Virtual Writing Conferences VS Physical Writing Conferences by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

 

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

In the time of virtual everything because of Covid, I took part in my first virtual writing conference last year. I was both a panelist and in the audience for some sessions. I have attended physical writing conferences in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton and there is a definite difference between the two. In my opinion each has its own pros and cons.

     There is a lot of coordinating and cost for the organizers of the physical conference. They have to find a venue usually a hotel with boardrooms. This allows the panelists and attendees to book a room and stay close to the conference. There are usually guests of honour who have to be paid. Besides monetary costs it takes a lot of time to figure out the panels: subjects, panelists, and the timing of sessions to accommodate writers or editors publishers who are on more than one panel. They also have to recruit volunteers to look after the rooms. These volunteers make sure the moderator runs on schedule, the audience clears out in time for the next one, and there are fresh glasses and jugs of water for each new session.

     There are also costs for the panelists and audience members of the physical conference. If they don’t live in the city where the conference is being held they have to travel which entails gas, hotel, and meals or plane tickets and car rental plus hotel and meals. If a presenter wants to be in the audience of any of the sessions they have to pay the registration fee just like everyone else. There is the also the extra cost of a banquet ticket if one is planned.

     I lived on Vancouver Island at the time and in order to attend any physical conference off the island I had to drive 1.5 hours to the ferry, and to make sure I get on it I have to be there about an hour early or pay for a reservation. Then it is almost two hours ferry travel to Vancouver. So that is four hours. If I am going to Calgary or Edmonton, it is another day’s drive. I could fly which is quicker but I would still have to pay for the ticket and to rent a vehicle to get around once there.

     Like the physical conference it would have taken a lot of time to plan the arrangement of the panels and panelists of the virtual conference. Monetary costs were probably low because there was no venue, no banquet, and no guests of honour.

     It cost me, and everyone else who took part, nothing to attend the virtual conference either as a panelist or an audience member. I had no plane ticket or vehicle gas and parking to pay for, no hotel room to book, and no new clothes.

     The length of the physical conference has to work around the time frame of the panelists and attendees. Unless they take a day off work the first panels can’t start too early on the Friday because of ability to get there. For that same reason, it has to close early on the Sunday so those leaving can start their long drive home or get to the airport in time to catch their plane.

     Because there is no travel involved, the first session of a virtual conference can start around the time people get home from work on the Friday. The only thing everyone has to remember is the difference between time zones. Being on the west coast the morning sessions started very early for me. The evening sessions ended before my supper time.

     When it was time to be a panelist I set my computer up and clicked on the link a few minutes before the session was to start. Pictures of the other panelists showed up on my screen and we visited a few minutes before the moderator started the session. When I was in the audience I clicked on the link and waited for the panelists to show up on my screen.

     Being on a virtual panel, the guests only see a shoulders and head shot of me so I just have to wear a good top and comb my hair. I have to make sure there was no light like a window behind to put my face in shadow. Also, depending on where I was I could have some unexpected interruptions—pets, children, phone ringing.

     Getting ready for a physical conference I have to pack enough clothes for the weekend. If I am on a panel I have to make sure I have all my material with me when I leave home. If I forget anything, I am out of luck. No packing for a virtual conference and all my material will be in my house somewhere.

     At a physical conference there are many panels taking place at the same time which can be frustrating if I want to attend more than one of them. For this virtual conference only one panel was offered each hour so I was able to take part in as many as I wanted. When I finished my panel or the presentation was over I could leave my office and pet my cats, pick strawberries, sit on my deck, or train my chickens to run an obstacle course.

     The downside to the virtual conference is that the only people I see are my fellow panelists. I don’t see the audience expressions so there is no interaction between me and them. I like to watch them to see if they are bored or glad that they came. I am happy to see that ‘ahah’ moment when something I say answers a problem they have been having.

     At both conferences there is time for the audience to ask questions. When answering a question at a physical conference I can speak with the audience face to face, I can judge to see if my answer is making sense. The questions at a virtual conference are typed so I don’t see the person asking. When I answer it I am only looking at my fellow panelists.

