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| Fisherman's Wharf |
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| Yep. It really is this stunning. |
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| View of the Aquarium |
INKWELL INSPIRATIONS
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Books and Such Retreat, 2016
Anita Mae Draper is flying home from the Books and Such Literary Retreat in gorgeous Monterey, California. She will post pictures and share a report tomorrow, but in the meantime, here are a few photos of Monterey to whet your appetite!
Friday, October 14, 2016
Austen in Austin: Blogmates Watch a Dream Come True
by Dina Sleiman
Back in 2009, when I was first learning the writing industry and seriously seeking publication, God joined me with a group of ladies to help me along my quest. I was invited to join Inkwell Inspirations, a new writers blog comprised mostly of writers who had won writing contests (I had just won the Touched by Love contest) but were still unpublished. Over the next years, we would become not only blogmates, but also close friends, prayer partners, and in many ways a writing team. So it's not surprising that we decided to band together on a writing project, and Austen in Austin was born.
It was a labor of love, as the published ladies sought to help the unpublished ladies achieve that esteemed goal, although at this point each of the Inkies has several published works to their names. Several more years passed before the dream became a published reality, but I'm happy to share it with you today.
As you can see, these eight fun Texas-set novellas are based on Jane Austen's novels. The Ladies of Inkwell Inspirations had such a great time working together inventing these stories with their overlapping settings and characters and their Austenian plot lines, and I just know that you'll enjoy them too! They're written by some great established names in Christian fiction like Lisa Richardson, Gina Welborn, and yours truly, as well as some Inky authors who you might not have read yet, but will soon become favorites. I highly recommend reading the stories in order for the full experience of the overlapping characters and settings. The ebooks are a great deal at only $3.99 each for a volume of four delightful stories!
Volume 1 includes:
If I Loved You Less by Gina Welborn, based on Emma
A prideful matchmaker examines her own heart when her protégé falls for the wrong suitor.
Romantic Refinements by Anita Mae Draper, based on Sense and Sensibility
A misguided academy graduate spends the summer falling in love . . . twice.
One Word from You by Susanne Dietze, based on Pride and Prejudice
A down-on-her-luck journalist finds the story of her dreams, but her prejudice may cost her true love . . . and her career.
Alarmingly Charming by Debra E. Marvin, based on Northanger Abbey
A timid gothic dime-novel enthusiast tries to solve the mystery of a haunted cemetery and, even more shocking, why two equally charming suitors compete for her attentions.
Volume 2 includes:
Simply Lila by Suzie Johnson, based on Lady Susan
Yearning to find a real-life hero, a wallflower must learn to live outside the pages of an Austen novel.
Fully Persuaded by Niki Turner, based on Persuasion
A brokenhearted artist struggles with the shame of her family s bankruptcy and the return of her first love whose proposal she d spurned because he was poor.
Mansford Ranch by Dina L. Sleiman, based on Mansfield Park
An aspiring novelist with a keen eye for character must determine who is worthy of playing her own leading man.
Sense and Nonsense by Lisa Karon Richardson, based on Sense and Sensibility
A would-be missionary is determined to make it to Ceylon, but when her funds disappear, she has to accept help from the man she most wants to avoid.
Here's what people are saying about Austen in Austin:
"They had me at the title! What's not to love about a collection of novellas patterned after Jane Austen's classic novels and set in the historic capital city of Austin, Texas? The result is as delightful as the premise." ~ Mocha with Linda
"Austen in Austin is one of the most well executed novellas I’ve read...All of the novellas are interrelated, so where one author leaves off another picks up months or years later, with a new lead character and a familiar cast. I enjoyed the continuity as well as the familiarity which this team of authors developed. If I Loved You Less probably held the closest to Austen’s works. In contrast, Alarmingly Charming struck me as an improvement on the original (because truthfully, I did not enjoy reading Northanger Abbey). All in all, these stories are irresistibly sweet romances with subtle elements of faith." ~ Shelf-Esteem
And in case you're wondering, yes, you can purchase the novellas individually in ebook format, but at $2.99 each, it's a much better deal to buy a set of four for $3.99.
Be sure to check out these fun novellas and share them with your friends!
Monday, October 10, 2016
Living in history
By Niki Turner
I'll admit to a lifelong fascination with history. I spent entire weeks of my childhood pretending I was Laura Ingalls Wilder. Nellie Bly was the first biography that inspired me to pursue journalism. When I started homeschooling my children, that interest in history was revived (to the point that my plea to visit the wagon ruts that remain from the pioneers in southwestern Wyoming is now a family joke).
So last month I became the owner/publisher of a 132-year-old newspaper and moved into a 104-year-old house. I'm now literally immersed in history, and I love it.
The house we leased was built in 1912. It was owned by the same family that built it for most of the last century, and I think only one owner (our current landlady, a fellow history lover) since then. I talked to the grand-niece of the original owner at a historical society meeting today. We're going to get together. Some things have been updated, of course, but much of the house is in original condition.
