Location, Location, Location

Ideas are easy to come by, but it's the location that needs research as well. I've come up with an idea for a western series that will be set in a small community. I knew I wanted to explore perhaps some ranching aspects and I'd set one in Wyoming. So in playing real estate agent, I came across the little town of Evergreen, Colorado. Let me tell you a bit about this Gem of the West.

Evergreen, Colorado sits just a bit south and west of Denver. The original inhabitants were the Ute and the Arapaho. The abundance of timber and mining opportunities drew others. When the 1859 gold rush began the small community grew.

Evergreen was in some aspects very progressive, their physician was a woman named Dr. Josephine Williams who moved to the community with her widowed mother and began practicing. I'm sure the trappers and loggers enjoyed the gentle touch of a woman.
Other communities are nearby like Golden where Buffalo Bill is buried. Wonderful names like Lariat Trail, Deadman's Gulch, and Lookout Mountain.

Evergreen and Golden Colorado are definitely on my bucket list of places to visit. Check out the link at.http://www.citymtnviews.com/Evergreen1.php4

I'm blogging today over at

Join me at Amber Williams Blogspot and catch a short free read
http://www.amberleighwilliams.blogspot.com/

Getting to know the author.

I had a friend ask me to tell her something she didn't know about me. My first response was that my life was boring hence the need to make up more fascinating people.
No, she responded. Tell me more about you. Seven things that most people don't know. And here they are.

1. I once dreamed of being the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.
What happened with that? Well, I grew a few inches too tall and gained a "modest ' amount of weight. It didn't deter me from riding horses. In fact I had my half Arabian mare for twenty eight years. We grew old together. I do miss her terribly.

2. I'm nearsighted in one eye and far sighted in the other.
No, don't ask me which one, I can't remember. I think it must be a generic thing my mom was the same way. But, it makes life interesting. My children won't ride with me unless I wearing my glasses. Gee , where is their sense of adventure?

3. I am named after 14 other women.
Yes, it goes back past the Civil War to the 1820's. One girl in each generation on my father's side had the same first and middle name as myself. No, I stopped it. My daughter is named for her grandfather.

4. In family lines, I am the last.
My parents didn't have an heir or a spare, only me. So when I married the Parsons line ended. It's kind of sad in a way. I will pass the oral history and the bibles from the early 1800's down to the children but the history, the connections in a way will now be a generation gone. My family comes from Portsmouth Island, North Carolina, Salters to the Whalley's to the Parsons. In my blood runs the same blood as those pirates who signed and sailed with Blackbeard for one was hung in Williamsburg when Maynard captured the Queen Anne's Revenge. My history runs deep in the southern soil hence my love for history.

5. I belong to a fan based group of an old TV show in the 1960's.
Yep won't go into naming names but I served as the first place I began writing. Yes, at least once a week I pull out the old VHS tapes and the released DVD's and watch an episode repeating the lines. I am so bad.

6. I would love to visit the places I write about.
On my bucket list are the cities of Evergreen Colorado, Seattle, Washing ton, San Antonio, Texas, Eagle Pass, Texas, and Larado

7. The last thing I think I want to share is that in the bottom of my freezer, I have a complete snowman.
My son and daughter were 12 and 8 respectively when we had our last great snowfall. ( Yes today they are rounding 30 and heading on. It is hard to get snow in the south near the Gulf Stream). They made a snowman that lasted for three days and when it came close to melting, my children begged to save "Buddy Holiday" . So we moved the frozen blueberries, shifted the bag of jalapeño peppers and placed Buddy Holiday in the bottom of the freezer . He looks so sad with his garland of fruit and peppers and his arms reaching to get out. I keep threatening to bring him out on the Fourth of July and put a sparkler in each hand. Perhaps I should dress him up for each holiday and take pictures for a calendar. That might fund the writing process.

So, now you all know a bit more about me. There are seven great blogs I'm going to be putting links to. Please, check them out and let the owner know you heard of them through here.

http://mizging.blogspot.com/

http://delilahmarvelle.blogspot.com

http://celiayeary.blogspot.com

http://kayemanro.blogspot.com

http://seducedbyhistory.blogspot.com

http://amyclipston.blogspot.com

http://paigeryter.blogspot.com/

Next week, I'm blogging about Evergreen, Colorado , its history and what makes it so fascinating.

Meet new author: Cara Preston!

I have had the pleasure these past few months working with several ladies on a collection of books for love the second time around with Red Rose Publishing. Today, I'd like to introduce to you the lovely and talented Cara Preston.

All about Cara Preston.

I enjoy writing and acting. I've been writing for years, doing photojournalism and poetry first, then concentrating on short stories and novels. Under my real name, Phyllis Johnson, I have had three poetry books published. I also conduct writing workshops and host open mic nights. I also write a weekly newspaper column and do restaurant reviews.

How long have you been writing?

I've been writing for twenty years.

What made you decide you wanted to be a writer?

When I was a young girl, I was given a toy typewriter and that instilled a love for writing at an early age.

How did you come up with the idea of Another Place and Time ?

I was staying at a writing retreat with my friend and I was inspired to write the story there. Actually, the story includes mention of the bed and breakfast in it. In some strange ways, the story became precognitive of something that later took place in my life.

What do you see happening in your writing future?

I see series of books in my future, of different genre. I also see myself as a motivational speaker on a book tour.

