Oh my. I do love a fun card. And these Girlfriends cards by Art Impressions literally take the cake!
I've seen a few versions of other people's interpretation of this stamp set, appropriately called Giant Cake, and I might have to, ahem, borrow, some of their ideas.
Here's my version:
These cards are absolutely perfect for my age group, and are just so much fun, albeit a little fiddly to color!
I've lashed out, and have ordered two more sets from the Girlfriends range, which should arrive in the next couple of weeks. (They are extremely difficult to buy in Australia, so I have no choice but to buy them from the US.) I absolutely adore these stamps, and I'm having an absolute ball with them.
It's wonderful to see what other cardmakers have done with these cards, and I spend quite a bit of time - way more than I'd like - on Pinterest seeking them out.
Since my last post, I've made another card with the Party Girls set. I added some blue hair this time, as it reminded me of the older ladies I knew in my youth. Blue hair was very popular back them, for ladies 'of distinction'.
Thanks for stopping by. Til next time,
Links:
My website: www.cheryl-wright.com
Blog: www.cheryl-wright.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cherylwrightauthor
Make sure you join my Facebook page as I run regular giveaways for followers!
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Get the Fire Extinguisher! - by Cheryl Wright
Multi-published author, Cheryl Wright, former secretary, debt collector, account manager, writing instructor, and shopping tour hostess, loves reading. She writes romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and the occasional comedy.
She lives in Melbourne, Australia, and is married with two adult children and has six grandchildren. When she’s not writing, she can be found in her craft room making greeting cards.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Using a Pen Name - by Tia Dani
As promised we are giving our friends and readers a
chance to get to know us a little better. The second question that pops up after
why write as a team is "Why write under a pen name?"
Using a Pen/ Pseudonym is a personal
decision. There are many reasons to use one. For us the decision was made
because at the time we still had plans to publish stories on our own and when
we did we would use our real names. Plus the first story we published was
erotic and we were a bit self-conscious about how our families might react when
they found out.
After our second book was contracted and became
successful, we made the decision to put all our future work fully under Tia
Dani. We registered the trade name and formed a partnership. From that time on we looked at our writing as
a business and Tia Dani was our business name.
How we came up with the name Tia Dani is interesting
as well. We thought long and hard on a name to use and first, Bev came up with the
suggestion to put our 'middle' names together. That didn't work because Christine doesn't
have a middle name. However Christine really liked the name KrisTia. She used
it for a while but eventually shortened it to Tia.
Bev's middle name is Ann. Tia Ann didn't quite have the ring we wanted.
So we decided to go to the mall, walk around, and brainstorm. While running through a few names to go with
Tia (not to mention trying on so many pairs of shoes our feet hurt, spraying
ourselves with various types of perfume making us smell like a bordello, and…of
course…sampling assorted chocolates and caramel corn) the name Dani was thrown
in the mix. We both loved it. Bev likes being called Dani. It fits her. So Tia
Dani was created. It was later we realized that Tia Dani in Spanish means Aunt
Dani. But we don't care, it's a pretty name and seems to be well liked. So far,
no one has asked whose aunt we are.
As most of you know writers are generally a shy
group. This is why a pen name has worked well for us. Not that we are shy in
front of others but using our pen name makes it easier and a little more fun.
It's kinda like acting. When we give a workshop as Tia Dani, we like to role
play. It takes away the Christine and Bev thinks, to Tia Dani says…
Anyway, that's our pen name story and we're sticking
with it.
A second thing we thought about is several of our
friends use a pen name to keep their writing identity secret from employers of
their day jobs. It might work but it's not that easy to remain anonymous. Publishers
are required to report to the IRS (via Form 1099) of payments made to writers,
which means they need your real name along with your social security number.
Well…that was fun reliving our beginnings, but now
we need to get back to work. We are wrapping up our next story, a paranormal
set in the northern part of AZ. We have shape-shifters, ancient legends, apache
warriors, magic, and reincarnation. And always a little romance. We hope reading
Call down the Darkness will bring you
as much joy as we have had in writing it.
