Happy Birthday to my Favorite Hero–Thomas Benton Smith

  

 

"First romance, first love, is something so special to all of us, both emotionally and physically, that it touches our lives and enriches them forever." ~ Rosemary Rogers

 

Gatekeeper featured Benton Smith, the ghostly hero in my first published romance and first Phantom Lovers series book. The character of Benton Smith was based on the real Thomas Benton Smith who was born in 1838, near Triune, Tennessee. Smith, who showed promise as an inventor, attended Western Military Institute in Nashville, and when his state seceded from the Union, he enlisted in Company B of the 20th Tennessee Infantry. His cool head in battle and sharp intelligence propelled him higher in rank until he was commissioned Brigadier General of the 20th TN Infantry – making him the youngest brigadier in the Army of Tennessee. Sadly, Smith was struck down in a cowardly attack by Union Colonel Wm. L. McMillen, after Smith surrendered at the Battle of Nashville. Smith suffered 3 blows to the head which rendered him mentally incapacitate for the rest of his life. In 1876, he was committed to the Central State Hospital for the Insane in Nashville. When he died in 1923, he was the last remaining brigadier general of the Army of the Tennessee. But did you know the hauntingly handsome Confederate General Smith has made cameo appearances in several of my books?

 

Here's a description from Gatekeeper ~

 

 

Jillian froze. She could not move. She could not breathe. The ghost she had seen in her vision stood before her. Dressed in a worn and double-breasted cadet gray, thigh-length frock coat, he was nearly opaque and looked as real as a flesh-and-blood man with the exception of appearing somewhat faded. Jillian gaped. The only thing separating them was the flimsy old card table and she doubted that would stop him if it occurred to him to come any closer. Her pulse pounded relentlessly.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” He came closer, his boots resounding on the wood floor. Spurs jingled with each step.

Jillian’s back flattened against the chair. Her breath left her lungs in an audible rush. She had glimpsed ghosts many times before but never had one been this present, this alive. She stared. But it wasn’t because of his devastatingly rakish appearance—the roughly chiseled cheekbones, straight nose and curve of his sensual lips—it was because he looked so real and because she felt a very odd sense of recognition. Still, the static charge of energy emanating from him left her with no doubt he was a ghost.

 

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Benton Smith reappears in the second Phantom Lovers book, Shadowkeeper ~

 

Jillian stood in the bathroom drying her hair with a fluffy white towel. She heard the water shut off and watched as the shower door opened and Benton stepped out, dripping and naked, onto the beige bathmat.

His dark, wavy hair was tousled carelessly about his head. Rivulets of water beaded and ran down his corded neck and muscular chest. Jillian’s breath froze when her gaze landed on the scar marring his left shoulder. He’d taken a bullet during the battle of Murfreesboro—where his brother had died. The wound had followed him even into death.

 

 

 

 

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My short story, Extra Sensual Perception, is included in the Flavors of Ecstasy I anthology. Set in Nashville, the hero lives on Benton Smith Road, a street named after the real Thomas Benton Smith. The road encircles Shy's Hill where Smith was captured during the Battle of Nashville.

 

Nashville traffic on a Friday afternoon was a bitch and when Iris finally turned onto Harding Place, she was thwarted by a long line of slow-moving drivers. Even switching on her hazard lights and honking her horn didn’t yield results.

When she ultimately arrived at Benton Smith Road, she turned and raced around the circle until she found the address. The driveway wound downward and when Iris saw a silver BMW in the garage, her heart sank.

The house looked sickeningly familiar. She’d seen it before—in her vision of his death.

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Benton Smith also makes a cameo appearance in Rebel Rose, a historical set in my home town of Florence, Alabama.

 

In October 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood moved his twenty thousand strong Army of Tennessee through Florence Alabama on his way north to fight the battles of Franklin and Nashville.

 

Benton Smith's brigade was among them ~

 

Panic unfurled through her limbs and Rose tried to sit up but Dr. Roberts urged her back down on the pillows. “You’re not ready to get up just yet, Mrs. O’Kelley. Be still.”

Another Confederate appeared in the doorway. He looked to be about the same age as the young doctor and also surprised to see her awake. “How’s your patient?”

“She’s giving me more trouble than one of the boys, General Smith.”

The boy general’s dimples deepened with his handsome smile. “Mind the doctor, missy. He’s a good doctor. My only complaint is that he’s a little too fond of being at front for my taste.”

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His cameo in Scarlet Widow is a bit more subtle.

 

A handsome, young officer on horseback drew up alongside the fencing. He tipped his weathered hat. “Good day, ma’am. Is this about where Major Barksdale lives?”

“Yes sir, it is,” Athena said, boldly stepping between Molly and the officer.

He nodded in polite deference to Athena. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Molly shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up at him.

He slid out of the saddle and gave his gray horse a pat on the muzzle. “I’m Brigadier General T. B. Smith.”