     Part of the fun of going to a physical conference is the contact with my fellow writers. We can meet for meals or a drink or have a quick chat between panels. I can walk through the conference centre soaking up the writing atmosphere. I meet readers, talk about books, and get feedback on my own books. It is wonderful when someone comes up to me and tells me they enjoyed a presentation I made or want some advice, or liked one of my books. This does stroke my ego because we writers need to have our egos stroked once in a while. We spend months, years even, alone writing a book, wondering if a publisher is going to like it and if a publisher does, will the readers like it and if they do will they tell us. It is a great feeling to go to the Vendor’s Room and see my books displayed on my publisher’s table. Even better to have someone buy one of mine and ask for an autograph.

     During a virtual conference, there is a Vendor’s Room showing a picture of all the panelists and their books. There is also a chat room where authors and readers can connect.

     There are a lot of differences between the two conferences. Most physical conferences have been cancelled for this year or turned into a virtual conference which is perfect in today’s time of lockdown and social distancing. In the future I am sure they will return as writers and readers decide what they like best: the convenience of the virtual conference or the comradery of the physical conference. I like both and if, in the future, I am able to attend either of them, I will.

February new books from BWL Publishing Inc.

 

RELEASED FEBRUARY 2022

CLICK THE BOOK COVERS FOR DETAILS AND PURCHASE INFORMATION 

Visit https://bwlpublishing.ca  for the best in genre fiction

Scraps of paper and lost ideas

 I was deeply into a fast-moving part of a manuscript when my wife sat down beside me with a computer problem. After several minutes of unsuccessful troubleshooting, I referred her to our children, who are much more familiar with the workings of her Apple computer.

Turning back to my work in progress, I looked at my partially completed paragraph...and had no idea where the plot was going. I'd been on a roll, but the interruption took me away from the flow of ideas. I re-read several pages but couldn't recover the train of thought I'd been on. I deleted several paragraphs and went in a different direction. 

Today, my character told me he'd been inspired to pick up his guitar and play Vincent, by Don McLean. The lyrics, "Starry starry night," remind him of a painting by the artist who is the subject of an upcoming cozy. After queueing up that song on my computer, YouTube decided I would also like to hear Gordon Lightfoot music.

I was writing with music playing in the background when YouTube played a live performance. Gordon Lightfoot was talking between songs while tuning his guitar. He said the next song, Carefree Highway, had nearly been lost if not for a slip of paper with a few lines of lyrics he'd jammed in the pocket of his jeans. Armed with those few words, Lightfoot later picked up his guitar and composed one of his most famous songs. He quipped that if he hadn't found that slip of paper before the pants went into the wash, that song would never have been written.

As an author, I get that. I can't count the number of times I've had what seemed like a brilliant idea, only to lose the thought when I was distracted or fell asleep. To overcome that, I've sometimes rolled out of bed at 3 AM and written a brief outline, sent myself an email with a few key words, or sometimes written few paragraphs on a blank page, just so the idea isn't lost.

In an effort to help me overcome the random and unpredictable recovery process of my mind, one of my consultants supplied me with piles of recipe cards. After reading a few sample chapters of my first cozy, "Whistling Pines", Brian met me for lunch with three stacks of recipe cards. "These are characters. This pile is locations. The final pile is plot twists." He's continued to supply me with information, primarily via email now, but his ideas are boundless and well documented. He understands how many thoughts fly around while I'm writing, and he's determined to help me overcome the volume of ideas that are forever lost by my unreliable mental retrieval system.

My cop consultant, Deanna, sends me imperatives. "DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE..." or "THAT CHARACTER CANNOT..." Messages sent in capital letters seem to stick in my mind better than lowercase texts.

