Scribblings Blog for Readers

Donna Ball Talks About Her New Series

9/28/2022

Those of you who read my blog (www.donnaballblog.com) know that one of my favorite quotes is from Stephen King: “There is only one story: A stranger comes to town.” In UNFIXABLE: A Buck Lawson Mystery, (Book One of the Blood River Series) a stranger comes to the little town of Mercy, Georgia, almost gets himself arrested during a convenience store robbery, and turns out to be the new chief of police. His name is, of course, Buck Lawson, and he is no stranger to the many devoted readers of the Raine Stockton Dog Mystery Series, which has been going strong for over fifteen years now.

Buck, the often exasperated, ever devoted ex-husband of Raine Stockton, was an enormously popular character with readers. In fact, when I took a poll some time back about whether Raine should marry her new, rich boyfriend or go back to Buck, the results were enormously in Buck’s favor—despite the fact that he had cheated on her not once, not twice, but three times (that we know of!) About five books ago I came to realize that Buck needed to have his own series. After several years and a lot of struggles, this is what I came up with:

Former Hanover County Sheriff Buck Lawson leaves the mountains of North Carolina to take a job as the police chief of the small South Georgia town of Mercy, and soon finds himself in over his head. For one thing, his predecessor has been murdered...
Leaving behind two failed marriages and a job that almost cost him his life, all Buck wants for himself and his new family is a fresh start. But Mercy is a town with a past as dark as the Blood River that runs through it, and the crime that resulted in the death of the beloved former chief of police may have its roots in an evil that goes back generations.

Buck discovers he has inherited an unsolved homicide, a house that may well be haunted and a police department that is almost certainly corrupt. It falls to Buck to free an innocent man and bring the former police chief's killer to justice while he wades through the quagmire of incompetence and dishonesty that permeates his office. His only true ally, Buck comes to understand, is the dead man himself.

Blood River, as the name might imply, is a slightly edgier type of mystery than my readers are used to, and I felt I was taking quite a chance nudging them out of their comfort zone. Moreover, I had to take a secondary character from a very popular ongoing series and make him substantial enough, and interesting enough, to carry his own series. Buck played a pretty important role in the Raine Stockton series, but the truth is we didn’t know that much about him. In previous books, he’d been portrayed as a basically good guy with some rather substantial flaws. We knew he was naturally charming and popular with just about everyone. He had a reputation as a philanderer, which cost him the love of his life. Women, dogs and children loved him. He had strong leadership qualities, and he didn’t mind breaking the rules now and then. And that’s basically it– not a lot to go on when it comes to building a three-dimensional character. But when you also consider the fact that in the past two years Buck had lost his mother, a child, and two wives; that he had changed jobs twice, left town and returned, and almost died in a shooting incident, there were plenty of questions left answered.

I began to discover who Buck was by exploring what he experienced behind the scenes in the Raine Stockton books, and how that shaped him into the kind of man who was ready to take on a town like Mercy. One of the tenets of good storytelling is to start your story at the moment of change. Buck Lawson is one of those rare characters who had the courage to change his life. UNFIXABLE begins when he decides to do so.

UNFIXABLE has the same humor, atmospheric setting, quirky characters and unexpected twists that readers have come to expect from me, only more of everything. It’s not a cozy. It’s not a dog mystery. But it may well be my favorite book of the past ten years.

UNFIXABLE is available now in Kindle, paperback and audio.

The prequel, THE JUDGE’S DAUGHTER (Raine Stockton Dog Mystery #15) will be released Sept. 29 and is available from Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B8WGLWN3.

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Learning to Dance with Subtle Energy

9/21/2022

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I was inspired to write The Mechanics of Advanced Meditation to share the joy I discovered after many years of meditating to relieve headaches. It became clear that certain techniques resulted in consistent success in both relieving headaches and healing injuries. It is hard not to want to share the joy of pain relief and tell other people about it. Finding ways to relieve pain without the help of pain medicine is a difficult thing for people to respond to since they are often looking for the quickest solution that requires the least effort. It was difficult to find the right way to discuss the topic in a short conversation, but it was also difficult to see people suffering needlessly.

