Autumn Reminiscences by Helen Henderson

 

Windmaster Golem
Click the cover for purchase information

Last month's post presented a memory from the archmage, Lord Dal's past and how it affected his actions. This month, the reminiscing will be more personal and include memories of the season. Since I've already covered the most emotional of my autumn memories, those associated with 9-11, I decided to focus on other ones.

The warm days and cool nights of autumn signal not only the upcoming winter season, but also harvest time. First the wheat or whatever grain planted earlier in the year had to be cut, the grasses crimped, turned, baked in the sun until dry, and then the fun began. Baling took the entire family. My father drove the tractor. The rest of us rode the hay wagon, pulled the bales off the chute, dragged and stacked them. All of which required long sleeves to minimize scratches and clambering around the rows of hay bales. The full wagon would be pulled to the barn where the reverse loading took place. Front to back, top to bottom, bales were moved onto the conveyor and taken to the upper floor of the barn were we once again repeated the snatch, drag, and stack.

Another memory of autumn was the annual putting up the garden with the pickling, preserving, and making ketchup. Sometimes the work was done under the direction of the older clanswomen. Our reward for this work was not just the food preserved for the upcoming winter, but also the treat of grandmother's heritage dishes. Of course, workers got first pick at the butter-drenched lokse, onion-accented pierogies, and sugared fried dough fresh from the pan.

The boat, gas tank and hot water
heater are at the top of a bridge.

As to the teaser image from last month? Halloween is not always remembered for pumpkins and neighborhood children in costume trick-or-treating. A hurricane that became a post-tropical cyclone a frankenstorm, and then after she cut across New Jersey, became the infamous Superstorm Sandy. 

Whole flotillas of boats where removed from the water or lifted off trailers or storage racks to be scattered onto roads, bridges, or into fields in my area. Wind, rain, and tidal surges disrupted electricity service from parts of Quebec to North Carolina and as far west as Indiana and Illinois.

 

The remnants of the local history museum.
Many artifacts were washed out to sea.
Others were recovered by walking miles of shoreline.

Besides the images of the displaced boats, a more personal memory was being one of the 8.5 million people without power for what seemed like unending days. We were fortunate in that our electric company did a controlled shut down, minimizing damage to substations. When our electricity was restored, my husband and I took in his mother and sister until the lines of poles were replaced and wires restrung in their town. 

 

Most of the homes in my town didn't suffer much damage but we lost several businesses including the history museum. Although two senior high-rise apartment buildings had to be evacuated. An adjoining town was not so lucky. The entire town was submerged. My home renovation experience came in handy during volunteer tours removing sheetrock and plaster. My last stint was taping and spackling. I might not as been as fast as the professional I worked alongside, but I was pleased he didn't have to redo any of my seams.

 ~Until next month, stay safe and read. 

To purchase the Windmaster Novels: BWL

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 have adopted her as one the pack. 

Nancy M. Bell - BWL Author Profile

Nancy M Bell is a proud Albertan and Canadian. She lives near Balzac, Alberta with her husband and various critters. She works with and fosters rescue animals. Nancy is a member of The Writers Union of Canada and the Writers Guild of Alberta. She has publishing credits in poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. For the past three years she has been invited to read her poetry at the Stephan G Stephansson House event Poetry at Stephan’s House.

 

 https://bookswelove.net/bell-nancy/

 

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Kayla Dunbarton is in Las Vegas at the National Finals Rodeo for the sole purpose of promoting the sport of Dressage. She has no intention of getting mixed up with champion bull rider Rob Chetwynd. But circumstances conspire to throw them together and the sexy cowboy’s mix of ruggedness and vulnerability combine to slide past her carefully constructed defenses. Still smarting from a broken romance with a well to do fellow competitor, Kayla wants no part of a romantic entanglement with a rodeo man she’s never going to see after Las Vegas.

 

A spiteful move by another dressage competitor who is sponsored by the same group as Kayla throws a wrench into things. One ill-advised action, captured on film, threatens to ruin Kayla’s reputation, and could result in the loss of her sponsorship. Rob Chetwynd provides the answer to her dilemma, but is it a risk she’s willing to take with her heart?

 https://bookswelove.net/bell-nancy/

  THE ALBERTA ADVENTURES

Set in the south country of Alberta, Laurel Rowan and her friends become embroiled in some dangerous events. Laurel’s passion for the wild horses of Alberta are featured in Wild Horse Rescue, while in Dead Dogs Talk she stumbles into the world of illegal dog fighting. In this last book of the series, Chance Cullen, Laurel’s childhood friend who has been straying from the straight and narrow must come to terms with the demons that haunt him. He must also come to a resolution about his feelings for Laurel, and hers for him.

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Chance Cullen has screwed up royally, and he knows it. He’s alienated his mother and sister, and the girl he’s been in love with his whole life, Laurel Rowan. The lure of alcohol calls him, and in the past, he’s found solace there…for a time. But life keeps blowing up in his face.

Chance desperately wants to be a top bull rider, but he needs a sponsor, and he needs to come to terms with taking responsibility and turning his life around. His abusive dad is in prison for a number of offences, including masterminding a dog fighting ring. Chance’s narrow escape from both the law and the unsavoury characters he got involved with through his father, have left him shaken. In his mind, his greatest crime was putting Laurel Rowan in danger.

