Becky Wade's Blog, page 34

The Joy of Medieval Dog Names

I recently read an article about medieval dog names found in a book called “The Names of All Manner of Hounds.” Someone was thinking about commercial appeal even in the 15th century.

How do you decide on a name for your dog? Once my family ran through a series of US general names: We had Patton and MacArthur and Ike, but I couldn’t bring myself to name a dog Schwatzkoff (sp?), so we then went with Sadie, Billy, Charley, Babe (she came to us already named), Justus, Ivy, Jazzy, and Toby. Why? We liked the sound of them.

Some of the medieval names are hilarious–and if you can’t read the Middle English spelling, just sound it out. First: Goodynowze. Apparently the dog was a good sniffer.

[Note: because I don’t know how to find photos of actual medieval dogs, I popped up some of mine. :-)]

Then there was Brayneles, who wasn’t the smartest dog in the pack.

Then there was Filthe, who apparently liked to roll in the mud. He was followed by Joliboye, who seems like good time guy, and Radissche, who must have liked to dig in the garden.

Some names are just fun to say: Tullymully, for instance. Try calling that name at the dog park.

And, for those who call their dog “Dog,” and their cat “Cat,” there’s a medieval version: Nameles. For the pet owner who’s uninspired.

What have you named your dogs over the years? Which names were your favorites?

–Angie

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

PNW Road Trip!

I was born and raised in Riverside, a city in southern California. I haven’t lived full-time in California since I graduated from high school, but I still love my home state and visit often. Three years ago, my family saw a section of California from a new perspective when we took a road trip on Highway 1 from San Diego to San Francisco. We had a fabulous time!

Back then, many readers who followed along with that journey reached out to say, “You should come back in the future and drive north from San Francisco.” I agreed. And so His Highness and I made that happen last month.

Here’s our route! We stretched it out over seven days.We took a short (stunning) hike near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge to a spot I hadn’t seen in the past — Point Bonita Lighthouse.We rested and relaxed for two nights at Indian Springs in the Napa Valley. I recommend it! We’re still talking about how much we enjoyed their mineral pool and have been googling, “Mineral pools near Dallas?”From there it was north to California’s redwood forests. We drove our car THROUGH this tree, as tourists have been doing for decades. Super tight squeeze!I fell in love with the redwoods. Can you see my husband in this picture? That gives you a sense of the scale. This was our AirBnB in Ferndale, CA. It was unbelievably cute. (As was the whole town because it’s full of surviving Victorian houses and buildings.) You can find this house on AirBnB here or on Instagram here.Sue-meg State Park in California was breathtakingHeceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint. During our visit, the Oregon coast was gorgeous, moody, misty, and cool. We were thrilled to escape the heat in Texas and have a chance to wear sweatshirts in June.Cannon Beach Oregon with the famous “haystack rock” in the distance.We finished with a night in Portland. Then His Highness flew home and I stayed three additional nights in order to attend and speak at the Cascade Christian Writers Conference. I met so many wonderful people there.

We had a fantastic trip! I’ve added “Road trip from Cannon Beach, Oregon up to Vancouver, Canada” to my Future Travel Wish List. If we drive that section, we’ll have completed the whole Pacific coast.

Are you familiar with any of the places on our route?

Before I go . . . The conference I attended in Oregon reminded me what a joy it is to gather with others who love Christian fiction. I encourage you to join me (and lots of other readers and authors) for JustRead Rendezvous on November 15th in Chicago. We’re going to have a ball! You’ll find more information about the event here.

Digging Deep into Research

I’m days, maybe hours, from starting the writing of book three in my current series. I’ve had the fun of brainstorming how the crimes all happened. I’m excited to dig into the plot, because it feels like there will be so many twists maybe the most that I’ve ever written.

I’ve spent the last week digging into the research on one of the threads. It’s been a hard slog. My legal suspense tends to be ripped from the headlines, and this one is a book I’ve known was coming since the proposal. This can be one of the fun parts of writing, but it can also be pretty intense when the threads have a heavy layer to them.