I wrote this book to share certain techniques that resulted in consistent success in both relieving headaches and healing injuries. It became clear that the method could not be shared in a quick conversation, so a book seemed the like best way to describe the process. The book provides techniques that anyone can use to focus their energy on injuries for extended periods of time. This method causes the body to accelerate healing in that area. There are many books available to encourage meditation for help relieve stress, but that is as far as the instruction goes. I wanted to get past the surface benefits of stress relief to show how to go deeper into healing.

The book lays out instructions that anticipate the stumbling blocks encountered when focusing for long periods of time. Various techniques are revealed to help the reader ride through the distractions and remain focused on the task. The method was not just intended to relieve stress but is more like weightlifting and will cause the body to heat up and sweat. It is not a quick fix, and it requires personal effort, but the method provides lasting healing.

The process of healing is very dynamic and requires small adjustments to be made rapidly, much like driving a car. The book breaks down the mechanics of the process and then ties the tools together. This helps the reader identify what is happening in real time and provides tools to make the needed adjustments. The effort builds momentum in the energy that accelerates the healing.

There are no special beliefs needed because the subtle energy, is the same energy that makes muscles move. It doesn’t take much thinking to move a finger, but that same energy focused for extended periods of time accelerates healing. This sounds simple enough but maintaining focus can be a challenge. Changing focus too often dissipates the built-up momentum so it is important to remain focused. A top athlete makes a consistent effort over multiple hours to complete a workout, and the same is true for healing.

To avoid accidents a driver repeats things like checking speed and watching the road ahead. This requires a bit of training and more focus the faster the car goes. This method of meditation uses this same focus and energy to drive the body to heal faster. The more energy and focus being applied, the faster the body heals. Just like in a car, as momentum builds it becomes more important to remain focused.

A handle is a concept used to define a focus. Similar to using a microscope or binoculars it requires holding the body in a particular configuration. The benefit of seeing through binoculars requires accepting limited movement to keep the target in focus. A handle defines the limitations so the person can hold the focus. Working within the handle keeps the energy moving consistently over long periods of time. The handle becomes familiar like a repeatable muscle memory. Developing many handles allows energy to flow from multiple directions to the same target. The energy flowing to a particular area accelerates healing.

I realized that this method could be shared with others much like a fitness coach shows students the best techniques to success. The next step was to compile the method into a book I could share. Although I have a lot of experience creating technical documents, this was a bit of a different experience. The book was written from a technical point of view but contains many analogies to make it easier for the reader to relate to the concepts. I want to give a special thanks to Rose Freeland and her team that helped me complete this book with her wonderful artwork. Her great insights into the art world created the images that I hope will inspire the reader’s imagination. The human imagination is a powerful tool when it can be focused on a particular task such as healing.

Andrew King

https://www.instagram.com/andrewkingauthor/
https://www.facebook.com/AndrewKingSubtleEnergy
https://www.facebook.com/subtleenergybooks
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20979492.Andrew_King
https://subtleenergybooks.com/
https://linktr.ee/AndrewKing_Subtleenergy
https://www.amazon.com/Mechanics-Advanced-Meditation-Learning-Subtle/dp/B088N444W7/

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Yvonne Hertzberger Shares Her Fantasy Journey

9/14/2022

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When my dear friend Greta asked me to write a post and suggested I tell the story of my writing journey it could not have come at a better time. After completing my fifth novel, I needed a break … but maybe I should start at the beginning.

Waaaay back, when I retired from paid work and decided I had a story to share I researched getting published. What I learned sent me on the path to self-publishing as I discovered that finding a traditional publisher who would edit, create my cover and promote me was unlikely in the extreme. Nor was I willing to give up control of my work to a publisher that would have me fit their idea of what sells.

Since I had neither the confidence nor the knowledge to go it alone, I sourced out “assisted publishing”. That led me to sign a contract with iUniverse, which turned out to be a vanity publisher that only wanted my money. After my three years were up, having learned a thing or two, and when I was ready to publish my second novel, I got my first book back and republished it with a different cover and some fresh edits. I self-published with both Amazon and Smashwords. Amazon has both paper and e-versions, Smashwords offers only e-books but in several formats. (They have recently merged with D2D. which will offer a paper option.)

Some writers are far more prolific than I. It takes me two to three years to get a new novel out. Much of what I learned along the way came from other writers, from Indies Unlimited (a wonderful group that supports Indie authors), Sandra Beckwith and several others. I owe them a lot.