Book signing events are often chaotic sources of plots and characters, supplied by the attendees. "You should set a book in the old quarry. My Aunt Harriet was killed by a burglar who set her house on fire. My neighbor was found tied to a chair in the basement with a gunshot wound to the back of his head-the coroner ruled it a suicide." In addition to the plot suggestions, colorful fans abound, giving me inspiration for quirky characters. The problem with a book signing is that the ideas fly at me while I'm politely inscribing books, trying to not misspell my own name. Most ideas originating from that setting are lost, but others stick in the dark recesses of my mind. Kirsten, a friend and librarian, suggested using images from a GoPro camera, a plot twist later used in "Devils Fall".

Like the bit of lyrics Gordon Lightfoot found in the pocket of his jeans, some ideas get randomly pulled out of my memory and inserted into books. Others end up in the mental equivalent of the washing machine: If ever recovered, they're blurred images on a water-soaked piece of paper that may or may not be recognizable.

Check out "Grave Secrets" the latest Doug Fletcher mystery from BWL publishing.

www.bookswelove.net/hovey-dean/

Grave Secrets is a mixture of memories from a Florida trip, research, suggestions from my cop consultant, and the voices of the characters. There may have been some notes on scraps of paper involved...

My dear friend Kathy, a celebration of life and crazyness, by Diane Scott Lewis

 

“A rich plot with building suspense, the writing is perfect and flows well. I loved this story.”   ~History and Women~

To purchase Ghost Point: Ghost Point

To purchase my novels and other BWL books: BWL

On January 3rd I lost a dear friend to cancer. She flew into the realm of the gods and goddesses, the fairy world we often spoke about. She liked to envision chants around bonfires and other mystical rituals.

We met in an on-line critique group, nine years ago. When my mother passed, Kathy was there for me, understanding the difficult relationships we both had with our respective families. We spoke almost every day over the internet after that. Her loss, her advance to a higher plain, is a big hole in my heart.

We almost met in person, while three hours apart when I attended the Historical Novel Society conference in Portland, OR, six years ago. She was to drive down from Seattle to meet. But that was when she'd found out her cancer had returned after fifteen years in remission. She cancelled to set up doctors appointments.

But I want to celebrate our dark humor, talk of witches, and fairies, the pagan souls we both shared.

Kathy was a dedicated Pagan, in her thoughts, not her actions. Our bon fires were metaphorical, as well as our flying away on brooms to cure the world of its ills. We had the 'what's the matter you-snap out of it!' attitude, and laughed at the craziness of life, the perilous political scene, and the irony of so many things. Her father had soured her on religion, so this was her 'feel good' place.

We had a third witch in our imagined coven, but for privacy reasons, I won't name her. We Three had a ball whirling through the flames of the pretend bon fires, stirring our cauldron. Imagining we had some control over the insanity of the world.

I'd send her funny jpegs to cheer her, though Kathy rarely complained about her own health. She was the strongest woman I knew.

When the doctors had to put a new port into her for her chemo, I sent her the above jpeg and she loved it. When things got iffy in the world around us, we'd say 'gird your loins' because that phrase is often found in historical novels and people scratch their heads about it.

Her last completed novel was a fictionalized tale of when, after a divorce, she took her two boys to England to research another novel. Her bravery to do that amazed me. (also available at https://bookswelove.net/pym-katherine/  )

It's difficult not to mourn such losses, but I need to celebrate what we had, short though it seems now. I'm girding my loins! I'd like to think that she's flying about the stratosphere on a magic cloud, laughing at us mere mortals. We never did get to meet in person, and only spoke once on the phone (she sounded so young). But maybe that's how we kept the mystical part of our friendship intact. I was blessed to have her as my friend. We made each other laugh right to the very end.

A funny, brave woman with wit and talent, the gods must have needed her wry and steady advice. She told me she wasn't afraid of dying, she said 'energy' never dies, but she often wished she could stay longer. 

Fair winds, my dear sister of the heart! And strength to your loving husband who also had to say goodbye.

Kathy's expertise was the seventeenth century; check out her other wonderful historical novels.

Katherine Pym Novels

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

She's trying to set up a new website on Blogger: wish her/me luck!

