Leap Year Traditions

The history, lore, and not-so-much-true facts about Leap Year!!!

A leap year is a year with 366 days, instead of the usual 365. Because seasons and astronomical events do not repeat in a whole number of days, calendars with the same number of days in each year, over time, drift with respect to the event that the year is supposed to track. By inserting an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected.  

One exception to the leap year rule involved century years, like the year 1900. Since the year is slightly less than 365.25 days long, adding an extra day every four years results in about three extra days being added over a period of 400 years. For this reason, only one out of every four century years is considered as a leap year.

Leap Year Day used to be recognized in everyday things, in advertising and games and books. People were aware of it. Almanacs would mark it, tell people to prepare for the extra day. As recently as the early 1900s, concerts and balls were held throughout the leap years. 

<<< Leap Year. The Right Side of the Law” Illustrator: Ellay [?]; the Philco Publishing Co., Holborn Place, London WC; Series 4030 Postmark 1908 Cards for Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Christmas, and even Leap Year appear with legal themes. The Leap Year card seems to reference an old-fashioned bit of folklore that deemed it appropriate for women to propose to men on February 29.>>>

According to tradition, in fifth-century Ireland, Bridget of Kildare convinced St. Patrick that since Leap Year Day existed to fix a problem in the calendar, it could also be used to fix an old and unjust custom that only let men propose marriage. 

>>>Saint Brigit of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland (c. 451 – 525) is one of Ireland's patron saints, along with Patrick and Columba. Irish hagiography makes her an early Irish Christian nun, abbess, and founder of several monasteries of nuns, including that of Kildare in Ireland, which was famous and was revered<<<

A supposed law in 1288 by Queen Margaret of Scotland required fines be levied if a marriage proposal was refused by the man; compensation was deemed to be a pair of leather gloves, a single , £1, and a kiss. Women looking to take advantage of the opportunity to propose were expected to wear a scarlet petticoat—to give men the opportunity to run the other way. 

>>>But is Queen M's Leap Year Proposal Law real? Read more here.<<<

Queen Victoria sanctioned the “right” of women to propose marriage to a man, or at least ask him to dance. If the man declined to marry, there was at least a consolation prize—he was supposed to provide a silk dress and a kiss on the cheek. 

>>>An illustration from 1840 titled 'Leap Year' shows Queen Victoria proposing to Prince Albert at Windsor Castle in 1839<<<

In Finland, if a man refuses a woman's Leap Year Day proposal, he should buy her the fabrics for a skirt.

Today Anthony, Texas is known as the Leap Year Capital of the World. The festival draws about a thousand tourists for its once-in-four-years celebration, including as many as seventy Leap Year Day babies plus friends, family and “leapophiles” for a weekend-long festival featuring a golf tournament, nature hike, a 5K run, a barbecue at a local pecan farm, wine tasting, a chuck wagon breakfast, balloon rides, and a parade.

Find them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leapyearcapital/

SIX LITTLE SUNFLOWERS is available on Amazon!

In celebration of Gina's 11th release, she is giving away digital copies of SIX LITTLE SUNFLOWERS to three commenters during the Release Party this week.  Let us know in the comment you want to be entered and leave your email address so we know you aren't a troll (such as LovesWildfires (at) gmail dot com). 

SIX LITTLE SUNFLOWERS is the 9th release in Forget Me Not Romances American State Flower series, sweet romances based around state flowers. Felicie is a skeptic when it comes to Leap Year traditions! What do you think about a woman proposing marriage to a man?

DRAWING DEADLINE is MARCH 31, 2016, 5 PM CST

GINA WELBORN worked for a news radio station until she fell in love with writing romances. She’s the author of eleven inspirational romances, including the ECPA-bestselling Lassoed by Marriage Romance Collection. She serves on the ACFW Foundation Board by helping raise funds for scholarships. Gina is a lifetime member of the National Corvette Museum and a founding member of the Southwest Oklahoma Corvette Club. She lives with her husband, their five Okie-Hokie children, two rabbits, two guinea pigs, and a dog that doesn't realize rabbits and pigs are edible. 

www.ginawelborn.com
www.pinterest.com/ginawelborn

www.facebook.com/ginamarie.welborn

www.facebook.com/ginawelbornauthor

Six Little Sunflowers by Gina Welborn

It all began with Highland Crossings ... and then came ...

A Cascades Christmas

Mistletoe Memories - an ECPA bestseller!

The Heiress's Courtship

The Marshal's Pursuit

Masterpiece Marriage

Holly Daze

The Most Eligible Bachelor Collection

Christmas Traditions - featuring Holly Daze - an Amazon bestseller!

The Lassoed by Marriage Romance Collection - another ECPA bestseller!

Austen in Austin : Volume 1

And now ...

