Grace's Mosaic Moments


Sunday, October 13, 2024

Hurricanes I Have Known

 My phone is managing Text & Talk, transferring photos not so much. Hopefully, a local hurricane pic or two by next week.

On the lighter side, posted to Facebook before the storm . . .

 

Below, posted without location. 
Best guess:  somewhere along 
Florida's Gulf Coast.

 





 

 

~ * ~

HURRICANES I HAVE KNOWN

As I was mentally running through the list of hurricanes I've endured, I realized the post might be WAY too long, so I'll attempt to confine myself to the two most memorable storms while I lived in New England.

The only date I remember is my first hurricane, as it was my father's birthday:  September 21, 1938. From our home in Mansfield, MA, we drove 25 miles to Providence, RI, planning to spend the morning shopping, taking in a movie in the afternoon. As we wandered around downtown, my father, a Nebraska farmboy, kept sniffing the air, frowning, finally saying, "If we were in Nebraska, I'd call this 'tornado weather'." Shortly after lunch, he declared we were going home. I remember crying because I had been promised a movie. By the time we got our car and started to drive out of town, green balls of fire were leaping out of transformers and even at age five I knew Daddy was right. This was BAD. I was ordered to lie flat on the floor in the rear seat and I did, surfacing only when I heard my parents exclaiming about half-way home. I will never forget the sight of a portly policeman standing with his hand against a giant tree, motioning all cars to move to the far side of the road as they drove by. 

We made it home safely but later discovered that 20 minutes after we left, the tidal wave (now called storm surge) came in, putting 15' of water in the lot where we had parked our car. And a man in our town was one of the 700 casualties when, all unsuspecting—nobody knew anything about hurricanes at that time—he went out to check on his business during the eye of the storm, and the eyewall came back with such force he was thrown through the store's plate glass window. Why 700 casualties? Because absolutely NO ONE knew that storm was out there. So everyone was caught by surprise, as most of the Rhode Island shoreline was washed away, as well as portions of Connecticut and Massachusetts. Allegedly, wind gauges broke at 200 mph.

Many years later, my parents and I would stay in the home of friends on the RI shore. The original house on that property had been swept a mile inland and deposited upright and in one piece on a vacant property. The house owners rebuilt on the original location. And, oh yes, the story is, the old house must have been swept OVER the power lines, as they did not break!

After that, hurricanes seemed to have found the track to New England, and thankfully, weather-forecasting improved. I experienced a number of storms over the years, though nothing to compare with '38, thank God. And then when I was married, with young children, and living on waterfront property in Branford, CT, another memorable storm came my way. We weren't too worried as our house was an 1830 Federal, set about 100 feet back from the beach, and had obviously survived many a storm in its time. Also, we were protected by the jetty of the nearby yacht club and hulking bulk of Long Island eighteen miles across the sound.

BUT we were wakened early in the morning by a roaring noise, which turned out to be a mini-tornado, which crashed one of our three huge oak trees on top of our porch roof. It came so close to our bedroom that one tiny branch poked a hole through the screen. The porch, added sometime around the turn of the 20th c., was solid as rock, no repair needed.

The wind roared and screamed for most of the day, but no more damage that we could see. Until  we finally dared poke our noses out and discovered the electric cable to the house was down across the garage door. Not severed but just lying there. The rose hedge to the right of our lawn was lying flat in multiple directions, confirming they were laid low by a tornado, not the hurricane. My huge front garden, near the beach (maybe 5' by 50') was pretty much flattened. Not a disaster, except a week later we were scheduled to host the wedding of our neighbors' daughter on our lawn. (I ended up staking nearly every flower in the garden.)

As for the electrical cable, my husband drove nails into the top of two 2x4s (likely left over from the playhouse my husband built for our three kids) and he and my sons—while I watched, cringing—managed to maneuver the downed electrical cable into the spaces between the nails and raise the cable above the garage door so we could get the cars in and out.

