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Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
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amazon - B&N - Smashwords - Kobo |
Find this and all my other books on my BWL Author page |
While going back over long forgotten posts I came across one I wrote ages ago. Because I write Romances and am a glutton for happy ever after endings, of course I tend to look at life through those rose-tinted specs, even though I know that in real life only a small percentage of love affairs end in that happy ever after.
Love comes in many guises of course. In my life I’ve known all about abiding love. The kind that comes with having a loving family around you—and the kind that comes with having true and trusted friends. Most importantly, the kind that comes with having a long and contented marriage with a steady, dependable man. My late husband was my best friend. He knew things about me no one else did, even my family—it was he who encouraged me to follow my dreams when I began to write. Each form of love brings a certain amount of heartache of course and has varying degrees of laughter and tears attached. I know I’ve been blessed, as some people know no love at all in their entire barren lifetime.
Let’s face it, love as sung about in most songs, is a fleeting and fragile thing. Where would Country or Pop singers have enough to write about without the heartache brought on by losing a lover. I likely chose romance as my choice of genre because of my smugness in having known such enduring love. True love as experienced by two people of whatever gender is a wonderful thing. Fate, Destiny, my Guardian Angel, call her what you will, has been more than kind to me. She’s always guided me to take the best and most rewarding fork in the road as I meander through these pathways of life.
As for friends, I’ve been so lucky in my life as I’ve always had friends around me that I can depend on. I have friends back in England that I only hear from now and then, and some have been steady for many years. Friends have come and gone in different stages of my life. I have long-time friends who live interstate or up country that I catch up with rarely these days, but they still remain firm friends.
Then there’s
my super cyber friends—some of whom live in far flung corners of the world and
I will never get to meet them face to face. But they are also constant, some
having been a guide in helping me through varying parts of my writing career,
providing assistance and advice that helped me on the way to becoming better at
my craft. I’ve always considered myself a simple story-teller, following my
heart rather than my head, but without the advice gained via this wonderful
world of the internet where would any of us be today.
https://books2read.com/Romancing-the-Klondike
https://www.bookswelove.com/donaldson-yarmey-joan/
Canadian Lakes
I am a Canadian and all my mystery, historical, romance, and young adult novels are set in Canada. Canada is the second largest country in the world and has about 20% of the world’s freshwater. It also shares the world’s largest body of freshwater-the Great Lakes-with the United States. Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, are divided by the border while Lake Michigan is totally in the United States.
Nearly 14% of the world’s lakes over 500 sq km (193.05 sq mi) are within Canada’s borders. The largest lake totally within the country is Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories. It is the 4th largest in North America and the 9th largest in the world. The name comes from the Chipewyan word satudene which means ‘grizzly bear water people’.
Great Slave Lake, also in the Northwest Territories is the second largest freshwater lake in Canada and the 10th largest on the Earth. With a depth of 614 metres (2,014 ft) it is the deepest lake in North America. It was named for the Dene, the first nation’s people who were called Slavey by the Cree first nations.
Lake Winnipeg, in Manitoba, is Canada’s third largest freshwater lake and has the largest watershed (the rivers that drain into a lake plus all the land with streams that drain into those rivers) in Canada. Its watershed is about 982,900 square kilometres (379,500 square miles) which is about 40 times its size. This ratio is the biggest of any other large lake in the world. Waters flow into Lake Winnipeg from the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario and from the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana making it the 11th largest freshwater lake in the world.
Lake Athabasca sits on the northern border of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan with 26% in Alberta and 74% in Saskatchewan. It is the fourth largest lake totally in Canada and waters from it flow northward through the Slave and Mackenzie river systems to the Arctic Ocean.
It is estimated that there are about 2 million lakes of various sizes in Canada and they make up about 9% of the country’s mass. This means that 891,163 square kilometres (344,080 sq mi) of Canada’s total area of 9.985 million square kilometres (3.8 million sq mi) is covered by freshwater.
My author tagline is History, Mystery, and Love, so I picked three appropriate passages and read a bit of the history of Banff, the beginning of the mystery concerning the ghost bride and finally, the scene where the hero asks the heroine to marry him. The audience response was encouraging, with still more people wanting to talk afterwards about their experiences with Banff, having lived or worked there or been constant visitors. The funding from the Government of Canada helped make this a fun, exciting evening. Nicole said it was one of the best author evenings the Library had hosted, and I was only too happy to have been a part of it.
The first two images are from the author's collection.
The last two images are courtesy of Ayesha Clough, Red Barn Books.
Victoria Chatham
It's wonderful to have tons of ideas, and a stream of plots coming from friends, readers, and the news. On the other hand, it's infuriating to be drafting a book when the billiard balls come to rest, demanding that I start a book outline and an opening chapter.
That happened today.
I'm about 75% though a first draft of Taxed to Death, a 2023 Pine County mystery, and my attention NEEDS to be on those final few chapters.
