Maps with the feel of the European Middle Ages by Tobias Robbins

 

I originally made this rough draft of a map just to help me visualize all the places in my book just for my personal story aid. These pictures are of the upgraded version of that original map. Because so much of my story involves the power of place on individuals and entire cultures, I wanted a way to see it. The places we’re born into have a lot of power over us. Whether we want to admit it or not. I’m not going to get into a nature versus nurture argument, but it feels safe to assume that our surroundings have an impact on our decisions. On the micro level, it helps us build an identity.  And on the macro level, I point to Jared Diamond's book Guns, Germs, and Steel, which reinforces the importance of natural resources for different civilizations. My story is told from dozens of different characters’ points of view and each of them are from different areas. I wanted to really make sure that I had an accurate continuity in how I described my setting. My map helps me do that. My only regret is that I wish I would’ve gotten a professional to help me illustrate the drawings on the map, I did them myself and they look a bit immature but it’s fine. I wanted it to feel like an old, illustrated map from the European Middle Ages so in a way the map’s simplicity fits that tone. Just like in our world today, locations have unique advantages and disadvantages. Some could be extremely technologically advanced, while others are still in the Stone Age.

To Story Is Human

 

my latest storytelling adventure

                   My page at BWL Publishing

My friend Juliene likes to say "we're hot-wired for story." I agree. It's one of the things that make us human. We find evidence for this in the very earliest cave paintings...daring tales and the handprints of those telling the story.

We choose our stories for many reasons...to inform and educate, to delight, to feel less alone.

We witness stories too...an argument at the grocery store, a look between lovers. Sometimes we choose to step into the stories going on around us and become part of them.

We think about stories, and allow them to change our perspectives, increase our understanding of an event, a person, a long-held belief.

We may even engage in the creative act of storytelling ourselves...in a heartfelt letter to a friend, a journal entry, a story to a child at bedtime.

And we support each other in our storytelling by sharing a treasured poem, novel, a performance.

My friend Juilene and I have been supporting each other over our 30 years of hot-wired for story friendship.. I hope you have a friend like mine.

Eileen & Juilene

                  As always, happy reading, friends!

 

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Travels Through (Former) War Zones

                                        Please click this link for book and author information

My new novel, A Killer Whisky, takes place during World War One, and I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject for research. The books have made me realize my ignorance about the Great War, as it was called at the time, despite having watched numerous costume dramas set during that era (Downton Abbey springs to mind) and visiting sites on the Western Front during a 2015 holiday in Northern France.   

Canadian National Vimy Memorial commemorates the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge in France

This September, I travelled to Croatia and Slovenia in the former Yugoslavia, which was a battleground for three wars in the twentieth century. A Serbian nationalist set off the First World War when he assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and, as part of the empire, Croatia and Slovenia were conscripted to the side of the Central Powers. Italy joined the opposing Allies and attempted to break through the Slovenian mountains to capture Vienna. The result was 12 Battles of the Isonzo (Soca) River. Italy's efforts largely failed -- the mountainous terrain favoured the defenders -- and accounted for half of the Italian military deaths in WWI.    

Our September drive through Slovenia took us by the Soca River, which originates in the Julian Alps and is one of the world's rare rivers that maintains its emerald-green colour for its full length. Today, the region is popular with hikers, kayakers, and others who enjoy wilderness activities. 

After WWI, the victorious Allies carved Yugoslavia ("Land of the South Slavs") from the Austria-Hungary empire. When WWII broke out twenty years later, German, Hungarian, and Italian forces invaded Yugoslavia and divided the regions among themselves. A Yugoslav resistance movement emerged led by Josip Broz Tito. After the war, Tito's communist party (the only party on the ballot) won victory. Tito served as national leader until his death in 1980.    

Tito's former summer home on Slovenia's beautiful Lake Bled is now a luxury hotel. You can rent an economy room at Vila Bled during this current off-season for about $230 CAD a night including breakfast. 

Vila Bled, Slovenia

Lake Bled, Slovenia

A decade after Tito's death, ethnic tensions in Yugoslavia erupted into civil war. During our trip, we encountered the most evidence of that war in Dubrovnik, Croatia. In 1991, the fortress on Mount Srd outside the Dubrovnik Old Town became the last stand for this southern part of Croatia against the Yugoslav army, composed of Serbs and Montenegrins. 

View of Mount Srd from the Old Town - the darker tiles on roofs have replaced tiles that were damaged during the war

When they couldn't capture the fortress, the Yugoslav army bombed and blockaded the Old Town, killing 92 civilians and damaging half the buildings. This map on a city wall marks the property damage. 

Most of the damage was reconstructed during the next 30 years. The city's Sponza Palace features a Memorial Room dedicated to the city's volunteer defenders who died during the seven-month siege. 

The fortress on Mount Srd now contains a museum depicting the war's events. We overheard a young tour guide point out her father in this photo of the volunteer defenders. 

The siege ended when Croatia finally got its army organized and drove out the attackers. Between 1991 and 2008 Yugoslavia became seven separate nations. The ones we visited seem peaceful now, but the war's history is startlingly recent.    

None of this detail appears in my novel, A Killer Whisky, which takes place on the WWI home front in Calgary, Canada. But the war in Europe is a constant presence in the story and my characters must deal with its impacts on daily life, the uncertainties the war creates for their futures, and sudden, unexpected deaths -- since the book is murder mystery. A Killer Whisky, the 12th and final novel of BWL's  Canadian Historical Mystery Series, will be released in December. 

