A Writer’s Garden–Elle E. Kay Talks Gardens and Goats

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A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Christian fiction, Elle E. Kay, Endless Mountain series, gardening and goats, Rose of Sharon

Elle E. Kay is the gardener author on today’s A Writer’s Garden, and she’ll be talking about her four-footed visitors who also love her garden. Welcome, Elle.

Gardening and Goats

by Elle E. Kay

 

The Rose of Sharon is in bloom. It is beyond beautiful. The blooms capture my attention every time I walk by on my way. Unfortunately, they attract the attention of our nine goats and three sheep too. As do most other attempts I’ve made to garden. I’ve tried hanging baskets, which they try their best to eat from. I’ve tried fenced area, which they’ve maneuvered their way into.

 This year, we’ve spent most of the summer house hunting. Looking for a house with large pastures where we can keep the animals closed in. As much as I like them visiting the porch and coming to the backdoor, I look forward to a new home where my gardens can once again flourish. I love watching the hummingbirds take a drink from the flowers in the hanging baskets on the porch. I love seeing the bees steal the nectar from the perennials out front. And I love the birds that make homes in the trees and come down to eat at the feeders. I loved my water garden with the blooming water lilies.

 My gardens are a comfort to me. I look forward to bringing them back to their former glory, without having to give up the simple companionable pleasure the goats bring. So, hopefully, we will find the property we’re searching for where we can strike the proper balance. I will dig up some of my favorite perennials to take with me, but the Rose of Sharon will probably have to stay.

 

About the Gardener Author:

 Elle E. Kay lives on a farmette in the Back Mountain region of Pennsylvania. She is a born-again Bible believing Christian.

She loves keeping perennial gardens. She enjoys the wildflowers strewn about her property as well.

Stella was her debut novel. Claudia, the next book in the Endless Mountain Series, is expected to be released later this year, with Sofie following shortly after. Elle writes children’s books under the pen name, Ellie Mae Kay.

 Her website is updated with the latest information about her upcoming books. http://www.elleekay.com/. She also has a blog, where she writes mostly devotional posts based on traditional hymns http://www.elleekay.com/blog/. Elle is on most social media platforms.

 

Stella

After an encounter that leaves her petrified, Stella faces her stark reality. Can she find the faith she needs to persevere? Jason is a complication she’d rather not deal with. Can she trust him? Something is awry in Stella’s world. When she is abducted will anyone hear her cries?

 A Christian romantic suspense about a young woman battling to find her faith in the midst of struggle. It deals with the heavy subjects of rape, pregnancy, and kidnapping through a lens of faith and hope.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15016833.Elle_E_Kay

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wednesday Writers–Darlene Franklin and A Taste for Honey

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A Taste for Honey, Beekeeping, best-selling author Darlene Franklin, Blue Ribbon Brides, book excerpt from A Taste for Honey, Catherine Castle's Wednesday Writers blog series, Christian romance, novella

 

Today Wednesday Writers is welcoming back best-selling author Darlene Franklin who will be talking about her book A Taste for Honey. A Taste for Honey is one of nine novellas in Blue Ribbon Brides Anthology. With summer’s state and county fairs in full swing this time of year, why not settle down with a fair-themed book as a summer read? After all, who doesn’t love homemade pies, preserves, and all those handmade goodies? With a title like A Taste for Honey, can you guess what Darlene will be talking about? Welcome, Darlene!

 

 

Old-Fashioned Beekeeping

By

Darlene Franklin

Thanks, Catherine.

Since the title of my book is A Taste for Honey¸ you might guess that my heroine harvests honey. But I wasn’t sure how beekeeping in 1896 differed from 2016. In fact, my heroine’s grandfather originally erected the equipment to catch the honey. So, I had to push back the style of beekeeping to the mid-nineteenth century.

I discovered several methods were used, but I chose the one that was easiest for me to understand, picture, and hopefully communicate in the story. I’m not as sure about the bee bonnet and heavy gloves I gave my heroine—but they moved the story forward. You see, my hero caused an accident and my heroine was stung. . .but that’s telling the story.

All the early equipment was designed as an artificial setting for bees to create their hives. I decided on the “log gum.” As the name suggests, it was made from a hollowed-out log. Bees preferred black gum wood when available, thus—a log gum.

Covers sealed the hollow log. Some used a “super” instead, which would collect the honey. That’s the kind my heroine’s family used, which allowed her easy access to the honey. The process disturbed the bees, so it could be an uncomfortable process.

