Dragon Boating by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

 

 

http://www.bookswelove.com/donaldson-yarmey-joan/

 

 

Dragon boating

Dragon boating is a very popular water sport and there are festivals held all over the world. Many of those have special breast cancer survivor races. Every four years there is an international breast cancer survivor-only festival put on by the International Breast Cancer Paddling Committee.

I belong to a breast cancer survivor dragon boat race team in Nanaimo, B.C. I have been to international festivals in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Caloundra, Queensland, Australia, Sarasota, Florida, USA and Florence, Italy. About one hundred teams gather from around the world at each of these events and it is amazing to see the thousands of women dressed in pink.

Each team has twenty paddlers in the boat, plus one drummer and one steersperson. The drummer, who sits at the front with a drum and baton, pounds the drum to keep us paddling in rhythm while the steersperson in the back keeps us on course. Both of them watch our paddling technique. The boat is narrow at both ends and bulges in the middle, making it a tight fit for the paddlers at the front and back. There are two paddlers per seat and the person beside you is your partner.

As paddlers we have one hand on the handle of the paddle and the other on the shaft near the blade. We raise the paddle and lean out over the side of the boat so that the paddle is vertical and both hands are over the water. We bend forward which puts the blade of the paddle beside the hip of the person in front of us. This is our reach. We jab the blade into the water and pull it back until it is near our own thigh then lift it out. That is our stroke. All the twenty paddlers have to do this in unison, called timing, in order for the boat to go forward. The faster we stroke the faster the boat goes.

 

The following is a list of orders that can be given to dragon boat paddlers by their steersperson or drummer. I have heard them all either during practice or in a race. However, taken out of context some may be considered a little off colour.

Do you mind stroking for us?

Do you have any wax for my shaft? 

We'll do a wet start.

Give me two more inches.

Lower your hand on the shaft.

Pull out sooner, you're getting me wet.

It's really tight back here.

You're holding the shaft too tight, relax your grip.

Dig it deep and feel the glide.

Open up and show your partner your chest.

Don't bob your head.

We are a bit front heavy.

Give it to me.

Don't pull out too soon.

Give it all you got.

Close your eyes and feel the rhythm.

Pull it out at the same time as the person in front of you.

I have a blister on my butt.

Lift your butt cheek when you reach, it helps you thrust more.

You're pulling out too soon and it's splashing me.

Deeper, harder, stronger, faster.

Dig, dig.

Keep it long.

Long and strong.

Harder, harder.

Faster, faster.

Power finish now.

You have this, you have this.

At the Heart of the Matter by Victoria Chatham

Details and Purchase links

https://bookswelove.net/chatham-victoria/

Charlotte Gray discovers her home ransacked, her father missing, and a dark and dangerous stranger, Benjamin Abernathy, waiting for her. He had promised to take care of his friend’s daughter if anything befell him and must now follow through with that promise.

With no other options, and despite her misgivings, Charlotte becomes established in the stranger’s home as governess to his nephew and niece. Benjamin doubts her ability to cope with the two young hellions but is quickly reassured as he recognizes the sharp mind behind her blue eyes. But is it Charlotte’s mind he falls in love with, or her delectable body?

With Charlotte hunted for the knowledge she is suspected of possessing and Benjamin, for the threat he presents, danger stalks them. Will the smugglers and spies behind the threat have any chance against this duo who will go to any lengths to protect the secrets they each must keep?

 

* * *

I don't pretend to write complex novels. My stories have, I hope, an easily understood point to make to the reader.

Writers, especially new writers, frequently worry about how much of themselves they reveal in their writing. Therefore, it follows that writing subtle or intuitive themes would suggest the author has those qualities and is writing from their own point of view or at the very least understands them well enough to introduce them in their writing.

My characters may already be married, as Lord and Lady Buxton in The Buxton Chronicles or become married, and love, loyalty, and fidelity lie at the heart of all my novels.

During the Regency era in which I set most of my novels, women were expected to get married and expected it of themselves with few exceptions. Jane Austen is one of them. Aristocratic families married not so much for love as economics. How does one enlarge one’s estate and holdings? Marry the heir or heiress next door. While that might sound cold, it was just the way of things amongst the upper class.

 Once an heir arrived to complete the happy or not union, the lord was free to take a mistress (if he ever gave one up.) His lady, discreetly, of course, might take lovers while everyone turned a blind eye to their extra-marital shenanigans. Or, as in the case of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire who, later in her marriage to the emotionally distant Duke, was forced to accept his mistress Lady Elizabeth Foster into a ménage à trois which delighted the gossip-mongers of the day.

