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 
www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh
Instagram @authorjckavanagh
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Book to Screen Dreams by Eileen Charbonneau

 

                                                                Find my books here

What author doesn't dream of their work being interpreted by a great group of creative people and turned into a wonderful film or series? I sure do. When I see Tony Hillerman's Navajo policemen going about their duties and life strife as interpreted by the talented crew at Dark Winds, I wonder what they would do with my 1940s-set Navajo Code Talker Chronicles series.

I remember being thrilled by how John Jakes' North and South was turned into a miniseries featuring a young Patrick Swayze as an unforgettable Orry. Would I love for a great crew to tackle my Brides of the American Civil War series? You bet!

Why? Each interpretation is a love song to the original material. And it brings in new readers looking to delve further into the story. What bliss!

I love going to the movies and watching them on streaming devises. My favorites have always been historical dramas, where I learn some history (painlessly!) while engaged in compelling characters and plotlines. 

This year's Actors (formally SAG Award) went to the brilliant cast of American Historical Horror Movie Sinners.

What are your own nominations for Acting in American Historical movies...any era, any year?

Here are a few of my favorites to get you started. From this year: Ethan Hawke as lyricist Larry Hart in Blue Moon.

I'll add the various brilliant and brave women who have taken on Jo March in Little Women...

Laura Linney as Abigail Adams in the series John Adams..

And Tom Hanks in News of the World, which helped me get through the Covid years....

Who are some of your favorites?

Artificial Intelligence: the Good, Bad, & Ugly by Susan Calder

                                          For book and author information, go to Amazon

         A Killer Whisky is Book # 12 of BWL"S Canadian Historical Mystery Series

Every day I receive an email from a stranger wanting to feature one of my novels in their book club or promote the book in another way. I almost fell for the first email. It was well-written, contained specific details about my story, and analyzed it better than I could have done myself. I was sure the sender had read the book until later that day a similar email arrived from another stranger. Two new fans who loved my novel and wanted to help it get the recognition it deserved? This seemed too good to be true.   

Within days, I saw a Facebook post by an author who had received one of these effusive emails. This convinced me they were scams created by Artificial Intelligence. Not that I understood AI, but the emails were something beyond my previous experience. I deleted them both. 

From then on, I pressed "delete" without reading these kinds of emails. Quick deletion was possible because the first line of messages appears in my inbox and clues me in to the rest. So, this daily process wasn't too time consuming. Then variants appeared. Authors I didn't know wanted to connect with me as a fellow writer. A few were famous, like "Margret Atwood." Fortunately, I knew the real Atwood spells her first name "Margaret." 

The most recent variant came from "Kaela" who said she'd tried to post a review of my novel A Killer Whisky on Amazon but her review was rejected, so she asked for my Goodreads link to post a review there. Her story was plausible as I know many people who've been unable to post Amazon reviews, but why would she need my Goodreads link? While I was suspicious, I wrote back advising her to search for me on Goodreads. Meanwhile, a second person (I'll call him Jake) emailed me with the same review issues.  

"Kaela" replied with an attachment of the Goodreads review she'd posted. I went directly to the Goodreads site and her review was there! Was this really legitimate? I sent "Jake" my same reply, suggesting he search for me on Goodreads. I also thanked "Kaela" for her review. Then -- big mistake -- I decided to copy her rave review for my records and clicked on her attachment. Seconds later, alarms shrilled on my computer. A voice blared "Your IP address is stolen!" My computer mouse didn't work. I think the voice told me NOT to shut down my computer, but this is exactly what you should do in that situation. It worked. When I turned my computer back on, all was normal with no apparent damage done.   

"Jake" had now replied. I was curious to see what he'd said and assumed my computer would be safe if I didn't open any attachments or click on links. I opened his email and the alarm instantly blared because he had embedded his review in the email message. Curse you "Jake" for fooling me a second time. 

"Kaela" replied to my thank-you note with a message that began, "Susan, you're very welcome! It truly was my pleasure to read and review ..." I was too afraid to open her email for fear of crashing my computer, but I pinned the email to the top of my inbox in case I had the nerve (or foolishness) to see what she had said.  

Writers who've responded to these scam emails say that, once they rope you in, they ask for money to fund the project they'll set up for your awesome book. Some direct you to websites that look legit but turn out to be phony. The individual amounts requested aren't enormous, but if a percentage of the targeted authors sends money, presumably the accumulated amount is worth the scammer's effort. 

Like all scams, they appeal to the target's weakness. In this case, it's every writers' longing for their hard-earned work to reach and be appreciated by readers.         

Sadder still, these scam emails have made me suspicious of every unexpected email related to my writing. In the past, I've enjoyed engaging with readers this way, and some were strangers with genuine interest. I can't even fully trust emails of this type from people I know because email addresses can be stolen. Along the way, I'll probably delete an opportunity that is actually real. 

