C.D. Hersh's Blog, page 38
June 6, 2023
Wednesday Special Spotlight Time for Tea and Scones
In our Turning Stone Chronicles paranormal romance series the Keeper of the Stone, an ancient Scottish man named Eli McCraigen, serves an ever-present cup of tea and scones when serious matters need to be discussed. You’ll see him in every book brewing his tea and serving scones or biscuits of some sort. Our character most likely does this because tea is a breakfast ritual at the C.D. Hersh house.
Catherine loves a good cup of Scottish tea and drinks either a robust cup of Scottish or Irish Breakfast tea every morning. Her Scottish and Irish teas of choice are Taylors brand, imported from across the pond. Donald prefers something with a bit more flavoring and brews a cup of Bigelow Carmel Vanilla tea. Most of the time we have high-fiber toast with our morning tea, but today we wanted to share an authentic Scottish recipe–scones (which when pronounced correctly rhymes with gone).
Catherine got the recipe a number of years ago from a lovely Scottish lady named Rhoda, who immigrated to America at the end of WWII after she fell in love with an American G.I.
We hope you’ll enjoy Rhoda’s scones!
Scottish Scones 2 c flour3 t baking powder
2 T sugar
6 T shortening
½ t salt
2 ½ c buttermilk
The Promised One (The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 1) that has Eli serving his tea and scones.
Alexi thumbed her cell phone off and shoved it into her pocket. “Rhys should be here in a couple of minutes. Are you sure we need to do this?”
Eli took the screaming teakettle off the stove and poured boiling water into a ceramic teapot. “Aye. We have tae make sure he’s included. We need him.” He dropped three tea bags into the water and set on the lid. “He may not be a shifter, but he has a gun and, unless I miss my guess, isnae afraid to use it. Besides, going off and doing things on our own, without keeping him informed twill only push him away. Tae get him tae accept who he is we need tae draw him in.”
She lined the three mugs on the counter next to the scones Eli had prepared. “I don’t know. He’s been very resistant.”
“So’s a salmon in a bear’s mouth. All that flopping about after he’s been caught is for naught. But if he’d heeded the shadow on the water he might have stayed in the stream.”
“So your strategy is to keep Rhys in water?”
“‘Tis tae make him see the shadow, lassie. That’ll keep him alive and hopefully coming tae our side.”
Alive was good. So was on their side. She rubbed the frown creases between her eyes. Worry deepened the two lines more every day.
“Dinna be afeart. I have a plan.”
That was good, because she was fresh out of ideas. The doorbell rang. Alexi answered it and ushered Rhys into the kitchen.
Rhys eyed the scones and teapot. “Tea party, for me?” He took a scone and bit into it. “I’m not easily swayed by sweets, old man.”
“Yer actions would say different, laddie. But ‘tis for me. I’m an auld man, set in his ways, and ‘tis tea time in Scotland.”
Now if your scones are ready and tea brewed how about checking out our series.
Our books are on our book page, under the menu at the top of the page or on our Amazon Author Page
June 5, 2023
Tell Again Tuesday Dreams write stories
Life &Writing Tools: Dream A Little DreamBy Susan Hanniford Crowley
There are many authors myself included that dream of their books before they write them. Being aware of your dreams is not only a writing tool but a life tool as well.
1. Dreams teach us things.
2. Sometimes they are just for letting off steam.
3. Often we will try out things we want to do.
4. Remember the past. Sometimes seeing an important detail we forgot.
5. Dream of possible futures.
6. Learn things.
7. Restudy things. When I was in college, I would read a chapter from a textbook, then go immediately to sleep. Those words were the last my mind saw in the waking world. My mind would restudy throughout the night. I still got a good night’s sleep. How did I do in college with my waking studying plus dream studying? I did very well.
The trick is in capturing your dreams . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:June 1, 2023
Friday Feature A Visit with Rhys Temple
Moderator: Today we are talking with Rhys Temple, the hero in The Promised One (The Turning Stone Chronicles)
Rhys: Hello.
Moderator: Are you ready to answer some questions?
Rhys: Fire away.
