C.D. Hersh's Blog, page 2
August 12, 2025
Wednesday Special Spotlight You might be addicted to books if…
We don’t know about you, but the thought of surrounding ourselves with two thousand books makes us very happy. We love to read, we love books, and we love to surround ourselves with books of all kinds. If you could see into our offices, we definitely have two thousand books and that not including the library of paper backs in the basement that we’ve mentioned before. This obsessiveness is probably from even if we haven’t read a book, we can rarely bear to part with it. This was especially hard when we closed up Donald’s parents’ things and their various books. Dad’s were texts on music and electronics with mom’s being about music and cooking. The cookbooks were kept but the other’s that were texts got passed on to Goodwill.
What about you? Does your passion for books border on the obsessive?
You might be addicted to books if…
• You never sign off your Kindle/Nook without downloading a book.• You never leave a bookstore without buying a book.• You read multiple books at any given time.• There’s a book—or more—in every bathroom, by every easy chair, and on your nightstand or you carry your Kindle/Nook from place to place.• Perhaps you have a reading app on your phone to fill in time while you wait in line for that special cup of coffee.• There’s no such thing as taking out only ONE book at a time from the library.• The librarian knows you by name.• Your paperbacks are stacked two deep on your shelves.• You had to buy a Kindle AND a Nook because you’ve run out of shelf and floor space in your office.• Your friends think you are their personal lending library.• You get so lost in a book that you don’t hear your name being called.• Engrossed in the book you don’t hear the oven timer and burn a meal.• You read while walking down the street.• You’ve actually created furniture using your books.• You have every book your favorite authors have ever written and eagerly await their next release.We have done all these things at one time or another and must admit …. we’re addicted to books. How about you?
Now kick back, relax and pick up a good book to read.
August 11, 2025
Tell Again Tuesday Stop Waiting
10 Wake-Up Calls We Usually Receive Too Late in LifeBy Angel Chernoff
There’s a big difference between empty fatigue and gratifying exhaustion. Life is too short not to focus more on what matters most.
Before you know it you will be asking, “How did it get so late so soon?” Perhaps you can already relate. So take time to reflect. Take time to realize what you want and need in the days and weeks ahead. Take time to take calculated risks. Take time to love, laugh, learn, cry, and forgive. Life is so much shorter than it often seems.
In our line of work we speak with people on a weekly basis who have been forced to ‘wake up’ to life’s fleeting nature. Consider these . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:August 7, 2025
Friday Feature is HOT
People are much more likely to die from heat than from any other natural phenomena.
Here in the Sonoran Desert, the heat is upon us. We desert dwellers are forced to understand the dangers lurking in those high thermometer readings. We know they can very quickly lead to death.
Unfortunately, many visitors to our valley don’t seem to understand. Just two weeks ago, a tourist died on one of our city trails, a young woman who tried scaling Camelback Mountain without water. In July! Earlier, when paramedics had to rescue dehydrated hikers from our parks, a dozen firefighters were themselves overcome by the heat. In response, some of our trails have been closed to the public. Others are only open early in the morning and in the evening.
It’s interesting, I think, that so many people fear hurricanes and tornados and floods and earthquakes when the natural event most likely to kill them is heat.
I know first-hand the horrors of heat sickness. The symptoms can arrive frighteningly fast. Dizziness, confusion, headache, nausea, signs that can quickly lead to unconsciousness and death. All but one of my bouts of heat illness were brought on by officiating and my own stupidity. I was an amateur sports official for 40 years, where I called football, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, and basketball games. I was almost always the only woman on the field, a fact that was rarely far from my mind.
My first attack of heat sickness occurred when I umpired a baseball game in extreme heat.
