Six Sentence Sunday

Another excerpt from my November release, ‘Her Only Option’.

 

Neve is irritated at being disturbed by a man, albeit rather an attractive one, on the neighbouring sundeck. Thinking he’s a smooth-talking poser trying to chat her up, she informs him she’s a tour guide – but is unprepared for his response …

 

“Oh, one of those.”

 

She bristled with indignation. Not just a cruise ship Casanova, but a rude one too. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“You hear them everywhere you go,” he replied with a small shrug, “usually churning out half-baked facts from poorly written and often inaccurate guide books.”

 

Her indignation flared into annoyance.

 

He's not doing himself any favours at the moment, is he?

 

‘Her Only Option’ will be released next Thursday, November 1st, by Whiskey Creek Press.

An advance review says "Once again, Paula has penned a wonderful tale incorporating a unique story line, romance and just the right amount of conflict for her characters. This is definitely a must read by the brilliant author Paula Martin."
  

Blurb:

Neve Dalton loves her job as a tour guide on a River Nile cruise ship as much as she values her independence. She isn’t ready to settle down with her Egyptian boyfriend, despite his repeated proposals and his father’s desire to see him married.

Nor is she ready to meet Ross McAllister, a compelling and fascinating archaeologist.She struggles against her growing attraction to him until she can no longer ignore what her heart is telling her. This is the man who sets her soul on fire.

When she starts receiving cryptic messages, and Ross’s work in the famous Valley of the Kings is threatened, Neve has to make a heart-breaking and life-changing decision which she feels is her only option.

Can they discover whose enmity is forcing them apart before it’s too late?

 

Read more 6 sentence excerpts from the other Six Sentence Sunday authors here.

Vacation Happiness or Headache?

This is today's topic for Blogfest 2012 and the thought of vacations (or holidays as we Brits call them) conjures up a million different memories for me.

I've had many different vacations during my life. The first one I remember anything about was going to London when I was about eight for the Festival of Britain Exhibition, which was Britain's vision of the future after the dark days of World War II. I remember being so thrilled to see all the 'sights' of London for the first time. London has never ceased to mean something special to me, even though in the 90's I was there 10 or more times each year for meetings at Girl Guide HQ.  The most memorable occasion has to be the year I was invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace (along with about 6,000 other people!)

I could tell you about many other cities I've visited - all over Europe and in Canada and the USA too, all with their own special memories - and too numerous to mention.

Maybe the worst trip I ever went on was to Italy one Easter - and it snowed! Totally freak snowstorm at that time of year! We were staying at a spa town in the hills between Rome and Naples. It was a coach tour - but they couldn't move the coaches because of all the snow, and we were stuck in the hotel - which wasn't geared up to providing lunches or evening meals for us. Instead, we had to venture out to find something to eat - and, being Easter and a religious holiday, there was only one shop and one pizza place in the town that were open! We'd gone expecting warm weather, so had shorts and summer dresses with us. I had to live in my only pair of pants for 3 days until the snow cleared and the temperatures rose again! And I wished I taken half a dozen sweaters and not just one!

My best ever trip was to Egypt two years ago. We did a week's cruise on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan, and I visited places I'd never thought I would ever see - the ancient temples in Luxor, and on the other side of the Nile, the amazing Valley of the Kings with all the underground tombs of the Pharaohs. At Aswan, we got up at 2.30am to catch the first flight to Abu Simbel to see the sun rise over Lake Nasser and cast its golden rays over the huge statues at the entrances to the temples there - an unforgettable experience.

I can't end this 'vacation' blog without mentioning Ireland where I've had some wonderful visits. I love the country, the scenery, the history, the people - so I'll conclude with this photo of the sun going down on Galway Bay!

Judging a book by its cover

Hello, welcome to my blog. I’m the BlogFEST 2012 Host of the Day for Monday 22nd October, and I’ve chosen ‘Judging a book by its cover’ as my topic for today.

 

If you’re a writer, you’ll know that a lot of emphasis is put on book covers. I know I wait with bated breath to see my own covers. It’s said that the cover is your first chance to attract a reader. I’ll agree with that to a certain extent, having seen many book covers which don’t attract me at all. That’s usually because they represent a genre in which I don’t really have any interest. I’ve also seen a lot of beautiful and/or interesting covers. However, is it really fair to judge a book by its cover?

