Helen B. Henderson's Blog, page 4

2025 C : Caves and Caverns

   

Next in the challenge is "C" for Caves. One of the results of planning for this challenge, and from introspection with the new year, a realization crawled its way out of obscurity. Writers are often told to write what they know. Until I started looking for topics to match the A to Z, I had not realized how much of my personal experience had crept into the worlds of imagination I share with readers. An example is "Caves and Caverns." I had not realized how many caves and caverns I have toured over the years.

Image by Hans from Pixabay. When dating my future husband, local spots such as the Lost River Caverns (Hellerstown, Pennsylvania) and Crystal Caves (Kutztown, Pennsylvania) provided a date destination. Later, we walked Howe Caverns (Howes Cave, New York) and rode a boat deep in the cave. Among our vacation destinations over the years was Lurray Caverns (Lurray, Virginia.) Although I did not know it at the time, these experiences leaked into the later written tale.

To set the stage of the excerpt, Lord Dal has ridden off to to divert an attacking force, leaving Ellspeth to find the magical talisman on her own. After fighting a carpet of living grass and the mental attacks of a rogue mage, she enters a hidden entrance in an ancient rock plateau.

From Windmaster:

The shadow of the talisman’s spirit separated from the wall. Without a break in her playing, Ellspeth bowed to the animated creature. It knelt on one knee in response, then with a kick of its heels, leaped back into the wall.

Ellspeth almost missed a note at the amazing sight, but managed to keep the song true. When she finished, she tucked the flute behind her belt. It only took four steps to reach the spot where the spirit disappeared. This time instead of hard rock, Ellspeth found the wall was not solid. A thin veneer curved from the middle of one wall to the opposite corner. Trusting the spirit to lead her, she circled behind the slab. The light from her torch cast an eerie reflection in the narrow space, but it showed her something more—a way deeper into the cave.

The floor’s slight downward slant provided a natural direction to follow. After a series of twisting turns, the last remnants of daylight trickling from the entrance disappeared. Soon the faint glow of torchlight became her sole illumination.

Deeper and deeper she walked, through chamber after chamber. In some, miniature versions of the spire rose from the floor, a trap to the unwary. A sense of unease aided by the weight of tons of earth on top of her grew stronger the further Ellspeth traveled. Each time a drop of cold water fell down from the ceiling onto her neck or some other spot of bare skin, she jumped. Her head ached from several whacks on low overhangs or one of the many plinths that hung down from the ceiling.

Time lost all meaning in the eternal shadows within the monolith.

~I hope you enjoyed this journey into my writing life (and the excerpt). till next time, Helen 

 

Buy Windmaster at Amazon and These sites.

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.
 

2025 B : Blue Sky

   

"B” in the AtoZ Challenge is Blue Sky. Not the social media site, but my preferred writing locale…outdoors on a lakeside deck or a serene wooded glen. But not all outdoors time has blue skies as seen in the following excerpt from Windmaster.

“Something’s not right,” Ellspeth said. “The color of the sky is wrong. The masters on both barges agree.” Dal nodded to the bargemaster and his mate as he joined the group on the deck of the barge.Dal’s gaze scanned the horizon. The sky had leached all life from the river. Behind the barge, ranks of ever-darker clouds marched over the colorless waters.

Gusty winds picked up, driving not only their barge toward the shore, but also the boat carrying Barris, Murdo, and the fàlaire. Even without sails, the speed of the two barges increased. They rushed over rocks and bulled through eddies as the raging current overrode the crews’ efforts to steer their normally placid vessels. A sharp jolt beneath their feet threw Ellspeth into Dal. Only his quick grab of the rail prevented them from flying into the benches that filled the center of the barge.

Murdo’s bellow roared above the waves as light glinted off the drawn swords held by the dozen men who now lined the river’s bank. “Ambush!”

Check out Windmaster Legacy to see the result of the ambush.

In recognition of these precious places, a photo array of skies and sunsets.

Early morning, Blue Ridge Mountains

Sunset over Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey
Red sky at night, sailor's delight.
Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning.

Buy the Windmaster Novels at Amazon and These Sites

~till next time, Helen

P.S. My blueSky handle is @history2write.bsky.social. Follow me there if you wish.

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.

 

2025 A: Archaeology

 

  

Starting off the challenge is A is for archaeology. Archaeology is not all Indiana Jones and a bullwhip exploring lost sites in the jungle. The Society for American Archaeology defines archaeology as "the study of the ancient and recent human past through material remains. Archaeologists might study the million-year-old fossils of our earliest human ancestors in Africa. Or they might study 20th-century buildings in present-day New York City.” Other definitions include a reference to excavations, a primary research technique.

Square and trowel survey square

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trowels and brushes are not the only tools available to archaeologists. Modern technology has a place alongside maps and exploring in the jungle. Metal detectors have uncovered the secrets of battlefields yielding artifacts and insights into troop movements. When combined with traditional excavation techniques, it goes beyond the conflict and provides insights into the human aspects of a soldiers life.

[image error]Metal detectors and the bag/tag/flag technique can help interpret large areas.

