Monday, June 7, 2021

Historical Novel Society Conference by Eileen O'Finlan

 


I just completed a seven day virtual conference with the Historical Novel Society. What an experience! Over 600 historical fiction writers attended. Each day began at 8:00 am and ended at 11:00 pm. Imagine all the learning packed into those hours! The conference, filled with workshops, author talks, and chat rooms devoted to specific subjects, was an extravaganza covering ancient times through World War II and everything from the craft of writing to the ins and outs of marketing. There were so many workshops and conversations rooms from which to choose it was impossible to get to them all. Fortunately, all workshops were recorded and will continue to be available for the next 90 days so I can still see the ones I missed.

So what did I learn about? Everything from writing dual timelines, to the use of symbolism, to creating characters that fit with the time period, to tips for researching, to branding and building a platform, to choosing comp titles, to creating a social media strategy, to starting an author collective and more! On top of all that, there were talks by keynote speakers, bestselling author Lisa See and publishing guru Jane Friedman. Besides workshops, the conversation rooms, each focusing on a different topic, offered excellent opportunities for networking as well as brainstorming with other authors.

The pandemic has been horrible, but if one good thing has come from it, it is the availability to attend virtual events. This was the first time the Historical Novel Society has offered a conference online which means it's also the first one I've been able to attend as I simply can't afford the costs of the conference, travel, lodging, and food. The organizers had an enormous amount of technological issues to handle in creating and running this event and they did a superb job. Kudos to all involved!




Going Away for a Virtual Writing Retreat by Eileen O'Finlan

 


One of the few positive things about being shut down by the pandemic is the plethora of events that have been offered virtually. So often there are things I'd love to go to, but due to travel and expense it just isn't possible. So I was thrilled to be able to register for two conferences I would not have otherwise been able to attend. The first was a writer's retreat hosted by Career Authors held on May 7-8, 2021. The second is the upcoming Historical Novel Society Conference June 21-27, 2021.

The Career Authors retreat is normally held in the Endicott House at MIT. While travel time would not have been a problem, expense would have been. But that was considerably reduced by the fact that it was offered virtually making it affordable for me to attend.

Fellow author and friend, Jane Willan, was also registered so we decided that rather than spending the whole retreat sitting home alone at our computers, we should make it feel more like the "real thing" by booking a room at a local hotel. Both of us are fully vaccinated and since we'd be ensconsced in the room most of the time, we figured it was safe. 

The night before the retreat began we met for dinner at a local restuarant. It was the first time either of us had eaten at a restaurant in over a year. We worried whether we would forget what to do! Fortunately, that was not a problem. After a delicious dinner, we headed over to the hotel and settled in.

The next morning, after a breakfast where we were almost the only guests in the hotel's restaurant, we returned to our room and logged on. There was a moment (well, longer than a moment) of frustration when Jane couldn't get her laptop to cooperate. All 50+ attendees were taking turns introducing ourselves and her laptop refused to unmute. Frustration turned to desparation when pondering an entire conference in which she could not join the conversation. A quick call to her tech-savvy husband brought him right to the hotel. He had her set up in no time and we were good to go!

It was an intense weekend - the first day going from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. with only a few short breaks and the second day from 9:00 a.m. until the workshop ended at 1:00 p.m. I never felt so exhausted after a day of sitting at my computer as I did at the end of the first day. But it was worth it. With the Career Authors founders, best-selling, award-winning authors Hank Phillipi Ryan, Jessica Strawser, Paula Munier (also a literary agent), Brian Andrews, and editor Dana Issacson as presenters the weekend was filled with amazing content that could not help but improve our writing and our understanding of the publishing process. Best of all, we each got some one-on-one time with one of the presenters. Jessica Strawser became my mentor for a brief period and what a joy it was to have this amazing author and former Editor in Chief of Writer's Digest Magazine offering me her advice and guidance.

I'm truly looking forward to the Historical Novel Society Conference later this month. As that is of a longer duration, I'll be staying home. Nonetheless, I am grateful that I will be able to partake of what promises to be a stellar conference.

My advice to writers is to make the most of the opportunity to attend virtual conferences, workshops, and retreats while you can, especially those you would not be able to attend in person.



Sunday, June 6, 2021

Have you checked out June's free novel, it's a mystery by BWL Author Dean L. Hovey

FREE NOVEL DOWNLOAD FOR JUNE

STOLEN PAST, A MYSTERY BY DEAN L. HOVEY

CLICK THE BOOK COVER TO DOWNLOAD

 

Doug Fletcher, a retired Minnesota detective, relocates to Arizona and a quiet life as a part-time National Park Service ranger.

His plans change abruptly when a suspicious fall at a national monument plunges him into the world of stolen antiquities, ruthless drug smugglers, and shady antiques dealers.

Working with Jamie Ballard of the Navajo Nation Police, Doug finds their investigation complicated by the demands of his visiting family, a new boss, an overly friendly neighbor, the FBI, and his new environment.