1. Moderator: Was it difficult working with Alexi Jordan while falling in love with her?
Rhys: Difficult? No, I wouldn’t say it was difficult, especially with the way she looks and moves. Working with her was easy as we seemed to fit together very well, and as our love grew, going to work got easier each day. Things only became difficult when I found out about her secret and the Turning Stone Society.
2. Moderator: Did you suspect that Alexi had feelings for you?
Rhys: There were some signs, hints you might say, over the years. Alexi has a very intense way of looking and reacting when she is interested in something. I could see that appear in her when the other women in the office made any overtures toward me. Gladys said Alexi really went at a couple of the women when they were deciding who was baking my birthday cake. Glad I wasn’t in the squad-room for that.
3. Moderator: Were the consequences of admitting your love worth the risk?
Rhys: Yes. But the risks just keep coming with loving Alexi. Each book brings more and more risks to our relationship and our lives in the shifter world. I have to say though; if you don’t take a risk on love then I’m sure you are going to miss out on a lot. Took me some time to understand that.
4. Moderator: How long have you known you loved Alexi?
Rhys: Ha! Everyone seems to ask that question. Of course, she looked great from the beginning, so I was attracted. But it was her drive, determination and, I think, dedication to the police work that really drew me in. If I have to pick a specific point that would be about a year after we started working together. There was a murder case, about a dock-worker, where she didn’t wait for me to get to her location before she charged in. For some reason something told me to go around to the back side of the warehouse to enter. That put me behind the guys who had tied Alexi up and were going to use her as a hostage. I was able to take one of them down but the other one almost stabbed me in the back. Even tied up, Alexi was able to block the knife, but she got sliced on her arm. From that point on I realized I loved her.
5. Moderator: What’s next for the two of you?
Rhys: At this point we’re just trying to keep the family together and the rogue shifters from taking over the world. To say more would give away too many spoilers.
Moderator: Okay, now that Rhys has answered some questions from us, what question would you like to ask him?
In the first book of the series, THE PROMISED ONE, the partnership between Rhys and Alexi has been described as extremely powerful and one that hits you immediately from the beginning of the book. So here is a brief excerpt that shows that partnership.
Tucking his gift under her arm, she started to leave.
“Hey.” He pointed at the other gifts. “Aren’t you going to add yours?”
“Nope. I’ll give it to you later, when we’re alone.”
“Ooh. Something special. Mineral or animal?” His right eyebrow raised, his smile growing.
Alexi laughed. “Just embarrassing.”
“For you or for me?”
“I’m not telling.”
Sidling close to her, he backed her against the wall. “Come on. Just a hint,” he said, a purr in his tone as he placed his hand on the wall next to her shoulder and moved into her personal space with the ease of a lover. One of his famous melt-the-girl looks smoldered in his gaze. The golden flecks in his green eyes lit up like fireworks. Hot fireworks.
Enjoying his closeness and the raw sensuality emanating from him, she lingered for a minute, then slowly moved away. Standing this close she could get burned, and she wasn’t ready to play with fire . . . not yet. She shook her head. “Not a chance.”
He crossed his arms, obviously irked that she hadn’t succumbed. “My irresistible charms work on everyone else. Why not you?”
Oh, if you only knew. She had to fight to resist him. She flashed him a smile. “Because I’m special. And I’m your partner. Keeping your back safe is more important than getting you on your back.”
He laughed, a deep, throaty, and utterly sexy sound.
She locked her knees to keep from melting into a puddle.
“I like the sound of that.”
Of course you would. She felt her face flame.
The series is a paranormal romance about folks who use magic to shape shift, and it is not the ordinary animal shape shifting. We think readers will be surprised. Amazon reviewers have called the story line “totally unique,” and “a book that keeps you turning the pages to the end.”
InDtale Magazine review said “The Promised One” takes paranormal and turns it on its ear, taking shape-shifting to a whole other level. The bad guy perspective is particularly unique and fun, and the characters three-dimensional. . .”
The series is to be five books with the first four already out on Amazon. Here is a little more about the series, each book and links to them.
TITLE: The Turning Stone Chronicles
GENRE: Urban fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
HEAT LEVEL: Sensual
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
Book one of the chronicles titled “The Promised One” available on Amazon
In the wrong hands, the Turning Stone ring is a powerful weapon for evil. So, when homicide detective Alexi Jordan discovers her secret society mentor has been murdered and his magic ring stolen, she is forced to use her shape-shifting powers to catch the killer. By doing so, she risks the two most important things in her life—her badge and the man she loves.