 A Taste of Honey begins with Edith’s trip to the meadow:

Edith Grace checked her outfit, making sure she was prepared to garner as much honey as possible in one trip. Harvesting honey for free from her neighbor was a deal made in heaven, as far as she was concerned. At the fiftieth annual Rutland State Fair, she intended to make her mark as the best baker in all of Vermont, thanks to Mr. Oscar’s honey.

Edith had watched Mr. Oscar harvest honey a few times from the supers over the hollow logs, called log gums for some reason, before she tried it by herself. Today was the third time she had donned her veil and thick gloves to gather the liquid gold. She approached the log gums with caution. Experience had taught her that bees didn’t want to sting her. It cost them their lives, after all. But experience had also taught her some stings were inevitable. Although she wasn’t allergic, but they still hurt and itched. Another reason she harvested as much as possible at one time—so she could wait before returning.

About the Author:

Best-selling author Darlene Franklin’s greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. She lives in Oklahoma, near her son and his family. She is an active member of Oklahoma City Christian Fiction Writers, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Christian Authors Network. She has written over forty books and more than 250 devotionals.

A Taste for Honey is one of nine novellas in Blue Ribbon Brides:  Meet nine men and women whose competitive goals take them to state and county fairs between 1889 and 1930. From baking pie to polishing pigs, from sculpting butter to stitching quilts, everyone has something to prove to themselves and their communities. But in going for the blue ribbon, will nine women miss the greatest prize of all—the devoted heart of a godly man?

Blue Ribbons Purchase Link

Website and blog  Facebook  Amazon author page  Twitter: @darlenefranklin

 

A Writer’s Garden–Creating Gardens with Writer’s Block with Author Erin Bevan

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Catherine Castle’s A Writer’s Garden blog, Erin Bevan, Tank, writer’s block and gardening

 

Today I’m welcoming Erin Bevan to A Writer’s Garden. Erin’s being very frank about gardening and sharing an aspect of it I often feel when summer’s heat hits, and I don’t wanna go outside. Yet, she’s turned that I-don’t-want–to-do-it attitude into a way to break through something most writers face at some time—writer’s block. Welcome, Erin!

 

Writer’s Block. Some people believe in it and some people don’t. Fortunately, I’ll say I’ve been blessed with ideas since I started my writing journey. I have random notes scattered throughout my computer of different thoughts and plots. Maybe a scene, or a rough outline, but I do have ideas. However, I use the term loosely because sometimes these ideas, as good as they seem, don’t really seem to work well on paper. It’s kinda like the time I thought doing an at home wax kit on my bikini line was a good idea. Needless to say, a jar of peanut butter later, I never attempted that again.

My writers block works somewhat like that, minus the messy strips, wax reside, and peanut butter.

This past weekend, since I seemed to get nowhere with my writing, I chose to do something I could see results from almost instantly. I gardened, and let me tell you, I hate gardening. I know this is the gardening blog, and it’s probably very taboo to mention this aspect of myself here, but I hate it. There’s bugs, and it’s hot and dirty. Not my thing, but! I do love the beautiful, vibrant colors when it’s all said and done, and since it’s more instantaneous than seeing any of my book babies come to life, I may just have to start loving the laborious activity.

And while I’m riding on the euphoric wave a newly planted garden and of a story complete and now seeing the light of day, I’m also riding the doubt train as well. I didn’t know I could ride two things at once, but here I am, proving it. I’m super thrilled TANK is over and you can now read his and Annie’s story, but now it’s time for me to move on to the next book in the series. Really, it’s been time for me to move on to the next book for a while, but I couldn’t seem to figure out what happens next in the small town of Black Widow. It’s almost as if my mind really isn’t ready to leave Tank and Annie behind, even though I’m not leaving them behind, but just making room for more stories, more characters, and more romance.

Still, I’ll take one step forward with the characters or the plot and inadvertently move two, three, sometimes four or five steps back. And it’s during these times when I leave my computer and I work on something else. I often tell my friends you can tell when I’m having trouble on a story because I’m redecorating my house, or reorganizing, or decluttering, or even, in this case, gardening. I have to remove myself from the situation and pray that my subconscious is working on the details for me when I just can’t anymore.

So cheers, Green Thumbs!

 

About the Gardner/Author:

Six years ago and nothing more than a desperate housewife, Erin Bevan began her writing journey.

As a child, reading and writing were her nemeses. It wasn’t until she found herself almost utterly alone, in a different country, that she took up the act of reading for enjoyment. Her passion for writing was born not by reading the old classics, but by reading many new tried and true authors of today: Nora Roberts, Mary Kay Andrews, Nicholas Sparks, and Tracy Brogan to name a few.

Clinging to books for friends in a land where not many spoke the English language, she found a secret passion she didn’t know existed inside of her. With nothing more than time on her hands, she honed in on the craft of writing until she finally worked up enough courage to let other people read her stories.

