A Good Man Is Hard to Find

                                         Find lots of good men in my books: here!

I love celebrating good men in my novels... whether it's teen-aged Tad Gist of my Linda Tassel Mysteries, struggling with coming of age in a new place, but sure of his love for Linda, or Rowan Buckley of Mercies of the Fallen and Ursula's Inheritance-- a Civil War soldier who changes his son's diapers, to Luke Kayenta of the Code Talker Chronicles, who honors his Diné Navajo heritage, his country, and the woman he loves.

I am so fortunate to have had a great dad. Here is is with his first daughter, my sister Marie... Can you see the delight in his eyes? Marie was born during World War II and he had to wait a long time to meet her.

My children have a great dad, too. Here he is with our youngest...

And again, a few years later...

Our son has taught me there are many ways to be a man. (Happy Pride Month, by the way... I love coming out as an ally of our precious LGBTQ+ children!)

Here's to good men everywhere, may your life be blessed with many...

 

Creating a Novel Series Cover Brand

 Please click this link for book and author information

BWL's Art Director didn't set out to create a cover brand for my Paula Savard Mystery Series. The first cover that Michelle Lee designed for me was for book # 2 of my series, Ten Days in Summer, published in 2017. The process began with me filling out a BWL Cover Art Form (CAF). I provided details about the story, its setting in Calgary, and the two main characters and suggested images related to these. At that time, BWL required that most novel covers include at least one image of a person. 

I plugged keywords into the photo image website, searching for ones that suited my protagonist and the story antagonist, a wannabe cowboy. None were exactly right, especially for Paula, my insurance adjuster sleuth. "Female detective" turned up images of young women peering through magnifying glasses. Paula is fifty-two and doesn't use that prop. Keywords "female insurance adjuster" showed women examining cars. The story involves a building fire insurance claim. I tried "businesswomen" and got images of women sitting in meetings, while Paula spends her time out on the case. 

I selected the best images for Paula that I could find along with images for my antagonist, which included a silhouetted cowboy.  I also suggested images of the Calgary skyline, fires, and a boarded-up house for the burned building. I don't think Michelle used any of the exact images I sent, but she meshed my ideas into a cover that was better than one I could have designed (see cover image above). The fire suggests the heat of summer in the title. 

Two years later, BWL republished A Deadly Fall, book # 1 in the series. During that short time period, book cover fashion moved away from portraying people and toward crisp and intriguing images that evoke a sense of the story. Now BWL's CAF stated that most covers would not include a person. I sent people image suggestions anyway, but I found it easier not to have to focus on finding an image that fit the characters in my head. On my CAF, I suggested images for the Calgary skyline and fall -- fall leaves on water, a path in fall, trees with colourful fall leaves, and falling leaves. Again, I doubt Michelle chose my actual suggestions, but they were her starting point to create this golden cover.   

When the third series book, Winter's Rage, was ready for a cover two years later, we were on our way to a series cover brand. My CAF included a few people image suggestions -- a woman texting, a man in a snowstorm, but I focused on images of the Calgary skyline in winter and winter driving, since this story was about a hit-and-run collision.  For the first time I considered colour. While red, orange, and yellow suited the fall and summer seasons of the first two books, I saw winter as white, blue, and black (night). Michelle came up with a cover that continued the brand with snowflakes and a frozen Calgary. Winter's book cover was blue, with yellow lettering that linked it to the colour of the two earlier books in the series.   

 By book # 4 of my Paula Savard Mystery Series, the series brand was established: Calgary skyline, colours to suit the story season, and additional images related to the season or story. Since bicycles feature prominently in Spring Into Danger, I included bicycle images among my CAF suggestions and chose Calgary skyline images that had a place for a bike or cyclist in the foreground. Here's the cover design for Spring Into Danger, which is scheduled for release in September. 

 I like how the cyclist pops into view. Whenever I look at this cover, I don't notice him until he emerges from the shadows. The book's blue cover with yellow lettering matches Winter's Rage and the covers for the four books have come full circle by including a silhouette on the first and last design. I look forward to seeing Spring Into Danger sitting on a bookshelf.   

All About Chicken Noodle Soup by Karla Stover

 

By The Same Author:

Parlor Girls                                     An Everleigh Sisters (world famous madams) bio.

