A life well lived – highlights and hiccups by donalee Moulton

 

 

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I was recently asked about life’s pleasures as a writer, and otherwise. I thought I’d share some of my likes and dislikes with you. Would love to hear your answers.

 

Things you never want to run out of: Chocolate, sweat pants, downward dogs

Things you wish you’d never bought: White chocolate, stilettos, a gym membership

 

Hardest thing about being a writer: Writing
Easiest thing about being a writer: Talking about writing with other writers

Favorite foods: Miso chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, baked gnocchi

Things that make you want to gag: Snails (even if you call it “escargot”), lima beans, coconut

 

Favorite music or song: I like music I can move to or with lyrics that move me

Music that drives you crazy: Opera (sadly)

 

Last best thing you ate: Cider doughnuts
Last thing you regret eating: Some waxy wrap thing with shredded carrots

 

The last thing you ordered online: A protective cover for my phone

The last thing you regret buying: A wool winter coat that’s itchy to look at and itchy to wear

 

Things you always put in your books: Humor
Things you never put in your books: Blood, guts, gore (at least so far)

 

Favorite places you’ve been: Sable Island, Thailand, Sweden
Places you never want to go to again: Yoga retreats with yurts

 

Favorite books (or genre): Charlotte’s Web, Where the Crawdad’s Sing, The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, and Five

Books you wouldn’t buy: Horror

 

Best thing you’ve ever done: Written books and stories and poems and articles
Biggest mistake: Going to the opera ties with joining a gym

 

The nicest thing a reader said to you: One reader posted a picture of themselves lounging in the sun reading Hung Out to Die. They captioned it “Perfect afternoon.”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: Some readers see sexual tension between two characters in Hung Out to Die. I just don’t see it.

 

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: I can get up off the floor without using my hands. So can one of my characters.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: Love of coffee. I don’t drink caffeine.

 

Mother Dear by Eden Monroe

 

 

Imagine a mother telling a lie so outrageous that her son, her only surviving child, is arrested and charged with a serious crime. Imagine maintaining that lie at trial, under oath, and beyond while an innocent man, a successful local architect is sentenced to a lengthy term in penitentiary at great personal cost. Unthinkable. That is the novel, Almost Broken.

“Heaving a deep sigh Blaise laid his head back and closed his eyes. ‘It’s like I never thought this day would ever get here and now here it is. After my mother had her say at my early parole hearing I’m surprised they didn’t find a way to add time to my sentence. Who knows, come up with something to keep me inside longer. I guess she made sure I wouldn’t get out ahead of schedule though. She said she’d do it, and she did.’”

‘Blaise, what did you ever do to make her hate you so bad she’d be gunning for you like that?’

Blaise kept his eyes closed. ‘Well first of all, I was born. I don’t think she’s ever forgiven me for that. And then of course there’s Rory. That’s what this is really all about.’”

Declan sighed. ‘It’s not exactly a crime to come into this world, but yeah, Rory.’

‘Anyway, I don’t necessarily want to talk about her … or Rory. Not right now at least.’

Declan nodded as he switched to an FM station, keeping the volume low so they could chat. ‘Understood…’”

 

 

 

The story is set in the little town of Woodstock, New Brunswick, and pictured above is the local courthouse where Blaise Callaghan would have been tried and convicted.

At the heart of this romantic suspense novel is the unsettling truth that some mothers do not like their children … or in some instances, all of their children. Sadly there is a disconnect for many reasons, and in Almost Broken, that hatred carries terrible consequences. And while this is fiction, it’s sad to think there are any number of cases where for a variety of factors, mothers fail to bond with their children, or a particular child while being appropriately affectionate and loving to the others.  

And since there are always extremes in everything, including maternal bonding, I thought it might be interesting to see who is recorded among the worst mothers in modern history — whether it be “impaired maternal bonding” or simply not having their children’s best interests at heart. Sure enough I found just such a list at Insidesources.com/holy-cow-history-meet-the-five-worst-moms-in-history/.