My writing was interrupted when my wife pointed out hundreds of small holes (1" diameter) that had randomly dug in our yard. It was our personal mystery. Who, or what, had excavated the holes? They looked like a random aeration of the turf. There were no footprints. There was no indication of what had been removed. It was stuck in my mind. That new billiard ball started rolling.
I tried to ignore it, but I mentioned it to some friends during lunch and there was consensus that a family of skunks had been digging up grubs (larval June bugs), which are apparently a skunk delicacy.
Finding that solution plausible, I fired off an email to a number of people, hoping to find someone who would volunteer for skunk removal/relocation duty. My fist response was from an old friend who suggested that it was more likely that the holes had been dug by an alien lawn aerator. I replied that having weighed the probabilities (yes, I have taken a couple statistics courses) of skunks vs. aliens, I'd determined that the likelihood of the holes being created by aliens was somewhat more remote than my odds of winning the Powerball. His response was brief, "I can't reply. My aluminum foil hat is interfering with my WiFi reception."
A new billiard ball was in motion; a vision of people wearing foil-wrapped baseball caps to ward off the effects of cosmic rays. I know these ideas will come to rest and weave themselves together with some other craziness that will become a future Whistling Pines plot.
In the meanwhile, I suggest that you read Whistling Artist so that you're familiar with my protagonist Peter Rogers, the recreation director of the Whistling Pines Senior Residence, and the cast of colorful supporting characters from that series.
To purchase my novels, please click HERE
The year started out terrible with the loss of fellow BWL author, Kathy Pym. We were cyber friends for several years. I miss her gallows humor and good advice, her kindness, and for being the person I could talk to about anything. I was blessed to have her for my friend.
Shortly after that, still in January, I had to go for cataract surgery. My husband had to drive for nearly two hours to the doctor's surgery center, in the middle of nowhere. Now my right eye doesn't read as close-up as it used to. I need reading glasses. But as my oldest granddaughter sagely said. "Because you're a grandma."
Fast-forward to June, we drove to Nashville for a Nea Makri Greece reunion. My husband was stationed there from 1971-75; me from 1974-75. We married there in May of 1975. How young we look!
The heat in Nashville was sweltering, and we were camping. You couldn't even sit outside, the internet went bonkers, and sight-seeing was debatable. One of our RV connections melted. We bought portable, hand-held coolers for next time. We're prepared!
Rafina, Greece harbor, just below Nea Makri |
And it was great to meet up with former shipmates, or basemates. We even went to an air-conditioned winery with one lady and had a ball.
The following month, we had a small family reunion at hubby's niece's camp in Gettysburg. Again, the heat was sweltering. But we enjoyed the company. And hubs made his famous pina coladas. Yum.
In August, my oldest friend, we met at six and eight, came to visit for two weeks. An excuse to make hubs take us somewhere! A book festival, a wine concert, the Flight 93 memorial, beer tasting, wine tasting. We visited Old Economy Village near Pittsburgh, a village founded on strict and celibate behavior, waiting for the Rapture. No wonder they died out.
That's the tour guide with my husband.
I loved to have Candy with me. My bestie forever.
The year started badly, but ended up much better. Of course in the world around me there were wars, and the turmoil of my own divisive country. I hope we can come together and heal most of the wounds. Happy 2023.
Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with her husband and one naughty dachshund.
To find out more about her books: DianeScottLewis
Up in the hills of northern Tuscany, close to where Michelangelo sourced the carrera marble for his amazing sculptures, there used to be a small family run restaurant. I don't know what it was called because there wasn’t a sign outside. Its reputation was by word of mouth. Nor do I know if it is still there. All I know is that I was lucky to be taken there by an Italian friend who had found it.
There was no choice, no fancy decor. Everyone was served the menu of the day sitting on benches at rough wooden tables. But what a menu. Chicken liver pate with crostini. Wild boar with figs. Grilled summer vegetables. Homemade bread. Homemade honey cake. Bowls of fresh fruit and walnuts. Wine. And almost every ingredient either grown, or in the case of the meat, raised and then slaughtered by the family. Even the many herbs used in the cooking were picked in the surrounding fields. I’ve never forgotten it, nor the fact that one of the waitresses was a very enthusiastic nine year old girl, the youngest member of a very busy extended family.
This all happened more than 25 years ago so there is every chance that modern life has taken over and the wonderful food replaced by something more instant, although I hope not. I hope, too, that the nine year old girl has taken over the family business and is still serving real food to those discerning customers who have managed to find such a treasure hidden away in the Tuscan hills.
Today, it is so easy to use our busy lifestyles as an excuse to buy instant meals and maybe even eat them while we watch one of the ubiquitous cookery programmes on TV, but at what cost? As someone passionate about nutrition and real food I could depress you with facts about how so much of our food is processed and marketed today. I won't though. Instead I'll hark back to that wonderful meal and give you a real food recipe. The honey cake made by Elise, the young girl in Miss Locatelli. Easy to make. Delicious.
