Book covers and Writing

Happy Memorial Day.

I went to visit my 97 year old friend in her nursing home. She was a nurse in England during WWII. I thanked her for her service and she said, "You're Welcome."

Just like that. But what else could she say.  The times were tough, but she found out what she was made of. She saw things, places and people she would have never met but for those times. It took something from her and in return gave her something. She's a better person and yet images of those events run through her deteriorating memories. Some as friends and some still adversarial. On a good day, she talks of a doctor that she met at the hospital. He wanted to marry her and said he would find her. He never did, but sometimes she asks about him. She remembers, her heart remembers.    

She also told me how to heat up tea properly and thought it wasn't that hard. I agreed but told her that I did not have access to a stove. Her look of disgust told me she didn't believe me.

Another week of writing. I worked hard this weekend and was able to go through my entire Regency novel reviewing and reworking certain sections.  The amount of time that I have spent on this book, one would assume it has to be amazing. But you would have to know where I started to understand why it has taken years to be able to offer anything.

My daughter Jordan from http://zoundsdesigns.com/ made these covers for my modern day book. The first one I’ve posted earlier.  My second daughter, Bailey likes the first one. I like the one below the best. But there is something about the 3rd and 4th one that intrigue me.  I'd love to hear what you think. 

  

France and Writing

Like the English during Regency times, I'm intrigued by France and all things French.  Spending a day in Paris, of course was not enough but at the same time gave us a flavor for the place. The Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs-Elysees was amazing to see. Champs-Elysees is French for Elysian Fields, the paradise for dead heroes in Greek mythology. This statue was in a round-about and in the background stands the majestic Eiffel Tower. Leaving the Louvre we saw the Chateau de Vincennes on the Seine River, and on the right was what we thought looked like a church with its spire missing. An amazing place. 

Now I am making my way through reading and editing my Regency novel once again.  (Perhaps the 100th time) I scan through each page looking for grammatical mistakes and then for plot holes. My sister reviews one chapter a week doing the same thing. It is tedious work and has its own challenges as well as surprisingly bringing a strange type of satisfaction with it.      

 

Jumbled Mind

 Yesterday, after I had brought my flower pots outside to soak up the sun, it began to rain. Then it downpoured, from slush, it turned to hail. I could not stand by and watch plants I've kept alive for eight months especially through the long winter die. So I rushed outside and began to rescue each pot. But it was too late, all the blooms are gone, too delicate to withstand such adversity. But I am not disheartened for in a few weeks, they will bloom again.

And so I take heart in my writing. Once again, I am stuck in the middle chapters of both of the books I'm working on. When I begin writing, I have so much to tell. When I finish a book, I have the feeling of a great accomplishment. Good or bad, I worked hard and have something to show for it. But now in the middle - Chapter Five to Chapter Fifteen, I have to work hard keeping the reader interested, putting out crumbs so that they can think they know what is going on and then twist it so that they are astounded and keep reading.

And so in my pictures this week, I have chosen an assortment that do not go together in the least. Above, a ship is passing below the clear walk-way of London's Tower Bridge.

Below is Moulin Rouge in France.

A jumble of pictures to match my jumbled mind.

Reunions and Regency, England

This last weekend, I took my Mom to her 60th high school reunion. It is an hour outside of Denver in the small little town of Kiowa. I did not want her driving at night especially with my Dad unable to attend. He still had one more performance in the Show he was in.

So I offered my services as driver, she accepted. A classmate of hers also lived nearby and so after picking up my Mom in the pouring rain, we went on to pick up Mary and her husband, Jim. It was 4:30 when we left and it rained the whole way. The original high school that my Mom attended has been turned into a museum. They were giving tours but the rain stopped us from walking the short distance.

With umbrellas protecting us from the torrential rain, we walked into the new High School. My Mom was surrounded by people she knew from so long ago, and it seemed as if the door to those days stood wide open. I saw my Mom as a school girl and all her friends in the same way. They exchanged hugs and stories. There were two tables for the Class of 1955. One man from the next table over, yelled to one of the ladies I was sitting with. "Elsie is that you? You look as good as you did in high school." She giggled like a school girl and her face took on a pinkish tinge as she said to me, "It's like we're 18 again."  