Wynter's Way                                    A Gothic Novel

Murder" When One Isn't Enough    A Puget Sound / Hood Canal murder mystery

A Line to Murder                             A Tacoma, WA / Puget Sound murder mystery

Visit Karla's BWL Author page for book and purchase information

One of the fondest memories I have of my maternal grandmother is of her chicken noodle soup. I used to go to her house to help her clean cupboards and she'd have the stock simmering on the stove and homemade noodles drying on racks.

Jump ahead forty-odd years. There is a dinner near our home which makes its BLT with piles of bacon - - a favorite of my husband, but it never has chicken noodle soup. I asked so many times one of the waitresses (not wait staff, it's not that kind of place) told me they only have it on special occasions. Good grief, we're not talking about haute cuisine here, just a comfort food.

Who first put noodles in broth is up to debate. Chickens were domesticated around 7,000 to 10,000 years ago in Southeast Asia, but they were valued mainly for their eggs. Many archeologists believe that during the Upper Paleolithic period (which broadly dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 ago) people used "small earth ovens lined with hot rocks" to boil water for cooking meat or root vegetables. Of course, since it's pretty much impossible for historians to agree on anything, other archeologists think that perishable containers full of water were first boiled for cooking either over the fire or directly on hot ashes or stones. 

Under Google's "People Ask," the earliest recorded evidence of chicken soup being used as a therapeutic dish dates back to the ancient Chinese. "In the second century BC, the Chinese medical text, Huangdi Neijing, declared that chicken soup is a “yang food” – a warming dish – to which different therapeutic herbs can be added to cure various diseases."

However, ancient Greeks also had their own version of chicken broth, and chickens were boiled by a wide variety of cultures in Polynesia, Africa, Europe, and elsewhere in Asia. 

As far back as the Middle Ages throughout western Europe and the Mediterranean countries, chicken broth was commonly thought to be healthful though no one knows really why. It was thought to ease digestion and was supposed to be easier to digest than solids. Sick people were advised to consume broth. Some historians say recommending broth to an invalid "may have been related  to the body's four humors." And finally, others said that at the time there was a prevailing philosophy of "what could be more healthful than a food whose color resembled a human's complexion?" 

In 1465 the Italian gastronomist Bartolomeo Platina published the first cookbook, On Honourable Pleasure and Health. In it is a recipe recommending "chicken broth for the old and infirm."

Enter the Noodle

In Asia, as far back as "the early 1200s" cooks were adding noodles to broth. And by the 1700s Italians were feeding noodle soups to the ill and ailing "because it was easy to digest."

Joan Nathan (sometimes called the Jewish Julia Child) says chicken soup has been on the menu for centuries." She says, Seraphetic Jewish Philosopher Moses Ben Maimon, generally known as Maimonids,  advocated chicken soup as "a panacea for many different things: asthma, weight gain (like bone soup is today), and leprosy." 

Chicken soup came to America in the 16th century when Jews, Mennonites and Amish immigrants introduced it. Soup recipes containing chicken started appearing in various publications in 1824. "However, the term, 'chicken soup' wasn't commonly used until the late 19th century." 

Commercial soup took off in he late 19th century with the invention of canning, however, it became even more popular in 1895 when  an America  chemist named  John Thompson Dorrance found a method to condense it. American manufacturers began producing chicken soup with noodles and in 1934 Campbell's debuted its Noodle with Chicken Soup. Five years later a radio host inadvertently referred to it as Chicken Noodle Soup and the already-popular soup became even more so.

The nutrients in chicken noodle soup make it a healthy food, and its high contents of tryptophan which helps the body produce the mood enhancer serotonin makes it the perfect comfort food.

My husband wants to go the neighborhood dinner tonight and I'm pretty sure the soup will be chowder left over from last night (Friday) and vegetable in a tomato broth. (Ugh!) It wouldn't be so bad but their frequent alternative, French Fried, aren't very good either.

Writers, Authors and a Bookstore - Barbara Baker

 

Writing is a solitary process. So, when you get a chance to meet up with writer friends and participate at a bookstore author event you jump on a plane and fly to Ontario.

First stop, the Stephen Leacock Museum in Orillia, Ontario. My friend goes into the office. “I know the museum isn’t open, but she’s come all the way from Calgary.” She points at me. “Is there a chance we can take a look?”

“Of course,” the cheery lady says. “Give me five minutes. I’ll open it for you.”

I grin at my persuasive friend, and she winks back.

While we wait, we head to Leacock’s Boathouse. Painted figures resembling characters from Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town align the pathway.

And then we’re off to check out Leacock’s home. With no one else around we’re able to take our time and read all the plaques. 