 

Many years ago, I used to see a man riding his bike to work every morning. He had long straggly brown hair (half way down his back) and a bushy beard, and he always wore shorts and climbing boots, whatever the weather. The local kids considered him a ‘weirdo’.

 

Jump forward twenty-odd years, and I’m directing shows with the local Musical Theatre group, and the ‘weirdo’ is one of the sound and lighting crew. I very soon learnt that Bob (not his real name) was, in fact, one of the most considerate and caring men I have ever met. Yes, he still had his long straggly hair and bushy beard, and yes, he still wore his shorts and climbing boots, but I’d been able to look past the ‘cover’ and see the real person.

 

The reverse can, of course, be equally true. The good-looking guy may turn out to be a spouse-abuser; the attractive woman may be mean, nasty and vindictive.

 

We can’t judge people by their appearance, and I think the same applies to books. Don’t judge them and leave them on the shelf because you don’t happen to like the cover!

 

Please leave me a comment below and/or write a post on your own blog! Have you been disappointed by a book with an attractive cover - or vice-versa? And what about people? Have you ever judged someone by their appearance and then discovered you were wrong about them?

I’m looking forward to reading your take on "Judging a book by its cover.”

When you are finished posting to your blog, visit our BlogFEST 2012 facebook page and leave us the URL to your post and I'll be sure to come by and read it

https://www.facebook.com/pages/BlogFEST-2012/508934629122385

Six Sentence Sunday

Continuing the excerpts from my November release, ‘Her Only Option’.

Neve Dalton is a tour guide on one of the Nile cruise ships and, in Chapter 1, she was taking a break on the sundeck on the Lady Nadia, when she realised someone on the neighbouring ship was watching her and decided he was 'Mmm, rather nice."

“I was admiring your beautiful figure.” His deep voice held the faint lilt of a Scottish accent. “I hope you don’t object?”

A shaft of disappointment quenched her initial spark of interest. For some reason, she’d expected him to be different from the smooth-talking posers who sometimes tried to chat her up. Instead, it seemed he was simply another cruise ship Casanova who thought flattering words in a deep honey-rich voice would make women fall at his feet.

Hmm, looks as if her second impression didn't live up to her first!

Blurb:

Neve Dalton loves her job as a tour guide on a River Nile cruise ship as much as she values her independence. She isn’t ready to settle down with her Egyptian boyfriend, despite his repeated proposals and his father’s desire to see him married.

 

Nor is she ready to meet Ross McAllister, a compelling and fascinating archaeologist. She struggles against her growing attraction to him until she can no longer ignore what her heart is telling her. This is the man who sets her soul on fire.

 

When she starts receiving cryptic messages, and Ross’s work in the famous Valley of the Kings is threatened, Neve has to make a heart-breaking and life-changing decision which she feels is her only option.

 

Can they discover whose enmity is forcing them apart before it’s too late?

‘Her Only Option’ will be available from Whiskey Creek Press and Amazon on November 1st.

Read more 6 sentence excerpts from the other Six Sentence Sunday authors here.

 

Six Sentence Sunday

Today I’m starting a series of sixes from my November release, ‘Her Only Option’.

Neve Dalton is a tour guide on one of the Nile cruise ships and, in Chapter 1, she’s taking some ‘time-out’ before her next tour group arrives, and is relaxing on a lounger on the sundeck of the Lady Nadia.

 

About half an hour later, conscious of something she couldn’t quite define, she half-opened one eye. A broad chest partly hidden by an unbuttoned blue shirt filled her line of vision.

 

Squinting against the brightness, she saw strong arms and well-formed hands. His slim fingers curled over the top rail of the neighbouring sundeck and she let her gaze travel down the horizontal bars. Her glance took in his strong abdominal muscles, the curve of his slim hips, clad in tight-fitting red swimming trunks and his long, muscular legs.

 

Mmm, rather nice, was her immediate reaction.

 

Blurb:

 

Neve Dalton loves her job as a tour guide on a River Nile cruise ship as much as she values her independence. She isn’t ready to settle down with her Egyptian boyfriend, despite his repeated proposals and his father’s desire to see him married.

 

Nor is she ready to meet Ross McAllister, a compelling and fascinating archaeologist. She struggles against her growing attraction to him until she can no longer ignore what her heart is telling her. This is the man who sets her soul on fire.