He knows she doesn’t feel the same way about him as he does about her, but maybe, just maybe, he can win back her friendship. It won’t be an easy road, but Chance is determined to fight his demons. A cowboy needs to know when to cowboy up and Chance figures this is his time.

 

 

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 Little did Laurel Rowan know where the discovery of an injured dog would lead her. The dark world of dog fighting rings and the unsavoury characters who surround them are a stark awakening for the Alberta teen. Volunteering at a local animal rescue helps her come to terms with some of the things, but Laurel won’t stop until she’s done all she can to rescue those animals in danger. She’s horrified to find out her childhood friend Chance is involved up to his neck in the mess, but now he’s trying to get out and help Laurel all he can. Trouble is lurking around each corner.

 

 

 

 

 

Dragon - a few of the collection by Janet Lane Walters BWLAuthor #BWLAuthor #dragons #Fyre #Amber Dragon

 

I have a collection of Dragons, probably fifty or so and they're of many kinds. Four of my stories have dragons featured. Dragons of Fyre, Wizards of Fyre and Children of Fyre are part of a series. Only the first of the series has no dragons. Then there is my favorite dragon, the Amber Dragon found in the collection . The Amber Chronicles. Sort of based on the Princess and the Frog but the princess is the one enchanted. She becomes a small, fat amber dragon. She must find a prince to kiss her to break the spell. A fun story to write.

I decided I'd show a few of my collection here.

This dragon is really a light and is the largest one in my collection. It's several feet tall and wide.

One of my critique group found this stapler and couldn't resist adding this to my collection.

Here is one my granddaughter bought me for my birthday two years ago. The large light was also a birthday gift from her. The restaurant was going out of business and she boughtit there.

This is a lamp that sits near my computer.

This is a clock and sits above my computer. This I found in some magazine that arrived at the house and I couldn't resist.

The final dragon I'm showing today was also a birthday present from Kathy Attalla, who woter for BWL and was one of my best ever friends,

That's all but i hope you all have dragons or something to inspire your writing. Now I must return to my work in progress and whip it into shape. No dragons in this one,

It's below the Dream World, by J.C. Kavanagh

  

The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends 

Book 2 of the award-winning Twisted Climb series

It's been many months in the writing, but the final book in The Twisted Climb award-winning series will soon be published. Titled, A Bright Darkness, the story begins immediately after the conclusion of Book 2, weaving more action, more suspense and even stranger paranormal activities in a new place: the Un-World. 

Be prepared for more twists, turns and numbing revelations in A Bright Darkness. Read below for the back-cover blurb.

The dream world hides something deeper

The terrifying adventures continue in this final chapter of The Twisted Climb series. Georgia has been saved, and Dick, too. Or so they thought. Jayden, Connor and Max are once again summoned to the dream world – only to discover that there is another world below it. A world that un-does all the rules of the dream world. A world where climbing gets you nowhere and thousand-year-old legends dwell. A world with secrets to be uncovered and unimaginable terrors to confront.

Jayden, Connor and Max must conquer each bizarre challenge in their hazardous journey, because only one of them holds the key to its epic conclusion.

The cover of A Bright Darkness,
Book 3 of The Twisted Climb series, 
available soon!

Until then, stay safe.

 

J.C. Kavanagh, author of 
The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2) voted BEST Young Adult Book 2018, Critters Readers Poll and Best YA Book FINALIST at The Word Guild, Canada 

AND 

The Twisted Climb, 

voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers Poll 

Voted Best Local Author, Simcoe County, Ontario, 2021 

Novels for teens, young adults and adults young at heart 

Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com 

www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh 

www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh 

Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh) 

Instagram @authorjckavanagh

Explaining my Writing Style by Paul Doucette

 

For details and links visit my BWL Author Page

Hello again,

I have been asked on occasion to discuss and explain my writing style. Perhaps many of you would like to know what motivates a writer to commit something/anything to paper. I can only convey what drives me to write.

The first point I believe ought to be that as a writer or potential writer, you would have something to say; to share. This axiom applies to any subject being written about. In the area of fiction, I believe the writer MUST have a story to tell regardless of the genre, i.e., mystery, suspense, espionage, intrigue and so on.

A second point I believe to be of paramount importance is to find your own specific voice. In my case, this was discovered by reading many authors with many varied voices. I refer to such writers as Stuart Kaminsky, Robert B. Parker, Arthur Cohen Doyle, Edgar Allen Poe, just to name a few. These writers adopted writing styles from using a narrative voice to using characters to convey their voice through the use of dialogue. In my case, I opted for dialogue, mostly because of my love of spoken language with its intonations, dialects, and nuances.

The third point about my writing is to heed the sense of place and history in story-telling, These ought to be treated as silent ‘characters’ by the writer. After all, the story takes place somewhere and at some point in time. I use as a guiding principle the following view that we are products of the environments we live in. Therefore how your characters act and interact is to varying degrees a consequence or a reaction to where you have placed them.

The points I offer can be seen at work in my John Robichaud Mysteries which are set in war-time Halifax between 1939 and 1946.

I hope the foregoing will be helpful to you in your own writing or in understanding the stories I have written. I will leave you with something my English Professor once told us:

 “Write what you know.”