Will Luke Survive the Ruthless Oyster Police during the Potomac Oyster Wars? by Diane Scott Lewis

 

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In 1956 the state of Virginia fought a war with Maryland over dredging oysters on the Potomac River. Maryland had their own Oyster Police Force, who shot at the Virginians.. Dredging ruined the oyster beds but collected more bounty. Here is a scene from my story where my protagonist Luke is involved in this illegal and dangerous business. Enjoy:

This is a fictionalized account of an event that actually happened:

Luke cringed and leaned over the port rail. Images were blurry in the mist, though the faint light of dawn appeared in the direction of the Chesapeake Bay. Miss Ann’s engine roared to life.

The two police boats closed in, pushing strong waves against Sally. Their boat rocked. Bobby and Frank shoved up on either side of Luke.

Miss Ann sped across the water toward Monroe Bay, the two police boats in pursuit.

At a noise in the sky, Luke stared up. “A seaplane, too?”

“Mama won’t like this,” Frank said, though didn’t sound scared.

“Virginia should have a plane,” Bobby groused. “We’re too timid.”

Jim grabbed his binoculars. “Hell, this looks bad.”

Gunfire exploded, shot after shot. Luke winced, though the shots were in the opposite direction, toward Miss Ann.

Captain Jim started their engine. They nosed out into the water. “We should find a safer place, or head to port.”

The Miss Ann careened back and forth over the waves in the glimmer of dawn like a combat maneuver.

“We might get in the line of fire,” Silas said. “Damn fool, Harvey. We should stay put.”

“I should have brought my pistol,” Frank said, breath rasping.

“I warned you about that.” Luke glared at the boy. “Silas is right, we could all be shot. Have some sense.”

“Shut up, Frank.” Bobby pushed on his cousin’s shoulder to force him to kneel. “Stay down. I hope Harvey blasts those bastards.”

Spray dampened Luke’s face and shoulders as he held onto the boat’s rail, balancing with the slap of the river. On shore, as the sky lightened further, the sun straining to shine through the murk, people gathered. They cheered for Harvey and cursed at the police.

Bullets flew. Luke and Bobby ducked beside Frank on the slimy deck. Jim navigated near the shore, toward a creek’s mouth they knew about. Up on the bank, tree trunks splintered, struck by gunfire.

Harvey careened around bars and in and out of coves, then he cut a hard turn as the seaplane lowered to the water’s surface. The Miss Ann revved, and Harvey steered her right at the plane.

“Oh, shoot,” Jim muttered. “He wouldn’t.”

In a splash of flying water, Harvey gunned his boat. The people on shore gasped. The seaplane lifted just as the Miss Ann swerved beneath her pontoons.

“He’s as insane as Bozo.” Luke gripped one hand to the port rail as he still kneeled.

A boat roared up behind them, lights flashing.

“We’re spotted.” Jim slipped Sally into the creek, amongst thicker foliage. Little sunlight had penetrated in there yet. The mist clung like a smoky curtain.

A sudden shift in water again, and a low engine sounded behind them. The police had followed! A spotlight lit up their boat. “Stay where you are!” a disembodied voice shouted. “We’re coming aboard to check your equipment.”

Luke cursed. He couldn't risk being arrested. He had a wife and young son to support. Their boat pushed into deeper shadows, scraping the starboard side.

“Dammit. Jump overboard. All of you.” Jim flicked his cigarette away. “I’ll take the heat.”

Find out more about me and my books

                                         

Diane lives in western Pennsylvania with one naughty Dachshund

Can you see me?...by Sheila Claydon

 

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In Remembering Rose, Book 1 of my Mapleby Memories Trilogy, visions of the past keep messing with Rachel's head. In different ways, the same happens to Millie in Book 2 Loving Ellen, and to Ellie in Book 3, Many a Moon. I loved re-imagining the past and developing characters who saw, heard or experienced things differently from other people. It was all fiction of course. I could play around with the characters thoughts. I could direct their actions and reactions, my only responsibility to ensure that the historical parts were as accurate as possible. If I thought about them at all after they were published, it was to hope that anyone who read them would enjoy them, maybe even enough to leave a review. What I didn't think about was the brain of those readers and how they might 'see or hear' my book.