SIX LITTLE SUNFLOWERS 

An American State Flower Novella 

Celebrate Leap Year with a boy and a girl and a not-so-simple proposal...

Hotel chambermaid Felicie Richmond wants nothing more than to be the calligrapher for Wichita's prestigious Carey Hotel. She invests to look the part, but days before her job is to begin, an electrical fire damages the dress shop. Felicie envisions one way out: the Leap Day tradition whereby a bachelor who refuses a marriage proposal must purchase the rejected lady a new dress. Finding a few stuck-in-their-ways bachelors guaranteed to refuse her proposal will be easy. Three dresses should do. Figuring out how to overcome the humiliation of proposing marriage to multiple men...

Easy-going fireman Carpenter Yeary has no need for a wife, not with all the little ol' ladies in his church determined to find him one. When a strange woman proposes, Carp knows she's only after a free dress. In a moment of mischievousness, he accepts her proposal. Only their private conversation is overheard, and "Carp's getting married" spreads like wildfire, and soon his precious church ladies have a wedding planned. For Carp and Felicie, the only way out is to convince each other to call of the wedding...before love has time to bloom.

See Six Little Sunflowers come to life (metaphorically speaking) on Gina’s Pinterest board!

Carpenter Yeary

Felicie Richmond

Disclaimer: The lack of clothing of these "models" is not relevant to SIX LITTLE SUNFLOWERS because both Carp and Felicie keep clothed in each other's presence. This is a clean romance! Of course, I would be remiss not to mention that the Wichita Kansas fire department does have yearly calendars for sale to help you keep track of what day of the week it is.

http://www.kansasfirefightersmuseum.com/main/

What's a party without food?! 

Let's start with some classic Strawberry Shortcake! The History of Strawberry Shortcake. The earliest recipe that we have found for this dessert was in 1847. It is called Strawberry Cake, but its very similar to what we call shortcake. Strawberry Cake Recipe from "The Lady's Receipt-Book" by Miss Leslie, published in 1847.

Check out the Recipe!

And some Bee Sting Cake, also known as Bienenstich. This delicious cake is a Bavarian dessert made of a sweet bread (with or without yeast) with a baked-on topping of honeyed almonds and filled with a vanilla custard.

Try the Recipe!

In 1880, Kansas voters approved an amendment to the Kansas Constitution prohibiting all manufacture and sale of "intoxicating liquors" throughout the state effective January 1, 1881, making Kansas the first state in the United States to enact a statewide constitutional prohibition on alcohol, and heralding Kansas's long era of statewide prohibition. As of December 2012, Kansas still had 13 dry counties, where on-premises liquor sales are prohibited, but the sale of 3.2% beer is permitted. As of April 2013, Kansas still has not ratified the 21st Amendment, which ended nationwide prohibition in 1933. 

Click Here!

Effective November 15, 2005, the Kansas Legislature amended the Liquor Control Act to permit cities and counties to allow Sunday liquor sales. Sales are prohibited on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Since June 2012, bars are able to offer happy-hour specials after more than 25 years of being able to reduce prices only if they’d done so for the entire day. Liquor stores are able to offer unlimited free samples of beer, wine and liquor.

For anyone interested (and who may have these items laying around the house), feel free to make and bring some moonshine. June 5th is National Moonshine Day! Please drink responsibly.

SIX LITTLE SUNFLOWERS is available on Amazon!

In celebration of Gina's 11th release, she is giving away digital copies of SIX LITTLE SUNFLOWERS to three commenters during the Release Party this week.  Let us know in the comment you want to be entered and leave your email address so we know you aren't a troll (such as LovesWildfires (at) gmail dot com. 

SIX LITTLE SUNFLOWERS is the 9th release in Forget Me Not Romances American State Flower series, sweet romances based around state flowers. Felicie loves sunflowers! What is your favorite flower and why?

DRAWING DEADLINE is MARCH 31, 2016, 5 PM CST

GINA WELBORN worked for a news radio station until she fell in love with writing romances. She’s the author of eleven inspirational romances, including the ECPA-bestselling Lassoed by Marriage Romance Collection. She serves on the ACFW Foundation Board by helping raise funds for scholarships. Gina is a lifetime member of the National Corvette Museum and a founding member of the Southwest Oklahoma Corvette Club. She lives with her husband, their five Okie-Hokie children, two rabbits, two guinea pigs, and a dog that doesn't realize rabbits and pigs are edible. 

www.ginawelborn.com

www.facebook.com/ginamarie.welborn

www.facebook.com/ginawelbornauthor

www.pinterest.com/ginawelborn

Scripture Pic Matt 28:6

Writer's Whiplash! ~ or ~ When Your Brain is Ripped out of "The Zone"

by Susanne "neck brace" Dietze

I'm guessing you've suffered from Internal Whiplash--not the physical kind you get from being in a car crash (although some of us have had that, too. Ouch!).