“Oh yes, you’re Major Barksdale’s commanding officer,” Molly said, recognizing the name. She stopped short of mentioning the general’s youth. Everyone knew of the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment’s boy general, the youngest in the entire Army of Tennessee. In spite of his moustache and spade beard, he looked far too boyish for his command.

“At least this’un has manners,” Athena groused. She’d always been one easily swayed by a handsome face.

“Have you any word of my brother-in-law, Major Greer Barks—” Molly began, but another horse broke through the column. Greer flew out of the saddle and flung his arms around Molly.

Joyful tears sprang to her eyes, flowing freely down her cheeks and onto Greer’s tattered coat. She wanted to let loose everything she’d been holding in. Her brain tried to remind her this was temporary but she would not heed it. Not now. Not while she felt safe and protected if only for a moment.

Years of hardship, the horrors of that night the Yankees came to her house and then the gut-wrenching pain of Witt’s death poured out of her all at once. Greer held her close, apologizing for the odor of his coat, of his body. Molly didn’t care. She’d grown accustomed to the musk of damp wool, of gunpowder and unwashed bodies. At times, she wondered if life would ever go back to the way it was before the war. Then, everyone had seemed so carefree and relaxed. So genteel.

Finally she lifted her face from Greer’s chest and gazed into his hazel eyes. “Where’s…where’s Hardin?”

Greer’s expression turned grim. He glanced at his father and then at Smith.

The boy general stepped forward. His good-natured smile faded. “I regret to inform you both that Lieutenant Barksdale deserted.”

Molly gasped. “Not Hardin.”

Athena’s bottom lip protruded. “He wouldn’t dare.”

“Goddamn coward,” Hamish muttered, his words slurred.

Greer stared at his father for a moment before he bleakly shook his head. “Hardin has disgraced us all.”

“That don’t sound like my Hardin,” Athena argued. “He ain’t the easiest of you three but he ain’t no coward, neither.” Hardin had always been her favorite, despite his surly attitude.

He was difficult and obstinate. But there was no better judge of character in Maury County than Athena, and Molly had to agree with her assessment. Darkly, Molly’s thoughts turned to the last time she’d seen him. He’d sat on her bed. He’d nearly kissed her. And then he’d left her to the mercy of the most uncouth band of men she’d ever had the misfortune to meet. Damn him. “When did he desert?”

“During the summer,” Greer said.

“Smack-dab in the middle of the Atlanta campaign,” Smith added. Under his breath, he confessed, “Of course, when Johnston was replaced with Hood, we had a good many deserters.”

No wonder Hardin hadn’t wanted her to mention to anyone that she’d seen him. Still, she couldn’t wrap her brain around it. Hardin? A deserter?

Maybe he’d realized what Molly now knew. It was foolish for men to continue to die for the cause.

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For more information about the real Thomas Benton Smith, click HERE

 

 

Civil War Mourning Customs

Death in the Victorian era was a complicated thing with complex rituals, and clothing. Strict protocols were observed that required mourners to wear certain items of clothing, colors, and to abstain from particular activities.

Today, we can scarcely imagine the rigid rules and rituals that were brought about by living conditions in the 19th century. Disease was rampant. Sterility was not understood. Diets, lack of vitamins, and nutrients resulted in illness and death. Doctors did not receive the medical training they do today and often, treatments consisted of blistering, bleeding, and poisonous herbal cures that sometimes resulted in fatalities. Germs and antibiotics were unheard of. Many died from simple cuts and childbirth claimed so many lives, that it was customary for a woman to make arrangements for the care of her child should she not survive.

Infections, pneumonia, TB, typhoid, malaria, yellow fever, small pox, and whooping cough could wipe out entire families. Remedies tended toward bizarre superstitions. Burning gun powder in sick rooms, sprinkling houses with vinegar, or placing an ax under the bed to “cut the pain in two” were common practices.

Superstition surrounded death, and in the American South, many of those customs survived into the twentieth century. Some of those beliefs included:

• Covering Mirrors – During the 19th Century, most funerals were held in the home. Victorians believed that when there was a corpse in the house, all mirrors had to be covered with a black cloth. The Barton Upon Humber Family History Aid website explains that this ensured "that the soul of the departed would not get trapped behind the glass and be prevented from passing to 'the other side,'" Similar to the ancient superstitions, the Victorians also believed that "if you saw your own reflection in a room where someone had just died, then you would soon die yourself."
• Stopping of Clocks – Pendulums on clocks were stopped at the hour of the deceased’s death to prevent the living family members from having bad luck. Victorians believed that when a person died, time stood still for them in the afterlife and a new period of existence began where the concept of time did not exist. To permit the clock to continue marking time was synonymous with inviting the spirit of the deceased to haunt the home. Stopping time allowed the deceased to ascend to heaven and eternity which is timeless.
• Carrying the Body Out Feet First – The custom of removing a corpse from a home feet first was derived from the superstition that if removed head first, the deceased could look back into the home and beckon those remaining into death.
• Photographs of the Deceased – All family photographs were sometimes turned face-down to prevent any of the close relatives and friends of the deceased from being possessed by the spirit of the dead.
• Wearing Black - The wearing of black is a custom that has been observed for centuries. It was thought to make mourners draw less attention to themselves so that Death would not claim them as its next victim.