As you can imagine, I was sometimes made to feel I didn’t belong in the officiating ranks, and I was keenly aware that any show of weakness would lay me open to negative comments from my peers, coaches, and fans. So, the first time I got heat sickness, I struggled through it. It was a baseball game and I was clad in the necessary armor required for working behind the plate: chest protector, shin guards, wool cap, polyester shirt and slacks, steel-toed shoes. The sun was relentless. After the game, I went home and balanced myself under a cold shower for what seemed like hours. I drank Gatorade and copious amounts of water. I felt lousy for a day or two, then returned to the field.
One of the problems associated with heat illness is that once you get it your internal thermometer is messed up and you start succumbing to it more easily. I’m a slow learner sometimes, so it took me a while to finally take a stand. One day, in a sub-varsity football game, I called time and went to the trainer. He took one look at me and dragged me into the locker room where he filled me with fluids and applied wet, icy towels to my head and neck. I was rather surprised when my crew mates greeted me at halftime and promptly told me to go home and get well. No derision. No smirks. I realized then that most outdoor officials in the southwest have probably suffered similarly at one time or another.
Most of my bouts of heat sickness came while I officiated football games in Arizona’s scorching Sonoran Desert, where temperatures often exceed 110 degrees.
A few years later, the telltale signs of heat sickness attacked in the middle of a varsity football game, and you’d be proud of me. I signaled time out, struggled off the field, and said I was sick. Later, when I opened my eyes in the school’s nursing office, I found myself surround by four paramedics. They were so attentive and cute. I briefly considered that they might be male strippers with their prominent muscles and appealing uniforms, but that was just my heat-addled brain.
What finally made me understand the true dangers of heat illness was the time I got lost in the desert. I did all the wrong things. I went rock collecting alone. I walked away from my stranded vehicle. I had two dogs with me who drank all my water. When I saw that last half inch of liquid in my bottle and felt the sun beating down, I tied my dogs under a bush and hoped the coyotes would stay away. I built cairns as I tried to find my way back to civilization, so I might locate my sweet pups if I survived. While the whole ordeal only lasted half-a-day and I was safely reunited with my dogs, the episode is etched into my brain. As is the fact that today I might be nothing more than a pile of bleached bones in the vast Sonoran Desert.
While lost in the desert, I suffered from heat sickness, and today I consider myself lucky to be alive.
It’s understandable then that I never go anywhere without water. That bottle is always in my hand, which here in the desert is pretty much normal. In fact, those without a mobile water supply are easily identified as tourists.
The point is, heat can kill you quickly. And when you consider that our world is heating up rapidly, it’s something we should all take into account whenever we leave the bliss of air-conditioning.
Here is a peek at Anne’s latest release.
Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to the Graves Registration Service where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?
Praise for Your Forgotten Sons
“Although a deftly crafted work of original fiction, “Your Forgotten Sons” by Anne Montgomery is inspired by a true story. An original and inherently interesting read from start to finish, “Your Forgotten Sons” will prove to be an immediate and enduringly appreciated pick.” Midwest Book Review
“This was a quick, riveting read that really challenged me to think differently about our servicemen and women, especially those who take on the jobs that don’t get heroically depicted in the media or news…I really highly recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a different take on American history. I left it with a newfound appreciation for the unsung heroes.” Bekah C NetGalley
“This is the truth. It’s gritty and painful and bittersweet – and true. When you think you’ve read every perspective of WWII, along comes Bud to break your heart.” Bridgett Siter Former Military Reporter
“Anne Montgomery writes a strong story and I was hooked from the first page. It had a great concept and I enjoyed that this was inspired by a true story…It was written perfectly and I was invested in the story. Anne Montgomery has a great writing style and left me wanting to read more.” – Kathryn McLeer NetGalley
Available at Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and Kobo
Anne Montgomery has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer, teacher, amateur baseball umpire, and high school football referee. She worked at WRBL‐TV in Columbus, Georgia, WROC‐TV in Rochester, New York, KTSP‐TV in Phoenix, Arizona, ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, where she anchored the Emmy and ACE award‐winning SportsCenter, and ASPN-TV as the studio host for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.
Montgomery has been a freelance and staff writer for six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, and archeological pieces.
