Janalyn Voigt's Blog, page 12

Reader News. Coming Full Circle

Reader News, August 2015 Edition
New Blog!

Sometimes I think I’m going forward but wind up coming full circle back to the beginning. Starting my new blog, Old Bohemian Homestead, is a lot like that. When I gave up trying to conform and finally accepted that I should brand as a literary bohemian, it helped me understand that a powerful place from my childhood, my family’s homestead, stands as a powerful symbol of a lifestyle I want to recapture. And that positioned me to recognize a desire to inspire myself and others to live well and leave a legacy. If this message resounds with you, and if homesteading, Bohemian style, interests you, be sure and check out The Old Bohemian Homestead.

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Epic Fantasy

I thought I’d be finished editing Sojourner by now, but it wasn’t as polished as I fondly imagined. It’s looking a lot better now, and I expect to submit it within the coming week.

Romantic Suspense

Working on Deceptive Tide has been delayed by my slow progress in editing Sojourner. I have high hopes of being able to pound out the manuscript quickly, though.

Western Romance

There are a couple of things brewing right now, and I’m hoping to have news soon.

Story Circle Podcast

I’m still working on pulling this together.

Speaking

I’m taking a break from speaking for a bit while I focus on other aspects of my platform, but I’m lining up engagements for later this year and next year. If you’d like to inquire into my availability to speak at your event, please contact me! You can learn more about me as a speaker on my speaker page.

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One Year to Live: Legacy of Robert Moran

[image error] Shipbuilder Robert Moran was told by his doctor that he had one year to live. He responded in an unusual way.

Robert Moran arrived in Seattle from New York City in 1875 at the age of 18. He was penniless. By working on steamboats, he earned enough money to bring his family west. Moran and his brothers began a shipbuilding business at Yesler’s wharf. The Klondike Gold Rush brought a demand for vessels to be built, among them a fleet of twelve paddlewheel riverboats.

In 1888 Robert Moran, by then in his early 30’s, became the mayor of Seattle. His handling of the recovery from the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 won him popularity and a second term as mayor. During his one-year terms in office, he overhauled Seattle’s water system and established Washington Mutual as a savings and loan association.

After Moran’s mayoral service ended, he dedicated himself to shipbuilding once more, culminating his career as a shipbuilder with the launch of Washington States only battleship, the USSNebraska. However, overwork and stress took a heavy toll on Moran’s health, and in 1905 he was told he had one year to live.

Moran sold his shipbuilding business for undisclosed millions of dollars, purchased 7,000 acres on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands, where he built a beautiful mansion and retired to die in peace. He valued nature so much that he refused to hang pictures because, as he said, “at Rosario you view the outside beauties of nature.”

[image error] Moran Mansion in 2007, Courtesy of Joe Mabel.

The Moran mansion at Rosario on Washington’s state’s Orcas Island is the main story setting for my upcoming romantic suspense novel,Deceptive Tide, book three in the Islands of Intrigue, San Juans series. I’ve visited Orcas Island in the past, and I heartily agree with Moran’s assessment of its natural beauty. As part of my research, I visited the Moran mansion and part of the 5,579-acre Moran State Park.

Retiring to this island paradise saved Moran’s life. He remained on Orcas Island until his death, which occurred many years later in 1943.

Of the Pacific Northwest Moran said, “It’s a wonderful place in which to forget one’s troubles and worries and get back to Nature in her happiest moods; a delightful place in which to regain physical, mental and spiritual health.”

© by Janalyn Voigt

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Reader News. Endings and Beginnings

Reader News, July 2015 Edition
Epic Fantasy and Romantic Suspense

As my initial work on Sojourner, book three of Tales of Faeraven, draws to an end, I’ll be leaving fantasy lands to write about an amazing real-life location, the San Juan Islands off Washington state! Deceptive Tide, will be book three of the Islands of Intrigue–San Juans romantic suspense series. and I’m thrilled to bits to get to write it.

Story Circle Podcast

This week I’ll record the introductory episode of the Story Circle Podcast. I’m looking forward to delving into audio books. I have performed in theater, musical theater, and opera, so I expect the reading to come easily. The technical parts–well, not so much, but they are worth dealing with in order to reach readers (or should I say listeners?) in a whole new way.

Speaking

I’m taking a break from speaking for a bit while I focus on other aspects of my platform, but I’m lining up engagements for later this year and next year. If you’d like to inquire into my availability to speak at your event, please contact me! You can learn more about me as a speaker on my speaker page.

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Branding Decisions (My Life in Books, June Edition)

Branding Decisions (My Life in Books)

If you’ve read My Life Out of Books in this month’s Creative Worlds newsletter, you know I’m recovering from being hacked. Finding my feet again will take a little time, but in June I expect to make progress on the long-awaited Story Circle podcast.