I have known for a while that my son has Aphantasia. This is an inability to create mental images, meaning he doesn't have what is commonly called a mind's eye. He cannot conjure up an image of an apple, the sea, a dog, even the faces of his loved ones. This doesn't prevent him for recognising these things. Instead he relies on his conceptual knowledge and factual recall to such an extent that he only discovered his neurological variation a couple of years ago. This was during a conversation with a friend when he couldn't understand the concept of a 'mind's eye.' Between 1-4% of people are affected worldwide and it is thought to involve different brain connectivity. It certainly hasn't held him back. He's a Doctor of Behavioural Science, an academic who trains people and businesses, and he's also someone who seems to hold a vast amount of knowledge in his head. 

So far so good! 1-4% people right. So what are the chances of meeting another one? Well I've just met another two, which makes me wonder just how accurate that low percentage is. After all my son lived and thrived for many years without being aware that he functioned differently. And he can't be the only one.

So how did I meet two more? Well my daughter is an educationalist specialising in the management of autism from birth through to adulthood. Consequently she is very interested in different styles of thinking and behaviour, as am I, so it is something we frequently discuss, and recently we came across some research about the 'inner voice'. Now as someone with an inner voice, I thought this was universal. Wrong! Between 30-50% of people have Anendophasia i.e. no inner voice. 

Intrigued by this we carried out some distinctly unscientific research amongst friends and family and the differences were amazing. Some people could create highly coloured and intricate images in their mind's eye, while others could just project a 3D image onto a black or a white background. Others, like my son, could see nothing at all or, in one case, just a grainy grey image like a TV that has lost its signal. 

Most had an inner voice although it varied in strength, with several people complaining that turning it off was the problem, while others seemed to be able to more easily control and/or direct it. In one case the inner voice was always music and song. While none of this interfered with their lives in an immediately discernible way, several said it affected how they read things. Some 'heard' their inner voice reading a book to them. Others disliked reading because it was just words as they were unable to visualise the story, with one admitting she only liked to read if there were explanatory pictures, something that doesn't happen much in today's adult fiction. 

These were all highly intelligent people, most of them young post graduates although some oldies were included too, and more disliked reading fiction than liked it, with one saying the visual images slowed her down.

It is an absolutely fascinating study which I know my daughter will take further in due course. In the meantime, I have discovered that I am a chatterbox in my head the same as I am in life! My inner voice rarely switches off and I control it by listening to a lot of podcasts, audio books and the radio while going about my daily business. Reading changes it into an inner dialogue. I have also discovered I have a very active mind's eye. One that conjures up whole scenes. If I am asked to visualise an apple I see every apple I've ever known, including apple trees and those in bowls and in superstore packaging! This might sound exhausting but it's not. I didn't realise I was like that until I answered the questions I've posed for you below. I think, in fact, it's what makes me a writer. Maybe most of the writers in Books We Love are the same. It would be interesting to know.

So here are the five questions. When you answer them they will give you a real insight into how you think and how you see the world, and why you act as you do. It also is a great topic for a dinner party or a get together with friends and family. Try it and see.

1.    Do you have a visual thinking style e.g. a mind's eye? If someone talks about an apple do you 'see' an apple in your head, or just conceptualise it as round, red, green, crunchy, stalk etc.

2    Do you have an inner voice? Can you hear it all the time? Sometimes? Can you control it? Does it differ depending on other factors?

3.    When you read, how does your visual imagery and/or your inner voice impact? Does it change depending on what you are reading i.e. for pleasure (fiction) or learning, news etc.  (factual)

4.    What is your autobiographical memory like? How do you think about childhood memories? Do you visualise certain things and scenes, or do you recall them differently, via conceptualising for example.

5.    Depending on your personal style, how did/does this impact learning/memory/recall in education.

 

 