How the Internet Affects Your Brain Function by J.Q.Rose #BWLpublishing

 

Deadly Undertaking by J.Q. Rose
Mystery, paranormal

Click here to find mysteries by J.Q. Rose at BWL Publishing

Hello and welcome to the BWL Publishing Insiders Blog! 

The Writing and Wellness site released a study entitled The online brain: how the Internet may be changing our cognition. According to the Oxford dictionary, cognition is "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses." 

Lead author Dr. Joseph Firth reported, “The key findings of this report are that high-levels of Internet use could indeed impact on many functions of the brain. For example, the limitless stream of prompts and notifications from the Internet encourages us towards constantly holding divided attention—which then, in turn, may decrease our capacity for maintaining concentration on a single task.” from the article 5 Ways to Power Up Your Writing in the Morning.

Dr. Rawan Tarawneh, in an article from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, states, "While digital multi-tasking may be a good practice for shifting focus, it may also weaken our ability to maintain focus on one area for an extended period of time." He adds, "In addition to its negative effects on cognition, excess internet use has been associated with a higher risk for depression and anxiety and can make us feel isolated and/or overwhelmed."

Photo courtesy of Pixabay by Geralt

Starting your day by checking your email and social media will set your brain up for a day of distraction. It's like starting the day eating sugar, so the rest of the day you will crave sugar. With all the multi-tasking online, you create a pattern for your brain to be in racing mode for the rest of the day.

If the Internet interferes with an adult brain, just imagine what it can do to a child's brain. The Internet has already shortened the attention span of adults to 8 seconds...shorter than a goldfish attention span. !!! 

The article suggests five ways to start off your morning so you will have a productive day of writing.

1. Read a poem
2. Read a book
3. Meditate
4. Make a gratitude list
5. Write down your thoughts for five minutes.

Have you noticed you have trouble concentrating during the day? Do you have any other suggestions on how to start your morning without first checking the Internet? 

Click the links below to connect online with JQ Rose:

JQ's Focused on Story Author Website

JQ Rose Author Facebook page

Changing Times by Helen Henderson

Windmaster Legacy by Helen Henderson
Click the cover for purchase information

As I worked on preparing for the upcoming release of Fire and Amulet, I was struck by how things changed since my first established work.   

Those early pieces consisted of numerous messy drafts handwritten on lined notepaper. Next came the laborious and sometimes aggravating transformation of the drafts into double-spaced, typed manuscripts. This required mastering the skill of erasure and the ability to replace the paper in the typewriter for perfect alignment for the key strike to make the correction. The finished manuscript went into a box and consigned to the tender care of the postal service. Things such as antique photographs for the covers were often hand-carried to the editor to prevent their loss.

Review of the galleys required more than a careful line by line check. Unlike printing today with digital printers and modern word processors, since production was by offset printing, text autoflow and automatic pagination didn't exist. Changing the wrong word could mean the redo of several pages. Wanting a rewrite of several paragraphs, or heaven forbid, an entire scene resulted in a stern request from the editor to justify that significant a change. Which meant that the great idea you just had could not be used.

Magnetic card readers provided a means to save the work and easier corrections. Instead of retyping pages, mere reprinting accommodated text shifts and repagination. Then came large floppy disks. Yes, we used to crack the cases of corrupted floppies to remove the disks inside. The resulting games of frisbee provided entertainment in the wee hours of the morning. Desktop computers and early word processors made things even easier, but paper and pen remained the basis for drafting and brainstorming. Laptop computers allowed for writing while sitting on a riverfront bench watching boats parading up and down the channel.

Just as readers now have options besides printed books, so do writers. Writing the twist on a dragon shifter story, Fire and Amulet used even newer technology than my previous works -- a tablet. Until Trellier and Deneas' tale is available, it is a good time to read any of the fantasy romance series, the Windmaster Novels, you might have missed. 

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 have adopted her as one the pack. 

Is it Spring yet? by Nancy M Bell

 

To see more of Nancy's books click on the cover above.

Spring

I chose the cover of The Selkie's Song because it's just so pretty and reminds me that Spring is coming. Really, it is.