Coming in at last place is Mary Ball Washington, George Washington’s mother. Fairly or unfairly she makes the list because she did not support George in his patriot cause. Many would say it was just a difference of opinion, or politics, because Mary remained loyal to the British crown, but it’s likely her political position caused her son no shortage of embarrassment. And, according to the piece, she was highly vocal about her support of England’s King George III, and equally as virulent about the USA’s bid for independence. Nevertheless it earned her a nod as a bad mother, in this situation at least. My two cents? Just because she disagreed with her son doesn’t necessarily make her a terrible mother.

 

MA  BARKER

 

In the number four slot is Arizona Donnie Barker, known better to everyone simply as Ma Barker. A star on the FBI’s Public Enemies list of lawbreakers, she was referred to by J. Edgar Hoover during the 1930’s as “the most vicious, dangerous and resourceful criminal brain of the last decade” — a woman who influenced her boys into a life of crime. That meant that sons Herman, Lloyd, Arthur (Doc) and Fred also became criminals, known for murder, stealing cars, kidnapping, armed robbery and knocking over banks, and leading the way by example was their mother.

 

                                            MARY ANN DID MURDER

 

We go back to the 19^th century for number three, a very industrious and by all accounts hardworking Mary Ann Cotton — a nurse, dressmaker and housekeeper who had a penchant for poisoning people. That included her own children. Eleven of her thirteen children were killed in that horrific, agonizing fashion, as were her four husbands and two lovers. There are also two other deaths attributed to her during this killing spree. The age-old motive was insurance money, and arsenic was her weapon of choice to achieve those payouts. Mercifully the law caught up with her after twenty-one people died. She was hanged for her crimes.

 

JESSE’S  MOM

 

I will admit that number two surprised me because I had often seen Zerelda Elizabeth Cole James Simms Samuel (Jesse James’ mother) portrayed as long-suffering. Indeed she seems to have married well: her first husband was a Baptist minister, her second a wealthy neighbour, and her third a physician. She survived all three. In any event it is acknowledged that life had not always been kind to her, and perhaps it was suffering those unfortunate losses that helped make her tough. When her sons Frank and Jesse turned to crime it invited Pinkerton detectives into their lives. These lawmen were warned: “if the boys don’t kill you, the old lady will.” That story is well documented, usually in favour of the bad guys, and true she did withstand a lot, famously including the firebombing of the family home during which her youngest son, Archie, was killed. It also cost Zerelda her right forearm (amputated at home without anesthesia). Bitterness at these events could be why she went on to capitalize on her sons’ infamy by turning the James farm into a “tourist trap” because it seems she had no aversion to larceny. “…she sold old, rusted, guns that she claimed had belonged to Jesse; she actually bought them cheap at second-hand shops and charged a fortune for them. Which is why dozens of private gun collections today still boast a firearm that was ‘carried by Jesse James.’”

And coming in at number one? Well, that also surprised me considering the others on this list. Mama June of television reality show fame. According to Insidesources.com/holy-cow-history-meet-the-five-worst-moms-in-history/: “If you saw the show, you understand. ‘Nuff said.”

I’m sure there are countless other examples that are less well known, but thankfully most mothers are exactly as they should be ­— kind, loving, nurturing and devoted.

It is heartbreaking for those children unfortunate enough to be at the mercy of a mother who feels no maternal connection, except hatred, such as it is for Blaise Callaghan at the hands of his mother, Viola, in Almost Broken:

“’Mother, please, you have to tell the truth. I apologize for damaging your wall, I apologize for, I don’t know, not being a better son in whatever way you think I wasn’t. I’m sorry we never got along that well. I’m sorry you had to raise me on your own. I’m sorry for everything you had to go through as a single parent. I am very grateful for everything you’ve done for me, but you have to stop lying about what happened. What you did to me was shocking and you have to fix it. You have to tell the truth.’

