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    Anticipation is a big part of any travel adventure for me.  
    Several years ago I was working as one of the managers
    of Farmington Bay Bird Refuge in Northern Utah.  On one
    occasion I was doing a literature review of migration
    patterns of water birds and in the course of the review was
    reading about shorebirds of the Copper River Delta in
    Alaska...
    (click to read more)
    by Phil Douglass
    Legacy of the Ripper: - Book Review
    By Brian L. Porter








    A legacy is defined as anything handed down from the past from an ancestor.
    Some bestow monetary awards, others furniture and some even jewelry. But,in
    the case of Dr. Robert Cavendish in the book A Study in Red the legacy bestowed
    upon him was quite different. His father, when he died, had his journals given to
    Robert by his solicitor and the end result was anything but rich, gratifying or happy...
    (Go to Book Reviews to read more)

    I give this book: 5 Ripperologists to help solve the crimes and Five Sergeant
    Wright’s to assist.

    Fran Lewis: REVIEWER
    Romance Writing Tip

    Writing is an essential form of communication for children of all ages. From the
    moment they enter school, children are asked to express their ideas in some
    form of writing or oral communication. As educators, we must model, guide and
    create experiences for our students to experience different them explore and
    develop their individual creativity.

    This book is designed to help teachers motivate reluctant writer and incorporate
    many different ideas and skills to help them enjoy writing.

    These are some of the prompts that I used with my students as the Writing Staff
    Developer in my school...(click to read more on the Writing & Promoting page)

    Writing Tips by Fran Lewis
Videos
    Sneak Peak into:
    Secrets to Die For, Chapter 1

    L.J. Sellers
    Author of the Detective Jackson mysteries The Sex Club, Secrets to Die For, The
    Baby Thief

    Raina shut off the motor and glanced up at the puke-green doublewide with a
    chunk of plywood over the front window. The near dusk couldn’t hide the broken
    dreams of the trailer’s occupants, Bruce and Cindy Gorman. Raina wasn’t here to
    see them. She was here for Josh, their eight-year-old son.

    As a children’s support advocate, Raina had been assigned to monitor Josh six
    months ago, when the state of Oregon had taken temporary custody and placed
    the boy in foster care. Her primary (click to read more)
    I believe that happiness is often having something to look
    forward to–
    “Like one that stands upon a promontory, And spies a far-
    off shore where he would tread–wishing his foot were
    equal with his eye…”

    -Shakespeare
The Mud Puddle
by Kim Reale Johnson

Ms. Johnson collects a lot of antique glass
negatives. This painting is
(click to read more)
The Worrying Whys Within
by Sarah Rahman

The worrying whys still haunt my mind

And the Acherontic aura surrounds me

Neither letting me live nor letting me die

The story still confounds me

Had it been the Divine play or the   
Tempter’s little game

The miraculous reality of my life or a
hallucinating dream frame
(click to read more)
Michelle Marcos

WICKEDLY EVER AFTER, by Michelle Marcos

I just love writing about bad girls. I am drawn to them in spite of their imperfections...maybe even
because of them. There's an old adage that says every villain is the hero of his own story. Well,
I want to know what makes bad girls tick. So I opened the doors on a place called The Pleasure
Emporium, London's most notorious bordello. In this series, the heroines are surrounded by
scarlet women, making them a little pink around the edges, but that's precisely what makes
them so irresistible to our heroes.
(click to read more of this Interview)
Seeing
Photo by Joanne Gallant-Chilton
Poetry by Jeanne Rippley
Eyes are only a vehicle for creation.
In the pool of soul behind them
all possibilities stream into a reality
seen only by the fearless heart.
(click to see more Photos)
Kim Reale
Mainely Classic Art By Kim
Phil Douglass,
Regional Wildlife Manager,
Conservation Outreach
Utah Div of Wildlife Resources
Ceremony
by Kimberlee Medicine Horn Jackson,
Yankton Sioux

    I had the honor of witnessing a Lenape Nation wedding this weekend. It was, without
    question, the most moving wedding ceremony I have ever seen.

