What do you do when the words won't come? by Nancy M Bell

Click on the cover to learn more about Wild Horse Rescue and Nancy's other books.

Writer's block is without a doubt one of the most frustrating things a writer of any type of material can encounter. Whether you're wracking your brain to produce commercial text, a poet with no words spinning into rhymes, or a fiction author chasing their absent Muse, writer's block is not a welcome visitor. If you're in the midst of just such a crisis, take some comfort from the knowledge you are not alone. Being at a loss for words is an issue every writer deals with at some point in their career. So rather than beating your head on the keyboard or re-booting the blank screen with your shoe, let's explore some solutions.

Keep in mind every person is different and what works like a charm for some will fail miserably for others. For myself, staring at the screen or out the window rarely works. I have found that taking a break works well for me. I take the dogs for a walk (I once came home with a poem singing in my head that come to me while walking the mutts), doing something mindless like watching a soap opera will take my mind off my recalcitrant characters and Muse. Reading a new book or a new author is another method I use. Often re-reading a book I have enjoyed in the past frees up the jammed cogs in my brain.

When I return to the computer and look at the either blank screen or the flood of unfinished thoughts often the characters will shake themselves awake and obligingly continue to tell me their stories so I can share them with others. Alas, sometimes they stubbornly refuse to even look at me from their suddenly two dimensional flatland and nothing will coerce them to join me in the story I'm trying to tell. This usually calls for drastic measures, especially if there is a deadline involved. Eeek! The dreaded deadline combined with writer's block will raise any author's blood pressure and produce a doozy of a headache. Deadlines actually tend to help spur me on to conquer writer's block, for others it is the final nail in the coffin.

One method to break the block is to sit down at an appointed time every day, which ever time of day seems best for you. Write anything that comes to mind, don't judge, turn off your internal editor and internal critic. Just write anything no matter how trivial. Set yourself an attainable goal of how many words you will produce. For some that will be 200 words for others 3,000, it doesn't matter how many or how few, or how many your writing partners or other friends are producing. It's not a contest.

I often find sitting quietly by the garden (in the warmer weather) and just letting my mind drift will often find my characters tugging at the fringes of my thoughts and offering up snippets of their previously withheld stories. Doing something you love that you find relaxing often allows your mind to unwind and the words to break free. I often go and spend time with my horses, brushing them and just being with them helps to loosen the log jam in my head.

Music will help, not head banging stuff (at least not for me, but maybe for some), songs from when I was young, songs with memories attached (both happy and sad depending on what I'm working on), classical music. As an aside, I used to play classical music in my hen house and the hens always laid better than if I played other types of music.

Exercise will help empty and reset your brain. If you're a gym person, go and have a hard workout. A run or a walk will work just as well for those less physically inclined. I like to walk where I'm close to nature, walking barefoot under trees, or just leaning against a tree, will often do the trick. For more urban folks, walking through your neighbourhood or familiar places works. Even a walk through the local mall can be cathartic.

Make a list of keywords which you can use as prompts to jump start your creative juices.

Look at art that inspires you, or even random images brought up in an internet search can be helpful.

There are tons of self-help books and articles on the internet, but honestly, there is no miracle cure for writer's block and we each have to fight our own way through to the other side where our Muse awaits us tapping his or her foot and asking what took us so long.

I hope this helps a bit. Good luck with your writing and above all else --keep writing!

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Eyeballs without auto-correct, by J.C. Kavanagh

VOTED Best Young Adult Book 2018 by Critters Readers Poll

My partner Ian and I decided that 2019 was a great year to embrace the idea of a joint new years resolution. We're not as young as we'd like to be. Or think we are. I mean, how many times can you be '39' again? So, we decided to pay more attention to what we eat and to review more thoroughly the ingredient labels on all store-bought items.

At the grocery store, we trudge to the 'healthy' aisle. That's where the old eyeballs come in - oh if only we could read what's written on the packages. We check every label, comparing products that look tasty and healthy. Many of them look like cardboard that's been flavored with salt and more cardboard. The selection becomes harder and harder. Why? It's tough reading the ingredients without the use of an electron microscope. Could the print be any smaller?

I discover a new type of cracker made solely from vegetables, mostly beets.

"This looks interesting," I suggest to Ian, holding up the box. "And they're garlic-flavoured."

Ian squints and turns the box over. He holds the box away from his body until his arm won't extend any more and begins to read the ingredients out loud.

"Potato flour," he says hesitantly.

