Cemeteries

I've always had a fascination for cemeteries. Ever since I can remember I liked walking around, looking at the names and dates. The older the better. I'm not sure where this fascination came from or why. 

 
I'm fortunate that my husband has accepted this strange quirk of mine and has taken me to several through the years. Once, while we were in his semi,  the cemetery was next to the truck stop and we were able to walk there. 
One of my favorite cemeteries is Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland,Ohio.  Many famous people are buried here - The most famous, of course, is President James A. Garfield. Architect George Keller designed the Garfield Monument, which was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1880. The Garfield Monument stands 180 feet tall. Around the exterior of the balcony are five, terra cotta panels by Casper Bubel, with over 110 figures all life size, depicting Garfield’s life and death.

The Memorial Hall includes rich, gold mosaics, beautifully colored marble, stained glass windows and deep-red granite columns. The stained glass windows and window like panes represent the original 13 colonies, plus the state of Ohio, along with panels depicting War and Peace. Standing in the main floor is a statue of the President sculpted by Alexander Doyle.

Venture up 64 steps from the lobby to the outdoor balcony. On a clear day you can see 40 miles of the Lake Erie shore. It's called Lake View Cemetery due to the magnificent view that one can see of Lake Erie from the outdoor balcony.

Another famous person is Eliot Ness as well as John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil Company of Ohio and first billionaire in the United States. 

The gardens are beautiful as well as the statues throughout. 

A smaller cemetery is in Twinsburg, Ohio - It was the setting in Trouble Comes

in Twos  Twins, Moses and Aaron Wilcox are buried there. They were reportedly so identical only their closest friends could tell them apart. They were lifelong business partners, held all their property in common, married sisters, had the same number of children, contracted the same fatal ailment and died within hours of each other. 
The sandstone vault standing sentry at the entrance of the cemetery was born out of necessity The earth proved too hollow during the winter so bodies lied in waiting until the ground thawed.

A much smaller cemetery was one we visited several times in Hocking County. I'm not sure it even has a name. It's next to a vacant wooden church (another thing that fascinates me). Some of the markers are so old you can't read them. There are only about 25 graves there (give or take).  We stopped there often on our way to and from the town of Nelsonville, when we vacationed in a cabin at Lake Hope State Park. There's something so peaceful about cemeteries. I'd often stop at the graves and wonder about the person who lived there. 

Strangely enough, I seldom visit the cemetery where my parents and two of my siblings are buried. I guess I'd rather remember them full of life.  

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Is letter writing redundant? by Priscilla Brown

 

Regretfully, no characters in these contemporary romances write personal letters.

 In future stories, maybe I should make sure they do!

https://bookswelove/net/authors/brown-priscilla-romance

Here, I am considering personal letters, not business or formal communications. In today's time-poor society (or perceived as such)  it's quicker and easier to phone, text, email or message. And there are times and situations where immediacy is essential.But isn't there something anticipatory about receiving a hand-addressed envelope? Open it, find a sheet of paper filled with handwriting - you know the writer has taken the time and effort to think of you.

Checking in my local newsagency I found several differently designed quality writing pads with matching envelopes, and boxed compendiums of attractive paper and envelopes. I asked the manager how the items sold. She told me that while the pads and envelopes on the whole were fairly slow sellers, those pads clearly designed for a child's use do sell, hopefully for the child to write thank you letters, and indicating that parents encourage children to write; others were bought mostly by women. The compendiums are popular especially close to Christmas, she assumes for gifts. And for writing thank you letters!

 So, other than thank you, why write? A few thoughts...


- reminisce on a good time you've had together
- someone you know, or sense, is in trouble, lonely, needs encouragement
- you've lost touch, want to repair a friendship
- forge a friendship with someone you know only casually
- take time to think things through, or apologise, clarifying comments that may be misunderstood in person or on the phone
- introduce a topic of mutual interest, leading to an epistolary conversation

- invite the recipient into the sender's world with descriptions of experiences, feelings, concerns
- recommend with details a book or movie
- with family, share thoughts and information which can be saved for future generations

Further to this, a nearby family is having a house built on previously vacant land. They are writing notes on their current lives to be dated, sealed in non-rusting container, and buried in what will become the garden. The seven-year-old wrote about his school; his four-year-old brother who could write his name dictated to the older child to write about his swimming lessons; for their two-year-old sister, Mr7 wrote her name, age and added kisses. Each parent will write notes to future parents.

