Sandra Nachlinger's Blog, page 49

Saturday Snapshot - Camellias & Other Beauties

Three reasons why I love springtime in the Pacific Northwest. (Click on photos for larger view.)
Crocus blooms have disappeared since I took this photo. Notice the bee in the lower right-hand corner? Hyacinth are going strong. And we'll have camellias any day now.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate, post a photo on your blog that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on today's West Metro Mommy Reads blog post. Then check out all the beautiful photos posted by everyone! Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Here's the link: SATURDAY SNAPSHOT

Web of Tyranny - Book Beginnings on Friday and Friday 56

From the very first pages of WEB OF TYRANNY by Laurel-Rain Snow, I felt empathy for the main character, Meg. The story takes us through the decades of the 1960s and early 1970s--turbulent times. Growing up, her family is ruled by an abusive, religious fanatic father who dictates every aspect of her life--her choice of clothes, hairstyle, friends, and all her activities. The mildest transgression from Meg results in punishment. When I was growing up, the most rebellious teens and young adults were the ones who had been severely repressed as children. It's not surprising that Meg's strictly controlled childhood affects her life choices later in the story.

FYI: Laurel-Rain Snow is a frequent participant in The Friday56 and Book Beginnings on Friday and is an excellent writer. Watch for her upcoming book INTERIOR DESIGNS.

Book Beginning:
For the first few seconds of every day, before reality hit, she felt her body floating in a cloudy tangle as she came up from her dreams. Beautiful dreams of sunny days filled with music, ice cream and lots of laughter. She could still remember a time when her days had been like that; she'd been much younger then, granted the indulgences of early childhood.

Friday 56 (at 56% on my Kindle):
All too familiar with the effects of a hangover from her partnership with booze, she was still a novice when it came to other substances. What exactly had she done last night? That niggling feeling of panic hovered hear the edges of her awareness.
[Yes, the main character is definitely rebelling against her upbringing!]

Genre: Fiction
Length: 610 Pages
Amazon Link: Web of Tyranny
More Books by Laurel-Rain Snow: Amazon Author Page ********* Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 

   Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts     (sponsored by Rose City Reader)

   Find other Friday 56 bloggers here 
   (sponsored by Freda's Voice) 
                           

Weekend Writing Warriors #2 - Derek

Another excerpt from BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY. In this scene Elly is manning Granny's table at the Sunset Acres Retirement Village rummage sale. She's in for a nice surprise. 



     “Hi.” A deep voice shook Elly out of her musings. “You must be Mrs. Macauley’s granddaughter.”
Elly looked up from her chair—and up some more—to see a tall, brown-haired man approaching the table. His shoulders filled out a faded chambray shirt in a way that promised firm muscles underneath. He had his hand extended, and his even white teeth flashed a friendly smile.The memory of his sweet-as-molasses voice and buff body made Elly stare. Derek. ***Writers hanging out with writers -- a good time with a great group of people. Check out excerpts from other Weekend Writing Warriors HERE. 

Saturday Snapshot - Moclips

Several years ago, my Puyallup, WA, writing group went on a weekend retreat to Moclips on the Pacific Coast of Washington. Never heard of Moclips? I'm not surprised. It's an out-of-the-way place, and that's just what we all wanted. Here are a few photos of the area. I'm ready to go back! (Click on photos to enlarge.)

A little history
No crowds! The beach was close to our motel.
Not exactly 5-star but comfy, plus they had a hot tub!


Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate, post a photo on your blog that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on today's West Metro Mommy Reads blog post. Then check out all the beautiful photos posted by everyone! Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Here's the link: SATURDAY SNAPSHOT

The Mermaids Singing - The Friday56 and Book Beginnings on Friday

The Mermaids Singing by Lisa Carey is a beautifully written, lyrical book about three generations of women in Ireland (and the U.S.) However, although the book was only 288 pages long, it seemed longer--probably because it was dense with long sections of narrative. The author did an excellent job of description and she took me inside each woman's head. I enjoyed the story, and I'm glad I read the book.

Beginning:
It is only at night now that she has the strength to wander. Rising quietly, so as not to disturb her love, Grace pulls a sweater over her pajamas, slips her feet into running sneakers. Stephen had bought her the sneakers to wear in the hospital after she refused to put on the regulation blue foam slippers.

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
His black hair curled and glittered around his ears and neck; his face beamed white, as if the moon were just beneath his skin; his dark eyes were a warm liquid texture that seemed to shift within itself, capturing and retreating from the light. He smiled at her and her insides cracked, the clotted fear squeezed aside, making room.

Genre: Literary Fiction / Saga
Length: 288 Pages
Amazon Link: The Mermaids Singing


********* Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 

   Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts     (sponsored by Rose City Reader)

   Find other Friday 56 bloggers here 
   (sponsored by Freda's Voice) 
                           

Spare Change - Teaser Tuesday

Today's Teaser is from Spare Change, Book #1 in The Wyattsville Series by Bette Lee Crosby. It's the story of Olivia, an independent woman who married later in life and never wanted children. Then 11-year-old Ethan Allan shows up at her door, looking for his grandfather (Olivia's late husband). Ethan witnessed his parents' murder, and the murderer is on his trail, but can Olivia help him?

Both Olivia and Ethan are unforgettable characters, and I came to care about them both. I purchased all three books in a boxed set, and I can't wait to delve into the other two "Heartwarming Southern Stories."

My Teaser is from approximately 56% on my Kindle:
By morning Olivia had come to a somewhat shaky decision. She would watch over the boy. Not forever but until she could find a place where he truly belonged. 

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Length: 280 Pages
Amazon Link: The Wyattsville Series

Synopsis from Goodreads:
      USA Today Best Selling Novel, Reviewer's Choice 2012 Award Winner! In a story that's been compared to John Grisham's The Client, eleven year-old Ethan Allen Doyle has witnessed a brutal murder and now the boy is running for his life. In the time-tested tradition of Southern Fiction, Crosby unveils the darkest side of human nature and then rewards her readers with a beautiful tale of love, loss and unexpected gifts.
     Olivia Westerly is the only person Ethan Allen can trust, and he's not too sure he can trust her. She's got no love of children and a truckload of superstitions--one of them is the belief that eleven is the unluckiest number on earth. Olivia avoided marriage for almost forty years. But when Charlie Doyle happened along, he was simply too wonderful to resist. Now she's a widow with an eleven-year-old boy claiming to be her grandson.
      With a foul mouth, dark secrets and heavily guarded emotions, Ethan Allen Doyle is not an easy child to like. He was counting on the grandpa he'd never met for a place to hide, but now that plan is shot to blazes because the grandpa's dead too. He's got seven dollars and twenty-six cents, his mama's will for staying alive, and Dog. But none of those things are gonna help if Scooter Cobb finds him.
      Winner of Five Literary Awards,  BookBundlz Finalist, Voted Goodreads Best Unknown Fiction, FPA President's Book Award Gold Medal Finalist


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasersLeave a comment on MizB's Teaser Tuesday post (HERE) and include your link so everyone can find your post.

Weekend Writing Warriors #1

I've just discovered Weekend Writing Warriors and decided to join in. 
But before I post my excerpt, here's a brief explanation: When vacationing in Hawaii, I shouted to my husband, "Stop the car! There's Granny's golf cart!" He's accustomed to similar outbursts from me and immediately complied. Pasted below is a photo of what I saw. The amazing thing to me is that I'd already written the description of Granny's golf cart in my book. Seeing something in person that was so similar to what I'd imagined was surreal. 

