C.D. Hersh's Blog, page 21
July 18, 2024
Friday Feature Gardening Tips
Theme gardens can be fun for adventurous gardeners who want to shake things up.
Colorful annuals. Their raison d’etra, reason for living, is to bloom and
make seeds. To keep them full of their bright and beautiful blossoms frequent culling
of the old blooms is the s secret. Paying attention to color combinations will
enhance bedding petunias such as blue and yellow; red, white and blue; primary
colors-red, yellow and blue; all pastels.
Perennials are friends forever. The trick here is to plant staggered bloomers. Daffodils and tulips for spring give way to lupine and peonies in April and May. June is for roses (and brides) and July owns lilies. Hibiscus and other members of the family (Rose of Sharon) for late summer, and we all appreciate summer’s wind up with splashes of intensely colored mums and sunflowers. There are many beautiful perennials to be planted in between. Careful attention to foliage varieties is also important for a successful perennial bed: spiky Crocosmia, spreading Dianthus, and pretty round-leafed Baptismia australis which has an herbal gray cast to its foliage.
Butterfly and humming bird gardens are always fun. Certainly the tiny hummers appreciate blooms where they can dip in and steal a drop of nectar, but I’ve seen them take a tiny taste of flat but colorful yarrow. My son gifts me a huge fuchsia for Mother’s Day which is the very day I usually spot the first humming bird. They love this plant! Hummers prefer trumpet shaped blooms they can dip their long bills to drink the nectar, but I have observed them sipping from a daisy.
Shade gardens are wonderful underneath shaded walkways. Besides the enormous varieties of hosta, spring bulbs can be followed with blue bells and other shade loving perennials. Brunneria is a precious substitute for hosta. Deer treat it with disdain. Begonias have a large variety for annual shade; my favorite is non-stop begonia in their vivid colors. Spring blooming shrubs are glorious such as rhododendrons, azaleas, dogwood and many others that liven up the woods before the trees leaf out.
Cutting gardens are wonderful for those who appreciate fresh cut bouquets for inside. Reserve a bed especially for: gladiola, tall zinnias, phlox, sunflowers, snapdragons, lisianthus, lilies, just a few of the varieties that are splendid cut flowers.
… which leads me to call attention to my latest Cozy Adventure/ Mystery, Whispers of Danger and Love.
The heroine is a landscape architect who speaks gardening. She struggles with a client who demands a cutting garden mid summer, (and a hunky detective who seems bound to destroy her plants.) I enjoyed relaxing in her garden even as I created it from my own imaginings. It was also fun to watch the sparks fly between a couple who knew each other as children but must readjust their thinking as adults.
Emma Lane is a gifted author who writes cozy mysteries as Janis Lane, Regency as Emma, and spice as Sunny Lane.
She lives in Western New York where winter is snowy, spring arrives with rave reviews, summer days are long and velvet, and fall leaves are riotous in color. At long last she enjoys the perfect bow window for her desk where she is treated to a year-round panoramic view of nature. Her computer opens up a fourth fascinating window to the world. Her patient husband is always available to help with a plot twist and encourage Emma to never quit. Her day job is working with flowers at Herbtique and Plant Nursery, the nursery she and her son own.
Look for information about writing and plants on Emma’s new website. Leave a comment or a gardening question and put a smile on Emma’s face.
Stay connected to Emma on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to check out the things that make Emma smile on Pinterest.
July 16, 2024
Wednesday Special Spotlight a C.D. Hersh family #recipe
CALICO FUDGE
1½ cups granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. peanut butter
12 marshmallows, cut into pieces
Cook milk, sugars, and salt to soft ball stage. Remove from heat.
Add butter and peanut butter. Beat until creamy.
Lay marshmallows one inch apart in a greased pan. Pour fudge over the marshmallows.
Cut into squares when cold.
Here is a little about our paranormal series, The Turning Stone Chronicles.
We hope you enjoy it.
Three ancient Celtic families. A magical Bloodstone that enables the wearers to shape shift. A charge to use the stone’s power to benefit mankind, and a battle, that is going on even today, to control the world. Can the Secret Society of shape shifters called the Turning Stone Society heal itself and bring peace to our world? Find out in the series The Turning Stone Chronicles series.
Links for our other books are on our book page or under the menu at the top of the post.
July 15, 2024
Tell Again Tuesday 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid
Playing Chess and WritingBy Winnie Griggs
Hi everyone! Winnie Griggs here. I hope you all had a fabulous Independence day and took a moment amid your celebrations to give thanks for this wonderful country we live in.
