BWL Publishing Inc. New Releases for May 1, 2025

 

Despite the grieving husband’s description of the event, Sergeant CJ Jensen isn't at all convinced that a farm fatality is really an accident. With the help of Pam Ryan, Floyd Swenson, and a neighbor who raises skunks, CJ’s investigation uncovers multiple mysteries as she moves forward and puts down permanent roots in Pine County.

 

EDITORIAL REVIEW by Victoria Chatham

Skidded and Skunked: Pine County mystery #12 written by Dean L. Hovey with D. L. Dixen

 

When Pine County Sergeant CJ Jensen is called to the scene of a tragic farming accident, it looks exactly that. Donna Raster is dead, apparently the victim of a malfunctioning Bobcat driven by her husband, Craig. On further investigation, the evidence doesn’t add up, and CJ, along with Pam Ryan, an investigator with the Pine County Sheriff’s Department, dig deeper into Craig and Donna Raster’s relationship.

 

Along with CJ and Pam, some well-presented characters include Marvel Erickson and her pet skunk, Stinky; Casey Satter, a dodgy realtor who unwittingly videos evidence with his drone; and CJ’s Basset hound, Bailey. Along with this cast of characters, this story has enough twists and unexpected turns to satisfy any reader.

 Click this link to purchase your copy

https://books2read.com/Skidded-and-Skunked

Molasses has been a sweet treat for centuries by Eden Monroe

 

 

https://www.bookswelove.com/monroe-eden/

Used in a variety of applications, from a simple bread and butter topping to any number of delicious recipes, molasses remains a traditional favourite. Molasses cookies and molasses cake were (are) perhaps the most popular, and both were well-loved by young Luke Kavenagh in When Shadows Stir, Book Two of The Kavenaghs (1870-1879):

“When the afternoon class was finished (he was being home schooled), Luke cleaned his slate and waited for his cookies and milk.

 ‘I want to talk to you for a moment, Luke,’ she said sitting down opposite him. ‘Do you know your birthday is tomorrow?’

He thought for a moment. ‘I’m going to be nine, aren’t I.’

‘That’s right, and to help you celebrate the big day I’m going to bake you a cake. Any special kind you’d like?’

Maggie knew what his response would be before she even asked, and of course he shouted: ‘Lally cake!’

Keeping molasses in this house with Luke around was no easy feat.”

 

 Luke’s lally (molasses) cake with whipped cream

 

Molasses has proven to have staying power, and is in as much demand today as it was when it first made its way into North American homes as early as the 17^th century. On the list of natural sweeteners that includes honey and maple syrup, the versatile molasses is possibly the most complex according to howstuffworks.com:

“Depending on its strength, molasses can taste from lightly sweet to smoky-sweet to harshly bittersweet, and its history is almost as complicated as its flavor.

“Making molasses — the process of pressing sugar cane and boiling its juice until it is crystalized — was developed in India was early as 500 B.C.E. In the Middle Ages, the concept made its way to Europe when it’s believed Arab invaders brought it to Spain. From there, molasses-making took another voyage across the Atlantic when Christopher Columbus brought sugar cane to the West Indies….”

Molasses can also be made from beets, which according to www.mwagri.com/beet-molasses, is the “… syrupy by-product of the production process to extract sugar from sugar beets. The residual liquid that is left over is an excellent source of energy for livestock.”

Beet molasses is a valuable feed resource for the beef and dairy cattle industry because of its protein and essential minerals, and is an important ingredient in their growing and finishing diets. It’s also an additive for salt licks.

Additionally, both cane molasses and beet molasses are used in the fermentation industry as a sugary substrate and a key ingredient in yeast production. And surprisingly, again according to mwagri.com/beet-molasses: “… in recent years, molasses has gained popularity as an alternative or a supplement to chloride salt for de-icing roads. Not only does it cost less than rock salt, it is also less corrosive and more environmentally friendly.”

