Looking back, I’m still not sure how it all came to be. In fact, I’m pretty sure the story wrote itself. Once the characters fully materialized, they took over, and all I could do was hold on for the ride and hope they knew where they were going. Fortunately, God was guiding them—and me—taking us on adventure unlike anything I originally expected.

I knew when I wrote The Amazing Crab Alley Revival, I was breaking rules. I wrote the kind of story I love to read—stories written by authors from days gone by. The writing is quaint and old-fashioned. It’s introspective and reflective. The characters are quirky, over-the-top, and sometimes silly.

One of the rules of thumb in Christian publishing is that fictional churches should be generic and not denomination-specific. With that in mind, I tried to make my church First Community Church, but it just didn’t set right. I’m Baptist. I’ve been Baptist all my life. It’s what I know. I love Baptists, but sometimes—like every denomination—we get set in our ways and go through the motions without truly thinking about what we’re doing. I wanted to address that.

I’m so thankful for Deb Haggerty and Elk Lake Publishing for allowing me to have First Baptist Church rather than a generic First Community Church. It makes such a difference.

Don’t worry if you’re not Baptist. I have endorsers who are Catholic and non-demoninational, and they enjoyed the read.

Speaking of endorsers, I had no idea how others would react to The Amazing Crab Alley Revival. I hoped people would like it, but I honestly wasn’t sure. Never did I expect the response I’ve had. From the endorsers to the ARC readers, I’ve been overwhelmed by the positive reviews. So far, everyone who’s read the book has raved, some calling it a new favorite, one even calling it her favorite book from the 2020’s.

Tomorrow is the telling time. The Amazing Crab Alley Revival releases to the world and everyone gets to see for themselves what it’s all about.

My prayer is that God will get The Amazing Crab Alley Revival to those who need it, and that it will encourage and convict women to step out in faith and do what it takes to make a difference in their community.

I hope that you’ll continue with me along the journey as we watch God at work.

In The Amazing Crab Alley Revival, the ladies of the church hold an annual fundraising event that not only raises money for missions, but also serves as the social event of the season. The only problem is that the women lose sight of the focus and get caught up in creating a more elaborate and expensive event each year. Based on what I’ve read about church entertainments, this was likely a common occurance.

The most popular of the fundraising activities were church fairs and festivals, also known as bazaars. According to Correct Social Usage, church fairs began in Sweden with open-aired markets, decorated booths, and food items for sale. I got a lot of my ideas for the bazaar in my story based on Correct Social Usage’s suggestions for booths.

Suggested booths were rose gardens (either real or crepe-paper), paper booths, cookbooks, needlework, and potted plants. My favorite was the peacock booth. The book called it the quaintest of ideas, though what is quaint about live peacocks is beyond me. It did, however, provide for a fun fiasco of a scene in my book.

Perhaps the strangest suggestion was a gypsy tent where young girls would give everyone’s fortunes. Imagine a church doing that today!

I also thought it was funny that “the more attractive” ladies should be the ones to solicit donations for the fair. “Too much care cannot be taken in regard to the class and breeding of the women who are allowed to solicit merchandise for the fair and preside at its sales tables. The more attractive these ‘sales ladies’ the better.”

If all this sounds like a lot of fun, I hope you’ll check out The Amazing Crab Alley Revival, now available for preorder and officially releasing July 7.

I love collecting old etiquette books because they give us such a perfect glimpse into customs and norms. My favorite is Correct Social Usage, a two-book set originally published in 1906 but reprinted many times, most recently in 2023. Which shows me I’m not the only one who enjoys the quaint texts.

During the Victorian era, good manners were highly valued, especially among the ultra-fashionable families. That’s why they sent their daughters away to finishing schools.

In The Amazing Crab Alley Revival, Emily was raised by a society mother and plebian father. After their deaths, she acquires a job at Mrs. Lucille’s Finishing School—using slightly dishonest credentials—where she teaches etiquette to the daughters of some of the finest families in the South.

