How I found my hero by Sheila Claydon

http://youtu.be/nKSOFuQL5e0

There I was, off to visit friends in the Yorkshire Dales for a weekend of over-eating and dog walking, with absolutely no idea that I was going to meet the hero of my next book!

Visiting the glorious Yorkshire Dales when the weather is good is, indeed, like visiting 'God's own country.' Ask any Yorkshireman.  Visiting, as we did, when a blanket of grey mist hung like a pall over the whole landscape, was another story altogether. Walking left us damp and cold with our walking boots inches deep in mud, our trousers spattered with it from ankle to thigh and our hair lank and wet from the moisture swirling in the air around us. And when we climbed to the top of Middleham Low Moor we could have been at the end of the world. The gallops where race horses train most mornings were deserted. There was not a single  sound, not a jingle of harness or a creak of leather, not the snorting effort of the horses or the sharp calls of the jockeys, not even the sound of a curlew or the harsh shriek of a pheasant, just that strange cotton-wool silence as the world closed in on us. Think <em>Never-ending Story </em>if you've seen the film, and you'll be close. It was like Fantasia once it had been destroyed by <em>The</em> <em>Nothing</em>, except that in Yorkshire on that day, there wasn't even colour. Just a bleached white-out that hid the wonderful views that we knew lay below us.

Of course the local beer, the pubs that welcome dripping walkers, muddy dogs and wet boots in no particular order, the excellent and abundant yorkshire food, all made up for it, as did the log fires and the hospitality.  A delicious lunch of pork belly and apple washed down with beer soon had us putting the world to rights again. And then, right in the middle of everything, serendipity came to call.

I had only just decided that I wanted a musical background in my next book.  I hadn't even got as far as deciding what sort of music, and I was still in a dilemma about the hero when...there he was playing jazz piano at a jazz evening that we were taken to later that day, and where we swayed and clapped and drank wine with the best of Yorkshire.

So thank you Yorkshire, thank you Red Stripe Band, and thank you jazz piano player.  Don't worry.  You won't recognise yourself in the book because it isn't you, so please don't fret and please don't sue!  I just needed someone to point me in the right direction and you did it, with your music, your band, and your wonderful enthusiasm...so let's hear it for The Red Stripe Band.

sheilaclaydon.com

amazon.com/author/sheilaclaydon

facebook.com/SheilaClaydon.author

twitter.com/SheilaClaydon

My Cats and Dogs by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

 

My Cats and Dogs by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

I have always loved cats.  When I was a child we had a gray cat named Smoky. He slept with me most nights and greeted me at the door when I came home from school. When he was outside and wanted in he jumped up onto the narrow ledge of the front window and sat down looking in until someone opened the door. We had him many years and then one day he became ill. My parents tried to cure him but nothing they tried made him better. He lost weight and they finally decided to take him to the Pound and have him put to sleep.  It was a cool autumn day when they put him in a box and set the box on the floor of the back seat. Mom and Dad and we four kids went to the Pound to drop him off. It was a sad day and we each took turns saying goodbye.

       But he proved to be a tough cat. On a cold winter morning when mom opened the drapes of the front window, there was Smoky sitting on the ledge. She quickly opened the door and let him in. We never found out if he had gotten better at the Pound and escaped or if someone adopted him and he left them to find his way back to us. He lived another three years before finally dying.

       We then got brother and sister tabby kittens and I named them Salt and Pepper. They were still around when I married and moved away. Due to my first husband not liking cats and my son being born with an allergy to animals, I was unable to have indoor cats. However, after my daughter was born a collie dog showed up in our yard and we had ourselves an outdoor dog. Over the years my second husband, Mike, and I had outdoor cats and dogs but I disliked that they had to stay outside during the cold winter months.

       Shortly after my son’s eighteenth birthday he came home with a Cockapoo pup which he was not allergic to. When he graduated in the summer he headed to college and left Chevy with us. Chevy grew to be about twenty pounds. We had him seventeen years before we had to put him to sleep.

       During that time Mike and I rescued an abused and starved pup while on holidays in northern B.C. He was about the size of our little cockapoo and on our two week jaunt home he slept on the bed with us and Chevy. When we got home I thought Modie would be an outdoor dog. The first night he howled so long and loud that I let him in the house but made him stay at the back door landing. That wasn’t what he wanted and he continued howling until I let him onto the bed where he settled into his spot with Chevy and us. Even when he grew into a 130 lb, dog he insisted on sleeping on the bed with us.

      During the day Modi followed Chevy around and grew to idolize him. However, Chevy was less than happy to have Modie in our family and would turn and snarl at him. Modie thought Chevy was playing and would run around him excited. If Chevy ignored him, Modie would trab his tail and pull him backward to get his attention.