Personalised and preferably handwritten letters are social currency with more of a human connection than is possible via technology. I believe such letter writing will not become redundant as long as we acknowledge a fundamental need to keep in touch on a deeper level.

As I cannot write personally to each of you, please imagine that I have handwritten (yes, you can read my writing!) on quality white writing paper using a blue pen, neatly folded into a matching envelope,  a letter bringing all good wishes for 2020. 

May the year be kind to you. And, of course, with lots of wonderful reading. 

Priscilla

 https://priscillabrownauthor.com

Harlots & Nightingales

Nightingale, her Lovers & Mozart

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 Buried in the depths of Hulu is a series based on Harris's Guide to the Ladies of Covent Garden, an erotic guide book to the prostitutes who worked the area. This little magazine was issued every year, at a cost 2 shillings + in London during the period 1757-1795. As the charms and specialities of each woman were described in sometimes graphic detail, it was titillating reading in and of itself. 

Having spent a lot of time imagining exactly that time period in the course of working on various novels, I was instantly drawn in. As befits a British production, the costuming and the opening street scenes on the poor side of town were thrillingly authentic, full of piss, drunks, poverty and danger. I confess, I'm completely addicted to Harlots, which has more engaging characters and more twists, turns and heart-breaks in one episode than some series contain in an entire season. 

Way beyond the soft core flash, Harlots is genuine women's history, served straight up. (!) It's written by women and a stern female gaze informs every scene and every line of dialogue. It made me realize, so much more than the tepid statement: "women had no property rights," that these women were property/chattel, just like their client's carriage horses. 

A woman belonged to her father until she belonged to her husband. If she was married off to a gross rich old man or to a violent young one, she might still be lucky enough to become a widow. Only then would she have a chance to control her own life. In a terrific scene at the end of the first series, an aristocratic woman confides that she doesn't care who killed her husband, but if his whore knows who did, she only wants to say "thank-you."

The best a harlot could hope for was a rich and congenial "keeper," a man who would protect what belonged (often by contract) to him. During Georgian times, in London, one in five women was engaged in the sex trade. There were many sociological factors bringing this heart-breaking statistic about, but whatever was the cause, young women flooded into town from impoverished rural families looking for work as domestics. Even if they were fortunate enough to avoid being recruited or even kidnapped for sex work, they were utterly dependent and could easily be forced into sex with their masters. The practice survives today, in the form of workplace sexual harassment.  

If you think those bad old days are over, take a look at the headlines in the past few years about the trials of women working in the entertainment (and the infotainment) businesses. This also happens in the course of ordinary employment, in offices, in restaurants, where tipped workers are paid (in my state $2.83/hr.) and in factories where women, in ever increasing numbers, have gone to work.  One reason for the vulnerability of working women is because even college educated women are not paid what men are paid for producing exactly the same work. Moreover, the color of your skin decides exactly how much less than a man you will earn. Poor women discover that they can make a great deal more "on the game" than working at a minimum wage job, so, if they are young or need to make their own hours because their children are young and daycare impossible because of cost, sex work might still seem to be the only option. 

My Mozart

The Viennese novels I've written are about the morally sketchy entertainment business, true then as now. Singers, actresses, and dancers enjoy fame and a bit of fortune while their looks and physical abilities last, but in the 18th Century they were never considered "respectable." Glamour and charisma brought wealthy men routinely into a talented woman's orbit. In a time when rich men routinely took mistresses, (and I'm sure it's not any different today) these talented women were collected by gentlemen as objects that proved status and virility--a virility often lodged only in their bank accounts.

My heroines, born poor and talented, Maria Klara and Nanina Gottlieb, live in a world where they always walk a cliff path way, the kind with a crumbling edge and an abyss beneath. Men take them for harlots simply because of their profession. Maria Klara is, quite literally, the property of a dissolute music-loving aristocrat. Her career as well as her comfort depend upon her powerful Count's good will and her ability to please him--both on stage and in his bed. Escape from her gilded cage seems utterly impossible.

Nanina, her family impoverished by the death of her father, barely escapes being turned out by her own mother. Lost virginity was the end of respectability, and, with that went the only other option for a woman in the 18th Century--marriage. Wife or Prostitute were woman's choices, unless she had money of her own sufficient to survive upon.  Artists like Mozart lived on the edge of this fast and loose theatrical world; Papa Leopold Mozart's letters are full of exhortations and warnings to his precious, susceptible son on the subject of whores, who might also be talented prima donnas, the kind of women who have passed through the hands of many men.

