A Shadow in the Past book trailer

Well, it’s almost ready to reveal. I’ve spent a lot of time today with my face in the computer working on it. And starting from scratch with the Windows 7.0 version of Movie Maker, it’s not so difficult to work with at all. So selecting my photos, transitions, effects and what not took a lot of time, albeit enjoyable. Then I spent a period of time where I was sequestered off in the bedroom recording the audio track of the first two chapters using my Sony MP3 recorder. It didn’t seem like it at the time but when I opened the file in Audacity, it was the better part of half an hour!

Another bonus to Audacity, is I was able to edit out any flubs I made since I don’t read out loud well (and believe me, I flubbed in a few places) and shorten some long pauses when I wasn’t able to move to the next screen on the iPad in a timely manner. My first recording might have lasted 30 seconds and I shut it down on my own. Second time around things went swimmingly but still a few moments but I perservered and finished the recording.

Back in touch with humans, I self-taught myself in the workings of Audacity. It’s a really cool program and am looking forward to doing more things with it than I did today. Anyway, I worked away at editing the audio track… reducing the length of gaps, removing moments of tongue-tideness and cut it down to about 8:00 minutes.

I’ll reveal the finished product here soon so stand by for the official announcement of its unveiling.

 

The Day After the Brian Henry Workshop

On Saturday, November 19th, my husband and I both Brian Henry’s inspirational and motivational writing workshop “Writing your life & other true stories” in Kingston.

I always learn something at Brian’s workshops, and yesterday was no exception. My husband and I share an interest in genealogy and we thought that being able to tell the story in an interesting way would be far better appreciated by the family whose stories we’d be writing.
The genealogy software we use does create “book” format but it contains just raw genealogical data and while that’s good, there’s no personal reflections, memories, observations in it. Mind you, if you’re writing about someone/something from the 1800s or earlier, you’re not going to have much to go on other than a general social history of the time (since you weren’t alive then) and assume that your ancestors were in the same predicament as everyone else. If you’re lucky, you had an ancestor who could read and write and kept journals.
Whether either one of us tackles a segment in time of one of our ancestor’s lives and writes about it remains to be seen, although I have written articles on Home Children, including one on my father. Still not quite the same as a novel-length memoir.
Now that I have the knowledge of how to write it and the tricks of using novel writing techniques to get it “on paper”, I’ll be much better equipped for when the times comes.
I’m looking forward to my next workshop with Brian.

I’ve received the Liebster Blog Award

My blogger friend, Janice Horton, has bestowed this award on me because my blog is  fun, creative and friendly. Thank you, Janice.

Rules for accepting the Liebster Blog Award are as follows:

The recipient agrees to:

– Thank the person who gave them the award and link back to that person’s blog
– Copy and paste the award to their blog
– Reveal the 5 blogs they have chosen to award, commenting on their blog to break the news!
– Hope those people in turn pay it forward by accepting and awarding “The Liebster Blog Award” to bloggers they would like to honour.

To be in the running for this award, you must have fewer than 200 followers. 🙂

So, the 5 blogs I’ve chosen to award are… drum roll please…

Scribbles – Pauline Barclay
Romancing History – Rosemary Gemmell
Chris Longmuir, Crime Writer
Chocolate for Writers – Juliette Sobanet
and finally
Twisting in the Wind – Dorothy Bush

Another Brian Henry Workshop coming up

On Saturday, November 19th, I’ll be attending another of Brian Henry’s inspirational and motivational writing workshops in Kingston.

“Writing your life & other true stories” workshop, Sat, Nov 19, in Kingston

  
Writing your life & other true stories
Saturday, November 19, 2011
1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Lions Club, 935 Sydenham Road, Kingston. (Map here.)

Have you ever considered writing your memoirs or family history? This workshop will introduce you to the tricks and conventions of telling true stories and will show you how to use the techniques of the novel to recount actual events. Whether you want to write for your family or for a wider public, don’t miss this workshop.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He teaches at Ryerson University and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Moncton. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.

Fee: $32.74 + 13% hst = $37 paid in advance
or $35.40 + 13% hst = $40 if you wait to pay at the door.

To reserve your spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Launch Day for The Black Banner by loveahappyending author Helen Hart

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The Black Banner by Helen Hart

‘Gold and Glory!’ The pirates took up the chant. ‘Gold and Glory! Gold and Glory!’ Instantly our men surged from their hiding places, weapons primed… Between snatches of smoke and billowing sulphurous fumes I caught glimpses of fighting… Musket shot whistled through the air and splintered the deck timbers. A dozen pirates became two dozen, and then three as Logan’s men massed on the deck…

1719, and the high seas are plagued by the lawless. Pirates rule the crystal waters of the Caribbean, hunting heavily-laden merchant ships with savage ferocity. Entire crews are condemned to die beneath a cutlass blade unless they swear allegiance to the black banner.