According to Rev. C.W. de Lyon Nichole, “The beau ideal of manners consists of the same fundamental elements as the classic Greek norm of beauy—simplicity and repose, the effect of which is naturalness; at the same time there are rules and reasons underlying all this apparent simplicity.” In other words, a well-mannered man or woman doesn’t flaunt their manners, but rather wears them casually as if they’re second nature.

Victorians had rules for every occasion, including what to do in case of an accident.

“If a stranger rescues her from some accident, which would have been serious but for him, it is only natural for her to thank him and say courteously: ‘I am indebted to you for most valuable assistance.’” (Margaret Watts Livingston)

When Emily is invited to a formal dinner at the Cogsworth home, I turned to my etiquette books to know what might be served at a six-course meal since I’ve never had the honor. After learning more, I’m not sure I’d ever want to attend such an affair.

Fortunately, even the experts agreed that rules are not universal and that acceptable behavior differed in small towns compared to big cities.

Mrs. Cynthia Westover Alden tells a parable of Mildred, a well-read young lady who grew up on a farm. She observes that the farmhands don’t know the difference between a fish fork and an oyster fork, and she wonders if she should teach her father how to eat caviar. She determines that not all rules apply to all situations.

One thing I found most interesting in all my studies of etiquette books is the role of church. Though the books I have are not Christian, still, church was considered an essential part of culture, and as such, people needed to know how to behave. I’ll save that discussion for another day when we talk about church life at the turn of the century.

Anyone else enjoy collecting etiquette books? What are some of your favorite rules of etiquette from days gone by?

The food featured in the novel include a blend of family recipes, regional favorites, and period trends. I happen to have several cookbooks from the late 1800’s that were a great resource. I also turned to the Sears Roebuch catalogue to see what foods were available to order. And for the formal meals, I depended on my etiquette books. Finally, I tried to incorporate as much seafood as possible since The Forgotten Coast is known for its seafood.

At the end of the book, I include several recipes. What’s interesting to me is how simplistic the recipes of the time were. Nowadays, food bloggers take you step-by-step as if you’ve never prepared a meal in your life. Back then, they assumed a certain knowledge. I especially enjoy when they say, “Cook until done.” Some don’t even include that.

Cornbread is a staple of Southern cooking. Every woman would have known to pour the batter in a pan and cook until slightly browned. Of course, back then, baking was a lot less precise. Imagine trying to measure cooking time while using a cast iron cookstove.

Apalachicola, Florida and surrounding towns are known for their oysters. Though the oyster industry has declined in recent years due to drought and overharvesting, back in the day, the waters teemed with sea life. Even now, oysters are an important part of the culture.

The characters in The Amazing Crab Alley Revival eat a lot of oysters since this was what the town had in abundance.

One of my favorite scenes is when Emily has dinner with the Cogsworth family, and they study her behavior at the table to make sure she’s properly trained. I found it funny to learn that the proper way to eat raw oysters was to slurp them. Emily thinks it’s funny, too, but she goes along with it since that was the socially correct way to eat.

While I was writing the book, my mother mentioned enjoying egg toast when she was a girl. She explained it was similar to French toast. The version her mother cooked had cheese, but this is what I found in my cookbooks.

Though ginger snaps are not my cookie of choice, every cookbook seemed to have them, so that’s what my characters eat. I’m not sure what exactly a quick oven is—perhaps a high fire—but it appears to be important.

This is only a small sample of the food mentioned in The Amazing Crab Alley Revival.

What is your favorite old-fashioned Southern dish?

Thanks to my vast collection of Isabella Alden and Grace Livingston Hill, I already had a pretty good idea of dating customs. I knew the importance parents played in the matchmaking. Even if they didn’t dictate spousal choices, they often held strong opinions of who was acceptable and who wasn’t. I know couples had to be careful in appearances lest they get a bad reputation. I also knew that just as today, purity was a struggle and that things happened that were regretted later.

To get a better idea of the actual etiquette guidelines for proper behavior, I turned to my set of Correct Social Usage. An entire chapter was dedicated to the chaperone (spelled chaperon in the book). Interestingly, it said that chaperones were more necessary in larger cities than smaller towns. This makes sense since smaller towns possess their own special tool for accountability—nosy neighbors.

It was considered unacceptable for a girl in a large city to go driving alone with a young man. However, in a smaller town, it could be considered perfectly proper, depending on the public opinion of that particular society. Thus, it was important to know the rules in order to abide by them.

In The Amazing Crab Alley Revival, Emily goes on picnics with both Charles and Jasper, but they go to the beach where there are other people milling around.

According to Marion Harland, as a girl advanced in age, especially if she went to college or had a job, she was granted more freedom in her activities with men. Once she reached the age of thirty-five, she was considered a spinster and granted even more independence. However, even though women in their twenties and thirties had more liberties, they were still expected to behave in a way that put them above suspicion.

In The Amazing Crab Alley Revival, Emily Reed meets both of her suitors at church. According to Rev. C.W. de Lyon Nichols, the church should be “in the highest and noblest sense of the term a marriage bureau.” He felt clergymen played an important role in introducing couples and playing a role in their matchmaking. “Under the genial searchlight of a clergyman and his flock, it does not take long for many points regarding a young person’s habits and general trend to be observed with an approximate degree of accuracy.”

There is no greater or more profound reality than love. Why that reality should be obscured by mere sentimentalism, with all its train of absurdities is incomprehensible. There is no nobler possession than the love of another. There is no higher gift from one human being to another than love. The gift and the possession are true sanctifiers of life, and should be worn as precious jewels without affectation and without bashfulness.

Ingoldsby North, North’s Book of Love Letters

What are your thoughts on dating and courtship then compared to now? Which do you prefer?

My favorite old books have always been history textbooks, etiquette books, cookbooks, and anything specific to women such as fashion or health. Over the years, I’ve amassed quite a collection. Most of them are from the late 1800’s to the early 40’s.

I also have a collection of turn-of-the-century novels by Isabella Alden (Grace Livingston Hill’s aunt), the “Little Girl” serices by Amanda M. Douglas, and the Patty series by Carolyn Wells. I’ve found that reading period books gives me a completely different perspective than reading historical fiction by contemporary authors.

Because I’ve read so many period books, I know instinctively the language and behavior of the time. It makes it easier for me to capture the times for my readers.

My favorite old book genre is definitely etiquette books. They give us such a perfect glimpse into what life was like for the women of their day. So often, their advice catches me off guard because it’s so different than what is considered manners nowadays.

While writing The Amazing Crab Alley Revival I pulled out all my turn-of-the-century books and used them for reference. The most useful was the Sears Roebuck Catalogue. There, I found images and descriptions of stoves, irons, clothes, carriages, and so much more. So many times I’d mention something in my story then look it up to make sure I was describing it right.

Each chapter in The Amazing Crab Alley Revival opens with a quote from an author of the times on a subject related to that chapter. This is where I found my etiquette books most helpful. Though my favorite set was published in the early 1900’s, the chapters are written by authorities of the time who published earlier pieces. Not to mention, not much changed etiquette-wise from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s.

These books have chapters devoted to church, travel, visiting, courtship, parties, setting up house, and more. I really enjoy reading these and find myself referring to them a lot.

One of the issues dealt with in The Amazing Crab Alley Revival is Yellow Fever. I did quite a bit of research on the disease, symptoms, and treatment. At the time, no one had a clue it was related to mosquitoes. They didn’t know how it spread, so people often panicked. Having gone through the Covid experience, reading about Yellow Fever had a lot more meaning to me

.I also turned to cookbooks to make sure my characters were eating period-correct foods. One thing to note about old cookbooks. The recipes were much simpler. They don’t walk you through all the steps. They assume you know the basics and can figure out the rest. They often don’t provide measurements for ingredients or exact cooking times. I laugh when it says, “cook until done.” This poor cookbook has been used so much it lost it’s cover. Luckily, however, the rest of the pages are intact.