 

Ground penetrating radar is a non-invasive technology that allows scientists to take a peek below the surface of the ground. By using GPR, archaeologists can make more educated decisions on where and how deep to dig.

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a technology that works like x-ray vision for objects that are hidden in plain sight. The technology works by directing pulses of light toward the ground and measuring the time it takes for the light to reflect back. LiDAR then generates a virtual 3D map from a single large-scale survey. This technology can render years of surveying landscapes to an exercise that takes a single afternoon. It has been used to discover hidden beneath the Guatemalan rainforest and a 5,000-year-old fortress in Romania that nature had hidden for centuries.

My experience with various archaeological techniques has mostly been survey digs at historic sites and metal detectors using the flag-bag-tag technique on revolutionary war battlefields. And exploring my family farm for artifacts. Just because the present works with the future, doesn't mean we have to eliminate the human. For myself, I'll take both technology and Indiana Jones. 
 ~till next time, Helen 

 

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.

 

2025 AtoZ Theme

    

This post is supposed to set the theme for the April AtoZ challenge. Doing a post a day is difficult even when you have nothing else going on. Health issues can make focusing impossible, steals the energy to write, and chases the muse away. However, I'm going to give 2025 a shot. Additional impacts this year are a work in progress, learning to use a new tablet as my old labtop dies, and making the swag and all the details for a major reader / signing event. Hint: I am an attending author at Books By The Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

The posts for the 2025 Challenge will showcase the characters and worlds of the Windmaster Novels, Dragshi Chronicles, the Tearstone Collectors. A few thoughts on my non-fiction history books and personal insights might also sneak in.

Anote on my approach. Since I did the AtoZ in April Challenges from 2019 through 2022, and in 2024, I didn't want to duplicate the earlier years' posts.

Here is the master list of the themes joining me in singing the alphabet song. 

~till next time, I'm off to start singing the alphabet song. Hope you'll join me April 1st for "Archaeology." Helen

The Fallen, Fire and Redemption, #wewriwa

 

 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write ... and read. From Fire and Redemption, Book 2 of the  fantasy series, The Tear Stone Collectors. This week's snippet continues the scene begun in Help Summoned and Danger. Sickness has struck the caravan. Karst has been watching Brial, who has been exposed more than anyone else. Not only is she driving a wagon where nursing is going on within it, but she has helped nursed all her kin. The fear is that by the exposure, Brial has caught the sickness.

Excerpt: 

Feldt reached out and wrapped his large hands around Brial’s waist. Only her grandfather’s strong grasp kept her from falling underneath the wagon wheels. A single tug lifted her from the ground. He stepped into the saddle and with Brial cradled in his arms returned to Karst in a trail of dust.

Feldt’s hand on his shoulder pulled Karst from his vision. “You know what to do?”  

Unsure of his voice, Karst merely nodded.

“Do what you can for Brial. Food will be sent over.”

* * * *

Available in Ebook or Paperback at Amazon
Additional sites at Books2Read

​I hope you like the snippet. Be sure to read the other Weekend Writing Warriors blogs and the #SnippetSunday authors for more great reads.

~till next time, Helen

A Killer Whisky by Susan Caldar

Notes and a Review of A Killer Whiskey (Canadian Historical Mystery Series)

Author: Susan Calder

Date of Release: 12/1/2024
Genre: Historical Fiction World War I

Publisher: BWL Publishing
Buy Links:   Amazon  / Barnes&Noble /  Apple iTunes  / Kobo  / More Sites

Blurb:

The 1918 influenza pandemic strikes Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Great War rages overseas. While her husband fights in Europe, Katharine works in a doctor’s office to support her children and her brother, a wounded veteran. One night their neighbor suddenly takes sick and dies. The attending doctor concludes the man died from influenza, but Katharine suspects someone laced his whisky with a drug that mimics the deadly flu’s symptoms.

Katharine convinces the police to investigate. Worried about her brother’s involvement with a suspect, she delves into his secrets and comes to fear he’s connected to the murder. She grows disturbingly attracted to the investigating detective who returns her affections. He’s convinced her brother or someone else close to her is a killer and risks his career to pursue the crime. Katharine must discover the truth so she can move forward in a world that has changed forever.

 
My Review:

5 Stars ... Author Susan Calder transports the reader back in time to the Canadian homefront during the turbulent times of World War I and the Spanish flu. Her personal knowledge of the time and environs brings a reality to the tale. Her characters are your family, friends, and neighbors and brings you into their lives. What I enjoyed most was after the plot is wrapped up, Calder hints at their futures, but leaves it to the reader to decide which couples have their HEA ending.

Author Bio:

A native of Montreal, Susan Calder worked as an insurance claims examiner before taking up writing at the age of thirty-nine. Susan moved west to Calgary in 1996 with her husband and two sons. She is the author of six novels as well as non-fiction articles, poems, and numerous short stories. Her most recent novel, A Killer Whisky, is her first venture into historical fiction. A Killer Whisky is the twelfth and final book in the BWL Canadian Historical Mystery Series.