‘I have to do no such thing. All I want is to be safe now that you’re back in Woodstock, so I have requested a restraining order against you. You’re not to be in contact with me anymore.’

He was aghast, his jaw dropping and it took a few seconds to recover. ‘Are you serious? I didn’t make contact with you, it was you who called me.’

She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. ‘I’m warning you, if you come anywhere near me I’ll have you arrested. Now don’t phone me and don’t come to my home. That’s what I called to tell you. I’m not interested in talking to you about anything else. As far as I’m concerned I don’t have a son anymore, so stay away from me.’

‘Mother, you know I didn’t contact you. What’s wrong with you! Why are you doing this? Haven’t you hurt me enough already? Why are you trying to destroy me? Why!’

‘It doesn’t matter why.’

‘It matters! You doing that, saying I contacted you and asking for a restraining order could get me sent back to prison for violation of my release.’

‘Exactly. Face it, Blaise, you’re all done.’”

www.bookswelove.com

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https://books2read.com/Watched-by-Eden-Monroe

 

In the Attic

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In the Attic

Once this space was empty, but entire lives are stored up there now. When we arrived here, 45 years ago, the house was completely empty. At closing, my husband requested that nothing be left behind, and nothing was, so we began with a blank slate. Now, forty-five years later, the whole thing is jammed. First was a set of rustic oak chairs from our Nashville days and a few end tables.

Then, in rapid succession came a few things of my grandmother’s—the sad remains that the early bird relatives, (the wealthy ones, naturally) deemed unimportant or worthless—and then came my mother’s boxes and trunks when she entered a nursing home—and next came my husband’s mother’s many well-organized photo albums, a huge collection going back into the early 1930’s, after she too ended up in “incarcerated”.  Sadly, we can’t recognize more than a quarter of the sepia people who are posed there, giving us those chilly New England half smiles.  These are occasionally enlivened by images of women holding their cats, a proud New England tradition.

Now all it gathers dust. Some important boxes filled with memorabilia—(a box full of Babylon 5 dolls) I would like to find have vanished—gone without a trace when I went to locate them later. Perhaps they’ve fallen into some Twilight Zone like void, the sort that appears to exist in the upper stories of many houses. It’s preferable to think this than to suspect, as I often do, that my husband, in a fit of jealous pique, deep-sixed them.

We’ve thought of cleaning it, of sorting through, of discarding most and preserving the few things that might still have some interest and/or value to the next generation. Then summer comes again and we abandon the place for another six months. Next autumn, we think, next spring, but somehow it never happens. 

Our stuff is there, too. A host of coffee mugs emblazoned with the names of once famous and now long  dead Tech companies, virgin boxes of tractor-feed paper, old woolen tartan skirts made in Scotland made for 70 lb. adolescent, boarding school jackets and work books from 5^th & 6^th Form English school days—Ordinary Level tide-pool biology and Advanced Level European History, as well as Latin grammar--boxes adjacent to my husband’s pale blue slacks purchased for 1970’s office/casual Fridays...     

Once Upon a Time

 ~~Juliet Waldron

Genre Fiction: Are you a Purest? Or Pro Genre Mix? By Connie Vines #BWL #Writing Fiction, #ReadingRomance #Romantic Heroes, #Dangerous Heroes

 "What do you enjoy about blending genres while writing, and do you enjoy reading the mix?"

My responses are listed: 

 (Please post your responses in the comments.)

🕮

Reading: 

Historical and Romance seem to be a comfortable blend. A gentle push-pull of attraction and the details of daily life. I'm more inclined to read a "western" setting because the plot is faster-paced.

🎥

Movies: My favorite movie: "Somewhere in Time," Starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. 1980 Romance/ Fantasy. It is a film adaptation of the novel Bid Time Return (1975) by Richard Matheson, who also wrote the screenplay. 

