Christmas Wishes Coming Your Way by A.M.Westerling

 

If you're reading this, it means you've found a moment to yourself on this very busy day. I won't keep you but thought I'd share a few Christmas chuckles. And isn't the book tree above a wonderful idea?! Some very clever artistic person thought of that, I'm sure. Not me!

If by chance you received an Amazon gift card, do stop by the BWL Publishing website for a bit of shopping and find some amazing books to read, click HERE. 

Finally, I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas and wishing you all the very best for 2021!

******

Are you a fan of Regency romance? You might enjoy Sophie's Choice, Book 1 of my Regency series The Ladies of Harrington House, nominated for the November 2020 Book of the Month poll on Long and Short Reviews. 

You can find Sophie's Choice at your favourite online store HERE. Happy reading! It garnered a 5 star review, you can read the review HERE.

Elegant Orchids by A.M. Westerling

 

My local grocery store just received a shipment of beautiful orchids. 

Most orchids are tropical plants. They symbolize fertility, elegance and love and because of this are often given to new parents as gifts. Also known as Orchidaceae, they are a beautiful flower with long lasting blooms in vibrant colours such as pink, magenta, white, yellow and purple.

I’ve had orchids over the years and every time they finished blooming, I would toss them as I had the impression they were difficult to grow. However, last Christmas I received one as a gift from a dear friend and decided to accept the challenge of keeping it. After it finished blooming, I put it in my office and other than giving it an ice cube once a week, pretty much ignored it.

The only thing I knew was that orchids are dormant for 6 to 9 months after flowering so at the end of August, I moved it to an east facing window and gave it some all purpose fertilizer. To my delight, it’s putting out a new leaf!

 

I’ve since done a bit of research to aid in my quest to bring my orchid to bloom and have discovered that orchids in fact are one of the easiest house plants to grow. Although some varieties grow in dirt ie lady slippers, which grow in the loamy jungle soil, most orchids in the wild grow on tree bark which explains why the growing medium is not soil. The orchid uses the tree for support but receives its nutrients from animal droppings that wash down or organic matter decaying in the crooks of branches. Orchids are epiphytes which means their roots have adapted to absorb water from the humid jungle air. Many types deal with times of abundant water and periods of dryness so their thick stems, called pseudobulbs, allow them to store water for the dry times.

A few basic tips for proper orchid care:

-     Don’t overwater! That’s one of the most common mistakes people make in growing these beautiful plants. A clear pot helps determine water requirements. If you see condensation, it doesn’t need to be watered. Healthy orchid roots are green. If you’re overwatering, they’re brown and mushy and if you’re underwatering, they are grey. Mine are looking pretty good. 😊

 

-     Feed weekly or monthly (depending on the variety). I’ve been using 20 20 20.

-   Place your orchid in an east or west facing window. 

-     Repot in fresh orchid mix (not soil!) when your orchid stops blooming.

-     After flowering prune the old flower stalk near the base of the stem.

-     They grow best at 16 to 24 C

-     Mist regularly if you live in a dry climate.

With proper care, they can live for years. I’ll see how I make out with this one!

*****

Although you won't find orchids in this book, you may enjoy reading Sophie's Choice, a romance that Coffee Time Romance calls "an excellent Regency".  You can find it at your favourite online store HERE. Also available in print. 

Find all my books on the BWL Publishing website.

 

The Ship's Captain - Master of a Wooden World by A.M.Westerling

Sophie's Choice, Book 1 of The Ladies of Harrington House is available at all your favorite online stores HERE.

*****

I tend to write a lot about sailing ships, captains and sea voyages. I don’t know why other than I do love the ocean and I think it has something to do with living in a landlocked city. Plus life at sea during the Regency era strikes me as being quite romantic although I’m sure the reality is that it was anything but what with cramped quarters run over with cockroaches and rats, insect infested food and brackish water!

Right now I’m working on Leah’s Surrender. Leah is Sophie's sister and my hero is Heath Trevelyan, a captain in the British Royal Navy during the French and English wars at the turn of the 19^th century. At that time, the British Navy was the largest and most powerful in the world and very proficient in fighting at sea. “Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves” was certainly an apt phrase.

Being a captain was a position of great social prestige. A captain could count on a good marriage as a result and once his days at sea were over, he might end his career as a justice of the peace of perhaps even a member of parliament. Navy officers were generally drawn from the “gentlemen class”, especially the titled or the wealthy although it wasn’t unknown for talented individuals from the middle class to also achieve that rank. Sons of peers achieved the rank of officer more quickly. Therefore, the Navy became the choice for younger brothers of the aristocracy such as Heath, who is a second son.

