Rainbows and Puppy Dogs by Julie Christen

We learn early on that life is hard. And it most certainly is NOT fair. What are the old adages? 

Flight comes after the struggle.

Nothing gold can stay. 

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  

Life ain't all rainbows and puppy dogs.

Maker knows, I have leaned on sayings like these more times than I can count to get me through some dark times in my life. Like this spring.

But don't you sometimes just get a little exhausted from it all? Don't you sometimes just wish the universe would back off ... For. One. Minute? Wouldn't it be nice to give your "Suck it up" muscles a chance to go soft? Why exactly, Mr. Robert Frost, why can't some golden things stick around? And what's so wrong, after all, with a few more rainbows and puppy dogs?

I do understand the danger of getting too comfortable - how it makes the mind complacent. Makes it easy to quit exploring. Quit wishing, quit being curious, quit wanting much of anything from life. And maybe too much comfort can lull you into taking some of the good things for granted. 

But I do not believe life was meant to be spent perpetually on the toes. And I don't mean prima ballerina-style. I mean, always-on-guard, prepare-for-ninja-attack toes. At some point, aren't we allowed to relish in the deliciousness of relaxed shoulders and a slack jaw? I'm talking as an expected, relished, well-earned part of life, not as a prescribed therapeutic remedy we must be reminded to carry out.

Think of all those in our lives, too, who take (or took) the whole "Never quit" and "Hang in there" kitten poster to Olympic levels. Like Frank Kuntz, who still fights to this very minute through cancer and a heartbreaking yet inspiring past to preserve the Nokota horses. 

Think of Jude. Our publishing warrior. Who took a chance on us. She saw something special in us and made our dreams of writing become something real. 

I can't control the universe. 

I can, however, decide how to tell my stories. While I do not intend to glaze over hardships and struggles for readers to connect to, I will always try to relax some shoulders, unclench some jaws, and share some rainbows and puppy dogs. Every. Single. Time.

Spoiler alert!

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No dogs will die in my books. You're welcome.

To Josie. A beautiful blink in my life. 

(2023-2026)

A fun quiz on psychopaths Part 2 by donalee Moulton

 

Last month we put ourselves to the test with the first part of what we believe is the world’s inaugural, and perhaps only, fun quiz on psychopaths created in honor of Hung Out to Die’s main character, Riel Brava. This month we’re diving into the final part of the quiz. Good luck!

                                                    

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1.     What’s the most psychopathic state in the US?

a.     Arkansas

b.     California

c.     Connecticut

 

2.     What’s the number one vocation chosen by psychopaths?

a.     Accountant

b.     CEO

c.     Dentist 

 

3.     What other professions attract psychopaths?

a.     Lawyer

b.     Police officer

c.     Surgeon

 

4.     Psychopaths have a poor sense of:

a.     Direction

b.     Humour

c.     Smell

 

5. Psychopaths may be immune to:

a.  Contagious yawning

b.  Punishment

c.   Stress

 

#1

Connecticut is the most psychopathic state per capita. The most psychopathic area of the US, however, is the federal district of Washington DC. 

 

#2

The number one job chosen by psychopaths is CEO.  Up to 12% of CEOs and three percent of business leaders exhibit psychopathic traits. If he couldn't study psychopaths in prisons, Canadian psychologist Robert Hare said his second choice would have been The Vancouver Stock Exchange.

 

#3

This was a trick question! The answers are all right.

 

#4

The higher study subjects scored on a standard psychopath test, the lower their ability to identify different smells.

 

#5

This was another trick question! All the answers are correct.

 

Let us know how you did.

  

May Blooms; May Mourns

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Before the filles du roi...Desperate to escape her past, Jeanne, a poor widow, accompanies a rich woman to Quebec. The sea voyage is long, one of privation and danger. In 1640, the decision to emigrate takes raw courage, but the struggling colony of Quebec, so far a collection of rough soldiers and fur traders, needs French women if it is ever to take firm root in the wilderness.