        Stephen Leacock facts:

        - 1869-1944 born in England, 10 siblings, family moved to Ontario in 1876, father became an alcoholic and abandoned the family in 1878.

        - Leacock was a teacher, political scientist, writer, humourist (best known English-speaking humourist of his time).

        - In 1900 he married Beatrix Hamilton, an actress. They had one son, Stephen Lushington.

        - Leacock’s colleagues warned him his reputation would be ruined if he published humour. Beatrix encouraged him to publish it regardless of what others thought.

        - In 1990, while completing upgrades on the Leacock house, love letters from Beatrix were found in a secret panel in the bedroom closet. They were written before she died of breast cancer in 1925 at 46 years old. The letters tell of their love story and depict a side of Leacock few people were privy to.

        - Beatrix passed away before the house was complete.

                 Okay, enough Leacock trivia. We’re off to meet the others. There’s much to catch up on so a simple supper of nachos and fixings, red wine, Hawkins Cheezies (no substitutes) and assorted chocolates carry us late into the night. My cheeks hurt. Tears fall. Weight is lifted off shoulders. Exhausting good fun.

Early the next morning we leave in the rain, headed for Uxbridge, Ontario for the Independent Book Store celebration at Blue Heron Books. I get to promote my book, hang with authors and try to appear unterrified.

 

At the bookstore, I get a name tag which helps me remember who I am when fear nails my tongue to the roof of my mouth. I pull up my big girl panties and approach authors, ask them questions about their book(s) and writing journey. It’s not a walk in the park for anyone – this book writing gig. It’s hard work. A lot of hard work. 

From a distance, I watch Canadian bestselling author, Terry Fallis chatting. He’s relaxed. Smiles like it’s not painful. I want to go over and tell him I follow his newsletters and enjoy reading how his career didn’t just fall in his lap. But I’m too shy. He’s…well, he’s Terry Fallis. I can only hope in my lifetime to look that comfortable. Be that confident. Did I mention he’s a two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour? How awesome is he?

I recognize two authors chatting in the kid’s section. I approach and say, “Would it be okay if I hang with you gals?” They smile and say, “sure” in unison.

Time flies and then it’s over. I leave with a bag full of new books and notice my friends purchase my books and discreetly slip them into their bags. I’m a lucky lady to have them as friends.

On the drive home, the rains stops. The sun shines. The chatter continues. 

We make plans to put together an anthology of our short stories and publish them in a book. It’ll be a lot of work. But I know there will be another trip to Ontario to review the hardcopy draft. I can hardly wait. 

You can contact me at: bbaker.write@gmail.com

Summer of Lies: Baker, Barbara:9780228615774: Books - Amazon.ca

What About Me?: Sequel to Summer of Lies : Baker, Barbara: Amazon.ca: Books

 

 

Bon Voyage To Meee by Vanessa C. Hawkins

 

 

 Vanessa Hawkins Author Page

    So curretly I am en route to Toronto Ontario, so I fear there will be but a small blog post this month. I flew via Flair Airlines without a hitch, and am typing this up as I sit in the very front of the Robert Q bus. What a flight, I must say! I was glad to have a bit of liquid courage on the plane because the landing was rocky at best. The wildfires in Canada mean the skies are clouded in smog, which I suppose corresponds to mega turbulance. However, I am lucky to find myself here and on the way to plan and map out another book!

It was a lovely view in New Brunswick today at least. Though, if you have ever flown flair you may know how cheap it is. This comes at a price however, as every little thing has an extra charge. For example, carry on baggage. Now... I am but a humble writer. I'm no Stephen King nor Dean Koontz. I can't afford all the extras can I?

Well... not on a novelists salary! So, I planned ahead! I wore all my clothes on the plane, packed a fanny pack, and made sure even my boots had pockets!

I wasn't kidding! Good for one pair of underpants! 

Now that means as soon as I arrived I had to change. Holy heck its hot here! New Brunswick was crisp 10 degrees maybe, but by the time I arrived at TO I was due for a wardrobe change. I'm only here a few short days, but I am hoping to take in some sights while I'm here. I'm also going to be meeting up with my co-author for the Ballroom Riot series, Tara Woodworth! 

I'll have more to report next month when I return from my first trip since the pandemic! So stayed tuned then and keep writing! 

                

Before Flight and after flight... I felt much cooler after changing! 

Bon Voyage to Meeeeeeeeee