 Review Snippets 

“Hovey’s greatest strength is his artful use of suspense.”

 “Hovey writes a well-researched story with realistic characters who aren’t just cardboard cutouts like so many writers that crank out potboilers.”

 

 Click the book covers for details and purchase information 

Dean L. Hovey's BWL Publishing Author Page

     
     

 

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Women’s Fashion in the First Half of the 14th Century Part One by Rosemary Morris

 


To learn more about Rosemary's work please click on the cover above. 

In my novels Yvonne, Lady of Cassio, Volume One of The Lovages of Cassio, and in Grace, Lady of Cassio, Volume Two, which begins in 1331, (to be published in August 2021) I describe the characters clothes to help readers visualise them. As I write, I imagine wealthy ladies’ sumptuous garments. For example, “Powdered (sprinkled) with designs,” Rich fabrics powdered (patterned) or embroidered and enhanced with pearls.

Fashions changed. By 1330 garments were shaped to reveal instead of concealing women’s figures. Necklines became lower, long sleeves fitted tightly and were either stitched up or fastened with buttons from the elbow to the wrist. To render her vesture more perfect a silver needle was filled with thread of gold, and both her sleeves were closely sewed. Roman de la Rose.

I like this contemporary description. “These tournaments are attended by many ladies of the first rank and greatest beauty, but not always of the most untainted reputation. They are dressed in part-coloured tunics, one half being of one colour and the other half of another, with short hoods and liripipes which are wrapped around their heads like cords; their girdles are handsomely decorated with gold and silver and they wear short swords or daggers before them in pouchesa little below the navel; and thus habited they are mounted on the finest horses that can be procured and ornamented with the richest furniture.” Henry Knighton, 1348.

Kirtle

The kirtle (gown) was laced at the back or front to the waist, or a little lower, and worn with a girdle around the hips.

Over Garments

The long cote-hardie worn over the kirtle fitted closely. It was buttoned to below the waist or had a low neck and was pulled down over the head.

Surcoats

Surcoats with or without sleeves were worn over the kirtle. Unlike the cote-hardie they did not fit close to the body. They were either knee-length or ankle length, sometimes had slits up the sides and were worn without a girdle.

                                                                                    Outer Garments

 Short Pelissons lined with fur. Cloaks lined with fur had hoods and were worn to keep warm when travelling. Mantles Worn on ceremonial occasions were lined with expensive material, tied loosely with tasselled cords passed through jewelled attachments. Garde-Corps Women sometimes wrapped one around themselves over their inner garments.

 www.rosemarymorris.co.uk    

http://bookswelove.net/authors/morris-rosemary


Friday, June 4, 2021

The Mummy of Mammoth Cave by Katherine Pym

https://books2read.com/Pillars-of-Avalon
Buy Here: https://books2read.com/Pillars-of-Avalon

~*~*~*~*~

 

`

Not long ago, I found a book in my bookshelves I didn't know I had. It's a guidebook of sorts of the great mammoth cave in Kentucky, a massive structure with more than 400 miles of surveyed passageways. There is little information out there about the mummy so my newly found book will have to suffice as the extant knowledge of the mummy's description. 

Apparently, there was no time frame of when the cave was discovered. It's been available to countless peoples over the vast period of history. 

The mummy is considered female, and found in the early 1800's by miners who were part of saltpeter operation during the 1812-1814 war with Great Britain. Because of the British blockade, weaponry and ammunition were hard commodities to find. 

No one knows her origin, but some say the body is similar to burial rites in pre-Columbian era. Her hair was a dark red and she was considered tall for the times, 5' 10". When discovered she was in a fetal position, much like the Inca mummies, with wrists bound over her chest and lower legs crossed. Since this finding, her body has disappeared, or so this book says, and to be realistic, there is little printed on the mummy of Mammoth Cave.

No one knows if she was murdered or sacrificed, for someone stabbed her in the ribs. 

They gave her the appellation of "Fawn-Hoof" because of the red fawn hooves found with her body. Along with the hooves, supposedly things to carry her into the otherworld were : an eagle's claw, deer skins, rattlesnake skins, caps of knitted bark, a bag of the same material, seven feather headdresses, one for each day of the week, bird quills not sharpened, and several necklaces, the seeds smaller than hemp seed, all strung together. In the stash were horn and bone needles, sinew used as thread. 

Her red hair had been shorn to the scalp, with an inch left at the nape of her neck. It was surmised at the time (early 1800's), those who cut off her hair considered it such an unusual color, they used it for sacred rites.

She was wrapped in deer skins, their unknown origin designs of vines and leaves which had been stretched in a stark white substance. She lay on knitted or woven bark in the appearance of South Sea mats. Her skin was dark but not African American. 