I'm talking the kind that takes place inside your head, when you're in what I call The Zone, doing one thing that requires all of your concentration (like writing a check) and then something happens which yanks you out of The Zone.

If you're like me, this didn't used to be a problem. You could multi-task, but now that you're older or a mom or whatever, your brain responds by going blank, and you're stuck in the no-man's-land of not thinking clearly about anything.


Can you relate?

There's "Oh Crud" Whiplash: You make mistakes that the Younger You would have scoffed at, like leaving your keys in the wrong spot because the phone rang when you entered the house.

There's Mom Whiplash: you're filling out the school emergency forms and someone asks you a big question, like about God and the Big Bang. You are ripped out of the Zone, struck dumb, and you can't even say, "just a minute." (Maybe, like me, you try to answer and fill out the form simultaneously like the Younger You could have, and you end up writing the name of the kid you're talking to on form. But it's the wrong kid.)

Maybe, if you're an author, you can relate to the kind of whiplash I have right now: Writer's Whiplash. 

When authors write, they get into the universe of their stories--aka The Zone. 

We know our characters. We are so deep into the stories that the characters take over and talk to us. Our fingers fly with ease. We--

(Rrrrrrip noise)

Get ready, because something's about to explode!

What's that? An opportunity has arisen to revise and resubmit an old project, but it needs to be submitted NOW? You got it. Set aside Project A. Open Project B with a grateful heart. Realize that, while you're grateful, you are stuck, because these characters are NOT the characters who were forefront in your mind a half hour ago. These are totally different people, with fears and habits totally unlike anyone else's.

That is Writer's Whiplash. Getting yanked out of The Zone of one project to work on another, and find That Zone again. The brain doesn't cooperate like we want it to. Like we NEED it to!

I should note this is an excellent problem to have. It means a writer has opportunities, work to do, and maybe even interested editors. There is nothing to be pitied about the writer who suffers Writer's Whiplash.

That doesn't mean it's easy to get back in The Zone, however.

In the past 7 weeks, I've had the blessing and opportunity to promote two new releases (dipping my toes into The Zones of those stories when answering interview Q's and participating in FB parties) while working on aspects of five separate writing projects.

I didn't plan it that way, because who would do that? LOL. But that's how it unfolded.

Aside from the promotions, that's five romances playing out in my head. Five couples facing five sets of challenges in five different time periods. And keeping the characters separate? Ugh! I had a spy, mountain man, rancher, Scottish lord, and doctor for heroes. I'm like a Harlequin commercial. One hero even has a brogue! Ach, lassie, 'twas hard not to give it to the hero who followed him. I needed to get back into a Zone where folks said ain't and reckon.

You're a good pup, but darlin' Miz Dietze just called you the name she gave that Scottish terrier from the last story, and  made me say somethin' all Scottish, too. Do I look like a Regency-era laird? Bless her heart.

So if you're suffering Writer's Whiplash, how do you get back into The Zone of a project? Well, I found a few things that worked for me:

• Take a minute. Or a whole day, if you have the time. Reacquaint yourself with the new (old) project whose Zone you need to enter. Remember who the characters are and why you like them, and why this story was important to you. Sometimes this is all it takes to get back into the Zone, but not always.
• This is what worked for me the most: Start a playlist to go with each story. (Only if you listen to music when you write, of course.) When I was revisiting an old novel, I decided to listen to an album I'd enjoyed to when I originally worked on the story. The music triggered something in my emotional memory, and I found myself more quickly getting back into the emotional thread of the story! THE ZONE!!!
• Start playlists that fit the emotional mood of particular scenes. I have a "gooshy songs" playlist that I listen to when I'm writing a scene with romantic longing. I have another playlist that is the soundtrack for the "we can't be together but I want to be with you" scenes .
• If you're a visual person, use a storyboard on Pinterest. I set up mine so there are pictures of the scenery, actors who look similar to my characters, and includes any object that might be pertinent to the story. I do this so an editor or reader might get a fuller picture of the story, but you know what? It's also good for me when I need to get back to the Zone.



Not everyone likes smelly candles, but I do.

• Light a candle when you write. A smelly one--or be conscious of what smells are around when you write a particular story. Smell is the quickest of the senses when it comes to memory triggers, and you're trying to trigger the memory of the mood, tone, and universe you inhabited when you were last in The Zone. So if you last worked on a particular story at Christmastime, it may not hurt to find something smelly that reminds you of Christmas. See if it takes you back to The Zone.

What about you? How do you handle Writer's Whiplash? I need all the advice I can get!

***

Susanne Dietze is back to writing one novella at the moment. In the meantime, she is the author of over half-dozen historical romances.You can visit her on her website, www.susannedietze.com

All pics public domain.