Comments, relating to the topic, are welcome, add a great deal to a blog, but must be in English, with no profanity, hate-filled insults, or links (unless pre-approved).




Saturday, October 25, 2014

Easy Chair Bookshop


When the world of reading books on a device opened up to the general public, the controversies began at once. Fear was expressed that the electronically available books were trying to destroy paper books. I've heard all the arguments from 'I prefer the feel and smell of paper,' to 'the system will fail and then where are you?' Some are determined one has to succeed and the other fail. One must be better than the other. It seems to be the way of humans to put everything into competition. Why not one for one thing and the other for another? Why does it have to be either or?

One complication regarding the reading devices has been finding the right book. The way we used to do it was head for a bookstore, read a review, hear a recommendation from a friend, or get hold of a list of what should be read from newest to classics. You could still do all that, but there are other options.

The problem with going to Amazon for the right book is how they rank their books-- i.ie. easy to find big authors and hard to find something different or new to you. Their algorithm is made up of many elements, kept secret, and most of which the reader has no idea from where they came. If you ever counted on their rankings to tell you what is selling, you might be warned the list does not mean what you think. It is weighted all right but to what? Besides with so many books, how to separate out what you wanted?

One of the huge pluses to the eReader is your ability to be in the mood for a certain type of book, or maybe the latest by your favorite author, and instead of having to run to a store, it is available at the click a button. But you still have to find it!

There are sites that have developed around the need of indie writer and reader to hook up. These enable the reader to find books by new authors, the undiscovered authors.


is fairly new and already offers a wide variety of genres by many authors. It simplifies finding a book you will find perfect for an evening read. Check it out and scan down the list of genres. The developer of this site, Australian author Susan Horsnell, keeps it free for writers and readers. Sue, who is a retired nurse, also keeps fresh work coming in; so if you checked your favorite genre last week, something new might be there this week with a blurb, cover and a link to find out more about it. 

For both the owner of an eReader and the indie writer, sites like Easy Chair Bookshop are a big asset. Incidentally, click on the link for Easy Chair, as I am author of this week :). Sue features an author and a book each week; so always something fresh to read as well as all the potential books to browse through.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

is it in the planets?


This has been a weird week for me, well for the world in some ways given the random violence we keep hearing about-- some terrorist inspired, some humans who have no respect for any life but their own (if that). The soldiers killed in Ottawa are the latest as some reach out to attack any symbol of order.

Farm Boss and I keep asking if there is some invisible zeitgeist out there that is leading to all the brutality-- as it seems recently the news has been full of it. Is there some astrological cycle that means this kind of violent cycle won't last?

Well I am not a big believer that astrology can explain such times but just in case, I wanted to put this out where others could see it as it has something positive for us in it. It's from an email: 
 "The New Moon with a partial Solar Eclipse is Thursday, October 23 at 3:56 PM MDT (mountain daylight time). This is the second eclipse of the month and serves as a bookend to the most highly eccentric aspect of the month. Take some time today to just breathe. It’s as if you have just witnessed the most radical circus act and your adrenalin is settling back to normal. 

"If there is any way to take a bit of a retreat here just to honor yourself and your authentic self with gratitude and awareness of your many talents, do it. It could just be that you give yourself an hour to be in contemplation or you leave work early to take a walk. This new moon is a reset point where you get to decide who you are and what you are up to, what you WANT to do and how you are going to express and support it. If you truly don't know, start with what you are not and do not want to do and work from there. The energy of the eclipse period as well as this new moon will feed these inner realizations with much power and help carry this new alignment forward."          Lena Stevens
 Now where I might not specifically believe in planets impacting us (don't disbelieve either), I do believe in cycles which might be what astrology records. If so, might things will get better in terms of man's inhumanity to man? It's hard to comprehend how some can decide another life has no value if it is of a different religion, educational/economic level, country, age, or political persuasion. Sometimes the horror of what I am reading, like the children in Mexico, just overwhelms me. I empathize so much. Yet, I have to go on and lead a good life, make my own reflect my own respect for others-- .

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

an interview

For anyone interested in writing process, check out the link below. Fiona Mcvie interviews authors and has thought up a lot of questions, some I had never been asked before. It made the interview fun on process and inspiration. 

