Mercy or kindness, by J.C. Kavanagh

The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2)

Mercy - the Canadian Oxford Dictionary explains the noun as: 1. compassion or forbearance shown to a powerless person, esp. an offender or one with no claim to kindness. 2. the disposition to forgive or show compassion; mercifulness. 3. an act of mercy.

Kindness - definition also from the Canadian Oxford Dictionary: 1. the state or quality of being kind. 2. a kind act.

The act of mercy and bestowing of kindness are linked. But is it compassion or is it empathy that compels the giver-of-mercy/kindness to act? Or both? In the sequel to my novel, The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends, the 18-year-old main character Jayden is placed in a situation where she can justifiably walk away and provide no kindness, no mercy. But the situation involves her mother. Her demanding, alcoholic mother. The gut-wrenching scene depicts Jayden's mom in a bitter and alcohol-fueled rage as she destroys an item of value. Jayden, who is also a demanding and often bully-ish person, must make a choice. Be bully or be nice? Should she extend mercy to her mom - who does not deserve a merciful act of forgiveness? Or should she respond with similar brutality and unkindness. 

This was one of the toughest scenes to put together. Most of The Twisted Climb series involves action and adventure, while the drama revolves mainly around Jayden's home life with her mom. So, what would you do? Show mercy or dole out retaliation? 

HEADS UP!

Book 2 from The Twisted Climb action/adventure/fantasy series

has been released!

The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends

is available online and later this summer

through Chapters/Indigo stores.

Make sure to ask for it!

J.C. Kavanagh

The Twisted Climb, voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers' Poll

AND

The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2)

Novels for teens, young adults and adults young at heart.

Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh

www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh

Twitter @JCKavanagh2 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)

Ancient Egyptian Yoga?

Yoga asana from Egyptian Hieroglyph

The practice of yoga is currently associated with India. And it is certainly true that an unbroken chain of teachers and students, along with an enormous library of texts, has survived in that country. Today, the word yoga has become synonymous with India and, in the West, with some of the great teachers of the past century such as Pattabhi Jois and B.K. Iyengar.

But the yoga tradition itself does not claim any nationality. Indeed, pointing to the spiritual roots of yoga, many masters have claimed it to be universal. To understand this assertion, one needs to examine yoga’s roots. Originally, Indian yoga was practiced in the forests by mendicants who had renounced the world. Some of these forest-dwelling yoga lineages still exist—one, called the Nath sect—remains popular in India.

From a carving in an Egyptian temple

Thus, it can be understood that, in a general sense, anyone who retreats from human society and into solitude to engage in spiritual practices is doing yoga. In all traditional cultures, whether in ancient Europe, the Middle East or China, yogis, by different names, would have been familiar.

In the early period of Egypt, during the Old Kingdom, Egypt was referred to as Kemet, or simply Kmt, which means “the Black land.” The inhabitants called themselves "remetch en Kermet", which means the "People of the Black Land." The term refers to the rich soil found in the Nile Valley and Delta. The great temples along the Nile, built during that time, showed, in hieroglyphic texts, a stunning number of persons in familiar yoga poses.

Kemetic yoga, or African yoga, focuses on breath-work and meditation, and aligns itself with the spiritual beliefs of the ancient Egyptians. It combines physical exercise, meditation, self-philosophy and healing through the stimulation and movement of essential life energy throughout the body. The concept of life energy, called prana in Sanskrit, was widespread throughout the classical world, in Greece, India, China and Egypt.

The modern version of the ancient Kemetic system was developed from primary research conducted by Dr. Asar Hapi and Elvrid Lawrence (Yirser Ra Hotep) during the 1970s. Kemetic yoga is gaining interest, in mostly the Black American community, with more studies and books being published, such as those authored by Dr. Muata Ashby, and with classes being offered in yoga studios in America.

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "The Yoga Zapper," (www.yogazapper.com) published by Books We Love (www.bookswelove.com)

The Ultimate Challenge...by Sheila Claydon

One of the important characters in my book Remembering Rose is an elderly woman, a grandmother, who uses a wheelchair and who is on the downward journey towards dementia. She has chosen to spend her final days in a care home despite having a large and loving family.

