Oh, to be in England....by Victoria Chatham

 

RELEASES JUNE 15TH, 2022

 

 Sunlight filters between the newly unfurled tender green leaves of beech, oak, and ash. The air is heavy with the scent of Hyacinthoides non-scripta, the English bluebell, which covers the woodland floor like a blanket from late April into May.

 

There are approximately nine varieties of bluebell, but the United Kingdom is home to roughly half of the world’s bluebell population. This iconic springtime flower can take five to seven years to develop from seed into a bulb, then bloom into the flower most people know. They are a protected species, and there is a heavy fine for anyone found digging them up. It is also a surprisingly delicate plant. If careless footsteps crush the leaves, they can no longer photosynthesize and will die back from lack of nutrition. Some bluebells can be white or pink. Often a white bluebell is lacking its blue pigment, or it may be a version of the Spanish bluebell.

In Scotland, bluebells are known as harebells because folklore has it that witches turned into hares and hid amongst the flowers. That could be why it is sometimes known as Witches Thimble or Lady’s Nightcap. You may also have heard the folksong, The Bluebells of Scotland. If not, check out this YouTube clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq14cPI0LW8. The bluebell is reputed to ring at daybreak to call fairies to the woods. If you pick a bluebell, those fairies could lead you astray, and you would be lost forever, so best not to pick them just to be on the safe side.

Symbolically, bluebells represent grace, everlasting love, good fortune, and truth. They epitomize Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, and the Virgin Mary who represents calm and peace. They were also once dedicated to the patron saint of England, St. George. Bluebells stand for constancy, humility, and gratitude in the centuries-old language of flowers used throughout Europe and Asia. Might Shakespeare have been referring to the bluebell when he wrote of 'the azured hare-bell?'

Bluebells also have their practical uses. The Elizabethans used starch from the bulbs to stiffen their ruffs. Gum from the roots was used as glue for feathers and in bookbinding. Snake bites supposedly could be cured by their juice, although the plant’s chemical makeup is potent and can be toxic in large doses. Today bluebells inspire the perfume for hand creams and soap and are used as dyes or pigments.

 

Whichever way you look at it, whether you believe in witches and fairies or not, there is nothing more magical than sitting in an English bluebell wood in springtime.

Victoria Chatham

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NB: Images from author's collection.

Baking and revenge

 Readers often ask, "Which book is your personal favorite?" I Usually beat around the bush, explaining that choosing a favorite book from my library is akin to picking my favorite variety of apple. I like the tartness of the Granny Smith apple as much as I enjoy the brooding darkness of the Pine County mysteries. And I enjoy the zesty crispness of a Honeycrisp apple as much as I enjoy the banter between the lead characters in Fletcher mystery series. But let's face it, authors do have favorites. Writing a Whistling Pines mystery is like eating fresh apple pie; warm, sweet, with a bit of spice. And Whistling Bake Off is all that. 

My sister-in-law is a fan of the Whistling Pines cozy series. In an email she suggested the premise of a Whistling Pines cookbook fundraiser. A note to my consultant crew yielded a pile of cookbook recipe suggestions along with some interesting plot twists. But assembling a cookbook itself isn't a mystery. Brian Johnson, my tuba-playing, Whistling Pines consultant threw out the thought that some recipes are closely guarded secrets. His wife has a beet pickle recipe she won't even share with their children, and most chefs have a recipe they keep a closely guarded secret. If they're willing to prepare it on television, they premeasure the ingredients so the audience can see what goes into the mixer, even if the spice mixture and exact measurements aren't shared.

With those tidbits in mind, I started typing. 

Two Harbors is buzzing when a former resident, now a world-famous culinary expert, announces his return home to broadcast a live cooking show, featuring ethnic recipes prepared by local cooks. Everyone knows that the secret pie recipe from the now defunct Oscar's Restaurant will be a feature, but will the recipe's owner share it on national television? That question is left unanswered when the recipe's owner is found dead, with hundreds of recipes strewn on her kitchen floor. 

Other recipes are chosen for the television show, but as the broadcast nears, the celebrity host's checkered past becomes the new topic of the Whistling Pines rumor mill. One resident advises Peter, my recreation director/protagonist, that the host will likely be poisoned, shot, or blown up by people he wronged before his Hollywood departure. Knowing that the senior citizens of Whistling Pines tend to twist and exaggerate things, Peter isn't particularly concerned. He advises the police chief of the possible threat, and they're closely watching the crowd gathered for the television broadcast.

Not wanting to throw out a spoiler, let me say that the broadcast doesn't go entirely as planned. But what about the murdered baker? Hmm, does her death have anything to do with the cooking show, or is the motive for her murder related to something else entirely? Read Whistling Bake Off to find out. It might be the sweetest Whistling Pines mystery yet.