Socially, strict and elaborate dress and behavior codes were imposed, sometimes that lasted for several years. Mourning customs have been observed since the 1600s, but it wasn’t until the 1830s and 40s that bereavement became an art form. Scads of books were published on the proper course of mourning and Prince Albert’s death in 1861, and Queen Victoria’s mourning made the practice “fashionable.” Queen Victoria’s impact on mourning customs set the stage for the rest of Western Civilization. She continued wearing her "widow's weeds" until her death in 1901.

That same time period saw the onset of the American Civil War. At least 618,000 died or were killed during the Civil War. Some experts believe the actual death toll reached 700,000. According to Jane Peters Estes, an authority on death customs in Civil War-era America, in the state of Alabama alone, there were over 80,000 widows.

A Victorian woman donned what was known as "widow's weeds" within twenty-four hours of her husband's death. For a year and a day, she wore full mourning which consisted of dull black clothing trimmed with crepe, and a weeping veil.

Mourning women wore a veil in public to shield their tears from onlookers. Estes also stated that, “they believed that spirits of the departed would hover around those they loved. And if a passerby looked directly on the mourner's face, that spirit might attach itself to that person. So, the veil was a protection for the wearer as well as a protection for others.”

Mourning attire became some of the first store-bought clothing items during a time when most clothes were handmade at home. Death could come unexpectedly and the bereaved had to be prepared. Those who could not afford to buy ready-made items paid to have their own clothing dyed or dyed it themselves at home, in the back yard because of the dye's pungent odor. An 1864 diary from Virginia related 'the entire town smells of the dye pots.”

Men wore black or dark colored suits to a funeral and black or white silk hat bands, depending on who had died. If the deceased was a young girl, white silk was worn. They donned a black armband for a few months to a year as a sign of respect. Widowers were permitted to remarry after the wearing of the armband.

Women observed three stages of mourning:  heavy/deep mourning, full mourning, and half mourning.

Mourning observations lasted different lengths depending on the deceased:

• Spouse: One to 2 1/2 years
• Parent: 6 months to a year
• Children over 10 yrs old: 6 months to a year
• Children under 10 yrs: 3 to 6 months
• Infants: 6 weeks and up
• Siblings: 6 to 8 months
• Aunts and uncles: 3 to 6 months
• Cousins: 6 weeks to 3 months
• Aunts or uncles related by marriage: 6 weeks to 3 months
• Grandparents: 6 months
• Distant relatives and friends: 3 weeks and up

Deep mourning lasted a minimum of a year and a day but could extend as long as 2 ½ years, in which black clothing, jewelry, veils, bonnets, outer wear, and crepe were worn exclusively. Bonnets and outer wear were covered in crepe for a year and a day, and could after that time be removed. Often the dyes used to color the crepe would run when wet, thus widows did not venture far from home. Mourning fabric was somewhat shiny. Much work went into keeping the black from fading. Among the ingredients used were: ox gall, fuller’s earth, and even egg yolks. Heavy mourning collars and cuffs were black, and marking the second year, a woman could add lace. Hats were forbidden for mourning and instead crepe covered bonnets were worn. Long veils were worn the first year and shortened by the second. Very little, or no adornment was worn.

Underclothes remained the standard of the time, but a black band was sewn to the hem of the outermost petticoat in the event it became visible. Jewelry was not worn for the first few months and thereafter, jet jewelry was permitted. Black glass and India rubber was also used to make mourning jewelry which consisted of rings, broaches, bracelets, lockets, and earrings. Mourning rings served as keepsakes and were provided by the deceased’s family.

During full mourning, gold, silver, jet, pearls, and other stones could be worn. White collars and cuffs replaced black crepe.

Half mourning colors included various somber colors of lilac, lavender, violet, mauve, and gray. Bonnets were also allowed in these colors as well as straw hats.

Time periods were observed where a widow was not permitted to leave her home or receive visitors. After that time, she distributed black edged calling cards to let friends and family know her heavy mourning was over and she could receive visitors. Those in mourning were not allowed to attend parties, weddings, or other social events.

It was considered unlucky to throw one’s mourning attire away after the mourning period was over. The clothes were put away and kept should they be needed again.