...so in the end she went into a nursing home. For the first week we thought she'd be heartbroken and we all felt guilty, but she took to it like a duck to water. Within days she seemed to have forgotten she had ever lived anywhere else, and Hester, who has always been the bossy one, set up a family visiting rota, so that rarely a day goes by without one or other of us calling in to see her.  She likes that, mainly because we take her chocolate biscuits and wine. Even at ninety-four years old she is still partial to a glass of chardonnay at six o'clock.

Not everything about this old lady is a figment of my imagination. A ninety-three year old friend, who has recently died, checked herself into a care home when she no longer felt able to manage alone. She had daughters who loved her and would have cared for her to the end but she wouldn't let them. She had no intention of being a burden to anyone, least of all herself. Instead she downsized her life but not the way she lived it. She still socialised, still went on holiday, still went to church and to Bible class, and still poured herself and anyone who happened to be visiting a glass of wine to the very end. She was also slim and elegant with immaculate hair and nails despite being registered blind. She loved company, especially dogs, who she favoured over her human visitors, and was the best listener I've ever met. She was totally my heroine for many years and if I am lucky enough to live to her great age I want to be just like her.

Nor is she the only one. I have another friend who is almost ninety. She is very deaf, is in constant pain, and can only walk with the aid of a frame or a stick because her body has become twisted and lop-sided with age, but none of this stops her from being a demon Bridge player, a welcoming and gracious hostess to any and all visitors, and a wonderful raconteur. She still manages her own home too, although with increasing difficulty, because she values her independence above almost everything else. Although she has lived a very interesting and eventful life, to the unknowing onlooker she is a tiny bird of a woman, overtaken by old age and fragility. Only when they notice the subtly coloured and carefully curled hair, the plucked eyebrows and the lipstick do they realise she was once something far more, and still is if they would only take the time to listen.

To quote the great Bette Davis, old age is no place for cissies, and it's true. Age brings aches and pains, chronic illness, the loss of loved ones, and being sidelined by the young. However, she also said, 'The key to life is accepting challenges. Once someone stops doing this he's dead.' And that is what my dear friends have done. They have accepted the challenges of old age, which in their case includes illness, frailty and widowhood, and decided that life is not only still worth living but is worth cherishing as well.

In old age not everyone is lucky enough to have sufficient money to be comfortable or the mental capacity to face life head on, and even for those who can it is still the ultimate challenge. There is no one stronger than a very old person who has seen it all, however, and their resilience is something to aspire to. The grandmother in Remembering Rose, although a very different character to my friends, has something to offer the heroine that nobody else can and she doesn't care who she has to inconvenience to do it.

We live in an era that considers youth and beauty two of its most valued commodities. It's a time where the younger generation knows little and understands less about the way life was in the recent past let alone almost one hundred years ago. Such ignorance is an incalculable loss. Listening to very old people is a history lesson in itself, and watching them face the challenges of their ageing bodies  and minds with stoicism and wisdom is a lesson worth learning because one day it will be us.

Never ignore an old person because hidden in their silences and half forgotten memories is a rich history, and if you listen to them you will be able to see the years fall away as they remember what the world was like when they were young.

http://bwlpublishing.ca/authors/claydon-sheila-romance/

Sheila Claydon on facebook

Vacation I Have Had by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

As you read this post I will be on a bus tour from Rome to London, the second bus tour of my sixty-six day long visit to Europe. How did this vacation come about? Well, it started three years ago when my dragon boat team, Angels Abreast from Nanaimo, B.C., found out that the next Breast Cancer Survivor International Dragon Boat Festival was going to be held in Florence, Italy. Although we voted to attend the festival, eventually it was decided not to go as a team. Since I had already begun planning my trip, I put out feelers to other breast cancer survivor teams who wanted to attend but didn’t have enough paddlers to fill a boat. I was picked up by Sunshine Dragons Abreast, a team from the Sunshine Coast.

