Why Don't You Ever Talk About Yourself? (Don't Ask Me About Me) By Connie Vines #BWLPublishingInc., #Author Interview, #Live From Southern California

During the Spring, I attended a local event for readers/writers.

Many attendees remembered me, to my surprise or dismay (depending on the questions 😉 tossed my way).

(I've been active in Young Authors, a guest speaker at local schools, and participated as a reader in middle school classes to promote the joy of reading to reluctant readers, and Frybread cook at Title IX and X school events). 

I was prepared. I had my speech. I had props, handouts, and links to websites to assist them. 

I've never been comfortable speaking before a group, but I can 'appear' at ease.

(video is licensed by Canva to the author. @connievines-author/ do not copy/reproduce)

 

It was not what I expected 😮.

What were the most asked questions? #1 "Why don't you ever talk about yourself?"

I know I had that look. (most likely the same expression I had in my Algebra class when called upon). Why? Because I talk about myself all the time. I have an ongoing saga about my dogs' adventures (gummy girl 🐩 and bee-sting 😢boy). I blog, do social media, explain my research... 

Personal Photograph @connievines-author

Nope, they weren't buying it.

They wanted to get personal. 📷 🎤

Personal?

How personal?

Enthusiastic voices:

"What's your favorite TV show?" 

"Whatever happened to Justine?"

"What's your favorite movie/ who is your favorite movie star?"

"Do you listen to...(someone I'd never heard of)?"

"Do you still make Frybread?"

I rebounded. 

Sort of.

At the moment, I'm streaming "Dark Winds." (I don't recall what I was watching then).

Justine was my greyhound (but everyone thought she was my daughter), the fashionista, and the mischief maker/couch potato/self-proclaimed tether ball champion.  😎

Eventually, I was able to steer the interview back to the craft of writing and the pros and cons of joining a critique versus a plotting group. As well as goal setting and deciding upon a daily word count.

Success!

Author Licensed by Canva. Do not copy/reproduce.

What did I learn?

To be me. I have a great time with written interviews! I am semi-comfortable with podcasts, too.

While I am at ease with children and young adults, I must be more relaxed with my peers.

Tips for Authors:

Make your answers fun!

Let your personality shine through, tell stories, and show us your geeky/nerdy/weird side. It will turn us from passive observers into raving fans.

Being caught off guard is now the norm. 

Embrace the chaos!!

(To learn about my books, pets, and quirky life, follow me on Social Media)

Happy Reading,

Connie

Where's Connie?

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OumB8pFI6oc

Buy Links:

All my books are on sale through July!! https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/vinesbwl

BWL Author Page: https://bookswelove.net/vines-connie/  

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Excerpt from Terror on Sunshine Boulevard: a Scary Read for Halloween

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose
Paranormal mystery
Click here to find more mysteries by J.Q. Rose released by Books We Love Publishing

📙🎃 📙🎃📙🎃📙🎃📙🎃

Hello and welcome to the BWL Publishing Insiders Blog.  I'm sharing a short excerpt from my "terrifying" novel that is perfect for a scary Halloween read, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard.

A reader told me she discovered she shouldn't have read Terror on Sunshine Boulevard before bed. She was too scared to turn off the lights and go to sleep!

📙🎃 📙🎃📙🎃📙🎃📙🎃

Back of the Book: Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose

Rescuing a naked woman lying in a geranium bed or investigating mysterious murders are not the usual calls for first responder Jim Hart. He expects slip and fall accidents or low blood pressure emergencies in his retirement community of Citrus Ridge Senior Community and Golf Resort. The ghastly crime scenes turn the winter time fun into a terrifying season of death and mystery when the authorities cannot track down the predator responsible.

Jim and his wife Gloria could escape the horror and grief by returning to their northern home, but concern for their friends and residents keep them in Florida. With the entire community in a dither over the deaths, the Harts participate in the normal winter activities of golfing, dancing, and pool parties with their friends to distract them from the sadness and loss.