My Writing: 

I'm comfortable with mixing "Romance and Paranormal." I don't know what this reveals about me... I was such a fan of the (black-and-white) "Universal Studios Classic Monsters Movies".

For the time period, the special effects in those movies were amazing! I also loved the "mood" music.

And like those classic movies, any hint of violence is offstage (or, in my case, nonexistence).

"Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow" is campy and fun (Just in time for Halloween; novella 2 in the series is in the works) 

"Romance and Suspense" Brede, Rodeo Romance, book 2. 

I approach this genre with great care to avoid nightmares. (Yes, Connie watches monster movies, but suspense has her hiding under the bed.) 

My secret? Write the happy ending first.

📺Television:

Hits of the past: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Fargo". 

Shows of today: "Dark Winds" and "NCIS". 

 

The latest mixes in novels:

Romantacy: Romantic Fantasy. A subgenre using elements and conventions of the chivalric romance genre.

Literary Horror: A mix of literary fiction and horror, focusing on character development alongside chilling narratives.

Dystopian Romance: Combines dystopian settings with romantic plots to explore love in oppressive societies.

Cozy Mystery:  Merges light-hearted cozy settings with mystery plots, appealing to fans of both genres.

Of the latest mixes, I find Romantacy and Cozy Mysteries to be the ones I would most likely read and consider writing.

What are your thoughts on these new "genres"?  

Have you ever read any genre mix-ups? Or would you like to see?

"Swoon-worthy" fiction is always my choice! 

Happy Reading!

Connie

The Human Harvest is coming – so say the doomsayers - by Vijaya Schartz

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Doomsayers have always been here, but this is a new one to me. As a science fiction author, I find it fascinating.

I recently came upon a claim (by Enki files), allegedly translated from ancient Sumerian tablets secreted away in locked backrooms of the British Museum. It says that the human species is an alien experiment with an expiration date, and our makers are returning to harvest us as soon as the total population of Earth reaches nine billion humans… which should happen in about half a decade.

According to these tablets, dating thousands of years before Christianity, not all of us will be harvested, the records say, only those deemed worthy. The rest will be destroyed when the Earth is cleansed then reformed for the next experiment, which will not be human at all, but something more primordial.

Parts of this sound suspiciously like the rapture in Christian texts.

Will we soon face Armageddon, fighting aliens to prevent Earth’s destruction?

According to Enki Files, the top leaders of our world are aware of this.

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But here is where the texts diverge. According to these ancient records, these makers do not consider us as living entities in our own rights, but as mere vessels… but vessels for what? Enki Files says the texts are incomplete, many tablets are missing, damaged, or in some places unreadable, which allows for misinterpretations and mistakes.

Still. For a science fiction author, the very notion is fascinating. From the perspective of a limitless universe populated by advanced alien races, why not?

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Is this why some world leaders are pushing AI advances, even though we know it could replace or even kill us all? Is there a secret plot from the most powerful leaders of Earth to face that harvest and the following Armageddon with AI weapons to defend our very existence?

Do I believe this? I believe the ancients who recorded it believed it strongly enough to carve it in stone and preserve it in their library for future generations.

It makes me curious. What would be the end of the journey for mankind? What would we become? As vessels, what would we contain?

Each day I am surprised by the depth of thought of our ancestors. Writing science fiction and fantasy allows me to build on their recorded mythology to create a populated universe, and stories that resonate in all of us, because they are part of our faraway past.

Enjoy the reading.

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Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author

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

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One of Canadian Attractions--The Bay of Fundy by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

https://books2read.com/Road-Tripping-Southern-Alberta

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I began my writing career as a travel writer, switched to fiction writing for many years and am now back to being a travel writer again. All of my articles and books have been set in Canada, which is where I live. Roadtripping Southern Alberta is my latest travel book and, as its title suggests, is about what there is to see and do in Southern Albera. But I have travelled across Canada and learned much about its exciting and varied history and have seen many of its attractions.

