TUESDAY TIDBITS

As I'm trying to get back into blogging, I'm going to start a new series on Tuesdays called--you guessed it--TUESDAY TIDBITS.

This is where I'll post interesting things about the current story I'm writing, interesting research morsels, and other things I might find interesting in the writing process. I plan to start this series today with...

"Things I Never Thought I'd Know."

So in my current project, my hero makes wooden furniture. Wanting to make his furniture stand out from the run-of-the-mill fare, I chose to have him use more natural finishes that are not what you'd usually find.

So he uses a home-made boiled linseed oil and a home-made beeswax. These finishes are not as durable as a lacquer or varnish.

A home-made boiled linseed oil is different than a store bought one in that it doesn't have chemicals and apparently smells really good. But it is dangerous to make because it can catch on fire very easily. My hero takes many precautions, so he makes his own. I don't recommend making your own.

And guess what linseed oil is made from? Flaxseed. I never would have guessed. So why is it called linseed oil and not boiled flaxseed oil? A question to ponder another day.

He also makes his own beeswax furniture wax. This can be made with beeswax and oil. Some of the oils people use are olive oil, almond oil, walnut oil, tung oil, mineral oil, etc. My guy uses one of the edible oils because he makes cooking spoon and children's toys among larger furniture. This is generally equal parts beeswax and the chosen type of oil melted and mixed. Depending on the ratio will make the paste consistency different, some thicker and some thinnner. Some add a touch of carnauba wax.

I'll be skipping TUESDAY TIDBITS next week as I'm doing a series to promote the other authors in a novella collection, THE PONY EXPRESS ROMANCE COLLECTION, I'm in that releases on Saturday, April 1st. The first post about this new release will be this Friday, March 31st.