See you next month,
Tia Dani
Authors of, Time's Enduring Love.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
The Action Heroes of My Past by Jamie Hill
Last month I talked about how Channing Tatum would make a good hero in my cop novel, Family Secrets. The post had me remembering who I was fond of in the past. Yes, you will see a Teen Beat Magazine image below. No, it is not from my personal Teen Beat collection. (I got rid of that a couple years ago. heh heh heh)
Sylvester Stallone in the first Rocky movie sent me to the theater for more than one showing. I had certainly never seen abs like that before.
In the photo below, he looks like he'd make a good cop. I have a thing for writing about cops, in case you aren't familiar with my work.
Sam Elliott in Lifeguard sent me to the theater even more than Sly. That was an amazing movie, which I'm sure has not withstood the test of time. LOL
Sam Elliott in Mask is also a sight to behold. That movie has stood up to time. I loved Cher's performance and will still watch that show every now and then.
Beau Bridges was a hottie back in the day, I can't name you one movie he was in except The Other Side of the Mountain (he died, I cried).
And if we're talking TV shows, Paul Michael Glaser, er, I mean, Starsky and Hutch was one of my all time favorites. I even wrote an episode script for them in high school, and another for S.W.A.T., co-starring Mark Shera.
Gosh, I guess my love for hot cops started early!
Don't even get me started on musicians. Bobby Sherman had me wishing my name was Julie for about a year. And then there was Mickey Dolenz, and the Bay City Rollers, and....I'm suddenly off topic here and can't even remember what the topic was.
I hope my memories have brought a smile to your face. I'll leave you with an old scratchy photo of me back in the day with my aunt's dog Tuffy, my vacation playmate since I had no cousins my own age. You can tell by the long-suffering expression on his face that I enjoyed our play dates more than he did. And by the way, my grandma was a great card player though I always teased her that she cheated.
You can find my collection of hot cops and other stories here: http://bookswelove.net/jamiehill.php
Until next month, keep cool! ~ Jamie Hill
http://www.jamiehill.biz/
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Vacation!!
by Diane Bator
I spent a few days away at a friend's cottage this week with my kids. I labeled it a "vacation," but is any writer every truly on vacation? Unlike some people, a writer's brain has no off switch. We tend to think of everything as a prompt, the start of a plot outline or a great hook. For example:
Feeding the chipmunks led to thoughts of a children's book.
Paddling on Lake Huron on a piece of fiberglass-covered Styrofoam gave me ideas toward a Young Adult book I've been battling with for years.
Walking on the beach watching the waves rush to my feet, sent my mind reeling with thoughts of messages in bottles and bodies washing ashore.
Building sandcastles...see above.
So after a few wonderous days of swimming and miniature golf, I find my hands busy with laundry and cleaning and my brain buzzing with ideas. Apparently, "vacation" time away from a keyboard to try new things can do a writer a little good!
Stop by and visit me at my website: http://penspaintsandpaper.com/
I spent a few days away at a friend's cottage this week with my kids. I labeled it a "vacation," but is any writer every truly on vacation? Unlike some people, a writer's brain has no off switch. We tend to think of everything as a prompt, the start of a plot outline or a great hook. For example:
Feeding the chipmunks led to thoughts of a children's book.
Paddling on Lake Huron on a piece of fiberglass-covered Styrofoam gave me ideas toward a Young Adult book I've been battling with for years.
Walking on the beach watching the waves rush to my feet, sent my mind reeling with thoughts of messages in bottles and bodies washing ashore.
Building sandcastles...see above.
So after a few wonderous days of swimming and miniature golf, I find my hands busy with laundry and cleaning and my brain buzzing with ideas. Apparently, "vacation" time away from a keyboard to try new things can do a writer a little good!
Stop by and visit me at my website: http://penspaintsandpaper.com/
Labels:
chipmunks,
cottage,
hook,
keyboard,
lake,
Lake Huron,
miniature golf,
paddling,
plot outline,
prompt,
vacation,
water,
writers
Prolific author, Editor, Associate Publisher, and Book Coach. Also mom of three grown ups and two fur babies.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH ROSES - MARGARET TANNER
Housekeeping and tidying up. Not my favourite topic or
occupation, unless we are taking about tidying up my garden. In particular my
rose garden, which I tend with loving care, because roses truly deserve special
treatment. No chore to tidy up here. I banish any weed the moment it rears its
ugly head near my “lovelies.”
