Friday, October 10, 2014
Sweet As..... by Cheryl Wright
Each month I look forward to sharing a card with you. The one I'm sharing this month is totally different to the previous shares.
Last week I went to the country for a few days (along with my husband Alan) to visit hubby's mother, who sadly has dementia.
While I was there, I came across a card magazine that I'd never been able to find in Australia before. Card magazines always have a 'free gift' included, and quite often the gifts are stamps. This magazine included two very cute rabbit stamps, along with two small embossing folders. (The blue design along the bottom of this card was done using one of those embossing folders.)
Apart from the colouring, this was a fairly quick and easy card.
I think I've mentioned before that I make and donate cards to soldiers overseas. This card will be going in my next bundle. This one is already bagged and ready to go.
Here's the inside as well:
Very simple, but it extends the design to the inside as well. I hope this card will make a soldier's child very happy.
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, and a new one will be starting soon!
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.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
A Haunted Hotel by Tia Dani
As a writer sometimes you need to get away and
re-charge your brain. The best way we
found to light a fire under our dormant muse is to hang out with like-minded
friends, brainstorming, eating chocolate, and drinking wine. We do this several times a year by going on a
weekend retreat at a fun place in our state.
And nothing is more fun for us than staying in a hotel that is
supposedly haunted. For us half the fun is
delving into ghost lore and learning the story behind the haunting then
exaggerate it to another level.
A couple of years ago a group of our writer friends
reserved the entire third floor of the Jerome Grand Hotel. Jerome AZ is an old
mining town set on the side of a mile-high mountain now mostly home to artists
who sell their work in the local shops. Originally the Grand Hotel was the
United Verde Hospital, but as mine operations phased out the hospital closed and
remained vacant until the building was turned into the Jerome Grand Hotel. Local
legend tells the story of a lady who roams the building looking for her
daughter who died at birth.
"What
makes the Jerome Grand Hotel a worthwhile place to stay, is the fact that this
is probably one of the most active haunted locations in the world," according to www.ghostlyfavorites.com
As we checked into the hotel we were told stories of
strange noises coming from empty rooms such as coughing, labored breathing, and
even voices. We were told not to be
surprised if the lights or TV's turned on and off by themselves. Spines tingled in anticipation of a ghostly
encounter as we made our way toward our rooms.
The first night, several of the girls reported strange sensations and
several said they felt cold spots in the hallway but nothing unusual happened
to us…yet.
On Saturday night, the Jerome Grand took our group
on a fun ghost hunt where we got some great orb pictures. We didn't see any ghosts while on the tour,
but some creepy events happened to us after we went to bed. Our room phone rang at midnight waking us up,
but when answered, no one was there. The ringing phone was a bit spooky, but
the scariest of all was the feeling of panic Bev aka/Dani had as unseen hands
tugged on her body as if trying to scoot her off the mattress. Since the hotel was once a hospital could it
have been a nurse trying to move a patient?
Convincing ourselves it was only a dream, we tried to go back to sleep,
until Chris aka/Tia screamed that someone had yanked her hair. After that happened neither of us slept until
the sun came up.
When we all met up for breakfast Kathy Twohawks
complained that someone or something had pinched her hard during the night. She
rolled up her sleeve and showed us the beginning of a large bruise on her arm.
Were all these incidents real or just active
imaginations of creative romance writers?
A personal experience can either change your mind or reinforce your
belief in paranormal activity. We
believe there are things that can't be explained. And, besides, who doesn't love a good ghost
story?
Our next book has a couple who are trapped in time
by an evil shape-shifter. We're finishing up the last chapter as we write this
blog. Meanwhile check out our latest release, Time's Enduring Love. It's a time travel set in Kansas during 1866.
We think you will enjoy reading it and we promise that you won't be scared.
Happy Halloween,
Tia Dani
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Jason Voorhees, Jaime Lannister and Me by Jamie Hill
Ah, October. Leaves are changing color, and everyone is
talking about football, or the return of The
Walking Dead. (YES!) Halloween is just around the corner. As a child I
loved everything about Halloween from making decorations to dressing up to
trick-or-treating and bringing home a mountain of candy. I didn’t particularly
like being scared, but a little bit was okay—the kind of scared when I knew I
was really safe, such as a tour of a haunted house, or going to a scary movie. (These
days, the prices of the ‘good candy’ alone are enough to scare me!)