The original home builder married a schoolteacher who became the town's first librarian. (The irony!!!) He was a store manager in the same building our newspaper office is in. It's entirely possible my walk to work is the same walk he took. Their daughter became a schoolteacher, and their son was a journalist, historian, and author. How cool is that? It's no wonder this house feels good to me, despite it's quirks (it's seriously tilted to one side, among other old house oddities).
Anyway, I wanted to share some photos, as my Inky sisters asked for updates once we got moved in. There's a lot of work to do... (I dropped one of those cedar balls you put in drawers in the upstairs hall and it disappeared... literally). I'm not terribly superstitious, and if any of the home's former residents are visiting in spirit form, they don't seem upset by the profusion of books and antiques we've hauled in here. Later than afternoon I noticed a gap between the baseboard and the floor just wide enough for that cedar ball, and who knows what else, to disappear between the two floors. Who knows what else is trapped in there in no man's land. Sounds like fodder for a good mystery, doesn't it?
Anyway, I'm on multiple deadlines, so this has to be brief. I'm hoping my new role as editor-in-chief will settle down soon (this weekend we moved our offices across the hall... pictures of that to come), and I'll be able to get back to my fiction and blogging! Here are a few pics of the house (click for details)!
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(PS, yes, all that long hair I spent the last four years growing out has gone away again!)
Niki Turner is a novelist, journalist, blogger, and the owner and editor of the Rio Blanco Herald Times weekly newspaper, one of the oldest continuously operating newspapers in Colorado.She is a co-blogger at www.inkwellinspirations.com, and president of her local ACFW chapter. Niki is a Colorado native who grew up in Glenwood Springs—home of the world’s largest hot springs pool. She married her high school sweetheart 26 years ago. They have four children, four grandchildren, and two West Highland White Terriers who are kind enough to take them for long walks.You can find all her new releases at www.nikiturner.net under BOOKS.Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Love Those Steam Locomotives
by Anita Mae Draper
In keeping with Monday's release party for The Rails to Love Romance Collection which includes a novella, Honeymoon Express, by our very own Inky Susanne Dietze, I'd like to show you a few of my train photos. And if you think this is a way for me to be connected to a book which I somehow missed submitting a story to, then you would be absolutely correct!
In July 1999 we stopped off in Winnipeg, Manitoba to ride the Prairie Dog Central Railway. We only went about 40 miles all total, but there were a couple stops for bathroom breaks as the coaches didn't have plumbing. One of those stops was at a Farmer's Market which was nice, and then we turned around using a wye, and headed back with another break on the way. Altogether it was about 3 1/2 hrs.
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| Prairie Dog Central Railway, Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 1999 |
The #3 steam engine on the Prairie Dog Central Railway was built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1882, was shipped to Canada, and went into service in 1883. Most of her time was spent in Western Canada.
The Manitoba Historical Society has this photo of Steam Locomotive # 3 as it made history in 1896 by pulling the first train into Dauphin, northwest of Winnipeg.
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| Steam Locomotive No. 3 Reaches Dauphin (1896) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Dauphin Collection #6, N10011 |
By the way, if anyone is looking for information on the Hudson's Bay Company, the Manitoba Historical Society website is the place you want to be looking at first.
One more photo I wanted to show of Engine # 3 was taken in July 1999, like the first one above, except this one has Nelson at the top of the stairs holding one-year-old Jeremiah, while Nick and Jess are standing on the platform about to go inside.
Do you know I can still smell the smoke and feel the jerky swaying of that train as if it was only a couple of years ago, and yet this past June we celebrated Jeremiah's high school graduation.
This next photo is a historical tidbit for you as it shows what the end of the cars looked like before the vestibule was put into use in 1887.
I took the photo while enjoying the history of Calgary Heritage Park on my 2011 Alberta trip. The photo not only shows open air between the two cars, but there's no platform or board even connecting the two of them. Then in 1887, the Pullman people invented a flexible gangway which joined two cars together enabling people to safely walk from one car to the other.
Prior to vestibules, people brought their own meals, and many trains made stops for meals and overnight accommodation. But once the vestibule was in place, specialty cars like dining, sleeping, and parlor cars were added on and passenger travel by train changed forever.
As a train lover, I'm really looking forward to reading The Rails to Love Romance Collection. For a chance at winning a copy, click here.
I've enjoyed riding in trains pulled by old steam engines in Winnipeg, Calgary, and Moose Jaw, and I've walked through several more in Saskatchewan's Western Development Museums.
What about you? Have you ever taken an old-fashioned train ride? Crossed a vestibule in a modern train? Checked out a museum train? I do enjoy talking trains.
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Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are woven under the western skies of the Saskatchewan prairie where her love of research and genealogy yields fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details. Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her novellas are included in Austen in Austin Volume 1, and The American Heiress Brides Collection. Readers can check out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories to enrich their reading experience. Discover more at:
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