When she can, Anne indulges in her passions: rock collecting, scuba diving, football refereeing, and playing her guitar.
Learn more about Anne Montgomery on her website and Wikipedia. Stay connected on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
August 5, 2025
Wednesday Special Spotlight Board Games
For many years folks played board games at night with their kids. This of course was before the widespread use of video game consoles and even TV. Imagine spending hours sitting around looking at a game board trying to figure out the next move to make. Sound boring? Or are you playing board games now?
As writers, don’t we sit at our desks trying to figure out our characters’ next moves? Bet that doesn’t sound boring, if you are a writer. Have you ever thought of using a board game in a novel? How about using a board game as a way to escape from prison?
Too fanciful you say? Well hold on a minute. The British secret service MI9 came up with a way for captured British airman to escape POW camps. They sent them the board game Monopoly. MI9 conspired with the British manufacture of the game to produce “special edition” Monopoly sets with a red dot on the Free Parking space. While that looked like a printing error, the dot meant possible freedom. The Monopoly escape kits had compasses and files disguised as playing pieces. French, German, and Italian bank notes were hidden in among the Monopoly money. Maps, printed on silk, were concealed within the board itself. British historians believe the Monopoly games could have helped thousands of captured soldiers escape from their prison camps.
Though silk maps from that era exist in libraries, homes and museums around the world, none of the original rigged Monopoly sets remains. You see the soldiers were instructed to destroy the special game sets so they would not be discovered.
Do you plan to have a game board in one of your books or have you already used the idea? Let us know.
August 4, 2025
Tell Again Tuesday Fiction writing relief
Obsess Much? Welcome to Your Best Fiction IngredientsBy Randy Susan Meyers
Anxious and bracing for disaster with every ringing phone portending catastrophe. That’s is the core of me. And yet, despite that, I’ve spent a lifetime avoiding deep contemplation—except when I write. Fiction is my loophole. My pressure valve. My reluctant therapist.
I’ve never journaled (and I’ve never quite gotten used to “journaling” as a verb). I rarely kept a diary, though I adored those tiny gold locks. I’ve avoided self-help books (except when I quit smoking—even I knew I needed help there), bypassed religious study, and left therapy after two sessions. (Cured! At least, that’s what I told myself at the time.)
My calmest moments are . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:July 31, 2025
Friday Feature Grab Your Spy Gear and Suit Up!
Did you ever wonder what it was like to fight the Nazis on your home soil during World War Two? In the second installment of my YA time travel series, The Last Timekeepers and the Dark Secret, my characters must join forces with the Dutch Resistance in order to figure out their Timekeeper mission while in Amsterdam during 1942. It was sure a different world through their adolescent eyes, and trying to keep one step ahead of the Nazis proved to be quite a dangerous challenge.
Only a true hero can shine the light in humanity’s darkest time.
When fourteen-year-old Jordan joins his second mission with the Last Timekeepers, he and his companions are thrust into Nazi-occupied Amsterdam during World War 2.
Tasked with locating a powerful, ancient book before it falls into enemy hands, Jordan and his fellow Timekeepers are plunged into a fight far more dangerous than anything they’ve faced before. With help from the Dutch Resistance and a mysterious baron, they must stay one step ahead of a regime determined to silence the truth.
As danger closes in, Jordan discovers that true courage is forged through trust, sacrifice, and the strength of those beside you. But will that be enough to change the past – and protect the future?
A fast-paced adventure rich with historical detail, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS AND THE DARK SECRET is the second book in Sharon Ledwith’s series of novels for middle grade and adult readers alike.
EXCERPT
“I wonder what else is down here.” Drake beamed his cell phone across the basement, hitting jars of jams, pickles, and relishes. His stomach growled.
Jordan pulled the cheese from his pocket and handed it to Drake. “Trade you for your phone.”
“Best. Trade. Ever.” Drake passed his phone to Jordan.