As I’ve mentioned before, the first book in my new Sweetbrier Creek series, An Amish Christmas Match, will be coming out on Sept 24th. The hero, Seth Beiler, makes hand carved chess sets and chess actually plays a big part in the story. So today I thought it would be fun to do a post that’s a little bit different – I call it How Playing Chess Is Like Writing A Book
I do play chess, but it’s been years since I’ve actually played the game and I was a mid-level player at best. But I did enjoy the challenge and the need to think strategically, to try to see several moves ahead.
At first glance, chess and writing a book might seem worlds apart. However . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:July 11, 2024
Friday Feature A Glimpse of Living with a Blonde
Now before anyone gets upset, this was approved, reviewed, critiqued, and edited by the “C” of C.D. Hersh, Catherine, who happens to be my wife.
Oh, did I mention she is blonde? There are all kinds of blonde stories, some good some bad, but you always wonder if they are really true. Well, the one I’m about to relate is true and Catherine will confirm it, if asked.
First, a bit of background. Several years ago while we were writing Blood Brothers, the second book in our series, The Turning Stone Chronicles, we made a trip to Cleveland, Ohio for a conference and research. Our series is based in Cleveland, so we wanted to get a look at the location. We spent a day driving around the city. Noting where various important landmarks were and what was close by. All to make the book more authentic.
Now for the story. That year’s Christmas letter, which Catherine always writes and I proof read, gave me a big laugh. Catherine came running into my office wanting to know what I found that was so funny. I told her she had stated we had been to Cleveland three times that year doing research on our book.
She said, “Yesssss?”
Me, “We didn’t go to Cleveland three times.”
“Oh yes we did,” she replied. “Once we drove all over downtown, then we went to the restaurant district and then to the shipping area where we staged the fight scene.”
“We only did the drive all over downtown.” I replied. “The other times we went via Google street maps in my office.”
“Huh, no we didn’t. I got street names and restaurant names on the second trip and the third helped solidify what the buildings looked like in the area for the fight.”
“No, dear,” I calmly replied. “Those other trips we sat in my office with the dual screens, one facing your side of the desk. We did spend most of two days, but we didn’t leave the house.”
“But, but,” my blonde wife replied.
“Here, look at our travel log for the year. One trip to Cleveland.”
“Oh,” she replied, defeated. “I guess I’m being blonde.”
And that folks is what a glimpse of living with a blonde is like.
Here is a little about our paranormal series, The Turning Stone Chronicles .We hope you enjoy it.
Three ancient Celtic families. A magical Bloodstone that enables the wearers to shape shift. A charge to use the stone’s power to benefit mankind, and a battle, that is going on even today, to control the world. Can the Secret Society of shape shifters called the Turning Stone Society heal itself and bring peace to our world? Find out in the series The Turning Stone Chronicles.
The Promised One, book one:
When homicide detective Alexi Jordan is forced to use her shape shifting powers to catch a paranormal killer, she risks the two most important things in her life—her badge and the man she loves.
Blood Brothers, book two:
Shape shifter Delaney Ramsey’s daughter is missing, and she is bound by honor to protect the man she suspects of the deed. To bring him to justice, she must go against her code, the leader of the secret shifter society, and the police captain she is falling for.
Son of the Moonless Night, book three:
Thrust back into the world of paranormal huntress, Deputy Coroner Katrina Romanovski must unravel a string of murders she believes are vampire attacks. When she discovers the shape shifter she’s in love with is the murderer, she must reconcile her feelings for him, examine her life of violence against paranormals, and justify deceiving him in order to bring him to justice.
The Mercenary and the Shifters, book four:
A desperate call from an ex-military buddy lands a mercenary soldier in the middle of a double kidnapping, caught in an ancient shape shifter war, and ensnared between two female shape shifters after the same thing … him.
July 9, 2024
Let’s Get This Cookbook Party Started
Who doesn’t love the Christmas holidays? Wait you say this is the middle of summer. What better time to start thinking about what you’re going to do than now. Plan ahead!
Best part of the holidays is you get to bond with family and friends, shop till you drop for that perfect gift, decorate the house to your heart’s desire, plan a meal worthy of gracing your table, and attend all those fabulous parties. Wait…hope I didn’t exhaust you already? Yes, we ALL love holidays and celebrations, no matter what time of year they fall, but it can get a little (okay, a lot) overwhelming when it comes time to prepare for those holiday meals and parties when you’re working a full-time job, and taking care of your family’s needs.