 

When she starts receiving cryptic messages, and Ross’s work in the famous Valley of the Kings is threatened, Neve has to make a heart-breaking and life-changing decision which she feels is her only option.

 

Can they discover whose enmity is forcing them apart before it’s too late?

 

‘Her Only Option’ will be available from Whiskey Creek Press and Amazon on November 1st.

 

Read more 6 sentence excerpts from the other Six Sentence Sunday authors here.

 

 

Six Sentence Sunday

Six more sentences from ‘Changing the Future’. For those who have been following my previous excerpts, we’re now three chapters before the end. Lisa has discovered that Paul was one of the scientists at the observation post on Mount Lakuda when it erupted and caused a huge rockslide. Now the television news report is broadcasting the last recording from the post before contact was lost.

 

She stared at the picture of Mount Lakuda on the screen, while a slightly distorted voice said, “This could be the big one—five point six and it’s still shaking, but no change yet from—”

 

Another voice broke in from somewhere in the background. “Avalanche! Paul, get inside—oh, my God—”

 

There was a roar, static crackling, and then silence.

 

Lisa stared wide-eyed at Millie, but no words would come, only a horrifying vision in her mind of a steel trailer being crushed under hundreds of rock boulders.

'Changing the Future' is available at $3.99 on Amazon
 

Many thanks for all your comments each week!
And this is where we leave Lisa and Paul (yes, I’m really mean, aren’t I?)

Next week I shall start to tease you with some excerpts from my November release, ‘Her Only Option’, a contemporary romance set in Egypt.

 

Read more 6 sentence excerpts from the other Six Sentence Sunday authors here.

 

 

Blogfest 2012 - Are you living your dream?

Today’s host for Blogfest 2012 is Corinne at http://everydaygyaan.com  The writing prompt for today is:

 

Are you living your dream?

 

This is a good one for this weekend, as I am gearing up to having a decorator here for the next two weeks, repainting all my upstairs rooms, plus the hallway, stairs and landing. In addition, once the decorating is done, I am getting a new carpet for my study. So for the next few weeks, my life will be total chaos, as I have to clear clutter from each room in turn so that the decorator can actually get to the walls. Even worse will be emptying my study in readiness for the carpet fitter –I have so much stuff in here, I have no idea where I am going to put it all!

 

If I was living my dream, I’d hand the house key to the decorator and take a long holiday preferably somewhere nice and warm, where I could sit out on a terrace with an ice-cold drink and preferably a view of the ocean – somewhere like Florida would be perfect, or maybe the Bahamas, or even Cyprus or Crete. And then I’d come home to find everything done and dusted, and some fairy godmother would have waved a wand to get everything straight and tidy in my study (as well as all the cables back into my computer!).

 

Hmm, that’s not going to happen, is it?

 

 

This post is part of the BlogFEST 2012 which is taking place each day in October (except Sundays). Every day a different blogger will act as the host and will post the topic for blogging that day, so you can look forward to a wide variety of topics to read and enjoy.

 

You can find the links to all the other blogs here https://www.facebook.com/pages/BlogFEST-2012/508934629122385

 

If you want to join in, post your blog on the topic of the day and leave your blogpost URL on this Facebook page, so that others can visit your blog. Don’t forget to ‘like’ the page too!

Blogfest 2012 - Online Courses?

Today’s host for Blogfest 2102 is Toni Lynn Ferro-Cloutier at www.tonilynncloutier.com and the topic is:

Online Courses

An intriguing topic today – and one I’ve never really thought about before. I’ve never taken any online courses, in writing or anything else. I once went (in real life) to a 6 week ‘Creative writing’ course about twelve years ago, but didn’t find it very useful, unless you wanted to write pretty adjective-laden descriptions of sunsets or flash-fiction about some fairly useless topic like ‘The day I lost my shoe’.

But back to online courses, and here I'm referring to 'writing courses' rather than any other kind of course. Would I sign up for one? No, probably not. Why not? Well, one reason is that there are masses of articles online about every aspect of writing (some of which I agree with, some I don’t.) There’s plenty out there, for free, so I don’t see the point of paying for something when you don’t need to!

I consider myself a fairly proficient writer. That’s not to say I know everything about it. I don’t, and I’m always willing to listen to others’ advice and opinions, or to check things out on the internet. I find, too, that I learn something new with every book I write. 

