The scream you hear....

My computer crashed.
So those of you with an infallible system for saving your work are snickering behind your hand and those without are sinking in my boat.
Let Barbara  tell you my sad tale.
I do back-up my work. I have a external hard drive- too bad its home on my writing desk. I do use flashdrives to save my work on Friday. Soooo?
I do have a good protection program for my computer since I'm on the internet daily.
So how did a virus jump in and send an error message cascading down my screen?
I don't download attachments unless I know the sender, and then the onboard program scans it.
The technician grinned at me when I asked. It's possible. Too bad. Save your stuff daily.
So my story goes like this.
I've been planning to get a new machine. The problem is that I hate change, don't like relearning a new program, don't like shopping---the list goes on. I admit I'm an old fuddy-duddy.
I actually went on-line to shop around. I looked at an apple and looked again, but I don't like to buy anything from on-line. So where is the nearest store?
Remember I'm traveling in my RV? The nearest store is sixty something miles from here. I'd need to order one with the changes I want, then go have my files transfered for an additional fee, then travel back and forth to take the classes. Hmmm. Much as I want one, that doesn't work for me.
Next I went to find a Best Buy-- also fifty something miles from here. The nearest store with computers for sale is an Office Max-- nice people but their stock is low since they had a big sale last week and are down to crumbs.
I'm staring at the body of my dead computer. It's on  its back the little legs waving in the air.
What next? I stopped at Starbucks for a reviving coffee and there is a Radio Shack next to it.
They are having a sale! Yowza. Only the only ones left are the demos. And my dear husband won't buy a demo for anything.
The salesperson goes scrounging through the backroom for a computer. She triumphantly brings out a box. 'Here,' she cries. 'Here is a new computer in the box. Only its not the ones one sale.'
My heart dropped. She points at the price.
"What? One hundred dollars less than the ones on sale? What's wrong with it?"
Nothing. That was the offer at the sale last month. It is brand-spanking new.
My fingers burned when I grabbed it so fast.
Six hours later the tech had saved my files to the new machine.
I cried happy tears since my pages were restored.
The moral? I'm saving to a flashdrive daily.
I'm learning Windows 7 and the new Word.
Am I happy? Yep.

Visit my website at http://www.barbaraedwards.net for excerpts from Ancient Awakeing and Ancient Blood.

A Bit of Irish....

by Amber Leigh Williams

This year, I’m celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and Irish American Heritage Month in style. Er, well…what I consider style. One of my New Years Resolutions was to finish my contemporary romance rewrite by the end of February so March could be dedicated solely to my new WIP. The new manuscript veers back into some familiar territory – western romance! But the most thrilling thing for me about this book is the Irish characters that play a large part in the story. So I’ve engrossed myself in all things Irish. The music. The brogue. The poetry. And, in particular, those characteristics that are so fundamentally Irish. I thought I’d share some of my Irish research and help those who haven’t yet gotten into the St. Patrick’s Day and Irish American Heritage Month spirit get a head’s start on both….

Some of my favorite research so far has been learning how to put the Irishman’s unique pattern of speech on paper so it lilts off the page for readers. Not an easy task. I’ve watched countless movies, documentaries, and read many books where Irish men and women are centrally featured in order to get a firm grasp of it. The best part of the Irish brogue is the unique sayings. The thing to remember is that the mark of Irish diplomacy is the ability to tell a man to go to hell so that he looks forward to making the trip  Here are a few of my favorite Irish sayings….

A family of Irish birth will argue and fight,
but let a shout come from without,
and see them all unite.

Here's Céad Míle Fáilte to friend and to rover
That's a greeting that's Irish as Irish can be
It means you are welcome
A thousand times over
Wherever you come from, Whosoever you be.

Murphy’s Law:

Nothing is as easy as it looks.
Everything takes longer than you expect.
And if anything can go wrong,
It will, at the worst possible moment.

The Way We Tell A Story….