Can Jim and Gloria work with the authorities to discover who or what is killing the seniors on Sunshine Boulevard and stop the increasing body count?

                                         

Excerpt: Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose, Chapter 8
Warning: This is the chills part of the blog post, not the giggles.

Turning on the warm water in the bathtub, she placed her hand under the faucet to gauge the temperature. When it was just right, she turned the shower on at full force, ready to step in for a relaxing indulgence with the warm water raining over her body.  Before Pamela could step in, she heard Noel’s moan from the bedroom. Terror clutched her throat. Oh, Noel, please don’t have a heart attack now! She yanked open the bathroom door and stood frozen in the doorway. The moonlight through the window added shimmer to the yellow stripes crawling across Noel’s naked body. When a blazing yellow light filled the bedroom, she slammed the bathroom door shut. The animal instinct to escape kicked in. Clambering onto the toilet and stepping onto the granite counter, she yanked the screen off the bathroom window and dove headfirst into the cool night air. She landed face down on top of the flowers in the wood-chipped flower bed below. Pamela’s screams pierced the night as she lay naked among the geraniums....to be continued.  

Do you enjoy being scared? Haunted houses? Horror movies? Scary books?
Please leave a comment below and let us know.

Happy Halloween!!

Click here to connect with J.Q. Rose online.

You are invited to return to the Insiders Blog on Thursday, October 22. 

On October 22,I will be featured as the author of the month and will have the opportunity to talk about how my life experience has influenced my writing.

Click here to join me on Thursday. Thank you.

What Do Bats Have To Do With Halloween? by Connie Vines

Even though we are still practicing social distancing during the Pandemic, many of us are pulling out Halloween decorations we've stored away. Or, purchasing items at local stores. 

After all, Halloween is fun!  At least in my house.

I'm not into scary, give-the-children (or me) nightmares.  It's all about the

dressing up, decorations, and "Halloween food."

Past meals have featured: Deadman-Over-Worms (meatloaf shaped like a gingerbread man with his arms at his side, on a bed of wheat spaghetti pasta). Bleeding (strawberry puree) Cemetery Cake, Bloody Fingers (hot-dogs shaped to resemble fingers). My granddaughters are positively ghoulish with glee while painting on the catsup blood. And, of course, their is the ever-popular Jell-O mold of the Frankenstein Monster's brain on the dessert table.

So what is your decoration of choice? Jack o' Lanterns, black cats, witch hats? 🐱 

Or, perhaps bats (my personal favorites). How did these gentle mammals, not-counting the vampire bats who do like to snack on hot-blooded livestock, become associated with the spooky season, anyway?

There are a few different theories: 

They're nocturnal 🌙

Experts say that nocturnal animals are often associated with death and darkness. "They engage in mysterious activities in the dark and so they have been cloaked in superstition since ancient times." Stanford University classics scholar Adrienne Mayor told National Geographic. And bats are particularly spooky.

 "The combination of dark gray, brown, or black shades with cryptic nighttime habits evoked a sense of awe and fear back in the time when the only lights at night were oil lamps and wax candles." 

And (those poor bats) because they often lived in caves, gave them a historic "association with the underworld". 

They are an in-between kind of animal 

Bats are the only flying mammal, and some cultures consider them a 'liminal' animal--not quite bird, not quite mammal. Something else liminal? Halloween. "One of the main themes of Halloween is liminality--the in-between-ness. It's between one state and another state; between growth and death; between fall and winter. 

Blame Bram Stoker 📖

It wasn't until Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, that bats could change at will. "Dracula" is one of my favorite classic novels, I must confess-- but I'm not buying the evil reputation heaped upon the bats. 

I'll hang my Halloween bat decorations with a smile. 

Those little creatures save us between $3.7 and $54 billion in pest control services every year. They also help pollinate of 700 plants, including many we love to eat. It's the distorted Jack lantern's faces and the scarecrows that give me the fright. 