Things went fairly smoothly with the Earth’s Pendulum trilogy and my fourth book, Labyrinth Quest. I had an editor who became a friend, great cover designer and formatter. Life was good. That changed with the fifth book, Altered Destinies. The man who did my formatting died. My editor retired. Many other smaller issues crept in. I became very discouraged.

My books all fall into the Fantasy category, with the first four including elements of magic realism. They all take place in “old world” societies, (all but Labyrinth Quest) in a world similar to late Norman or early Medieval times, but with strong female characters who explore non-traditional roles.

Character and character development are key for me, secondary to plot and setting, though those are important, too. I am most proud of the fourth book, Labyrinth Quest. I reread it recently and discovered, to my surprise

that M’rain, the protagonist, is so much like me it’s scary. Haha. The Earth’s Pendulum trilogy has my favourite character, Klast. Can a spy and an assassin be a good guy? If you read Back From Chaos, I think you’ll fall in love with him. I’m told women do – and men respect him.

My most recent book, Altered Destinies, departs from the magic realism angle. It takes place in a world re-emerging from a near-total apocalypse. Unlike many of these, which are dystopian, this is a book of hope with society struggling not to make the mistakes of the past.

While I was writing Altered Destinies, I also began my memoir. My life has been, shall we say, challenging, so my history of abuse and recovery might offer hope to someone else facing similar issues. I let that go for a while as it became difficult to revisit some of those times. Now I think I am ready to take up the torch again.

Anyone know how to write a memoir? Just kidding.

You can check out Yvonne's website here: https://yvonnehertzberger.com/

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A Fistful of Redemption: The Odyssey of a Friendship [TS Snow]

9/7/2022

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I wrote my first novel when I was seven, typed on a portable Underwood typewriter I received as a Christmas gift. It was a story about a horse, because I was crazy about horses and though I don’t ride now, I still love those beautiful creatures.

In high school, I was on the school newspaper, writing —what else?— book reviews, and in college, my beat was the theater and drama department. It wasn’t until I was a true adult, with a family of my own that I seriously contemplated writing a novel. Even then, I had no desire to submit the manuscript anywhere. They were written mostly for my own edification—and the entertainment of friends—and also to get the story out of my head so I could go on to something else.

My submitting a novel anywhere only happened because a coworker dared me to send the manuscript of the story becoming Book 2 of the GodChosen series to a publisher. I went to a local bookstore and asked a clerk to look up the address for a certain publisher in their catalogue. I sent the story to the address she gave me. It was rejected, because the publisher’s genre was for children’s novels. The clerk wasn’t very alert; she gave me the address of the wrong publisher. They asked if I had such a story. I replied I did. They asked to see it. I sat down and wrote the story becoming Spacedogs’ Best Friend, later released as Hot Diggity Spacedogs.

More about that another day. Right now, back to the GodChosen...

The Twilight of the GodChosen has an unusual history in that, as mentioned above, it’s Part 2 of an earlier series. GodChosen, Part 1, is the story of a man told by the gods he’s to be the father of a dynasty that will rule the planet Arcanis for 3000 years. Twilight is about the man who brings about the end of that dynasty.

Part 1 is a sword and sorcery saga; Part 2 has been classified as Science Fiction, space opera, and futuristic romance. It’s all those to be sure, but it’s something more. It’s the story of a friendship between two men … a bromance if you will, the “Buddy Story” of a haughty Arcanian prince who’s recently bitten the dust and the upstart Terran youngster who becomes his best friend, as well as the extent to which each will go in the name of that friendship.

In each of the seven stories in the series, this is pointed out, even in the novels in which either doesn’t figure prominently.

For example, in the first novel, Noble Sinner, Miles Sheffield is five-years-old and is mentioned as a mere footnote. Twenty years later, in A Span of Longing, after two decades of being exiled and learning how the lowest of the low live, Aric finally meets his lover Elizabeth’s younger brother, and it isn’t so much a meeting as a collision. Within two minutes of their introduction, they’re duking it out, exchanging fisticuff, and beating each other into unconsciousness.