 While love and marriage are not so much a subtle theme, they are at the heart of most romances. The ‘aha’ moment when the characters finally admit they have fallen in love is what appeals to romance readers. If the characters are not married by the end of the book, then you darn well know that a wedding will take place soon after. It’s the ‘Happy Ever After’ that seals the romantic deal.

Victoria Chatham

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Free image courtesy of Dreamstime

A Dream Location for a Mystery Writer by Dean Hovey

 Everglades National Park is a dream location for a mystery writer. With 1,500,000 acres of wetland, a menagerie of critters, few access points, and lots of natural history, it screams MYSTERY! Well, that's what it screams to me. I may be biased or, could be allowing my inner nerd to run free.

Gator Bait opens with the discovery of a woman's body within sight of a major Everglades National Park. trail. The cursory original investigation suggests an alligator attack on a park visitor. The local law enforcement ranger has accepted that determination, and moves on. Park Service personnel at higher levels are unwilling to accept that simple explanation. They assign Park Service Investigators Doug and Jill Fletcher to the case.

There's an immediate culture clash between the resident law enforcement ranger, who moved to Florida to get away from his New Jersey family, and the Fletchers, who come from the Midwest. Ranger Marconi is brusque and confrontational The Fletchers are more laid back, letting the facts lead them to a conclusion. Ranger Marconi decided the woman had been an alligator attack victim and looked no further.

The more they dig, the more Doug and Jill find themselves being led to the conclusion that the alligator attack was staged. The question is, why?

Through their methodical analysis and the use of a Miami/Dade forensic team, Doug and Jill string together the clues, leading them to a conclusion that's far different from Ranger Marconi's first superficial look at the crime scene,

BWL Publishing released Gator Bait on October 1st, 2021.

Luke and Lena, a marriage on the brink of disaster by Diane Scott Lewis

In 1956, Luke dredges illegally on the river, while his restless wife considers a risky affair. A marriage in turmoil.

To purchase Ghost Point: Ghost Point

To purchase my novels and other BWL books: BWL

 

Yelena, 'Lena,' married for passion right out of high school. But her husband doesn't aspire to something better; his job as an oysterman keeps them in poverty. She loves their little boy, but her life is dull, and restrictive due to lack of money. She craves excitement.

The once thriving resort town of Colonial Beach is falling into decay, destroyed by the Great Depression, then World War II. Yelena longs to leave it behind and visit exotic places.

Her husband's illegal activities on the river pushes her further away.

A stranger with a silky accent catches her attention, or rather, she catches his. Is this the excitement she sought, or a danger to both her and her husband?

Luke is ashamed he can't earn more for his family. Oystering is all he knows, and his gruff father encourages him to dredge for oysters in the night. Dredging is illegal, due to the destruction of the oyster beds, but the increased haul brings in additional money. Luke wants to please his wife, but her unhappiness, his guilt, drives them apart. 

And now the Maryland Oyster police, who have authority over the Potomac River, are shooting at Virginia dredgers; men are being killed. Luke is caught up in Virginia pride and tradition. Will it be the death of him?

What of the other sinister murders happening out on the river?

"A tale fraught with intrigue, hardship, murder, and a marriage in turmoil.  The author paints a vivid picture of life on an oyster boat and a fishing village on Virginia's Potomac shore."

*History and Women*

Excerpt: “Tell me what’s wrong, Luke.” Yelena said it tenderly, moving up close to him. These actions had always worked before. “I know something is bothering you. You shouldn’t hide things from me.”

His eyes searched hers, his sigh deep. “They fired on us. Ern caught it this time. Damn!” He hugged her against him, his shirt dampening her breasts.

“What? Are you serious?” Her stomach clenched. Her worst fears. “I can’t believe—”

“Shhh, don’t scare the boy. Let’s not talk about this now.” Luke tried to kiss her, but she pulled back.

She glared at him. “Was Ernie hurt badly?”

“Mostly a flesh wound. We ran him over to Doc Baker’s.”

“I want you to stop this. Please.” She clung to his shoulders, almost pinching them. “I’d like to work, to help out. You go back to tonging. You did it before this mess with Maryland started again. Why did you decide to take up these illegal activities?”

"Enough, Lena. You got our boy to care for. You don't need a job." His order was a low grumble. "Leave this business to me."

But she couldn't. Was it her anxiety for him, or her determination to rescue her family, that left her feeling so dissatisfied?

To find out more about me and my books, please visit my website: DianeScottLewis

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband and one naughty dachshund.

Where Do You Find Success by J.Q. Rose #BWLPublishing

Arranging a Dream: a Memoir by J.Q. Rose

Follow this couple’s inspiring story, filled with the joy and triumphs and the obstacles and failures experienced as they travel the turbulent path of turning dreams into reality.