"Spinach starch with germs removed," he adds. I cock an eyebrow. That doesn't sound right.

"Beetroot something-or-other. And ball sac vinegar."

I look at Ian with alarm. "What kind of vinegar?"

He squints some more and tries to focus, holding the box as far from his eyes as possible. His arm is going through the shelf and into the next aisle.

As he tries to focus, I suddenly get it. What he's trying to read. Balsamic vinegar.

Oh - my sides! I begin to laugh and laugh and I just can't stop.

Ah. Fun times with Ian even when the eyeballs dim.

Update on the Kavanagh clan that made my 1889 church pew
Sorry - research still not complete... will keep you posted!

GREAT NEWS!

Book 2 of my Twisted Climb series, The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends, was just voted Best Young Adult Book 2018 by the Critters Readers Poll. I am beyond thrilled! If you like action, adventure, drama and a dash of paranormal, you will love my books. Check them out and please leave a review on Amazon or Chapters or your favourite book site.

J.C. Kavanagh

The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2)

voted BEST Young Adult Book 2018, Critters Readers Poll

AND

The Twisted Climb,

voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers Poll

Novels for teens, young adults and adults young at heart

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

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www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh

Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)

A Visit to Stone Mountain Park

My son and I had the privilege of visiting Stone Mountain Park last year, as part of my research for my book, Karma Nation. Upon arrival at the park’s headquarters, we were warmly greeted by the head of the park’s publicity department, a very helpful young lady, who offered us free tickets for the day.

Stone Mountain Park is located in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. Its’ attractions draw visitors from around the world: a collection of antebellum homes, imported from various places in Georgia and beautifully restored, trails through the woods, a barnyard containing a petting zoo, boat-rides on the lake and a concert hall. The place was charming—the landscape was picturesque and a feeling of serenity pervaded the place.

Despite these, it has always been famous for one thing: the enormous bas-relief carving of three Confederate leaders of the sheer rock face of Stone Mountain. The sculpture that defines the park. Covering an area of 6,400 square meters, the portrait of Jefferson Davis. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, riding their horses, towers over the landscape.

Karma Nation

I was interested in the park’s history; especially its connection to the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan’s first iteration, meant to roll back the newly-gained benefits to Black Americans, came into existence right after the Civil War. It unleashed a campaign of terror against freedmen and white Republicans. Within a few years, the Union government introduced laws to prosecute and suppress Klan activity. However, the main reasons for its failure were its unorganized nature and lack of political support, even among Democrat politicians.

In 1915, a group of fifteen men, led by William Simmons, met at the base of Stone Mountain and reconstituted the KKK. They then climbed to the top of the mountain where they burned a cross. This time, the Klan was much more successful in spreading its’ message. Simmons provided an organizational structure and, with large enrolments, came political support. At its peak in the mid-1920’s the Klan’s membership numbered about 4-5 million men, roughly 15% of the American population. This second iteration finally passed away in the 1940’s, weakened by internal division, criminal activities by its’ leaders and external political opposition.

Thus, it is understandable that in the minds of many, including African Americans, Stone Mountain Park would remain identified by this divisive history. In fact, my purpose in visiting was to gauge people’s sentiments. Certainly, the park lovingly preserved the bones of a lost society. Opposition to the grand sculpture of Confederate leaders was noticeable: what was the need to continue glorification of the men who waged war against the Union and whose society supported the institution of slavery?

But the day of our visit held no such discord. Families, many of them African-American, gathered at the park for no other reason but to enjoy the day. Children played in the water park, picnicked on the spacious lawns or rode the cable cars to the mountain top. Music sounded in the air and boats plied the lake. The great sculpture, though controversial, had become part of the landscape, a relic of the past, to be gawked at and sometimes discussed, but not to be fought over.  Visitors—whites, blacks and even foreigners, crowed the place. Time had moved on, and we followed the others’ example: we enjoyed our day.

Mohan Ashtakala is the author of Karma Nation. Please visit his website www.mohanashtakala.com

He is published by Books We Love, LLC. Boos We Love, LLC

Somewhere a bit different...by Sheila Claydon

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In my last blog I was just about to set off to spend Christmas in Hong Kong. It was, as always, wonderful to catch up with family and friends, especially our 4 year old granddaughter, and Christmas Day was much enjoyed by all. Then, a few days later, the whole family made a trip to Schenzen in southeastern China. This is the modern metropolis that links Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland.

