Helen B. Henderson's Blog, page 37
February 8, 2021
Featured Author at Uncaged Book Reviews
The latest issue of Uncaged Book Reviews is out and I'm a featured author. Hope you'll check out the interview and the excerpt from the #fantasy #romance Windmaster Golem.
https://issuu.com/cyreneolson/docs/uncaged_book_reviews_-_feb21
~till next time, Helen
February 4, 2021
Gentle Giants
Can you guess who made my favorite commercial(s)? My answer is at Friendship, Respect, and Four Feet.
After you've seen my list (presented in no particular order) you can watch them Courtesy of Parade Magazine.
Image by Jessica Rockeman from PixabayAnd as far as the title of the post, if you haven't figured it out, the picture above says it all. I've seen the gentle giants up close. They are magnificent animals.
~till next time, stay safe. Helen
February 2, 2021
Imprisoned in Stone, Dizzy, #mfrwhook
For the next several weeks, the posts will showcase magic of a darker kind from Imprisoned in Stone. A snippit using the book quote word DIZZY.To set the stage. For the crime of healing without payment, the Brethren imprisoned Dylan’s soul in stone. The following takes place during a bond renewal ceremony. Only this time, the head of the Brethren used a special sacrifice to supply the blood ... and it had unexpected results.
Excerpt:
Dylan hung over the void while the solid curtain beneath his feet thinned with each repetition of the chant. Eventually he would fall. Time would cease to exist until the next time the not-Beven or one of his kind pulled him back to consciousness.
Discordant notes for prisoner and forever threaded their way through the Brethren’s spell. Someone was perverting their work. The one they called Colwynn? Threads of clear crystals shimmered into existence. The glistening filaments spun together in a dizzying dance forming a rigid cable over the abyss. Dylan grabbed the lifeline tossed to him across the void by his unknown savior. More sparks brightened into existence. The light penetrated a short distance into the darkness. In a final flare, the flames cooled into a thick sheet of translucent ice.
His position secured, he focused on the secret changes hidden within the larger magic of the binding. He dared not believe the implications. With full awareness and time, could freedom be attained? Latching onto the fragile hope, he fed it with an even more powerful emotion—revenge.
Imprisoned in Stone:
On sale in Kindle format at Amazon
Buy Links: One click to ebook sellers
February 1, 2021
Tuesday Title, Arranging A Dream
Pursue happiness in the career of your dreams
Title: ARRANGING A DREAM
Author: J.Q. Rose
Date of Release: 1/1/21
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: BWL Publishing
Buy Links: Amazon / Barnes&Noble / Smashwords / More ebook stores
Blurb:
In 1975, budding entrepreneurs Ted and Janet purchase a floral shop and greenhouses where they plan to grow their dream. Will the retiring business owners nurture Ted and Janet as they struggle to develop a blooming business, or will they desert the inexperienced young couple to wither and die in their new environment? Most of all, can Ted and Janet grow together as they cultivate a loving marriage, juggle parenting with work, and root a thriving business?
Follow this couple’s inspiring story, filled with the joy and triumphs and the obstacles and failures experienced as they travel along the turbulent path of turning dreams into reality.
Behind the Scene:
Although it is a diversion from the fiction usually showcased as a Tuesday Title, Arranging A Dream was chosen because of its humor and inspiration. Beyond the plunge into entrepreneurship and losing the security of two paychecks, they transplanted themselves, their one-year-old daughter, and all their belongings to Fremont, Michigan, where they knew no one.
Author Bio:
Whether the story is fiction or non-fiction, J.Q. Rose is “focused on story.” She offers readers chills, giggles and quirky characters woven within the pages of her mystery novels. Her published mysteries are Deadly Undertaking, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard and Dangerous Sanctuary released by BWL Publishing. Using her storytelling skills, she provides entertainment and information with articles featured in books, magazines, newspapers, and online magazines.
J.Q. taught elementary school for several years and never lost the love for teaching passed down from her teacher grandmother and mother. She satisfies that aspect of her character by presenting workshops on Writing Your Life Story.
Based on the lessons taught in her workshops, JQ created a book, Your Words, Your Life Story: a Journal for Sharing Memories to help life storytellers write, publish and market their stories. She decided to take her advice and pen her memoir, Arranging a Dream: A Memoir.
If you would like to write or record your life story/memoir, check out the Facebook Group, Telling Your Life Story and Memoirs Circle for encouragement and ways to spark memories.
Blogging, photography, Pegs and Jokers board games and travel are the things that keep J.Q. out of trouble. She and her husband spend winters in Florida and summers up north with their two daughters, two sons-in-law, four grandsons, one granddaughter, two grand dogs, four grand cats, and one great-grand bearded dragon.
For more on J.Q. and her works, find her on the web at:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page
January 28, 2021
2020 Challenge Observations
Another year is over. Wait... give it back. I haven't finished my WIP, holiday projects, crafts, baking apple pie, decorating Christmas cookies, and a million other things I still need to do. Oh well, someone flipped the calendar so I'm stuck with it. Here's a few reflections on the MFRW author 2020 challenge. Like the 2019 challenge, I knew from the start that I wasn't going to do the entire series. In fact, at the beginning of the year I hadn't planned on posting at all. With the final post, I had ended up doing 47 out of 52. Some topics were easy. Either they didn't require much thought or they were a repeat (or near repeat) of a topic from previous years.