Today I’d like to describe my husband's and my visit to the Bay of Fundy situated between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The Bay has the highest tides in the world and was formally designated one of North America’s seven wonders of nature in February, 2014. (The others are Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, Mount McKinley, the Everglades, and Yosemite National Park).

       From Moncton, New Brunswick, we drove south on Route 114 to Hopewell Cape and the Hopewell Rocks, arriving in the afternoon. It was low tide so after we paid, Mike accepted the cart ride offered while I decided to walk the trail to the Rocks. I arrived at a viewpoint overlooking the ocean floor and the reddish rock structures.  Mike and I took the stairway down to the floor and wandered out among the tall formations. The ground was surprisingly solid with a few muddy areas.

       The Hopewell Rocks were originally a massive mountain range that was older than the Appalachians in the United States and bigger than the Rocky Mountains in Canada. Over millions of years the range wore down and after the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age, water seeping through cracks in the cliffs eroded the sedimentary and sandstone and separated the Rocks from the cliffs. The incoming and outgoing tides have eroded the base of the rocks at a faster rate than the tops and that has caused their unusual shapes. Those shapes and the vegetation growing on top have given the formations their nickname of the Flowerpot Rocks.

       Due to the tides, the Rocks are covered in water twice a day. Some visitors are able to see the high and low tides in one day but since the next high tide would be at night, Mike and I found a place to camp and returned to the Rocks the next morning. There is approximately six hours between low and high tide and the entrance fee covers a return visit to enable visitors to see the Rocks during both tides.

       Again, Mike took his ride and I walked. I reached the viewpoint and the change was astonishing. Just the tops of some of the rocks showed, the rest being under water. The tides can reach a height of 16 metres (52ft), which is as high as a four-storey building, twice a day. I walked down part of the stairs but the rest was blocked off to the public because they were under water. High tide is a good time to take a kayak tour and three kayakers were paddling around the formations.

       After seeing all the water and the partial formations, it was hard to believe that just the day before I had walked on the floor of the bay. It was an amazing experience.

The Minnesota Mystery Night by Dean Hovey

Last night I was the guest of honor at the Minnesota Mystery Night September celebration. It's a truly humbling experience to be interviewed in front of eighty mystery fans. Some were old friends, others were a regular crowd who also showed up when William Kent Krueger (author of the Cork O'Connor series) and Craig Johnson (author of the Longmire series) were interviewed earlier this year. My interviewer, author Brian Lutterman, is an old friend and we had a comfortable discussion about books, characters, plots, writing, editors, and publishers. I love talking about books. A lot of our time was spent discussing "Death in Darkness", its setting in Jewel Cave National Monument, and the series which involves my US National Park Service investigators flying around the country to solve suspicious deaths on Park Service properties. Brian" "You dress in khaki pants and a golf shirt just like your main character. Are you Doug Fletcher?" Dean: "Absolutely not! Doug is younger, smarter, and better looking." Brian: "But Doug's a bit cynical, irreverent, and uses dialogue that sounds like you." Dean: "Let's say that Doug and I share a lot of views about policing, people, horses, poisonous snakes, and politics. We are both from the Twin Cities. so our voices sound midwestern with a touch of Fargo-esque accent." And the interview went on for an hour. As an author, this tops my list of fun and enriching experiences. It always amazes me that people enjoy my books and can relate to my somewhat scarred protagonists. Many thanks to Bob Junghans, Brian Lutterman, and the staff at Lucky's Pub. It was an honor and privilege to be your guest.

The Uncomfortable, Awkward Crinoline, (what women put up with), by Diane Scott Lewis

 

Allure of the Crystal Palace will be available in November.    

My books are also available at Barnes and Noble. Scroll down for Amazon.

Writing about a woman thrust back in time to 1851, I needed to describe the clothing she would have to wear. Clothing totally foreign to her. In 1851, women's dresses were pushed out to unbelievable widths by an undergarment called a crinoline. How would any of us manage such a change?