So far, this post has been all about the Bad & Ugly of Artificial Intelligence, but the Good exists. For the past 13 years, I've exchanged letters with a relative in the Czech Republic. Neither of us speaks the other's language. I compose my letters in English, plug them into Google Translate, and send her the Czech translation. I've suggested she do the same, but she continues to handwrite me letters in Czech. I tried typing them on Google translate, but it doesn't work because every second Czech word has an accent. Over the years, I've scrambled to find people to translate her letters, but now, thanks to AI, I photographed her last letter, uploaded it to ChatGPT, and got a good translation. 

I'm sure Artificial Intelligence has hundreds of other useful applications, and I can see a great potential for medical diagnoses and treatment programs. Every innovation comes with the good, bad, & ugly.

Today, in the name of research for this blog post, I opened "Kaela's" latest email on my old computer. No alarms went off. My computer didn't freeze. "Kaela's" friendly message continued with an offer to introduce me to Book Cafe to promote my novel that touched her deeply. She signed off with a casual, "Would you like more details?"

I deleted her but almost feel we had a relationship. Creepy, but maybe in the future we'll all have AI friends. Is this a huge leap from Facebook and other online friendships?  

I also checked my novel's reviews on the Goodreads site. "Kaela's" rave review is gone. Drat!

March and Mother Nature’s Shenanigans – Barbara Wackerle Baker

 

 

https://www.amazon.ca/stores/author/B0BMTM18PW 

What a winter we’ve had in Alberta. For the first half of February grasshoppers and lady bugs sunned themselves in Calgary. Mom’s self-seeding snapdragons popped out of the south facing garden and stretched to three inches tall. And a wayward sparrow diligently set his house in order for the mating season. Can you believe it, I almost put my ski gear away? What was I thinking?

     

Then it got cold. Really cold. And the snow started. Day after day. Happy snowflakes fell. I was totally okay with snow shovel bonding and the ski hills rejoiced. Luckily I hadn't put my gear away. 

  

The sparrow flew the coop for two weeks. He/she came back for three days, gave me hell every time I came out the back door and then bham, we got hit with another blast of winter. More snow. And cold. Another reminder that Mother Nature is in charge and only she will decide when winter is officially over. The weather-challenged sparrow disappeared again. I’m thinking his/her internal barometer might need a tune up of sorts. 

It was wonderful to have March come in like a lamb. The skies cleared. I had a couple days of the best spring skiing while pussy willow fuzz started to poke out on the tips of willow branches. 

But then Mother Nature had another hissy fit. Winds - blow your full garbage dumpster down the back alley winds. Heavy wet snow fell. And the temperature dropped. Walking like a penguin down the sidewalks became trendy again.

    

Real spring starts on March 20^th. Since we’ve already experienced so many false springs, it'll still be a crap shoot and we’ll have to wait and see what she pulls out of her bag of tricks. Besides, it’s not like we have any choice - Mother Nature always gets her way.

Here are some quirky March factoids:

Did you know March is the only month that shares the same ending weekday as June … every single year? I know you doubt me. Go ahead, check it out.

In Boston, on March 10^th, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful phone call to his assistant. One ringy dingy, two ringy dingy. When Thomas Watson answered, Mr. Bell said, “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.” Watson was in the next room. Wouldn’t both of them be amazed at today’s phone technology? 

 

Don’t forget tomorrow, March 11^th, is International Fanny Pack Day. And March 16^th is Lips Appreciation Day – a day to celebrate your pout. Who makes these up?

March 17^th brings in everything green with St. Patrick’s Day. But did you know Saint Patrick was British not Irish? He was kidnapped by pirates as a teenager and sold into slavery in Ireland. And the original colour to celebrate the day was blue. The things I learn going down the rabbit hole of research.

March 20^th is Extraterrestrial Abduction Day and March 21^st celebrates National Goof Off Day. If you get abducted on the 20^th, I’m sorry. I will participate on National Goof Off Day for you. Just send me a text or beacon or ...

In a few weeks I lose my 6 7 status and will celebrate another lap around the sun. I look forward to new adventures and travels, and more work on Jillian's next story.

 

My blog from February about The Swear Jar made it into The Globe and Mail / Life Section / First Person. FYI – funds in the swear jar are sufficient for a short road trip. 

 

Have a fun and fabulous March wherever you are. And here's hoping Mother Nature keeps her shenanigans to a dull roar. 

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Barbara Baker Author Page Facebook 

Walks with my Father by Naguib Kerba

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CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO READ WALKS WITH MY FATHER BY NAGUIB KERBA

https://www.nkerba.com/blog/customs-cameras-and-comic-relief-part-two