May is, in many old world traditions, the Hawthorne month--beautiful flowers, sharp thorns--a month of contradictions, a time of rebirth and penitence. The Romans and many of the Celtic and Britannic nations as well observed it as a month of celibacy. For housewives, it was a month of house cleaning, necessary after the smoke and soot of a long sequestered winter spent indoors.  

So, here we are again, in May, one that has lived up to both sides of her nature. We've had 90 degree days, tricking the fruit trees into full bloom. This was, almost at once, followed by heavy freezes all over the northeastern US. The much anticipated fruit crop has been badly damaged. Some orchards have lost everything. Many small, local farms will be financially ruined. It's horrible to imagine what industrial evil will seize their land. 

The thorns have drawn blood; Ostara is not pleased with us. This humble mortal thinks she has reasons.

This May has been a mourning month for authors here at BWL, for we've lost our fearless leader, Jude Pittman, who, with the help of friends and angels, braved the early 2000's e-pub experiment. She rescued many of us from obscurity when she discovered/appreciated our work and asked us to join her venture. 

An introvert historian, I was never part of her closest circle, but I was always grateful for her confidence in me as a writer. My fourteen books would never have seen the light of day without her. She was like a battery--she powered us all forward until the day she'd given every ounce of her energy. Then, suddenly, like a battery, she died. It's hard to imagine things without her.  

She called me a year ago and asked me to write another Quebec book for her, a paranormal, a bit out of my natural purview. With a sick husband and no family nearby to help and many, many chainsaws in the air, I really hadn't thought of putting the writer part of myself to work in that way again, but there she was--Jude's voice on the phone--saying she wanted me to do it. So, here I am, in the middle of another creation, another story willed into existence by her--and by her John Wisdomkeeper, the Standing Bear in her life.

"Hail the Traveler." Safe journey. 

~~Juliet Waldron

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Fly Away Snow Goose

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Transport to Fort Providence residential school is only the beginning of their ordeal, for the teachers believe it is their sworn duty to “kill the Indian inside.” All attempts at escape are severely punished, but Yaotl and Sascho, along with two others, will run away, undertaking a journey of 900 kilometers across the Northwest Territory. Like wild geese, brave hearts together, they are homeward bound.

 

Motivating your Characters By Connie Vines #Writing #Storytelling #Hero #Tropes

 The Art of Motivation 😕

Motivation (According to Wikipedia) is an internal state that propels individuals to engage in goal-directed behavior. It is often understood as a force that explains why people or other animals initiate, maintain, or terminate a particular behavior at a given time.  It is a complex phenomenon, and its precise definition is disputed...

In Connie's world, it means sitting down at her computer with a thermos filled with coffee...and talking to herself.

Every writer has his/her own system for producing a novel.

Some have grafts, charts posted on a wall, detailed notes, etc.

I have a tendency to become fixated on details (which is fine during revisions, but a problem during the first draft). 

Now, I interview my main characters. 

Lynx Maddox was a Texan and a bullrider. Q&A is like a radio/online format.

I ask questions, and fornatuely, Lynx had ready answers for me in his deep Texas dawl.

In Lynx's case, it was simple: Win a Rodeo Buckle, and because it's a contemporary romance, Win the Girl.

However, motivation, goal, and conflict are also part of a story...

Why is he motivated? What keeps his goal out of reach? And what about the girl? 

According to Debra Dixon (Goal, Motivation & Conflict), Goals should not be subtle. Get out the two-by-four and start wacking your reader over the head.

Since we are all familiar with the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy must get to the Emerald City. Second, she must get in to see the Wizard. Third, a broomstick.

I have notebooks and favorite pens. Before setting down to write my first draft, I conducted research. I have handwritten notes, dialogue, and scenes. The act of writing in cursive activates a creative area of the brain (the same area activated when playing a musical instrument). 

