My First Four Ebooks Janet Lane Walters #MRFWAuthor #BWLPublishing #Mystery #Romance #Suspense #Fatasy

 

Another year has passed and I’m now a day older than I was yesterday but I’m still celebrating my 50 years of being published in one genre or another. The covers you see are from the first four books I published after discovering ebooks. There were 6 or 7 books before that. Two were non-fiction but they’re so long out of date there’s no reason to feature them since the only way to purchase them is to pay large and strange amounts.

Though these books have been out there for some time 1998 to be honest. They have been updated for the most part and parts rewritten. But from the variety, you can see that I really wanted to write just about everything.

Murder and Mint Tea has seen many editions and the story started out as a short one called “And So We Walk on Eggshells.” An editor sent me a rejection and mentioned the short story sounded like the synopsis for a novel. I figured a way to turn it into a novel. The book has been in electronic versions, now print and long, long ago was on tape. The book has been one of my best sellers over the years. Here’s the blurb.

Katherine is a retired nurse and a retired church organist. The small Hudson River village where she lives in her Victorian “Painted Lady” makes her the neighborhood matriarch. Along with her Maine Coon Cat Robespierre, she guards friends and families. When amoral Rachel moves into the first floor apartment of Katherine’s house, trouble erupts. The murder weapon is one she recognizes and makes her fear for her friends and family. Finding the killer becomes her goal.

 Editorial Review Murder and Mint Tea is a gem in its genre, combining the voice of a classic American whodunit with that of a traditional British detective novel. Murder She Wrote meets Miss Marple in a beautifully crafted tale that makes the reader want to reach into the pages and dispense justice to the villainess themselves. ~ Writer Gail Roughton

Code Blue was the initial title for this book. Then some editor wanted a different title so it became Obsessions. Code Blue was returned as title when I came to BWL Publishing. The book had some rewrites to put in things like cell phones but is essentially the same book. I really liked the premise of a medical suspense a bit different from the usual ones. Here’s the blurb.

In the medical suspense Code Blue by Janet Lane Walters, published by Books We Love and previously published as Obsessions, nurse Susan finds the body of the hospital’s “gossip queen” in the orthopedic storage room. She doesn’t realize this is the first of a series of murders involving her colleagues or that her life is in danger. She is a widow and is exploring a new romantic relationship that promises love but she fears the man she is falling for is as controlling as her dead husband. The arrival of courtship gifts, at first, seen as innocuous soon takes on a sinister note.
Reviews
This book kept me on edge from the first page to the last. Several times I just 'knew' I'd figured out who the killer was, but each time, there was a bit of doubt there until the very last paragraph! I highly recommend this book. 4 Stars (Excellent!)"--Tracie's Book Reviews by Kathy's Faves and Raves 
"A series of murders, suspense, action, a tad of love makes OBSESSIONS an intriguing tale designed to mystify your mind. If you love mysteries, you'll love Janet Lane Walters newest release. 4 Stars!"--Just Views 
"Fast-paced mainstream novel ... Walters plots carefully, each scene constructed to perfection. For readers who enjoy being terrified, this is an author to turn to for entertainment. She tells all, while managing to create paranoia among the characters."--Affaire de Coeur

 

The Secret of the Jewels was an interesting write. I wrote the rough draft in 72 hours with just a little time for breaks, Took much longer to complete the book. The book was to be a single title but an editor thought there should be more. I finally found the two books in the series.

When the Holder of the Yellow Jewel dies, her ward Liara believes she will become the new Yellow Holder. The dying word of the elderly woman astonishes the young woman. She will hold the White Jewel. This fabled gem has been lost for years since her mother and her sister fought and her aunt took hold of the Black Jewel. Liara, accompanied by her foster brother set forth to find the jewel, escaping the soldiers sent by the Queen and Black Jewel Holder. During their escape, Liara meets Valmir who saves her and her foster brother during a shipwreck. During their journey, they meet other holders of the Jewels, including Reena, daughter of the now dead Queen. Though she has the Black Jewel, Reena has no idea how to use the gem.

The Aries Libra Connection began like as In Opposition and I believe there was another title. While writing this book, I began using Astrology to cast my characters and thus the new title.

Jenessa is Aries, a nurse, union advocate and likes a good fight. Eric is Libra, Director of Nursing, and believes in compromise.

Can these two find a way to uncover the underhanded events at the hospital? They’re on opposite sides but the attraction between them is strong. She’s a widow who fought to save her husband’s life during a code. She feels guilty because the love she and her husband shared had died before his death. He assisted at the code but he feels guilty since he was the one who was responsible for the short staffing the night her husband died.

Now they face falling in love and trying to solve the problems between the nurse’s union and the president of the hospital’s Board who wants a take over of the hospital by his hospital group. Is their connection strong enough to survive?

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/

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