Check out my books, including Whistling Bake Off, at the BWL Publishing website https://www.bookswelove.net

My Travels in France by Diane Scott Lewis

 

To purchase my novels and other BWL books: BWL

Currently writing a novel that takes place in Brittany, France, I yearn to travel there to research. But with Covid still creeping about, that is impossible. My husband is leery to fly, and I don't blame him

In 2003 we threw caution, and money, to the wind and traveled to France for an important (old) birthday of mine. We stayed in Paris on a quaint cobbled lane. 

 

The novel I was writing at the time involved a young woman in the eighteenth century returning to Paris after the French Revolution. I wanted to walk where she would have walked.

15th century street, the Latin Quarter

Paris was amazing, our room tiny but perfect. We ate in cafes, strolled along the River Seine. Browsed booksellers, visited museums. We chatted with an older Frenchman over cognac. He once lived in California. The entire French experience.

But I didn't ask for ice in my too-warm drink until he did!

We took a tour out to the palace of Fontainebleau on my birthday. It took the sting out of growing older. Now it seems so young!

That evening a French café owner sang "Happy Birthday, Madame," to me over a slice of tiramisu.

Author in front of the palace

My heroine had to go to the Luxembourg palace to ask Napoleon to release her lover. We got to take a tour, sneaking into the back of one that just happened to be going in. It was conducted in French, but we managed.

Luxembourg Palace

Before the journey, I learned just enough French to embarrass my self. But it's true, if you try to speak their language first, they'll chime in with English to help you out-or speed you along.

Napoleon's Senate chair, Luxembourg Palace

A wonderful trip, worth every Euro. We planned to return, but now I want to visit Brittany and Normandy to research the German occupation of WWII. One of these days...

Author and husband near Fontainebleau 

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband and one naughty dachshund.

To find out more about her and her books:  DianeScottLewis

2022 Update to My Story by J.Q. Rose #memoir #motherhood #floralshop #lifestory

 

Arranging a Dream: a Memoir by J. Q. Rose
Click here to find JQ's books at BWL Publishing

Hello and welcome to the BWL Publishing Author Insiders Blog. 

in January 2021, BWL Publishing released my memoir, Arranging a Dream: A Memoir. In 2022, there is more to the story.

What is the story? 

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

From the back of the book:

In 1975, budding entrepreneurs Ted and Janet purchase a floral shop and greenhouses where they plan to grow their dream. Leaving friends and family behind in Illinois and losing the security of two paychecks, they transplant themselves, their one-year-old daughter, and all their belongings to Fremont, Michigan, where they know no one. 

Will the retiring business owners nurture Ted and Janet as they struggle to develop a blooming business, or will they desert the inexperienced young couple to wither and die in their new environment?

 Most of all, can Ted and Janet grow together as they cultivate a loving marriage, juggle parenting with work and root a thriving business?

Follow Ted and Janet's inspiring story, filled with the joy, triumphs, and obstacles and failures experienced by these blossoming entrepreneurs as they travel the turbulent path of turning dreams into reality.

A snapshot of the flower shop on the first day we saw it in July 1975

We purchased the shop and greenhouse operation and lived out our dream to be entrepreneurs. It was a risky chance, but we were young and innocent enough not to know what we faced in the world of business. 

I remember how thrilled I was when we decided to become shop owners. I remember how frightened I was to move away from Central Illinois where we had a team of supporters in our family and friends and the security of two paychecks. 

The small town in West Michigan was filled with strangers. We knew nothing about the retiring owners. We had to trust and pray they were good people.

Sara, Easter 1976 
16 months old

The most difficult time for me was, after nursing my baby girl for nearly a year, I had to give her up to a daycare worker whom I did not know in order for me to work full time at the shop.

But, come to find out, Jackie, the sweet woman who took care of Sara, was the perfect person to care for her. 

SPOILER AHEAD: 

We sold the business on March 1, 1995. You can imagine a lot transpired during those 19-plus years of working as business owners. 

In 1982, we purchased property about two blocks from the original chalet-style flower shop and greenhouses and erected three greenhouses, each 50' x 150', for growing plants to keep up with the demand from our customers and to house a garden center. In 1986, we opened our new flower shop and garden center facility which was attached to the greenhouses. 

The floral shop, garden center and greenhouses in one location
1988

Imagining the building that was going to be our new flower shop and garden center was one thing, but planning and building it were another. Dreaming of it was thrilling. Building it was frustrating when we couldn't get the builders to show up and get it done as quickly as we wanted to! Decorating the interior and ordering inventory, moving in...all those things and more were exciting and scary all at once. Figuring out how the design room should be set up, managing the shelving for the shop and garden center, decisions on how to create welcoming, but efficient spaces, were just a few of the responsibilities. 

We celebrated our new facilities with the community with a grand opening in November 1986. That day and the excitement of our customers and visitors still swirls in my memory as one of the best days at the flower shop.