Author Sally Painter offers another mourning tradition of the time. “My grandmother had several death announcements that were used before and during this era. They were made out of very thick cardstock that was about 1/8" thick, maybe a bit thicker. The background was black with gold print and a gold ribbon border. Usually a gold cross was centered at the top, but these varied in design.  Included on the card were the name of the deceased, date of birth and death and details about the funeral arrangements. A messenger (usually a young boy) was sent from house to house with the announcement for people to read and then return to him so he could carry it to the next house.”

People during this time feared they would not be mourned properly.

A practice that seems macabre in the modern era is post mortem photography which became popular during the 1860’s. Burial was often delayed for days or weeks waiting for the photographer to arrive. Often this was the only photographic image a family had of a person. Sometimes, these images included painted-on clouds to indicate the picture is of a deceased person. Wreaths of hair from the deceased, called mourning wreathes, were crocheted and laid by the portraits.

Widows would often use black bed linens. They were not permitted to marry for at least a year, the thinking being that it took a year for the complete decay of deceased husband.

Older widows tended to mourn longer than their younger counterparts.

To this day, many women consider it disrespectful to wear anything other than black to a funeral or memorial service.

Widows serve as characters in several of my historical romance novels set during the Civil War.

 

Scarlet Widow

Tough…or tender? If she follows her heart, she won’t have to choose.
Molly has forever lusted for all three Barksdale brothers, but could never choose. Instead, scandal chose for her, and she married the youngest of the three. Then the brothers go to war, and Molly finds herself a grieving widow when her husband is murdered by a merciless band of Union soldiers.
Hardin Barksdale is hell-bent on avenging his brother. Greer Barksdale is honor-bound to protect his home. They both want Molly—and this time, they’re willing to share. The temptation is seductive, the passion sizzling. In harsh, post-war Tennessee, their nightly forbidden trysts wield the power to heal them all—if they can escape the twisted desires of a man bent on seeing all three of them dead.

Click HERE to read an excerpt

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Bought and Paid For

Unable to support herself and her beloved servants, Widow Carrie Hatcher contemplates the unthinkable—offering her services for money. Forced to board wounded Colonel Wesley McEwen, Carrie vows to make the striking Confederate soldier her first “client”.
But Carrie gets more than she bargained for when she agrees to comply with Wesley’s every illicit request for one week. Throughout long, sultry nights, Wesley tutors Carrie in every position, every skill, of her illicit new trade. From dark taboos to pleasurable punishments, Carrie becomes his willing pupil. Passions inflamed, the couple becomes more scandalously intimate but Carrie realizes she wants to give him far more than just her body. The colonel, however, may be too haunted by his past to risk accepting more than he’s bought and paid for.

Buy it Now!

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Rebel Rose

They say she’s a Rebel spy…
Widow, Rosalie O’Kelley, is not above using her feminine wiles to secure much needed supplies for her fellow townspeople. But when Union Colonel Eric Skaarsberg is put in charge, Rose’s usual tactics fail miserably. In exchange for supplies, she comes to a scandalous arrangement with him. She agrees to become his willing plaything—to fulfill his every physical need…eagerly and without hesitation.
Eric Skaarsberg is duty bound to ferret out the spy who has been leaking information to the Confederates. All evidence points to the passionate belle who readily responds to every touch and taste he metes out to her. One by one, he strips away Rose’s secrets, but Eric is not satisfied with owning the she-Rebel’s luscious body. At any cost, he must uncover her vulnerable and perilous past—even if it means the destruction of them both.

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Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War With a Historical Romance by Debra Glass

The American Civil War celebrates its sesquicentennial in 2012. Those turbulent years between 1862 and 1865 were a defining moment in our nation’s history. While the Revolutionary War created the United States, the Civil War determined what sort of nation the US would be. The Civil War answered two fundamental questions: Was the United States a confederation of sovereign states or an indivisible nation with a strong national government? And; Would a nation, founded on a declaration that all men were created equal continue to operate as the largest slaveholding country in the world?

Union victory in 1865, preserved the United States as one nation and abolished the institution of slavery. This win came at the cost of 625,000 lives.

In 1936, when Margaret Mitchell’s sweeping novel, Gone With the Wind, set during the American Civil War, was published, a worldwide love affair with historical, romantic fiction was born.

Visiting the Atlanta house where Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind

As a southerner, I grew up around the relics of those once grand plantation homes, amidst historic markers detailing skirmishes and Hood’s march toward the ill-fated battles of Franklin and Nashville. I heard stories from my great-grandparents about their parents who fought on both sides. I attended college in the South and graduated with an MAed with emphasis in – what else? – history!

My interest in history has always colored my writing. From my locally popular Skeletons in the Closet ghost story collections, to numerous articles for Fate Magazine, and varied Civil War history magazines, to my romantic fiction, the Civil War continues to inspire me.

When I began writing romance, it was no wonder I most often turned to the Civil War for my historical settings.