Crosby’s Molasses is a multi-generational company located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, and as set out in Crosbys.com: “Crosby’s Fancy Molasses is the highest-grade molasses available” made from single-origin sugarcane and considered “ideal to use in a variety of foods…. It comes from one place. The Madre Tierra sugar mill in the village of Santa Lucia, Guatemala is our sole provider. It is made from the juice of sugarcane grown in the surrounding volcanic soils.”

Founded in 1879 (in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada), Crosby’s Molasses kept retailers in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and New England, USA well supplied with this popular sweetener. That included delivery to general stores in puncheons (large wooden barrels holding between 90 and 100 gallons), particularly in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, as well as smaller barrels and half-barrels. Customers simply brought their own container to the store for a molasses fill-up.

Walter Akerley of The Narrows, New Brunswick, Canada, who lived to the grand age of 106 ½, had supplies for his general store delivered to him by riverboat. He would then pick them up by horse and wagon at the wharf and take them to his store. Puncheons of molasses were one of his most welcome items.

I remember during my childhood there was always a squeeze bottle of molasses on the table at mealtime, a favourite spread for our homemade bread and butter.

Blackstrap molasses also remains a popular choice for those who enjoy a “stronger, more robust flavour” compliments of this highly-concentrated, very dark molasses. It can also be used in baked beans and gingerbread, as well as in barbeque sauces, stews and marinades.

 

 

 Baked beans were another Kavenagh favourite.

 

Blending Crosby’s Fancy molasses and blackstrap molasses together yields cooking molasses, according to Crosby’s.com.

With all of this sweet talk I thought perhaps a few recipes might be in order, some new to go with more traditional choices, all found in scrumptious detail at Crosbys.com:

 

ONE-BOWL OLIVE OIL GINGERBREAD CAKE

 

·         1/2 cup olive oil

·         1 egg

·         1 cup Crosby’s Fancy Molasses (or 1 cup of Crosby’s Maple + Molasses

·         1/2 cup brown sugar

·         1.5 tsp baking soda

·         1tsp cinnamon

·         2 tsp ginger

·         1/2 tsp cloves

·         1/2 tsp salt

·         2 1/2 cup all purpose flour

·         1 cup hot water

·         Whipped cream, for serving

Instructions:

1.      Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×9” square cake pan with a spray of olive oil, then dust with flour.

2.      In a large bowl, blend the olive oil and egg until smooth. Add the molasses (or the Maple + Molasses) and brown sugar, whisking vigorously until the mixture is smooth, until there are no remaining sugar lumps.

3.      Add the dry ingredients, then mix until smooth. The batter will be thick.

4.      Pour in the hot water and stir until the batter is homogenous. Be careful not to over-mix.

5.      Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

6.      Bake 25-30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched or when a toothpick comes out clean.

7.      Cool the cake completely in the pan (at least 1.5 hours). Slice into squares and top with whipped cream. Enjoy!

 

 

Extra Fudgy Molasses Brownies

 

·         1 cup dark chocolate chips or coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate

·         1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

·         1/4 cup Crosby’s Fancy Molasses

·         2 large eggs

·         1 cup sugar

·         1 tsp. vanilla extract

·         1/2 tsp. baking powder

·         2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

·         1/4 tsp. salt

·         1 cup flour

·         Sea salt (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.      Heat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8-by-8-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper.

2.      Combine the chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth.

3.      Remove from the heat, add molasses and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

4.      Combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, cocoa and salt in a large bowl and stir until just incorporated. Add the chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Add the flour and fold in until just incorporated, about 20 strokes (no white streaks should remain).

5.      Pour the batter into the prepared pan (spreading it out and smoothing the top). Bake 30 minutes (until the centre is set). Remove to a wire rack, sprinkle brownies with sea salt (optional) while still warm and let cool at least 20 minutes. Take them out of the oven a littler earlier if you want them to be chewier.