And so it goes. With the mummy lost who some say museums or stored in a private archive, what was originally described as "Fawn-Hoof" will remain the only technical observations, and that was approx 1813. A great mystery which will probably never be unearthed. 

~*~*~*~

Many thanks to: Mammoth Cave and the Cave Region of Kentucky by Helen F. Randolph, The Standard Printing Company Inc., Louisville, 1924

Wikicommon, Public domain

For more about my books visit my BWL author page:  https://bookswelove.net/pym-katherine/

Thursday, June 3, 2021

Killing Them Softly by Diane Bator

 

Click on the cover to see more! 

The week of May 10 to 13, I had the pleasure of being on a mystery writer panel courtesy of the Crime Writers of Canada and the Ontario Association of Library Technicians. In fact, there were several panels running over four days and great opportunities to virtually meet other authors and hear their stories.

My own schedule didn’t allow me to watch the first four panels, but it was fun to be a part of the Killing Them Softly: Cozy Mysteries panel. 


As a moderator, Lynn McPherson was right on top of everything. The questions, the time, and any questions and comments from the audience of about 40 members. We each answered not only prepared questions, but a few extras, which worked out well since we were missing one of the panelists. Those who were featured were: Lynn McPherson (Izzy Walsh Mystery series), Diane Bator (Glitter Bay Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries, etc), Ginger Bolton (Deputy Donut Mystery series), Winona Kent (Jason Davey Mysteries), Peter Kingsmill (our missing author of Awan Lake series).


One of the first questions was: What is a cozy mystery? According to author Ginger Bolton: https://cozy-mystery.com/Definition-of-a-Cozy-Mystery.html

·       Cozy mystery readers are intelligent people looking for a “fun read” that engages the mind, as well as provides entertainment.

·       The crime-solver in a cozy mystery is usually a woman who is an amateur sleuth.

·       The cozy mystery usually takes place in a small town or village. The small size of the setting makes it believable that all the suspects know each other.

·       Although the cozy mystery sleuth is usually not a medical examiner, detective, or police officer, a lot of times her best friend, husband, or significant other is.

·       The local police force doesn’t take the amateur sleuth very seriously.

·       More and more, cozy mystery books are being written as parts of a series. The reader becomes emotionally involved and connected with the reoccurring characters.

·       The characters are likeable.

·       Cozy mysteries are considered “gentle” books… no graphic violence, no profanity, and no explicit sex. Most often, the crime takes place “off stage” and death is usually very quick.

·       Sex (if there is any) is always behind closed doors. It is implied…. at most!

·       Cozy mysteries tend to be fast-paced, with several twists and turns throughout each book.

·       The cozy mystery puts an emphasis on plots and character development.


One of the other things we established during the panel was that many cozies have pets, usually cats and dogs, who sometimes help the amateur sleuth to solve the case. (for examples, Audra Clemmings has her dog Drake in my book Drop Dead Cowboy.)


As well, most cozies involve bed and breakfasts; anything to do with food; crafts such as quilting, knitting, and sewing; fashion and small shops (like Vintage Sage in my Glitter Bay Mysteries); and libraries or bookstores. A few, like my Gilda Wright mysteries that feature a martial arts school, have main characters who have jobs in the community such as carpenters, hairdressers, baristas, event planners, real estate agents, and more!


Secondary characters in a cozy are fun to write. They can serve not only as a second set of eyes and ears for the sleuth, but as comic relief when the going gets tense. Sometimes, they can also the one who keeps the amateur sleuth going when they may be ready to give up and have a hand in solving the crime. Or at least be the lookout while the sleuth wraps things up.


The number one thing a good amateur sleuth needs, however, is a solid reason for wanting to solve the crime. Whether it be because the victim was someone they knew, they want to be a police office and figure a little practice is a good thing, or someone they know is suspected of the crime and they are driven to prove their innocence.


We had some very interesting panels that offered an amazing lineup of authors:


Clearly Canadian: All Canadian settings, eh? with Ann Shortell, Dave Butler, Susan Calder, Rosemary McCracken, David Poulsen, Iona Whishaw.


Nuances of Crime: Suspense, Thriller and Noir with Del Chatterson, S.M. Freedman, Hannah Mary McKinnon, C.S. O'Cinneide, Joanna Vander Vlugt.


The Long and the Short of It: Writing short stories and novellas with Judy Penz Sheluk, M.H. Callway, Barbara Joyce-Hawryluk, Merrilee Robson, Melissa Yi.

Law and Order: Police Procedurals with Desmond Ryan, Jen. J. Danna, Ardelle Holden, Jim Napier, Garry Ryan.

Killing Them Softly: Cozy Mysteries with Lynn McPherson (Izzy Walsh Mystery series), Diane Bator (Glitter Bay Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries, etc), Ginger Bolton (Deputy Donut Mystery series), Winona Kent (Jason Davey Mysteries), Peter Kingsmill (our missing author of Awan Lake series).