Here’s what reviewers are saying about my Civil War romances:

“Ms. Glass did an outstanding job of recreating the old South with heart-wrenching visual images of what was going on in and around war ravaged Georgia. Marietta is a perfect backdrop to represent the suffering endured by both soldiers and citizens. It is symbolic of the war torn states as well as the war torn hero and heroine.” ~ Long and Short Reviews

“The strength of Ms. Glass’s writing draws the reader into her deeply emotional and moving love stories time and time again. By intertwining passion and history overlaid with a great depth of emotion and laced with a relentless increasing level of sensuality between Greer, Molly and Hardin the reader is treated to dark and utterly seductive story that pulls-at-the-heartstrings!  Set during the Civil War, Scarlet Widow gives the reader a gripping, detailed and vividly descriptive look at the heartache, hardships and cruelties of war, Molly and the Barksdale brothers experienced that forever changed their lives.  The historically filled pages are brimming with tension, hope and courage, richly portrayed in such a way that the reader will have a difficult time putting this story down. ” ~ The Romance Studio

“Ms. Glass does a beautiful job of bringing the harshness of the Civil War to life in Florence, Alabama. I found this especially interesting since Alabama is seldom used as a plot setting for a civil war romance. The history … illustrated the awful external and internal conflicts Rose and Eric were facing.” ~ Long and Short Reviews

“I love Glass's erotic romances because they're magnificently written and they're often so much "more" than erotic romance. I love her Civil War/Reconstruction fiction because she loves her subject and loves her readers enough to tell them honest, gritty stories with characterizations and issues genuine to that time. Glass immerses readers into culture, society, and events with delectable word pictures and action. Sensory details and exquisite world-building transport willing readers to the realities of a lost time.” ~ MA Goodreads

Revisit the Civil War with one of my books!

Gatekeeper

Book one in the Phantom Lovers series.
Evil shadow ghosts known as soul collectors haunted her childhood nightmares, so Nashville PD criminal profiler Jillian Drew did everything possible to turn her back on her psychic abilities. But now her eccentric sister has been abducted and nothing in her criminology background has prepared Jillian for that tragedy — or for Benton Smith, the powerful and devastatingly attractive ghost of a Civil War officer and the only witness to Amy's abduction.
Fearful of the brazen specter, Jillian nevertheless needs him. Benton is her Gatekeeper, a spirit sworn to protect her from the soul collectors, who attack each time she unleashes her long-dormant psychic senses in an attempt to find her sister.
Yet she must somehow keep the devilishly seductive spirit at arm's length, for Benton's soul is at stake — and succumbing to his desires could have dangerous consequences for them both.

 

Bought and Paid For

Unable to support herself and her beloved servants, Widow Carrie Hatcher contemplates the unthinkable—offering her services for money. Forced to board wounded Colonel Wesley McEwen in her home, Carrie vows to make the striking Confederate soldier her first “client”.

But Carrie gets more than she bargained for when she agrees to comply with Wesley’s every illicit request for one week. Throughout long, sultry nights, Wesley tutors Carrie in every position, every skill, of her illicit new trade. From dark taboos to pleasurable punishments, Carrie becomes his willing pupil.

Passions inflamed, the couple becomes more scandalously intimate but Carrie realizes she wants to give him far more than just her body. The colonel, however, may be too haunted by his past to risk accepting more than he’s bought and paid for.

 

Rebel Rose

They say she’s a Rebel spy…

Rosalie O’Kelley is not above using her feminine wiles to secure much-needed supplies for her fellow townspeople. But when Union Colonel Eric Skaarsberg is put in charge, Rose’s usual tactics fail miserably. In exchange for supplies, she comes to a scandalous arrangement with him. She agrees to become his willing plaything—to fulfill his every physical need, eagerly and without hesitation.

Eric is duty-bound to ferret out the spy who has been leaking information to the Confederates. All evidence points to the passionate belle who readily responds to every touch and taste he metes out. One by one, he strips away Rose’s secrets, but Eric is not satisfied with owning the she-Rebel’s luscious body. He must uncover the truth of her past at any cost—even if it means the destruction of them both.

 

Scarlet Widow

Tough…or tender? If she follows her heart, she won’t have to choose.

Molly has forever lusted for all three Barksdale brothers, but could never choose. Instead, scandal chose for her, and she married the youngest of the three. Then the brothers go to war, and Molly finds herself a grieving widow when her husband is murdered by a merciless band of Union soldiers.

Hardin Barksdale is hell-bent on avenging his brother. Greer Barksdale is honor-bound to protect his home. They both want Molly—and this time, they’re willing to share. The temptation is seductive, the passion sizzling. In harsh, post-war Tennessee, their nightly forbidden trysts wield the power to heal them all—if they can escape the twisted desires of a man bent on seeing all three of them dead.

 

Haunted

Can a heart still love once it stops beating?