Jordan walked over and grabbed a jar of pickles off the dusty shelf. At least they wouldn’t arrive at the baron’s place hungry. He hoped his uncle had managed to stop Amanda’s bleeding. His hand tightened over the jar, the ridges of the lid cutting into his palm. A scrape from behind the shelves made Jordan jump.
“Hello?” he asked, pushing jars aside. He flashed the cell phone into the small, dark area.
“Who ya talking to, Jordan?” Drake asked with his mouth full of cheese.
“Shhh, Drake.” Jordan listened. Hearing nothing, he shrugged and turned back around.
“I thought I heard—” Jordan stopped and pointed the phone at Ravi. His jaw dropped. “A-Are you serious, Sharma?”
Drake spat out his cheese, snorting with laughter.
“Is there a problem?” Ravi asked, tying the bowtie of his tuxedo.
“You look like a penguin with attitude!” Drake slapped his knee.
“Say what you want, but I’m glad we didn’t hit the cleaners on the way to school now,” Ravi replied, pulling down his sleeves, “or else I wouldn’t have these dry clothes.”
Jordan chuckled. Suddenly, he heard a door creak open, followed by heavy footsteps squeaking down the stairs. Panicking, Jordan stuffed Drake’s phone in his track suit jacket’s pocket and waved Drake over by the shelves. Drake slipped behind Jordan just in time, before the small light bulb above the bottom of the stairs clicked on. Jordan swallowed hard. There, staring directly at Ravi was a portly man in a blood-stained apron. Tufts of blond hair sprouted from the sides of his balding head. His brown trousers were pulled up past his waist, making him resemble an evil garden gnome. In one of his hands, he held a huge butcher knife, its blade flecked with blood.
Wielding the knife, the man pointed at Ravi. “Who are you?”
Ravi licked his thick lips nervously. “The name’s Bond. James Bond.”
Here’s a glimpse of the premises of both my young adult series:
The Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventures…
Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers—legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from the evil Belial—five classmates are sent into the past to restore balance, and bring order back into the world, one mission at a time.
Children are the key to our future. And now, they are the only hope for our past.
Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls Teen Psychic Mysteries…
In the small, quiet tourist town of Fairy Falls, a new-to-town teen, an unlikely hero who possesses an unusual psychic ability, is drawn into a mystery and is tasked with uncovering corrupt truths that threaten the town’s future.
Welcome to Fairy Falls. Expect the unexpected.
Buy Links:
The Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventure Series:
The Last Timekeepers and the Noble Slave, Book 3
UNIVERSAL BUY LINK ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀
The Last Timekeepers and the Dark Secret, Book 2 Buy Links:
UNIVERSAL BUY LINK ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀
The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, Book 1 Buy Links:
UNIVERSAL BUY LINK ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀
Legend of the Timekeepers, Prequel Buy Links:
UNIVERSAL BUY LINK ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀
Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls Teen Psychic Mystery Series:
Lost & Found, Book One Buy Links:
PANDAMONIUM PUBLISHING HOUSE ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀
Blackflies & Blueberries, Book Two Buy Links:
PANDAMONIUM PUBLISHING HOUSE ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀
Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/young adult time travel adventure series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the award-winning teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, reading, researching, or revising, she enjoys anything arcane, ancient mysteries, and single malt scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her spoiled hubby, and two shiny red e-bikes.
Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her WEBSITE and BLOG. Look up her AMAZON AUTHOR page for a list of current books. Stay connected on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, LINKEDIN, INSTAGRAM, and GOODREADS.
BONUSES:
Download the free PDF short story The Terrible, Mighty Crystal HERE
Download the free PDF writing resource Tips, Tools & Tricks for the Tenacious Writer HERE
July 29, 2025
Wednesday Special Spotlight It’s a Writer’s Life for Us
When we finish our first round edits for our books, with a sigh of relief, we hit the send button and go out to dinner to celebrate.