How about some relief from the stress and pressure of figuring out what to serve your hungry guests during holiday get-togethers, events, or celebrations?
Cue a holiday-inspired cookbook written by the following thirteen busy authors, of various ages and genres:
Carol BrowneHL Carpenter
Sara Daniel
Dominique Eastwick
Leigh Goff
C.D. Hersh
Vonnie Hughes
Alicia Joseph
Emma Lane
Sharon Ledwith
Anne Montgomery
Chris Pavesic
Sloane Taylor
These wonderful writers have created recipes that will make your life easy and simple when it comes time to prepare tantalizing appetizers, tasty beverages, mouth-watering cookies, and decadent desserts.
The ABCDs of Cooking with Writers is your go-to recipe book for entertaining over the holiday seasons, hosting events, or celebrating that special day. Compiled by Sloane Taylor—a gourmet cook in her own right—and designed by mother-daughter duo HL Carpenter, the included recipes have been tested and approved of by the most finicky family members. Oh, and did I mention that it is FREE!
So why not have your cake and eat it too? Yes, pun intended. You’ve got nothing to lose, and time to gain when you download The ABCDs of Cooking with Writers. There’s a recipe for every holiday, celebration, or event in your life. Give yourself a gift this holiday season with a cookbook from thirteen writers who share their favorite recipes and tips to help relieve the stress in your busy life.
Download your FREE E-Pub cookbook at Smashwords.
July 8, 2024
Tell Again Tuesday Author Rewards
5 Unexpected Blessings of Being an AuthorBy Julie Klassen
Become a published author is my lifelong dream come true. I have written stories from a young age and, if I’m honest, wanted the pleasure of seeing something I wrote on a library shelf or in a bookstore. But over the years I’ve realized there are far greater pleasures and blessings on this writing journey. Here are just five of them, in no particular order: . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:July 5, 2024
Friday Feature Developing a Shape Shifter World
As we’ve been invited to talk at a book club in the coming month we had to think back to when we started our journey. Even more specifically how we started. So today we’d like to tell you a little bit about the paranormal shape shifter world we created for our series The Turning Stone Chronicles.
To start we began brainstorming our book on a long road trip. A sign, entitled Turning Stone, was the impetus for the series name, The Turning Stone Chronicles. We decided we were going to go with shape shifters in part because we like paranormal books and because the title of the series lent itself nicely to shape shifters. We briefly considered vampires—after all they shift into bats—but ditched the idea because Catherine didn’t think she could sleep at night if we wrote a vampire book. They’ve always scared the life out of her—no pun intended.
While talking about what our shifter world would look like, Donald suggested we do
something different. Typically, a shape shifter has one alternate form—an animal, which is more often than not a wolf. Donald remembered a class he’d taken in college where they talked about the three parts of the human psyche, the id, ego, and super ego. He suggested we take that concept, a tri-personality aspect, and tweak it a bit for our books. Consequently, our shifters have the ability to shift into other human forms, as well as an animal form.
As we talked about how the shape shifting elements were going to differ in our books, we 
began to wonder about the clothing question our characters faced when they turned into an animal. Catherine had done some were-animal research earlier that revealed hiding their human form clothes, when they have shifted into an animal, prevents them from turning back into humans. That makes shape shifters susceptible to easy capture, in our opinion, so we decided to eliminate that problem by adding magic rings to the mix—the Turning Stone rings, carved from an ancient bloodstone by Celtic druids. Because of the magic in the rings, when our characters shift into animals their clothing, the ring, and anything else on their person is transformed, too. However, that is not the case when they are shifting into another human form, which makes for some interesting scenes in the book.
We’ve had a lot of fun designing a new and different shape shifting world, developing
interesting rules for our tri-personality shifters, and discovering who and what each character’s alter ego and animal ego are. We like to listen to our characters and let them give us clues about their other personalities. Here’s a hint about the secret Turning Stone Society shape shifters—it’s a zoo out there.
Do you like shape shifter stories? What’s your favorite were-animal? What animal do you think you would be if you had a Turning Stone ring?
The Promised One (The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 1)
Blood Brothers (The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 2)
Son of the Moonless Night (The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 3)
The Mercenary and the Shifters (The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 4)
Social Media Info:
July 2, 2024
Wednesday Special Spotlight America’s Birthday Celebration
As tomorrow is the celebration of the birth of our country we thought it appropriate we take a break from 
featuring books and authors and feature our nation. There have been many who have made it great, sung songs and written about what it means. But one of the most moving we have heard is the story told by Red Skelton of his school master and the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance.