    The church was nature, a circle of woodlands, open blueness of sky, downy clouds
    floating, and the breezes. The bride wore a halo of flowers in her hair flowing loose
    down her back. She wore a simple white garment, and stood in her bare feet. The
    groom wore white trousers and white shirt with red ribbons. His hair was in a pony
    tail. To see the two together, it was natural for them to be husband and wife.

    The ceremony was spoken in the simple yet bold language of the tribal chief. He
    explained.....(click to read more of this short story)
"The Fighter King"
by John Bowers
    Oliver looked down the slope again. The grade was steep, but climbable. Vegetation
    had been cleared to deny cover to the enemy, but there were depressions and
    occasional boulders. Even so, the Sirians making their way upward looked terribly
    exposed. They were only two hundred yards out now, still climbing. At the base of
    the gorge, Oliver saw another battalion getting ready. They would soon follow.
    "When we open fire," he told Pedersen, "take your time and aim your shots. No
    need for full auto until they get closer. Got that? This is just like a rifle range."
    "Except the targets can shoot back," she reminded him.
    He grinned at her. "You'll do okay. Just remember your training."
    Pedersen gazed down the slope at the oncoming Sirians and Oliver sensed her
    tension. He remembered his first real combat, and sympathized.
    "Right now," he said, "it's best to keep your head down. Wait until they get closer."
    "How much closer?"
    "A hundred yards or less."
    She heaved a deep sigh and......(click to read more of the Sneak Peek)

"To Tempt the Wolf "
byTerry Spear
www.terryspear.com

Mist covered the winding coastal road on the long drive home, and although Tessa usually felt
comforted by it, late this afternoon it seemed gloomy, warning of impending disaster. The last
time she felt an overwhelming sense of doom, she had learned her parents had died in a car
accident earlier on a day just like this one, her last year at high school. She shuddered, despite
telling herself the disquieting feeling didn’t mean anything.

When she finally pulled into the curved driveway at her redwood home overlooking the rugged
coastline, she couldn’t shake the feeling that
something wasn’t right. A winter-chilled breeze played music on her wind chimes as the
contorted pines stretching next to her house stirred. She glanced at the gray clouds. As cold as
it was, if it rained, it would turn to sleet or snow or a mixture of the two soon.

She climbed out of her car, shivered, and locked the doors. The place looked foreboding now
that her brother was gone. Not the welcome refuge it had always been.

She hurried into the house, the air as chilly inside as it was out, and rushed to change in the
bedroom.

After laying her wool coat on the cedar chest at the foot of the bed, she turned on the floor
heater, and pulled off her black dress. Black as if she were in mourning. Which she was all over
again. The house seemed so empty without.....
(click to read more of this Sneak Peek)

African Princess
non-fiction by Natalie Williams
www.natalie-williams.com

    I grabbed the wood of my staff. It was warm in the hot baking sun. Without it I
    would have been lost; my steady friend. I moved it in my fingers. It was rough
    and the heat it had absorbed in the hours of my journey pulsed through the teak
    wood fibres, through into my skin and bones. The wood was uneven and I
    cautiously ran my fingers down to its base, expecting a splinter but I felt no stab
    or prick. The knobbles and dark markings that mottled its fibrous coat were part
    of my staff. Just like the African earth I stood in and was covered with my staff’s
    damaged parts were beautiful. I looked down at my hands, happy in the silence.
    The lines in my hands were marked out from the red earth I’d climbed up in.
    There is a legend, you know. They say the earth in Africa is so red that you can
    see the blood of fallen warriors flowing through it. I imagined the Zulu warriors of
    old fighting with spears and skin shields, in the midday hours in the same
    grasslands I had passed through only moments before.