What about new writers? Personally, I tend to think that the best ‘training’ for new writers is firstly to read, read, read, and secondly to write! Read all you can in your preferred genre (and maybe in other genres too) to see what you like and what you don’t like about the author’s style, characters and plot. And then write! Maybe find a couple of critique partners, too, who will give you honest feedback and constructive criticism. That, to me, is probably more valuable than any online course.

This post is for BlogFEST 2012 which is taking place each day in October (except Sundays). Every day a different blogger will act as the host and will post the topic for blogging that day, so you can look forward to a wide variety of topics to read and enjoy.

 

You can find the links to all the other blogs here https://www.facebook.com/pages/BlogFEST-2012/508934629122385

 

If you want to join in, post your blog on the topic of the day and leave your blogpost URL on this Facebook page, so that others can visit your blog. Don’t forget to ‘like’ the page too!

Thursday Tour of NW England - the village of Wycoller

Wycoller is a small village a few miles from Colne in East Lancashire, very near to the Yorkshire border. Its name comes from the Anglo-Saxon Wic-Air, meaning a dairy farm among the alder trees.

 

In the past, it was a sheep farming community, with a cluster of small stone houses where handloom weavers worked. My 4 x great-grandfather lived in Wycoller as a child in the late 18th century and became a weaver. The invention of the powerloom, however, led to the end of the cottage industry, and families moved to live nearer to the weaving mills. The next four generations of my family worked in the mills in Trawden and Winewall.

 

The village was virtually abandoned for almost a century but was brought back to life by a volunteer group, “The Friends of Wycoller”. The old stone houses have now been restored, and are highly sought after, and the area around the village has been developed into Wycoller Country Park, with trails and walks, and a wildlife trust.

 

The stream or ‘beck’ which runs through Wycoller has seven bridges, including an ancient packhorse bridge. There is also a Clapper Bridge which dates from the 18th century. This photo shows my great-grandfather (in the centre of the bridge) with his brother-in-law at Wycoller sometime during the first decade of the 20th century.

 

Here’s a modern photo of the two bridges nearest to the centre of the village.

 

Wycoller Hall, built by the Hartley family in the 16th century and passing by marriage to the Cunliffe family, is said to have been the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in Charlotte Bronte’s ‘Jane Eyre’. Haworth, the home of the Brontes, is not far from Wycoller and the Bronte sisters probably visited the village on their walks. By the late 1900’s, however, the hall was unoccupied and stones were removed to be used for other properties including some of the cotton mills in Trawden. Restoration work has been undertaken during the last 50 years by the Friends.

 

For those who like ghost stories, Wycoller Hall has several, including a phantom horseman. The story is that Simon Cunliffe, the squire, was pursuing a fox which ran upstairs and into his wife’s chamber. He followed on his horse and , on finding his terrified wife cowering in the corner, raised his whip as if to strike her. She dropped dead out of fright. The squire can still be seen returning to the hall. His horse’s hooves clatter over the bridge and into the hall, and these sounds are followed by a woman’s scream. The ghost then returns the way he has come. He’s supposed to appear once a year, after dark during stormy weather. The woman, wearing a long black dress, has also been ‘seen’ by several people.

This is the last of my Thursday Tour of NW England posts, as I've drawn a blank on X, Y and Z! for the rest of October, I shall be concentrating on posts for the Blogfest 2012  (and Six Sentence Sunday, too, of course).  Many thanks to all who've joined me on this tour!

Photos licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

 

Blogfest 2012 - Make a Wish

Today’s host for Blogfest 2012 is Tree Girly. The writing prompt for today is: Make a wish - what talent would you wish for?

I’ve always wished I could sing and act! In my younger days, I did try some acting, but I wasn’t very good, and as for my singing – well, forget it! Instead, I diverted my energies into directing musical shows, and encouraging/helping others who did have these talents. I directed a dozen or so shows with young people and it was so good to see them blossom from nervous ten-year-olds, who tucked themselves at the back of the chorus, into confident mid-teens taking leading roles in the shows. A couple of them even went on into the professional theatre.

As for me, well, I carry on dreaming of being Calamity Jane, Maria in The Sound of Music, Ensign Nelly Forbush in South Pacific), or Eponine in Les Mis!

Maybe my 'frustrated dream' is one of the reasons why the heroines in my two of my novels have been actresses! Jess in 'Hs Leading Lady' was an accomplished amateur actress/singer who was thrust onto the professional stage in London's West End, and found the fulfilment of her dream (as well as her dream man of course). In contract, Abbey in 'Fragrance of Violets' was suffering a crisis of confidence after failing to get the role of her dreams, but then finds out there was a reason for that ...