And please don't throw your hands up in horror when you read the list of ingredients. Honey cake is not meant to be eaten in large quantities. It is a desert that can be eaten on its own. With coffee or a glass of white wine. Enjoyed with cream. Sprinkled with chopped almonds, or dusted with cinnamon or nutmeg. Apart from the wine, these are all things that will not only counteract the sweetness but which will also balance out sugars, preventing short term glucose spike in some people. This is made with real food, not ultra processed seed oils and cheap honey blended from different countries. Enjoy!
Tuscan honey cake
Windmaster by Helen Henderson |
The holiday specials are over and the decorations are packed away. A new year has begun full of promise. And with it comes a lot of questions. Should I pledge to lose fourty pounds?
No! I don't want to set myself up for failure. But I will return to the Rock Steady Therapy Program as a volunteer. Maybe I should rearrange furniture or find a place for everything that was disrupted by the holidays.
A risk of cleaning out is deciding to toss something, then changing your mind. |
Cold weather and a rare white Christmas for this southerly part of the state fueled an urge to donate unused clothing and books, and recycle dead electronics. However. Mother Nature can be fickle. The temperature hit 70 degrees effectively ending the enthusiasm. The warm weather lasted for a week. Now it has decided to become a ping-pong game. High 60 degrees one day, and then below-freezing nights with daytime highs of only 35 or 40 make for a crazy time. Is it really winter when it is 70 degrees outside?
This (snow melted the next day) or that (days of shovelling)? |
Don't miss winter in my northern home. The amount of snowfall wasn't that large in terms of inches, but after plowing and drifting, the end result demanded tossing shovel fulls over your head. |
Winter at a favorite writing spot. At night, snowmobilers made donuts out on the ice. |
In my fantasies, I like to use weather. Snow can be an effective setting. Lady Ellspeth and Lord Dal experienced a freezing trip through the mountains before taking refuge in a cavern in Windmaster.
To purchase the Windmaster Novels: BWL
~Until next month, stay safe and read.
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. Find out more about her and her novels on her BWL author page.
I have a few hobbies, anyone who knows me will know horses are a huge part of my life. They have been my sanity, my salvation and my love from a very young age. I also am involved in animal rescue and fostering for a Calgary animal rescue. But on top of that I love to do cross stitch. I have a pile of framed cross stitch projects as a result of the Covid winters. There's something so engrossing about matching the pattern to the threads and seeing the picture come to life in all that glorious colour. It takes my mind off any problems that may be occurring in my life or stresses that are so much a part of everyday life in this day and age. While my husband watches TV shows or sports I can sit happily and listen with one ear while still paying total attention to the project taking shape on my embroidery hoop.
My subject matter is varied, sometimes Celtic knot patterns, horses, bunnies an tulips, some poppies and even a red dragon. Currently, I am almost finished with a fawn standing in tangled grasses under autumn trees. Once that is done I am hoping to embark on a huge project, much more complicated than what I've done before. It's a standing stone with a raven sitting on top which measures 21.64 inches by 28.57 inches and involves many colours that are very similar to each other. A challenge for sure. Wish me luck!
This is the start of a Wysoki pattern Frederick the Literate
The time had come to look into the file cabinet to see what filled several dozen folders. I needed a new book to write and my mind wasn't running to what was sought. I pulled a stack of folders and carried them to mmy study. In the first pile I removed, I found two partial manuscripts. One was a Regency and the other was called Home Caring, a medical romance. As I studied the pages, I began to wonder. Where had this come from and why was this only a partial manuscript.
Much thought later. I remembered how the story came about and how it had been abandoned. I'd published a book with a NY publisher in an older romance series. That book did very well with a nice advance and a royalty or two. I had started Home Caring to add to the series. Except, that line was ended and I had no idea what to do with the story. This was before I encountered electronic publishing. I set that manuscript aside and went on to write other nurse/doctor romances for another publisher who refused all of them. Then I discovered electronic publishing and was busy sending out a volume of manuscripts to several publishers. Home Caring rested in the drawer.
The second thing was, I had no idea why I'd started the Regency or why i stopped writing. Perhaps I'll look at it again since it's acompanion to Gemstones. There are still more things in those files that I'll look at another time.
My Places
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A Bright Darkness, Book 3 of the award-winning Twisted Climb series |
I recently found the tooth fairy pillow that my 'other' mother, Eva, made several decades ago for my first-born. Eva loved crafts and was always keeping herself busy with knitting or sewing or discovering a 'new' craft she hadn't mastered. No 'idle hands' as Karla Stover wrote in a recent BWL blog.
But back to the tooth fairy pillow. My beautiful first-born child, Miriam, her family and Zeus the Airedale-terrier, came for Christmas. Such a delightful time we had! After opening our gifts, I waited for just the right moment to resurrect it. I made a grand entrance and then presented the wee pillow as if it were a priceless treasure. "This was your mom's tooth fairy pillow," I explained.
"Awww," was the initial reaction from my two granddaughters.
Tooth Fairy pillow, made with love by my 'other' mother, Eva |
My daughter's baby teeth |