Check it out and bookmark her site if you are interested in writers and writing as interviews are what she does. If you are a writer, she is always looking for more to interview.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

western art and Judy Erickson

 a friend gave me this drawing as she said when she saw it, she thought of  me

Living on the land, in the sense husbandry-men/women have for centuries, I am into that lifestyle. I grew up with this kind of home, not a big yard or mini-estate but a farm/ranch. 

After marrying, I was living in a suburb of Portland but wanted to get back to the land as soon as I could. When I was 34, we moved to the 34 acres where we still live today. It isn't particularly an easy life. It's certainly not a profitable one, and if someone was into making money, they'd not choose it. But if they are into a life close to nature, it is perfect.

You might think with cattle, sheep, a creek and barns outside my door that I'd choose art inside that was somewhere else-- maybe seascapes. In my case, the life I love out there is the one I most want on my walls in here. 

The cowboy way is a factor in the writing I do also. I have actually only written two books where the hero or heroine are ranchers or cowboys, but I consider the cowboy ethics to be ones I have in every story whether the hero is a high school principal and the heroine a home decorator. The cowboy way shows up in the ethics they hold, what they will do when push comes to shove.


Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway. John Wayne

So I thought I'd share some of the western art on my walls. 

Where I have painted a few cowboy scenes, mostly I recognize this is not my gift. This poster (couldn't begin to afford originals by this artist) is how I see strong women, my heroines, myself, the life I want to think is inside me even now as I am old.


Three western paintings I like very much are by Judy Erickson, a Sprague River painter and real cowgirl. Years ago, I came across Judy's work because we had driven through Sprague River (small town in eastern Oregon) and stopped for lunch at a little cafe. 

On the wall was a huge painting of cowboys crossing the Chewaucan River. It was full of wonderful energy and absolutely magnificent about the country and the work drovers do as part of their lives. 

For sale was a giclee by the cowgirl who had painted what was virtually a mural. I bought it. It is of cowboys driving a herd of wild horses. 



After getting the information on how to contact Judy, I called her, liked what I came to know. Judy bases her paintings on the life she has led as a cowgirl going on drives (yes, they still happen in the West and her experiences as a horsewoman. 

Finally, we bit the bullet and bought one of her originals, Closing the Gate. She said it was based on having seen a cowboy doing this after one of their drives. I love the energy but also the life symbology of closing or opening a gate, which I have photographed often.



We then saw another print that spoke to us, which is also on our walls.



I would love to have a photo of the first one I saw of her work, cowboys in the storm and doing the work anyway despite the danger... Okay I'd love to have it. I could make a wall fit or build on a new room for it ;). 

Judy Erickson's work is available at Two Rivers Gallery in Chiloquin, Oregon. Yahoo cowgirl!


Saturday, October 11, 2014

Hunter's and blood moon

 
Yes, I am fascinated by the sky and especially of full moons. I cannot explain the why of my interest-- or really that of much of mankind. This one though, the Hunter's Moon, is always one I especially like to have in my photo gallery. 

It so happened that the 1867 manuscript I am writing came at the same time of the year. Using Google I did a search as to when the full moon fell that October. It was perfect to give my couple a Hunter's Moon-- which suited the challenges in their story. 

There is some mythology involved with the Hunter's Moon. I am not sure I take that kind of thing much to heart. Sometimes with any full moon I sleep less well but this one hasn't impacted me that way.

What I am thinking of doing is (assuming the sky is clear and I have time) taking photos of the moon through its stages. A crescent moon is pretty cool looking also.

Because we had an eclipse with this full moon, we took more than the usual number of photos but had less turn out thanks to the mistiness in our Oregon air.

Despite that challenge , Farm Boss got a good photo of Orion (above). One thing that he learned is that a time release in the early morning doesn't work as moon and stars are moving too much.  




Saturday, October 04, 2014

How do you handle fear?

Years ago in talking to a psychologist he said-- it's only paranoia if it it's not a real possibility. Much of what we as a culture are being taught to fear very much could happen. We are bombarded with it by politicians and the media which both try to profit whenever disasters strike. How do we handle the fear when some of it could happen?

The cartoon offers one possibility. Stop being informed. I don't recommend total isolation but rather just stay off the cable or TV news where hysteria seems more catching. If you read the newspapers, you get the gist of what's going on but without all the extras. Just the facts, ma'am, is a good approach right now.