     My husband originally planned on going with me and we discussed other countries we wanted to see, but he had to back out because of his health. By this time I had decided that since I was already in Europe, I might as well visit as many countries as I could. I didn’t want to travel alone so I asked the members of Sunshine Dragons if anyone was interested in travelling with me. One woman, Ev, agreed. I also spoke with a fellow employee, Heather, and she and her sister, Beverly, hopped on board but couldn’t join us until the beginning of the Rome to London tour on July 9.
     The festival was from July 5 to 9 so I began looking at tours and cruises before and after those dates. Ev and I picked a 16 day Spain, Portugal, and Morocco bus tour beginning June 15. Then we decided to spend three days in Milan before going to Florence. At the end of the festival there we headed to Rome.
     After this bus tour through Italy, Switzerland, and France, and ending in London, Ev is leaving to do a tour of Denmark, while Heather, Beverly and I plan on spending eighteen days backpacking and riding trains to Brussels, Luxembourg, Cologne, and Amsterdam, and then fly to Copenhagen. We will meet Ev in that city to take an eleven day cruise of the Baltic Sea. One of the highlights of that will be a two day visit to St. Petersburg, Russia.
     I wish the planning had gone as smoothly as it sounds, but that is how attending a five day international breast cancer survivor dragon boat festival in Florence morphed into a sixty-six day visit to Europe. And this isn’t the first time that has happened to me.
     In 2007, an international festival was held in Coloundra, Queensland, Australia. Angels Abreast attended the five days festival. Afterwards, the team split up, some going to New Zealand, some touring the interior and some, my group, spent three weeks sightseeing along the eastern coast ending in Sydney to see the Opera House, climb the Harbour Bridge, and go out to the Great Barrier Reef. Then we spend a week in Fiji.
     I missed the festival in Peterborough, Ontario, but in 2014, the festival was held in Sarasota, Florida. Rather than fly there with the team, do a little touring and fly home, I decided I wanted to see some of the country between the Pacific Ocean, where I live, and the Atlantic Ocean. So my husband and I bought a motorhome and spent four weeks sightseeing on our way to Sarasota and five weeks sightseeing on our way home.
     I could go on about all the other trips I have taken, like the nine week my husband and I took in our motorhome across Canada in 2017 to celebrate our country’s 150^th birthday, but that can wait for another post.
     My novel, Romancing the Klondike, is set in the Yukon, a place I have travelled to twice and hope to visit again in the next couple of years.
http://bookswelove.net/authors/donaldson-yarmey-joan/

Shakespeare's Globe

For more information about Susan Calder's books, or to purchase visit her Books We Love Author Page. 

Before this May I had been to London, UK, twice. Like most tourists I spent most of my time on the north side of the Thames River. But five years ago my husband Will and I enjoyed a short walk and café meal along the river's South Bank. So on this third trip we wanted to see more of this side of London and, in particular, visit the rebuilt Globe Theatre, which opened in 1997. On a sunny Sunday morning, we walked from Paul's Cathedral across the Millennium Bridge to Shakespeare's Globe and bought tickets for the tour and exhibition.

Me at St. Paul's

The original Globe Theatre was built in 1598. Actor-playwright William Shakespeare owned a share of the company that chose the location across the river because it was outside of the City of London, which had laws restricting unsavoury activities like theatre and prostitution. Plays of the time had to take place under daytime's natural lighting, which meant attendees couldn't be working.

The Globe thrived for 14 years and presented many of Shakespeare's greatest plays. In 1613, during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII, a stage cannon misfired, igniting the thatched roof and burning the theatre to the ground. Records state that only one man was hurt, but he was saved when his burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale. The company built a second Globe with a tiled roof. It's believed that Shakespeare never wrote for this new Globe, which was closed with all the English theatres in 1642 by the Puritan government. Two years later the Globe was demolished to make space for tenements.

Artist's rendition of the original Globe

On the tour we learned that the modern Globe was the brainchild of American actor and director Sam Wanamaker. When he first visited London in 1949, Wanamaker was appalled to discover the city contained no acknowledgement to the theatre intimately associated with one of the world's greatest writers. Wanamaker founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust, which raised funds and conducted research on the historical Globe. They discovered that the modern theatre couldn't be built on the original site, since a historically designated building occupies the spot. So the new Globe is about 750 feet (230 m) away. 