6.      Cut into bite-size pieces (1 or 2-inch squares)

 

 

DOUBLE GINGER CARAMEL SWIRL NO CHURN ICE CREAM

 

·         1 can (300 ml) sweetened condensed milk

·         2 tablespoons Crosby’s Fancy Molasses

·         2 cups heavy cream

·         ½ tsp. powdered ginger

·         ¼ cup chopped candied ginger

·         ½ cup caramel sauce

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

1.      Line a 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

2.      In a small bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and the molasses.

3.      In a large bowl whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Drizzle in the condensed milk mixture and powdered ginger and continue to whip until all the condensed milk is incorporated into the cream and the mixture is thick.

4.      Fold in the candied ginger then drizzle over most of the caramel sauce. Stir once or twice (you want thick ribbons of the sauce to remain) then scrape mixture into the prepared pan.  Even out the top then drizzle remaining caramel sauce over top. Draw a butter knife through the mixture in a figure-eight pattern to incorporate the final drizzle of sauce.

5.      Cover and freeze for at least 6 hours.

 

I hope you have enjoyed this molasses journey.

 

 

 

 Brevity

Elmore Leonard sat across the table from me, looking exactly like his dust jacket photo. Owlish glasses.  Scraggly goatee.  Tweedy sports jacket over a plaid shirt.  He was in Vancouver promoting When The Women Come Out To Dance, a collection of short stories and two novellas, and agreed to come on my CBC Radio show Saturday.   

Leonard is a master of the short story.  The TV series Justified is based on his short story Fire In The Hole.  He’s written several dozen crime novels (Get Shorty was made into a movie starring John Travolta and Gene Hackman), a dozen or more westerns (3:10 To Yuma was made into a movie in 1957 and again in 2007) and even an international thriller or two. He writes crackling dialogue like no one else and uses it to move the scene along and keep the reader turning the pages, which is why his work is so adaptable for movies and TV.  So I asked him if he had any advice to writers about how to perk up their prose.  He didn’t, but his own mantra was simplicity itself.

“I just leave out the stuff people don’t read,” he told me.   

I spent more than thirty years editing stories for radio, taking out the aural equivalent of the stuff that people don’t read.  My inner editor is always present when I write, decluttering and removing the unnecessary.  I’ve tried to take Elmore Leonard’s mantra to heart in my novel Astraphobia, part of BWL’s Paranormal Canadiana Collection.  The story follows three generations of the McKenzie family as death by lightning stalks them from Scotland to Ottawa to Moose Jaw.  Astraphobia will be published in June 2025 by BWL.       

EPUB – 978022863396        BWL Print 9780228635215    

BEAR TALES

Metamorphe--under construction.

Every First Nation has bear legends and probably a majority have a Bear Clan too. Little wonder, as Bears were once common in the woodlands of North America. More than that, to the first people who walked onto and then across this continent carrying only spears and slings, the bear would have been a formidable animas. 

Of course, these first people were accustomed to dealing with megafauna, because this was the time of giant sloths, saber-toothed cats and mammoths, but I have a feeling that the bears were pretty darn big too. In Europe, humans probably were a major contributor to the demise of the enormous Cave Bears, in what must have been perceived like gangs of cruel, merciless home invaders to the original ursine owners.

After the time of Pleistocene giants had passed, (probably because of the invasion of humans, with their weapons and organized methods of attack) the last remaining predators of any size were the bears that we have in North America today, the Brown Bear and the Black Bear. Today's Black Bear is the junior American member, weighing in between 200 and 600 pounds and standing upright from 5'-6' feet tall, while the Brown Bear, or Grizzly, can stand as tall as eight feet and weigh between 400 and a 1000 pounds. 