Finishing a round of edits might not sound like much to most writers, but as co-authors we have to go through the manuscript together. Well, most of it, because sometimes in the middle of these edits, Catherine will get her first round edits for her solo books. She has to abandon Donald to slog on by himself while she takes up residence in her own office to work on her book. Crazy, huh? But good crazy!
Ever since Catherine read that Stephen King works on one book in the morning and another in the afternoon, it has been her dream to write on more than one book at a time, and to write in multiple genres–and we do. Between the two of us we have completed books, and partially finished books, in paranormal and time travel romance, contemporary romance, inspirational romance, children’s books, and even a devotional gardening book. In addition, multiple plays and skits for church. Some of which have been purchased by others for production. Nevertheless, after having two books hit publication dates, in the past, at nearly the same time frame, she’s rethinking that goal a bit.
Oh, we still want it all. Who doesn’t? But, having gone through this experience, we’re just a bit smarter. Next time we’ll aim for some breathing room between our books. Unfortunately some of that spacing has been forced on us recently with the loss of our publishing house and medical issues requiring surgery. Oh, yes, add in a tornado that damaged our writing cottage at the lake that has taken most of a year to repair.
Did I mention it has been crazy around our house? Crazy, but there does to seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel to be able to get back to writing. (Not the one on the train coming at us, we hope.)
How do you handle the writing aspect of life that takes you away from the story? Does your muse take a back seat waiting for things to calm down before clamoring for attention or just keep shouting about what you need to write?
July 28, 2025
Tell Again Tuesday Your motivation
3 Daily Habits that Keep Holding 95 Percent of Us Back in LifeBy Angel Chernoff
There’s a big difference between empty fatigue and gratifying exhaustion. Life is too short not to focus more on what matters most. And life is definitely too short for habits and routines that keep you stuck in a cycle of feeling like you’re a day late and a dollar short. So today, let’s discuss three incredibly common . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:July 24, 2025
Friday Feature Dedicated To The One I Love
When you pick up a book, do you turn quickly to chapter one, or do you check out the dedication first? Perhaps, like me, you are intrigued to know who the book is dedicated to and why? If there is a name but no explanation for it, I always wonder what that person did to have their name immortalised in this way.
If you’re an author, your work might not necessarily be dedicated to the one you love. It could be to someone you respect, admire, or have reason to thank. Many dedications are humorous and playful and there are many examples of these online, but if you have put your passion and energy into a novel, which is a time-consuming and difficult undertaking, the dedication ought to be as weighty as the dedication you needed to write it.
In my first book, The Exile of Elindel, the dedication reads, ‘For Harry’, and readers might speculate that he is my husband, son, brother, or whatever. Actually, Harry was my dog for sixteen years and he saw me through one of the most challenging periods of my life. I don’t think The Exile of Elindel would exist had I not had Harry to give me a reason to get up every morning when everything was falling apart.
After Book 1, my ideas for a sequel solidified into a novel mainly because a close friend wanted to read it. So, Book 2, Gateway to Elvendom, was dedicated to that friend, Pat Longmuir. Even an audience of one is sufficient reason to write a book!
Books 1 and 2 called for a third book to tie up all the loose ends and bring everything to a satisfying conclusion. When it was written, I knew it should be dedicated to the memory of my niece, Bryony Cawley, who was tragically killed while only in her early 30s. She had left England while very young and lived a fearless, adventurous life in other lands, so we were apart, but I remembered a conversation we had two weeks before her death. It occurred to me at the time that she was wise beyond her years and when she died, I wondered if she had learned everything she needed to and gone on to something better. I didn’t know what to do to honour her life, but I wanted it to be recorded somewhere. Dedicating Wyrd’s End, the third book in my trilogy, to Bryony seemed to be a good way for me to pay tribute to the memory of this very special human being.
As writers we can always thank people in the acknowledgements at the end of the book, but to dedicate an entire book to someone is a unique tribute and a lasting memorial to a person who has had a significant impact on the author’s life. After all, when you have put something out into the world which will exist as long as literature does, it seems fitting to make your dedication a special gift to posterity.