Spring’s Knocking! by Bonny Beswick

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/the-aquamarine-necklace

The Aquamarine Necklace: A Janice Maidstone Mystery, by Bonny Beswick — Books We Love Publishing Inc. www.facebook.com/bonny.beswick/ Spring’s Knocking! I love March! Okay, it’s my birthday month, so maybe that’s part of it, but there are plenty of other reasons to look forward to it every year. The first is celebrating the Worm Moon. Just as almost all civilizations and religions throughout history, I honour the moon that illuminates our night sky. She represents the feminine (the sun is the masculine), symbolizing the cyclical nature of life, our subconscious, renewal, and mystery. The waxing and waning, from the dark new moon to the glorious full disc, represent moving from the maiden, to the mother and finally, the wise crone (Wiccan belief). The moon’s mystery has fizzled with space exploration. NASA has begun a new study of the moon with the Artemis missions. The first, Artemis I, was unmanned, and the Artemis II rocket is already waiting on the launch platform. Sometime this month (the original launch on February 11 was scrubbed when a hydrogen fuel leak was discovered), four astronauts, including one Canadian, will hurtle around the moon on a ten-day mission preparing for deep space capability and future lunar landings. The Artemis program’s overarching goal is to build a lunar base and a space station called The Lunar Gateway. Though much of the romance of our rocky satellite has faded with advances in science, who can’t be moved by the full moon shining in a black velvet sky, or the awe of the power of the moon on the oceans’ king tides. March features the Worm Moon (you might have missed it on March 2). You may assume that it’s named because the soil warms and earthworms become active. No, it actually got the name from Captain Jonathan Carver in the 1760's who recorded beetle larvae emerging from thawing tree bark at this time of year. Whichever reason you prefer, the idea is the same. Spring is (almost) here! March is also the month with the coolest, ominous prediction. Beware the ides of March. Thank you, William Shakespeare for taking the historical assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. and turning it into a play with a quote that’s stood the test of time. I can’t help but intone the warning every March 1, alternating it with the weather prediction – if March comes in like a lion, will it end like a lamb? Does anyone really believe that? Has anyone done a study? But most of all, I love March because tomorrow (March 20), the day’s finally here…the first day of Spring! It makes me think of flowers, but of course, here in Calgary, we can’t count on the weather to cooperate; there could be sun, rain, sleet, or snow (even all four in the one day). It is, on average, our snowiest month of the year with an average of 23.8 cm falling, but when the snow melts, the tulips and crocus are bravely blooming underneath. I got to watch the Worm Moon from the deck of a cruise ship. My older sister and I took a fifteen day cruise from San Diego to Miami, through the Panama Canal. This is my fourth time through the canal, her second. No matter how many times, though, it continues to be an amazing transit. Though I marvel at the engineering of the canal itself, the variety of ships going through the locks is always interesting. To accompany the voyage, a must read is “The Path Between the Seas” by David McCullough. Path Between The Seas by David McCullough | Owl's Nest Bookstore. Since I left my laptop home for much-needed maintenance while on the cruise, I worked on a few short stories the old fashioned way – by hand. I love the tactile feel of pen on paper, but the process is so much slower than the electronic word processing programs. I am so spoiled! One of the stories is destined for the War of the Words competition, associated with When Words Collide, an epic literary festival for all things writerly in Calgary. It will be the fourth year I’ve attended WWC, and it just keeps getting better. Panels, presentations, workshops, masterclasses, a games room (role playing, Dungeons and Dragons, etc.), Noir at the Bar socializing, opportunities to pitch to agents, and to receive critiques from well-known editors are some of the fabulous things that take place over a long weekend in August (August 13-16 this year). We’ll be at the Hyatt Regency, and I’ll be heading up the Volunteer Committee. For more information, check out the website: WHEN WORDS COLLIDE - When Words Collide. If you are interested in volunteering, keep an eye on the website, or let me know. I’ll make sure to put you on our list. The short fiction writing competition (for both prose and poetry) is open to writers across Canada, the US, and attendees of When Words Collide 2026. Whether you're an experienced writer or new to the craft, you’re invited to showcase your creativity and storytelling abilities. The contest is open to all writers, regardless of whether you attend the festival. Deadline for entry is March 31, so sharpen your pencils and submit! The theme this year is the view from within and beyond. War of the Words - WHEN WORDS COLLIDE. Click here to buy a copy of the winning stories from last year. War of the Words Story Competition And a big BY THE WAY! Hopefully, I’ll be able to launch book two of my Janice Maidstone Mystery series at When Words Collide this year! Watch for it at the Sisters in Crime table in the Merchant Room! So I leave you now to enjoy the first days of spring. If the tulips in your garden aren’t blooming yet, I’m sure