With that in mind I thought I'd just share some of my poetry that celebrates Spring.

May Moonlight

How many times have you heard

You can’t go back again?

It’s true you know, you can’t

You can go back to the way things are now

Never to the way things were then.

Long summer nights spent under the stars

Riding in the moonlight up Spy Glass Hill

The May darkness rich with the perfume of apple blossoms

The orchard ghostly white in the gloaming

The world is dark around me where I stand alone

Once more at the apex of that steep hill

Silence gathers, deep and still

Muffling the subtle chatter of the river

I see them coming through the cedars

Rising through the pearly clouds of flowering trees

Young and confident riding sure footed horses

Too young to know how the sweetness of this moment

Will linger in memory long years after this enchanted night

Celebrate

The banners of Spring are flying on the blue of morning

Yellow catkins dance in the sunlit air over the ice-skim puddle

Purple crocus carpet the brown and grey prairie

Bright butter yellow jonquils nestle close to the house foundation

Sheltered from the ever present Alberta winds

Spring comes riding the coat tails of the mighty Chinook

The earth breathes in misty tendrils above the rough ploughed field

 

Winter’s back is broken, melt water runs like blood

Warm sun shyly promises the glory of June to come

Alberta blue sky and flowering prairie flowing forever

The long cold months are gone, come celebrate Spring  

But Spring doesn't always come gently, does it?

Spring Snow

The storm demons are howling rabidly across the sky

Dragging their icy talons against the window glass

Screeching their defiance through the hydro wires

Buffeting the house with their fists of wind

Shrieking they the fall upon the exposed prairie

Vomiting great gouts of snow to cover the earth

They hurl handfuls of icy pellets in my face

As I struggle to let the stock into the barn

Mean spiritedly they snatch the door from my frozen fingers

Slamming it open and popping one of the hinges

I bare my teeth at them and wrestle the door from their grasp

Hold it steady as the horses troop in out of the angry storm

The bale of hay spills its summer scent in the frigid air

A sunlit meadow song to battle the storm raging outside

The storm demons grab me in their teeth and shake me

As I blindly make my way back to the house

Power and fury personified; they scream their defiance

Their voices howling through the wind in my ears

Reluctant to exchange the winds of winter

For the thunderheads of summer 

Seasonal Sestina

Why is it that the first flowers of Spring

Are so special and the green of new leaves

Wakes a wild joy in my heart

Is it because they signal the end of Winter

Filled with the promise of long summer days

And the lazy hum of honey bees among the flowers

The tiny white snowdrops are among the first flowers

Along with the purple crocus of Spring

Courageously piercing the snow with their leaves

Small purple clusters to gladden my heart

Throwing a gauntlet in the face of Winter

Shining brightly through the short Spring days

The snow retreats with the lengthening of days

The garden paths are strewn with clots of flowers

The sweet bouquet of flower scented Spring

Bright daffodils dance above their pointed leaves

The tulips glowing red as the sun’s heart

They chase from the path the last of snowy Winter

Now only under the brambles lies the evidence of Winter

Soon that too will retreat from the sunny days

The lilacs burst into a froth of fragrant purple flowers

The scent mingling with the sun warmed air of Spring

Slow awakening summer flowers break the soil with their leaves

Heralding the coming of Summer’s heart

Spring passes softly into summer; the pulsing green heart

That rules the year opposite the white of Winter

The long halcyon green and gold days

Forged by the fire of the sun and the glory of flowers

There is just the faintest memory now of Spring

The full heady bounty of Summer canopied by trees of leaves

In due course fiery autumn will colour the leaves

And the flames of October will quicken the heart

The winds of snow will welcome the Winter

The frosty silver and blue of early winter days

Will make us forget the summer of flowers

Too new and beautiful yet to make us wish for Spring

By January we will be wishing for green leaves and Spring

Our heart will have hardened against the silver beauty of Winter

And we will hunger after the days of Summer and flowers 

Thanks for sticking with me this far, and here's hoping Spring is right around the corner.