We love scary movies in my house. I married a man who grew
up watching Vincent Price and shows called Chiller
and Thriller and even Twilight Zone. Movies back then used to
advertise that there would be a doctor in the theater for those who might find
themselves in need of one. One oldie I watched even had flashing lights and a
clanging bell when something scary was about to happen, in case the viewer
wanted to avert his or her eyes. *snort*
On our first date, my future husband took me to the drive-in
movies to watch Friday the 13th, the first movie starring villain Jason Voorhees.
It scared me sufficiently that I spent the second half of the show much closer
to my date (possibly his ulterior motive for choosing that movie?) My mother nearly
passed out when we told her later. Much later.
That was the beginning of our relationship, and our joint
love of scary movies. We’ve seen a good share of them. Many were really awful. Some
were just gory. A few were top notch, such as the first Halloween movie. (The
sequels slowly went downhill.)
Hubby doesn’t like demonic or satanic themes, so we don’t
watch those. I don’t like violent gore-fests where bad things happen to
good, innocent people for no reason. (This does not include those teenage camp
counselors in the Friday the 13th movies. Those kids
should have known better.)
I am guilty of recently watching the 2013 supernatural thriller Mama because it starred Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones). But that’s a whole ‘nother topic, right there. And don’t even get me started on The Walking Dead. Best zombie show ever!
Happy October and Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it!
Jamie Hill
Friday, October 3, 2014
Finding Focus
I find it ironic that when my body and mind are busy and I have "no time" to sit still and write, my body creates time. Usually, I either get sick or sidelined by an injury because I'm too scattered and not paying attention.
September for me has been a blur of deadlines, training an employee, learning a whole new job, kids at school, out of town company, karate gradings (not mine!), and other assorted activities. It was almost expected I would hurt myself during a 5km charity run. I hadn't slowed down in weeks. Thanks to a knee injury, I've been forced to slow down - a little anyway.
When life becomes a blur, we may have momentum, but lose our focus. Whether on writing, raising families, or just our day to day lives, we also lose the joy in doing the things we do. Things we once loved suddenly become a chore. "I have to" replaces "I like to." Hence the creature known as the dreaded Writer's Block.
I would highly recommend slowing down a little before injury or illness occur because sometimes that's exactly what it takes for us to step back and recall the things we "like" to do. To remember how much we like to write when we don't "have" to. To bring back the thrill of being creative, of being able to move without pain, and of taking life one day at a time.
In between all the "have tos" over the past few days, I settled down to write a short story. Something I've wanted to do, but "didn't have time" for. Suddenly, the short story is done and off to a publisher for an anthology. A little bit of fun to wrap up my hectic month. Suddenly, all seems right with the world again and my creativity is re-ignited.
Find your focus. Find your bliss.
Diane Bator
Author of Wild Blue Mystery Series
September for me has been a blur of deadlines, training an employee, learning a whole new job, kids at school, out of town company, karate gradings (not mine!), and other assorted activities. It was almost expected I would hurt myself during a 5km charity run. I hadn't slowed down in weeks. Thanks to a knee injury, I've been forced to slow down - a little anyway.
I would highly recommend slowing down a little before injury or illness occur because sometimes that's exactly what it takes for us to step back and recall the things we "like" to do. To remember how much we like to write when we don't "have" to. To bring back the thrill of being creative, of being able to move without pain, and of taking life one day at a time.
In between all the "have tos" over the past few days, I settled down to write a short story. Something I've wanted to do, but "didn't have time" for. Suddenly, the short story is done and off to a publisher for an anthology. A little bit of fun to wrap up my hectic month. Suddenly, all seems right with the world again and my creativity is re-ignited.
Find your focus. Find your bliss.
Diane Bator
Author of Wild Blue Mystery Series
Labels:
busy life,
doing too much,
finding focus,
illness,
injury,
like to vs. have to,
short story,
writer's block
Prolific author, Editor, Associate Publisher, and Book Coach. Also mom of three grown ups and two fur babies.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
ROMANTIC CLICHES AND STORYLINES - MARGARET TANNER
THESE ARE MY FAVOURITE ROMANTIC CLICHÉS AND
STORYLINES – MARGARET TANNER
I write historical romance, so maybe my
take on the cliché and storylines is different from that of contemporary
romance authors.
I like to base my stories around:
Love lost and foundThe rogue makes good
The poor girl and the rich man
The soft sweet heroine taming the ruthless hero. (This is a particular favourite of mine and one I use a lot).
Then there are the three “Rs” – Revenge,
Retribution and Redemption.
There again, what about the clichés used
in novels. You know what I mean, those overused phrases:
Crushed her against his hard maleness
Her heart fluttered like a caged birdThe night was as black as ink.