My time-traveler, Keely, cringes at going from short clingy skirts to huge bell-shaped gowns. The gown bounces around her, bumping into everything. She feels like a ship swaying on the sea as she walks. 

It was invented to rid women from wearing heavy layers of petticoats. Why not just reduce the number of petticoats, I wonder? Keely decides to cut hers down, alter her gowns, and risk being ridiculed.

The first crinolines were made of horsehair, then wood, and in 1856, steel. Keely must figure out how to sit in them, and in her case, run.

The steel hoops were flexible, suspended by fabric tapes. But the fashion was awkward. Women in their homes put their knick-knacks up high to protect them from the billowing skirts. The garments certainly kept any suitors at bay.

Working women sometimes caught theirs on fire and were burned to death.

Magazine and newspaper writers mocked the style. One such article said women had to remove their crinolines and hang them on the side of the omnibuses before boarding. No proper Victorian woman would have done this, thus showing her underwear in public.

By the end of the 1860s, the fashion declined, to be replaced by the bustle in the 1870s.

The bustle only pushed out the skirt in back. Still not very practical.

To find out more about me and my books.

                    

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with one naughty dachshund.

How do you celebrate birthdays? ...by Sheila Claydon

 Find my books here

It's my husband's birthday today and, when asked what he wanted, he said he didn't want anything.  Of course he didn't get away with that because I had already decided that a few of his clothes needed updating! Our children, somewhat at a loss, have opted for a celebratory restaurant meal and a bottle of wine, while grandchildren have sent biscuits and chocolate and messages. 

Why didn't he want anything? At 85 he still has his health, good friends, a close knit family and enough money for a comfortable life, so doesn't want anything else. Having travelled a great deal both for work and, after retirement, for pleasure, he no longer wants the experience of airport queues, long flights and  unfamiliar beds. His pleasure now is a countryside dog walk, an evening with friends or family, a game of cards, sport on TV or a good film. Many of our slightly younger friends are also veering towards this way of thinking even if some of them haven't quite got there yet. A reduced life maybe, but contentment is a priceless gift.

Today has made me think about birthdays however. With a Chinese daughter-in-law and therefore an Eurasian granddaughter, I already knew other cultures celebrated differently. Whereas we give her a birthday card and presents, and help with birthday parties, her Chinese grandparents and other relatives give her red envelopes. These contain crisp new notes and are a symbol of good luck for the year to come. Another Chinese tradition is to slurp down longevity long noodles without breaking them, as a symbol of a long life.

Because of our travels we have also experienced birthday celebrations in other cultures. In Australia small children eat fairy bread. This is white bread spread with butter and topped with coloured sprinkles. Not the healthiest, but greatly enjoyed.

In Denmark the 'cake' is a pastry shaped as a person. It is decorated with candy, icing and liquorice, and known as the cake lady. She comes to a rather traumatic end when the birthday boy/girl decapitates her while the guests all scream at the top of their voices. As the Danes regard their national flag as a symbol of happiness and celebration, cakes, party tables and even front doors are also often festooned with replica flags.

In Mexico there is a long history behind the birthday tradition of splitting the piñata. This is a brightly coloured shape, traditionally seven-sided, but nowadays also made in many different shapes, that is hung up, often on a tree branch but sometimes indoors. Formed variously from cardboard, foil, clay, or papier-mache it is filled with candies, lollipops chocolates and small plastic toys. At the party it is attacked by blindfolded children who take turns to swing at it with a stick. This happens immediately before cutting the cake while guests sing traditional songs. When the piñata splits the contents scatter across the floor and are scooped up by the excited children.

Thailand has a very different take on birthdays, regarding them as a time to give not to receive. Wishing to gather good karma for the coming year they give out alms, buy birds and fish captured for slaughter and release them back into the wild, and also honour their parents with gifts for the sacrifices they have made. They also traditionally wear their birth day colour, which is associated with whichever day of the week they were born.