Says I to him, I says, says I,
Says I to him, I says,
The thing, says I, I says to him,
Is just, says I, this ways.
I hev', says I, a gret respeck
For you and for your breed,
And onything I could, I says,
I'd do, I wud indeed.
I don't know any man, I says,
I'd do it for, says I,
As fast, I says, as for yoursel',
That's tellin' ye no lie.
There's nought, says I, I wudn't do
To plase your feyther's son,
But this, I says, ye see, says I,
I says, it can't be done.

-         Pat McCarty

I drink to your health when I'm with you,
I drink to your health when I'm alone,
I drink to your health so often,
I'm starting to worry about my own!

There are good ships,
and there are wood ships,
The ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships, are friendships,
And may they always be.

Here’s to you and yours,
And to mine and ours,
And if mine and ours ever come
Across you and yours,
I hope you and yours will do
As much for mine and ours,
As mine and ours have done
For you and yours!

You must take the little potato with the big potato.

I have known many,
and liked not a few,
but loved only one
and this toast is to you.

May you have food and raiment, a soft pillow for your head. May you be forty years in heaven before the devil knows you’re dead.

And now for a few of my favorite Gaelic sayings….

“Sláinte chuig na fir, agus go mairfidh na mná go deo.”
Health to the men, and may the women live forever!

“Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat.”

May the cat eat you and the devil eat the cat.

“Céad míle fáilte.”

Means a hundred thousand welcomes. Literally translated it means, "Here comes another one.”

Another great part of researching Irish characters is the music of the Emerald Isle. I loved the following pub songs so much, you just mind find them in my WIP….

It’s well known that the Irish can turn a nice phrase. Studying Irish poetry has been another research delight. Since it happens to be Poetry Month, too, I’ll end this post with a bit of Yeats….

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart's core.

Here’s wishing you all a happy Irish American Heritage Month – and I’d love to hear your favorite Irish sayings, blessings, proverbs, and pub songs! Take it away….

March Means Spring, and a Middle-aged Woman's Fancy Turns to Gardening!

As I write this, only a couple of inches of snow linger on the ground here in Minnesota. At the rate things have been going this winter, they’ll have melted by the time I finish. Some winter enthusiasts up here may be screaming, but I can’t hear them. I enjoy the changing seasons, but twenty-two years in the frozen northland have failed to win me over to the wonders of winter. I’m ready to garden!

Being a northern gardener challenges one’s optimism, but so far, every year I’ve won the battle. Not only do I garden, but I dare to grow roses in this climate. When we moved into our current home seven years ago, I was excited to have a south-facing front yard for the first time. I ripped out the aging junipers (actually, I paid some strong young men to do it) and drew up an all-new design that included nine hardy shrub roses in three different shades of pink.

I chose a variety developed at the University of Iowa and have been thrilled with the results. Every year, the bushes grow larger. A couple of them are now as tall as I am. And when they’re in bloom, they literally stop traffic. I’ve had strangers in cars and neighbors out dog-walking stop and admire them.

This year, I’m taking on a new challenge. My husband and I bought a vacation condo on the Central Coast of California, a region with very limited seasonal rainfall. It’s a gorgeous area where anything will grow if it gets enough water. I have a small, shady front garden and two sunny squares cut into the back patio, so I’ve been studying drought-tolerant plants that can survive when I’m not there to water them.

Very few of the Midwestern plants I’m familiar with grow in coastal California, and that’s a big part of the fun. I’ve discovered some exotic options - like sticky monkey flower! How can I resist something with a great name like that?

Lavender is another lovely choice. It reminds me of Provence and only has to be watered the first year. Roses thrive in the area, but they have to be watered regularly. Maybe when I retire and we can spend longer periods of time there, I’ll install drip irrigation. At the moment, I’m nervous about leaving any kind of water on when we’re gone.

A new garden is like a blank canvas (or page), full of hope and possibility, just waiting for the creative expression of the artist. I can’t wait.