 

If you could play a part in any musical show, who would you like to play?

 

This post is part of the BlogFEST 2012 which is taking place each day in October (except Sundays). Every day a different blogger will act as the host and will post the topic for blogging that day, so you can look forward to a wide variety of topics to read and enjoy.

 

You can find the links to all the other blogs here https://www.facebook.com/pages/BlogFEST-2012/508934629122385

 

If you want to join in, post your blog on the topic of the day and leave your blogpost URL on this Facebook page, so that others can visit your blog. Don’t forget to ‘like’ the page too! 

Blogfest 2012 - Insomnia?

Today’s host for Blogfest 2012 is Susan at Today’s Working Woman. The writing prompt for today is “When was the last time you couldn’t sleep and why? What was the reason for not sleeping? What did you do to overcome it?”

I had insomnia trying to think what to write for this topic! No, only kidding!

I never have any problems getting to sleep at home, although I sometimes have problems waking up! Even away from home, I can usually sleep well, as long as the bed’s not too hard or too soft.

Once I’m asleep, I always say the world could end and I wouldn’t know it. I’ve slept through thunderstorms, gales, rain battering against the window – and I didn’t even wake up one night when my house was burgled. Actually, I’m quite glad about that. If I HAD heard any sounds from downstairs, I’d probably have had a heart attack from sheer fright. Fortunately he/they didn’t venture upstairs or I really would have had a heart attack! The police said afterwards they were looking for cheque books and cheque cards, and as I’d left my handbag downstairs, that was all they took. Inconvenient, but not life-threatening!

The only time I recall having ‘insomnia’ was when I was sharing a hotel room with a friend who started to snore the minute she dozed off – and continued to snore for the rest of the night! I lost count of the times I trotted across to the other bed in the room to poke or shake her. The snoring stopped until I got back into my own bed, and then started again!

 

 

This is my post for today's BlogFEST 2012 which takes place each day in October (except Sundays). Every day a different blogger will act as the host and will post the topic for blogging that day, so you can look forward to a wide variety of topics to read and enjoy.

 

You can find the links to all the other blogs here https://www.facebook.com/pages/BlogFEST-2012/508934629122385

 

If you want to join in, post your blog on the topic of the day and leave your blogpost URL on this Facebook page, so that others can visit your blog. Don’t forget to ‘like’ the page too!

Blogfest 2012 - Let's have a party!

I’m taking part in the BlogFEST 2012 which takes place each day in October (except Sundays). Every day a different blogger will act as the host and will post the topic for blogging that day, so you can look forward to a wide variety of topics to read and enjoy.

 

You can find the links to all the other blogs here https://www.facebook.com/pages/BlogFEST-2012/508934629122385

 

If you want to join in, post your blog on the topic of the day and leave your blogpost URL on this Facebook page, so that others can visit your blog. Don’t forget to ‘like’ the page too!

 

Today’s topic is Parties – and the question, ‘Are you the life of the party or do you like to sit back and be entertained? Share a party story.’

 

Hmm, this isn’t an easy one for me as it’s years since I’ve been to a party. My generation doesn’t throw parties like we did when we were younger and quite honestly I can’t really remember the last one I went to, apart from a couple of wedding parties, and my grandson’s 18th party last month (the one at home, not the one at the pub with all his mates!)

 

I think the last party at my house was when my younger daughter was 21 – and she’s now in her 40’s!!

 

The main thing I recall about parties is the contrast – the before and after! Before – everything is tidy and in its place, buffet laid out and looking good, and glasses, bottles and cans all neatly lined up. Great to sit down and relax with a drink before everyone arrived. But afterwards? Eek! Plates and glasses everywhere (some with remains of food or drink), crumbs all over the carpet and maybe a squashed sausage roll or pizza slice under the chair… But who really cared when it had been a good party?

 

I used to be somewhere in between the ‘life and soul’ type and the ‘sit-back-in-the-corner’ type. The worst party I ever remember was when someone spiked my gin and orange drink with vodka. I don’t remember much about the party but I do remember how ill I was afterwards! I’ve never been able to drink gin or vodka since then, and can't even stand the smell of them. And before anyway tells me that vodka doesn't smell, believe me, I can smell it!