A million stars twinkled
She ran like the wind
He covered her face with hot kisses
His warm breath fanned her cheeks
Cold as ice
The blood flowed through her veins like molten lava.
I have to confess to having used them
myself, but in all honesty, I doubt that there would be one romance author who
could say she hadn’t used some of these lines at some time or another.
My real favourite is the one that
Barbara Cartland, the queen of romance, used for her hero in nearly everyone
one of her romance novels. “He was a rake who had lived a life of debauchery.”
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t see anything
wrong with using these clichés, I think they set the scene very well. Many
editors don’t like them, of course. The secret is – use them sparingly.
My take is this: If you want to use clichés be selective. If
all else fails you can invent a few of your own.
Margaret writes historical romance set
mainly in Australia. Her latest release, The Loves We Left Behind, is a 3 book
Combo (three separate novels, all stand-alone stories in the one book.) This is a special release to mark the
centenary of the 1st World War.
It tells the stories of three different
women who triumph over loss, heartache and betrayal.
THE LOVES WE LEFT BEHIND:
A hundred years ago, from the far
flung corners of the British Empire, young men rushed to fight for Mother
England. They left their wives and sweethearts behind. Many of these brave
women waited in vain for their men folk to return. How did they cope with the
loss and heartache? Could they ever hope to find happiness with another man? Three
full novels, each telling a brave young woman’s story of triumph over tragedy
and adversity. Allison’s War, Daring Masquerade and Lauren’s Dilemma.http://amzn.com/B00MASTCHM
Available in Print also from your
favourite bookstore.
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.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Spirit Travel and Keriam's Dilemma by Shirley Martin
Imagine a kingdom where magic is forbidden,
where guilt of practicing sorcery is punishable by death. In my fantasy
romance, "Night Secrets" Princess Keriam has preternatural powers,
one of which is spirit travel. This phenomenon also goes by the names of astral
travel and out-of-body experience. No matter what it's called, it's an ability
that many people possess. Keriam agonizes, what if someone sees her spirit
while she's having one of her out-of-body experiences? If found guilty, she
will suffer a horrible death, and not even her father--the king--could save
her.
One night,
she has an astral trip that begins thusly: "A slight tug
released Keriam from her body. She floated toward the ceiling, amazed as
always that she could look down at herself in bed. With a certainty
borne of past experience, she knew this was no dream. Ever since her mother's
death two years ago, preternatural powers had evolved within her, and why, she
didn't know. Was it her mother's way of watching over her from the Otherworld?
These nightly journeys were even more recent, and something she must learn to
control, if only she knew how...
She drifted outside
and traveled over the countryside, her soul finally setting down in the dark
forest. While there, she overheard three men plotting her father's
assassination. What could she do now? How can she reveal the plot to her father
without betraying her supernatural power?
One of the
plotters, Roric Gamal, is about to disclose the details of the plot when
Keriam's body calls her spirit back, and she must return...
"A tug pulled
her spirit back. No, not now! She must discover more of the plotters'
plan."
And is Roric Gamal
really one of the plotters, or only pretending to be? Throughout "Night
Secrets" Keriam fights her growing attraction for Roric, confused about
his loyalty to the kingdom and to her father.
"Night
Secrets" is the first romantic fantasy of the Avador series. I invite you
to read this fantasy and the others in the series.
"Night Shadows"
is the second.
"Enchanted
Cottage" is the third, followed by "Allegra's Dream" and
"Wolf Magic."
For lovers of
fantasy romance, these romances are bound to please.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Research -- The Joys of "Being There" by Kathy Fischer-Brown
As a writer of
historical novels set in the 18th century, I find doing the research is as
interesting as writing the book itself…if not more so. In this modern age, it can be done easily, without having to leave the comfort of one’s chair.
Digitization of more and more old, formerly hard-to-find source books, blogs
and specialized websites have taken much of the drudgery out of what used to be
a time-consuming chore.
Old Sturbridge Village |
But even with a
wealth of available information, nothing is quite as stimulating as “being
there.” The acrid smell of black powder smoke settling over a field in the hot glare of
autumn sun, along with the crack of musket fire; the boom of cannons belching
fire; the feel on your face of the dry heat of kitchen fires on a sultry summer
day; flies swarming about the kitchen through open, distorting glass windows…all
provide a unique entry into the world I try to recreate in my novels. When
attempting to capture these sensory details, books and journals, letters and
maps fall short, leaving too many of these tangible elements to the
imagination.