Links to the 2020 posts by alphabetic topic are below. Again, congratulations to the other authors who participated. And to our readers I hope you enjoyed our revelations whether they be personal or about the writing life.
~till next time, Helen
Best leftover recipe (Potatoes and An Iron Pan)
Best Super Bowl ad
Best trait in a bff (Song Lyrics Say It Best)
Bravery is?
Buying a new car (Whatever Works)
Can you talk politics with family and friends (Not at the Table)
Cell phones (Useful at Times)
Chocolate: milk, dark, or light
City living or country (It's The ?? Life For Me)
Climate where you live (Hot Humid, What's Not to Like)
Cruises,love them or not
Diet before summer? (Another Diet? Not Me)
Duty, Honor, Loyalty The Most Important Value to Teach Children
Ebookreader or must have a book in your hand (Old Fashioned? Maybe)
Editing. Love it or hate it
Ever read a book more than once? Which one and why? (Old Friends)
Family memories (Too Late They're Gone)
Favorite charity and why
Favorite TV show of all time and why (Black and White or Color?)
Follow fashion Trends? (Red Carpet? Not Me.)
Greatest accomplishment of the year (Surviving)
History ReWritten
Hobbies outside of reading
How (what) does your garden grow and why (Dead Plants and Weeds)
How do you get your news (Not Like I Used To)
If you won the $10000 lottery
June tips (Characters & History)
Keep daylight savings time
Online Dating (Unaminity Works)
Online shopping or at stores (In Person, please)
Planning a trip (Map and a Full Tank of Gas)
Pre-Christmas catalog blizzard: Hate them or love them (Paper, not Flakes)
Renovation - Done It Or watched one on TV (Move Out)
Reflections on 2020 AtoZ Challenge
Secret Christmas wish you won't get (Diamonds, Jewelry, or Food)
Snowy days (Good Book and Hot Cocoa)
Sunshiny day, what do you do?
Takeout (Support Your Local Businesses)
Travel Outside Your Own Country, Where would you like to go
Voting...Do you? Why or why not? (Does it Count?)
Writing or plot programs (I Prefer Dreams)
Your characters: do blonds really have more fun?
Your characters: more fun to write realists or pragmatists (View of the World)
Your destination is within 1500 miles and time is ok, fly or drive
January 23, 2021
At First Sight
At First Sight, the first time Kia, sister of the Oracle of Givneh, and Brodie, weaponsmith at the Isle of Mages, see each other. On Rue Allyn's Blog.
At FIrst Sight
At First Sight, the first time Kia, sister of the Oracle of Givneh, and Brodie, weaponsmith at the Isle of Mages, see each other. On Rue Allyn's Blog.
January 21, 2021
Don't Like the Cold? Move #mfrwauthor
Welcome to this week's topic, "Inventive ways you've found to keep warm." First off, let me say I'm not a skier or snowmobile rider. I do not like the cold. I have lived in northern areas where if the temperature went above zero degrees Fahrenheit and you weren't in the midst of a blizzard, you went for a walk because it was warm. I have lived in more southern regions were you hibernated at fourth degrees because it was so cold.
So how to answer the topic. The first thing that came to mind on the topic was move. Of course, you have to consider that I came from an area where being a snowbird was not uncommon. Retired couples spent the summer months up north in the mountains (or the Jersey shore enjoying the beach) and the winter months in Florida. Some had two houses, others had a camper. When they no longer felt comfortable driving the length of I-95, they traveled via rail, enjoying the cushioned seats while their car traveled at the back of the train. Florida wasn't the only snowbird destination. Texas beaches, especially Corpus Christi were destinations for those in the middle of the country.
After days and days of cold, gray overcast skies that forboded snow, the sun came out. So in the vein of "if you don't like the weather..." the next inventive way to keep warm is to open the door and let the outside in. The temperature outside isn't that many degrees above what the thermostat is set at. However, solar heating sent the temperature in the sunroom to a toasty 85. So we opened the door between the sunroom and the main living area and let the heat circulate.
Image by Gaby Stein from PixabayOff to enjoy a more common and less inventive way to keep warm. A nice glass of wine. Or maybe hot, mulled cider. Enjoyed with a good book in front of a fire. ~till next time, Helen
Be sure to see how the other authors answered the question. https://mfrw52week.blogspot.com/
January 19, 2021
A Pie For All Seasons, at BWL Insider Blog
"A Pie For All Seasons" on the Books We Love Insider Blog
Do characters like pie? A couple of them provide their thoughts.
Check out the post to see if your favorite pie is listed. And if it isn't leave a comment.
https://bwlauthors.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-pie-for-all-seasons-by-helen-henderson.html
A Pie For All Seasons, at BWL
"A Pie For All Seasons" on the Books We Love Insider Blog
Do characters like pie? A couple of them provide their thoughts.
Check out the post to see if your favorite pie is listed. And if it isn't leave a comment.
https://bwlauthors.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-pie-for-all-seasons-by-helen-henderson.html