Safeway will have a beautiful bunch available. Spring’s Knocking! www.bonnybeswick.com The Aquamarine Necklace: A Janice Maidstone Mystery, by Bonny Beswick — Books We Love Publishing Inc. www.facebook.com/bonny.beswick/ I love March! Okay, it’s my birthday month, so maybe that’s part of it, but there are plenty of other reasons to look forward to it every year. The first is celebrating the Worm Moon. Just as almost all civilizations and religions throughout history, I honour the moon that illuminates our night sky. She represents the feminine (the sun is the masculine), symbolizing the cyclical nature of life, our subconscious, renewal, and mystery. The waxing and waning, from the dark new moon to the glorious full disc, represent moving from the maiden, to the mother and finally, the wise crone (Wiccan belief). The moon’s mystery has fizzled with space exploration. NASA has begun a new study of the moon with the Artemis missions. The first, Artemis I, was unmanned, and the Artemis II rocket is already waiting on the launch platform. Sometime this month (the original launch on February 11 was scrubbed when a hydrogen fuel leak was discovered), four astronauts, including one Canadian, will hurtle around the moon on a ten-day mission preparing for deep space capability and future lunar landings. The Artemis program’s overarching goal is to build a lunar base and a space station called The Lunar Gateway. Though much of the romance of our rocky satellite has faded with advances in science, who can’t be moved by the full moon shining in a black velvet sky, or the awe of the power of the moon on the oceans’ king tides. March features the Worm Moon (you might have missed it on March 2). You may assume that it’s named because the soil warms and earthworms become active. No, it actually got the name from Captain Jonathan Carver in the 1760's who recorded beetle larvae emerging from thawing tree bark at this time of year. Whichever reason you prefer, the idea is the same. Spring is (almost) here! March is also the month with the coolest, ominous prediction. Beware the ides of March. Thank you, William Shakespeare for taking the historical assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. and turning it into a play with a quote that’s stood the test of time. I can’t help but intone the warning every March 1, alternating it with the weather prediction – if March comes in like a lion, will it end like a lamb? Does anyone really believe that? Has anyone done a study? But most of all, I love March because tomorrow (March 20), the day’s finally here…the first day of Spring! It makes me think of flowers, but of course, here in Calgary, we can’t count on the weather to cooperate; there could be sun, rain, sleet, or snow (even all four in the one day). It is, on average, our snowiest month of the year with an average of 23.8 cm falling, but when the snow melts, the tulips and crocus are bravely blooming underneath. I got to watch the Worm Moon from the deck of a cruise ship. My older sister and I took a fifteen day cruise from San Diego to Miami, through the Panama Canal. This is my fourth time through the canal, her second. No matter how many times, though, it continues to be an amazing transit. Though I marvel at the engineering of the canal itself, the variety of ships going through the locks is always interesting. To accompany the voyage, a must read is “The Path Between the Seas” by David McCullough. Path Between The Seas by David McCullough | Owl's Nest Bookstore. Since I left my laptop home for much-needed maintenance while on the cruise, I worked on a few short stories the old fashioned way – by hand. I love the tactile feel of pen on paper, but the process is so much slower than the electronic word processing programs. I am so spoiled! One of the stories is destined for the War of the Words competition, associated with When Words Collide, an epic literary festival for all things writerly in Calgary. It will be the fourth year I’ve attended WWC, and it just keeps getting better. Panels, presentations, workshops, masterclasses, a games room (role playing, Dungeons and Dragons, etc.), Noir at the Bar socializing, opportunities to pitch to agents, and to receive critiques from well-known editors are some of the fabulous things that take place over a long weekend in August (August 13-16 this year). We’ll be at the Hyatt Regency, and I’ll be heading up the Volunteer Committee. For more information, check out the website: WHEN WORDS COLLIDE - When Words Collide. If you are interested in volunteering, keep an eye on the website, or let me know. I’ll make sure to put you on our list. The short fiction writing competition (for both prose and poetry) is open to writers across Canada, the US, and attendees of When Words Collide 2026. Whether you're an experienced writer or new to the craft, you’re invited to showcase your creativity and storytelling abilities. The contest is open to all writers, regardless of whether you attend the festival. Deadline for entry is March 31, so sharpen your pencils and submit! The theme this year is the view from within and beyond. War of the Words - WHEN WORDS COLLIDE. Click here to buy a copy of the winning stories from last year. War of the Words Story Competition And a big BY THE WAY! Hopefully, I’ll be able to launch book two of my Janice Maidstone Mystery series at When Words Collide this year! Watch for it at the Sisters in Crime table in the Merchant Room! So I leave you now to enjoy the first days of spring. If the tulips in your garden aren’t blooming yet, I’m sure Safeway will have a beautiful bunch available.