Recruits drill at Saratoga National Park |
When I was a child
of ten, my family visited Williamsburg, Virginia, and I fell hopelessly in
love with the place and the era it represents. The clothing, the smells and sounds affected me with a deep sense that,
if just for the short time we were there, I had traveled back in time. Over the
years, we made similar visits to other living history sites in the Northeast
and Southern U.S. As an adult, I took my children to Mystic, CT, Old
Sturbridge, MA and many a re-enactment rendezvous.
The magic I’d experienced as a child had not released its hold on me.
During the weekend of September 19-21,
a fellow historical writer friend and I attended the 237th
anniversary of the “Turning Point of the American Revolution” at the Saratoga
National Historical Park in Stillwater, NY. Being transported to an
earlier period in time was magical, marvelous, and informative.
We spent all day
Saturday and part of Sunday traveling by car around the park, stopping at the
numbered points of interest along the route to marvel at the scenery from the
heights overlooking the Hudson River Valley and beyond. At other tour stops, we
met members of the various re-enacting groups representing
both the American and British camps. While other tourists milled about, we sat
around pungent campfires and chatted with women toiling with the laundry in
wooden buckets using water carried up the heights in pails, with a rifleman who
was more than happy to answer our questions and explain how he cleans his
flintlock after a long day on the battlefield. We also watched a group of raw
recruits go through the paces of loading and firing their weapons...with a
little help from the drill master.
British Camp follower at Saratoga National Park |
As interesting as
it was to spend time with the “Americans,” the British encampment provided
opportunities to delve into the sort of stuff not taught in history classes.
Here we met a Royal Navy man, a Hessian soldier, Loyalists, and bevy of camp
followers and their children. One of the women introduced us to an assortment
of vegetables common at the time. We even sampled carrots and beans not found
in our local supermarkets.
I don’t know about
anyone else, but after watching numerous movies and made-for-TV-series set during
this period, I wondered how those woolen breeches worn by the British army
stayed so white during their mucky slogs through the wilderness. “Chalk,”
explained the young man portraying a Loyalist Indian agent. Who’d have
imagined that? He also showed us some his equipment, which included an actual
sword (and explained how it differs from reproduction swords) and an ingenious
device he called “the Bic lighter” of the 18th century.
In addition to the
clothes and the sights, smells and sounds from the past, we experienced that
otherworldly sensation of walking among ghosts on hallowed ground where so many
bled and died, where a future traitor achieved his finest hour, on a tract of
land that has been preserved for today and for those of tomorrow who can—if
just for a short while—step back in time.
~Kathy Fischer-Brown
~Kathy Fischer-Brown
cover art by Michelle Lee |
Monday, September 29, 2014
THE WIZARD OF OZ and me
It’s seventy five years since the movie of the Wizard of Oz
was made. It’s one hundred and fourteen years since the book was written, but
everyone—probably everywhere—knows the story well. The movie images,
especially, lurk in the back of the mind of every one who has ever seen it,
whether in the movie theater or on the small screen at home. From the tornado to the dramatic switch from
drab reality to full color fantasy, everything about it was a visual treat,
especially back in the days when such "special effects" were new, and we weren’t plied on a
daily basis with mind-boggling CG.
I think everyone has their own recollection of the first
time they saw The Wizard of Oz. I certainly do, and the memory is not entirely
a happy one. I was born long enough ago to have seen the movie for the first
time in a local theater. Nothing beats the screen for overwhelming effect,
even when this screen was small by current standards. The Little Art Theater, as it was called,
was basically a long narrow room with a screen and little stage at one end. It occupied the middle of a 19th Century three story, block-long brick building,
the kind that lined most typical downtowns. The local college crowd
viewed avant garde foreign films
there—auteurs like Bergman, Renoir, Pasolini—hence the name, but our theater also
showed standard Hollywood fare, because, then as now, folks need to make a living.
My blonde, blue-eyed Aunt Jean, (now, unimaginably, gone,) took my Cousin
Michael and I to see The Wizard of Oz. I can't have been more than six, perhaps even younger. Aunt Jean was a lady of
standing in our little town, so I have a memory of her in a blue and white checked shirtwaist
dress, low heels, a hat and white gloves. My cousin was younger, but we were
both near-sighted, so we sat near the front on the aisle, if
memory serves. In those days, we both
peered around the shoulder of whoever was in front of us, perched on the edge
of our seats. Nevertheless, then as now impressionable, I was immediately swept
away, (just like poor Dorothy!) into the fantasy.
The first scary thing was when wicked Agnes Gooch took away Toto to be put down.