The following are a few more patriotic videos you might like.
John Wayne “America – Why I Love Her”
Lee Greenwood- God Bless the U.S.A. lyrics
Going Home – Fallen Soldier Bagpipe Tribute 
In The Arms Of An Angel-American Soldiers Tribute
My Name is America by Todd Allen Herendeen- The Official Patriotic Anthem
Angel Flight (Radio Tower Remix) – w/ Lyrics
Star Spangled Banner As You’ve Never Heard It
Trace Adkins’ “Arlington” USA Military Tribute
The history of Taps told by John Wayne.
Brooks & Dunn – Only In America
Kate Smith Sings God Bless America, 1930s
Celebrate the fourth and enjoy your day.
July 1, 2024
Tell Again Tuesday Dreams become stories
On Dreaming and WritingBy Joanne Guidoccio
Last Thursday, I participated in a WFWA (Women’s Fiction Writers Association) webinar with writer, educator, and certified dreamwork professional Tzivia Gover. She is the author of Dreaming on the Page: Tap into Your Midnight Mind to Supercharge Your Writing, The Mindful Way to a Good Night’s Sleep, and Joy in Every Moment.
Tzivia began by reminding us that we are all storytelling beings who dream several times each night, whether we remember the dreams or not. Many of those dreams are filled with . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:June 27, 2024
Friday Feature PIZZA!
Ready for some comfort food? I bet you are! So, let’s go with a fan favorite – PIZZA! Not just any pizza, but one so extraordinaire you’ll toss all those take-out menus and never order in again. The sauce is superb and flavorful and is worth adding the numerous ingredients. This pizza is perfect for game night and gatherings on those cool or damp days at your vacation or stay-cation home. Now that’s Amore!
SAUCE
1 – 6 oz. can tomato paste6 oz. warm water (110° F/45° C)3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese, grated1 tsp. garlic, minced2 tbsp. honey1 tsp. anchovy paste¾ tsp. onion powder¼ tsp. dried oregano¼ tsp. dried marjoram¼ tsp. dried basil¼ tsp. ground black pepper⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper⅛ tsp. dried red pepper flakesSalt to tasteCombine all ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well, breaking up any cheese clumps.
Allow the sauce to sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors. Spread sauce evenly over the dough. Add any of toppings you like.
CRUST
2¼ tsp. active dry yeast½ tsp. brown sugar1½ cups warm water (110° F/45° C)1 tsp. salt2 tbsp. olive oil3⅓ cups all-purpose flourVegetable or olive oilUse a large bowl to dissolve yeast and brown sugar in the water. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Stir salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2½ cups of flour.
Turn dough out onto clean, well-floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no
longer sticky. You may or may not use all of the remaining 1⅓ cups of flour.
Place dough into a well-oiled bowl and then cover with a cloth. Let dough rise until double, approximately 1 hour. Punch down dough and then form it into a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out.
Preheat oven to 425° (220° C).
If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may spread the sauce and add your favorite toppings on the dough and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
Bake pizza until cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
While you’re enjoying your slice of mouth-watering, made-to-order pizza why not put your feet up and relax on the couch with a good book? May I suggest a visit to Fairy Falls, or if you’re feeling really adventurous, a trip back in time with The
Last Timekeepers? Whichever you choose, I assure you that either series will take you on a journey far away from the chaos and problems of your world.
The only witness left to testify against an unsolved crime in Fairy Falls isn’t a person…
City born and bred, Hart Stewart possesses the gift of psychometry—the psychic ability to discover facts about an event or person by touching inanimate objects associated with them. Since his mother’s death, seventeen-year-old Hart has endured homelessness, and has learned ways to keep his illiteracy under wraps. He eventually learns of a great-aunt living in Fairy Falls, and decides to leave the only life he’s ever known for an uncertain future.
Diana MacGregor lives in Fairy Falls. Her mother was a victim of a senseless murder. Only Diana’s unanswered questions and her grief keeps her going, until Hart finds her mother’s lost ring and becomes a witness to her murder.
Through Hart’s psychic power, Diana gains hope for justice. Their investigation leads them into the corrupt world threatening Fairy Falls. To secure the town’s future, Hart and Diana must join forces to uncover the shocking truth, or they risk losing the true essence of Fairy Falls forever.
Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, one spoiled yellow Labrador and a moody calico cat.
Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook and Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, and Smashwords. Look up her Amazon Author page for a list of current books. Be sure to check out THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS TIME TRAVEL SERIES Facebook page.