The Globe viewed from our Thames River cruise

The Trust's objective was to construct a Globe as close as possible to the original, using the old building techniques, while taking into account modern fire regulations. The building is open air, with a roof made of reed thatch, based on samples found during the excavation of the original site. I had always assumed the Globe was round, but research determined it was 20-sided polygon. Little was known about the stage, so the designers relied on accounts of other theatres of the time. In the end, today's Globe is as accurate a reconstruction as current knowledge could make it. 

Inside the theatre, we sat on the tiered seats while the guide explained that the stage was designed with three levels. Elizabethan theatre goers would understand that characters descending from the ceiling painted heavenly blue with clouds were good guys, while those rising from a trap door in the floor were evil. 

The guide pointed out that the most expensive seats in Shakespeare's time were located high up on the side tiers, rather than lower and facing the stage, because the wealthy were more interested in being seen rather than having the best view of the show. The area in front of the stage, called the pit or yard, allowed the poor in for a penny. This must have been a smelly place, since the crammed-in people were drinking beer with nowhere else to go to relieve themselves. The modern Globe honours the tradition by selling standing room tickets for £5, but provides bathrooms in the wings. Still, today's budget attendees must stand for three hours, among a crowd of 500 people and exposed to the elements. Umbrellas aren't allowed. I would splurge for a seat. Prices range from £19-47 for this summer's production of Hamlet, which is reasonable compared to London west end theatre. Since the Globe seats are hard with no backs, patrons can rent cushions and seat backs. 

I think it would be marvellous to watch a Shakespeare play performed in the setting the playwright had in mind when he wrote his great works. But with so much to do in London, Will and I limited ourselves to the tour, which included a peek at the associated Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, an indoor candlelit theatre inspired by the old Blackfriars Theatre. We ended with a walk through the Globe exhibition about the building reconstruction and the history of Shakespeare's time. It turns out the Globe name derives from a Latin quote by Petronius "because all the world is a playground," which Shakespeare evidently borrowed and changed to "all the world is a stage."  

    

Include, Preclude, Exclude--What's a Clude? by Karla Stover

 

Visit Karla Stover's BWL author page for book details and purchase links from all your favorite bookstores

The more I read and the more I write, the more I am fascinated by words. I know that the English language has adopted words from many other languages: pajamas and bungalow from Hindu; alligator, burro and mosquito from Spanish; depot, chic and brunette from French; apartment, balcony and torso from Italian. But there are words out there that give me pause. Names, for example.

In the middle ages, when everything was hand written, names were shortened to save time and ink. Thus, Richard became Rich or Rick. And, at the same time, both letter swapping, and rhyming were popular so Richard to Rick to Dick, and William to Will to Bill. First names were also in short supply back then, so letter swapping allowed people to differentiate between others with the same name. It was common to replace the first letter of a name that began with a vowel, as in Edward, with an easier to pronounce consonant, such as T. That’s how Edward eventually became Ted.

Margaret to Meg sort of makes sense and Meg to Peg is in keeping with the practice of rhyming, but Margaret to Daisy? That’s a bit of a puzzler which no amount of research helped.

And the list goes on. However, when I got a paper cut this past week and needed a band aid, I wondered how “aiding” a “band” came to mean protecting my oowie. Here’s how:

In Old English, a bende was something by which someone or something was bound. At the same time, a bande was French for a strip, and bindan, was German for to bind. In old French, aide was a noun for help or assistance. Skip ahead to the 1920s, when Elizabeth Dickson, the wife of a Johnson & Johnson employee, came up with a band aid prototype for her various cuts, scraps, and burns. Her husband, Earle, then passed the idea on to J&J, which went on to produce and market the product as the Band-Aid. Earle rose to a vice presidency and J&J made a lot of money. Presumably, Elizabeth continued taking care of the house.

Another product I use a lot and whose name I found puzzling is Absorbine Jr. Why junior?

In 1892, a man named W.F. Young delivered cargo using a wagon and team of horses. During the day, his wife Mary took care of their home, and in the evening she cared for the horses. In those days, when a horse strained a tendon, muscle or joint, it was treated by “blistering.” Quoting "Wiktionary, "the practice of forming blisters on the skin, to promote blood flow and aid healing" since it was believed allowing more blood to enter the afflicted area through the skin helped the healing process.