Click here to discover more books by JQ Rose 

on her BWL Publishing author page.

  

🍁🍁🍁🍁

Where Do You Find Success? Fall colors Wednesday, September 22 is the official first day of fall, but we are having fallish-feeling days in West Michigan now. I love it. Fall is a time of change. The days are cooler, The kids go back to school. Mother Nature paints the landscape in gorgeous colors.  The apples turn a brilliant red and are ready for harvest.  The transition from summer to winter sparks a change within me, one of reflection and review of my life.  Succeed! The Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop question for the month of September stirred much contemplation about success. The question was—“How do you define success as a writer? Is it holding your book in your hand? Having a short story published? Making a certain amount of income from your writing?” I have to admit I felt the exhilaration of pride and success when I held my paperback book in my hand. I mean, opening the box of books from amazon was akin to the excitement of opening Christmas gifts when I was a kid. I feel that way with every one of my published books. So many folks think of success as related to their job. I find we all look for success in our work, but also in our purpose for our lives. Does success have to be a ground-breaking event to be considered a success at all? Does it have to be as big as being part of the team that landed on the moon? Developing a vaccination to keep us safe from COVID infection? Discovering the components to build the World-Wide-Web? Success to me comes in small and large packages that evolve throughout my lifetime. Some days my success was measured by how many times my daughter’s diaper was dry because she used the potty, when my third grade student figured out the math problem on his own, the bride loved her wedding flowers, my husband and family told me how much they enjoyed the dish I had prepared for dinner, the publisher of my first book offered me a contract because “she loved my voice,” the first time I ventured out to the grocery store during the shutdown and I returned and remained healthy! As I look back on success, I discovered none of them had to do with money. Success is measured in your heart, not in your wallet. During this difficult time in our world, when you are feeling down, reflect on the moments you felt success in your life. Let that feeling flow through your body for a moment. Then use that resurgence of strength and move on with a bounce in your step to achieving your next success, big or small.

“Success is the ability to do what you love every day. This may sound simple but what you love changes over time and having the ability to change what you are doing to match your passion is true success. This has nothing to do with money, wealth or status as each person has different passions and loves.” – David Hauser co-founder of Grasshopper, a virtual phone service for small businesses. 🍁🍁🍁🍁 Wishing you a wonderful fall season! J.Q.Rose 🍁🍁🍁🍁 Click here to connect online with J.Q. Rose

Where Were You When? by Helen Henderson

 

Windmaster Golem
Click the cover for purchase information

After a week of memorials, the title for this month's post came easily. The subject is one of those where almost everyone has a story about the day, a personal connection to it, or was affected by the events of September 11th, 2001.  

Memorial in Light
Image by David Z from Pixabay

Using a degree of separation approach, here is my story.

1. 

   Freedom Tower
   (One World Trade Center)
   Author's image

   
   

   Worked in an office in one of the towers (fortunately, it was years earlier)
2. Personally knew someone on Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
3. Lived in the county that lost more people that day than any other place other than New York City.
4. A smoke plume drew me and others to the town waterfront where word spread of a plane hitting one of the towers. After the second plane strike, the crowd dispersed to their homes or work to make room for the emergency personnel to use our boardwalk and dock as a staging area. Watched the buildings go down on television until it went black. (The transmission towers went down and television was out for days until temporary services could be set up.) I was home and watching the smoke from my house when the fighter jets came screaming in hot and low across the town heading towards Manhattan.
5. And even more personal connections. September 11th is a family member's birthday and another died exactly a month before.
6. When air, bus, and rail travel shut down, trying to reunite stranded family members posed a challenge. One parent was locked down at their place of employment, while the children were locked down at school and would only be released to a parent. The problem? The other parent was stranded more than 1200 miles away. Finally the school allowed the children to be taken home by a neighbor. But there was still the problem of getting the parent on the East Coast home. It took several days to coordinate but a mid-point, highway shift did the job.

Flight 93, Memorial, Shanksville
Image by Andreas H. from Pixabay

Enough about the personal, time to switch to the professional.

1. I had just written a local history, and the events of September 11th meant another chapter had to be added. At least it wasn't like another author I heard of who had just finished a manuscript about a plane and terrorist attack. Before gathering supplies to take to the rescuers, the novel went into the trash.
2. Several years later when writing a history for a local organization, I had to again incorporate material I had gathered in the days and weeks following the destruction of the Twin Towers. The church has lost one of its leaders that day.

9-11 Memorial, Keyport NJ
Author's Image

 

Both of those books are non-fiction, how to incorporate the day into fiction. A few thoughts come to mind.