For example in Beyond Justice, the novel’s external thread had a heavy focus on unaccompanied minors crossing the border, an issue that was active in 2016 when I wrote the book, and one that was in the Wall Street Journal again this week. Flight Risk involved the weaving of a real plane crash, pulled forward and replicated thirty years in the future, with a human trafficking thread I didn’t even recognize was in there, and a cool twist with a professional baseball player braided together to ask how we find truth in a fake news world. A real issue when the book released in April 2020, and still an issue we wrestle with today, no? Then in The Vanished I pulled in threads of what happened to art during WWII with The Woman in Gold, Monuments Men post WWII, and law to think about who owns art, an issue that is very relevant for museums and art lovers everywhere.

The challenge for me is to not get lost in all the threads and trails that my research takes me down. I can lose hours learning all the nuances, because I’m fascinated with them. I’ve learned through Book Talk that I am not alone in this. Many of us who write love the process of digging in and learning about the settings, history and so much more.

As readers, though, do you like knowing we invest so much time in the details? In getting the nuances and aspects of our books nailed down as accurately as we can? Does it matter to you? Do you enjoy reading author notes and information like that? I’m curious.

A New Adventure

Hi friends, and happy Wednesday!

My family and I recently took a road trip from Maryland to Florida. My husband and I love road trips. When our girls were young, we made a cross-country trek to the Grand Canyon with lots of stops in between, including visiting family in New Mexico, where we used to live. We hiked the well-familiar Sandia Mountains, visited the Four Corners and Painted Desert, and, of course, saw the Grand Canyon.

But my favorite part of our trip was the fun roadside attractions that I discovered through research. We decided to find fun and quirky (the quirkier, the better) attractions to visit to break up the ride. To our surprise, this became our favorite part of our adventure.

Our daughters, both grown and married, look back on that trip with such fondness. Given that our youngest got altitude sickness hiking in New Mexico and was down for two days, then literally almost blacked out at the Four Corners, and her rough go continued, she remembers it as one of her absolute favorite trips.

We visited Foamhenge—an actual replica of Stonehenge made fully out of foam.

We stood on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, where the song references it.

Saw the glorious Grand Canyon.

Last week, we started a new adventure, this time with our grandkids. Once again, I looked for the quirkiest attractions on our route. We found some great ones.

We saw the world’s largest milkshake.

The largest moose (Piper would be proud).

The largest dresser and socks.

These are just a few of the attractions we saw. It was quite an adventure and a wonderful time of making memories. Plus, there was a lot of laughter. And, for all the grandparents out there, you know there’s no better sound than your grandchildren belly laughing.

Question for you:

What is your favorite vacation memory?

As always, thanks for joining me this week

Best,

Dani

A Novel Experience

A few weeks ago, I had the novel experience of participating in a Book Festival in Budapest, Hungary.

There, I met readers like Dalma, signed books, took photos, and listened to heartwarming stories (with some translating help).

I also met members of the Hungarian publishing team.

When I first started writing, I never imagined having readers (and a publishing team) in another country like Hungary. I feel so blessed!

Colorado Travels (and a giveaway)

Ken and I left home a week ago today and after a visit with our families in Kansas, we headed west to Colorado. Ken made this trip last summer while I stayed home to write, but he wanted me to share the places he’d enjoyed so much. Colorado is gorgeous this year and I’ve taken hundreds of photos, but I want to just share some highlights with you today. [And please stay tuned to the end where I’ll share how you can get a free e-book of my novel All the Promises today only.]

As most of our trips are, this is also a working vacation. In our campgrounds each afternoon and evening, I’ve written several thousand words, and Ken is keeping up with his graphic design and illustration jobs. But we’ve had lots of fun too! In Durango, we rode the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train. We did the shorter 5-hour round-trip Cascade Canyon Express excursion and just loved it!

From there, we drove to Silverton, then Ouray, and finally Telluride. These are all charming towns nestled in mountain valleys. The views along the Million Dollar Highway between these towns are just stunning! My favorite treat was riding the free gondolas in Telluride—and all the delicious meals and desserts we’ve eaten!

Today we’re on the road again, and so are all of our kids and grandkids! 23 of us in all, headed for an 8-bedroom, 8-bath cabin for a week. A family reunion and a very special celebration: Ken and I will be marking our 50th wedding anniversary. Our special day isn’t until August, but we wanted to celebrate while we’re all together.

All our kids are on the road, headed to join us in Colorado so you can imagine that “Papa” and “Mimi” have been saying some extra prayers for safety for this precious cargo on the road!