Until next month, stay well, stay safe

February is for Lovers and Chocolate by Janet Lane Walters #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #romance books

 

In a curious moment, I started looking at all the series I've written and how many of them are strictly romance. Part of this was done in connection with how many series I've written. There are seven of them but not all are romances. While doing this research, I enjoyed a mug of mocha. Thus the chocolate.

Opposites in Love is the oldest of my series. These stories follow six young women who trained as nurses together. Each story is different but some appear in each others books and each finds their opposite - Astrologically,

Haunted Dreams is from the Moonchild series. There are a variety of careers but all the characters live in the same town. The heroines are all born under the Astrological Sign of Cancer.

Then for a little different take is the Island of Fyre fantasy series. Here each of the heroines belongs to one of the princedoms of the world. There are magical jewels, flying dragons and evil magicians.

Finally comes the Seduction series. The first four books in this series are two sisters and two brothers. The last two of the books belong to friends of the four siblings.

Now, I have other books that could fit into this category but they are trilogies. I don't consider those as series. For me there has to be four.

My Places

   https://twitter.com/JanetL717

 https://www.facebook.com/janet.l.walters.3?v=wall&story_f

bid=113639528680724

 http://bookswelove.net/

 http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com

https://www.pinterest.com/shadyl717/

 

Buy Mark

https://bookswelove.net/walters-janet-lane/

Grey Cup vs Super Bowl, by J.C. Kavanagh

Darkness Descends, 

Book 2 of the award-winning Twisted Climb series

The Super Bowl took place February 13 and wasn't it a grand spectacle? Even the game was exhilarating. As a Canadian, I'm fascinated by the exuberance Americans display for football in general and the Super Bowl in particular. It's taken very seriously south of the border, much like ice hockey is 'Number One' in Canada. But back to football. What's the difference between the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the National Football League (NFL)? Here's my list of almost-everything-you-wanted-to-know-but-were-afraid-to-ask.

Teams

CFL: There are 9 Canadian teams divided into Western and Eastern Divisions.

There are 32 US teams divided into two 'conferences' - the National Football Conference  and the American Football Conference.

Longevity

CFL is entering its 109th season since forming. However, modern-day rules and regulations began in 1958 (64 years ago).

NFL held its 56th Super Bowl (LVI) but was officially founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA), though renamed National Football League (NFL) in 1922. After merging with rival American Football League (AFL) in 1966, the first Super Bowl was held in 1967.

Halftime shows

Grey Cup performers since 1991 include: Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Justin Bieber, Nickelback, Blue Rodeo, Gordon Lightfoot, Bryan Adams and Celine Dion. Prior to 1991, the halftime show typically featured marching bands.

CFL Grey Cup halftime show in 2017,
with a Canadian entrance on a dog-sled - Shania Twain

LVI Super Bowl halftime show featuring Eminem, Mary J. Blige,
Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent and Kendrick Lemar

Super Bowl performers since 1993 include: Michael Jackson in 1993 who revolutionized the format and turned the halftime show into a 'must watch' feature, Prince, U2, Shania Twain, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez and Lada Gaga.

Season Length 

CFL plays 18 games prior to playoffs, from mid-June to early November.

NFL plays 17 games prior to playoffs, from September to January.

Field Size

CFL field is 150 yards (450 ft.) long. Each end zone is 20 yards and the neutral playing field is 110 yards. Field width is 65 yards (195 ft.)

NFL field is 120 yards long (360 ft.) End zones are 10 yards and neutral playing field is 100 yards. Field width is 53 yards (160 ft.)

Downs

CFL has three downs (attempts) to gain 10 yards in order to retain possession of the ball. Canadian teams favour long, 'passing' plays as a result, and teams tend to select 'running' athletes over bulk.

NFL has four downs to gain 10 yards. 

Players on field

CFL allows 12 players, with one additional 'receiver' due to the larger field area.

CFL 12 player field format

NFL 11 players field format

NFL allows 11 players.

Salary

CFL - average annual salary is $80,000 (US) and highest paid quarterback receives approximately $600,000 US.