My hopes of having a normal life died when I did. Especially since my near death experience turned me into a clairvoyant with a disfiguring scar. Not exactly most-popular material.

Now, because of me, my whole family has been forced to move to some small town in Tennessee. My parents think a quiet new school and a new set of friends will heal me of the scars I carry both inside and out.

There’s just one problem. I’m being haunted by Jeremiah Ransom, the charming ghost of a Civil War soldier who lived and died in my house. His presence makes me feel perfect. As if there’d never been a wound in the first place.

But I’m afraid that loving him will result in my death all over again.

 

Skeletons of the Civil War

Ghostly legends abound wherever history has made its mark. Skeletons of the Civil War follows the ghosts of the Army of Tennessee from the bloody Battle of Shiloh to its decimation on the killing fields of Franklin. Combining the craft of a story-teller (Glass), with the expert knowledge of a military historian (Mathews), the stories in this book are packed with archival photographs and intriguing first-hand accounts. Read fresh, spine-tingling accounts of a headless horseman who gallops through the eerie cedar glades at Stones River, the tale of the regiment which earned the nickname The Bloody Ninth at Shiloh, the phantom regiment at Resaca, the spirit of Tennessee’s dashing Boy General, who followed a woman home, the mysterious empty graves near the Hazen monument, weirdness at The Dead Angle, true accounts of spirits who haunt the cavernous rooms of Tennessee’s grand plantation houses, the tragic tale of Captain Tod Carter who was shot down within sight of his home, and many more.

Haunted Mansions in the Heart of Dixie

There is something about an antebellum mansion that whispers ghost. From the rolling cotton fields of Colbert County, Alabama to the haunted hills of Tennessee, there is hardly a pre-Civil War dwelling that cannot boast of some resident spirit or similar unexplained phenomena.

Steeped in history, Haunted Mansions in the Heart of Dixie is a collection of true Southern haint tales set in the fertile Tennessee Valley. From the mysterious Bell Witch to the inexplicable events at Belle Mont Mansion, these tales recount some of the most infamous Southern hauntings of all time. Explore the dark history of Dixie with spirits who loved their homes so much that even in death they refuse to leave, and unearth other more diabolical specters hell-bent on the settling of old scores.

All the tales within are authentic. Proceed, therefore, into the haunted Heart of Dixie with caution. . .

4.5 Star Review for Rebel Rose by Debra Glass

"Debra Glass has written an entertaining and gripping tale of love amidst the horrors of the Civil War. " ~ 4.5 Stars ~ Two Lips Reviews

They say she’s a Rebel spy…

Rosalie O’Kelley is not above using her feminine wiles to secure much-needed supplies for her fellow townspeople. But when Union Colonel Eric Skaarsberg is put in charge, Rose’s usual tactics fail miserably. In exchange for supplies, she comes to a scandalous arrangement with him. She agrees to become his willing plaything—to fulfill his every physical need, eagerly and without hesitation.

Eric is duty-bound to ferret out the spy who has been leaking information to the Confederates. All evidence points to the passionate belle who readily responds to every touch and taste he metes out. One by one, he strips away Rose’s secrets, but Eric is not satisfied with owning the she-Rebel’s luscious body. He must uncover the truth of her past at any cost—even if it means the destruction of them both.

Click HERE to buy it from Ellora's Cave

* Coming 2011 from Ellora's Cave ~ Scarlet Belles ~ a print anthology including Rebel Rose and Bought and Paid For  *

Trivia - Ghostly Hero, Benton Smith, Makes Cameo Appearance in Several Debra Glass Books!

  

"First romance, first love, is something so special to all of us, both emotionally and physically, that it touches our lives and enriches them forever." ~ Rosemary Rogers

Gatekeeper featured Benton Smith, the ghostly hero in my first published romance and first Phantom Lovers series book. But did you know the hauntingly handsome Confederate General Smith has made cameo appearances in several of my books?

Here's a description from Gatekeeper ~

Jillian froze. She could not move. She could not breathe. The ghost she had seen in her vision stood before her. Dressed in a worn and double-breasted cadet gray, thigh-length frock coat, he was nearly opaque and looked as real as a flesh-and-blood man with the exception of appearing somewhat faded. Jillian gaped. The only thing separating them was the flimsy old card table and she doubted that would stop him if it occurred to him to come any closer. Her pulse pounded relentlessly.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” He came closer, his boots resounding on the wood floor. Spurs jingled with each step.

Jillian’s back flattened against the chair. Her breath left her lungs in an audible rush. She had glimpsed ghosts many times before but never had one been this present, this alive. She stared. But it wasn’t because of his devastatingly rakish appearance—the roughly chiseled cheekbones, straight nose and curve of his sensual lips—it was because he looked so real and because she felt a very odd sense of recognition. Still, the static charge of energy emanating from him left her with no doubt he was a ghost.