Do you have a favorite Halloween tradition? 

 How about a Autumn or Halloween soup?

I enjoy Pumpkin Soup After removing the seeds, etc. from the center, I oven-roast my small pumpkin. I then dice up 1/4 - 1/2 of the vegetable before tossing into my crockpot.

 

There are many pumpkin soup recipes, feel free to share your favorite :) 

Add roasted and diced diced pumpkin in your crockpot or InstaPot (crockpot setting).

 2 cloves of garlic, smashed 

1/2 tsp. ginger 

 2 large yellow onions (sauté in Instapot or in a skillet on the stove top.) 

 Add 2 cups of chicken stock or water 

1 tsp. Cinnamon

 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg 

 1 tsp. salt

 1/2 cup Heavy cream or milk (me)  

2 cups water 

Remember adjust the ingredients to the amount of soup 

you plan to make.

If you do not have a pumpkin you may substitute 2 - 15 oz. cans of Pumpkin puree (not pie filling). 

Cook on a low setting 6 hours; high setting for 4 hours. 

When finished cooking use an immersion blender and blend soup until smooth. 

Top with a bit of sour cream and roasted pumpkin seeds (I purchase my packaged.)

Happy Halloween! And the Perfect time to settle with a cup of tea and a good read 🍵

Connie 

  

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Women's History Month: Thank You to the WWII Women's Air Force Service Pilots

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose

Rescuing a naked woman lying in a geranium bed? Investigating mysterious murders? These are not the usual calls in a Florida retirement community for volunteer first responder Jim Hart.Mystery, paranormal

Click here to find mysteries by J.Q. Rose at BWL Publishing

Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month: Thank You to the WWII Women's Air Force Service Pilots by J.Q. Rose

March is Women's History Month and the perfect time to share some photos I took when in California for the Rose parade in 2014. One of the floats honored World War II USA Women Air Force Service Pilots. (WASP)These women were unsung heroes during WW II. I am proud to share their history and inspiring story with you today.

"Our Eyes are on the Stars", the title of the float celebrates the courage of the Women Air Force Service Pilots.

The Wingtip to Wingtip Association float in the 2014 Rose Parade, featured the 1102 women who served their country as Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) and honored their contribution to the war in 1942-1944. 

These brave trailblazers dreamed of flying for their nation. Because there was a shortage of male pilots for combat duty, the women pushed to become pilots to free up the men for fighting the war. 

The WASP group members were assigned to ferry military planes between military bases in the USA and flights from aircraft factories to ports of embarkation. 

They also towed targets for live anti-aircraft artillery practice, simulated strafing missions, and transported cargo. A few exceptionally qualified women were allowed to test rocket-propelled planes, to pilot jet-propelled planes, and to work with radar-controlled targets.

The reproduction of the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the WASP decorates the side of the float. The 38 stars around the medal salute the 38 WASP members who lost their lives in service to their country.

The courageous women were not considered members of the military and received no recognition as veterans until 1977 when the WASP records were unsealed. When they returned to civilian life, even with their flying experience, they could not get jobs as pilots.

According to Wikipedia, on July 1, 2009, President Barack Obama and the United States Congress awarded the WASP the Congressional Gold Medal. During the ceremony, President Obama said, "The Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country's call in a time of need while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation since. Every American should be grateful for their service, and I am honored to sign this bill to finally give them some of the hard-earned recognition they deserve." 

More than 15000 red Freedom roses decorate the length of the float.

The first issue of the Fifinella Gazette was published on February 10, 1943. The female gremlin Fifinella was conceived by Roald Dahl and drawn by Walt Disney and used as the official WASP mascot that appeared on their shoulder patches.

We salute the WASP members who opened the skies to later generations of female pilots in the military. Thank you to all those who serve in the USA military service both past and present.

★★★★★

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