Almost there by Nancy M Bell

 

To see more of my books please click on the cover.

ALMOST THERE

Have you ever got the end of your work in progress and  feel like you never want to look at it again? I'm at that point right now. I love writing the story, I even sort of like the edits that are required before sending it off to the publisher for their editor. But, I have to be honest, after the third time through I really don't care if I ever read my own words again. That passes of course once the book has it book birthday, but it's that in between stage that  I wallow in right now. I've read it over so many times the words all run together. This never happens when I edit someone else's work, just my own.

By the time the second read through happens I've decided that all I have written is crap and I should just delete it all and start over. Silly, I know, but it happens to me every time. I'm almost to the finish line with Jessie's Cafe. It's back from the editor and I need to do another few read throughs and make any last changes before it goes back to the publisher. The editor seemed to like it so maybe it's not so crappy after all. <grin>

I also have to say, after dissing my work in the paragraphs above, that I do love the story and I love the setting. The old building sits at the end of my street here in Castor, Alberta, and I wish its storied walls could talk. I always get the urge to sit down on the rickety bench and ask the building to tell me its stories. It was built in 1910 and has been many things over the decades. One thing that remained constant up until the last owner Andy left was that it was the social hub of the town. So many incarnations and so many stories. My fondest hope is that someone will take the time and considerable amount of money to restore the building so that it can go on creating memories and telling stories.

Now, I will quit procrastinating and go do the final edits on Jessie's Cafe. Look for it where ever good books are sold on May 1, 2026. 

There is a dog in the story named Miley who was a real dog. Her picture is below so you can imagine her when you read her adventures.

 

Until next time, stay well, stay happy.   

My peacock friend, by J.C. Kavanagh

 

To order your copy of the award-winning Twisted Climb series, click here: https://www.amazon.ca/stores/J.C.-Kavanagh/author/B01H0Q9GLA?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Is it weird to have a peacock friend? I don't think so. 

Her name was Snickety. She had a brother named Percy. They belonged to my neighbour and she didn't seem to mind that I gave them names. I had written a children's book (still not published) about a Mama Pangolin, her wee son Foleydota, and a wise peacock named Persnickety. Hence the names 'Percy' and 'Snickety.'

The grandgirls holding the peachicks, Percy and Snickety.

The curious teens, Percy and Snickety at my home.

I watched them grow from peachicks to curious teens. They would visit me every day, foraging for ticks and morsels below the bird feeder. I would talk to them and entice them with bits of bread and / or peanuts. One day, Snickety arrived sans Percy. This was unusual and I contacted my neighbour.

"Hey Patricia! Snickety is here but I don't see Percy..."

There was a deep sigh on the other end. "A fox cornered him in the shed... he's gone."

Poor Patricia. And poor Snickety. That's when Snickety and I became besties. She would come over in the morning after Patricia opened the peacock pen, leaving behind her parents and the latest brood of peachicks. Whenever I worked outside in my gardens or throughout the trails, Snickety would be at my side. I would talk to her about all manner of things, and she would eyeball me intently as if understanding my every word. Each time I gave her a piece of bread, she would respond with a chirp. I interpreted that as a 'thank you,' and I would always reply with 'you're welcome.' 

Percy showing off his wee tail feathers

Snickety waiting for peanuts

Me in my happy place with my friend, Snickety

Each night, before darkness descended, I would walk Snickety home. She would follow me and my trail of bread crumbs and I would stop at the road and teach her to look both ways before we crossed. Silly, right? But she seemed to get it. I had to bring her back to her pen before dark because the wily fox was still around - she and her four kits.

Safe on my balcony.

Safe on my truck

Then one day, an emotional Patricia came to see me. 

"What - what is it?" I asked.

"Snickety... she died this morning."

We hugged each other in sorrow. That peacock was well loved. I still miss her. 

And that is my peacock-friend story. 

There are no peacocks in The Twisted Climb trilogy. But there are wolves and bats and in the final book, A Bright Darkness, you will find a beaver, a muskrat, and a malevolent sea creature named Mishibeshu, all integral to the legends of the Great Lakes Ojibwe tribes. Jayden, Connor and Max undertake a final journey to save the lost souls trapped in the danademo nde' passage - the place where the heart weeps. The novel was a finalist in the Best Young Adult book competition. Check it out!

Enjoy your days and remember to tell the ones you love that you love them :) 

J.C. Kavanagh, author of
The Twisted Climb - A Bright Darkness (Book 3) Best YA Book FINALIST at Critters Readers Poll 2022
AND
The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2) voted BEST Young Adult Book 2018, Critters Readers Poll and Best YA Book FINALIST at The Word Guild, Canada
AND
The Twisted Climb,
voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers Poll
Voted Best Local Author, Simcoe County, Ontario, 2021
Novels for teens, young adults and adults young-at-heart

Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh 
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Instagram @authorjckavanagh
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