Mozart's Wife

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~~Juliet 

New Year’s Resolutions and other Horrible Ideas by Connie Vines

New Year’s Resolutions.  Everyone makes them; everyone breaks them.

Need additional stress in your life?  Then go ahead and make resolutions for 2020.  Proclaim your intent to friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even strangers you might encounter on the street.  Tell everyone so he/she can remind you, about mid-February, that you’ve fallen-off-the-rails—or worst yet, you never made it to the station.

While I’ve had my share of failed resolutions over the years (I’ll share those later in my post), I compiled a list of ‘what were you thinking?’ resolutions.

• Quit Your Job.  Calling your boss up on New Year’s Eve and leaving voicemail that you quite your job is one of the worst New Year’s resolutions you can ever act on? Why? Firstly, your savings account is probably looking rather unhealthy. Plus, after the holiday seasonal hires are looking for new jobs, meaning competition for that position you want is going to be tougher than ever.

• Join A Gym Straight Away. Joining a gym straight away doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to stick to it. Studies have found that 60 per cent of gym memberships go unused and that by mid-February gym attendance has subsided back to the pre-Christmas levels. Instead, sign-up for a gym class, or walk with a friend (human or furry variety) in the early morning or in the evening.

• Travel.  Booking a one-way ticket to some far-flung exotic destination. Great; what about your house, your pets, your job, your partner, your debts? The list goes on and on. Although traveling is great, booking a flight as part of your New Year’s resolution because you hate the monotony of your life.

• Join A Band.  Just because the likes of “insert name of your favorite band” started their epic career in a garage, it doesn’t mean you’re going to follow a similar path.  Bad, very bad idea.

• Find Someone to Marry (in real life).  Yes, I know I write romance novels with always end with a HEA. However, ‘finding someone to marry’ and ‘falling in love’ are not interchangeable terms.  Even if you’ve had your parents nagging you to settle down all Christmas or you’ve been paraded in front of what feels like a hundred happy couples at numerous festive parties, then your desire to find someone to marry might be higher than normal. Yet, love strikes when you don’t expect it. So, don’t try to plan to find “the one”; give it time and you’ll find someone when you least expect it.

My failed, or repeated fails, of past New Year’s resolutions.

• Weight loss, of course.  I’ve joined and rejoined this popular program several times—always with limited results.  The past several years I’ve utilized Pinterest to save ideas and recipes.  I also downloaded “My Fitness Pal” application.  It’s free and I am able to scan, track, and sync with my Fitbit activity tracker.

• Go to bed early.  I’m a night-owl (or a closet vampire). Mid-night is my early-bed-time, never mind that I must bound-out-of-bed at 5:45 AM each week day.  My primary doctor asked me ‘how much sleep to you get each night?’  I hedged, “how may hours should I be sleeping?” He responded, firmly, “at least 7 hours.”  “7?” I was shocked (I come from a long-line of night owls) and confessed, “6 hours. . .maybe.”  He stared me down and ordered me to get at least 7 hours.  When I returned home my husband asked me what the doctor said.  I replied, “He told me that I failed sleeping.”  Unfortunately, my husband found this extremely amusing (he’s an early to bed and get-up at 5:00 AM type of person—he even cat-naps). 

• Which leads me to. . .going to bed by 10:30 each week night.  Sounds like 7 hours sleep, doesn’t it?  If I fall asleep at 10:30 PM (snort), I’m awake for a couple of hours, usually 2:00 AM – 4:00 AM.  However, on Friday and Saturday I stay up late writing and go to bed in the early AM.  I did purchase a satin sleep mask (think: Holly Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s) for my writing nights.  Of course, my dog (Chanel) tries to pull the mask off and my husband ignores us both. The mask does help.  Sometimes, I even sleep 8 hours.

Are you making resolutions for 2020?  Or do you have a few fails you'd like to share?

Remember my novels are on sale 75% off at Smashwords until January 1, 2020 --saving money and reading a wonderful story written by a BWL author is a great way to start the New Year!

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Best Wishes and Happy Reading,

Connie Vines

"What woman doesn't love a cowboy?"