India is similar in that, with the birthday boy or girl dressed in new clothes, the whole family might visit a temple with offerings of prayers and flowers. Other religious rituals are part of the day, including honouring parents and warding off the evil eye. However, western style birthday cake is also eaten but in a very different way. The first bite is fed directly into the mother or father's mouth by hand. The parents then feed a bite back and this hand-feeding ritual continues with close family and friends.

Unsurprisingly, Italian birthdays are a time of great family celebration. Particularly important is the traditional dessert of a fruit-topped tart or layers of puff pastry with cream. Equally important is the tradition of immediately opening gifts rather than waiting until the end of the party. And then there is the ear pulling, where family and friends pull the birthday person's ear lobe once for every year of their life. Hard on the ear but a wish for a long and prosperous life.

So many different traditions, such different food, and yet I imagine that every small and not so small child experiences the same level of excitement when they wake up on their birthday morning. 

The cover of my book Double Fault does not look very celebratory but with two-year old twins helping celebrate an almost forgotten birthday that culminates in the big showdown that is integral to the happy ending, it's another sort of celebration. Birthdays can be many things. 

A Wonderful End to Summer - by Bonny Beswick

 

A Wonderful End to Summer 

Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park in SE Alberta 

Available Now! 

While fireworks fill the sky on the last night of The Greatest  

Show on Earth, also known as The Calgary Stampede, a man  

with a past is shot on his front doorstep. Love has many forms,  

but which one led to an innocent man’s death? 

As far as police work goes, Homicide Detective Janice  

Maidstone can’t imagine working with a better partner than  

fellow detective Scott Amble, but there’s a problem. It’s a race  

against time, as one or both of them may soon follow their  

hearts and seek new lives outside of the city. 

Amazon link: https://a.co/d/01fwe4ey 

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Available Now! 

The Aquamarine Necklace: A Janice Maidstone Mystery, by Bonny  

Beswick — Books We Love Publishing Inc. 

The Aquamarine Necklace: Beswick, Bonny: 9780228634737: Books - Amazon.ca 

The Last Lazy (?) Days of Summer 

This will be the summer that I went back to my early thirties, when I looked forward to  long weekends and tent camping. Things have changed! I can’t believe how much stuff I  accumulated to go camping. Decades ago, I could fit everything I needed in a back-pack,  and carry it up and down mountains. Now, the stack of gear almost fills my CR-V. It’s a good  thing I don’t have a passenger because they’d share the front seat with my writing stuff,  electronics, my indulgent pillow, and the last-minute groceries. 

My first campsite was at Beauvais Lake Provincial Park in SW Alberta, only a few  minutes from my sister and brother-in-law’s cabin (just in case I needed to bail in the middle  of the night). 

I picked a spot as far from the table (where food smells might be strongest) as  possible. To my relief, the fancy tent mechanism on my Reactive  

3 Second tent https://ca.reactiveoutdoor.com worked like a  

dream.  

The ground was hard and rocky so I had to pull out my  

mallet (sure glad I remembered to pack it) to put tent pegs in the  

ground. I took a chance after checking the forecast and didn’t  

put up a tarp. Good decision because it neither rained nor was  

hot enough to need the shade. 

The Monstabed mattress, tested for a few nights at home on the floor, is incredibly  comfortable, and though it's actually a little too big, pushing out the sides of the tent, I don't 

care! It's height reduces the headroom in the tent, but I don't have to haul myself up off the  ground and my knees are much happier.  

In the good old days, squirming out of a tent, hunched over, wasn’t a problem. But  this new tent has a 6” lip to step over. Great, because it will help prevent bugs from crawling  in, but it’s going to take some practice stepping over it without tripping. I’ll get better, but that  first weekend, I tumbled gracelessly on my face about 40% of the time. 

It took less than 90 minutes to set up camp, from the time I pulled into the campsite,  to when everything was set up (bed made with sheets, blanket and pillow), tablecloth  clamped to the picnic table, fire crackling in the grate, and wine opened. Not bad for my first  effort! 