Despite the difficulties in April and May, I did manage to teach at the NCWA Renewal Conference, and afterwards went on a week-long writing retreat at the ocean for a much-needed working holiday.

In May I finally made peace with myself over being an eclectic artists. In a publishing world that would rather cram a writer into a genre-sized hole, being eclectic just naturally creates angst. But while I admire authors who can fit into a single mode, I am not among their number.

Storyteller is the term that best describes me. It’s a time-honored tradition that I suspect will survive the current restrictions on creativity. The stories that come to me always include elements of adventure, suspense, romance, history, and whimsy. The way these elements mesh in a story determines its genre. I do align my stories to genres, because I’d like to be read, and that is the way we search for books.

The personal style I prefer is classic Bohemian, which is kind of funny since I am actually of Bohemian descent. The term ‘Bohemian’ has been hijacked to mean all sorts of things, but it first came into use to designate a lifestyle more than a country when starving artists moved into  Romani (Gypsy) neighborhoods with a low cost of living. These artists came to be referred to as Bohemians because Bohemia had a large population of Romani at the time (and still does). And yes, my family is investigating whether we are also of Romani descent.

Living a classic Bohemian lifestyle means embracing creativity more than convention, expressing your art in an eclectic manner, and traveling off the beaten path.  Think literary gypsy and you’ll have the concept. With my literary wayfarer travel and eclectic focuses, I’ve been trending this direction for a long time now.  And while I would really like to adhere to convention, the stories that come to me simply don’t.

So it’s official. I’ll be taking my professional image along Bohemian lines. I’m not entirely sure how that will pan out, but I suspect it won’t be a big jump.  This should be fun. One thing I’ve learned over time about my audience is that you tend to be as eclectic and adventurous as I am., so this change will let us be literary gypsies together.

The hardest part about determining your branding is that you have to decide what you are not.  I resisted at first but am finally comfortable with taking my professional image the same direction my personal one is headed. I’d rather brand as who I am than as someone I’m not.

How about you? I’d love to know the personal style you most embrace.

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My Life In Books (May 2015 Version)

My news for May comes later than planned because computer problems prevented me from posting until now.  The disruption has been a little disorienting and caused me to reevaluate my reliance on the internet. I write about that in a more personal update for this month’s Creative Worlds newsletter.

I’ve considered for a long time the idea of moving the book extra sites I maintain as a gift for readers into the main Janalyn Voigt site, and I’ve finally decided to take the plunge.  Sorry, but that means no posts from Fantasy Worlds, Historical Worlds, or Mysterious Worlds for a couple of months while I get everything set up. I love working on the website but have to break for a bit since I’m also preparing to speak at the NCWA Renewal conference. If you’re in town, I hope you can attend.

My computer woes lasted for weeks, bringing on stress and frustration, and as a result delayed the start of the Story Circle podcast, but it shouldn’t be much longer. I now have all necessary equipment and am converting my famous closet office into a podcasting studio. Learning to podcast well has been one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced.  Thanks for your patience while I sort everything out.

I’ve been working to either downsize or automate important tasks.  Another of my efforts toward organizing involves putting together a binder system to help me manage the many aspects of life as a writer. I’ve never taken to using a filing cabinet. Once a folder goes in one of the drawers, it might as well have crawled into a black hole. Out of sight, out of mind. I now use my filing cabinet as an archive only.

Of course, all this organizing of papers lends itself to large piles too unruly to remain in stacks.  I have most of these corralled on a card table in the living room, but whenever someone walks by, or in the case of children, runs by, paper falls in silent drifts to the floor.

Sigh.

This month I’ll go on a writing retreat with several other writers. Uninterrupted time to write is definitely a need we all have. I’m looking forward to indulging in several serious writing marathons during that time, and of course to spending time in the company of friends. There’s nothing better than knowing you are understood by those who are a little ‘different’ like you.  Next month I’ll tell update you on my experiences while on retreat.

Meanwhile, I hope you will carve out some time for yourself also. If you have something planned and want to tell me about it, or if you just want to chat, I hope you’ll reply.

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My Life in Books (April 2015 Edition)

Epic Fantasy Books

I’m celebrating completing the first round of self-editing for Sojourner, book three of Tales of Faeraven, my epic fantasy series. I’ll read back through the manuscript, looking for consistency.

Also under epic fantasy, I’m expecting to complete Elf Seeyer this month. You may recall this short story that unexpectedly morphed into a novella so that I had to set it aside in order to work on other projects. We writers like to think we’re in control, but you just never know what will happen when you sit down to write.  That’s part of the charm of being a writer, of course.