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AND WHAT A YEAR 2019 WAS! HARD WORK, DEADLINES, AWARDS, AND ALL! - by Vijaya Schartz

ANGEL FIERCE won the 2019 ARIZONA LITERARY AWARDS
 in FICTION Find it and many other books of mine HERE

2019 was a busy and rewarding year in many ways and many areas of my life. On a personal level, my divorce was finalized, after twenty-five years of marriage. The last five years we were separated. Not a tremendous change, but a symbolic one. I always valued freedom above all. 

As for my writing career, a few surprise awards came at the very beginning. I was a bestseller for 2018 at BWL, and ANGEL MINE (Azura Chronicles Book 1) was voted Best Positive Future Novel of 2018 by Critters Annual Readers Poll.

 

My publication year started with ANGEL FIERCE in February, followed by BLACK DRAGON in June. Then I had to revise and refresh all the books in the CHRONICLES OF KASSOUK (six of them) over the summer for the second publication of this favorite award-winning series by BWL. Then I had to rewrite a short work into a full novel, AKIRA’S CHOICE, Byzantium Book 2, which was released in November. I also contributed to an anthology of essays about genre discrimination and the condition of women, to be released in January to benefit a women’s charity. 

Ten titles in one year. Phew! 

When the stars align, you better be ready for the turmoil. It was grueling work. And a lot of time and effort spent on writing, on promoting the release of each book, not to mention meeting insane deadlines. I had no other choice but to bury myself in my work. 

But the rewards exceeded all my expectations. 

The crowning came on November 2nd, with the 2019 ARIZONA LITERARY AWARDS, where ANGEL FIERCE won first place in fiction, a very large and competitive category.  Here I am in my Phryne Fisher Murder Mysteries costume, cloche hat and all, receiving the award. My book cover is on the big screen. The smile alone tells the story. 

Then, a few weeks later, on November 26, I was selected for the Best of Glendale award in Media and Entertainment, for my achievements as an author, for the year 2019. 

"Each year, this program identifies companies and individuals that we believe have achieved exceptional success in their local community and business category. These exceptional people help make the Glendale area a great place to live, work and play. Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners. The Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Glendale Award Program and data provided by third parties. Only one winner is selected in each category." 

It took me twenty years of arduous work and perseverance from my first book release to get to this point, and I have no regrets. After thirty original titles, it was all worth it. I realized my dream of becoming a recognized and celebrated author, respected by my peers, and loved by my readers. Too bad Amazon doesn’t consider quality as its principal standard. 

But where do I go from here? Keep writing. I’m now working on MALAIKA’S SECRET, Book 3 of the Byzantium series, to be released in 2020. Next will be ANGEL BRAVE, Book 3 of the Azura Chronicles, set on the angel planet. Angel Fierce, the award-winning book, was Book 2 of this series, and Book 1, Angel Mine, won a Readers Poll. Each book is a standalone.

I sincerely hope 2020 gives me a little time to breathe. I wouldn’t want to get burned out about writing, like some of my author friends who stopped producing altogether. I wish to retain my joie de vivre an enjoy some kind of personal life… which was missing in 2019. Besides, having a life can also give authors some inspiration for new characters and new stories. 

ANGEL FIERCE - Byzantium Book 2

Winner Arizona Literary Awards, Fiction, 2019

Something’s rotten on the angel planet. When Avenging Angels turn up dead, Urielle, their Legion Commander, suspects the handsome intruder brought unspeakable evil to Azura.

Maksou never met a woman he couldn’t seduce. He came to the forbidden planet to rescue his friends and get rich in the process, but the jungle crawls with lethal life forms… including a gorgeous warrior angel, who saves his life but keeps him prisoner and challenges his irresistible charm.

Urielle, sworn to protect Azura at all costs, has no use for a maverick who ignores the rules and endangers the planet… no matter how attractive. Especially when the Galactic Trade Alliance (GTA) wages a secret war to get their greedy hands on the priceless crystal at Azura’s core.

"full of fascinating elements and a unique spin on Angels... fast pace and strong, vivid characters that draw readers in and keep them glued to the pages... an entertaining and intriguing read." Ind'tale Magazine

Akira's Choice - Byzantium Book 2

When bounty hunter Akira Karyudo accepted her assignment, something didn't add up. Why would the Galactic Trade Alliance want a young kidnapped orphan dead or alive?