Susan has taught fiction writing courses and workshops at the Alexandra Writers Centre Society, spoken on panels, and given presentations on various writing topics. She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. When Susan isn’t writing, she is likely to be traveling, biking, or hiking in the beautiful mountains near Calgary

For more on Susan and her works, find her on the web at: 

Website  | Goodreads | Publishers Author Page |

 

Hooked on Windmaster, A Treacherous Trail, #mfrwhooks

Freezing temperatures, storms of a generation, and inches of snow on Bourbon Street inspire a reprise of bad weather captured in one of my worlds of fantasy. In sympathy with those suffering from winter's rage, a snippit from Ellspeth and Dal on a rainy trail.

Excerpt from Windmaster:

Ellspeth’s world reduced to the shifting gray shadow that was Tairneach. Her eyes hurt from straining to see through the curtain of snow and rain that almost obscured the stallion. She rode with one foot scraping the rocks on the side of the narrow trail while her other hung over a thousand-foot precipice. One misstep and both rider and mount would plummet to the valley floor. The driving rain stung every spot of unprotected skin like a thousand cuts. Icy rivulets ran off her wide-brimmed hat. They sneaked beneath the collar of the lake seal cloak and ran down her neck. Waterlogged, her clothes sucked every ounce of heat from her body. Only where her legs lay against Cadno’s coat did she have vague feeling. Hours of riding in the howling maelstrom of cold and wet had dulled her mind to anything beyond the need to stay in the saddle.

Dal’s bellow penetrated Ellspeth’s consciousness. “This storm isn’t going to stop. Taer can’t take much more of this, and neither can we. There’s shelter not far up the trail.”

Chattering teeth made a reply impossible, so she just nodded. Even that slight movement threw her numbed body off balance. Fighting not to fall into the abyss, Ellspeth dropped the reins onto Cadno’s neck and wrapped nerveless fingers around the saddle horn to let the colt pick his way across a stream of water rushing over the rock-strewn path. The crunch of ice beneath his hooves reminded Ellspeth of the snap of the Sea Falcon’s canvas in a stiff wind. If I can stand on the Falcon’s deck, I can stay in this saddle. She clenched the leather horn tighter with a renewed sense of determination.

~ * ~

Danger, Fire and Redemption #wewriwa

 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write ... and read. From Fire and Redemption, Book 2 of the  fantasy series, The Tear Stone Collectors. This week's snippet continues, Help Summoned. To set the scene, sickness has struck the caravan. Karst has been watching Brial, who has been exposed more than anyone else. Not only is she driving a wagon where nursing is going on within it, but she has helped nursed all her kin. And now the SundaySnippet.

Excerpt: 

A kick sent Feldt's mount galloping past one slow-moving wagon after another to wheel beside Brial. The horse walked slowly, keeping pace with the wagon. The words Feldt spoke were unintelligible, but the shake of Brial’s head told of her rejection of whatever her grandfather had said.

The argument carried on for several minutes before Feldt stepped down from the saddle. No sooner had his feet touched the ground than Brial stumbled, falling to her knees. Dragged along, the force of the movement tore her hands from the harness.

“No!” Throat muscles spasmed with the force of the scream. Even though Karst knew he could not reach her in time, he had to try to save her. His body refused demands to race to Brial. He couldn’t move. 

* * * *

Available in Ebook or Paperback at Amazon
Additional sites at Books2Read

​I hope you like the snippet. Be sure to read the other Weekend Writing Warriors blogs and the #SnippetSunday authors for more great reads.

~till next time, Helen

Help Summoned, Fire and Redemption #wewriwa

 

 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write ... and read. From Fire and Redemption, Book 2 of the  fantasy series, The Tear Stone Collectors. This week's snippet continues, Sickness In The Camp. To set the scene, sickness has struck the caravan. Karst has been watching Brial, who has been exposed more than anyone else. Not only is she driving a wagon where nursing is going on within it, but she has helped nursed all her kin. And now the SundaySnippet.

Excerpt: 

Different responses raced through Karst’s mind. He didn’t want to raise a false alarm but needed Feldt’s help. “I have not kissed her forehead like the gray-haired ones do to test the heat, but Brial has stumbled several times. She is shuffling and leans on the hauler beasts to stay upright.” He paused to control his growing terror. “Tywyll and I are afraid she will fall under the hauler’s hooves or be run over by the wagons.”

Feldt stayed silent so long Karst thought he had overplayed his hand. “The evening air has a chill to it. My granddaughter does seem more flushed than called for. You were right to call me, Karst. She will not leave her post unless I order her to. Wait here. I will talk to her.”

* * * *

Available in Ebook or Paperback at Amazon
Additional sites at Books2Read

​I hope you like the snippet. Be sure to read the other Weekend Writing Warriors blogs and the #SnippetSunday authors for more great reads.

~till next time, Helen

Super Holiday Sale

Now is the time toload up your reading device with romance, magic, adventure and dragons. The Windmaster Novels and the Tear Stone Collectors in ebook format are only $1.50 at Smashwords sale through #Christmas.

 

Click here to download your eBooks. 

 

Looking for something else? All the great stories from BWL Publishing are only $1.50 in ebook format until Christmas. Act Now. The countdown has begun. Click  the following link to find your favorite new author and download your eBooks.  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/bookswelove