Romantic Suspense/Romantic Mystery Novels

Once I complete the read-through of Sojourner, I’ll begin writing Deceptive Tide, a romantic suspense novel set on Orcas Island. I’ve been having a lot of fun writing book extras for this story. You’ll find them at the Mysterious Worlds portion of this website.

Writing a romantic mystery novel will be a fun change of pace and a new challenge.

Story Circle Podcast

I’ve encountered delays in gearing up, mainly due to ignorance on my part. I puchased the wrong connector, and so can’t plug my nifty new microphone into my computer. The correct adapter is on it’s way, so look for a subscribers-only invitation to sign up for as-they-publish delivery of the podcast, if desired. If you don’t want to receive episodes one at a time, you’ll find links to the previous month’s episodes in the Creative Worlds of Janalyn Voigt newsletter. Once I accumulate a few episodes, I’ll make the podcast available through sites like itunes and Stitcher, also.

I’m looking forward to getting going with this.

Speaking

Next month, I’ll speak on how to build traffic to an author website and lead an interactive website workshop at the Northwest Christian Writers Renewal Conference. I hope you can attend.

So that’s my news. What about yours? I’d love it if you’d leave a comment and let me know what you’ll be up to in April.

 

©Janalyn Voigt

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My Life in Books (March 2015 Edition)

Where I’ll be most of the time this month.
Epic Fantasy Books

I’m feeling a little sheepish to still be working on Sojourner, book three of Tales of Faeraven, after I was so sure I’d have it out in a couple of weeks. After digging back into the manuscript, I discovered it needed more work than I’d anticipated, so it will be a little longer than that. I’m hoping this won’t put me too far behind on other projects, and that a focus on productivity will help me use my time most efficiently.

Romantic Suspense/Romantic Mystery Books

I’m set to write Deceptive Tide as soon as I’m finished with Sojourner. That needs to be quickly, since I’m fitting this project in while my agent shops around my romantic mystery proposal.

Story Circle Podcast

I expect to launch my storytelling podcast during the first week of April.  I’ll include more details in next month’s newsletter.

Speaking

Monday night I’m keynoting at Northwest Christian Writers’ March meeting. If you’ll be in the area, I hope you can attend.

©Janalyn Voigt

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Virtual Travel Relaxation Video: Great Salt Lake

About This Virtual Travel Relaxation Video

Once when I was a child, I floated in the Great Salt Lake. My buoyancy was a little surprising since, whenever I tried to float during swimming lessons, my legs normally sank. That didn’t happen this time. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t get my legs to sink.

The salinity of the Great Salt Lake varies, depending on the water level. However, it ranges from about 5 percent to up to 27 percent, the point at which water can’t hold more salt.

I returned to the Great Salt Lake on a family trip during the summer heat. The salt wasn’t only in the water, but also in the air, creating an uncomfortable mugginess. That wasn’t the only cause for discomfort, I soon discovered as brine flies swarmed over me,

To get away from them, I waded right out into the water not far from where a flock of seagulls bobbed on the water. I could see right down into the clear water to the rocks cutting into my feet. The view was worth the pain, though.

A sail stood out against the blue of the lake as the wind ruffled the surface and waves lapped a sandy shore. I couldn’t help but be startled by the resemblance to an ocean shore. It’s not hard to accept that the Great Salt Lake is a remnant of an ocean that once covered the interior of the continent.

Later, I would drive through the Bonneville Salt Flats, where a sea of salt stretches across a completely flat landscape once covered by water. The salt deposited when the waters receded glistens under a wide-open sky. The sheer scope of it boggles the mind, even though harvesting has depleted much of this natural wonder.

The wind was dangerous for drivers that day, not an uncommon occurrence in a place where no trees exist to block it. When I left the car at a rest stop, it pushed at me in a way I haven’t experienced since childhood.

In more than one way, this visit to the Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats reminded me of some things that as an adult I’d nearly forgotten. It allowed me to relive the joy of rolling up my pant legs and swishing through cool water on a hot day, of gazing at the horizon and wondering what lay over the mountains, of flailing my arms in the wind.

It was worth every bit of the very long drive it took to reach the hotel that night. After you watch the video, you’re welcome to read Start of a Very Long Day, a travel journal I wrote about the experience at time, at my Literary Wayfarer Travel site.

Pin-friendly image

Tweetables

Virtual travel video to the Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats. Click to Tweet.
Relaxation video has beautiful pictures of the Great Salt Lake set to music. Click to Tweet.
Need a quick mental vacation? Viirtual travel video takes you to the Great Salt Lake. Click to Tweet.

©Janalyn Voigt

Subscribe to the Creative Worlds of Janalyn Voigt

The post Virtual Travel Relaxation Video: Great Salt Lake appeared first on Janalyn Voigt.