Schenzen is one of the country's special economic zones, which means it is allowed more free market-oriented economic policies and flexible governmental measures compared to the more planned economy of most of China. Consequently its tax and business incentives make it attractive to both foreign and domestic investors and this has made it a very successful city. Westerners can apply for a 5 day visa at the border although this does not entitle them to visit any other part of China.

What can I say about Schenzen other than wow! It's growing economy, mainly in the technological industry, has led to it being dubbed China's Silicon Valley, and it really is the most amazing place. With an estimated population of over 20 million, mainly young, inhabitants, it is vibrant and forward looking. It is also spotlessly clean despite its many fast food outlets. The streets, beautifully manicured parks, and huge, modern shopping malls are all pristine, as is the Schenzen metro, which is vast and growing but so easy to use thanks to its technologically friendly maps.  More important than any of this though, is the friendliness of its people. On crowded trains, as older visitors, we were greeted with smiles and instantly offered seats. We were also entitled to travel everywhere for free as are all its own older citizens. All we had to do was show our passport or driver's licence to be nodded through the barrier, again with a smile.

And there were so many things to do. In one shopping mall, for instance, was a Virtual Reality (VR) station where anyone could try their hand at activities as far apart as Formula One driving or skiing down vertiginous mountain passes, or, if they wanted something more calming, they could take a trip to the stars, visiting planets and staring back at the earth through a virtual reality window. There were so many VR options it would have taken days to experience them all. Then there were the slightly larger than usual child-sized electric cars that tiny drivers (or more usually their parents with children as passengers) could drive around the malls, waving and smiling as fond family members looked on. I was even persuaded to take my little granddaughter on one of these 5 minute trips and quickly learned to weave in and out of the strolling shoppers despite nervously anticipating a traffic snarl up that never happened.  Then there was the lake with its huge stationary ship that doubled as a bar and restaurant where we watched fireworks from beneath the warmth of outdoor heaters because it was cold by then.  

Everywhere we went people were enjoying themselves. Family groups, young people holding hands, parents, grandparents, the whole place seemed to be full of laughter and enjoyment.There was the ball pool for small children that was bigger than any I have ever seen before, big enough for the parents who wanted to revert to their childhood too. And a wonderful Sea World. And skating. And jogging. And themed exhibitions, both cultural and modern. And interactive museums. We didn't have anywhere near enough time to visit everything, nor was the weather conducive as it was (to us a very mild) winter, so we missed the wonderful beaches and the botanical gardens that integrate serious research with tourism, and we gave the technological area a miss too, and the theme parks in Happy Valley, because by then our brains and senses were full. 

While we were there Chinese friends also invited us to join them for two memorable meals, allowing us to see behind the scenes sufficiently to experience how the locals live. Because we have a Chinese daughter-in-law we have become reasonably adept with chopsticks, something that is really an essential for anyone wishing to enjoy Chinese food at its best. Reaching forward to take a carefully prepared portion from the myriad dishes that keep on coming is the only way to truly understand the Chinese love of food and their even greater enjoyment when they see a guest eating well.

This wasn't our first visit to China. In the past we have visited several other major cities as well as heritage sites ,and have also climbed a portion of the Great Wall, but when we did this, enjoyable as it all was, we knew we were in another culture. In Schenzen, with its oh so young population, it didn't feel like that at all. It is a place that has taken the best of the West and the East and merged them into a city of the future where, certainly to all outward appearances, everything works smoothly and efficiently. It both amazed and fascinated us in equal measure. It also made us realise, all over again, as does every trip we take to another country, that people are the same the world over even if they do things a little differently sometimes.

I haven't written a story based in China yet, although the day might come, but in a number of my books the characters have to learn to live in another culture. Reluctant Date is just one of them but in this case, Clare, the English heroine, has to learn to live in a small town in Florida. That might not seem such a steep learning curve as moving to China, but learning to live anywhere different needs adjustment until the day, without realising quite how it happened, it becomes home.

The Vikings in North America by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

The Vikings in North America

 

http://bwlpublishing.ca/authors/donaldson-yarmey-joan/

 

I started my writing career as a travel writer, researching and writing seven travel books about the attractions, sites, and history along the backroads of Alberta, British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska. While working on them I realized what a beautiful country I live in. Since then I have switched to writing fiction but I still love to travel. 2017 was Canada’s 150^th birthday and to celebrate it my husband and I travelled in a motorhome from our home on Vancouver Island on the Pacific Ocean to Newfoundland on the Atlantic Ocean. The round trip took us nine weeks and we were only able to see about half of the sites and attractions along the roads.