Whodunnit: The Mystery Panel with Cathy Ace, J.J. Dupuis, Ann Lambert, Ross Pennie, Robert Rotenberg.

Make 'Em Laugh: Comic Relief to Comic Caper with Melodie Campbell, Alexis Koetting, Michael Michaud, Caro Soles, Gabrielle St. George.

True Crime…can be stranger than Fiction with Nate Hendley, Norm Boucher, Dean Jobb, Lorna Poplak.

Evening Panel with Gail Bowan, Brenda Chapman, Vicki Delany, Barbara Fradkin, and moderator Melodie Campbell.

Watch for my newest book coming in August 2021...

Gilda Wright is back! This time she needs to catch a killer who nearly murders the man she loves!





Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Turning Ideas Into Fiction Part Three by Roseanne Dowell

  


Visit Roseanne Dowell's BWL Author Page for details and purchase information


Learning to Lie – Putting it all together.-

So now we know that ideas are all around us -  From our workplace to our neighbors. From getting stuck in traffic to grocery shopping and thumbing through magazines to reading the classified. Let’s put it all together. 

 We overhear a conversation in a restaurant. The woman is crying.  Is she breaking up with her date? Is he breaking up with her? Or maybe those are happy tears?  It’s not necessary to know the truth. Your writer’s mind starts working and you imagine what you want.  My husband came home from the bank one day and told me of a conversation he heard about deadbeat dads, That conversation sparked an idea in me, and hence the book deadbeat dads came about. I did have to do some research for the book, I talked to several women who experienced ex-husbands not paying child support. Don't forget to acknowledge them in your book. 

Putting it all together comes naturally for me. I start off with an idea and characters, I always know the end, without it I can't continue to write the story. What happens in the middle is as much a surprise to me as it is for the reader.  Right now, I have two works in progress. Unfortunately, I don't know the end of either one and I'm stuck. Writers' Block 101 for me. I sit and stare at empty pages of the computer. I've lost my writing buddy and don't have anyone to throw ideas around with. Not that it would matter much, without knowing the end, ideas for the middle won't help. 

Learning to lie - what does that mean? Very simply I write fiction. While some of the stories is based on fact or something that happened to me or someone I know or heard about, most of it is made up, embellished, and let's face it, downright lies. Surely, none of this stuff can happen in real life, right? 

You begin to formulate a story about it.  You don’t even need to describe the characters in your story with the same description of the people you see.  Your mind will create your own characters.  Maybe this lady has jet black hair.  Your character may have gray hair or blond. Short, long, straight, curly it doesn’t matter.  

What matters is that you create your characters. Maybe they're young, old, middle-aged. Again, it doesn’t matter. What matters is to visualize your character in your mind. And make notes!!! Nothing is worse than reading about a blond who suddenly has dark hair halfway through the book.   And be careful with names too.  I wrote a story using the character’s name, Daniel Stephens.  Halfway through I accidentally changed it to Stephen Daniels.  Fortunately, I always ask people to read my stories before I submit them and someone told me about it.   Oh, and do identify your character's age at the beginning of the story. There's nothing worse than reading about someone you thought was in their twenties and discover halfway through the book they're fifty.  How do you do this? Well, hopefully not by saying Ellen was fifty. But through the description and I don't mean by telling us she has gray hair or wrinkles. But showing us. Ellen brushed a strand of gray hair from her shoulder. The rate her hair was falling out, she'd be bald by the time she was fifty.    There, I just showed you a scene that described her hair color and gave you her age. 

Another point,  find a writing buddy!  Someone you can exchange stories with or someone whose judgment you know and trust.  Oftentimes, family and friends are afraid to criticize your work, afraid they’ll hurt your feelings. Trust me, sometimes these critiques do hurt, after all, you worked for hours to put these words to paper and you love this story, it’s a part of you. 

But you want it to be the best you can do.  So DO keep an open mind. If you ask for someone’s opinion, respect it.  You don’t have to take all of their advice; it is your story after all.  I once had an editor tell me to cut a whole scene. A scene I felt was critical to the story.  I had several writer friends read the story. After they were done I asked if they thought I should cut the scene. They all said no, it was important to the story.  Alas, I didn’t get the story published, but it remains intact and I’ve submitted it elsewhere.  But I have often made changes when an editor suggested them and for the most part, it made for a much stronger story. I often ask three people to read my story.  If two of the three comment on the same thing, I know it needs to be changed. If only one comments on it and the others think it's fine, then I leave it. 

 

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

BWL Publishing Inc. new releases and free book for June 2021

The following four books are now available from Amazon and Smashwords as well as their retail partners. Click the book covers to visit each Author's BWL page and read about these exciting new releases.

   


And new for June, don't forget to visit our website at https://bookswelove.net  where you can download 
a copy of our June free book.

This month we're giving away Dean L. Hovey's Stolen Past.  This is the first book in Hovey's hugely popular multiple five star reviewed Doug Fletcher mystery series.   