Here is a brief intro to Book One of Carol’s exciting trilogy.
Banished from Elvendom and forced to seek refuge among the Saxons, young Elgiva faces a grim future – until she crosses paths with Godwin, a Briton enslaved by the people she must now call allies.
When a dark power rises to claim dominion over Elvendom, Elgiva and Godwin set off on a dangerous quest for the legendary Lorestone: the only thing that can stop the looming darkness. With a reluctant elf boy as their guide and a stubborn pony by their side, they must navigate the treacherous land and harness ancient magic before it’s too late.
As battle lines are drawn, Elgiva must embrace her true heritage, and Godwin must learn to wield the secret power he possesses. But can they find the Lorestone in time – or will Elvendom fall forever?
A historical fantasy adventure set in 6th century Britain, THE EXILE OF ELINDEL is the first book in Carol Browne’s The Elwardain Chronicles series.
Once upon a time a little girl wrote a poem about a flower. Impressed, her teacher pinned it to the wall and, in doing so, showed the child which path to follow.
Over the years poems and stories flowed from her pen like magic from a wizard’s wand.
She is much older now, a little wiser too, and she lives in rural Cambridgeshire, where there are many trees to hug.
But inside her still is that little girl who loved Nature and discovered the magic of words.
She hopes to live happily ever after.
July 22, 2025
Wednesday Special Spotlight Using the News as Story Starters
Here’s an interesting idea to get your brain pumping. Medical ethicist Art Caplan told CNN that an invitro fertilization procedure using DNA from three different people may be able to prevent illnesses passed from mother to child via the mitochondria, diseases like muscular dystrophy and respiratory problems, or mitochondrial disorders that can lead to heart or liver problems.
The technology, called oocyt modification, involves scooping out potentially mutated mitochondrial DNA from a woman’s egg and replacing it with the DNA of an unaffected donor woman. By doing this the hope is that the transmission of inherited mitochondrial disease can be prevented. Once the DNA is swapped, the egg is fertilized in the lab with the father’s sperm and implanted back in the mother to be carried to term.
Caplan believes that this procedure, often nicknamed three-parent IVF, will be useful in preventing diseases that can be passed down from generation to generation and would be ethical as long as it proves to be safe. We’re all for preventing diseases, but messing with our DNA could potentially be disastrous, in our humble opinion.
The writer in us started crafting scenarios the minute we read this, not the least of which has to do with what one could do using this technology for the opposite of good. Before we go any further in this idea exercise, we must emphasize that any scenarios we list here are purely from our imaginations, and not something that the creators of this procedure have planned. We are not saying we believe this is right or wrong, and we are not inviting comments or opinions about the ethicalness of this subject. This is merely an exercise in how to take an idea or news clip and turn it upside down to create a fiction story.
So, without any further disclaimers, here are some interesting concepts we came up with from reading this article.
• Stepford Children, based on the Stepford Wives movie concept; perfect mothers and housekeepers who bent to every whim of their husbands. You remember that creepy story from the 60s? Ooh, what could go horribly wrong?
• The unintentional creation of a new disease from the combining of three parental sets of DNA. Think Zombie War here or I am Legend, but different.
• A realignment of the basic family concept. Lots of room for conflict there. It takes two females and one male for this procedure. If you changed the basic family unit, the poor child would have two moms nagging him to clean his room, find a wife, get a job. You get the idea. And we won’t even mention the polygamous adult relationships in this complication.
• When you can create the perfect child, what happens to the rest of the children who didn’t get that chance to be created perfectly? Would there be a rag tag population who live in a dystopian setting on the border of the perfect children and their perfect three parent families in their perfect world?
These are only four possible story scenarios we came up with using a controversial news clip as a jumping off point. We challenge you to go find your own interesting news article and come up with some new twists using the basic concept of the story. If this helped you see how to use the news to create a book idea, please let us know. We’d love to hear from you.