Captains were generally all-powerful and kept to themselves but to attract a competent crew, along with good social contacts, they also needed bravery, keen wits, experience, a fair and unprejudiced mind and of course, luck.

You wouldn't find the captain crawling in the rigging:

The quartermaster and not the captain usually took the wheel:

If you were promoted to captain, it helped to be rich. He needed credit and money to provide the necessities such as weapons, furniture for his cabin and costly braided uniforms. As well, he needed funds to buy supplies at foreign ports and to pay for enlistment bounties. These last expenses were recovered from the Navy at the end of each voyage, but it could take years to settle the accounts. Consequently, some captains found themselves promoted into debt. However, if you were born wealthy, these financial matters didn’t impact you. Of course, a single valuable prize recovered during battle might keep any officer comfortable for the rest of his life.

At sea and as a reflection of his financial status, a captain could bring whatever he liked on board. Some cabins were opulent, full of silks, art and silver, their tables spilling over with fine foods. Crew liked serving rich captains because in an effort to improve their popularity, they would provide luxury items or extra amounts of necessities, which came out of the captain’s pocket.  

Once an officer became a captain, the size of the ship determined his promotion up the ranks as well as his level of pay. His date of commission established his eventual promotion to admiral. Only his death could prevent him reaching the status of rear admiral unless he managed to get dismissed from the Navy either by manipulating the books or blatant dereliction of duty.

So all in all, things are looking promising for Captain Heath Trevelyan and Lady Leah Harrington. You can read their story in Leah’s Surrender, Book 2 of my Regency series, The Ladies of Harrington House, coming soon from BWL Publishing!

Ten Top Ways to Know You've Had a Good Day Writing by A.M.Westerling

We’ve all had those days where we’ve sat down at the keyboard and – nothing. Writer’s block has dug in its nasty claws and no matter how hard we try to get something going, we sit staring uselessly at a vacant screen until admitting defeat and getting up to do laundry. I recently had such a bout with my current work in progress, Leah’s Surrender, Book Two of The Ladies of Harrington House series. Turns out my heroine, Lady Leah Harrington did not have a goal of her own. It’s pretty hard to write an engaging story about a spirited heroine when all the other characters push her around! 


However, what about those other days? The ones where we sit down and the word magic takes over and we become lost in the zone? That’s what happened to me with Sophie’s Choice. Sophie had her story to tell and the words literally flew from my fingers. It’s the fastest I’ve ever written a book – just over four months. (You can find Sophie's Choice at your favourite online store HERE.)

Okay, other than the obvious – words on the page – what are the other ways we can tell we’ve had a good day writing?  With a nod and a wink to David Letterman, the ten top ways to know you’ve had a good day writing are:

10.       You go for a walk at 3 in the afternoon and realize you haven’t combed your hair yet.  And then realize it’s windy and no one can see it, anyway.

9.         You emerge from your cave and your husband, after taking one look at your blank      face,  says, “Hon, instead of you cooking, why don’t we go out for dinner?”

8.         Your written world has become more real than this one for a moment or two and        when someone asks, “What did you do today?” , you can honestly say “I was on a                 Royal Navy frigate on the Atlantic Ocean that was on the verge of sinking during a                 winter storm.” Spoiler alert – yes, that is a scene in Leah’s Surrender.

7.         You take a break from writing for a minute and discover a 5 star review on Amazon    for your latest release. (Thank you Theresa for the awesome review of Sophie’s                     Choice!)

6.         Your publisher emails with words of encouragement while you’re working on a            difficult scene, leaving you with the fire in your belly to prove her right for signing                   you and darn it, you will conquer that scene. And you do.

5.         Your husband knocks on the office door and asks, “Honey, are you still alive?”

4.         You’re writing on a legal tablet in the bath, the water’s turned cold and your                significant other knocks on the door to ask if you’ve drowned.

3.         Your dog puts a guilt trip on you and you realize that it’s gone 6:00 p.m. and you’re    still in your pj’s and slippers with a half full cup of cold coffee.

2.         Your kids call you from their cell phone and say, “Mom, can you stop writing for a        minute and pick us up? We’re the last ones here.”


And the number one way to know you’ve had a good day writing?

1.           You type the words “The End” on your current work in progress!



All my books are available through BWL Publishing HERE.