Rhys Temple always knew his fiery cop partner and would-be-girlfriend, Alexi Jordan, had a few secrets. He considers that part of her charm. But when she changes into a man, he doesn’t find that as charming. He’ll keep her secret to keep her safe, but he’s not certain he can keep up a relationship—professional or personal.
Danny Shaw needs cash for the elaborate wedding his fiancée has planned, so he goes on a mugging spree. But when he kills a member of the secret society of Turning Stones and steals a magic ring that gives him the power to shape shift, Shaw gets more than he bargained for.
Book two of The Turning Stone Chronicles titled “Blood Brothers” available on Amazon.
When Delaney Ramsey is enlisted to help train two of the most powerful shape shifters the Turning Stone Society has seen in thousands of years, she suspects one of them is responsible for the disappearance of her daughter. To complicate matters, the man has a secret that could destroy them all. Bound by honor to protect the suspect, Delaney must prove his guilt without losing her life to his terrible powers or revealing to the police captain she’s falling for that she’s a shape shifter with more than one agenda.
The minute Captain Williams lays eyes on Delaney Ramsey, he knows she’s trouble. Uncooperative, secretive, and sexy, he can’t get her out of his mind. When he discovers she has a personal agenda for sifting through all the criminal records in his precinct, and secretly investigating his best detective, he can’t let her out of his sight. He must find out what she’s looking for before she does something illegal. If she steps over the line, he’s not certain he can look the other way for the sake of love.
Book three of The Turning Stone Chronicles titled “Son of the Moonless Night” currently available on Amazon.
Owen Todd Jordan Riley has a secret. He’s a shape shifter who has been hunting and killing his own kind. To him the only good shifter is a dead shifter. Revenge for the death of a friend motivates him, and nothing stands in his way . . . except Katrina Romanovski, the woman he is falling in love with.
Deputy coroner Katrina Romanovski has a secret, too. She hunts and kills paranormal beings like Owen. At least she did. When she rescues Owen from an attack by a werebear she is thrust back into the world she thought she’d left. Determined to find out what Owen knows about the bear, she begins a relationship meant to collect information. What she gets is something quite different love with a man she suspects of murder. Can she reconcile his deception and murderous revenge spree and find a way to redeem him? Or will she condemn him for the same things she has done and walk away from love?
Book four of The Turning Stone Chronicles titled “The Mercenary & the Shifters” available on Amazon.
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.
====
====
If any of this piques your interest, then settle into a comfy chair and check out our books on our book page, under the menu at the top of the page or on our Amazon Author Page
May 30, 2023
Wednesday Special Spotlight Problem Birds or Lines
With the coming of spring in our area the birds have returned to build nests and roost. We love watching the birds in our back yard. In fact, we’ve planted enough bushes and trees to have a mini-sanctuary for birds. The problems come when they don’t build their nests where they are supposed to. Much like those pesky lines that appear in your first draft when you are trying to get the thought into the manuscript.
Anyway, back to the birds for a moment.
We have a lovely little covered balcony just outside our dining area that has our two chairs, bistro table, and ceiling fan for the warm days with no breeze. The ceiling fan is the problem right now. Or is it the birds?
Really, it’s the birds because they don’t stay in the bushes and they keep trying to build a nest on the fan. Have we mentioned we like to watch the birds? Just not that close and personal. Plus, have you ever noticed what happens when birds come in for a landing? They almost always make a mess. And we’re not talking about the grass, straw and strips of material they carry for building their nests. But we digress.
For the past several weeks we’ve been trying to convince the birds the fan is not a nesting location. However, the only thing that seems to discourage them is to run the fan constantly. Not something, we want to have going when we’re not at home. And if we aren’t home to chase the birds away they keep building nests.
The solution? Not sure at the moment, but the two best ideas we’ve found is to wrap the fan like the fruit tree growers do to keep birds off or to screen in the balcony. Not sure we have time for the second solution and we’re just starting to search for netting for an immediate solution.