       I have decided to write about the scenery, attractions, and history of my country. This post is about the Vikings who had a settlement in the present province of Newfoundland more than one thousand years ago.

       After a seven hour ferry ride from Cape Breton we landed at Port aux Basque, Newfoundland, and headed north along Highway 1 to Corner Brook where we spent the night. In the morning we carried onto Deer Lake where we turned on Highway 430. We drove through Gros Morne National Park and along the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of picturesque small fishing villages we passed through on our way north. Eventually we turned onto a smaller highway and reached the national historic site of L’Anse aux Meadows on the tip of the Western Peninsula of Newfoundland overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

       It has been long thought that the first European to step on the soil of North America was Christopher Columbus. Excavations done at this site in the 1960’s recovered artifacts like jewellery, a stone oil lamp, a bone knitting needle, and tools that were compared to ones used at Viking settlements in Greenland and Iceland around the year 1000 and have been carbon dated to between the years 990 and 1050.

 

 

       From the parking lot I walked to the interpretive centre where I looked at the displays of what the settlement would have looked like during its occupation. There are replicas of the longships that the Vikings sailed in, artifacts unearthed during the excavations, write-ups about the Vikings, tools that were found, and maps showing the route the Vikings used to get to Newfoundland or Vinland, as they are thought to have named it. The Scandinavians of the medieval period were known as Norse and they were farmers and traders. When they began raiding other countries they became known as Vikings, the Norse word for raiders.

       There has been a lot of interest in the Vikings recently with televisions shows and documentaries about them and their raiding which began in the 790s and lasted until around 1050. With their longboats and advanced sailing and navigational skills the Viking men and women travelled from Scandinavia south through Europe to Africa, the Middle East, and Asia and west to North America.

 

 

       I left the centre and followed a long, wooden boardwalk through grass and small bushes to the actual site. There I found a post fence around a yard with large mounds covered in grass. When the Vikings landed here there were forests from which they were able to get material for their boat building and house building. The remains of eight buildings were found in the 1960s and they are believed to have been made of a wooden frame and covered with sod.

       They have been identified are a long house, an iron smithy, a carpentry shop, and smaller buildings that may have been for lower-status crewmembers or even slaves or for storage. There are three replicas of those sod buildings with their thick walls on the site. One is a long house which is equipped with clothes, beds and bedding, household utensils, tools, a fire pit and has a couple dressed in period clothing cooking a meal. The Vikings hunted caribou, bear, and smaller animals plus whale, walrus, and birds for food as well as fished.

 

 

       I wandered through the rooms divided by hand carved wooden plank walls. Light came from the fire and holes in the ceiling which are partially covered with upside down wooden boxes to keep the rain out.

       One of the other buildings is the smithy complete with anvil, forge, bellows and various tools. I wandered the rest of the site and saw the outlines of other buildings that have not been reconstructed. It is estimated that between 30 and 160 people lived there over the years.

 

 

       The Vikings arrived in Newfoundland from Iceland via Greenland. According to historical records the site was inhabited by the brothers and sister of Leif Ericson plus a series of explorers. It is believed the settlement was there for seven or eight years before being abandoned. This is the only confirmed Viking site in North America and is the farthest west that Europeans sailed before Columbus.

       After viewing the buildings I followed a trail along the rocky shoreline and then turned inland to walk on a boardwalk over a bog back to the parking lot.

 

 

       One of the best things is that not only does the interpretive centre have the history of the Vikings, but there is also extensive displays showing the history of the aboriginal people who inhabited the area over thousands of years before any European arrived.

Multiple Perspectives

                                          

                                             Click this link for book and purchase information

I wrote my first two novels entirely from the perspective of my sleuth, Paula Savard. My third novel, To Catch a Fox, which BWL will publish next month, shifts between five point-of-view characters. While working on this new novel, I was struck by a number of differences between writing single and multiple point-of-view stories. Here are my thoughts and observations after trying my hand at both types and reading a variety of novels. 

Single viewpoint stories are great for surprise, which is why they're the traditional approach for whodunit mystery novels. Readers only know as much as the protagonist, or a little less if she or he is smart. While reading the story, they are surprised along with the sleuth to the end. In fact, I most enjoyed writing those novels when something happened that I didn't expect and I was surprised by a new development.         

In multiple perspective, the reader knows more than the protagonist. So you lose some surprise. The trade-off is suspense, as readers grow worried or curious about how one character's actions will affect another one. For instance, there might be a scene with the bad guys building a bomb to blow up the local theatre. The next chapter ends with the heroine heading out to the theatre that night. We have to turn the page to see what happens. In single viewpoint we'd be as blind-sided as the hero. 

