Flash Back February by Nancy M Bell

Laurel's Quest (click title for buy link) is my very first published novel. Originally published in 2010 under the title Laurel's Miracle and then re-released in 2014 under Laurel's Quest by my current publisher, BWL Publishing. This is how it came about:

A riding accident in 2005, forced me into early retirement, but I'm not one to stay still for long. The enforced curtailment of my career outside the home enabled her to take up her first love. In 2010 her first YA novel, Laurel’s Miracle was released, it was followed by the second book in her Cornwall Adventures series, A Step Sideways in 2011 which was a finalist in the OKRWA IDA awards. This title is now A Step Beyond. The third novel in the series is Go Gently. Nancy’s first romance novel, Christmas Storm was released in 2012 and the novel was a finalist in the 2012 OKWRA IDA awards. This is now Storm's Refuge with some additional story added.
Research for the novels takes up a great deal of her time. The Cornwall series is Urban Fantasy. The underlying structure of the plot rests on the influence the earth energy lines play in the story line. Earth Energy Lines are not to be confused with Ley Lines. While the two are related, they are very different in character. In September of 2013 my husband and I travelled to Cornwall, UK and had the opportunity to dowse the spot where the Earth Energy Lines enter Cornwall and form a node at Carn les Boel. The spot is a high rocky promontory which in unremarkable unless one is sensitive to the energy. This is the start of the now famous Michael and Mary lines discovered by John Michel late in the 20th century that cross SW England from Cornwall to East Anglia. In the process of the research, Nancy made many wonderful friends, one of which was Hamish Miller, a well-known dowser, speaker, and founding member of Parallel Community.

The story in a nutshell:

Join Laurel as she pursues for her quest amidst the magic of the Cornish countryside. She is aided by her new friends Coll, Gort, and Aisling and helped along in her quest by the creatures of legend and myth. Vear Du, the Selkie, Gwin Scawen, the Cornish Piskie, Belerion the fire salamander, Morgawr the flying sea serpent who does Vear Du a favour, and Cormoran, the last giant of Cornwall. They must battle the odds in the form of bullies and confusing clues. Will they emerge victorious? Will Laurel have the courage to solve the riddle and fulfill her quest a reality?

For you enjoyment here are some pictures from Cornwall, the most magical of lands. Arthur's Land.

Until next month, be well, be happy

The When of Your Story - Janet Lane Walters

 BWL

 

 

 

I’m continuing to explore writing a book from the idea to a finished story. The first thing I look at is When.

 

There are six elements you need to have in your book- Who are the characters. What is the goal the characters want to achieve. When is the time the story takes place. Where is the place where the story takes place. Why is the reason the characters want to achieve their goals. How is the road they take to reach their goal.

 

Today, I'm looking at the when of a story. When the story takes place is very important to the writer. Let's look at the number of whens that go into a story.

 

When can be the century. The story can take place any time from prehistorical times to the future, The time period of a story can help create the story. I have a series set in an ancient alternate Egypt. The when had a part in determining the alternate world part of the story. I learned there were no camels in Egypt until around one AD. My story was set in BC centuries before. Thus I had to change the focus of the story.

 

Many of my stories are contemporary and what happens in the world around is important. I seldom mention the political events but looking at the medical advances is important.

 

So century does have an effect in a story and often means research.

 

 

The time of year, the time of day are all important when writing a story.

 

Seasons come with various events. Think of the holidays. If you've chosen fall, you might consider Halloween and Thanksgiving in your story. The weather of each season is different. Winter usually brings short days, long nights and cold weather, that is if you're in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, seasons are the opposite and nearer to the equator the seasons may seem to be quite the same.

 

Then one should look at the months. Is your story set in January. Where I live this often brings a thaw in the middle of the cold weather. Each month has different weather and different events taking place. Keep these in mind when you're writing. I'm working on a December story. Snow and Christmas figure in and make me remember these events.

 

Now weeks in a story is one way to advance the story without detailing every event in the character's life. Two weeks later something happened. The story has moved forward.

 

The days of the week often mean different things. Monday is usually the day one returns to work and may show in the character's mood. Friday, we all know TGIF. So think of what day of the weeks your character is experiencing to add some depth to the character.

 

The time of day. Night can be spooky and can also be a time of love. Morning and evening can bring different things to your character. Suppose your hero or heroine is a night person and they must be some where at sis Am. This can show in their mood and also have them see things they haven't seen before.

 

So remember to look at the when of the story from the century to the least minute when you write your story.

 

When helps in other ways like choosing the genre or sub-genre of the story. When helps you build your world. All stories need a world built so pay attention to the when.

And winter continues, by J.C. Kavanagh

WINNER Best Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers' Poll

I live in rural Ontario and at this time of year, winter seems endless. I don't mind it, though. In previous blogs, I've shared a number of photos from my outdoor adventures because I'm enthralled with the beauty of nature. I just can't get enough of it. Daytime or night time, there's always something new to view and be inspired by. Were you fortunate to see the Super 'Blue' moon last month? As you might know, the 'Blue' moon term denotes a rare event. Most people think it refers to a second full moon occurring in the same month. That is true, and this happens every 2.7 years, but the 'Blue moon' reference is a seasonal one, meaning that it is the third full moon in a season with one more full moon still to come. Therefore, four full moons within a season of three months.

My awesome new camera (Christmas present from my partner, Ian) was my photo-partner in capturing this beautiful event at home last month.

I admit I'm fascinated by the moon - there's something about the ghostly orb that draws my attention. I'm compelled to study it whenever its pale face rises. My trusty telescope is another appendage I rely on to view its dips and chasms, cracks and crevices. The moon in its fullness is an image I conjure up in the playground of my mind each and every time I write a dream world sequence in my book, The Twisted Climb, and also the sequel, Darkness Descends (coming soon!) It provides backdrop, mood and sensory stimulus. Just imagine being drawn into a moonlit dream world where you have to climb a mountain, with adventures and paranormal activity galore, in order to 'fall' to sleep. Gah!

Enjoy the beauty of nature, wherever you are.

J.C. Kavanagh
The Twisted Climb
BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers' Poll
A novel for teens, young adults and adults young at heart
Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com
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www.Amazon.com/author/jckavanagh
Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)

A Digital Magna Carta?

It may be said that the Digital Economy, also known as the New Economy or the Internet Economy, started in Silicon Valley, in California, during the 1990’s. The term was coined from the title of Don Tapscott's 1995 best-seller, The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence, one of first books to show how the Internet would change the way we do business.

One of the commonalities of all economic revolutions, whether the Industrial age, Colonialism, or the introduction of Banking, and thus modern Capitalism, is the disruption they cause, not only to economic patterns, but also to society at large; repercussions that reverberate for decades, sometimes even centuries. An example would be the economic revolution that occurred at the beginning of history, when humans moved from hunting/gathering to agriculture, leading to the establishment of towns and cities, the flourishing of language and literature, and the formation of a class of people much wealthier than the rest.

A common feature all these economic revolutions share is the transfer of assets from common ownership to private ownership. During the move to an agricultural society, land, which the hunters/gatherers considered common to all, became privatized. Without privatization of land, agriculture would not have been possible. During the Industrial revolution, resources needed for production, such as water, timber, and iron ore, became privatized, allowing profits from these resources to accumulate to industrialists or their share-owners.

The digital economy is privatizing information, specifically, personal information. In almost all cases, it is being gathered surreptitiously, stored on servers beyond our reach, for indeterminate periods of time, and sold to other companies (and more ominously, to police and other government authorities,) for profit. We know, for example, that Facebook can come up with a relatively good idea of who you are; what you read, your political inclinations, your sexuality, what you buy and what you watch; but most people have no idea how much personal data is being gathered. For example, Google is able to access, from smartphones, data about when you wake up, when you get into a car and every place you visit--and download all that information onto their servers, and sell that information to advertisers. Using algorithms, they are able to determine items you may buy: for example, stopping at a school every day signals interest in children’s or educational products; and at a hospital, medical or pharmaceutical products.

History has shown that invariably, developments of this sort lead to social backlash. The Magna Carta was essentially a revolt by the British Lords who owned (relatively) smaller amounts of land against the King, who exerted ownership rights over the entire country. The revolt against the Industrial Revolution led to the idea of Communism, whose central tenet is the common ownership of the means of production.

The revolt against the Digital Economy will center, naturally, around the ownership of personal information. Currently, ordinary people have not challenged the existing legal and political systems on this topic. Google, Amazon and Facebook, among others, have privatized personal data. They collect it from you at no cost, with relative secrecy, and for the profit of their shareholders. This privatization has led to enormous profits—Mark Zukerberg’s billions are a prime example.

This push-back is at its infancy. There have been calls for governmental regulation of Facebook, but given its wealth and power, and the lack of exposure of this issue, it remains to seen how far these calls will go. If history repeats itself, the future will hold a struggle where ordinary citizens will have to claw back their rights to own, or at least, fairly share, their personal information with extremely large, secretive and manipulative companies who are well on their way to create real-time, moving digital avatars of each one of us in their computers.

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "The Yoga Zapper - A Novel," published by Books We Love. He lives in Calgary, Canada, with  his wife Anuradha, son Rishi ,daughter Gopi. He can be sometimes be spotted chanting mantra absent-mindedly in the city's parks.

www.mohanashtakala.com

www.bookswelove.com