Neither of our solutions are easy ones. Fortunately, when you get bad lines in your WIP you can easily fix those by reworking the lines. Here are a few bad lines courtesy of the annual Lyttle Lytton Contest:
-“Agent Jeffrey’s trained eyes rolled carefully around the room, taking in the sights and sounds.”
Wow eyes that can hear and move on their own.
-“It was a beautiful night, and the full moon glew like it had never glown before.”
Incorrect spelling make this hard to understand but seems they’ve never seen a bright moon.
– “Ooo la la!” whispered Larry in French.
Is this really English or just a phrase we’ve borrowed from the French.
– “She had the kind of face that made you want to say, ‘Hey, look at your face!’”
Not the best of lines to say to a woman.
– “BOOM!” said the bomb very loudly.”
Wow, a talking bomb. AI is really taking over.
– The explosion threw-up the dirt as if it had a bad stomach.
Not the image we’d want to leave a reader with.
I’m sure you have never written any lines as bad as those above. But also we’re sure you have written lines that were changed several times because they didn’t hit the right mark.
Keep those pesky lines you write in their proper location just as we trying to keep the birds where they belong, because the alternative isn’t a pretty picture.
Here is a little more about our series.
The series is to be five books with the first four already out on Amazon.
TITLE: The Turning Stone Chronicles
GENRE: Urban fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
HEAT LEVEL: Sensual
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 at The Turning Stone Chronicles Series page
The series is a paranormal romance about folks who use magic to shape shift, and it is not the ordinary animal shape shifting. We think readers will be surprised. Amazon reviewers have called the story line “totally unique,” and “a book that keeps you turning the pages to the end.”
InDtale Magazine review said “The Promised One” takes paranormal and turns it on its ear, taking shape-shifting to a whole other level. The bad guy perspective is particularly unique and fun, and the characters three-dimensional. . .”
If this piques your interest, then settle into a comfy chair and check out our books on our book page, under the menu at the top of the page or on our Amazon Author Page
May 29, 2023
Tell Again Tuesday Imperfection in writing
Learning to Live Alongside Your Imperfect Draft NovelBy Lucy Mitchell
Today I am going to talk about something which I am starting to get my head around.
Note: I’ve not nailed this yet but I am trying.
So, I am talking about – the ability to coexist with your imperfect draft novel and be at peace with all its flaws. You can go about your daily life and not be plagued or tortured by your draft novel sat there with it’s saggy middle, flat ending and cast of chaotic characters. You can even smile naturally at your imperfect draft novel. There’s no gritting of teeth or sleepless nights. You don’t delete it, quit writing it or quit writing altogether because of it. You accept it needs work and you learn to live with it. For me this is a next level writer mindset.
We get obsessed with . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:May 25, 2023
Friday Feature New Book releasing May 31, 2023
The acclaimed time travel series, Upon a Time, from Stella May goes full circle with Book Four releasing May 31, 2023! Here is a peek of what’s coming soon.
A jaded CEO. A fiercely focused ballerina. A love that defies all society’s rules.
SoHo, 1962
JJ Morris, successful CEO, leads a secret double life, playing saxophone to his heart’s content in his hole-in-the-wall dive bar. Yet he can’t escape the feeling he’s slowly petrifying into just another jaded millionaire.
Then a gorgeous blonde steps into his bar and shakes up his world. Certain this fierce little swan of a woman is exactly what’s missing in his life, he maps out a plan to wed her by Christmas. With or without his snobby mother’s approval.
Most women would be thrilled to learn that the tall, handsome bar musician is, in fact, a wealthy prince charming. Verochka Osipoff is less than impressed. She’s focused on becoming a prima ballerina, and everything hinges on her next audition. She can’t afford distractions, especially a rich playboy slumming it in SoHo.
Yet the heat of their attraction melts Verochka’s heart like warm chocolate. But JJ’s world is a cold, glittering nest of vipers. And their venom could destroy their love song before the first movement ends.
Preorder at BOOKS2READ, AMAZON, and GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS
Stella May is the penname for Marina Sardarova who has a fascinating history you should read on her website.
Stella writes fantasy romance as well as time travel romance. She is the author of ‘Till Time Do Us Part, Book 1 in her Upon a Time series, and the stand-alone book Rhapsody in Dreams. Love and family are two cornerstones of her stories and life. Stella’s books are available in e-book and paperback through all major vendors.
