June Shaw's Blog, page 22

For the Birds

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Recharging your batteries...

Carola

Every morning I walk along the bike path by the Willamette River with my dog, Trillian, whatever the weather: sun, rain, fog, snow, wind, anything but ice. The fresh air, the sounds of birds, the exercise, all give me energy that takes me through the day. I'm very lucky to have such a beautiful place to walk so close to home.

Here are some recent pics taken along the way.

Willamette River Camas


Fawn Lily
Grasses--the reason for the sneezin' season maple
vulture--fuzzy because I'm not a very g...

A Tribute to Peggy Moss Fielding-Teacher and Writer

Jackie King and Peggy Fielding
Peggy Moss Fielding has taught a multitude of Oklahoman’s how to put words on paper in order to create articles, short stories, essays, and books. She didn’t stop there, she also taught those of us who were lucky enough to be in her classes, how to sell what we wrote. I was especially blessed to become more than her student. I also became her friend and colleague.~~~~~Life as I knew it came to a grinding halt in the late 80’s when I was faced with an unexpected d...

Even crime writers write for children

By Bill Kirton
My attention seems to have shifted onto children’s stories. Maybe it’s because I  had to spend time getting Rory the Dragon and Princess Daisy ready for publication. Whatever the reason, though, my thoughts have gone back to Stanley, my misanthropic fairy, of whom more later, and a short novel I wrote for children many years ago. It’s called The Loch Ewe Mysteryand it’s an adventure story. I entered it for the Kelpies Prize, awarded by Floris Books. It didn’t win but the pu...

A Lesson in Humility

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Mark W. Danielson's Spectral Gallows

Mark, how did your latest novel come about?

Oddly, this story was never envisioned, but rather came to me in my sleep.  What kept me awake was the paradox of how people accept drunken behavior, but shun the notion that the same mental state exists when you have been denied rest.  Exploring this notion gave birth to a down-and-out Vietnam Vet whose haunted past keeps him from sleeping, and has no credibility because of his drunk-like state.  His inability to persuade a friend tha...

Left Coast Crime

by Carola

 I was lucky enough to be on a wonderful panel in Monterey, all of us with names people hesitate to speak aloud...
photo by Robin TempletonManors and Manners: GM Malliet (Gin), Me (CAH-rull-ah), Catriona (CatREEna) McPherson, Rhys (REES) Bowen.

It was supposed to be something about Downton Abbey, but as I've never seen the show, Catriona, as moderator, forbade everyone to mention it more than once.

I didn't go to many panels, but I had lunch with my editor, helped man the LCC 2015...

Sharing A VALIANT LEGACY

When I read the following essay, A Valiant Legacy written by Mark Darrah, tears filled my eyes. The theme is so touching that I wanted to share this story with our readers. 

Everyone I know is sad and ashamed of what happened in  1921 on the north side of Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Many of us who are both Christians and patriotic are ashamed of what happened in the 1950's in the name of Christianity and patriotism . There's nothing we can do to change h...

Two legs good, eight legs better.

By Bill Kirton

I know people are scared of spiders. They’re the sort of template for creepy, unnatural monsters. That brilliant old movie The Incredible Shrinking Man has many very scary sequences, but the best is the one with the spider. They seem to represent all the dark, nasty things that lurk in our subconscious. They’re also much better than we are in ways other than making webs or knowing the best recipes which have flies as the main ingredient. I don’t know if they have muscles but, wh...

Buffalo Tour Guide

by Jean Henry Mead

During the mid-1980s I served as secretary-treasurer of a world-wide writers' group and spent most of  my writing time answering phone calls and snail mail correspondence, collecting dues and paying the organization's bills. One of my biggest challenges was a call from a German PBS crew filming the U.S. for viewers back home. 

The producer called to ask for information about western reenactments and said that actor Glenn Ford was narrating a TV series (I had no idea...