These are just a few of my favorites from my old book library that I used in the writing of The Amazing Crab Alley Revival. One book I didn’t use was my love letters book from 1867. It’s sample love letters for all occassions and so much fun. Unfortunately, none of my characters wrote any love letters, but hopefully, someday I’ll be able to incorporate one in a book.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into my old book library, and when you read The Amazing Crab Alley Revival you can better visualize their life thanks to the information I gleaned from these books.

Of all the eras, turn-of-the-century is perhaps my favorite. It combines the drama of the 1800’s with the streamlined styles of the early 1900’s.

Modern clothing doesn’t hold a candle to period fashions. The layers of fabric, the tucks and pleats, the laces and trims. They all come together with elegance and style that can’t be touched by anything we’ve seen this century.

As a filmmaker, one of my favorite tasks was selecting the wardrobes for our actors. Now, as a novelist writing historical fiction, I have even more fun costuming my characters because I have unlimited freedom. I’m not limited by availability, only by my creativity.

Just like in my movies, each character in The Amazing Crab Alley Revival has a color scheme and style that reflects their personality and social status.

Lydia Culpepper is an older woman based loosely on Lydia in the Bible. Since Lydia was a seller of purple, Lydia Culpepper primarily wears shades of purple. Though she’s wealthy but not interested in impressing, I tried to keep her in elegant styles that aren’t too bold or flashy.

Opal Jackson is an Irish immigrant and single mother who lives on Crab Alley. She has piercing green eyes, so she primarily wears green or earthy tones. Since she’s poor, her clothes are tasteful, but plain.

Emily Reed is a young finishing school instructor who’s pretending to be a socialite but actually comes from a plebian background. Her mother came from a well-to-do family but married down. So she taught Emily to sew and showed her how to create the look on a minimal budget. Emily wears pastels and youthful styles that she copies from the fashion magazines.

I really had fun with the secondary characters, especially with Ora Criley and her little dog Midge. Ora dresses in outlandish hats with Midge wearing identical ones. I got the idea for a hat-wearing dog from a story we heard many years ago.

We lived in a turn-of-the-century house, and the original family had several daughters. One daughter moved to New York City where she designed hats for people and their dogs. I loved that, and was excited to be able to incorporate that little tidbit into this story.

For each outfit described in The Amazing Crab Alley Revival I went through my research library to determine the fabric, color, and design details. I used my copy of the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalog, American Dress Pattern Catalogs 1873-1909 edited by Nancy Villa Bryk (reprint), and Turn-of-the-Century Fashion Patterns and Tailoring Techniques by S.S. Gordon.

I hope that when you read The Amazing Crab Alley Revival you’ll be able to picture the fashions and enjoy thinking about them as much as I have. If you’d like to see more Victorian fashions, check out my Pinterest board where I have over a dozen photographs of women’s fashions. These are all part of a collection of portraits I purchased from an auction a number of years ago. Aren’t they beautiful?

What is your favorite fashion era?

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Unless you’re from Northern Florida, you’ve likely never heard of the Forgotten Coast. It’s a small area along the gulf coast that includes Port St. Joe, Mexico Beach, Apalachicola, Carabelle, St. George Island, and Wewahitchka. Even now, it’s a quiet reminder of what Florida once looked like before high-rise condominiums took over the beaches.

I grew up in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. Our relatives all lived in Apalachicola. So, our family spent many weekends traveling along Highway 98 between the two towns. Each summer I spent a week in Apalachicola—Apalach to the locals—with my grandparents.