She will get to the truth once she finds the boy, and the no-good SOB who snatched him from a psychiatric hospital. With her cheetah, Freckles, a genetically enhanced feline retriever, Akira sets out to flush them out of the bowels of the Byzantium space station. But when she finds her fugitives, the kidnapper is not what she expects.

Kazmo, a decorated Resistance fighter, stole his nephew from the authorities, who performed painful experiments on the boy. Stuck on Byzantium, he protects the child, but how can he shield him from the horribly dangerous conditions in the lawless sublevels of the space station?

Akira faces the worst moral dilemma of her career. Law or justice, duty or love. She can't have it both ways.

"Wow! If readers want to see and feel and believe they are in deep space, then ‘Akira's Choice’ is the perfect choice! With a touch of romance, the vivid descriptions and beautifully developed characters masterfully presented by Schartz create a virtual world that invite the reader not merely to observe, but to walk amongst them and participate... This is a delicate art, and Schartz wields her weapons with precision and skill. Banzai!" 5 stars - exceptional - recommended read - Ind'tale Magazine

"A captivating story with interesting, appealing characters. Being a cat lover, I found the relationship, with its psychic element, between Freckles and Shane absolutely captivating. As always, Ms. Schartz’s solid plot and crisply-written prose incorporates a good blend of action and intrigue... This story can easily stand alone... but I believe you’ll enjoy this exciting Sci-Fi series much more if you start reading it from the beginning... a must read for all fans of Sci-Fi romance. Go pick them up and settle into your favorite armchair for some entertaining reading. 4.5 stars - Manic Readers

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, safe travels, and a fantastic year in 2020.

Vijaya Schartz, author

 Strong heroines, brave heroes, cats, romance with a kick
 http://www.vijayaschartz.com
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The origins of pantomime—Tricia McGill

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The earliest form of pantomime developed in the street markets and fairgrounds of Italy in the 16^th century. The Commedia del’arte had its comedy, stock characters and always stories of the old man, Pantalone, the clown Pierrot and Columbine, a girl in love with the servant Arlecchino (Harlequin). In the late 1700s an actor named Joseph Grimaldi took Harlequin to new heights, as the sets became more elaborate. 

By the Victorian era, the pantomime was typical Christmas fare and

saw the demise of the traditional Harlequinade. It became pure variety, plus comedy and music.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2JZ6TSqnd480n90dzN77r1Q/where-does-pantomime-really-come-from

I knew none of this when my mother took me along during the festive season to the local church hall or perhaps later on to the nearest music hall, where we would join in the fun. I think my mother probably enjoyed the show as much as me as it was likely she had little time or money earlier when bringing up the other nine children to enjoy the pleasure of a night out. How I loved those shows. It never occurred to me to question why a girl always played Aladdin or Cinderella’s ugly sisters were always a couple of middle aged male comedians. Audience participation was and still is a vital part of the pantomime.

 

One of my favourites was Dick Whittington, perhaps because I liked his cat who accompanied him on his search for the city paved with gold. I can still see him on that stage, sitting on the milestone outside London with his cat alongside him. Of course, I had no idea back then that this panto story is based on the life of a real Richard Whittington who went on to become a four times Lord Mayor of London. He was famous for financing projects such as drainage systems in the poorer areas of Medieval London. Folklore has it that he made a fortune by selling his cat to an Eastern gent who sent the cat back to his rat-infested empire, but that is one of those believe it or not stories probably with little truth in it.

Perhaps my love of panto stemmed from my love of reading. To see the characters I knew well come to life on the stage was magical.

It is believed that the British panto and the role reversal of principal boy and the Dame may have evolved from the Feast of Fools; a Tudor tradition presided over by the Lord of Misrule. Apparently, this feast was just an excuse for drinking to excess and the consequential revelry. Or, this festival may have originated from the Roman times where the master would allow his servants to take over his role as master throughout the festival.

Whatever or wherever it originated, pantomime is still alive and doing well. I guarantee that the settings and characters have improved a thousand-fold since those far off days, where my mother probably paid about sixpence or a shilling entrance fee, and we sat on hard benches in the draughty church hall and shouted along with the crowd, “Look behind you,” to a character on the stage who appeared oblivious to all that was going on at his rear.

I do hope that most of you have experienced a panto and have taken your children or grandchildren along to see at least one.

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