Prospecting and Collecting by Barbara Baldwin

You can find my books at Books We Love

            Prospecting doesn’t always mean looking for gold. It can include looking for things that interest you, such as things you collect on your adventures. Are you a collector? Do you look for unique, strange, useful or ornamental things?

            I collect rocks. Nothing really huge, you understand, but certainly unique. Can you see the bird rock in this picture of my collection? There is also one at the bottom with a white band that goes completely around it. I call this my infinity rock. Notice the fossils imbedded in yet another one?

I visited Bar Harbor, Maine several years ago where the coast and shore lines are very rocky so it’s a great place to collect rocks. That’s where I found out about heart stones, of which there are two in my rock bowl. Heart stones have been formed by the forces of nature into universal symbols of love. They’re not precious like diamonds or rubies, but are still unique. A walk on the beach with any stones at all will usually turn up one or two heart-shaped stones. (Keep in mind, as you can see in the two I have, they may not be symmetrical; they may have cracks and blemishes and be lopsided and imperfect, but they can be the best find on the beach.)

 When I left Maine, I was trying to put my carry-on in the overhead compartment and a nice gentleman offered to help. As he lifted it overhead, he asked, “What do you have in here, rocks?”

            Well, actually… J

            I also collect sea glass and bits of pottery found along the shore. Sea glass doesn’t seem to tumble around the gulf coast, but I’ve found pieces all along the Atlantic Ocean and my daughter even found some in Ireland. These broken bottles and other glass are technically ocean trash, but over time, the ocean has broken it up, tumbled it around and spit it out as beautiful frosted pieces, often made into jewelry and used in other pieces of art.

            Prospecting and collecting doesn’t always mean having physical objects to display in a jar, bowl or on a shelf. As a writer, I am continually prospecting for new story ideas, names for my characters and interesting sites for my settings. Ellie, in “Prospecting for Love”, was in similar circumstances as she was taking photographs in the ghost town of Peavine, Nevada, for a magazine photo essay.  Unfortunately for her, she was abducted by two ghosts and taken back in time to when Peavine was a thriving mining town.

This time travel romance has plenty of humor as Ellie is a thoroughly 21^st century woman and finds it hard to cope without electricity and a microwave. Reviews give it 5 stars – “Twists, turns, memorable characters and a ‘can’t put down’ story are the trademarks that make Ms. Baldwin’s stories so wonderful. Each character is so well drawn you feel like you know them.” (Love Romances and More)

Take a fun adventure into the past with “Prospecting for Love.”

Barbara Baldwin

http://www.authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin