Jennifer Bray-Weber's Blog, page 34
October 14, 2016
Friday Fun Facts-Do You Know Abraham Lincoln?
This president is on our penny. We read about him all through grade school. We think we know all about him…but do we?
Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender.
Lincoln’s assassin was a famous actor of the time and the President was a big fan of his.
Here’s a weird one- Abraham’s son was saved from a train accident by John Wilkes Booth’s brother. There’s some kind of karma going on there!
He was the first major leader of the U.S. that felt women should have the right to vote. Go Abe!!
Abe Lincoln is enshrined in The Wrestling Hall of Fame having only lost once in 300 matches!!
His dog was also assassinated.
October 12, 2016
Hump Day Kick Start – Broken Edition
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
In keeping with the October theme, I give you today’s prompt.
Who are they? What is going on? Is he pleading for his life? For forgiveness? Could this be a controlling father breaking his son? Death come to collect on a debt? Maybe the suit has promised there is no way out of the nightmare the bloody man created. What if a vampire has come to dinner?
What’s your take. Tell me a tale or caption the pic.
October 11, 2016
Link of the Week – History Undressed – Ghost Ship Mary Celeste
I love October. Not just for the mild weather (though I am a summer girl through and through), the colors, the seasonal foods, and the Christmas decorations, but for Halloween and all associated with the holiday. Black cats, costumes, haunted houses, and bad horror movies. I love a good ghost story, too.
This week’s link is to History Undressed where I blog every second Tuesday of the month about pirates. But today, I’m talking about the mysterious ghost ship, Mary Celeste. In 1872, Mary Celeste set sail across the moody Atlantic bound for Italy. One month later, the ship, in relatively good condition, was found drifting. There was not a soul on board. Nothing to suggest what happened. Ten people just…vanished.
Read more at History Undressed.
http://www.historyundressed.com/2016/10/the-ghost-ship-mary-celeste.html
October 10, 2016
Massive Giveaway-Small Town Romances
Hi Musetrackers!
I am participating in a fantastic giveaway timed just right for fall weather! I know you love to read and here’s your chance to win over 60 books and a Kindle Fire. My Book, Echoes of the Heart, will be there as will novels by authors such as Jean Brashear, Ciara Knight, and Cait London!
What could be better? This will only be open for a few days and then it will go “poof” into the night.
October 7, 2016
Friday Fun Facts- Hurricanes Again
I know we had facts on these mammoth storms once before, but in light of Michael, I thought it’d be good to learn some more tidbits for interest and special knowledge for your next book.
A Category 5 hurricane has sustained winds of higher than 155 mph. There is talk among scientist that we will soon need a Category 6 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Category 3 is where they describe “devastating damage”.
Category 5 is catastrophic and power would be out for weeks, maybe months. And they think we need a 6?
They can unleash 2.4 trillion gallons of water per day!
In 1900 a Category 4 hurricane slammed into Galveston. Over 8000 people lost their lives…it’s a Category 4 that just devastated Haiti and is now pounding Florida.
Remember: Run from water, hide from wind. (Can you hide from 155 mph winds??)
40% of all hurricanes that hit the United States go to Florida.
Hurricane Katrina cost us $108 Billion.
The Hurricane Hunters fly directly into cyclonic storms to gather data and study these huge weather beasts.
They are from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the US Air Force Reserves.
They are based out of MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida.
Inside the eye of a hurricane. Can you imagine being in the clouds with this storm swirling around you?
Great story: During WWII, a group of British pilots were training in the US. There was a surprise Hurricane, dubbed so because there was limited information distributed due to the war and it was a surprise to most, and the Brits were shocked that the planes were evacuating their planes. Some smack talk later and the leader of the US squadron took the trainer plane and flew it directly into the hurricane. He survived and came home, only to switch places with his navigator and fly right back out into the storm again. This showed that hurricane reconnaissance was possible and a few more flights occurred until someone gave them the name Hurricane Hunters.
https://youtu.be/a-SnxC-BkPo
October 5, 2016
Hump Day Kick Start – Alice Edition
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
It’s October 5th, practically Halloween. So it makes sense to post spooky writing prompts this month, starting with this one.
Who is she? Who or what is in the hole? Is she Alice about to enter a place very different than Wonderland? Could she be the key to the world’s righteousness tragically being lured by the devil, himself? What if she was really a shifter or demon hunter tricking an enemy into believing she is his prey?
Love to hear your take or simply caption the pic.
October 4, 2016
Link of the Week – Scream Into the Void
Ever just want to scream at your boss, the kids, your significant other, your meddling in-laws, the jackass that cut you off, Facebook friends with their incessant political posts, the whole crazy world? Here’s your chance! You can “scream” your black heart out, over and over again, without any repercussions whatsoever. Talk about fun and therapeutic! Give it a whirl.
September 28, 2016
Hump Day Kick Start – Contemplation Edition
Hump Day Kick Start – for your muse, a writing picture prompt, or ju st a visual treat.
Ever have that precarious notion that one tiny move this way or that could be…devasting?
Tell me about today’s prompt. Who is he? What is going on? Has he had enough of this life? Been hurt one too many times by the ones he loves? Deliberating, mulling over what would happen if he just took that step? Would it matter? Maybe there is something more sinister going on here. Perhaps he just pushed someone. He had an obstacle and he took care of it. Or…suppose he is a brooding superhero watching over his city.
Tell me a tale or caption the pic.
September 27, 2016
Link of the Week – Click To Tweet
In this digital age, authors and entrepreneurs are tasked with marketing themselves on social media. Love it or hate it, Twitter is a big part of our society. In our community of authors, we often request that our peers throw us a bone and tweet about our latest book, a discounted price, a giveaway, or other general news. But even when we create the perfect tweet to share, our peers have to take the time to go to their accounts to do the sharing, meaning they just might not do it.
There is an easier way. Click to Tweet is so simple, there really is no excuse for not sharing. At Click to Tweet, write a tweet and the site will generate a clickable link. Once someone clicks the link, it will share your tweet to their Twitter status box. It literally takes mere seconds. Click to Tweet also tracks the activity of the link, too.
For giggles, here’s one for you to try.
See…super easy! And thanks for the share!
September 23, 2016
Friday Fun Facts- Wet Your Whistle With Water
Have you ever thought about water? No?
Most of us take it for granted. Some of us don’t have access to clean water. And some have very little to survive. Wherever you fall on this spectrum, it is absolutely necessary to exist. Check out what I’ve found out about this liquid.
Water is the second most common molecule in the universe. The first is hydrogen.
There are 1.5 billion cubic metres of water on Earth. WOW! That is equal to 800 TRILLION Olympic swimming pools.
If it was poured out evenly over the surface of Earth, it would be 12139 feet deep. Whoa.
Only 1% of that is fresh water available to us. The rest is either salt water or ice bergs.
The Antarctic has been covered in ice for 30 million years.
This is for all of our science geeks! Water should be a gas at room temperature. It’s because the molecules are so sticky, it keeps it together as a liquid!
Most people drink around 264 gallons of water every year.
This is sobering. A 5 minute shower uses approximately 53 gallons of water!
Hot water freezes faster than cold water. It is called the Mpemba Effect and no one knows why it’s true.
It takes almost 53 gallons of water to produce enough coffee beans for one cup of coffee.
Water can dissolve more substances than any other liquid including sulfuric acid.
70% of your brain is water.
80% of all illness in the developing world is water related.