Doug Fletcher, a retired Minnesota detective, relocates to Arizona and a quiet life as a part-time National Park Service ranger.

His plans change abruptly when a suspicious fall at a national monument plunges him into the world of stolen antiquities, ruthless drug smugglers, and shady antiques dealers.

Working with Jamie Ballard of the Navajo Nation Police, Doug finds their investigation complicated by the demands of his visiting family, a new boss, an overly friendly neighbor, the FBI, and his new environment.

Editorial Reviews
“Hovey’s greatest strength is his artful use of suspense.”

“Hovey writes a well-researched story with realistic characters who aren’t just cardboard cutouts like so many writers that crank out potboilers.”

Monday, May 31, 2021

Choosing Characters by Priscilla Brown

  Brown-SealingTheDeal-sm.jpg

Mayor Anna agonises over the parlous finances of both her alpaca stud and her country town.

 Is this sexy television producer financial salvation or major trouble?

https://books2read.com/Sealing-the-Deal

 

Several characters in my contemporary romantic fiction choose themselves. Sealing the Deal developed from a farmer sitting on a gate watching her alpaca stud; for Hot Ticket, I had noticed a woman looking in the window of a lingerie shop;  the ferry hand who managed to get me and my rental car aboard his tiny boat without a scratch won a place in Dancing the Reel.

As an author, I need to know my characters well, and ensure they and their actions are appropriately motivated and credible; my familiarity with them increases as the story progresses. I don't plot in advance, thus offering them a lot of freedom to change or augment their personalities, backgrounds, mindsets, actions. But they must always have a narrative purpose - the rationale behind their existences, earning their keep so to speak. Every character has strengths and weaknesses, which, among other ramifications, determine how this person will respond to obstacles and to the behaviour of others; basically to move the story along.

I often find this character development a challenge - for example, I may like a certain individual, but will the reader be sympathetic to her/him?  And when I introduce a villain into the story, will the reader judge this character as such, and, as I intend, worry about the connection with the main characters? In my romance stories, the 'villain' is frequently the person keeping the hero and heroine apart.

Although I do not plot at the start, I always need to keep my characters under control. It may sound crazy to a non-writer, but our fictitious people do take on a life of their own. I have to stop them from wandering into idiosyncrasies and behaviours that do not fit with my overall idea of their place. A couple of stories ago, one of my chosen secondary characters wandered out of the story and into one where he was more important, so choosing him like that for the length of a novel was not going to work. He's waiting for a story of his own.

Ultimately, by the time I have finished the drafts, I must be sure I have chosen the characters suitably, and that the tone, the mood, which I  impose on them are relevant both to what they have by now turned into a plot and to the genre; the whole narrative should coalesce into a pleasurable read. 

Enjoy your reading, best wishes, Priscilla

https://bwlpublishing.ca

https://priscillabrownauthor.com


 

 

 





Sunday, May 30, 2021

Author Readings by Eden Monroe

 


 Click here for Eden Monroe's BWL Author page and purchase information

“He felt for a pulse then grabbing his cell phone stabbed in Donna’s number ….

        “Yes, Dade!” answered Donna breathlessly. “What’s happening?”

        “We found Kerrah!” he all but shouted. “We’ve got her, but….”

        “But what?” shouted Donna. “How is she?”

        “I don’t know….” Dade faltered.

        “Dade, listen to me. Can you find a pulse?”

        “No … I can’t seem to find a pulse. She’s … cold. Oh my God!” he said, his voice breaking.”

                                                      A brief excerpt from Gold Digger Among Us

 

I was once asked by a hopeful novelist, about the importance of author readings; “whether anyone is actually interested in listening to an author drone on and on from their latest book. Aren’t readings the cure for insomnia?” she asked. She also stressed that when she got published she didn’t want to get “bogged down with what clearly doesn’t work.”

 

That person was attending a literary event at which I was among the fairly long list of reading authors. Ouch! I certainly tried to make my reading lively and interesting, but there’s always room for improvement. And my answer by the way was that author readings are extremely important, as is preparing for them.

 

So without meaning to be preachy, I decided to jot down a few tips I’ve learned along the way about author readings. These are pretty standard do’s and don’ts, but I enjoyed getting back in the zone and ready for when things start to open up again, post-pandemic. Of course this is old hat for most authors, those who have already mastered this skill, but might be helpful for the uninitiated.

 

Continue reading for the goose.

 

Reading aloud to an audience who could potentially purchase what it took us so many months to create, is a golden opportunity. Readers are fans, or at the very least potential fans, and aside from the budding novelist I mentioned earlier, come to hear what we have to say. This is our book; these are our words, given voice, our voice. We are the star of the performance, because that’s exactly what a reading is – a performance. We will bring our book to life.