      Elly parked Granny’s golf cart near the door of the Stop ‘N Shop and grabbed a fabric tote from the orange-colored bin behind the seat. Granny had hot-glued yellow fringe around the bin’s edges and added a big glittery M on the back—M for Marge Macauley. An orange vinyl canopy covered the cart’s top. That, too, had a trim of yellow fringe dangling from its edges, inspiring Granny to call the vehicle “My Little Surrey.” To Elly, the two-person cart resembled a miniature Cotton Bowl Parade float.
[Excerpt from BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY]



Read excerpts from great writers here: Weekend Writing Warriors





Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday Snapshot - Tulips

I'm so ready for springtime! So, in an attempt to banish my late winter blahs, I'm posting a few photos from last year's Skagit Tulip Festival near Mt. Vernon and LaConner, Washington. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.) These photos were taken April 17, 2013. More info about the festival HERE. 






I couldn't resist including a photo of my daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. To participate, post a photo on your blog that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on today's West Metro Mommy Reads blog post. Then check out all the beautiful photos posted by everyone! Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Here's the link: SATURDAY SNAPSHOT

Wild - Book Beginnings on Friday and Friday56

  
I just featured WILD - From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail on my Teaser Tuesday post (here), but I thought the book deserved more than two sentences so I'm posting about it again today. This story really impressed me. It's the nonfiction tale of a woman who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert of California to the Oregon-Washington border. What a feat!

Here's the book's beginning (prologue):
The trees were tall, but I was taller, standing above them on a steep mountain slope in northern California. Moments before, I'd removed my hiking boots and the left one had fallen into those trees, first catapulting into the air when my enormous backpack toppled onto it, then skittering across the gravelly trail and flying over the edge. It bounced off of a rocky outcropping several feet beneath me before disappearing into the forest canopy below, impossible to retrieve.

And here are a few sentences from 56% on my Kindle:
I ate the Slim Jim first, washing it down with the last of my Budweiser, and then the butterscotch candies, all six of them, one after the other, and then--still hungry, always hungry--turned my attention to the can of baked beans. I pried it open in tiny increments with the impossible can-opening device on my Swiss army knife, and then, too lazy to rummage through my pack for my spoon, I scooped them out with the knife itself and ate them--hobo-style--from the blade.

Genre: Nonfiction / Women's Adventure
Length: 338 Pages
Amazon Link: Wild

If you're curious about the Pacific Crest Trail or would like more info, here's a link to a beautiful video:  Tell It On The Mountain
********* Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 

   Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts     (sponsored by Rose City Reader)

   Find other Friday 56 bloggers here 
   (sponsored by Freda's Voice) 
                           

Wild - Teaser Tuesday

Maybe it's because I walked almost halfway across Spain on El Camino de Santiago. Or maybe it's simply because I appreciate the beauty of the outdoors. But for whatever reason, I'm enthralled by Cheryl Strayed's nonfiction story of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. In Wild - From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, not only does the author tell of her trek from the Mojave Desert of California to the Oregon-Washington border, but she also reveals the story of her life.

Strayed's account of the adventure isn't a tale of Wonder Woman defeating Mother Nature. In fact, she was ill-prepared for the challenges she faced and many of her problems could have been avoided by doing more research. But that doesn't lessen the significance of her accomplishment. Her journey makes for a heck of a good story (and I don't usually read nonfiction).

Teaser (from 26% on my Kindle):
Without some kind of ice ax training, there wasn't any question that I was far more likely to impale myself with it than I was to use it to prevent myself from sliding off the side of a mountain. On my trailside breaks that day, in the hundred-plus-degree heat, I flipped through the pages of my guidebook to see if it said anything about how to use an ice ax. It did not.

Genre: Nonfiction / Women's Adventure
Length: 338 Pages
Amazon Link: Wild

If you're curious about the Pacific Crest Trail or would like more info, here's a link to a beautiful video.  Tell It On The Mountain
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasersLeave a comment on MizB's Teaser Tuesday post (HERE) and include your link so everyone can find your post.