The plans for the new facility were birthed during a lunch date. Here's the excerpt from Chapter 29, Another Move, Arranging a Dream: A Memoir.

Within one year of occupying the new location, we were fed up with running back and forth between the shop and greenhouses in two locations and frustrated with the insufficient space in the design room, coolers, storage areas in the chalet building. We decided in 1985 to build an expansive flower shop with a garden center at the new greenhouse location.

We brainstormed on the place to locate the building on the property, but nothing clicked until we met with our beloved salesman, “Ugly Fred.” He called himself that memorable name to distinguish him from other salesmen. When Fred started calling on us, we liked the tall, white-haired Dutchman. He had experience owning a hardware store, and he shared helpful tips on selecting and displaying products our customers needed. Interacting with him through the planning and setting up of the products, he grew to become our trusted friend and mentor.

At one of those lunch meetings at Samuel’s Restaurant, which seemed to be our home away from home, we discussed the idea of moving the shop to the greenhouse property.

“That makes sense to me,” he said. He grabbed a pen from his shirt pocket and began sketching a drawing on a clean, white paper napkin.

“You can place the shop here.” He pointed to his drawing with the building out front and to the side of the greenhouses.

“That would make room for a large area for the entrance and parking.” Ted’s eyes shone with excitement.

“See, place a door into the greenhouses on this side, a door on the east side into the garden center.” Fred sketched in the doors.

“And the entire front of the building would be the gift shop,” I announced.

Fast and furious came more ideas for storage areas, work areas, delivery space. God bless Ugly Fred and his napkin drawing. I wish I had saved it.

At the ground-breaking ceremony in front of the greenhouses, we invited Fred to be in the photo taken by the Fremont Times Indicator for an article on the beginning construction of the flower shop. Our daughters, Ted and I, Ken Frens, Fred and his boss at Mollema Wholesalers, and building contractor Harold Smith smile brightly in the photo captured by the photographer. What an exciting time to see the shop take form and become a reality.

Now, the rest of the story in 2022:

The owners who originally purchased the shop in 1995 are still in business, however, they sold the shop and property to Aldis grocery store last month. Aldis will bring in the wrecking ball soon to knock down that building whose blueprint was first hand-drawn on a white paper napkin. Soon, our beloved facility will be a pile of rubble, then disappear into a landfill. All the evidence that the shop ever existed will be gone. I'm a bit melancholy about that, even if I haven't been working in the shop for 27 years.

I am glad I have wonderful memories of the times and photos of that era of my life because there is no longer any physical proof of those times. The original chalet building was knocked down several years ago. Only a grassy lot with a  For Sale sign remains where the old shop was located. 

Thank goodness, I have the memoir that leaves our legacy stories for our family and friends and future generations to read and learn about how we made our dream come true. It is a testimony to others to know that dreams can come true.

****

My message to you is to consider jotting down memories for your family. Or record them using your phone. Your story could be an important piece to encourage others.

Tell your life story!

ARRANGING A DREAM: A MEMOIR

Janet and Gardener Ted

Click here to connect online with J.Q. Rose

 

Reading and Writing Buddies by Helen Henderson

 

Fire and Amulet by Helen Henderson
Click the cover for purchase information

What is the first thing you think of when you see writing buddy? You might picture a critique partner, face tense in concentration as they hunch over a manuscript. The image could even be detailed enough to include scribbled comments in red. Or maybe your idea is three people chatting online, brainstorming ideas for a collaborative work.

My first image for reading buddies was a group of women in comfortable, upholstered chairs in someone's living room. Side tables hold glasses of wine and plates of chocolate candies or other treats. Next was a book club. Their vibrant discussion takes place in a small cluster of chairs in the corner of a library or local book store. However, this post follows a recent meme trend. The reading and writing buddies varied by gender and age, but all have one thing in common -- four feet. The reading and writing buddies are cats and dogs. 

Meet Pepper, my childhood reading buddy. We sat on the ground in the shade of an ancient willow tree. The books being read were my parents' collections and the piles of books checked out of the county library. The westerns of Zane Gray and Lois L'amour competed with the tales of Cherry Ames. No, it never made me want to be a nurse. That was my mother's dream, at least until she graduated high school too early to be accepted.

Many years later, another four-footed companion kept me company. Tighe curled up next to me on the couch and tolerated being petted as I read. Gentle nudges reminded me he was still there whenever the caresses slowed or stopped. He had more challenging behavior as a writing buddy. Lying on my feet or my lap as I typed didn't interfere with productivity. Until he decided it was time for a snack or to go prowl the yard. Then if I didn't respond quick enough to taps on my hand, a leap and strut across the keyboard challenged me to move him. I refuse to answer who won the stand-off. 

 

I hope you enjoyed meeting my reading and writing buddies.

 

To purchase Fire and Amulet: BWL

~Until next month, stay safe and read.  

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

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 has adopted her as one the pack.