Penniless Becky Baxter (13) is determined to escape a life of poverty. Cropping her hair and dressing in breeches, Becky leaves the backstreets of Bristol far behind to embark on a new life of adventure and fortune on the high seas. But when the ship she’s sailing on is captured by pirates, Becky faces a stark choice: join the pirates, or pay with her life…

Publisher: SilverWood Originals (an imprint of SilverWood Books)
Length: 240 pages
Language: English
Print: ISBN 978-1-906236-46-5

Amazon (UK) paperback (buy): http://amzn.to/p84Ahd for £7.99
Amazon (UK) Kindle (buy): http://amzn.to/pptP82 for £3.58
Amazon (US) paperback (buy): http://amzn.to/qTOIEV for $14.00
Amazon (US) Kindle (buy): http://amzn.to/oFhCQT for $5.00
Author website (buy): http://helenhart.co.uk/

Book Review – Gunther the Underwater Elephant written and illustrated by Ginger Nielson

I recently had the opportunity to read fellow 4RV Publishing author, Ginger Nielson’s, delightful children’s picture book Gunther the Underwater Elephant.

Written for children from ages 4-8, this story tells about a young elephant who discovers that he can swim underwater by using his trunk as a snorkel.

One day while swimming, he gets separated from his family and ends up out of the jungle river and in the ocean where he befriends some other creatures who help him find his way back home.

Each page is filled with colourful illustrations that will fascinate curious children and keep them enchanted from the turn of the first page to the closing of the cover at the end.

Gunther the Underwater Elephant can be purchased from the 4RV Publishing Catalogue during the Christmas sale (ends December 5) for $11.55 US. It can also be purchased from Amazon.com for $12.47 US, Amazon.ca for $16.21 CDN, and on Amazon.co.uk for £9.03. Gunther is also available through Barnes & Noble currently retailing at $11.51 US.

Launch Day for Dear Dee by loveahappyending author Sue Uden

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Dear Dee by Sue Uden

John wants retribution for his daughter’s broken life.  And he wants to fix it.  Nickii, his wife, wants for the pain of this quest to stop threatening his health.  All Jackie wants is for a miracle rewind to take her back to being a young mother living with her husband and children.

Set in the 1980s, Dear Dee is a story of a family struggling to come to terms with living with mental illness.  It highlights in part how a family in need of help and advice could fall through the net of care and support.  At times sad, but also uplifting and, hopefully, raising the odd smile the book tells how they eventually find a sense of peace after tragedy.

Paperback:  195 pages
Language: English
ISBN: 9781848971479
Classification: Fiction
Publisher : Olympia Publishers http://www.olympiapublishers.com

Dear Dee can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk for £6.29 and from Amazon.com for $11.99 US.

Launch day for Rebels of Theta by loveahappyending.com author Vickie Adair

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Rebels of Theta by Vickie Adair

Rebels of Theta, Book One in the Gods of Arth Trilogy, is Vickie Adair’s first science-fiction novel.

Under the two suns of the planet Theta, where food is a more precious commodity than life, the native inhabitants live and work submissive to the invading Seraphs and the Thetan Church. After a traumatizing event, Kara, a young Thetan girl, questions the legitimacy of the Seraphs and the honesty of the Church. She makes a horrifying discovery at the Seraph camp, putting her life is in danger. Finding unexpected help from Wer, the outcast, she and some of her people rebel against the Seraphs and even against some of their own people dedicated to Church law, unleashing the human struggle with the question of “faith.” And to complicate matters, she falls in love.

Cover Artwork: Bostick, Charlene
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Third Coast Publishers LLP
Edition: 1ST edition (2011)
Language: English
Cover Price: $12.95
ISBN-13: 978-0-9829498-4-9

Other authors had this to say about Rebels of Theta:

Rebels of Theta by Vickie Adair, book one of the Gods of Arth Trilogy, is a mind-blowing (and mind-touching!!) work of art, which will have you holding your breath from the first page to the last. You’ll feel a bond with the peaceful Thetans and share in their joy, their suffering, and also their loss. This amazing tale of a handful of men, women, and children overcoming incredible
adversity for the right to be treated as people, not savages, is truly heartwarming.

Lun Kikogne, author of Wars of Times

In Rebels of Theta, Vickie Adair delivers a great read, imaginative and fast-paced! Adair has woven a compelling story around the great question of “faith” and how tightly or loosely tied to it our evolution is. She sets up a triangle of opposing forces: the so-called gods, the liars, and the
innocents. These forces wrestle with the inevitable events that accompany humanity’s innate desire to evolve: political unrest, religious doubt, and war.

Kristina Mercier, author of An Agreement with Love

Vickie Adair has mastered the fear of a realistic future dystopian existence for human beings with her Science Fiction debut, Rebels of Theta. Oppression is certain. Fear is certain. The only points debatable are where trust is loyal and if your prayers can be heard in this captivating page-turning novel. You will feel the emotions of life and death as the fate of the Thetans knots
your stomach until the very last sentence.

Michelle Anderson Picarella, author of Livian

You can follow Vickie on Facebook, Twitter and read her Storyteller’s Blog. Visit her author page at loveahappyending.com.

The paperback version of Rebels of Theta is available to pre-order from 3rd Coast Publishing for $9.95 US.

Guy Fawkes Night

Will you be going to any Guy Fawkes celebrations tonight? Huge bonfires, fireworks or the like? Or will you spend it tucked up inside your cozy houses? No matter your choosing, this commemmoration dates back to 1605 when Guy Fawkes was arrested while guarding explosives planted under the House of Lords. It was originally a celebration because the King had survived the attempt on his life.

Whatever your night will bring, have a good one!

My Scottish roots and writing by Melanie Robertson-King