Monday, November 20, 2023
The Silver Screen and Me...by Sheila Claydon
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Celebrations In A Fantasy World by Helen Henderson
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Windmaster by Helen Henderson |
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, just a few of the holidays that are around the corner. Traditions can vary by culture or region, or even within a family. What you do when you have a houseful of small children changes when the little ones are now grown up with families of their own. The Windmaster Novel are based in worlds of fantasy. So why am I writing about holidays?
Early in my writing career (back when I traveled the dark side, non-fiction) experience told me one of the ways to make a world of imagination, in that case the historical past, was to ensure the article or book had points of commonality between the world they knew and the one they were reading about. That same theory carried over to fiction.
Changes of the seasons and gathering of friends and family are two things that can be associated with a holiday or special event. The question is especially difficult when the seasons are different or there is a different term for the world's circle around the sun. A "turn" is the same as an earth 'year,' so a Turn's End celebration is equivalent to a New Year's Eve party.
While there are no actual recounts of a Turn's End event in the Windmaster Novels, there are references in Windmaster and Windmaster Legacy. In the second book, the memory of dancing at a turn's end party transformed a hostile reception to one of old friends.
The following excerpt comes from Windmaster. Like the first it reference how the beginning of a new season is celebrated. To set the scene, Ellspeth is in her home port and has just been invited to a gala party in the king's gardens.
Ellspeth performed a fast mental inventory of what gowns were packed in the wooden trunks in the adjacent attic storage rooms. The green one she wore to the last turn’s end festivities piqued her interest. Eighth hour, she decided, should be just enough time to air the preserving leaves from the gown.
Now that you have been given a little insight into the world of Windmaster, whether they are with friends or family, large affairs or small intimate ones, enjoy your holidays.
To purchase the Windmaster Novels: BWL
~Until next month, stay safe and read. Helen
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. Find out more about her and her novels on her BWL author page.
Saturday, November 18, 2023
The Place that Held You by Nancy M Bell
Somme
Sleep
Crouched and ready we wait,
Dawn is late in coming
And when it does it is shrouded
In mist and fog
It is more than the damp and wet
That sends the shivers over our skin
Anticipation and fear war with each other
Where are the tanks that are supposed to
support us?
Stitched together by mizzle and mist
Yards away, across the trampled earth
The enemy crouch and wait as we do
Where are the tanks? The support?
Whispers and rumours run up and down the line
Then—suddenly the wait is over
“Over the top, boys,” the sergeant yells
Surging out of our earthen burrows
Running, firing blind, blinking in the fog
No time to think, only to run and fire
Ducking bullets whining by our ears
Then—it stops
I open my mouth and spit mud
Blood, hot and cold runs through my fingers
The old guys were right
There is no pain when it happens
Just a mixed sensation of disbelief
And relief…
Even if I die right here in the mud
It’s over:
The fear;
the wet;
the lice;
the killing.
Somewhere my mates are yelling and shots echo
But around me there is an odd silence
A separation from the man-made hell
One hand clutching my gut,
the other somehow still wrapped around my rifle
I let the lark song sing me to sleep.
Friday, November 17, 2023
Writing - Choosing a Plot by Janet Lane Walters #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #Plot #Mystery #Horror writer #Demise #romance
Back to my way of writing. When I begin, I decide what kind of book I plan to write. This time, I wanted to start a new mystery series and several things were buzzing in my thoughts. I decided rather than a straight mystery, I wanted this series to have a developing romance along with the mystery. Then came the idea for the first one in this series. I needed a title before I began.
I'm funny this way, but I need to have a title before I can begin the book. I knew the dead man was a horror writer. A number of titles flashed in my thoughts. Finally I decided on the Horror Writer's Demise. Not sure why that stuck in my head. Then the planning for the book began.
Setting became the Hudson Valley and one of the places there was a house that had been turned into a place where writers and other people involved with the arts couldrent a space where they could write. There once was such a place not far from where I live. Not sure if it still exists.
Te Characters came next - Not all of the but they will either increase of combined in versions of the story. The heroine is Valentina Heartley. With a name like that she thinks she should writea romance, especially since there have been no good ones in her life. She does research for professors, attorneys and authors. Her interest is Dane Grant, a local detective and widower. Theyboth have five year old sons. She has a mother who helps her and he has a sister.
What happens next will be my taking these two characters and writing a synopsis of the story. For good or not, I organize my stories completely. At present there are a few questions I need to answer before I can start writing.
That's how I work and the system has evolved over the years since 1968 when I soldmy first story.
My
Places
https://www.facebook.com/janet.l.walters.3?v=wall&story_f
http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com
https://www.pinterest.com/shadyl717/
Buy
Mark
Thursday, November 16, 2023
The dog has it, by J.C. Kavanagh
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Book 1 of the Award-winning series, The Twisted Climb |
J.C. Kavanagh, author of
The Twisted Climb - A Bright Darkness (Book 3), finalist in the 2022 Critters Readers' Poll,
and
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
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