She spends most of her time juggling her three little people and trying to keep everyone’s lives flowing as smoothly as possible. When she isn’t using her super powers to wipe sticky goo from her children’s faces, she spends a little time dabbling in her writing career.

 Connect with Erin Bevan online. www.erinbevan.com  www.facebook.com/erinbevanwrites

 

Tank

Tyler Wilde moves to Black Widow, Texas, to join the Blue Guardians, a local biker club that helps abused women and children. He’s intent on starting his life over, but a small piece of his past collides with his present when he runs into the local waitress, Annie Carter.

Annie’s the girl of his boyhood dreams, and Tyler can’t wait to get reacquainted with her. Only problem is, Annie’s engaged. But what has Tyler more troubled than the diamond on her finger is the bruise that graces her arm. To make matters worse, Annie’s abuser and intended husband is also the town’s Chief of Police.

Tyler is determined to offer Annie a safe haven, but she refuses his help until her life is hanging by a thread.

 Buy Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Tank-Black-Blue-Book-1-ebook/dp/B06ZZCZQ8N/

Notice to readers of sweet romance, Tank contains language and open door love scenes.

 

 

 

 

A Writer’s Garden– Gardening Down Under with Author Cindy Tomamichel

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action adventure time travel romance, Australia gardener, Catherine Castle’s A Writer’s Garden blog, Cindy Tomamichel, Druid’s Portal, Growing Australian, Roman Briton romance setting, The Potting Bench

Today we have Cindy Tomamichel on the blog today. Cindy’s an Aussie gardener/writer from “down under.” Welcome to the blog Cindy. I think you might be my first Aussie gardener guest. I’m anxious to see what you’ve got to tell us today.

Catherine, thanks for having me! What a great idea to find out about a garden from a writer’s perspective. I do enjoy reading about other people’s gardens, so I hope that my garden from Australia has some interest for others as well.

I am a member of a local gardening group that promotes growing Australian plants in suburban gardens. This has many benefits, in helping provide food and shelter to wildlife, they need less water than exotic imports, and they are generally hardier. However, I cheated a little with some of my favourite exotics in the back yard!

I planned out the garden to encourage visits and hopefully nesting of native birds. As you can see from the photo at the top of the post, I am often visited by cheeky lorikeets that love the grevillea flowers. So for birds, they need food such as grass seeds, nectar from flowers all year around, and also insects. Every year I have several wattlebirds come in to clean up spiders in hanging baskets, so they can feed their babies. I also have several water trays out and keep them filled. Summers in Australia can get very hot, and all manner of creatures such as birds, insects, lizards and possums will need a drink.

Insects can be regarded as a pest, however I have found most plants will recover from an insect attack. I encourage the predator insects, so I don’t use pesticides. Insects do however need a few things, such as shelter in spots where you don’t clean up too much, water, and a food source of nectar. I have found a mix of herbs, fuchsias, native plants and succulents provide a year round source of nectar for birds and insects.

The picture above shows one of the Australian blue banded bees on a fuchsia. The fuchsia fairy bells is my favourite. I have also included a Sturts desert pea with a preying mantis below.

I enjoy propagating plants, and here exotics have the advantage for they are much easier. Herbs such as rosemary and fuchsias are my favourites, and succulents are also easy. I have been propagating for some time now, and it’s a great way to fill up your yard with generally tough plants.

Gardens have made it into a few of my short stories, and I often get inspiration from insects, or some new fact about herbs. One of my favourite quotes is from Cicero “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” There is nothing better than sitting down in winter with a good book, a cat on your lap and watching the rain bring the garden to life.

I also blog on Australian native plants as ‘The Potting Bench’ at http://www.apswilsonparkberwick.org.au/ which also appears in ‘Growing Australian’ magazine.

 

About the Gardener/Author:

Cindy Tomamichel is a writer of action adventure romance. The heroines don’t wait to be rescued, and the heroes earn that title the hard way.

She can often be found wandering about gardens, photographing insects, flowers and fungi. Will try and propagate anything.

Her first book, Druid’s Portal: The First Journey will be out with Soul Mate Publishing on May 17^th, 2017. An action adventure time travel with a touch of romance set in Roman Britain. Its genre is time travel romance with some violent scenes, and a moderate heat level.

Learn more about Cindy on her Website:

 

 

 

Wednesday Writers—Finding Your Character’s Name by Catherine Castle

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award-winning author Catherine Castle, book excerpt from The Nun and the Narc, Catherine Castle, Catherine Castle's Wednesday Writers blog series, finding your character’s name, The Nun and the Narc

I have an empty slot today on Wednesday Writers, so I’m going to talk about how my characters got their names in my Inspirational romantic suspense The Nun and the Narc and give you a peek at how Sister Margaret Mary and the hero Jed met.