My notebook info and sensory details, etc., are not included until after I've completed my rough draft.  

When I first sit down, it's nuts-and-bolts.  

When my rough draft is completed, the characters begin to 'talk to me".

Reveal bits of their past. 

Some of my characters are sassy (Charlene/ Meredith). Others have overcome hardship (Rachel/Tay), and some are sexy heroes (Lynx, Brede, Vicktor, etc.). 

Goals: also motivate your characters.  

You can run, but you can't hide from goals.

Each character has a goal.

Goals must be important and urgent. 

Goals must be internal and external. (win the buckle/win the girl).

Character decisions must drive the plot.

Goals must be achieved by characters. (No magic wands, or it just happens.)  Yes, I know many popular books were based on coincidences.

 I, however, subscribe to Joseph Campbell's "Call to Adventure" (Hero with a Thousand Faces) and Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey".

We all have our favorite reads :)

Name your favorite Hero/Heroine, your favorite book, and why you still remember the story.

Happy Reading!

Connie

Where to shop for my books/ ebooks?

There's a glitch in Amazon at the moment (Only my audio version of "Lynx" is available :( 

Barns & Noble, Apple Books, or your fave online book store.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/brede-connie-vines/1115934010

 

Do cats have mystical supernatural powers? - by Vijaya Schartz

 

Pasha safeguarding my latest book
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I have loved cats since I was five years old, petting the neighbor’s cat and bringing strays home on my way back from school. But I was deprived of having one as a child because of my dad. “Cats belong in a barn,” he always said. We lived in an apartment at the time. But as soon as I left home, I adopted my first cat. I have enjoyed their company ever since.

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Unlike dogs, who love unconditionally, cats are very picky about who they like. Some believe they can read a person’s aura (the magnetic field surrounding all living beings), and they develop supernatural powers as they age. If an adult cat comes to you and chooses you to take care of him or her, it means you are a good person, kind, peaceful of heart and mind, and trustworthy. I would never trust someone who hates cats.

Pasha, the current blue-eyed guardian of my home

Cats are believed to watch over dreams, sense spiritual energy, and guard thresholds. Some say they have nine lives, others that they are shapeshifters. They have a knack to appear in sealed rooms with no explanation. No closed door or high balcony ever stopped a cat. I often find strange cats on my balcony on the third floor with no apparent access.

Byzantium series
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While black cats are sometimes vilified in the west, because long ago they shielded witches from evil spirits, in Scottish folklore cats in general are considered good luck and believed to bring prosperity. In China, cats and big cats (like tigers) are a symbol of wealth. In Japan, the Maneki-neko (beckoning cat) is a symbol of good luck, prosperity, hospitality, and happiness. It graces homes and waves at you from the windows of most Japanese restaurants, or it wishes you a Happy New Year on your Social Media feed.

Maneki neko (photo: Tokoname ware - Amazon)

In Egyptian antiquity, cats were the guardians of the underworld, preventing the evil dead from escaping and wreaking havoc in the world of the living. They were considered divine, and the Goddess Bastet, with the head of a panther, warded-off evil and protected mothers.

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But many other cultures around the world venerate the cat. Celtic lore mentions the “Cat Sith,” a large black cat with a white spot on his chest, said to change form nine times in his life (possibly the origin of the nine lives legends).

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In Siam, many temple cats reside in sacred spaces safeguarding the souls of the deceased as they move to the afterlife. In Nepal and Tibet, temple cats are nurtured, fed, and loved. In return, they get rid of vermin… physical and otherwise.

In my latest novel, Chi Warrior, many cats dwell in the monastery of the Celestial Gate, protecting the monks and the Acolytes, even curling up on their crossed legs as they meditate.

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If you like cats, definitely check out my science fiction novels. Some of my cats are big, others small, some are genetically engineered, and some wield supernatural powers.

Happy Reading!

Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author

Kick-butt Sci-fi Heroines, cats, romantic elements

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