My second camping experience was at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park in the  southeastern part of the province. 

August is a toasty time of year in Alberta’s southeastern corner. Unfortunately, my campsite  had very little shade, and I couldn’t make the tarp work to give me more shade. I’ll have to  practice before my next camping trip. 

The night sounds at Beauvais Lake are far different from those at Writing-on-Stone  Provincial Park. The sound of breeze through the towering spruce and fir at Beauvais contrast  with the wind across dry grass and cotton wood trees in the southeastern part of the  province. I tuned my ear for the snuffling of bears in one place, and the slithering of snakes  in the other (yes, I know I likely couldn’t hear a snake!). 

By the way, this is one of the first signs I saw in the park when I drove in. Who knew I'd  pick the time of year when snakes are migrating? YIKES! I know some of you are used to  snakes – maybe even blasé about them, but for me – not so much!

In neither place were there noisy parties or annoying generators running. Instead,  there was the quiet of forest and prairie, happy children tearing around after each other,  people walking dogs, and murmuring voices from neighbouring campsites. 

At Beauvais, large predators – bear and cougar lurked (I didn’t see any of those,  although a moose wandered through the back of the campground one evening.)  

At Writing-on -Stone, there were smaller creatures. At the crack of dawn, twin fawns,  still with faint spots, and a little rock rabbit picked their way through the tall grass behind my  tent. They made for “aww” moments. On the other hand, I got surprised by a rattlesnake on  my walk back from the vault toilets one evening—an “eeek!” event. It was a feisty one – even  from about 8 feet away, it rattled and struck out at me. Alas, since I didn’t want to get close  enough to take a good photo in the low light, you’ll have to take my word for it. 

Since these were my first camping trips in many decades, I thought I may not enjoy it.  I’m thrilled to say, though, that even packing and unpacking gear hasn’t damped my  enthusiasm and I’m already checking out campgrounds and sites for my next outing. 

In between my outdoor experiences was the When Words Collide Festival. This multi genre literary festival is one of the largest in Canada and for good reason. With three days of  amazing lectures, workshops, panel discussions, special Masterclasses, and opportunities  to pitch to agents, there’s something for every stage of writer and every fiction afficionado. 

The Aquamarine Necklace at Author Alley

There was even an opportunity to show off “The Aquamarine Necklace”, the first in  the Janice Maidstone mystery series. It was available on Author Alley in the Merchant Room  at the festival. “What Love Made Us Do” will sit next to it in 2027! 

You can already get your tickets for next year! 

When Words Collide 2027 - Canada's Most Fun Multi-Genre Literary Festival Tickets,  Friday, August 27-Sunday, August 29, 2027 • 9 AM-5 PM | Eventbrite 

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What’s happening with book signings and talks? 

On September 24, I will be doing a talk on the “experience of writing and publishing  “at the Millarville Public Library at 7:00. I’ll have copies of both “The Aquamarine Necklace”  and “What Love Made Us Do” available. 

Here is a list of the book signings I have scheduled for “What Love Made Us Do”. Other  locations will be added as they are confirmed. 

Schedule of Book Signings 

Saturday, Sept 26 1 – 3 PM: Owl’s Nest, Britannia Shopping, 815A 49 Avenue SW, Calgary Saturday, October 10, 1:30 – 3:30 PM: Analog Books, 322 6 Street S., Lethbridge Time and Dates still TBD: 

November: Found Books and Shop, 206 1st St W, Cochrane 

December: Mountain Goat Books, Farmers' Market West (Greenwich Village), Calgary February 2027: Tuesdays Bookshop, 2462 213 Street Bellevue, Alberta

Summer 2026 is already a blur. Every day had something special to offer and I hope  you felt the same. As much as summer was rewarding, we’re heading into my hands-down  favourite time of year, and I can hardly wait to see what it brings.