Alison Henderson

www.alisonhenderson.com

What if Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs Day

A fellow Rose of Prose told me about this odd observance for March 4^th - What if Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs Day. Well, I can tell you this, I’ve got two cats and a dog, and if they had opposable thumbs, they’d be doing some chores around the house to help me out.

Here are my darlings:

Anubis

Shikari

Jamu

All three of them do an enormous amount of sleeping while I’m running around like a nut taking care of…well…everything! They’re lazing in the sunshine, chilling out on their beds, basically living the life I want to live, darn it. They never have to get up, get dressed, go to work. They have a roof over their heads, food in their tummies, all the petting and playing an animal could ask for, and they don’t have to do a thing for all this.

Slackers. Leeches. Infidels!

Ahem, sorry. Got carried away there. Where was I?

Ah, yes, opposable thumbs. If my animals had these, the cats would be charged with dusting. Their ability to reach high places would make them uniquely qualified to get at those pesky dust bunnies. I think they could also manage some small gardening jobs, weeding in particular. I hate weeding. It’s a futile job perfect for felines.

The dog could handle more strenuous tasks. He’s a big boy at over 65 pounds at just six months old. He’d be good with the vacuum, and it would serve him right for getting stuck with that chore since he’s the one dropping hair all over the house and dragging in dirt and grass from outside. He’d be good at shoveling snow too and mowing the lawn.

I could load my furry residents with duties, I suppose, but does having opposable thumbs guarantee that they would do the jobs correctly? I have high standards for cleaning and landscaping. I don’t know that they could make the grade. They’re good kids and all, but I’ve seen the way they live. They’re slobs.

I love them, but they’re slobs.

As I think more about this, I’m afraid that I will have to keep doing the chores myself. I’m just too Type A to let the responsibilities fall into their paws. I’ll stick to tossing balls and Frisbees, taking long walks, chasing string, and snuggling with my feline and canine kids. That’s why I have them anyway.

If you’d like to read about some amazing canines, pick up ALASKA HEART at these locations:

The Wild Rose Press

Amazon

Barnes & Noble    

Christine

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

Poetry Anyone? How Do I Love Thee?

                                    HOW DO I LOVE THEE

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

  I love thee to the level of everyday's

Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death

                      by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

My favorite love poem...ever.

When the subjects for this month came up, I was so excited! I love poetry, especially lyrical poetry. With How Do I Love Thee? you can feel the romance with only the utterance of the words. I have to admit I enjoyed my course on English literature the most in college.

Poetry moves one; makes one feel an emotion. I don't think another period of time compares to the poetry that began with the Romantic Movement. The writings of Lord Bryon, Edgar Allen Poe... As a writer, I don't believe I could write a plot as intriguing or interesting as the life of these authors. Was it because of the life they lived that they could pour their emotions into their work? Elizabeth eloped with Robert Browning to Italy to find her semblance of happiness. Did you know that Edgar Allen Poe dedicated The Raven and Other Poems to Elizabeth? Another interesting bit of information on Elizabeth. Elizabeth lived in constant pain due to 'serious illness' that was never fully diagnosed. But she took opiates for the pain which was the common medical practice at the time. Some have thought that this addiction may have been the reason for her vivid imagination.

THE RAVEN

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -

Only this, and nothing more.'

...And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted - nevermore!

                                                       By Edgar Allen Poe

I love the Romantic Movement's poetry and found the lives of these poets fascinating. I love history. I do feel Elizabeth's emotions in her poetry for whatever the reasons. I myself have never tried to write poetry seriously. Poetry is like writing a song. I lack the rhythm needed to write poetry. But I do so enjoy reading it.

THE JUDAS KISS

What I do write is historical romance and suspense. This month over on Whiskey Creek Press my book, The Judas Kiss, Tides of Charleston Series, is only $.99! This is celebration of their 9th birthday. I'm also celebrating it over on Novel Works with fellow WCP's authors including Roses, Jannine Gallant, Margaret Tanner and Jenna  Galifany next week March 5th- 9th. 