Both forms are equally effective at driving the plot and might be two sides of the plot-coin for any kind of story. While writing To Catch a Fox, I tried to use the strength of multiple viewpoint to heighten suspense by showing each character's motives and deeds to be increasingly harmful to my protagonist, Julie Fox.  

Writing multiple point-of-view involves making choices. How many viewpoint characters should your novel have? I've read books that shift between a dozen or more characters. I chose to limit my narrators to five, the number I felt would produce the optimal suspense. I also wanted readers to engage with them all, so I introduced him or her early in story, made sure each one appeared regularly and gave each a story arc that peaked in the climax scene. My five narrators were an effort to juggle, but fun.

Do you start a new chapter or scene with each change of voice? My writing instructors taught me this was essential for reader understanding. In my reading, I find that when stories shift viewpoint mid-scene, I sometimes feel jerked in and out of characters' heads and confused by whose viewpoint I'm in. So while drafting my multiple viewpoint novel I started a new chapter with each point of view shift. 

But last fall I read The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, a novel that shifts between about 20 characters, often mid-paragraph. I always knew who I was with and connected to them all, and now think this fluid style works when it's skilfully done. I'm not ready to try it in a novel, but might be some day.   

My one problem with The Nest is that I wasn't clear on who was the story protagonist. Ensemble cast novels are rare, probably because most readers prefer a main character to engage with. In Two Catch a Fox, I gave Julie's point-of-view the most page space. She is present in the most scenes and all the other characters want something from her.    

For novel structure, is it better to set up a fixed pattern of narrators, rather than have them randomly appear? With three POV characters, a chapter pattern might be A, B, C, A, B, C …, with A-the-protagonist's chapters longer than the others. In general, I think readers like to get comfortable with a pattern, so that the structure remains in the background and they can focus on content. For the same reason, I usually prefer chapters in a novel I'm reading to be roughly the same length, so I'm not jarred by an unexpectedly short or long one.  

But with five POV characters I didn't consider an orderly pattern. Usually the story determined who would come next, but I sometimes brought a narrator in because we hadn't heard from him in awhile. While his scene contributed to the story, he didn't always have a lot to do or say at that point. As a result, my chapter lengths were all over the map until the last draft of To Catch a Fox. In my final revision, combining scenes into chapters helped even-out the chapter length, cut the number of chapters in half, and, I think, make it easier for the reader to get into the story.       

What about headers, such as the POV narrator's name, at each chapter start to indicate who is speaking? As a reader, I find these helpful, but I couldn't do it easily when many of my chapters combined scenes with different narrators. I tried inserting them anyway. My editor found the headers awkward and said they weren't needed, that she always knew quickly whose viewpoint she was in. I hope my future readers agree.  

Finally, after writing both single and multiple viewpoint novels, which form do I prefer? At the moment, I'm hooked on multiple perspective, mainly because I like the variety. While working on To Catch a Fox, I'd spend a few days writing Julie, the next day with her sidekick, then her estranged husband and then the novel antagonist, before returning to my heroine, Julie Fox.

       

Ringo Starr and the Real Story About Octopus Gardens by Karla Stover

Click here to visit Karla's BWL author page for book details and purchase links to your favorite bookseller.

A TIME LINE:

1. On 22 August 1968, Ringo Starr temporarily walked out of sessions for the White Album after becoming disenchanted with the increasing tensions within the group.

2. Actor Peter Sellers owned a yacht named Amelfis. (The name comes from he word, Amelfi and means, you like to make your own decisions and to be the master of your domain.)

3. At that time, the Amelfis was moored in a bat at Sardinia, and Sellers loaned it to Starr and his family.



4. The Starrs went out on it for a day and the captain told Ringo how though octopuses hang out in their caves, they have been known to go around the seabed finding shiny stones, tin cans, and bottles to put in front of their cave, a bit like creating a garden.

5. A guitar and "a couple of tokes later," Ringo had a song.,

George Harrison provided uncredited assistance in developing the song's chord changes. (Both Harrison and Starr often felt their musical accomplished were dismissed by Paul McCartney and John Lennon.) In the documentary, Let It Be, he can be seen helping Starr work out the song on piano. John Lennon later joined in on the drums.

But, do octopuses actually make gardens?