Three days without power. Fortunately, sunny days. Twins in the neighborhood, classmates of my older son, power-sawed our poor tree into maneuverable pieces. But we had just had $700 worth of food delivered to our basement freezer, and we lost it all. On the third day my neighbor went out on his back porch and howled out over the salt marsh to the east of us—a long, loud wail from a staid Yale professor that spoke for all of us. Then, finally, light. Except our electrical cable was still riding on 2x4s and it finally occurred to us that maybe the power company didn't know about our problem. (They were, in fact, quite surprised to see our home-grown remedy.)

As for the wedding . . . I even managed to get some of the rose hedge back in place before the big event. The weather was sunny; all went without a hitch. But that hurricane, like the infamous '38, was one I've never forgotten.

~ * ~

Featured book:  my first Romantic Suspense, originally written for an early ebook publisher. The setting: the central Gulf Coast town that was my home for 25 years before my move to the Orlando area to be near the grandgirls. (The Venice area was hit hard by Milton this week, including houses inundated with sand!) 

Back to Shadowed Paradise: In addition to using real settings, I incorporated the personal cultural shock I encountered after moving from New Haven's Yale community to a mix of genuine Florida rednecks, mid-Western retirees, and a plethora of "snowbirds" (winter residents only).

 



Shadowed Paradise: a New England widow, 
a Florida "cowboy" & a serial killer


When Claire Langdon's affluent, near-fairytale life in New York is shattered by scandal, she and her eight-year-old son Jamie take refuge with her grandmother in Florida. Once a bright, confident young woman, Claire has been so badly hurt that when she stumbles onto a genuine downhome hero, learning to trust, to love again, seem beyond her reach. She is also forced to deal with the discovery that there are more serious dangers in Florida than alligators, snakes, spiders, and macho males. Like a serial killer, with her name on his list.

Reviews:

"Marvelously versatile, wondrously creative, intelligently written and sensuously inventive, Bancroft's Shadowed Paradise adds new meaning to the therm 'romantic suspense.' . . . as fresh as tomorrow and seriously scary. I loved it."
Celia Merenyi, A Romance Review

"Shadowed Paradise contains all the elements I so enjoy in a book, excellent dialogue, great character development and fine descriptive scenes. The romance is steamy, the suspense is taut and exciting, and the result is a supremely satisfying, well-developed read, guaranteed to keep you glued throughout."
Astrid Kinn, Romance Reviews Today

~ * ~

 For a link to Blair's websiteclick here. 

For Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*
*with new posts 

For recent blogs, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)  

 

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Writing Tip - Dialogue & More

*** Sunday, October 13, 2024 - "Hurricanes I Have Known" ***



Entitled "Two for Tuesday" (Susan Coventry)



 

 DIALOGUE & MORE

Every once in a while I post one of the umpteen articles I wrote over the nine years when Grace's Mosaic Moments was primarily devoted to Writing & Editing tips. Today's article is copied verbatim from the version found in Making Magic with Words, a compilation of posts from 2011-2019, organized by topic and indexed to make it easy to find what you want. (Strongly recommended over plowing your way through my Blog Archives.)

I had to laugh as I read over this particular post, as in my current Work in Progress, I frequently revert to old-time Author POV, telling the story instead of showing it. I also offer quick peeks inside the heads of everyone from the butler to the kitchen maid; basically "head-hopping" all over the place. I guess, after fifty-some books, a change of pace is always welcome. (Perhaps this is a case of "Do as I say, not as I do.)

What you see below is, I believe, still the general attitude of editors and so-called experts, so it's probably a good idea to consider the advice carefully before wandering off the expected path.


June 20, 2015

WRITING WORKSHOP 8 - Dialogue & More


Dialogue.  Dialogue has become the cheater's way out. It's easier to write, easier to read than narrative, so why not have lots and lots of it? Yes, clever dialogue has become a “must” in almost all sub-genres of romance (and most other fiction as well), but that doesn't mean you should forget Narrative. When you've finished a scene with lots of dialogue, go back and take a good look. Did you charge through the scene with only short tags* or no tags without inserting any actions or thoughts?

Ask yourself not only:  Is this dialogue good? But does it move the story forward? Reveal personality? Establish conflict? Or is this "chitchat over coffee"—insignificant and going nowhere? Basically, do not write dialogue for nothing more than its face value. Cute or clever is not enough on its own. Dialogue must have a purpose. It must be part of the longer story. And never forget that dialogue must sound natural. The words should be appropriate for the time period and tailored to fit the mouths of each individual character.