NFL - minimum contract is $660,000 and highest paid quarterback receives $45 million per season (Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes).

Out-of-bounds catch rule

CFL requires player to have one foot on the ground, within the playing field, after catching the ball.

NFL rules dictate two feet on the ground after the catch.

Pass complete as Pittsburg Steelers player manages to keep both feet in-bound
(photo not from LVI Super Bowl)

Grey Cup vs Lombardi Trophy

CFL awards the Grey Cup to the game-winning team. In 1909, the cup was donated by Earl Grey, then the Governor General of Canada.

Canadian Football League Championship trophy:
The Grey Cup

NFL Super Bowl Champion team receives the Lombardi Trophy 

NFL awards the Lombardi Trophy to the winning Super Bowl team. It was named after the late Vince Lombardi, a player with five NFL championships and two Super Bowl wins. Mr. Lombardi passed in 1970 after a battle with cancer and the NFL board voted to name the Super Bowl trophy in his memory.

Trivia: In case you were wondering, it's estimated that 1.42 billion, yes billion, chicken wings were consumed on Super Bowl Sunday in the U.S. 

(All numbers and stats courtesy of Wikipedia, NFL and CFL official websites.)

Until next time, stay safe everyone.

 

J.C. Kavanagh, author of
The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2)
voted BEST Young Adult Book 2018, Critters Readers Poll and Best YA Book FINALIST at The Word Guild, Canada
AND
The Twisted Climb, voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers Poll

Voted Favourite Local Author, 2021
Novels for teens, young adults and adults young at heart
Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh
www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh
Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)
Instagram @authorjckavanagh
 

Myers-Briggs for Writers by Mohan Ashtakala

 

 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) has long been a favorite among authors. In fact, the first novelist to use the Indicator was Katherine Cook Briggs, its founder, as a better way to understand her characters.

The MBTI, by way of personality tests, categorizes individuals into sixteen different archetypes, based on Carl Jung’s idea of cognitive functions. The personality test measures the extent of the test-taker’s adherence to the following characteristics: Introvert (I) or Extrovert (E); Sensor (S) or Intuitive (I); Feeler (F) or Thinker (T); and Judger (J) or Perceiver (P.) Each of these sixteen archetypes is assigned a four letter label, and personality traits are ascribed to each such archetype.

But the MBTI is much more than a description of different personality archetypes. Its examination of cognitive functions—Sensing, Intuition, Feeling and Thinking; allows for deeper exploration and “fleshing Out” of characters, especially when combined with “external” characteristics such as Introvert, Extrovert, Judger or Perceiver.

Sometimes, authors run into the problem of multiple characters who, despite outward appearance, all think and act the same way. The MBTI is useful because it allows writers to go beyond characters with whom they are familiar, based on personal experience. By using the MBTI, writers can create primary or secondary characters who would be true to their “character,” in terms of how they think and act. Genuinely diverse characters are important in creating believable tension, an important function in novel-writing.

As one may expect, the MBTI has shown usefulness in many areas, especially in Human Resource departments in the corporate world.

There are critics of the MBTI. Specifically, some find the number of categories to be limited, and perhaps, not fully useful in describing the enormous number of personalities that exist in real life. Of course, pigeon-holing a character into one archetype or another can be misleading. But, since MBTI is one of the earliest personality type indexes, a lot of literature and studies exist regarding the various personality types. This rich repository of information, if well-understood, can help authors create characters who, while showing distinct personalities, are believable and consistent in their words and deeds.

 

Mohan Ashtakala (www.mohanauthor.com) is the author of The Yoga Zapper, a fantasy, and Karma Nation, a literary romance. he is published by Books We Love (www.bookswelove.com.) 

 

The past is more familiar than we think....by Sheila Claydon

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Readers who have read the first two books of my Mapleby Memories trilogy will know that the heroines in both books travel back in time. In Remembering Rose, Rachel travelled back to the 1800s, while in Loving Ellen, Millie only travelled back a few years. The final book is different because this time both the hero and heroine travel back in time together, to the thirteenth century. Writing it has required more research than my other books. Thank goodness for the Internet!