Today also happens to be my sister Vicky’s birthday, so I want to wish her a very happy and blessed day. She has been a blessing to me for…well, a LOT of years! We’re just 13 months apart in age and I think it was my birthday in the photo below, but isn’t Vicky adorable looking on patiently as I open a gift? We’re wearing matching dresses that our mom sewed for us.

And finally, here’s the link for a free e-book of my novel All the Promises. This book is available for download today only, so grab your copy now!

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

What’s your reading style?

Recently, I posted a question in a Facebook Group as well as on my Facebook Page. I thought it would be fun to get your answers too.

The question:
How do you like to consume the books you read? Print? Audiobook? eBook reader?

By far, most of my reading is done via audiobooks (at least 90%), and most of those are via the app on my phone. I love audiobooks! After about 20 years of membership, my Audible library has over 1,000 titles in it. I can “read” while putting on makeup, fixing a meal and eating it, driving in my car, walking on the treadmill, doing yard work, taking out the trash, etc.

Some books get double duty; meaning, I buy the Kindle version and the Audible version together. Amazon calls it “immersive reading,” listening to the audio while following along on the Kindle or in the Kindle app. The line being read aloud is highlighted in the ebook. Some books are especially made for this type of reading. I’m more apt to do this for non-fiction, books I want to study. But when a novel is on sale for the Kindle for $2 or $3, then it is easier to spend the money to add the audiobook version.

A few non-fiction books demand paper. Especially my Bible and Bible studies, but other books too. Ones I want to be able to flip back and forth through the pages. Books that need studied.

Side note: I get a kick out of people who say they only like to read “real books.” They mean they want their books in print form, but I always want to tell them that the ebook and the audiobook are real books too. It is the same book, just in a different format.

Your turn:
What’s your reading preference? Or do you mix and match like I do?

~robin

PS My Boulder Creek Romance Box Set (Kindle edition), regularly $7.89, is only $2.99 US from July 8 through 12. Also on sale in Amazon UK, Canada, and Australia.

A Mustang Tradition

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Happy 4th of July!!! The holiday for family barbeques and thanking God for the country we live in.

Last week, we traveled to the Oklahoma City area to deliver my youngest son to the Air Traffic Control Training Center they have there. Peter will be training to be an in-route ATC for the next three months. It felt a bit like we were dropping him off at college, even though he’s already graduated with a degree. However, this is the first of our kiddos to live out of state. And when he finishes his training, he will likely be assigned somewhere even farther away. I’m excited for him, but I have to admit to being sad that he will no longer be within easy hugging distance.

Stopped at one of our favorite hamburger places on the way to the drop off.

One of the things that made me more comfortable about leaving Peter in Oklahoma was the fact that he would be staying in Mustang, OK which just so happens to be where one of my best writing buddies lives. Regina Jennings! Being a mom herself, Regina was quick to volunteer to be on-call should Peter need anything while he was there. Plus, she invited us over to her house for dinner the night we arrived. Regina is just the best! We laughed, and talked, and got caught up with each other. It was lovely!

Me and the awesome Regina Jennings.

As dinner was coming to a close, Regina informed us of the Mustang tradition centered on the 4th of July holiday. Apparently, it is NOT illegal for people to shoot off fireworks inside the city limits of Mustang. So hundreds of people from the Oklahoma City area swarm the small suburb to shoot off their own fireworks. They can be shot in parks, in neighborhoods, on the street. She told me that on the 4th, the smoke can be so thick from the fireworks, it can be hard to see. Crazy!

After taking a short vacation to Branson (which I’ll be sharing about in my next post), we came back through Mustang last Saturday. The fireworks had already started! People sat outside in lawn chairs watching for whatever show they might spy. I can only imagine what it must be like today. I’ll be praying nothing catches fire near Peter’s house!

How are you celebrating the 4th of July?
Do you enjoy setting off your own fireworks?
Do you attend professional firework shows?
Do you stay inside and watch them on TV?

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Summer Bookmark Giveaway!

As a bonus, I’d like to let you know about a fun giveaway going on this month. Erica Vetsch has organized a bookish swag giveaway for anyone who sends her a self-addressed stamped envelope. All of the authors whose books are pictured below have bookmarks included. (Mine is actually a recipe card.)

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To see all the details about how to participate, visit Erica’s Facebook post. Have fun!