In some ways I feel like my characters told me who they were going to be. Sister Margaret Mary was originally Mary Margaret O’Connor. When I changed her from a missionary to a novice, I added the sister to her name. But when the hero, Jed, came on the scene he kept calling her Maggie, a name she hated, and she told him so repeatedly. But he wasn’t listening to her, or me who kept typing in Sister Mary Margaret. So I eventually obliged and changed her name to Margaret Mary. I thought it would less confusing for the reader for her to refer to herself as one name and the hero to be constantly reversing her names.

Jed’s name was a bit of a surprise, too. He’s introduced to the reader as Jed Barringer, but when he gave Margaret his undercover name, he threw me a curve, calling himself, “Bond. Jed Bond.” As I wrote those three words, I kept hearing the lilt of Sean Connery saying, “Bond. James Bond.” Apparently so did the good sister, because the name unhinged her. I got such a charge out of the scene where he told her his undercover alias that I just went with it, and I’m glad I did. His undercover name It provided a lot of humorous moments in between the suspense and action of the book.

Here’s the scene where Sister Margaret Mary learns the hero’s undercover name. I hope you enjoy it!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The Nun and the Narc

By Catherine Castle

The rear window glass erupted into the car’s interior, punctuating his words. The man fired at the attackers through the shattered back window.

“Shot?” Her voice rose an octave. “Oh, dear Lord in Heaven, what have I gotten into?”

“Trouble, Lady.” He fired off another round. “Big trouble.”

Margaret slid deeper into the front passenger seat, grabbing the door handle as the car careened around a corner.

I’m going to die. In a car crash. With a strange man. Heart pumping madly, she let go of the door handle just long enough to cross herself then grabbed it again as the car swerved. A guardian angel would be good here, Lord. And make it Dale Earnhardt! They swerved around another corner and she held on for dear life.

Oh, Mother Superior, maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m not good nun material after all. Who else in the convent could get themselves into a mess like this?

“Are you a drug dealer?” she asked as they whizzed by a stand of woven tapestries.

The car swerved to the right, barely missing a burro. “That’s a need to know answer.”

Margaret braced herself against the seat when they careened past the animal. “Under the circumstances, I need to know.”

The man didn’t reply.

Margaret felt her temper rising. “Who are those guys and why are they after you?”

“After us,” he corrected.

Us? Panic scrabbled at her insides. Will people think I’m part of his illegal plan? Mother Superior will kick me out of the convent for sure.

“I haven’t done anything,” she protested.

The man ducked as a bullet shattered the left rear window. Margaret let go of the door handle and covered her head.

“Lady, you’re guilty by association.” He threw his arm over the seat and fired off a couple more shots. He cursed then spit a question at her. “Who are you anyway?”

“You first. I’d like to know I’m going to be dying with. What’s your name?”

“Bond. Jed Bond.”

A frantic giggle bubbled up inside of her at the familiar lilt of the phrase and his English accent. “And I suppose you’re in Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Jed Bond,” she said.

The giggle changed into a crazed laugh, a defense mechanism from her youth. She’d learned that if she appeared fearless when her two older brothers razzed her, they derived little pleasure from torturing her. The ploy had saved her on many occasions.

Jed stared at her as if she were insane. If the truth were known, she did feel a bit crazy at the moment. And lightheaded. And out of control. She hated being out of control.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“You don’t know?”

“Why don’t you tell me, Miss . . . whoever you are?”

“Margaret Mary O’Connor. Sis¾” Her introduction changed into a scream. “Look out!”

 

Want to read more? Go to Amazon to read an excerpt and to purchase the book. Book is Available in print from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

 

About the Author:

Catherine Castle is a multi-award-winning author. Her book The Nun and the Narc, from Soul Mate Publishing was an ACFW Genesis Finalist, a 2014 EPIC finalist, and the winner of the 2014 Beverly Hills Book Award and the 2014 RONE Award.

Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. Besides writing, Catherine loves traveling with her husband, singing, attending theatre, and writing and directing plays with her husband at their church. In the winter she loves to quilt and has a lot of UFOs (unfinished objects) in her sewing case. In the summer her favorite place to be is in her garden. She’s passionate about gardening and even won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club.

Her newest book, a romantic comedy with a touch of drama entitled A Groom for Mama, releases September 2017 with Soul Mate Publishing.

You can read more of her blog posts right here on Romance For the Ages by searching for her name, or follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, Facebook, or through her Amazon Author page.