Roses are my favourite flower. My husband thinks I am
obsessed with them. I always wear rose
perfume, Bush Rose, Musk Rose. The Yardley (English company) Rose has a lovely
perfume, as sweet and fragrant as its namesake. How many wonderful people have
you met who are called Rose, Rosy, Rosemarie, Rosemary?
I have to confess that my garden is full of roses. Hubby
hates them with a passion because he thinks they deliberately jump out and
stick their prickles into him.
I love the old fashioned roses the best. They may not be
quite as colourful as the modern day varieties, but they always have a gorgeous
perfume. Just Joey, a beautiful large
bloomed orange rose with a delightful perfume is one of my favourites. Another favourite is a blood red rose named Oklahoma , the perfume is
as heady as wine. My garden has recently acquired a rose called. The Chocolate Rose.
I have to say that although the bloom is pretty, it isn’t stunning, but it
certainly has a chocolate perfume, and you can take that observation from a
chocoholic. If there is one thing I know, it is the smell of chocolate.
It amazes me how often I seem to give the characters in my
novels a floral name. It must have been an instinctive thing because I don’t
recall actively trying to do this.
A few examples. In Haunted Hearts, the heroine’s daughter is called Rosie.
In A Mortal Sin, the heroine is named Daphne. Iris is the wicked mother-in-law
in Make Love Not War
I have also written a short story with the title Call Of The
Apple Blossom. Can you see a pattern here?
There is rarely a novel of mine that doesn't have at least one rose garden scene.
So, there you have it. I wonder if there is such a thing as a roseaholic?
On board the convict ship taking them to the penal colony of
On arrival in
I am an award winning multi-published Australian author. I love delving into the pages of history as I carry out research for my historical romance novels. I pride myself on being historically correct. Many of my novels are inspired by true events, with one being written around the hardships and triumphs of my pioneering ancestors in frontier Australia. Outside of my family and friends, writing is my passion.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Love's Treasure by Shirley Martin
I recently started a fantasy romance, and this is the first scene from the
second chapter. I'm using this scene because it has more dialog than the first
scene of the first chapter.
LOVE'S
TREASURE
by
Shirley Martin
"You'll have to hurry, son. I'll explain the
situation as you get ready. I've already ordered the stable boy to prepare
a horse for you."
Inside his bedchamber within the palace of Airen
Tir, Garth pulled on his trousers, all the while focusing his attention on his
father. He wondered what the 'situation' was.
"As you know," his father explained, "we have
a few spies planted inside the palace of Volanar. They act as servants of the
palace, but they serve us. Now let me backtrack a bit. Have you heard about a
cache of gold hidden inside a cave of Misty Mountain?"
"Misty Mountain?" Garth paused while pulling his
linen tunic over his head. "I've always thought that tale was a myth. You think
there's some truth to the story?"
King Treherne nodded. "I have reason to believe so.
The story has persisted throughout the years, and my grandfather spoke of it in
his last days, regretting that he'd never sent anyone to find the treasure.
There surely must be truth to the tale." He leaned forward, his hands on
his knees. "Yesterday, one of our spies was in the archives room of the Volanar
palace--"
Garth fastened his belt. "The archives room? What
was he doing there?"
"He followed Princess Olwen, clandestinely, of
course, and checked the room after she left. First lighting a candle, he saw an
open book that revealed a map of where the gold is hidden far to the north of
Elucera in Misty Mountain."
"Wait a minute," Garth said, dropping several coins
in a purse attached to his belt, where his sword already resided in its
scabbard. "How do you know this?"
"A carrier pigeon brought the news early this
morning on a slip of paper. A small map was included." He drew the paper
from a pocket and handed it to Garth. "Study this map later, when you have
time.. Another spy saw a young man he couldn't identify ride off in the middle
of the night."
Folding the paper inside his tunic pocket, Garth
sat to pull on his boots. "That still doesn't prove that the man was
headed for Misty Mountain."