 

No one knows our book better than we do, understands it better, so when we’re given the stage, we have to make the reading memorable - for the right reasons. It’s important to speak slowly – not race for the finish line, eager to be done. Instead, breathe, pace ourselves, and enjoy the ride. Most readings are about three to five minutes, so we must keep our reading short and bright; read with purpose and enthusiasm. We should approach each reading as an actor prepares for a role, really get into it – and above all, have fun.

 

It might be a good idea to print your chosen passage in a larger font for easy reading, we don’t necessarily have to read from the book (unless you want to showcase artwork, as in a children’s book) but do let the audience see your book. We must practice until we can read with ease. Rehearsal really is key, and preparation should never be left to the last minute, it’s simply too important not to be ready. We should practice until we feel comfortable enough to lift our eyes to engage the audience, because we must not ever forget our audience. Practicing in front of a mirror works, and definitely time ourselves so we can keep to the time designated by our host. For many author readings the mike is simply shut off once the allotted minutes are up (and that allotted time includes thanking the host and any introduction to what you’re about to read), so we have to be ready to end on cue and at the right moment to put our book in its best light. Make people glad they listened to us, it truly is so important that they leave with a favourable impression, and ideally with one of our books tucked under their arm.

 

The selection we choose to read should contain dialogue and action, and it’s preferable to include only two characters, certainly not more than three, so as not to confuse people. Show conflict. The passage should best represent the book, without giving the key parts away, and it’s great to leave our audience on a cliffhanger; give them a reason to buy the book. Make them want more. For a children’s picture book, the reading would logically include the entire book, but whatever the genre, we have to make our characters real; make our subject matter real - relatable.

 

A ho hum reading will make for an audience that’s anxious to have it end because it’s painful to listen to. Boring. If we as authors don’t seem interested enough to do a standout reading, no one else will be interested either. If we’re nervous, and most everyone is, there’s nothing to be gained by sharing that with our audience; it’s best kept to ourselves. A nervous presenter can make for a nervous audience. Not good. Fake confidence and it will come. I’ve had authors at events that I’ve helped organize, insist that they’re just not good at readings. Well maybe that’s true at first, but we can get good at them if we try, because readings are a key selling tool. Also, we learn best by watching others – both what they do wrong and what they do right. Public readings are all part of the author journey. If we take every reading opportunity that comes along, we’ll eventually tame those butterflies and continue to improve.

 

Before we begin to read it’s a good idea to quickly brief our audience about the story, if we’re not starting at the beginning, and end the reading professionally, not just stop abruptly and hurry back to your seat relieved that it’s over. Take questions if we’ve been given the OK to do so, but even if it’s only a reading, save enough time to let the audience know where the book is available and remember to thank our host – onstage. We should also publicize the event ahead of time, and equally important is finding out, prior to the event, what the set-up will be. Will you be standing at a podium? Will there be a microphone? How much time is allotted per reading?

 

Above all, we have to get excited about our reading. If we’re excited and enthusiastic about our book, that excitement and enthusiasm will be contagious. We have to light a fire! Stand out from the crowd! Be original.

 

And now for the goose….

 

Another memorable event I attended included a reading from a children’s book about a goose. One of the authors, complete with brown leather aviator helmet and goggles, flew around the room (on foot with arms extended, goose-like), while reading. She immediately got and held everyone’s attention, and that reading is as vivid in my mind today as it was those several years ago. I don’t seem to remember the others….

Saturday, May 29, 2021

Old Friends & Flowers on Memorial Day

 


Juliet Waldron's website

Books @ Kobo

Books @ Smashwords

Books @ Barnes & Noble

Books @ Amazon


Perennials are my favorites. I can't claim to be a master gardener, but I do love to put my hands in the dirt and grow things.

Walking around the yard this spring, I'm pleased with all the color. We're past even the latest daffodils here in PA, but it's Memorial Day now and so the peonies are going great guns, as well as the irises and various other plants whose names my brain has misfiled. Perhaps I have forgotten the names, but I know that they come back reliably this time of year and that they have a delicate fragrance that I enjoy when I'm sitting on the porch. 



Many of my plants were gifts but ever so many of the givers are now dead. Each time I gaze at those  plants, blooming away with all their might, I think of the nice folks who shared them with me and I am grateful. 

Emily was one of the prolific givers. An athletic, charismatic red head, she and her equally good-looking husband Ray had a lovely down-a-country-road property. Over the years, Emily, who undertook nothing she did by halves, had turned their surroundings into a show place, with a stellar Koi pond surrounded by and ornamented with plants. There were the expected cattails and water lilies, but the papyrus she brought home from the nursery was a revelation, as I'd never actually seen a living breathing specimen before.

Over the years all the local wildlife found the pond, from deer to leopard frogs and tree toads. These little guys hatched in the water, then climbed, for the next part of their life cycle, into the nearby trees. They filled spring twilight evenings with their sweet quivering choruses. Herons came too, enraging Emily because they didn't just eat the frogs out of the pond, but her enormous Koi. 