I had recently owned a puppy, one that had been squashed in the road right
before my eyes, so I was familiar with the pain and sorrow of loss that comes at the death of a fur friend. Next, came
the tornado. My home town is in western Ohio, so I was on a first name basis
with those, too. I’d seen the fear grow in my father’s eyes whenever he studied our
stormy, threatening, lightning-filled skies, searching for any sign of oncoming
catastrophe.
Nerves already on edge, for me the grand finale came when the green-faced witch and her awful
minions, the flying monkeys, took over the screen. I was so
far submerged in the fantasy that what happened next might have been
expected. When the monkeys came flying to tear the poor Scarecrow apart, leaving his
strawy insides all over the road—well, in sixties parlance—I flipped,
and began to scream at the top of my lungs.
My aunt was mortified, as was my younger cousin—who was, as
he pointed later when the dire subject came up again - a boy, and therefore impervious to fear. I was whisked
out of my seat and marched into the lobby. Here, away from the movie, fear of
my Aunt’s displeasure quickly displaced the nightmare in which I'd been submerged.
I remember standing, sobbing under the too bright lobby lights, with my Aunt shaking me and scolding.
“Now, Judy Lee! If you don’t stop that nonsense at once, I will never take you to the movies ever again!”
“Now, Judy Lee! If you don’t stop that nonsense at once, I will never take you to the movies ever again!”
Eventually, we returned to the dark theater. I remember drowning in embarrassment and holding back from my earlier willing immersion in the story so the shameful loss of control wouldn't attack again.
Fashions in child-rearing have certainly changed, but even now I bear my Aunt no ill-will, because according to the rules of the world in which we lived, her reaction was the correct one. It's an amusing memory, I guess, and also one that is "period correct."
Anyway, Happy 75th Birthday to the Wicked Witch and all her minions. I've thought of her far more often over the years than I have of Dorothy.
Fashions in child-rearing have certainly changed, but even now I bear my Aunt no ill-will, because according to the rules of the world in which we lived, her reaction was the correct one. It's an amusing memory, I guess, and also one that is "period correct."
Anyway, Happy 75th Birthday to the Wicked Witch and all her minions. I've thought of her far more often over the years than I have of Dorothy.
Labels:
1940's,
1950's,
flying monkeys,
Juliet Waldron,
movies,
puppies,
reminisce,
The Wizard of Oz,
tornado
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.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Writing the legends - by Vijaya Schartz
Frontispice of Melusine in Lusignan, France |
The Melusine Tower, Vouvant, France, built in one night. Never mind that the base and the top are from different periods. |
Excited by that discovery, I set upon a decade of research to connect all the dots. Yes an entire decade. While writing other books, I actively pored over ancient translations, old texts, I traveled to France to tiny libraries and museums holding on to their local legendary roots... until I put together the many pieces of that incredible puzzle, to uncover the entire picture. Only then did I understand what I had... enough fantastic material to write the most exciting medieval fantasy series.
My agent was very excited and prompted me to write the series. But publishers at the time did not receive it well. They thought the readers would not buy medieval fantasy... unless it was vampires. Well, my immortals are not vampires. Finally, Books We Love gave this series a chance, and I am grateful. Five books are out right now, with a sixth to be released early next year. More will follow as the tapestry of the entire legend unfolds.
The Curse of the Lost Isle series starts in the early 800s with Pressine the Fae, in PRINCESS OF BRETAGNE, during the Viking invasions in Scotland. This book is still 99cts in kindle for a few days. Hurry.
http://amzn.com/B007K1EGAM
In Book 2, PAGAN QUEEN, she defies the Goddess and gives birth to three daughters, Melusine, Meliora, and Palatina.http://amzn.com/B007Z8F7IA
SEDUCING SIGEFROI, Book 3, and LADY OF LUXEMBOURG, Book 4, are set at the foundation of Luxembourg as a country.
CHATELAINE OF FOREZ, Book 5, tells the love story of the dark Count Artaud of Forez with Lady Melusine in the Eleventh Century.
http://amzn.com/B00I3T9VYG
Book 6, scheduled for early 2015, starts in 1096 AD and features Palatina the Fae, one of Melusine's sisters, in the greatest adventure of all time, the First Crusade, an exciting and dangerous time to be an immortal.
This series already gathered many five-star reviews, with titles like "Edgy Medieval, Yay!" or "Wow!" or "Fantastic!" I hope you will try it and enjoy it. Five books are available in kindle on Amazon. Book One is also now available in paperback.
HAPPY READING!
Vijaya Schartz
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
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