With so many things to fear, those who love to live with drama, have their choice. Global warming, terrorism, Ebola, right wing, left wing, random violence, targeted violence, cancer, heart disease, and the list goes on. You can change the words, but we constantly see the same terrors suggested.

Where it comes to the newest, Ebola, how fearful should we be? It is not to say that humankind has not endured plagues that nearly wiped us out. The Black Death, a European pandemic at its worst in 1346-53, killed an estimated 75 to 200 million people. 

Cholera became a dread scourge at various times especially with the pioneers heading west in the United States. With no clue what caused these diseases, there were no cures or treatments and like smallpox, a lot died. 

When my mother was a girl, in 1918, a flu pandemic killed as many as 50 million worldwide. It was one that hit my family when my grandmother's beloved brother died from it (he was at the age that was most deadly). My mother and her two sisters got dreadfully ill also but all survived. Pandemics were to be feared, and then came polio which left many parents in terror each summer. My husband's aunt had that, recovered but had a limp for the rest of her life.

So now new dread diseases come along and we don't know what to think. Will a shot be developed to prevent it? Likely it will but when? Antibiotics don't do anything for Ebola, but there may be an answer from science. In the meantime, we can be cautious, not think about it, or let ourselves be terrorized.

The thing is fear isn't of something real at the time it's felt. It is a possibility. It is is False Expectations Appearing Real. Except they might become real and that's what worries us. Often, by the time someone is my age, it's not so much for us but for our offspring, their offspring and young ones anywhere. 

Some turn to religion as a way to find peace when the world has so many possible dangers. The problem with religion for me is using logic because it is faith based. Time and again we hear of a tornado where some claim they were saved by God and prayer-- but others died. The ones who claim religion as an answer will say-- that then was God's will-- which pretty well means they are getting no real benefit in terms of insurance policies.

Others count on guns right up until the problem is a neighbor who gets deathly ill, who you were with and find out their illness was easily caught. It's not like a gun can fight a disease or really even random violence. Let's face it, if a bad guy is out to get you, you only know it when he attacks first. If it's a bomb, you never know it.

I try to be especially effective in not letting fear run my life because when I write books, like the one I am writing now, I get inside my hero and heroine to feel what they feel and in a story like this fourth Oregon historical, they are both doing something very dangerous. She is a Pinkerton and he's a cavalry officer. Both are warriors (she is my first warrior heroine). So to write who my characters are, I take on their fear or imagine the risk they face. It is what writing any kind of fiction is all about. So I get stressed with something that is not mine. I have to be afraid when they are to get the words right, but I cannot forget from where that emotion came and take it with me when I leave the story. Then I'd have an unfounded fear to carry around and it'd be a burden I don't need.

It is one of those things you do if you write fiction-- take on real emotions but they are not yours. I then even dream about these situations, sometimes as though I am writing the story and then seeing it didn't work. Sometimes seeing it acted out. When I dream of it, which doesn't happen with editing but does with creative writing, I know I am taking it inside. 


To me the best protection from FEAR is being aware from where it's coming and then doing whatever can realistically be done about it before letting it go and forgetting it. Being afraid ramps up the adrenalin. Fear might do the same but the adrenalin serves no purpose except to burden your organs. I have a few ideas I use:

Be aware but not beyond where I can make a difference.
Do what I can do.
Practice being where I am without projecting.
Exercise when feeling stressed.
Get out in nature, hug a tree -- no kidding, hug or sit under it because trees have great vibrations (don't do this during a windstorm though).
Remember beautiful times in my life.
Remind myself of what is within my circle of control
Avoid spending too much time knowing about what I can't impact-- as a writer, I go a little farther out there than others might need to do.
Distract myself with reading, watching comedies, silly adventure shows-- no horror at all for me.
Stay away from hysteria mongers.
And finally relax about it. What will be will be. 

Any further tips that you can share? We are in a time where fear is being promoted from all directions. It's easy to see why some want to dig a hole and pull it in over themselves!


Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Astrology and personality

For those of you interested in writing and how astrology might fit into creating characters, check out my Rain Trueax today--  


Yeah it can apply to you also with a couple of books I have on astrology-- a couple out of nearly twenty but that apply to the subject I was discussing there. ;)