We were visiting one night, enjoying their company on the deck--they worked together in their auto dealership and had a big supply of "people are crazy" stories--when suddenly Emily shouted, leapt up and ran, an Amazon screaming curses, towards the pond. It was all explained in a flash, when an enormous blue heron, his long, yellow landing gear still dangling, executed an emergency take-off. I'd never seen one of these big birds so close, and certainly never one with a large, flapping red and white Koi in his narrow beak!

                                                


These peonies came from Emily, who told me a long story about her favorite Aunt Pard, whose flower garden and warm presence she remembered with equal pleasure. These were the old-fashioned kind of peony, no ginormous blooms, but, instead, a fragrance you don't often find in modern cultivars. These peonies were not happy in her yard, but, for some inexplicable reason they loved mine. Consequently, over the years, I've split them many times. Now they perform their brief, bright celebration of May in many groupings all over my yard--and they do smell sweet! 

Today, enjoying the flowers, I remembered this couple, their out doors parties--blazing fires under 60 foot oaks, and barbecue-potlucks that lasted all night, their hunter's venison feasts and the annual trout opening day Bacchanalia begun before dawn, just behind their house on the rushing, brown Quittaphilia. So many laughter-filled, good-company evenings with them! 

Now, astonishingly, these active, vital people are both gone. Like many long-married couples, Ray followed his Em to the grave within 6 months. Although they are no more, I have these lovely peonies to always remind me of them both.


~~Juliet Waldron

Where to buy Mozart's Wife

Friday, May 28, 2021

It's (Almost) National Kitchen Klutzes Day--Let's Celebrate! by Connie Vines

(The actual date is June 13th--but I blog on the 28th of each month, so this gives you ample time to celebrate!)

Even those who know her/his way around the kitchen, are able to relate to the occasional--or daily kitchen mishaps.  


Writing, Painting/Drawing, Music, and Cooking are classified as the 'Arts".  I find creative people are usually gifted, to some degree, in all of the Arts. (I'm also inclined to include gardening under the Arts umbrella, however, that's another blog post.)

Culinary Arts, in which culinary means "related to cooking", are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals.

I must admit most of my 'heroines/heroes" are able to cook.  However, as in real-life, there are Kitchen Klutzes in my novels, too.  I must also confess, I routinely have more than my share of kitchen mishaps.  Especially, since we have all been spending a great deal of time cooking family meals these past couple of months.

June 13th honors those who would like to cook and be in the kitchen, but it just doesn’t seem to work well for them. After all, it is National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day.

Klutz:  most commonly referred to as a clumsy person.


Kitchen Klutzes are the people who set out with the intentions of being like Ree Drummond, Molly Yeh, Gordon Ramsey, or even the great Julia Child as they open up the cookbook.   Mixing bowl or Kitchen Aide mixer and ingredients on the counter, they imagine knife cuts as swift as Wolfgang Puck or Bobby Flay. However, reality quickly dissolves all those dreams as smoke billows from the oven, skillets erupt in flames, and salt is mistaken for sugar. Those knife cuts turn bloody, cookies and fingers are burnt, cakes go flat. The Kitchen Klutz has struck, and visions of spilled milk are pitifully cried over.

It may be necessary to keep a first aid kit and fire extinguisher handy when Kitchen Klutzes are around. Eat a sandwich before going over to dinner. Be ready to call 911 and have your favorite take out restaurant on speed-dial if things don't go well.

HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalKitchenKlutzesDay

There several ways to celebrate this humorous holiday.

Laugh at yourself. Share your mortifying stories of kitchen failure over a slice of microwave pizza.

Give your favorite Kitchen Klutz the gift of cooking classes. Or, better yet, offer to cook.

Watch your favorite cooking flops show.

Don’t forget to share your stories and celebrations using #NationalKitchenKlutzesDay on social media.

Or try a few of these never fail meals.

Walking Tacos

Heat a can of chili in the microwave (in anticipation of stove top misadventures).

Take smaller single-serving packs of Fritos and then slice them open on the side, then serve the chili right inside the packets of Fritos. Add in additional toppings of cheese, diced onions and minced jalapeños. You just hand everyone a fork and they each have their own individual servings of Frito Chili. It makes for an easy cleanup too!

Crab Fondue (For that Romantic Evening Meal)



Nobody really needs a reason to eat more cheese, but this crab fondue recipe is a good one. Crab meat (or imitation crab) and packaged cheese, this fridge and pantry meal is easy yet satisfying.

8 ounces cream cheese, cubed and softened

1 pound processed cheese, like Velveeta

1 cup dry white wine

12 ounces canned crab meat

1 dash of Old Bay seasoning, or to taste

In a fondue pot, slowly melt the cheeses in the dry white wine.

Fold in the crab meat.

Heat through.

Serve with crusty French bread, cut into squares.