       Our house had a three bedroom basement suite that we used for family get togethers and when family and friends came to visit. Because my son was allergic to Modie we kept the door to the basement closed so he couldn’t get into it. Since my son was already allergic to one of my animals I decided to get a cat. A couple we knew in the country had a stray kitten show up at their place so I went to pick her up. It was a striped tabby just like the two cats we’d had when I was a teenager. I named her Salt.

      Just after that, my sister, Gwen, got a male tabby and called him Pepper. When she got a female tabby she called her Saltina. Unfortunately, Salt left us one day and never returned. Mike suggested that I go to the SPCA and find another cat. I brought home two female cats. One was a ten month old tabby that I named Saltwo and the other a three month old gray and white kitten that I called Saltry. So we had two dogs and two cats but then we had to put Chevy to sleep. Not a happy time in our household.

       One day Mike noticed an advertisement in the newspaper that was looking for a home for a cat that had been left by its owners when they moved. The cat had survived the winter outside and the people who found it already had three cats which was the limit allowed per house in the city. I phoned and then went to pick up the cat. It was a short haired orange tabby which I named Red. We were now a family of two adults, three cats and one huge dog.

       So those were the animals we had when we moved from Edmonton to Vancouver Island. We settled on a small acreage and put up a fence so Modie would remain in the yard. Red and Saltry liked to explore our acreage as well as the neighbours. Saltwo was more inclined to stay close to home so it was a real surprise when she got into some poison somewhere and died.

      Once I had recovered from her loss, I called the SPCA and asked if they had any cats for adoption. One had just come in. They needed a few days to check her over and then I went to pick her up. She was six months old and a long haired orange tabby. I decided that I had one orange tabby named Red so I named my second orange tabby Purple. Saltry took over from Saltwo as the head of the pride (not sure if that is the word for domesticated cats) and the others acquisitioned.

       The next year when I was doing a book signing for my first mystery novel at Comox B.C. While waiting for me Mike saw some cats at an SPCA display. He took me there after my signing. He had looked at a long haired white cat but I found a tortoise shell cat and decided on her. Her name was Molly and she had been born in the SPCA and was now two years old. She had never been outside except to be taken to these displays. When we got her home I changed her name to Daisy.

       Daisy had lived in large cage with three other cats and was used to cats coming and going in her life. When she saw Saltry she mewed and went over to her. Saltry was not that friendly with strange cats and hissed and swatted at Daisy. Daisy stopped in surprise and Saltry walked away. Daisy next tried Red who was a bit standoffish but friendlier. After a couple of days, Red had taken Daisy under her wing and was grooming her and they were sleeping together. Purple didn’t really care that there was a new member to the family.

       It didn’t take her long to figure out how to go in and out the cat door and she was soon enjoying her taste of freedom.

       About a year later I looked out onto our front deck and saw a skinny, long haired orange tabby eating the crumbs from Modie’s treats. I went out but she took off. I found a small dish and put some cat food in it and left it on the deck. The next day I saw her eating from it. I went outside to talk to her but she scurried through a hole in the skirting under our mobile home. I called to her and heard her answer but she never came out. The next day was the same but this time I went to another opening under our mobile and talked with her. She answered me and slowly came to me. I picked her up. She was so light, it felt as if she weighed about three pounds although she was a full grown cat. I carried her inside to the pails of cat food I leave out for our cats. She ate but then left again. The next day she was back and this time after she ate she allowed me to carry her into our bedroom and lay her on our bed. Over the next three days all she did was sleep, eat, and use the kitty litter. She became our fifth cat. Even though I was naming our orange tabbies after colours, this time I couldn’t think of a colour that suited our latest addition. She was quiet, demure, aloof and just wanted to be left alone so I named her Lady

       By this time Modie was 13 and had very bad arthritis. He was overweight because we had had to stop our walks, and was having a hard time walking and standing up when he laid down. We finally decided it was time to put him out of his misery. Mike took him to the vet and two days later we had his ashes.

       So we were left with five cats. Three years later Gwen’s cat, Saltina, died. A few weeks later Gwen was at our place and Lady spent the night with her. Gwen said that if we ever had to get rid of Lady she would take her. We offered Lady to Gwen and she accepted. So we are now down to four cats, the same four cats that my husband and I are now on a three month tour with through the United States.

 

http://thetravellingdetectiveseries.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/writingsbyjoan

 

Books of The Travelling Detective Series boxed set:
Illegally Dead
The Only Shadow In The House
Whistler's Murder

REVIEW WITH CLASS by Rita Karnopp

There’s no reason you can’t review a book with class and professionalism.  A book review is a description, judicious analysis, and an evaluation of the quality, gist, and impact of a book.  It’s so important to realize . . . a book review is not a retelling. It’s not a book report or a summary.