Each November, Calgary's Field of Crosses commemorates Southern Alberta soldiers who died in wars 

      

        

UNDERWEAR IN SPACE by Karla Stover

https://bookswelove.net/stover-karla/

BY THE SAME AUTHOR:

A Line to Murder

Murder: When One Isn't Enough

Wynter's Way

Parlor Girls

  I've been worried about astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore being stuck in space, worried that they have enough food, worried that they're on a spaceship built by Boeing, and worried about them having clean underwear. Putting together a number of articles on Google, a brief history of underwear in space is as follows:

    "In the 1980s, NASA designed disposable absorption containment trunks (DACTs) for female astronauts. In 1988, NASA created the maximum absorbency garment (MAG) to replace the DACT which was later adopted by male astronauts as well. Typically, astronauts bring extra cotton shirts and pants, sleep shorts, slippers, and lined jackets. They wear T-shirts and trousers with pockets and Velcro stripes to attach things, and multiple sets of underwear to change into every day. However, because there are no laundry facilities on the International Space Station, astronauts may wear the same underwear for up to a week. To get around the problems of zero-gravity bathroom breaks, a newly-designed vacuum toilet has been developed. It consists of two parts: a hose with a funnel at one end for urinating and a small raised toilet seat for - - I'll call it number 2.

    But getting back to underwear, according to Jeff  Owens, a scientist for the United States Air Force, "During Desert Storm, most casualties were from bacterial infections—not accidents or friendly fire."  So, scientists created a fabric for t-shirts and underwear so they can be worn hygienically for weeks without washing. The "technology" attaches nanoparticles to clothing fibers using microwaves. Then, chemicals that can repel water, oil and bacteria are directly bound to the nanoparticles. These two elements combine to create a protective coating on the fibers of the material. The coating both kills bacteria, and forces liquids to bead and run off. The soldiers who tested the underwear for several weeks found it remained hygienic and also helped clear up some skin complaints."

    And finally, all the dirty clothes are incinerated through atmospheric reentry and turned into dust. 

                                                AN AFTER THOUGHT

    On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the sun emitted a burst of energy that counted as a very powerful solar flare. Could it have been incinerating underwear?

                   NEXT MONTH: a bra that converts into a shopping bag. Ain't science fun?

Writing Letters and More – My Writing Roadmap / By Barbara Baker

When I was a kid, I didn’t write stories. I wrote letters. A lot of letters. At first, I only sent them to relatives and Mom would dictate what I was supposed to write – We are all fine. How are you? Is everyone doing well? The weather here is cold … hot … wet (depending on the season) - you know, the riveting news people couldn’t wait to read.

After a few test drives, Mom stopped checking my letters. Fabulous. I added tales of family misadventures, after the mandatory weather report, and embellished details to ensure I came out as the heroine in all escapades. My newly added details which were not exactly accurate, in my head, were pretty darn funny.

When my grade five teacher asked the class if anyone was interested in having a pen pal, my arm flew up. Imagine the stories I could tell them? I ended up with writing pals in London (England), Lethbridge (Alberta) and Ottawa (Ontario) and for decades, we exchanged letters. 

In the 90s with the evolution of email, connecting with people became easier. I spread life events further and faster. Sometimes even instantaneously after said event occurred.

It wasn’t until 2009 that I wrote an actual story. A friend sent me the link to the CBC Ultimate Canadian Commuter story contest. At the time, I commuted four hours a day to get to work and home again. In Alberta. Where winter weather can happen in every month.

I whipped up a story about a bad weather driving day, sent my entry off in an email and carried on with life. What a surprise to get a call from CBC’s Shelagh Rogers a few weeks later asking for an interview because I was one of the three finalists. I didn’t win but wow, who knew writing was so easy?

After the interview I wrote dozens of short stories and submitted them to contests across North America totally anticipating a warm reception. Rejection after rejection rolled in. WTH? Was my CBC entry just beginner’s luck? I pouted for a bit and then decided I needed to figure out how to be a real writer.

Off I flew to a writer’s workshop to learn about story telling techniques and how to become a legit author. After I arrived and took in the sights at the facility, I thought if I failed at the writerly part of the retreat, at least my camera would excel at snapping images of the sunsets.

 

 

The first night, workshop participants gathered for introductions and supper. I sat at a table and listened to snippets of conversations from total strangers:

    -    who's your editor?

    -    congratulations on making the slush pile

    -    did you go hybrid or traditional? - it all sounded like a foreign language.

 

 

A friendly gal sitting next to me, turned and asked me, “What are you working on?”

As I forked through the colourful salad on my plate, I said, “Do you think there’s raspberry vinaigrette dressing on this?”

The table erupted into an animated discussion about the salad dressing and its possible ingredients. Yes, call me the Queen of Deflection. And thank goodness it worked.

The following days were filled with writerly information:

    -    show don’t tell when writing – there’s a difference?

    -    use an active voice – what would a non-active voice sound like?

    -    use powerful verbs, avoid ‘ly’ endings - why?

    -    less is better – really?

    -    read your writing out loud - what if someone hears me?

    -    discover your own unique voice – how is that different from my normal voice?

    -    pantser versus plotter - pardon?

    -    how to beat writer’s block – do I use a chopping block?

    -    decide on your genre – how?

So much to learn since my letter-writing days of embellished heroine antics … and the learning continues as I debate working on my next novel about Jillian. 

 

Baker, Barbara - BWL Publishing Inc. (bookswelove.net)