 According to John Forsythe, a marine biologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, "Octopuses like to hide in a den -- any crevice or hole that is protected. Often they conceal the opening to that den by piling up rocks, broken shells, broken glass, bottle caps, lost wedding rings, anything they can find or sucker. That pile is called an octopus midden -- or garden, if you prefer."

 We who live on Puget Sound and have interacted with octopuses know that they are friendly and will lay a tentacle casually over you if you stroke them. Also that they have at least three different temperamental humors: passive, aggressive and paranoid and that they are playful.  Their aquarium caregivers are extremely fond of them.

 Octopuses are not the most attractive creatures, but not much of what lives under the sea is. How many times have  we been told, "Do not judge a book by its cover.)?

Do You Believe in Time Travel?

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You're standing in front of a time travel machine that will take you into the past. Your heart is pounding; your hand shaking as you reach forward. All you have to do is push the button for why you want to go.
      * a sense of adventure
      * a love of history
      * to find romance
Would you do it??

If you ever find that time machine, let me know. I would love to go back in time for all the reasons above. But since I haven't come across such a wonderful device, I content myself with writing just such stories.

Writing time travel combines the best of both worlds. I can have a modern, independent, free loving heroine and still have an alpha type hero who’s possessive, self-made, and believes women should be protected and revered. Being thrown back in time will take you out of your comfort zone. There were no modern conveniences such as microwaves, cell phones, cars and expressways. Horsepower in the 1800’s was literal! None of your job skills or your MA in computer technology or Political Science will help you as you try to find your place in a world long forgotten.

In the time travels I’ve written, the heroine travels back in time, taking with her the knowledge of the future, but not the ability to change history except perhaps on a personal level. Think of this – In HOLD ON TO THE PAST, Brianna is helping with the excavation of the steamboat Arabia when she accidentally goes back to be on board the steamboat on its last fateful voyage. If she prevented the steamboat from sinking, thereby changing history, she wouldn’t have been at the excavation site to begin with.

Even without being able to change history, the fact that the heroine knows things the hero doesn’t can lead to some interesting conversations. For example, in SPINNING THROUGH TIME, Jaci makes Nicholas and his niece a pizza, which they eat with their hands. Nicholas comments that it’s not bad tasting, but it will never catch on as a dinner dish.

Things that haven’t been invented yet, or have particular significance in one century or the other, are always fun to incorporate into a story. Ellie, in PROSPECTING FOR LOVE is discovered with nail polish on her toes, which only the “working girls” at the saloon would do. She finds “real junk food” in the form of potato chips and Van Camp’s Pork and Beans in the general store in 1850, believing things like that had only been invented in her lifetime. The opposite side of the coin is that she doesn’t know how to cook without a microwave or start a fire in the stove.

Some of the challenges inherent to writing time travel are: (1) the methods I use to get the heroine back in time, (2) what can or can’t be transported with her when she goes, and (3) how and when she has an opportunity to return to her own time. The “rules” have to be established before I start writing and then they cannot be broken. I can’t decide half way through the book that Brianna needs her cell phone to convince Jake she’s from the future, so she miraculously finds it under a rock somewhere (HOLD ON TO THE PAST).

Now that being said, I can have different rules for different books. For example, the methods of taking the heroine back in time are very different in each of my books. I didn’t  just have them fall and bump their heads. That would be far too easy. Also, in some, whatever they have on their person goes back with them, but in one if what they have (plastic buttons on a shirt; a zipper) had not been invented yet, it doesn’t travel back in time.

The real climax for a time travel isn’t finding the treasure or solving the mystery. It’s whether the heroine and hero can stay together. Since my heroine didn’t have a choice when she accidentally went through time, I do give her a choice as to whether she stays. There has to be a point when either the opportunity or the threat of “transportation” exists, so my heroine has a free choice in her future. Whether she takes it, or whether the hero can stay with her, either in his time or hers, would be giving away the endings! I hope, instead, that you grab a time travel and stay up late finding out.

You can find HOLD ON TO THE PAST, as well as my other time travel, historical and contemporary romances at http://bookswelove.net/authors/baldwin-barbara-romance/. If you enjoy a time travel or two, please leave a review at your purchase site. It helps both my publisher and me as we look at marketing.

And while you are reading, I am currently writing my next time travel, which doesn’t have a name yet and is listed on my computer as “new story idea.” But it will have a bit of a twist that I haven’t tried before so I'm excited to see where it will go.

Happy New Year!

Barbara Baldwin

http://authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin

January's Featured Genre at BWL Publishing, Contemporary Romance

January's Featured Genre is Contemporary Romance

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