A book review should focus on the book's purpose and content. How did the book affect you – the reader?  You should evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the how well the author told his/her story.  Your review should include a statement of what the author has tried to do, evaluate how well he/she has succeeded, and present evidence to support your appraisal.

There’s no right or wrong way to write a book review. Face it, book reviews are highly personal and reflect the opinion(s) of the reviewer. Your review can be as short as 50-100 words, or as long as 1500 words, depending on the purpose of the review.

I might add a personal note here – “If you can’t say something nice, maybe it’s best left unsaid in public.”  If you truly dislike a book, that’s okay, not every book we read will be our favorite.  But chastising a book in a review could make or break an author.  Is that your intent?  I would hope not.  If I don’t care for a book I’ve read, I let it go.  It’s not necessary to berate or trash the book or the author.

The following is a simple guide for writing a book review that works. 

1.   Write a statement including basic information about the book: title, author, type of book.

2.   Write a sentence indicating point of view and genre.

3.   Evaluate the quality of the writing style by using some of the following standards: consistency, clarity, creativity, strength, pithiness, development, and even fluidity.

4.   Ask yourself does the story reach the intended audience?

5.   To me the most important question to ask yourself – then review from your heart – “how did this book affect me?” Did you have preconceived notions about the subject matter and now they’ve changed or perhaps they’re reinforced due to this book?

6.   Did the book realize its goal(s)?

7.   End your review with the oh-so-important, ‘would you recommend this book to others’? Why?

Remember, your review should include a brief summary, analysis, and comment on the book’s content.  Include your general conclusions. If you feel strongly to make a statement, use specific references and quotations to support them. And always end with a comment of support and referral.

Rita Karnopp
Author ~ Romancing the West

ritakarnopp@bresnan.net
http://ritakarnopp.com

http://mizging.blogspot.com

Thinking About to Kill a Mockingbird Karla Stover

To Kill a Mockingbird is approaching its 45^th birthday and the movie its 43^rd. I love both the book and the movie and, like many other people, am curious about Harper Lee. I read Charles Shields’ biography, I am Scout and just this past week, Marja Mills’ book, The Mockingbird Next Door.  Mills’ book was on the best seller list for a few weeks. Perhaps other readers discovered, as I did, that as writer, Harper Lee wasn’t a very interesting person. Granted she is older now, but her post-Mockingbird life, seemed to be spent fishing for catfish, feeding ducks, having coffee with friends, and reading. According to Mills, she became friendly with Harper’s sister, Alice, during a routine newspaper retrospective; Alice talked a lot about the Lee family and through her Mills met Harper. Harper, in turn, introduced her friends to Mills, and paved the way for people Mills could interview. The book about Mills and her friendship with both women came out and Harper immediately denied approving it—even though she saw the tape recorder running during get-togethers. I say, Pish Tosh to Harper Lee.

Shields’ biography was more interesting, but here’s what he left me thinking about:  In its initial state, Mockingbird was said to resemble a string of short stories. Tay Hohoff, an editor at J. B. Lippincott & Co., spent two-and-a-half years helping Harper rewrite the stories to turn them into a book. Mockingbird came out and was a huge success. Harper has said she started another book, but then her literary agent died and Hohoff retired.  I think she knew that without their help she couldn’t write anything else as good as her first book.  Perhaps she saw what happened to F. Scott Fitzgerald. His first book, This Side of Paradise, published in 1920, made him famous. He only wrote four more books (plus some short stories and novellas) and died at age 44 after years of alcoholism, not to mentioning plagiarizing some of his wife’s stories.

Maybe none of this matters. We have a book to read and re-read and a movie with what Gregory Peck called his “roll of a lifetime.” 

Sweet As..... by Cheryl Wright

Each month I look forward to sharing a card with you. The one I'm sharing this month is totally different to the previous shares.

Last week I went to the country for a few days (along with my husband Alan) to visit hubby's mother, who sadly has dementia.

While I was there, I came across a card magazine that I'd never been able to find in Australia before. Card magazines always have a 'free gift' included, and quite often the gifts are stamps. This magazine included two very cute rabbit stamps, along with two small embossing folders. (The blue design along the bottom of this card was done using one of those embossing folders.)

Apart from the colouring, this was a fairly quick and easy card.

I think I've mentioned before that I make and donate cards to soldiers overseas. This card will be going in my next bundle. This one is already bagged and ready to go.

Here's the inside as well:

Very simple, but it extends the design to the inside as well. I hope this card will make a soldier's child very happy.



Til next time,

Links:

My website:  www.cheryl-wright.com 
Blog:  www.cheryl-wright.com/blog
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cherylwrightauthor

Make sure you join my Facebook page as I run regular giveaways for followers, and a new one will be starting soon!