Buy Gatekeeper in print or digital - Click HERE

* * *

Benton Smith reappears in the second Phantom Lovers book, Shadowkeeper ~ 

Jillian stood in the bathroom drying her hair with a fluffy white towel. She heard the water shut off and watched as the shower door opened and Benton stepped out, dripping and naked, onto the beige bathmat.

His dark, wavy hair was tousled carelessly about his head. Rivulets of water beaded and ran down his corded neck and muscular chest. Jillian’s breath froze when her gaze landed on the scar marring his left shoulder. He’d taken a bullet during the battle of Murfreesboro—where his brother had died. The wound had followed him even into death.

Buy Shadowkeeper in print or digital - Click HERE

*  *  *

My short story, Extra Sensual Perception, is included in the Flavors of Ecstasy I anthology. Set in Nashville, the hero lives on Benton Smith Road, a street named after the real Thomas Benton Smith. The road encircles Shy's Hill where Smith was captured during the Battle of Nashville.

Nashville traffic on a Friday afternoon was a bitch and when Iris finally turned onto Harding Place, she was thwarted by a long line of slow-moving drivers. Even switching on her hazard lights and honking her horn didn’t yield results.

When she ultimately arrived at Benton Smith Road, she turned and raced around the circle until she found the address. The driveway wound downward and when Iris saw a silver BMW in the garage, her heart sank.

The house looked sickeningly familiar. She’d seen it before—in her vision of his death.

Buy Flavors of Ecstasy in print or digital - Click HERE

*  *  * 

 Benton Smith also makes a cameo appearance in Rebel Rose, a historical set in my home town of Florence, Alabama. 

In October 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood moved his twenty thousand strong Army of Tennessee through Florence Alabama on his way north to fight the battles of Franklin and Nashville.

Benton Smith's brigade was among them ~

Panic unfurled through her limbs and Rose tried to sit up but Dr. Roberts urged her back down on the pillows. “You’re not ready to get up just yet, Mrs. O’Kelley. Be still.”

Another Confederate appeared in the doorway. He looked to be about the same age as the young doctor and also surprised to see her awake. “How’s your patient?”

“She’s giving me more trouble than one of the boys, General Smith.”

The boy general’s dimples deepened with his handsome smile. “Mind the doctor, missy. He’s a good doctor. My only complaint is that he’s a little too fond of being at front for my taste.”

Buy Rebel Rose digital edition - (print coming 2011) - Click HERE

*  *  *

For more information about the real Thomas Benton Smith, click HERE

*All books are also available at Amazon.com

LSR Reviews Rebel Rose by Debra Glass

"This one’s utterly beautiful." 4.5 Stars! ~ LSR

They say she’s a Rebel spy…

Rosalie O’Kelley is not above using her feminine wiles to secure much-needed supplies for her fellow townspeople. But when Union Colonel Eric Skaarsberg is put in charge, Rose’s usual tactics fail miserably. In exchange for supplies, she comes to a scandalous arrangement with him. She agrees to become his willing plaything—to fulfill his every physical need, eagerly and without hesitation.

Eric is duty-bound to ferret out the spy who has been leaking information to the Confederates. All evidence points to the passionate belle who readily responds to every touch and taste he metes out. One by one, he strips away Rose’s secrets, but Eric is not satisfied with owning the she-Rebel’s luscious body. He must uncover the truth of her past at any cost—even if it means the destruction of them both.

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5 Stars for Rebel Rose by Debra Glass

Rebel Rose by Debra Glass is "tender...vivid...beautifully written." ~ Romance Writers Reviews

They say she’s a Rebel spy…

Rosalie O’Kelley is not above using her feminine wiles to secure much-needed supplies for her fellow townspeople. But when Union Colonel Eric Skaarsberg is put in charge, Rose’s usual tactics fail miserably. In exchange for supplies, she comes to a scandalous arrangement with him. She agrees to become his willing plaything—to fulfill his every physical need, eagerly and without hesitation.

Eric is duty-bound to ferret out the spy who has been leaking information to the Confederates. All evidence points to the passionate belle who readily responds to every touch and taste he metes out. One by one, he strips away Rose’s secrets, but Eric is not satisfied with owning the she-Rebel’s luscious body. He must uncover the truth of her past at any cost—even if it means the destruction of them both.

Order from Ellora's Cave ~ Click HERE

Order from Amazon ~ Click HERE

September Contest - Win Bought and Paid For and Rebel Rose by Debra Glass

Enter to win free download copies of two of my Civil War stories, BOUGHT AND PAID FOR and my new release, REBEL ROSE!  Two lucky winners will get to spend some quality time with Confederate colonel and certified hunk Wesley McEwen, and sexy Union officer Eric Skaarsberg this fall.

Enter today!

Drawing will be held September 18. To enter, please fill out the following information.

Your name and information will never be given or sold to anyone outside of Debra's mailing list.