*Tags are: he said, she asked, he growled, she whispered, etc.

Pacing.  A lot of things can hurt the pacing of your story. Are you bogging it down with extraneous detail or venturing into side trips that take the story nowhere? (For example, too much on secondary characters, too little on the hero and heroine.)  Are you "telling" instead of "showing"? Put simply, are you looking at your story from the outside, telling your readers what is happening, like a storyteller of old? Or are you getting inside your main characters' heads and letting us see the story through their eyes—see what they see, hear what they hear, feel what they feel? In short, Showing is active, Telling is passive. Showing grabs the readers' attention; Telling usually puts them to sleep.

Are your sentences convoluted? Are you using twenty words when ten would be more clear and move the story along faster? Keep in mind that excellent bit of advice, "Less is more."

Or perhaps your sentences are too bare. You forgot to add color, descriptions, settings, and/or enough background information so readers can understand what's going on. That also slows the pace because readers are skipping back pages, trying to find answers that aren't there. This mistake, of course, can be lethal, resulting in your book ending up, unfinished, in the Goodwill box.

Or perhaps you wrote several pages of background information before you got to the meat of your story? Inevitably, this puts readers to sleep. As most of you know, Backstory needs to be worked in a bit at a time, rather than in a single information dump.

Grace note: However, in a great many contests I've judged, I've found the fault lies in the opposite direction.  So many authors have been warned about "backstory" that they put in none at all, resulting in total confusion. The reader simply has no idea of Who, What, Where, and When. (“Why” can wait; the others can’t.)

Sometimes lack of sufficient information is due to something I call “Synopsitis.”

Synopsitis.  In the 400+ contests I've judged over the last fifteen-plus years, I've encountered one particular mistake so often, I've given it a name:  Synopsitis. That's what happens when you write a concise synopsis, explaining who your characters are, where they are, what the plot is, etc., and then you begin the book as if every reader has read your synopsis. Since only an editor or agent ever sees your synopsis, the reader is left in total confusion, having NO idea what is going on. Burn this into your brain: Everything you want your readers to know must be in the pages of the manuscript. This also applies to books in a series. Each new book must work in character identifications and something about the action in the previous books. Always approach the next book in a series as if your reader has not read any of the earlier books, or if he/she did, memory has failed.

Point of View.
   A controversial and somewhat flexible topic, depending on what genre you're writing, which publishing house you're targeting. General rule:  tell the story through the eyes of the hero, the heroine, and a villain (if applicable). Some publishing houses allow up to five or more POVs, usually for established authors only. No publisher, NY or e, accepts "head hopping" —leaping from one POV to another, sometimes within a paragraph.*

I personally have never gone along with strict POV rules, but if you are a newbie wanting to attract an agent or editor, I strongly recommend you consider following the above advice. It's all too easy to allow secondary POVs to detract from the h/h. [And sticking to the POVs of hero & heroine only is a must if you're writing Category (all those shorter books in series published by Harlequin/Silhouette and some e-publishers).]

Many "experts" also advise you to stay in one POV for an entire scene. If you must switch, try to do it near the middle so the POVs are relatively balanced. Not my personal cup of tea, but it's good advice for a beginner who wants to break into the market.

Whatever you do, do not give readers a whole plethora of POVs, as I recently encountered in a  book I trashed after three chapters. By that time readers had seen inside the heads of the hero, heroine, their friends, and several different villains, revealing every aspect of the plot and leaving nothing to the imagination. No room for speculation. No suspense, no mystery. So, yes, you can play with the so-called rules, but keep in mind there's a reason for a relatively small number of POVs. This is a case where following the "rules" just might help you write a better book.

*Grace note update: 
Publishers have become somewhat more flexible about Point of View since this post was written, but I still recommend that beginners avoid anything even remotely resembling “head hopping.” 

~ * ~

 For a link to Blair's websiteclick here. 

For Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*
*with new posts 

For recent blogs, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)   

 

Saturday, September 14, 2024

Two "Improvised" Salads

  REMINDER

99¢ sale will end September 30 - at Amazon and most other online vendors

The Sometime Bride  (Regency Warrior Series)

Brides of Falconfell  (Regency Gothic Series)

Matthew Wolfe - The Adventures Begin (Matthew Wolfe Series)

Rebel Princess (Blue Moon Rising Series)

 ~ * ~

Words we all need to read—and, yes, it's a poem, but don't panic! Take the time to read it as if it were a book . . .


Taken from an ad on Facebook 



Sent to me by my daughter-in-law
And no, I don't know what city that is.

*****

On Friday, September 13, I posted the following to Facebook. Decided it was worth repeating on my blog:

Dictionary definitions for our time:

LIAR. A person who lies.
CONGENITAL LIAR. One who lies all the time.
MISOGYNIST. Woman-hater
RACIST. One who believes that one's own race is superior.
FASCIST. A person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views.
MEGALOMANIAC. One who has a highly exaggerated or delusional concept of their own importance.

~ * ~

 

TWO "IMPROVISED" SALADS

 Living alone, I rarely have an opportunity to make a big salad, but when that was my contribution to our Labor Day family gathering, I went all out, throwing in everything but the kitchen sink. Here is what I call . . .

Grace's "Everything" Salad

 No amounts are given as it depends entirely on how many you're feeding. I bought two containers of mixed greens (various types of arugula).

Mixed greens
Coarsely chopped pecans
Pine nuts
Dried cranberries (if refrigerated, take out early to warm up)
Diced cucumber (c. ½")
Red onion, sliced thin
Crumbled Feta Cheese w/garlic  & herb
Sliced green olives
Hard-boiled eggs, sliced (save 3 slices for topping)*
Fresh herbs - basil, oregano, thyme, mint**

Serve with a choice of salad dressings, (preferably without chemical preservatives!)

*I used 3 eggs.

**Those were all the herbs the Florida summer left me. Whatever herbs you can scrounge up are fine. Dried herbs only if you absolutely must.

***************

 There's a story behind the next salad. I tried a chicken recipe I saw on Facebook, and was disappointed that the sauce could barely be tasted. This may have been because the three chicken breasts I bought a Publix were ENORMOUS and did not fit the amounts in the original recipe. In any event, I needed to do something to make the two leftover chicken breasts more tasty. So . . . I took a single chicken breast and cubed it - resulting in a startling amount of meat. I had half a bag of frozen corn in the freezer. Nuked that until it was warm; then gently warmed up the leftover chicken. Added a bag of microwave rice I had on hand (ready in 90 seconds), then added a few more normal salad ingredients: fresh herbs, capers, sliced green olives. I then discovered I had enough for 2 or 3 meals for someone with a small appetite. So I loaded a generous helping into a SOUP bowl (as this was full-meal salad) and topped my warm mix with salad dressing. And guess what? It was fabulous! And I had leftovers to warm for the next night.

Come to think of it, this "salad" could also be made, using frozen ready-cooked chicken pieces.


Chicken/Corn/Rice Salad 

1-2 cooked chicken breasts, cubed
Frozen corn, warmed
1 pkg. of microwave rice, cooked (your choice of flavor)
Fresh herbs*
Capers
Sliced olives**

Serve warm with your choice of salad dressing.

*Whatever herbs you have available. Dried, if no other choice
**Green or black, your choice 

*************** 

Don't forget Blair's latest GothicThe Abandoned Daughter 

~ * ~

 For a link to Blair's websiteclick here. 

For Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*
*with new posts 

For recent blogs, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)   

 

Saturday, September 7, 2024

Second Books in all 4 "Sale" series

From Facebook - No Captions Needed:




 

 REMINDER

On 99¢ sale through September 30 - at Amazon and most other online vendors

The Sometime Bride  (Regency Warrior Series)

Brides of Falconfell  (Regency Gothic Series)

Matthew Wolfe - The Adventures Begin (Matthew Wolfe Series)

Rebel Princess (Blue Moon Rising Series)

~ * ~

Though not currently on sale, here's a peek at the second book in each series:

 

Regency Warrior Series - Book 2 of 6


On the night before the final battle in one of the most harrowing retreats in British Army history, a colonel wagers his only child in a game of cards. She is rescued by Major Nicholas Tarleton, who marries Julia Litchfield the next day, but only as he is dying. Julia, a hardy soul who has followed the drum all her life, takes over her husband's estate, becoming a heroine to Nicholas's tenant farmers, and is developing an interest in a new man when totally unexpected events plunge her into a conflict of love and honor that might have challenged Solomon himself.