    Disturbed from my reverie by the team, I turned to look what was happening
    behind me. Our guide was poised on one of the outlying boulders looking over
    the grasslands by the waterhole. One of the men whispered to him, “what is It
    bût?”  “Sssh.” Our team leader held his hand up to silence him and pointed to
    the left of the horizon. We stood marking the silence, the heat cascading off the
    earth in mirage-like waves, until towards the left rising slope we saw a herd of
    antelope strolling through the grasslands. The majestic herd leader strode tall,
    chewing the cud at the front of the herd and looked over to where we stood,
    watching.  He locked eyes with me, moment to moment, as keen to understand
    my presence there as I was to understand his.....(read more of this Sneak Peek)
See this and other videos at our Videos Page.
"My Angel"
Coloured Pencils on Paper.
Carol Walden writes, "This
drawing is inspired by my
fascination with all things
'otherworldly' I have painted and
drawn many portraits, most of
which are of people who have
passed over.
(click to read more)
LOOKING TO VOLUNTEER?
by VS Grenier


Many shelters need the help of volunteers to operate. Here is a list of websites and links.  
Google--No Kill Animal Shelters to find more.  

Volunteer and feel the rewards.    

•   Hearts United for Animals is a “No-Kill” shelter, located in Nebraska.  They do adoptions and
rescues in both the U.S. and Canada. For more information visit:www.hua.org

•   PETS ALIVE is a “No-Kill” animal shelter,located near New York City.  Their mission is
to rescue and place animals in need. For more information .....
(click on Articles)
ASK PAT
Online Discussion
with Author Pat Bertram
Wandering Pam
Travel the World
with Pamposh Dhar  
"Moon Gazing" by Artistst David Burk
There are moments in our childhood we
become adults, we may see little things
that remind us of – even magnify –
those moments in time. For Sam, a full
moon will always hold so much meaning
to him as an adult.
(More of David's Art)
Can it be TOO big?
by F. Jay Robins

    I talked to several people who had one to gather their thoughts on size and how to
    determine what the best size might be.  As you might imagine some have small one’s,
    some have medium sized one’s, some have what most would call large ones and a few
    have really big ones.  I got lots of opinions on the subject, ranging from the pro’s and
    con’s for wide or narrow one’s and for long and short one’s.  There were a lot of good
    ideas on the smallest details that should be considered and included when ranking the
    options and features most admired.  Structure is important since this is probably the
    most important feature to keeping it erect for the long term.  Probably the most often
    repeated phrase that I got from almost everyone is that “you can’t build them big
    enough”.  I am talking about options for my new ....(read more & see photos in Articles)
What do You Call an Unpublished Writer?
Puzzled in Pacuda

An unpublished writer is a writer, of course. All it takes to be a writer is to write, and going by the
proliferation of blogs on the Internet, almost all of us are writers.

Being a novelist is something completely different. You need to be a writer, certainly, but you
also need to know the elements of storytelling, how to create characters that come alive, how to
describe a scene without losing the momentum of the story. And then you need to put it all
together into a cohesive whole that engages the reader’s attention.

But most of all, you need to actually write the novel, to put your idea into words and get it down
on paper or into your word processor. That takes discipline. So does rewriting the same novel
perhaps a dozen times until you get it right. Because, as we all know, there are no great writers,
only great rewriters.

What is the first thing you should do when you finish your novel?
Confused in Connecticut

The first thing you do when you finish your novel is (read more & Ask Pat your writing questions)

Claude Monet’s House and Gardens
in Giverny, France

"My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece." – Monet, 19th century French painter

I have long loved Claude Monet’s fabulous impressionist paintings, especially his water lilies, so
beautifully displayed at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris.  Many of these were painted in Monet’
s own gardens in the village of Giverny, where the artist lived and painted for the last 43 years
of his life.

Many years ago, I decided I wanted to see the natural beauty of the gardens that Monet himself
had planted and tended, and which had then inspired some of his best work as a painter.