Rules:

* One contest entry per person.

* All winners will be contacted by email and will have 10 days to respond or an alternate winner will be selected.

* Entering the contest grants permission to list your name as the winner and to add you to Debra's mailing list.

* Current subscribers will automatically be entered in the drawing.

Rebel Rose by Debra Glass - The Rest of the Story

Before the Civil War, a woman's job was to cook, clean, sew, wash, and care for children. In fact, there were many things a woman was not permitted to do. They could not vote, own property, serve on a jury, or be elected to political office.

After the outbreak of the Civil War, with the men away fighting, a woman's role changed. Some women took positions in factories and many others became nurses.

Others became spies and even blockade runners.

It was these unique women who inspired the heroine in my historical romance, Rebel Rose.

Belle Boyd of West Virginia passed along information about Union battle plans to Confederate Generals. Rose O'Neal Greenhow (the real Rebel Rose) was a Washington socialite who passed on coded information to the Confederates. Many believe she is responsible for the Confederate victory at the first Battle of Bull Run.

Medicines, food, and clothing, and most other things were contraband during the war. It was necessary to obtain permits from the provost-general in command before the supplies could be obtained. Many a pretty belle was enlisted to acquire goods from the Union officers.

In my own hometown of Florence (and the setting for Rebel Rose), Mary Nail Blair was known as a beautiful black haired widow and she was the most daring blockade runner in North Alabama.

Following the surrender of Forts Donelson and Henry in 1862, traffic on the Tennessee River was controlled by the Union Navy. Florence was cut off from receiving any supplies from the outside. Locals began to depend on blockade runners who were brave enough to go behind enemy lines from Florence to Nashville.

Mary Nail Blair was said to have been the most successful of these. Her wagon train was driven by her three slaves and she rode ahead in her own buggy. Her granddaughter claimed she was as good as a general and could outmaneuver any of the Yankee forces.

At the battle of Franklin, her caravan was captured by the Union army and she barely escaped back to Florence. She died soon after the war but her bravery was heralded for years afterward.

I combined elements from many of these historical accounts to create the fictional characters in Rebel Rose. To borrow from Paul Harvey - And now you know the rest of the story!

Rebel Rose will be available at Ellora's Cave, September 8, 2010.

Blurb:

They say she’s a Rebel spy…

Rosalie O’Kelley is not above using her feminine wiles to secure much-needed supplies for her fellow townspeople. But when Union Colonel Eric Skaarsberg is put in charge, Rose’s usual tactics fail miserably. In exchange for supplies, she comes to a scandalous arrangement with him. She agrees to become his willing plaything—to fulfill his every physical need, eagerly and without hesitation.

Eric is duty-bound to ferret out the spy who has been leaking information to the Confederates. All evidence points to the passionate belle who readily responds to every touch and taste he metes out. One by one, he strips away Rose’s secrets, but Eric is not satisfied with owning the she-Rebel’s luscious body. He must uncover the truth of her past at any cost—even if it means the destruction of them both.

Buy it September 8 - Rebel Rose

Book Trailer for Rebel Rose - Coming September 8 From Debra Glass and Ellora's Cave

They say she’s a Rebel spy…

Rosalie O’Kelley is not above using her feminine wiles to secure much needed supplies for her fellow townspeople. But when Union Colonel Eric Skaarsberg is put in charge, Rose’s usual tactics fail miserably. In exchange for supplies, she comes to a scandalous arrangement with him. She agrees to become his willing plaything—to fulfill his every physical need, eagerly and without hesitation.

Eric Skaarsberg is duty bound to ferret out the spy who has been leaking information to the Confederates. All evidence points to the passionate belle who readily responds to every touch and taste he metes out to her. One by one, he strips away Rose’s secrets, but Eric is not satisfied with owning the she‑Rebel’s luscious body. He must uncover the truth of her past at any cost—even if it means the destruction of them both.

Rebel Rose by Debra Glass

Click HERE to read an excerpt

Rebel Rose - Coming Fall 2010 From Ellora's Cave and Debra Glass

They say she’s a Rebel spy…

Widow, Rosalie O’Kelley, is not above using her feminine wiles to secure much needed supplies for her fellow townspeople. But when Union Colonel Eric Skaarsberg is put in charge, Rose’s usual tactics fail miserably. In exchange for supplies, she comes to a scandalous arrangement with him. She agrees to become his willing plaything—to fulfill his every physical need…eagerly and without hesitation.

Eric Skaarsberg is duty bound to ferret out the spy who has been leaking information to the Confederates. All evidence points to the passionate belle who readily responds to every touch and taste he metes out to her. One by one, he strips away Rose’s secrets, but Eric is not satisfied with owning the she-Rebel’s luscious body. At any cost, he must uncover her vulnerable and perilous past—even if it means the destruction of them both.

Buy it September 8, 2010