Treherne smiled slyly. "Remember I once told
you about a hole drilled in the wall of the king's study, behind a
painting? One of our spies heard the princess talking to her father about
the hidden gold." Briskly, he stood. "Enough talk. I want you to ride as if your
life depended on it." His eyes narrowed. "You need to redeem yourself, son.
There is still your unexplained absence from the kingdom earlier this
year."
"And if I arrive at the cache of gold the same time
as this unidentified young man?"
"Why, you kill him, of
course."
----------------------------------------------
Find all of Shirley's books at Books We Love
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Winter Fire -- The Story of the Story
Leslie Nielsen as "The Swamp Fox" |
At around this time until I was fourteen or fifteen, our family vacations involved visits to old forts, battlefields and living history sites from Montreal to St. Augustine in Florida. My father was a Civil War buff who owned an extensive collection of books on the subject, but he was eclectic enough to include sites from earlier periods in our itineraries. Strolling through formal gardens and marveling at sumptuous bed chambers and ballrooms of Tryon Palace in North Carolina or expressing wonder over the three tiny rooms of an 18th century farmer’s house in Connecticut, I was deeply moved by the vibrations set off by the clothes, furniture and personal effects on display. Subsequent trips to Williamsburg, Virginia, and Old Sturbridge in Massachusetts, among others, provided far more insight than any high school history text could on how people in the past lived, worked and died, and with detail that struck all of my sensory nerves.
It was only natural that, when I took up writing seriously, I chose to set my fiction in the period I had come to love—the time encompassing the colonial and Revolutionary War eras in the U.S.
While searching for inspiration back in the days before the Internet, I became intrigued by “captive narratives.” In their time, and for a populace starved for the type of fabulous accounts that scream from today’s tabloids, this was an extremely popular genre depicting stories of white settlers taken in raids by Native Americans. Although all of these tales provided entertaining and informative reads (many supposedly in the teller’s own words), none was more gripping than the tale of Mary Jemison, a teenage girl who was captured by a French and Indian war party and adopted into the Seneca tribe in the area around what is now Syracuse, New York. Even as she mourned her family, Mary lived the rest of her life among the Haudenosaunee, marrying twice and giving birth to a number of children. By the time she was an old woman, Dehgewanus (as she was then called) had all but forgotten her native language and was venerated by her tribe. An equally engrossing tale is told in a more recent book. The Unredeemed Captive, by John Demos (Vintage, 1995), chronicles the efforts of a Massachusetts family in the early 1700’s to regain their daughter following a raid on Deerfield. After years of searching and countless disappointments, the father was horrified to learn that Eunice had married a Mohawk warrior and chose to remain with her captors.
By now, my story had begun to take shape, but I was still in need of a time and setting. Further research led to a campaign of 1779 during the American Revolution, which had as its target Six Nations warriors under Mohawk war chief Joseph Brandt and his Loyalist allies. (An exceptional account of this bloody chapter in American history is told in Allan Eckert’s Wilderness War.) Following a number of murderous attacks on frontier settlements and equally brutal reprisals,
George Washington dispatched Generals John Sullivan and James Clinton and their armies into Iroquois lands essentially to minimize the effectiveness of Brandt’s forces by burning their villages and crops. The resulting devastation on both sides led only to more retaliation. An unexpected by-product of this campaign was the recovery of a number of white captives and their return to “civilization.” Some went happily with the army, while others had to be forcibly removed from the burning remains of their adoptive homes.
This inspired me to ask myself, "What if...?" What if a white woman in like circumstances had been forced against her will to return to what was left of her family?
I had read of incidents in which this had been the case, and in which these reunions, more often than not, were unpleasant (to put it mildly) for both the former captives and their relations. Many of the redeemed were scorned, shunned, and regarded with suspicion for their strange ways. After years of living among the “savages,” attempts to reintegrate into a society that was now foreign and strange ended in failure for these unfortunate people, who often ran away at first opportunity to rejoin their Indian families. Not all of these tales had a happy ending.