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

Mother Nature Stars in my Books!

By Jannine Gallant

Gardening and Nature is one of our topics this month. No one who has ever seen my yard would mistake me for a gardener. I’m lucky if I put one planter box of flowers out on the deck and remember to water it. My yard is green – because it’s full of thimbleberry bushes. Nature is my true love – beauty and simplicity wrapped into one lovely package that requires no effort on my part! LOL.

I grew up in the coastal woods of Northern California and have lived most of my adult life in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I can’t imagine not being able to walk out my door and into the forest. Nothing is more beautiful than the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, the chirp of birds high overhead, the chatter of a squirrel taunting my dog. I love hiking until I’m out of breath, then sitting by a stream sparkling in the sunlight, breathing in the scent of pine needles… But I digress.

I can’t write cities with any authority. My characters live in small towns with nature all around. I have the occasional scene in a city, but for the most part I stick to what I know. My first book, Victim of Desire, takes place in Napa Valley, but my characters travel to a wilderness retreat in the High Sierra and to Lake Tahoe. One very tense scene takes place on the trail through the woods where I walk every day. It has now been dubbed “The Scary Trail” by a local friend. LOL

My Class of ’85 books all have rural settings. In Lonely Road to You my h&h journey cross country through Yellowstone and the Badlands on a road trip that involves camping, bears, and bison. After All These Years takes place in a ramshackle old cabin in the Adirondack Mountains, and Maybe This Time is set by the ocean in Northern California and on the course of the Lake Tahoe Marathon.

 My latest book, Bittersweet, is a historical set on a farm in Colorado. My grandparents lived on a farm when I was growing up, so I tried to channel those childhood memories of barns and fields and gardens when I wrote this story.

So, what are your favorite settings in books? Authors, do your characters find love in the woods or on city streets? Readers, tell us what locations fascinate you. They could wind up in my next book!

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Music Sets the Stage

My entire life is based on music. If there is the memory of some special occasion or incident, I will know what music was playing at the time.

Music will lift up or pull down. Music may bring a smile, or can incite tears. Music can bring us closer to God, or lead to destruction. Whether we notice or not, it can be a strong influence in our lives.

Music was used as far back as biblical times to soothe. David played the harp for King Saul when the “evil spirit” was upon him. Music plays softly in the stores to calm shoppers. Some stores play screaming music to draw shoppers in. Some people even claim death or suicide were due to the music.

Writers and artists may be influenced by the music they choose. Many of my fellow authors have shared lists of songs that they listened to while writing their novels. Music sets the mood for the scene and aids in the flow of words from mind to fingertips to computer.

“The Ice Child”, an as yet unpublished work of mine was influenced by the sound track from “Conan”. It fit with the medieval setting of the story, even though I was not fond of the movie itself.

The ShadowsForge series was born of my love for 80s rock music and mostly my love of the bass players in those groups. Def Leppard, Poison, Journey, and Heart, just to name a few, were my writing inspiration. Heart gave me the idea for The Long Way Home, the fourth book in the series. (NOTE: “ShadowsForge” is one word spelled with a capital in the middle to irritate my older sister. It’s not a typo.)

Personally, I don’t think I could accomplish much in my life without some form of music playing in the background. How about you? How has music influenced your life?

Meet my favorite band, ShadowsForge, at Whiskey Creek Press.com. Join the boys as they travel across the U.S and the U.K. in pursuit of fun, women, and rock-n-roll! Meet Geoff Richards, Ty Synclair, Jon Wiles, Jordan Cantrell, and Brian Cummings, the men of ShadowsForge. They look forward to meeting you, too.

Watch the TRAILER

Can two cold hearts spark a flame when they collide on a snowy mountain road and spend three days in a snowbound cabin? Readers Choice #1 Best Seller!