I have learned so much while writing, some of it really surprising. It is, for example, a fairly commonly held belief that people in the Middle Ages never bathed and rarely changed their clothes. This, I discovered, is wrong. True they didn't have bathrooms or showers, and water had to be heated over a fire, but they did wash, both themselves and their clothes, and were as clean as it was possible to be in the often very difficult circumstances of their lives.

I learned, too, that when buying and selling goods they issued receipts much as we do today, and kept invoice books. And towns in medieval times were bustling with traders and craftsmen. No malls and supermarkets then. The people were all individual traders. As well as those we still recognise today such as bakers, brewers, bricklayers, locksmiths and carpenters, there were jesters, acrobats and minstrels who also played a part in everyday life. It was a sophisticated society too. There were barristers, engineers and architects for example, and diplomats, navigators and playwrights. In fact there were far too many occupations available in the Middle Ages for me to mention here. The list is endless.

Castles, too, were interesting. Even the smallest castle had around 50 servants, from chamberlains, laundresses, cooks, chefs and butlers to stewards, marshals and chaplains. Many even had their own doctor, dentist and apothecary. Living in a castle was like residing in a small town. And of course there were knights and soldiers as well. The downside of working in a castle was that the majority of employees were paid by the day. Only people such as the steward, the marshal and the chaplain were paid annually. Consequently most jobs were not secure because whenever the Lord travelled away, to battle or to court, or for any other business, many of the workers would be laid off until his return.

There were huge discrepancies in wealth too, far more than today, and most of the population had to survive on very little. There were no pensions, benefits or sickness payments. No health service. The majority of the population were peasants who had to rely on the goodwill of the Lord who owned the land they worked, and on monks and friars treating them when they were ill.  Some were lucky enough to have a benevolent master, but many were not.

I have woven many of these facts, the good and the bad, into my book, and when it is published in May I hope readers will not only enjoy the story but also the facts they will learn. Now all I have to do is edit it myself before sending to Books We Love for a second edit. Then there might be a third one before, all being well, it is published in May.

Oh and I have to do one other thing. Find a title! The first two books in the trilogy are Remembering Rose and Loving Ellen. To keep things neat I really need to come up with something similar. Unfortunately I am finding this really, really difficult. Still that is a writer's lot. I'm sure I'll get there.

Brave Enough for Happy Ever After?

 

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It’s that time of year again, when pundits come up with lists of the most important love stories of all time…You’ll often find these make the grade:

Romeo and Juliet (1597) by William Shakespeare

Anna Karenina (1877) by Leo Tolstoy

Doctor Zhivago (1957) by Boris Pasternak

Love Story (1970) by Erich Segal

The Notebook (1996) by Nicholas Sparks

Bridges of Madison County (1992) Robert James Waller

Cold Mountain (1997) Charles Fraizer

The Great Gatsby(1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald

What do they have in common, dear readers? Here’s my list:

1.They are written by men

2. Things don’t end well.

Now, let’s consider:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Bronte

Gone With The Wind (1936) by Margaret Mitchell

Yes. Written by women, and.... everybody gets to survive. Even the heroine of problematic Gone With the Wind is left with the Pandora’s Box gift of hope. 

Why are there so many modern Jane Austen variations? So many sequels to popular HEA (Happy Ever After) romances? Why does Lizzy solve mysteries and the Bennet sisters battle zombies? 

Because romantic happy ever afters are not dead ends of grief and regret (and, as in those crazy kids Romeo and Juliet: bad timing).  

Happy Ever Afters leave us to imagine the future. Did the lovers make good parents? How did they handle the slings and arrows of life? Did they grow stronger together? In short, were they brave enough for their Happy Ever After? 

So… give me Jane Austen’s Emma and and Lizzy. Give me Charlotte’s indomitable Jane, and Shakespeare’s Beatrice and Rosalind and Portia.  They are brave enough to last through a long and wonderful life with their heroes.