Though there wasn’t much to Apalach, even as a child, I loved the historic mansions, downtown storefronts, and majestic churches. My grandmother said each time I came, I always wanted to tour through all the old churches. That was back in the day when churches were left unlocked, and anyone who wanted could enter and enjoy the solemn reverence of the stained glass windows and wooden pews.

Apalach is known for its oysters. When you come into town, the first thing you see are shanties on stilts over the water with boats docked at the oyster houses. My granny used to work at one of those oyster houses. I remember visiting her and being fascinated by the building being directly on the water. Those shanties and the Mexoco Beach cottages on stilts were the inspiration for the Crab Alley shacks in my book.

Though nowadays waterfront property is a luxury, in turn-of-the-centry Florida, the poorer, working class folks would be the ones living directly on the water. The wealthy would live inland where the land was higher and they could build their homes without risk of floods. I wanted to incorporate that in my book, so Crab Alley became the place where the outcasts of Port Royal (my fictional town) lived.

Finally, I love how all along the Forgotten Coast, you’ll find a mix of palm trees, pine trees, and giant oaks. In shadier areas, Spanish moss hangs from the oat limbs, giving an impression of fancy lace. I tried to incorporate as much natural flora as I could, including the dreaded sandspurs that grow wild along the shore.

I hope when readers read The Amazing Crab Alley Revival, they’ll be transported to a beautiful landscape in simpler times when things moved slower, but women dealt with the same issues we deal with today. I pray the fictional folks of Port Royal will be a blessing to all who meet them.

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Lydia Culpepper has spent a lifetime meeting expectations, yet never feeling like it’s enough. Then a young boy arrives searching for his coon dog, and Lydia’s world begins to change. Joined by two unlikely companions, she helps spark a movement that shakes her church and transforms her town—even as Yellow Fever threatens to undo it all.

They say to write what you know. In my case, that means life in The South, turn-of-the-century history, and—of course—church ladies. The Amazing Crab Alley Revival combines all that, plus adds in my love for quirky older characters who are full of grit and determination.

As a storyteller, I’m not interested in sugarcoating faith. I’m drawn to flawed characters doing the best they can. Sometimes it’s pretty. Sometimes not.

My hope with The Amazing Crab Alley Revival is to touch hearts and impact lives. That you’ll laugh—maybe even cry. And by the time you close the book, your life will be changed in a small bu meaningful way.

If you’d like to learn more about The Amazing Crab Alley Revival, check out my website, subscribe to my newsletter, and check out my 100 Days and Counting introduction to my launch countdown.

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I’m Sharon Wilharm, Bible storyteller and host of All God’s Women blog, podcast, and syndicated radio show, where I share the stories of all the women in the Bible.

Now I’m excited to be expanding into historical fiction with my debut novel coming July 15, 2026. The Amazing Crab Alley Revival is a story about Victorian church ladies on a mission.

As I count down the days until my novel releases, I’ll be sharing behind the scenes stories of the inspiration behind the book. I hope you’ll join me on this journey as we talk about faith, fashions, food, and more.

They weren’t just entertaining, but offered an inside glimpse into the writing life. Never did I imagine that someday I’d be living the life. But here I am. First, as an author of nonfiction, and now—soon—a novelist.

Perhaps you’re like me, and you find the stories behind the book just as fascinating as the book itself. If so, I think you’ll enjoy what’s ahead.

I’m inviting you to join me on my book launch journey as we count down the days to the July 15 release of The Amazing Crab Alley Revival, my debut novel.

The Amazing Crab Alley Revival is a Southern historical story of Victorian church ladies. Set in 1897 in the fictional town of Port Royal, Florida, it’s a story of three women, a little boy, and a dog who join together on an unlikely mission.

Over the next 100 days, I’ll be sharing weekly behind the scenes glimpses into the journey—fun history facts, etiquette rules, period fashions and food, and more.

If you enjoy Southern stories, turn-of-the-century history, and spunky church ladies, I’d love for you to follow along.

The journey begins today.

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