Relaxation Video: Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats

About This Virtual Travel Relaxation Video

Once when I was a child, I floated in the Great Salt Lake. My buoyancy was a little surprising since, whenever I tried to float during swimming lessons, my legs normally sank. That didn’t happen this time. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t get my legs to sink.

The salinity of the Great Salt Lake varies, depending on the water level. However, it ranges from about 5 percent to up to 27 percent, the point at which water can’t hold more salt.

I returned to the Great Salt Lake on a family trip during the summer heat. The salt wasn’t only in the water, but also in the air, creating an uncomfortable mugginess. That wasn’t the only cause for discomfort, I soon discovered as brine flies swarmed over me,

To get away from them, I waded right out into the water not far from where a flock of seagulls bobbed on the water. I could see right down into the clear water to the rocks cutting into my feet. The view was worth the pain, though.

A sail stood out against the blue of the lake as the wind ruffled the surface and waves lapped a sandy shore. I couldn’t help but be startled by the resemblance to an ocean shore. It’s not hard to accept that the Great Salt Lake is a remnant of an ocean that once covered the interior of the continent.

Later, I would drive through the Bonneville Salt Flats, where a sea of salt stretches across a completely flat landscape once covered by water. The salt deposited when the waters receded glistens under a wide-open sky. The sheer scope of it boggles the mind, even though harvesting has depleted much of this natural wonder.

The wind was dangerous for drivers that day, not an uncommon occurrence in a place where no trees exist to block it. When I left the car at a rest stop, it pushed at me in a way I haven’t experienced since childhood.

In more than one way, this visit to the Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats reminded me of some things that as an adult I’d nearly forgotten. It allowed me to relive the joy of rolling up my pant legs and swishing through cool water on a hot day, of gazing at the horizon and wondering what lay over the mountains, of flailing my arms in the wind.

It was worth every bit of the very long drive it took to reach the hotel that night. After you watch the video, you’re welcome to read Start of a Very Long Day, a travel journal I wrote about the experience at time, at my Literary Wayfarer Travel site.

Tweetables

Virtual travel video to the Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats. Click to Tweet.
Relaxation video has beautiful pictures of the Great Salt Lake set to music. Click to Tweet.
Need a quick mental vacation? Viirtual travel video takes you to the Great Salt Lake. Click to Tweet.

Pin-friendly image

The post Relaxation Video: Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats appeared first on Janalyn Voigt.

Pumpkin and Winter Squash Seed Giveaway

On a cold day, there’s something elemental about savoring a steaming mug of coffee laced with homemade pumpkin spice syrup, slicing into your own pumpkin pie from scratch, or eating your fill of buttered winter squash.

I grew up thinking that squash was icky, and that pumpkin only belonged in pie. Boy, was I wrong! Working on an organic farm opened my mind, and after I sampled my first taste of winter squash, there was no going back. It is, simply put, a delight.

There was another level of satisfaction to be had, I learned when I tasted my first homegrown pumpkins and winter squash. What a joy it is to put fresh-picked food on your table and know that it is at its best in terms of flavor and nourishment. I’d love to share that joy with you.

Once harvest hits, seeds line my kitchen counters as they dry. God is generous and gives more seeds than I will ever be able to plant in the space available in my garden. I just can’t help myself. I save them anyway.  This is good news for the winners of this month’s giveaway for subscribers only here at A Simple Life.

What the Giveaway Winners Will Receive

15 organically-grown Sugar Pie Pumpkin Seeds saved for 2015
15 organically-grown Butternut Squash Seeds saved for 2015
15 organically-grown Carnival Squash Seeds saved for 2015

 Who is Eligible to Win

Hosting giveaways is my way of saying thank you to subscribers. You are welcome to:

  Join A Simple Life. 
Find out More About A Simple Life.
Email subscribers will automatically be entered to win.
Feed subscribers who want to be entered, please  contact me .

Notification of the Winners

I’ll notify the winner on December 15th and mail the seeds out shortly thereafter.

Announcement of the Winners

The winner will be announced in a blog post on Wednesday, December 24th. Whether or not I announce a name will depend on if I have the winner’s permission. I’d like to feature the winner, as I did for the winner of the October giveaway.  This is a good opportunity to support one another.

What Will You Do With the Mailing Information?

I’ll use it to mail the seeds to the winner. In addition, the winner will be invited at no obligation to be added to a direct mail list I’m accumulating in the event I want to send out a mailing to announce the release of one of my books. I don’t have any plans to do this presently, but I might want to at some point.

I despise addresses being bought and sold and would never do either.

Opting out of my physical list means the winner would still receive the prize and that I would not add that person to my direct mail list.

How Can I Be Added to Your Direct Mail List?

If you’re interested in being added to my direct mail list, please contact me with your mailing information and I’ll include you.

General Rules for Giveaways at this Site

©2014 by Janalyn Voigt

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