• A main character could have an ancestor lost that day or who survived the buildings' collapse. And don't forget about the Pentagon or Flight 93.
• If a contemporary novel, a television broadcast or visiting a memorial could trigger a flashback. Like the U.S.S. New York where steel from the towers was used in the creation of the vessel, the metal in the Keyport, New Jersey memorial also included a small section of a beam.
  
• Or for a murder mystery, have the debris of the towers obscure a murder.
• Using the images as inspiration and  focusing on the emotions.
  
• My favorite plot would involve time travel and saving someone, with some romance of course.

Since my current work-in-progress is a fantasy romance, the actual events of 9/11 weren't appropriate. However, I went through my collection of images and several worked as inspiration for the aftermath of a tornado.  Someday, more of the ideas might be used. but not today.  Until then I prefer to fly with dragons, hang out with mages and wizards, and tell their tales. 

To purchase the Windmaster Novels: BWL

 ~Until next month, stay safe and read. Helen

Find out more about me and my novels at Journey to Worlds of Imagination. Follow me online at Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.

Helen Henderson lives in western Tennessee with her husband. While she doesn’t have any pets in residence at the moment, she often visits a husky who has adopted her as one of the pack. 

Some Pre-Release reviews for Chance's Way and A shout out to When Words Collide by Nancy M Bell

 

To learn more about The Alberta Adventures series and The Cornwall Adventures that proceeded it please click on the cover above.  

First, When Words Collide, that wonderful and very affordable writers festival has wrapped up for another year. This is the second year we've gathered online and all things considered it seems we are getting better at managing Zoom calls. The wonderful thing about WWC is that all the presenters and hosts and organizers volunteer their time and expertise which makes this amazing event accessible to everyone. Hopefully next year we can all meet in person again in Calgary. I sat on several panels and did a presentation on Character Development which was well attended. Thanks to everyone who tuned it and participated.

Now, for a bit of shameless self promotion. As you may or may not know reviews are so important to an author. Chance's Way releases on September 1, 2021 and I have been lucky enough to get a couple of pre-release reviews. So, just to whet your whistle, so to speak....

From KC Finn of Readers Favorite

Author Nancy M. Bell has crafted a great YA drama that will introduce readers to country life in Canada, with sweet romance and highly relatable protagonists. Chance’s journey was intelligently penned and well-balanced to give a heartfelt but not overdone approach to his big life turnaround. The issues surrounding his ne’er-do-well father were so interesting to explore, and you could really feel Chance’s family conflict coming through. I also enjoyed the presentation of Laurel immensely, and her dialogue and charm made me want to read the rest of the books in the Alberta Adventures series to see her personal journey too. Overall, I would recommend Chance’s Way to fans of the existing series and new readers seeking emotional tales of young people just setting out to carve a future for themselves despite their setbacks and adversities.   

Till next month, stay well, stay happy   

Treasure or Trash - Partial manuscript found #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #Partial Manuscript

 

Treasure or Trash

 

When finishing up a manuscript before sending it off, I look through my files at the manuscripts begun and not continued to write. This time I came across one and sat to read the words. I decided this was really good and wondered why all I had was three chapters and a synopsis. This is a book akin to Code Blue, thus the reason for that cover. A medical suspense again hopefully with  twist as different as Code Blue.

 

Not being able to decide whi I’d gone no further, I took the thought to bed with me. With a blinding flash, the reason came to me. Committee of Angels came about in a number of ways that fit together like a tapestry being woven.

 

The first thought was because of an article I read that opened with these lines. 5 to 10 percent of the physicians in this country are unfit to practice medicine. For days those words percolated. At the time I was working at a local hospital as a nurse. Several times I ran into situations where I realized the doctor was incompetent. So did my colleagues. We spent several lunch times in the break room talking about the latest incident. This was added to what was simmering in my head.

 

That year I went to a writer’s conference and managed to snag an appointment with an editor. We talked about the book I was currently working on but then out of the blue, I thought of Committee. I spoke about the idea behind the book. “Send me three chapters and a synopsis.”

 

I sat down and finished the mterial for the proposal and sent it off and waited. One day the material came back with a rejection letter I still have in a box with enough rejection letters to paper a room. Here goes.

 

Your writing is great and the idea is very interesting. I have one problem with the story. One of the nurse characters is frankly a slut. Nurses would never behave the way she has in the story.

 

I laughed. Having just interrupted a fellow nurse and one of the new doctors making out in the stairwell that afternoon made me wonder about the editor. So I had in the meantime gone on to a different story and I put the partial in my file cabinet and forgot it until I decided I was looking for a new story. I’ve decided to pursue this book and see what I can make of it.

 

Another little comment about the book. I was talking about the idea at the nurses’ station when I doctor overheard what I was saying. “You can’t write that book,” he declared and stomped off. Since thirty years has passed, I decided to try again.

 

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