In honor of the release of my debut novella, I have invited each of the other authors in the collection to write a post about the inspiration for their story. Today, I’m pleased to share a post from Mary Davis, author of Holly and Ivy.
A BOUQUET’S SWEET SCENT
“Holly & Ivy,” my #HistoricalRomance novella in A #BouquetOfBrides, takes place in 1890, in Washington State. A young woman accompanies her impetuous younger sister on her trip across the country to be a Christmas mail-order bride and is helped by a gallant stranger.
My initial idea for this collection popped into my head years before I started pulling the proposal together. The inspiration title that came to me was A Bouquet of Brides for the Bakersfield Bachelors. But coordinating so many stories by so many different authors can be quite challenging, time consuming, and confusing. So instead of having all the brides end up in the same location, I held fast to the flower theme. The collection bloomed and grew from there.
Flowers have been depicted for centuries in paintings, sculptures, music, books, tapestries, china, needlepoint, almost anywhere you can think of. Flowers have been used to honor important ceremonies and traditions, enhance environments, and of course to express feelings, especially love. Flowers mean many things to people.
My favorite flower is the carnation. I love its sweet, sweet smell and how it’s ruffly, almost lacey like. What’s your favorite flower?
Photo by Rowena Kong on Unsplash
In celebration of the release of “Holly & Ivy”, I’m giving away (US only) a print copy of A BOUQUET OF BRIDES Collection. To enter, subscribe to my newsletter and receive a free short story. I’ll be drawing for the book at the end of January.
Follow my blog at Mary’s Blog.
MARY DAVIS is an award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has four more titles releasing in 2018; Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart (Working Title) September 2018, & “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in MISSAdventure Brides Collection in December 2018. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.
Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-three years and two cats. She has three adult children and one incredibly adorable grandchild. Find her online at: