When is an alien abduction not a sci-fi novel?

 

The Doug Fletcher mystery series has bounced between U.S. national parks and monuments. A variety of readers and resource people from around the country suggest locales and plots to me. I got a call from Mike (my veterinary consultant) who said, "You HAVE to set a book in Effigy Mounds National Park. It's the perfect location for nefarious activities."

After a bit of research, I learned that the animal-shaped Native burial mounds in the park are extremely rare, and nearly impossible to visualize from the ground. The park service didn't grasp the number and arrangement of the animal shapes prior to an aerial survey. More than one writer has suggested that the original mound builders, working long before the invention of the airplane, had assistance from aliens in spaceships. Add to that the large number of modern UFO reports in the area and an abundance of regional alien conspiracy advocates. 

After weeks of research, my characters started screaming at me to stop digging and start writing. (Their voices will be the topic of a future blog.) I wrote an outline for the Burnt Evidence, then the characters got involved and I lost control. Doug and Jill Fletcher were living a quiet life as law enforcement rangers at Padre Island National Seashore when their superintendent got a call requesting their assistance in Iowa. A 911 call had been cut short by a scream. A melted cellphone, and metal remnants of clothing were later found in a burned circle inside Effigy Mounds National Park, suggesting an alien abduction.

Then, I thought, uh oh, you've started a science fiction novel. Add sightings of glowing lights over the Mississippi River and college students investigating the abduction site, and the plot sounded like Robert Heinlein.

I wrestled control of the plot back from the characters and put them on track to solve the mystery of the abduction. Working through the plot, they deal with Doug's ex-wife who's an anthropology professor, an Air Force UFO expert, and a scientist from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. They enlist assistance from a Navajo colleague to help sort the Native lore from the science fiction. Jill's spiritual side emerges as she tries to rationalize the apparent alien abduction, UFO sightings, and ghostly apparitions, with her scientific background and religious beliefs.

It was a fun book to write, and I tapped the knowledge of numerous people including an anthropologist, a veterinarian, a police/horse resource and muse, a retired director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a tuba player (don't ask), and a retired scientist. Combined, they steered me toward the unexpected events and revelations that add the twists and turns to the plot. My BWL publishing colleagues edited and improved the manuscript. Michelle Lee designed the intriguing cover.

It's different from my previous stories, but it is a mystery, not science fiction. The characters are stretched, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. All that leads to an unexpected ending as they race through a moonlit park, trying to pull the last pieces of the puzzle together.

Dean Hovey is the award-winning and best-selling author of the Doug Fletcher mysteries, the Pine County mysteries, and the Whistling Pines cozy series.

Luke Trowbridge, a Waterman fights for his life in the Oyster Wars by Diane Scott Lewis

 

In my upcoming novel, Ghost Point, Luke Trowbridge ducks Maryland's ruthless Oyster Police, and strives to keep his marriage together in 1956. He grew up tonging for oysters on the Potomac River. The town of Colonial Beach, Virginia, once a grand resort for the wealthy 80 miles south of Washington D. C., is now a struggling community of watermen who brave the elements to feed their families.

The tradition since colonial times is tonging for oysters during the cold winter season, with long rakes that gently pluck up the oysters without ruining the beds. But illegal dredging brings in far more oysters, the baskets scraping the beds. The habitats destroyed.

Luke is desperate to support his family. But his wife, Yelena, has grown angry and restless with his dangerous activities, his refusal to quit. The Hungarian-born Victor is investigating another vicious event on the river when he attracts her interest. He's suave, sophisticated, everything Luke is not. Will she give up their secrets and be enticed to dishonor her marriage?

Luke must stand up to his bullying father, and the Maryland Oyster police who shoot to kill. He fears losing his wife and little boy. Will he make changes in attitude and occupation, or endanger his own life?

For more adventure, another couple who take their future in their own hands, delve into On a Stormy Primeval Shore. Set in New Brunswick, Canada, in 1784, a fight to form a colony. One of the award-winning Canadian Historical Brides series. A Night Owl Romance Top Pick: "a fabulous tale of life and hardship in historical Canada."

To purchase my novels and other BWL books: BWL

Find out more about me and my writing on my website: Dianescottlewis

Diane Scott Lewis lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband and one naughty puppy.

Planning a 4 Season Vegetable Garden by J.Q. Rose

 

Arranging a Dream: a Memoir by J.Q. Rose

In 1975, Ted and Janet with their one-year-old baby girl move all their earthly belongings to Michigan to make their dream of owning a greenhouse operation come true. Through tears and laughter they cultivate their loving marriage, juggle parenting and dig deep to root a thriving floral and greenhouse business.

Click here to discover more books by JQ Rose at the BWL Publishing JQRose Author's Page

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Hello and welcome to the BWL Authors Insiders Blog!

Planning a 4 Season Vegetable Garden 

by J.Q. Rose

Broccoli and cabbage like cool temperatures.

My husband's love of gardening is the reason we set our dreams on growing plants in a greenhouse. That dream grew from a simple plan to build a hobby greenhouse against the back of our garage. When the neighbors wanted to buy some of his plants for their yard, he began growing not only plants for our flower beds and vegetable garden but also extra plants to sell. His hobby blossomed into a dream to own and operate a greenhouse operation. In 1965, we stepped into our dream, searching for and purchasing a greenhouse operation and a flower shop in Michigan.

Arranging a Dream: A Memoir is about the first year we were in the flower and greenhouse business. We had never owned a business. I knew nothing about floral design. Ted had never grown plants in large greenhouses. So why did the owners sell us the place? The answer may be in the book!!!

My farm boy husband, Ted, is still in love with gardening. We are retired from the greenhouse business, but Ted is living his life-long desire to garden 12 months out of the year. He has a garden up north in the spring, summer and fall and a garden in Florida during the winter. 

This time of year Ted begins planning his large garden up north. Are you planning your garden whether just in your head, on paper or on the computer with a garden planning program? He is devouring the gorgeous photos in the seed catalogs and making lists of plants to try in the spring garden. I imagine a lot of you can identify with that planning and dreaming process.

Here are a 7 tips from Gardener Ted for planning a garden this spring. 

1. Determine the size and location, preferably with 6-8 hours of sun a day with water nearby for watering the plants. Buying too many seeds or plants for the space you have available is easy to do, but knowing the space you have to work in helps you face the reality of the actual square feet you have to use.

Gardener Ted watering his spring garden

2. Decide which way to plant the rows in your garden.

3. Remember to save room for a path or paths through the garden so you can easily water, fertilize, weed, etc.

4. Select areas for planting for the seasons. It is best to plant those veggies you will harvest in spring in a group. For example, plant lettuce, peas, green onions, radishes together for spring harvesting. In another section plant beans, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, squash, and tomatoes for summer harvest, and broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce or cool weather crops for fall gathering.

Vertical gardening

5. To efficiently use the garden area, it is possible to "double-crop" the section. When the spring plants are depleted, re-plant the section with another group of plants for late summer or fall harvest time. See how grouping the seasonal plants together allows this extra perk?

6. Another advantage of planting with the season of harvest in mind helps you clear out a section to re-plant or to clean up for the winter. So instead of planting the cole crops like cabbage and broccoli which like the cold weather on the opposite ends of the garden, plant them together with the fall harvest crops like pumpkins and winter squash.

7. You may live in an area where it is possible to keep root crops such as parsnips and turnips in the ground longer for a winter crop. Be sure to keep these vegetables planted in the same section so you can clean up and prepare the rest of the garden for winter.

Fresh tomatoes

Think first about the harvest times for your vegetables and group them accordingly in your garden. With some pre-planning, you can eat fresh all year. Enjoy those delicious veggies!

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Click the link below to connect online with JQ.

J.Q. Rose blog http://www.jqrose.com/

Spring Cleaning by Helen Henderson

Windmaster Legacy
by Helen Henderson
Click the cover for purchase information

The weather is warming. The birds are returning from their winter migrations and the first ladybug of the season has been spotted. It is time for another traditional herald of the season, spring cleaning. Today spring cleaning is a time to open the windows and give the house a thorough sprucing up. But it once was a real necessity and continued to be so until well into the 20th century. After months of cold weather during which the house was closed up and heated with wood or coal and lighted with kerosene or whale oil, furnishings were laden with soot and reeking of stale air.  

Homemade cleaning products included such diverse ingredients as salt and vinegar. Before the advent of indoor plumbing, water was hauled into the house and had to be heated before it could be used. That might mean numerous trips to the creek, the hand pump in the yard, or if you were lucky enough, the fire hydrant just outside the house.  

Before the day of vacuum cleaners, all the cleaning was done by hand with a carpet brush. In good weather the rugs were cleaned more thoroughly by hanging them on the washing line to let the sun and wind get at them. And while on the line they were beaten with woven cane, rattan, or twisted wire carpet beaters sold specially for the purpose. It not only exercised the body, but calmed the mind as you took out all your aggression. If you didn't have a real carpet beater, an old broom stick or a tennis racket did the job.

Image by AnnaliseArt from Pixabay

Even in the 1950s, every home needed at least one big clean a year; and spring is often considered the best time. It was a major task with the removal of all contents and a thorough clean of all kitchen units and cupboards inside and out. The washing of all painted and commonly-touched surfaces such as doors, window frames, and baseboards. Curtains were taken off the rods, then washed or cleaned, then after the whole room was cleaned including washing of walls, windows, and woodwork , the same curtains were rehung or swapped out for the lighter spring ones. Just this one item took a lot of effort and energy. And don't forget any blinds or shades. 

Then there was the lugging of the wooden trunks of seasonal clothes out of the attic or the back of closets. Once the summer clothes were washed and aired out, the winter clothes were cleaned, mended and moth-proofed before going into storage. Repeat the same steps with the blankets, quilts, and bed coverings. 

Image by Jazella from Pixabay

We didn't have an modern automatic clothes washer but an old wringer washer with a large metal washtub set beside it. Clothes were put in the washer, and the agitator swirled them for however long we wanted. Then we fed the clothes through the wringer and into the clean water of the washtub. Dunking took out the suds and dirty water, then the clean items were fed back through the wringer before being carted up the stars and outside to be hung on the line. But at least I had indoor plumbing and the washer was slightly newer than the one pictured. Both the wringer and the agitator were electrified.

 Another part of spring cleaning I dreaded was not the beating of the rugs, but the washing of all dishes and bric-a-brack in cupboards and cabinets. 

Spring cleaning still exists, although in a modified form. A modern list might include decluttering the home, cleaning out unneeded clothes, and tackling the junk drawer stuffed with odds and ends. While Covid-19 might have us cleaning our phones and keyboards more often, screens both big and small can be overlooked and need to be added to the cleaning list.

I hope you enjoyed this somewhat nostalgic look at spring. I’m off to hang a rug on the porch rail and beat it. Then I have to tackle the backing up and spring cleaning of my computer files.

To purchase the Windmaster Novels: BWL

 ~Until next month, stay safe and read. Helen

Find out more about me and my novels at Journey to Worlds of Imagination.
Follow me online at Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter or Website

Helen Henderson lives in western Tennessee with her husband. While she doesn’t have any pets in residence at the moment, she often visits a husky who have adopted her as one the pack. 

SPRING! by Nancy M Bell

 

To find out more about Nancy's work please click on the cover.

Spring! It's almost here. Spring is always welcome after the long nights and drawing inward of winter. Now is the time to stretch our wings and welcome the returning warmth and light of the sun as it makes its way northward again. I can see it's progress by the changing shadows thrown by the trees across the lawn slowly emerging from beneath the sheltering drifts of snow.

Spring is a time of new beginnings and renewal, but as I have grown older and hopefully wiser, I have found it is also a time of letting go of the old and welcoming in the new. So, Spring in its own way, is also an ending, a wrapping up things that are no longer beneficial and removing them from my life.

Having deposited the unwanted baggage, both physical and emotional, where it belongs. It is now time to dance in the dappled sunlight, laugh at the gophers and smile at their cute little sentinels who whistle sharply at  me should I dare invade what they consider 'their' territory. Time to seek out the first nubs of rhubarb, ruby red in the dark wet soil seeking the sun, the first prairie crocus, the greening of the withered grasses.

Birds are reappearing, I wait each Spring for the return of the hawks who will hover just over my head and somehow it seems we have a conversation without words. And the wind that holds their wings, ever present in Alberta, sweeps back the clouds in a wide Chinook Arch that embraces the western skies.

Welcome Spring, the Equinox, Alban Eiler, Easter.

April Earth

 

I saw the Earth breathe today

A pale pearl vapour rising from the plowed field

She exhaled as the east wind billowed

Her flowing breath across the raw mud

 

Shimmering in the April afternoon sun

Her breath shed diamonds as it hung

Above the snowy prairie

 

The Earth’s cold wintry breath

Mating with the warm spring sun

Birthing the moist mist dancing

In the strength of the moving air

 

The Raven’s shadow flashes across the snow

As he flies over head borne on April’s breath