Where can readers connect with you?
You can write me at actresswriter7@aol.com Find news about Cara Preston at www.carapreston.blogspot.com and about Phyllis Johnson at www.phyllisjohnson.net

Here is the information about Cara's new book.



ANOTHER PLACE & TIME
Forever Yours Series
Cara Preston
Erotic Romance: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Autumn Rose 40+
ISBN: 978-1-60435-610-6
Cover Artist: Nancy Donahue
Editor: Wolf Cassell
Word Count: 13,790
Release Date: January 14, 2010
to buy link: http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=553

Blurb:

Is there such thing as a soul mate? Trina's divorce has left her shaken and wondering. Then someone comes along who totally blows her away. Ben is different. It's as though he's from another era, but is he? Paranormal events lead her to believe that he is from another time zone. Will she take a chance on him and find love again?

Excerpt

Leave it to Trina to have memories usually rooted in food. It never failed. Those dreams about a blue car were no doubt triggered at some point by a blueberry muffin before going to bed. And that black patent leather purse she bragged about was undoubtedly inspired by some strand of black licorice, known to be an aphrodisiac. That's it… food and sex. The two had an intertwining with a fine line of division. Talk about a Better than Sex Cake often had Trina scratching her head. Better than sex? She had her doubts.

What fuels your imagination?

The dictionary gives the word IMAGINATION this meaning, "the act or power of forming mental images of what is not present". Or, "the act or power of creating new ideas by combining previous experiences" and that is what authors do. We take the act and turn it into and action. We make it a verb.

In order to do so we need things that will excite that process, similar to the electrical synapses of our brains. Something must draw our attention or "capture our imaginations". For me it is the west. So join me this year as we explore our Western Frontier.

What are some things that capture your imagination? Is it the lone cowboy? The survival of our Native Americans and their culture? Is it the taming of the west through the bite of the plow or the iron horse? Perhaps it's nothing more than the struggle to create a home and eek out the existence through day-to-day activities.

I'll be interested in hearing your answers.

Looking for that cowboy experience

A blog mate of mine has written a great tale in connection with the Wayback Series over at The Wild Rose Press. As we move into 2010 I hope you'll take time to check out...

BLUEST HEART by Amber Leigh Williams

The Wayback bachelor is a dying breed, but that doesn't stop Casey Ridge from wanting to settle down. For this cowboy anyone but Josie Brusky would be an easy wrangle. Unfortunately for him, the Blue Bug singer and owner of Josie's Treasures doesn't believe in commitment much less marriage.

Years ago, Josie lost her heart to Casey's charm and dimpled smile. Since then she has done everything she knows to forget him. After all, she’s known as the local harlot and the daughter of the town’s biggest bigot. Casey could have any girl he wanted. Why would he saddle himself with her? In the wake of a shattering past, she refuses to give up her independence.

Casey digs down deep to win her over, but does he have what it takes to win Wayback's bluest heart?


Excerpt

"You remember that night behind the stable?"

She let out a small, throaty laugh. "Seems like forever ago, but yeah. Your hair was a lot longer then."

"Yours, too." He could remember it curtaining their faces, the tips of silky, red curls tickling his cheeks. Tracing the line of pearly buttons from the hem of her midnight blue blouse to the open neck-line, he touched the teardrop-shaped pearl on the thin gold chain around her neck which reminded him of the moon that night. "You were my first."

She lifted her gaze to his. Tenderness warred with uncertainty in the whiskey-colored depths. "Me, too."

His heart pattered at the memory. "I always liked that about us.."

She nodded, frowning. "I was crazy about you."

The tip of his thumb traced the bottom edge of her lip. "So why didn’t it last?"

She looked beyond him, remembering. "Because however much I wanted to be with you, I knew I would be leaving the first chance I got. I wasn’t go-ing to let anything or anyone stand in my way."

"You figured I would?"

"Casey, we were so young," she told him. "Who knows what you or I would’ve done?"

He paused, running a hand over her hair. "Just for the record," he murmured, lips brushing her cheek, "I would’ve let you go."

She sighed, reaching up to clutch his upper arm. The muscle under her hand and his sleeve warmed. "Why hasn’t anyone snatched you up yet?"

"Because you’re the only one I ever wanted, Josie," he told her, cupping her chin in his hand to look her in the eyes as he said it. "The only one."

Buy Link: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/amber-leigh-williams-m-352.html?zenid=34824c7dd4a5532c25c613965a656aac

Welcome to 2010

Whether you say twenty ten or two thousand ten, its the start of the second decade in a new century. WOW makes you feel old huh.?

It just serves as a reminder that words are important and the placing of words in some semblance of order requires thought. Think about the speeches we've heard in the past.

Abraham Lincoln :
"Four score and seven years ago, our fore fathers brought forth on this continent an new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all me are created equal."

What if he had said,
Eighty seven years ago Washington and other leaders established this nation based on the idea of liberty and freedom for all men.

Doesn't have the same ring does it?

Or great works of literature..

Shakespeare:
" To be or not to be... that is the question."

Now days in our vernacular we might say... "Yo, what it is? my bad."

I'm sure he just rolled in his grave.

As we writers do take the noun and use it as a verb and write, let us remember to tweak our written word to bring out the best mileage on an idea. Use the dictionary and the thesaurus to breath life into compositions. Just because its done, doesn't mean its finished.

Writing requires action! Do it daily, do it often, but as always just do it - write.

Nancy O'Berry