When not writing, Stella enjoys classical music, reading, and long walks along the ocean with her husband. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her husband Leo of 25 years and their son George. They are her two best friends and are all partners in their family business.
Follow Stella on her website and blog. Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
May 23, 2023
Wednesday Special Spotlight Alcohol content of English language
What in the world, you ask, does that mean?
It’s hard.
Hard liquor can make you dizzy. Trying to figure out the English language can make your head spin too. English is hard for newcomers to the language and hard for many of us who’ve been speaking it all our lives—especially if you’re looking into the definitions of homonyms and paradoxically phrases.
We can’t take any credit for today’s blog. We found it buried in a file of interesting writing emails we had saved from 2005. We don’t know where it came from so we can’t give the original author credit. It’s just one of those things that floats around on the internet that we thought was worth keeping. After reading it, we’re sure you’ll agree that English can be a screwy language … and don’t depend on your grammar check to fix it.
Here are a few gems to consider.
• The bandage was wound around the wound.
• The farm was used to produce produce.
• The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
• We must polish the Polish furniture.
• He could lead if he would get the lead out.
• The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
• Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
• At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
• When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
• I did not object to the object.
• The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
• There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
• They were too close to the door to close it.
• The buck does funny things when the does are present.
• A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
• To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
• The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
• After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
• Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
• I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
• How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Screwy pronunciations can mess up your mind! For example, if you have a rough cough, climbing can be tough when going through the bough on a tree!
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on and you drive on a parkway and park on a driveway.
Do you have a favorite crazy English paradox, homonym (words that sound alike but have different meanings), homophone (a type of homonym that sounds alike and has different meanings, but has different spellings), homograph (words that are spelled the same but have different meanings), or heteronym (a type of homograph that is spelled the same and has different meanings, but sounds different)? If so, write them down for us and we’ll be right grateful that we’ve learned something from your learned contribution.
Now that the English lesson is over how about settling into a comfy chair and checking out our books on our book page, under the menu at the top of the page or on our Amazon Author Page
May 22, 2023
Tell Again Tuesday Where is the story going?
Writing Tools: RoadtripBy Susan Hannifor Crowley
Years ago, I had a dream that involved a vampire named David and he began the Vampires in Manhattan Series even though it was only a secondary but very important character in the first book When Love Survives.
This is the book where David meets Laura, and his quest to win her love by taking her home to New Orleans, where everything goes wrong and love becomes a life and death matter.
I call it a roadtrip because this winding story of adventure and love takes the reader to many places.
What does an author do when that happens: . . .
For the rest of the blog go to:May 18, 2023
Friday Feature What is your Passion
Some of you know my day job deals with plants in all sorts of ways from wedding flowers to church bouquets to perennials and annuals. I call it playing in the greenhouses. It is one of my passions. The other is writing. Mostly I have not given any of my characters, either historical or contemporary, permission to dialog about gardening.
With Whispers of Danger and Love, I am exposing my love of plants through the personality of Cheryl Esterbrook, a landscape designer. She has other things to think besides the hunky detective who lives next door. Cheryl is stuck with a mobster who hired her to design a complete landscape in two weeks and a creepy former boyfriend who will not stop annoying her.
This book is a romance, an adventure, a mystery, and a glimpse into the world of plants. Did I love writing it? You bet I did! Hope you enjoy reading. My favorite plant? Crocosmia. For more info on this lovely plant, please click here. If you like hummingbirds crocosmia, also known as falling stars and coppertips, is a plus for your perennial garden.
Here’s a little more from my cozy mystery. I hope you enjoy it.
When Cheryl realizes her new next-door neighbor is someone she loved as a young girl, she immediately puts the brakes on her emotions. Never again would she allow the gorgeous hunk of a man to break her heart.
Ruggedly handsome Detective David Larkin isn’t used to pretty ladies giving him a firm no. He persists, even as Cheryl fights her own temptations. The two struggle to appreciate each other as adults, even as they admit to deep feelings from their childhood.
Here’s a little more from my cozy mystery. I hope you enjoy it.
When Cheryl realizes her new next-door neighbor is someone she loved as a young girl, she immediately puts the brakes on her emotions. Never again would she allow the gorgeous hunk of a man to break her heart.