In Paris, I hopped on a train moving towards ........
(read more of this Article & ask travel questions)
Taking Wings
A Poetry Session
with Poet Jeanne Riple

Tips For Writing Inspirational Poetry

If you have been trying to write poems and sense they lack substance, it may be that you need
to go deeper into your experience. Does this resonate for you? If so, read below for more. As
you know, writing poetry requires each word to count. It is often difficult to find the balance of
enough words so that we connect with the reader but not having so many words that the reader
loses interest.

When I was writing for my first book, Wings to Fly, I threw away several poems because I
realized that I didn’t have passion or a focus. I believe that when we draw from a deeper well of
passion, ideas and words flow easier. I asked myself: Why am I not writing about what is central
to my life? When I ........  
(Join the Session & ask question of the Poet)
Watercolor quilts get their name from their
resemblance to watercolor paintings.  They are
designed and assembled from 2" squares of  
Watercolor quilts get their name from their
fabric  to form impressionistic scenes. They
make wonderfully colorful wall hangings for
your home or office.
(Click to see Art, Crafts & Poetry Gallery)
    Title: Getting your book Published for Dummies
    Reviewed by: Jo Linsdell

    Review:

    Getting your Book Published for Dummies is an easy to use reference that will
    guide you through the publishing industry, introducing you to the key roles and
    breaking down the various stages of a books development from idea to published
    product.

    Sarah Parsons Zackheim worked in book publishing for nearly a decade before
    becoming a widely published freelance writer. Adrian Zackheim is Associate
    Publisher of the General Books Group at HarperCollins Publishers and has also
    worked as an editor of fiction and non fiction. Their combined experience makes
    them more than qualified to write this comprehensive guide.

    The book is broken down into easy ..................
    (more at Book Reviews)
    Her Patchwork Family, Love Inspired Historical, by Lyn Cote (www.LynCote.net) to
    be released December 8, 2009
    Chapter One

    Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 1867

    In her gray Quaker bonnet and dress, Felicity Gabriel approached the gathering
    of mourners at the memorial service on the windy hillside and tried to blend in,
    hide her presence. The pastor was speaking beside the brand new stone marker
    which would memorialize the life of Augustus Josiah Mueller, 1846-1865. Felicity
    listened to the familiar comforting scriptures of death and victory. But even more
    she tried to remember Gus, her oldest and dearest friend, before the war had
    stolen him away and left him in an unmarked grave somewhere in Virginia.

    Her mind brought up childhood images of Gus and she picking wild raspberries,
    their faces smeared with scarlet berry juice. Then the two of them learning how to
    ride that old mule his father had taken in trade. The mule had taken off with them,
    giving them a wild ride till it bucked them off into the Mueller’s farm pond. Felicity
    smiled, recalling how Gus had started laughing as if he’d just been highly
    entertained. And then because he was a boy, he had thrown mud at her. Felicity
    grinned, feeling her pinched mouth spreading wide into a glad smile.

    “What are you grinning about?”  The voice Felicity had dreaded flicked and
    snapped her like the sharp tongue of a whip.

    “I was remembering Gus........(read more at Sneak Peek)
ONE NIGHT WITH YOU
Francis Ray
Release date 11/03/09

CHAPTER ONE

Duncan McBride knew trouble when he saw it and he was looking at it in spades.
He could handle sudden snowstorms, droughts, brush fires, and ornery or sick
livestock with grit and determination.  He planned to leave his mark on the land, and
for that, he knew he had to work hard.

However, no matter how he wished otherwise, there were times he'd come out on the
losing end.  He didn't like it, but he accepted the harsh truth and worked harder so
that the next time he'd walk away the winner.

Standing on the front porch of his ranch house east of Billings, Montana on a
beautiful summer morning, Duncan dispassionately watched a woman emerge from
the driver’s side of a dusty black Jeep that had seen better days.  Before her booted
foot hit the paved driveway, he knew trouble had come again to the Double D Ranch.

Long-legged, elegantly shaped with generous breasts, she had a small waist and
come-hither hips that gently flared in body-hugging jeans.  Those features alone
would have been enough
to ........
(read more at Sneak Peek)
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below for info or to buy.
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