They are temperamentally different too. Black Bears are omnivores, and perhaps because of this, less aggressive. They are likely to be as interested in getting away from you as you are in getting away from them. Grizzly Bears are another matter. They are carnivores, more territorial and more likely to see you as lunch. Any bear, however, will become dangerous if you mess with it's cubs, so if you spot a baby, you make a slow retreat. There is a saying regarding human/bear confrontations: "If it's Black, fight back; if it's Brown, lie down; if it's White, say good-night." 

Ancient people, the world over, had great respect for bears. Observing them and their behavior, they saw bears as kin of a sort, perhaps from the fact that they could stand on their hind legs. A bear will keep fighting even if wounded, dangerous until the end. This was a kind of bravery humans recognized. 

Bears seemed to be able to heal their wounds too, and so it was believed that bears had the power to bestow healing and resilience. If you were in fight, a bear fighting in your corner would demonstrably be a good thing, so they were also invoked as protectors, for their courage was well known. They had admirable qualities such as fiercely protecting their young, and they could be seen to teach and nurture their cubs. Little wonder people would want to emulate them. 

Among the Huron/Wendake, bears were revered. They possessed good medicine. The bear commanded authority; they were self-healers, courageous, and immensely strong, and so, ideally, were members of Bear Clan. Warriors carried bear claws in their medicine pouches for strength, courage and protection. 

I would be remiss not to mention the famous Ponca Chief, Standing Bear, a brave and honorable man who won a civil rights case against the United States in 1879, after his people had their reservation taken from them. Although they at first complied, moving to the unsuitable and inhospitable land they had been allocated, the government didn't bother to follow through on the other promises that had been made, that there would be adequate supplies to help them get through their first winter, or that a mill would be built.

Standing Bear lost a son and a daughter that first starvation winter. In desperation, he and 30 others attempted to return to their ancient home along the Niobrara River. They were imprisoned at a fort, but when a journalist heard their story of how they had been treated, he published it and attracted the attention of lawyers who ended by arguing the case of the Ponca in U.S. District Court in 1879 in Omaha. 

When Chief Ponca spoke, he said that although his hand was a different color from that of the judge, his blood was red, just like that any other American. He insisted that he was "a person and a citizen" with rights. In the end, the Judge, Elmer Dundy, agreed that Native Americans were "persons within the meaning of the law, have the right of habeas corpus," thereby becoming "the first Native Americans judicially granted civil rights under American law."

 

This remains a landmark civil rights case. I noticed that in several popular t.v. series, the most honorable and courageous 1st Nation's character are given the name: "Standing Bear."

John Wisdomkeeper and his Guardian

~~Juliet Waldron

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Sensory Details: The Magical Key to a Vivid and Emotional Reading Experience By Connie Vines

Sensory Details: The Magical Key to a Vivid and Emotional Reading Experience 

Come for the fun...Stay for the romance.

A gentle breeze blew my hair across my cheek (TOUCH) as I walked along the uneven trail (TOUCH). Leaves rustled (SOUND) above me, and a lone crow gave several loud caws (SOUND) overhead. I took a deep breath. The smell of decay and leaves (SMELL) made me wary, and the coppery taste of fear coated my throat. I scanned my surroundings to ensure I wasn't being followed (SIGHT).

Connie's personal photo

Canva created collage

Every writer knows that The Five Senses also sets the story's mood/tone/genre.

While my first example lets the reader know this story isn't a straightforward romance. 

The reader will expect a murder mystery/suspense/or even a Gothic novel.

The second photo, a collage, evokes a romantic or light-hearted story with a holiday vibe. 

Therefore, during a first draft, the focus is on the story's setting, time, and tone, which are vital. Dialogue and characterization are also essential.

 I have discovered (in my reading and professional writing) that not including a wide range of sensory details is, in fact, cheating your reader.

Cheating? I would never cheat my readers!

🌹 Sensory details draw your reader into the story, trigger emotional responses, and, most importantly, make them feel a part of your story world. 

Since I'm an introvert and tactile, adding these details/emotional reactions is natural to me. In contrast, a more analytical person's writing might focus on the visual and take a more detective approach to/reaction to the sensory clues. 