The Youngs disapproved of this harsh method of treatment, and Mary, who was an herbalist, created a liniment of menthol, wormwood oil, and herbs in her kitchen as an alternative to blistering. She called her cream Absorbine Veterinary Liniment. “Ine” comes from the Greek and means “pertaining to” or “in the nature of.” Thus: a liniment that is in the nature of absorbing. The Youngs used it on their own horses and marketed it to neighbors. As its popularity grew, the couple founded W.Y. Young Company P.D.F. (I have no idea what P.D.F. stood for back then.)

So—things were going well; animal owners (and presumably their animals) were happy with the products. Then, Wilber and Mary’s son, Wilber F. Young Junior, suggested they create a version of the liniment for humans. Absorbine Jr. --the junior added in recognitions of its being their son's idea--was introduced in 1903 and is now a household staple.

Which brings us to clude. According to "Wicktionary,"  it is the “second-person, singular present active imperative of cludo. However, "Latin-is-simple.com" says its latin for limping, lame, defective/crippled/imperfect uneven/halting/wavering/uncertain. And Findwords.info” says it has no meaning.

How adding prefixes and suffixes to a non word is a mystery, and until I sold it, I must conclude.

Stay Focused to Reach your Dreams by Rita Karnopp

I'm excited to share ~ my book Sacred Ground has a new look ... and has been re-released in both ebook and print.  If you haven't read it ... please check it out! 

Someone wants Brett Turner’s land badly enough to sabotage him, and he can’t help but suspect his neighbor, Willow Howling Moon.  When their sons, who are best friends, run away into the mountains just before a blizzard hits, Willow and Brett have no choice but to go after them—together.

 

Note:  I often ask the 'what was it like in the 1800s' and what happened to all the Native American burial grounds that must have honored the lands of Montana ...

 

STAY FOCUSED TO REACH YOUR DREAMS

 If you want to change your life…don’t settle for a life of mediocrity.  Dare to dream!  You get out of life---what you put into it.  I learned this from a friend of mine.

So get a journal and have a daily chat with yourself.  If you’re willing to learn and be teachable, it will assure your success.  Evaluate your writing career –ask yourself;  “Am I where I want to be?  How can I change and get better?”  Write down what your ‘self-talk’ is telling you.  Find your passion and dare to dream where your writing career will take you.  And of course, this doesn’t mean your goal can’t be something other than writing.

The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is usually a half-a- dozen things done consistently.  The reason why people fail vs succeed is they usually do a half-a-dozen things wrong consistently.  And most people never know what those things are.
 

Doran Andry, in Gateway to Greatness, stated there are six steps to becoming great.  They are the guidelines for my writing career.  Since I adopted them I have successfully sold nineteen books.

1.  Make a real decision to choose success and take action.  Most people hope for it, they’re open to it, they say they want it, and they’ll even say they’ll do whatever it takes, but, when things get difficult they default to ‘option B’—which is quitting and going back to their comfort zone.  The net result is they stop doing what it takes to reach their goal of becoming a successful writer.

 

 2. Be teachable.  Embrace the value that successful writers might know something about writing and the business.  Be open-minded and willing to learn.  Listen during critiques and remove the ‘personal’ from it.  Be professional and apply comments in your mind; would it make my story better?  If the answer is yes, you know what to do about it.

3.  Inconsistency in your daily writing commitment.  Many people write for hours one day, then take a few days off or write barely an hour the next.  If we did this in our ‘day’ jobs, we’d get fired.  What’s ironic; people show up for their ‘regular jobs’ even though they don’t feel like it!  It’s more or less creating a habit and sticking to it, or if you will; creating guidelines/rules for your writing career.

4.  Take advantage of the world of information about writing and keys on being successful and reaching your goals (which I call the mentors & the mentoring process).  The beginning is the most difficult and most people hit the wall of skepticism, doubt and fear.  These people fall back on their weakness and undeveloped skills, instead of going directly to their goals or writing network who have been to that same wall and conquered it.  You need to develop the roadmap, tools and support that will assure you success.

 

In my August 9^th blog I’ll share with you ‘how they catch moneys’ . . . and give you steps 5 and 6 of becoming great.