And so, with these accounts as its foundation, Zara Grey’s story took root in my imagination. Caught in a war pitting neighbor against neighbor, son against father, white man against “red man,” a young heiress of Dutch descent becomes both a pawn and a pariah, with murder in the bargain.
Ethan Caine, the male protagonist in this historical romance, has as his backstory a 1763 incident in eastern Pennsylvania during Pontiac’s Rebellion that polarized the region. A group of self-appointed vigilantes, the “Paxton Boys,” fed up by a lack of support by colonial forces, attacked and killed residents of a nearby village of peaceful Susquehannock. While the actual incident was unprovoked, the fictionalized account in my book involves a patchwork of accounts gleaned in my research. Young Ethan is deeply traumatized by these events and the ensuing senseless slaughter. Fifteen years later he is forced to confront his own prejudice and regrets when he rescues a young white woman dressed in clothes of Iroquoian design attempting to cross a half-frozen stream enroute to Iroquois lands.
The resulting novel,Winter Fire, a 1998 Golden Heart finalist, has as its core the inter-cultural conflicts of its time, colored by the perceptions and fears of people in the midst of war.
Click here for more information. |
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
WRITER ROOTS
What makes a writer? There are said to be a lot of ways to get into
this particular form of insanity, but I can only speak for myself. Personally,
I believe writers are born, not made.
I’ve just returned from a small visit to an old friend. We
reconnected through our 50th HS reunion, which is a little odd, as I
didn’t graduate from that school, but from a grammar school in Barbados. My
friend and I hadn’t spoken or written since the 9th grade. That
summer, my mother fled an abusive marriage and went to see old friends in the
UK. She thought she and Dad were taking a break; he knew that the marriage was
over, although he didn't say so . When I left home that
summer, I expected to return to the US by Christmas. My father, however, already
had a woman waiting in the wings. Instead an eventual reunion, there
was an ugly long distance divorce. My
school friends soon stopped answering my sad letters. In the '50's, a divorce sent you into social exile.
Over time, I’d set the past aside. "Lost and gone forever" and "stiff upper lip" were the lessons. Imagine
my surprise upon receiving an out-of-the-blue note last summer from this
long-lost BFF! Apparently, one of our old classmates was with the FBI. For the fiftieth
reunion, he’d pulled out all the stops, and located everybody even remotely associated
with his graduating class.
So what made this old friend so special? Well, Gemma was a co-conspirator in the great game of acting out the stories that filled my head. Her Mom sent her to ballet class and they had a wonderful costume
box, too, something that every well-equipped home possessed in those days. I
wanted to retell the stories I'd read, and sometimes to rewrite them—what is
now called “fan fic” -- but mostly, in those days, we shared a desire to act them out.
As we approached our teens, Gemma was among the few who would
still engage in the make-believe which remained the center of my world. I was the story-teller,
the director. Gemma intuitively understood the world of theater. She created dances and she had a fantastic sense of design, so
she did costuming and make-up. Her house was large; her parents indulgent. We
could stay up late, until our projects were complete. Favorites came from history
and Greek myths--the gorier, the better. Cleopatra and the asp, Iphigenia on
the altar, the Princes in the Tower, Aida and Radames buried alive! We always had musical accompaniment, too, so
there was Beethoven, Schumann and Smetana’s The Moldau and all
of Tchaikovsky's ballets. We had Grand Opera, too. Puccini and Verdi wrote music full of high drama, and their librettos reliably ended with someone tragically expiring.
In our late sixties now, we reminisce, discussing marriages and schools, children and grandchildren, parents
and trips abroad. Gemma became a college professor. I became (finally) a writer. Her job
was a wiser choice, but I still can’t quit those old habits of falling in love with passionate characters, the kind whose stories I've just got to tell.
~~ Juliet Waldron~~
Historical Novels
Mozart's Wife
Roan Rose
Genesee
and many more
Labels:
childhood,
classical music,
HS reunions,
Juliet Waldron,
myths,
pretend,
writing,
writing historicals,
writing life
I am in the grandma zone, a long time writer and poet, posting at Crone Henge and BWL these days just because. Wish I could travel, and last year I was lucky enough to get back to the UK, specifically to Avebury to reconnect with the ancient temple. Hiking, camping, lover of solitude, cats, moons and gardens.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Would you recognize an immortal on the street?
