, the RITA Award, and the Carol Award. After seventeen years in Colorado, Tamera and her husband have returned to their native South and live in Tennessee, where they enjoy spending time with their two grown children.
You can visit Tamera at:
Her Web site www.tameraalexander.com
Her blog www.tameraalexander.blogspot.com
Her group blog www.writespassage.blogspot.com
Twitter www.twitter.com/tameraalexander
Facebook www.facebook.com/tamera.alexander
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Book-n-Bling package!
This week on the porch, we're giving away one of our fabulous Book-n-Bling packages, featuring an autographed book and a bling any Belle would find truly delightful! Today's Question of the day for Book-n-Bling contest entry: Name an exciting book you read as a child that really made your heart pound and your mind ask, "What will happen next?"
To enter the Book-n-Bling Contest, leave a comment on this blog post (or any of our blog posts this week) answering the question of the day.
here on BelleView on October 30th!
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14 comments:
I just want to throw my arms in the air and scream "Praise the Lord!". I totally get this. I remember as a kid, walking through an old Victorian home that had been converted to a museum. It captured my heart, and every time I would make a wish (wishing wells, birthdays) I would wish to live in a home like that. I also wished that I could travel back in time when I visited places like this. I remember a book I read in elementary school about the ghosts of children coming to the present day, and enlisting living children to solve a mystery. To do this the living children got to travel back in time. No idea what it was called. I'd love to find it.
Hice to meet you, Tamara. I do love exploring castles, mansions, old homes and barns and churches and... all things old, I guess. Loved the ruins at Ephesis and Athens and in Israel, just imagining those ancient days...
Sandy, your comment reminded me about the Boxcar Children mysteries, some of the first mysteries I ever read. They kept me turning pages, just imagining the adventures of those children about my age!
It is odd, but my favorite book was always The Giving Tree. A close second was Where the Wild Things Are. My dad would read these to me OVER AND OVER and no matter how many times I heard them I was still excited and interested in the ending! ~KM
Great post, Tamara! I love the pictures of the castle in Germany.
I have always loved history. I don't really remember any particular event that "triggered" the love I have for it, I just always have. I am obsessed with Southern history, especially the mid-nineteenth century. The Civil War has been a passion for many, many years. I would love to be able to go back in time and really see what life was like for the people. Good books give me a way to do just that.
Thanks for such a great post. I look forward to seeing you on the porch again soon.
Great to have you on the porch Tamara!! I can so relate to what you're saying. I remember always being fascinated with history and old things. I'm not sure what sparked that interest in me--old movie westerns, the Little House on the Prairie books, and storybooks filled with fairy tales, maybe ;o)
Thanks for making me feel so welcome, gals. The porch is a wonderful place to be... And the sweet tea you serve is to die for!
Thanks for sharing some of your journeys too. I love how God uses different pieces of our lives, and over such a span of time, to lead us to where He wants us to be. Every step changes the view!
I began my Love for Historical Fiction by reading the Little House on the Prairie Series as a girl. I have SUCH a heart for the hard-working, Christ/Family centered life of previous eras, and find great inspiration and wisdom as I study about them! Thank You for being a part of this Rich Journey!!
Growing up in the deep South, I've had a long-standing fascination with all things pre-Civil War, especially antebellum homes. I read Gone With the Wind when I was twelve, and then spent months pretending I lived during that period in history. When my husband and I first married, we rented an 1860's era house, and determined then we'd one day own an old home.
Thirty years later, and five years ago today, we finally bought our dream home - a 100 year old bungalow, complete with an expansive front porch, high ceilings, beadboard through-out, and a claw foot bathtub. I call it my bungalow retreat. I even have a website (www.bungalowretreat.com) where I depict country living, bungalow style through words and pictures. The history of this old place fascinates me.
Thanks, Tamera for sharing and giving all of us history enthusiast an opportunity to share as well. Can't wait to read A Lasting Impression!
Thanks, Tamera! It is a joy to hear about your love of history and how that childhood trip sparked it. I'll never forget visiting NYC with my grandmother and aunt when I was 12. It sparked something inside of me - a love for art and the pulse of the city which has made it into some of my books. Thanks for joinging us on the porch!
I loved reading this. My love for historical fiction began when my grandmother gave me Little Town on the Prairie. I inhaled it, and then discovered to my delight that it was part of an entire series! I eventually got the entire set and read them so many times I practically had them memorized.
A book that made me hold my breath but wasn't historical was From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsberg. Loved that book!
Basically, I was as much of a bookworm as a child as I am today!
I think one of my favorite books as a kid was Old Yeller and another series that I loved was the Little House on the Prairie series - I love history and really enjoy reading historical fiction now, but I liked it as a kid too - I read so many books then and still do now that it's hard to pick a favorite!
The Little House books were on my favorites list too, Nanette. Loved them! And Teri, your bungalow sounds like a dream, lady.
The art and pulse of the city... That's a great way to describe NYC. Was there this summer. Great place to visit! And Ms Linda...great to see you here, gal. I haven't heard of that book before but what a title! Sounds wonderfully creative!
Thanks again, lovely belles, for inviting me to visit. Had a wonderful time. Now for a mint julep and off to bed...
Just found this interesting blogsite....through checking on Beth's latest book (love those Charleston books...daughter lives there)! Good to find Tammy here; she's a fave of mine and I am about to read her newest! I love to read...I remember many Grace L.Hill books in my earlier days!
jackie.smith[at]dishmail[dot]net
I loved this post Tammy! Thanks so much for being on the porch with us! You are the quintessential southern belle!
Rachel
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