Now, one step further: How your character processes his/her sensory details enriches the story. (Obviously, a hard-boiled detective's vocabulary would be different from that of a giddy teenager.)

🎥📺Examples from Television and Movies:

This is for fans of Star Trek (original series: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Forest Kelly) and the Cinema movies that followed (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban). 

Mr. Spock was my favorite character. Though I observe, analyze, and retain facts and can relate details decades later, I am not, and will never be, "Mr. Spock."

Captain Kirk was a physical, in-your-face kind of guy. He yelled, punched, and bled. First, on the scene or to make a scene, the man didn't seem to ever sleep. 

Then there was "Bones," Doctor Leonard McCoy. He grumbles and points out injustice, holds his ground for what is right, and saves his patient's life. He has empathy, compassion, and wit. 

So, the first key to successful sensory details in a story is to know your character. How does your character look at the world? What lens does your character use?

Does this sensory detail become vital to the story, or define your main character? Or the clue to solving a murder/mystery?

Excerpts from Gumbo Ya Ya (an anthology)

4 stories and one book!

A Slice of Scandal

She ignored his question and continued with her narrative. "Instead, the scenes are shot according to where they are set. The cooking, naturally, will be here on the sound stage. But Harvey wants some location work, too."

Sebastian felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "Location work?" How would he investigate a murder and a smuggling ring if he wandered over to some tourist site? He flipped through the script. "My contract doesn't say anything about location work."

Julia glanced over her script, making eye contact. "You're joking, right?"

Think fast, Beaux, just stall her. "I'm not ready."

"You're not ready?" she asked, her voice heavy with disbelief. You've lived in a swamp, caught and eaten alligators, frogs, snakes, and fish... and you don't want to appear at a local shopping mall?"

"I'm not ready; you told me that. I still get nervous...in large crowds."

The look she shot in his direction clearly labeled him a liar, but she kept silent... 

Love Potion No. 9

"Don't shake your finger at me, Simone Basso. I know what I'm doing." Persia Richmond said, holding a pipette to fill a crystal half-ounce atomizer with perfume. The top notes of peach blossoms, bergamot, and mid-notes of gardenia, honey, and tuberose tanalized. The tuberose, being the most carnal of the floral notes and high-ticket natural essence for her fragrance compound, merged with peony and orange blossom to temper the intoxication properties. The base notes lingered while a hint of something unnamed and mysterious beguiled and skimmed across the narrow processing room, saturating her senses.

The fragrance was New Orleans, culture at its most upscale moments, and Mardi Gras at its naughtiest.

The imported essence oils of the tuberose had nearly emptied her bank account, leaving Persia only one egret. Her Grandpapa hadn't lived to experience her mastery of perfumery.

Holding up the bottle, she allowed the light to shine through the tempered vial for a moment before she ensured the stopper was tight. 

Simone leaned over Persia's shoulder, "I done warned and warned you about messing with love potions."

The statement sent Persia's heart thundering in her chest. Snagging a steadying breath, she regained her composure. "You worry too much, Simone. This is a perfume. Nothing more, nothing less."

Now, back to me 😉

And the scent of my favorite fragrance?

A creamy, sweet-fruity fragrance starts with dahlia, then fades into pear.

Notes: Velvet, Dahila Petals, Crisp Pear, Praline Musk, and whipped Tonka Bean. 

I hope you've enjoyed this month's post :)

Happy Reading!

Connie

Books are available via online book sellers:

https://bwlpublishing.ca/vines-connie/

https://www.amazon.com/Connie-Vines/e/B004C7W6PE

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/brede-connie-vines/1115934010

https://books.apple.com/us/author/connie-vines/id624802082

and more!

Where's Connie?

https://www.facebook.com/ConnieVinesAuthor/

https://www.instagram.com/connievines_author/?hl=en

and now on:

 https://substack.com/@connievines