Find it on Amazon HERE |
I like to think I could recognize one in the street. Could you? What would make them different from us? A glowing aura of goodness? A disturbing sense of evil? Probably none of the above.
Still, there should be a way to recognize an immortal, an angel, or a fae walking among us. Here are a few pointers:
Real angels do not have wings. Only in the tenth century did Western Christianity start representing angels with wings. But in the ancient biblical texts, they never had any, except for a specific category of angels described with three pairs of wings and four heads. According to ancient texts, the divine messengers we call angels looked human. How else would they have passed for humans when they visited Loth in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? They are described in the scriptures as beautiful young men. So beautiful that the debauched inhabitants of the ancient city wanted to purchase them for sexual favors.
Immortals are very beautiful, that's a given. Angels are always gorgeous according to the scriptures. Besides, if you don't age and have supernatural genes, then you should be flawless and irresistible. This is especially convenient in romantic novels. We love our gorgeous immortals. Even the evil ones, like Lucifer, or the bloodiest of vampires, are said to have an irresistible charm.
There is a special light in their eyes. If eyes are the windows of the soul, then much of their good or evil nature should filter through the eyes of immortals, angels, Fae and other supernatural beings. Movies have gone so far as to represent evil beings with blazing red eyes. That would be a hoot and a half... and very scary, late at night on a street corner.
Immortals can be killed. That's why witches and sorcerers were burned at the stake. In Highlander, they can only be killed when you sever their head. In the Curse of the Lost Isle, my immortal ladies fear holy water and death by fire. Many methods are used to kill vampires. I've never heard of a way to kill an angel, but I'm sure there is somewhere a secret book of spells that teaches exactly that. Shame on the angel killers.
In the Curse of the Lost Isle medieval series, my ladies are Fae and considered immortal, or very long-lived. They are related to Morgane the Fay and their ancestors were angels fallen to earth and left behind, some good, some bad. They mated with mortals and their children had extraordinary powers. But as you will realize reading the series, such gifts in a Christian society can be a curse...
From
history shrouded in myths, emerges a family of immortal
Celtic Ladies, who roam the medieval world in search of
salvation from a curse. For centuries, imbued with
hereditary gifts, they hide their deadly secret,
stirring passions in their wake as they fight the Viking
hordes, send the first knights to the Holy Land, give
birth to kings and emperors... but if the Church ever
suspects what they really are, they will be hunted,
tortured, and burned at the stake.
5 stars on
Amazon "Edgy Medieval!"
Find out more about Vijaya and her books at: http://www.vijayaschartz.com
Find all her books on Amazon HERE
HAPPY READING
Find all her books on Amazon HERE
HAPPY READING
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
Deadly Undertaking Click here to purchase ‘Tis the season of the year when the transformation occurs from the darkness of winter to th...
-
I tied my manuscript up in an electronic bow and sent the final version off to BWL Publishing. Let me tell you, there were days during...
-
Click here for purchase options for this award-winning series. https://www.bookswelove.net/kavanagh-j-c/ In last month's blog, I told ...
-
Goodbye winter. Hello spring. Another round of setting clocks ahead is behind us as well as all the rant on social media about why we co...
-
The cover of the Ontario offering for the Canadian Historical Mysteries Collection from BWL Publishing to be released November 2024 To fin...
-
Sometimes I wonder how much one person’s voice can actually help when “fighting the good fight” against what seems like ...
-
AVAILABLE HERE I have a cousin in Australia who loves to travel. She and her husband are currently in Vietnam, and the photographs she share...
-
Happy Belated Birthday, Dear Wolfgang! 261 years young & still delighting audiences... http://www.bookswelove.net/autho...
-
Click here to purchase. Winner of Best Historical for 2023 How do I make a German officer during WWII sympathetic? I make him a real pers...
-
https://bookswelove.net/stover-karla/ BY THE SAME AUTHOR: Available through BWL Publishing Parlor Girls Wynter's Way Murder, When...