Ruggedly handsome Detective David Larkin isn’t used to pretty ladies giving him a firm no. He persists, even as Cheryl fights her own temptations. The two struggle to appreciate each other as adults, even as they admit to deep feelings from their childhood.
Read more of the cozy mysteries by Janis Lane on Amazon
Janis Lane is the pen-name for gifted author Emma Lane who writes cozy mysteries as Janis, 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.
May 16, 2023
Wednesday Special Spotlight Some Teens Struggle with Career Goals
Young people need to have an idea of what they want to do in the future before going to college.
It’s almost time for the graduation season, and, in that regard, I want to mention an idea with which I wholeheartedly agree. And yet, just a few years ago I would have been completely against the idea.
In Abby Fawk’s USA Today Article “College can wait, but finding your life purpose can’t,” Fawk opines that American teens facing that jump to a postsecondary education are often unsure what they want their future to look like, so heading straight to college is a mistake.
As a former high school teacher of 20 years, I know Fawk is correct. I have faced hundreds of children across my desk, and when I asked what they thought their lives might look like in ten years, I was—more often than not— faced with blank stares. I would then go into my, What do you want to be when you grow up? spiel. I’d ask: What do you like to do? What are you good at? What will someone pay you to do? And again, I often received no reply.
Then the children graduated, most without any idea regarding what might make them happy in their business lives. We teachers have hammered into them that the next stop must be college. (Note that when I say college, I’m referring to any form of post-high school education. Wanting to be a carpenter, an electrician, or an airplane mechanic are equally fine choices as wanting to be a doctor or a neurophysicist.)
What isn’t fine is having no idea what you want to study and then plowing ahead to your college of choice.
That college education is expensive, so before you go, have a plan.
“College is the single biggest investment we can make in a young person’s life,” Hawk said. “Four years at a flagship state school can now cost $100,000 and private college can run three to four times that figure. Yet the vast majority of students arrive unprepared to make the most of the experience.”
Fawk believes that it’s time for students to revisit the idea of a gap year. As I said earlier, I did my best to dissuade kids who wanted to take a year off before getting additional education, because statistics showed that once young people start earning money, they are less likely to give up that cash flow and return to school.
But Fawk explained that a gap year, if done right, is not about losing forward momentum and can be a rewarding launch pad to a bright future.
“It’s to gather experiences and insights that inform everything that comes next,” she said.
Fawk is the founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year, a program devoted to giving young people the chance to immerse themselves in other cultures, to stretch their comfort zones, and to forge relationships with people who are different than they are. If this sounds a bit like the Peace Corps, it is. The idea is to take the year following high school graduation and expand one’s horizons. To learn more about yourself by living alongside others in a completely different environment.
A gap year can include volunteer activities like working with Habitat for Humanity.
But the GCY project is not the only way students can accomplish these goals. A stint in the military, the Peace Corps, or volunteering can also help young people find out who they are and what they want in life.
Studies show that American teens are growing up more slowly than the generations that proceeded them. Young people struggle with basic skills like time management, problem-solving, and navigating relationships. Why then do we shoehorn them into making decisions that will impact the rest of their lives when many are clearly not ready?
The idea is to give new high school graduates a little breathing room before they make that leap. A well-thought-out gap year just might be the answer.
Please allow me to offer you a glimpse at my latest women’s fiction novel for you reading pleasure.
The past and present collide when a tenacious reporter seeks information on an eleventh century magician…and uncovers more than she bargained for.
In 1939, archaeologists uncovered a tomb at the Northern Arizona site called Ridge Ruin. The man, bedecked in fine turquoise jewelry and intricate beadwork, was surrounded by wooden swords with handles carved into animal hooves and human hands. The Hopi workers stepped back from the grave, knowing what the Moochiwimi sticks meant. This man, buried nine-hundred years earlier, was a magician.
Former television journalist Kate Butler hangs on to her investigative reporting career by writing freelance magazine articles. Her research on The Magician shows he bore some European facial characteristics and physical qualities that made him different from the people who buried him. Her quest to discover The Magician’s origin carries her back to a time when the high desert world was shattered by the birth of a volcano and into the present-day dangers of archaeological looting where black market sales of antiquities can lead to murder.
AMAZON BUY LINK
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.