In a graduating class of fourteen, three have passed away. Two were not able to come, but nine attended. The Class of 1965 had a table and when their speaker came to the podium, he said, "Everyone in his class was somehow part of the military. Either they enlisted or were drafted. They all came back, but Vietnam had taken a part of each of them." He went on to say that the Class of '55 were Preachers but the Class of '65 were Fighters. The Class of 1975 reported on their classmates as did the Class of 1985 and 1995. Other classmates came to the reunion from years other than the ones listed above and sat together. One man came from the Class of 1947.  The National Honor Society served the meal which was delicious.


The tablecloths were school colors of Orange and Black with the class of 2015 sitting at the head table. I'm not sure but it seemed as if there only nine students graduating.

As the Alumni welcomed them into the ranks of being Kiowa High School Alumni, some rolled their eyes. Others left early and one showed up so late that he missed all but the last fifteen minutes. It was right and proper because those at the head table were still living their high school days, still dreading finals, still waiting for ten days to pass before their graduation ceremony, still have yet to begin lives on their own.

Maybe that's why I love the Regency Period so much. It connects me with a time and a place that is forever gone. But can be accessed through pictures and books. It's not quite the same, but it is as close as we can ever get to it. We keep it alive. We visit there often enough and though only fictional characters the essence of those times spill into our lives as we join in their laughter and tears.

Shows, Writing and London

Usually for Mother's Day, my kids help me plant the garden, pull weeds and put flowers in the pots and in the flower garden in the front yard. I love getting so much work done in a single afternoon and then it feels as if summer has officially begun. But for the second year in a row, snow is predicted. So instead of planting, we will play card games, go through photo albums and my husband will make something yummy for dinner. It should be a good day.

Went to my Mom and Dad's show this week. It was very enjoyable. My Mom was in the chorus and my Dad played the accordion and sang.









Below is Leicester Square, my sister and I spent a lot of time walking around this area. It is in the Theater District.

The first picture is one side of the square and the other is the other side. Cars and people share the road.


I wish I could report that I've come to the end of editing one of my books and am ready to self-publish or send out querries to publishers.

But instead, I am still re-working both my Regency and my modern day novel. I'm on Chapter 8 of the former and 10 on the latter. I've said it before that it is a lonely job filled with words that almost work. And then in a moment of inspiration it comes together.

Only to find another chapter that isn't quite right. The process begins again. Sometimes the moment of inspiration does not come and then you work hard until something takes shape. I worked on a chapter for two days and it is not quite right. So today, I will keep at it. Maybe inspiration will come or maybe I'll need to work it. Either way progress will be made.

 The picture below is one I took during a walk near Covent Garden on our way back to the Cavendish Hotel.

   

Princess Charlotte, Regency England, World War II

Yah! Princess Kate had a baby girl, my dad turned 80, and my son got a part-time job. Life is good. Add to that my 97 year old friend asked if I was married, when I said yes, she asked if he was good -looking. I told her I thought so. She asked me to bring pictures next time I visit. It doesn't get better than that.

Here is a shop in Covent Garden that has been restored to look as it did in the Regency Period.


I'll visit her again today, she insists that you do not cross your legs. It is bad for you. She asks to be taken to where all the people are. It makes no sense to be hidden when there are so many people she should be around.

She was a nurse stationed in England at the l03rd General Hospital 60 miles outside of London during World War II. Having a day and a half off every so often, she with her fellow nurses would take a day trip into London.



The damage to this building is from bombing during World War II on England. It has not been repaired but kept as a memorial to that time.



The picture to the side is of the old Roman wall built between 190 AD and 225 AD

I've had to scale down my writing to working on just two books at a time. It seems that writing four simultaneously, kept me from making substantial progress. Now, I am working on one chapter of my regency book and then one chapter of my modern day book. Maybe August I will have two completed to my liking.


 
It was January and yet the open air market in Covent Garden had a variety of flowers. It was beautiful and refreshing to see in the middle of winter.