Please share a recent, or memorable meal, you prepared. You know, it's the story which is forever embedded in the family oral history.

I'll go first!

Let me share my first kitchen mishap.  I was a new bride and prepared Gumbo for dinner  (my husband is from Louisiana).

Gumbo requires a thickening agent.  I like okra (my paternal grandmother was from Texas and she prepared fried okra).  I also added ground sassafras powder.  This adds a fruit sweet flavor and also smells like root beer.  It is part of Cajun and Creole cooking--also a thickening agent.


Well, my gumbo had to be pried from the pot because it had the consistency of a paste.  Very thick, very hard paste. The rice, cornbread and pecan pie were delicious.  Not a healthy meal, for certain, but it stuck to our ribs for several days.




HAPPY NATIONAL KITCHEN KLUTZES DAY EVERYONE!


For fool-proof kitchen recipes and Cajun Romance, remember to read my latest novel: Gumbo Ya Ya!

 


Remember all of my novels features recipes, too!

Click here for BWL author site and links: bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

For my website: Social Links, Purchase Links, and more: connievines-author.com/

Happy Reading,

Connie



For Western Fix'n's and Western Romance:




Kindle Unlimited: Brede and Tanayia --Whisper Upon the Water
 

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Thursday, May 27, 2021

Warrior Women Part 3 - 16th Century to modern times - by Vijaya Schartz

 

Find Vijaya's novels at BWL Publishing HERE and on her website HERE


Amina, Warrior Queen of Zaria (1588-1589)

Amina was queen in a part of Nigeria now known as Zaria, where women could inherit the throne on an even keel with men. Many city states dominated trans-Saharan trade after the collapse of the Songhai Empire to the west. At the age of sixteen, Amina became the heir apparent. Although her mother’s reign was known for peace and prosperity, Amina immersed herself in military skills from the women warriors of her tribe.


Three months after her ascent to the throne, Amina started her conquests to expand her domain and open safe trade routes. She remained a warrior queen for 34 years until her death.

India during the Raj (British occupation): Velu Nachiyar (1730–1796 AD)

Queen of Sivaganga from 1780 to 1790, Velu Nachiyar was the first female freedom fighter against the British. Also known as Veeramangai (brave woman), she was trained in martial arts, horse riding and archery. She was also fluent in French, English and Urdu. 

After her husband was killed by the British army, she took refuge with Haider Ali, the Sultan of Mysore, then she launched her attack. When her daughter was martyred in the fight against the British, the queen formed a women’s army and named it after her daughter. Her fearlessness and gallantry on the battlefield are still remembered today.


Nakano Takeko, last female Samurai of Japan

The last Samurai warrior woman, Nakano Takeko, was recorded in the 19th century. During the Battle of Aizu, she led a corps of female Samurai against the Emperor's forces. She fought with a naginata, the traditional weapon of choice for Japanese women warriors.

Takeko was leading a charge against the imperial troops when she took a bullet to the chest. Knowing she would die, the 21-year-old warrior ordered her sister Yuko to cut off her head and hide it from the enemy. Yuko did as asked, and Nakano Takeko's head was buried under a tree.


The struggle of 20th Century women to be accepted in the military.

I remember when I was a teenager, learning that the Israeli military accepted women in their ranks. Not wearing skirts and typing reports in an office, but in combat gear on the front lines. I was fascinated.

First Israeli women in the military

Since then, after much hesitancy concerning the battlefield, the US military is training women for combat. They are now fighter pilots, foot soldiers, Marines, and much more.

US Fighter pilots

US Navy Seals


But this is a phenomenon happening around the world. We see battalions of fighting Amazons in Russia, women soldiers in Africa, in India, in the middle east. The women have risen and are taking control of their own lives, to defend their freedom, their rights, their land, or their family.
Warrior Women of Kenya


Women in India's Military Police


Russia's battalion of Amazons

Kurdish women fighting ISIS

If you like strong heroines with a warrior slant, check out my books. In my novels, they are bounty hunters, law-enforcement officers, Avenging Angels, soldiers, starship captains, Amazons, and warrior queens. They are often in charge, and playing an important role in their society. Sometimes, they rescue the hero, and they are definitely his equal.

I especially recommend these to lift your warrior spirits. Book 1, Angel Mine is 99cts in kindle, Book 2, Angel Fierce, is an award-winner, and Book 3, Angel Brave, is coming in October.


There is a planet out in the universe, emitting a strange turquoise glow. A long time ago Azura refused to join the Trade Alliance. The Alliance sent their military fleet to destroy the Azurans, but their powerful supernatural abilities spread fear even among the fiercest Devil Dogs. Since then, records have been erased. Rumors and legends all but died. Azura is strictly forbidden, and the daring few who venture beyond the warning space beacons are never seen again...

Happy Reading

Vijaya Schartz, author
Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
amazon B&N - Smashwords - Kobo FB




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