Reviews Excerpts:

"A real historical novel, TARLETON'S WIFE places the author in the ranks with Victoria Holt and a handful of other writers of romantic fiction that I have read, reread, and loved." Patricia White, Word Museum

"TARLETON'S WIFE . . . is filled with action and emotion, and with well drawn, realistic characters headed by a strong, admirable and totally likable heroine. The author has extraordinary ability to bring her characters to life and to create a real world around them." Lily Martin, Romance Communication

"Ms Bancroft has a clear voice and the potential to be another Mary Jo Putney or Mary Balogh." Kathe Robin, Romantic Times

"This is a very well written piece, painted with rich history and wonderfully drawn characters. We will be seeing much more from this brilliant author." April Redmon, Under the Covers 


Regency Gothic Series - Book 2 of 12


Penelope Ruth Ballantyne has lived at the tail of the army all her life, experiencing the rigors of life in India, followed by five years of war in Portugal and Spain. Not surprisingly, now that she is orphaned, she accepts the most challenging position available, companion to an invalid who lives on the edge of Exmoor in northern Devonshire. After years of constant travel, Penny longs to settle under one roof, find a true home. Instead, she encounters hysteria, mysterious deaths, a nasty rival, and the constant fear of dismissal as she attracts the attention of more than one young gentleman in the household. Though the only one she truly sees is Robert, Lord Exmere, heir to Moorhead Manor. Together, they face a startling dilemma worthy of the judgment of Solomon.

 

The Matthew Wolfe Series - Book 2 of 3


At the risk of being taken up by Bow Street, Matthew Wolfe returns to London, hoping to discover some clue to his heritage, which just might be royal. But, of course, almost nothing goes as he hoped. Not even the role he had eagerly anticipated as one of Harding's Hellions. Yet becoming an adventurer has some unanticipated benefits, such as acquiring an elegant mistress a decade older than he. And discovering his former fishing companion, Jocelyn, has grown into a beauty old enough to make her come-out.

But even as a partner in a newly formed private investigation business, life does not run smoothly for Matthew. Vast sums of gold and gems are being lost to a clever gang of thieves operating on both sides of the Channel, yet Matthew and his partner are unable to capture the villains. A problem that is also keeping Matthew too busy to explore that ever-tantalizing trail that might lead to royal relatives. And then, just as he is on the verge of combining his search for the thieves with the long-postponed search for his heritage, yet another dramatic problem crops up.

Warning: The Matthew Wolfe series is a return to an old tradition - one long story told in installments, each with a cliff-hanger ending. So do not expect Happily Ever After until the final book.

 

The Blue Moon Rising Series - Book 2 of 4*

 

Princess M'lani of the pacifist planet Psyclid, where almost everyone but M'lani is gifted with some kind of psychic ability, has agreed to marry Jagan Mondragon, the Sorcerer Prime. Jagan fled their planet when it was invaded by the Regulon Empire, but has now returned, supposedly to lead his people in rebellion against the Occupation. But he's been dragging his feet about it, and when he finally shows up, he has his mistress with him. If that weren't enough of a problem, M'lani develops a not-so-welcome psychic gift, and then there's that prickly long-time rebel leader, T'kal Killiri, and the antics of M'lani's younger brother, who speaks only through illusions. Freedom for the obscure, peace-loving planet of Psyclid seems a long way away.

* The spin-off, The Crucible Kingdom, makes 5.

~ * ~

Don't forget Blair's latest GothicThe Abandoned Daughter 

~ * ~

 For a link to Blair's websiteclick here. 

For Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*
*with new posts 

For recent blogs, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)