It takes a near-death experience to end their animosity, though along the way, they mellow a little toward each other. Aric remembers his long-ago relief at knowing he wouldn’t have to babysit a five-year-old during his parents’ visit to his planet, but realizes he’s now fulfilling that same position as he mentors the young Terran, and he wonders if this is how it feels to have a younger brother. When tragedy strikes, he’s there for Miles. When he decides to return to Arcanis and try to regain his citizenship, facing possible death in doing so, Miles is by his side, confident in his ability to prevent the latter from happening.

Aric and Miles are always there for each other. They may bicker and have their little flare-ups but—hey, don’t all couples?

The two might be called the Starsky and Hutch of the SF world. Their story spans almost 40 years…of fights, marriages, births, and deaths, laughter, despair, and sarcasm…plenty of sarcasm. Wives and kingdoms may come and go, but Miles is always there for Aric and vice versa. As the old song says, Wherever we go, whatever we do, we’re gonna go through it together. (Thank you, Stephen Sondheim!)

In A Fistful of Redemption, the two are going on one last adventure. It may not be the one they expect but it’s definitely appropriate. Friends to the End and all that. This time, it’s about forgiveness and regaining one’s mental equilibrium after a devastating tragedy, a tragedy each man believes he might have prevented if he’d been more caring and considerate of his wife and children. Now, Aric has to learn to forgive himself before he can accept the happiness being offered to him while Miles’ redemption has to come through the Terran courts.

After this, I insist Aric kan Ingan and Miles Sheffield will settle down. After all, they’re both grandfathers now, but being the friends they are, when one finally rides off into the sunset, undoubtedly the other will be running to catch up.

A Fistful of Redemption, Book 7 of The Twilight of the GodChosen, is published by Aethon Books. It is available in Kindle and paperback through amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/Fistful-Redemption-Space-Twilight-Godchosen-ebook/dp/B09RPHBL3Y/

FInd out more about Toni:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Welcome-to-the-ToniVerse-1900908046884512/?modal=admin_todo_tour
Amazon Author’s Page:
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002BLQBB8
Twitter: @ToniVSweeney

Toni V. Sweeney has lived 30 years in the South, a score in the Middle West, and a decade on the Pacific Coast and now she’s trying for her second 30 on the Great Plains.

Since the publication of her first novel in 1989, Toni divides her time between writing SF/Fantasy under her own name and romance/paranormal/adventures under the pseudonyms Tony-Paul de Vissage, Icy Snow Blackstone, and TS Snow. She is also on the review staff of the New York Journal of Books, is an amazon reviewer, and is in the 1% of reviewers for Goodreads. In 2016, she was named a Professional Reader by netgalley.com.

Currently, Toni has written 85 novels, with 79 of them having been published. This includes several series.

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Yeah, But I Didn't

8/31/2022

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The following story is about yours truly. Some bits have been exaggerated. That’s what I do,
take a kernel of truth and butter it until it’s palatable.
The part I didn’t say at all is not told here. It’s told in my novel,
YEAH, BUT I DIDN’T.
I wrote that one a few years ago, when I finally felt far enough away to know
that I wouldn’t spontaneously combust when the words hit the page.
That book holds all the truths.
Well, most of them, anyway.

Many years ago, a young girl sat at her open bedroom window late one night after she should have been fast asleep. The wind blew dusty spirals of red earth down the center of the wide, deserted street. Her small town slept as only small West Texas towns will. Not even a stray dog or cat haunted the moonlit scene.

What’s out there, the young girl wondered. And why do I feel like I’m missing it? An emptiness had begun to gnaw at her from somewhere deep inside. She didn’t know the name of that feeling, couldn’t put it into words at all, but she was determined to try.

The very next morning, school pencil clutched in one slender hand, the girl wrote her first story. The main character turned out to be a questing teen a few years older than herself—old enough to stick out a thumb and catch a ride.

Her pencil flew across the page, from sharp graphite point to soft, smeary nub. All day long the girl gave life to the feelings tormenting her. Characters came and went. The pink eraser shrunk. The main character traveled on.

Eventually the girl wrote enough words.

She felt better. Her main character had made it all the way across the country, away from the things that constituted real life.

There were tons of gaps in that first story, but the girl had done it. She had temporarily filled the gaping maw within her soul. Filled it up with words she learned from always being a library rat. From Mary Stewart’s Crystal Cave, to Richard Adams’ Watership Down, to Richard Bradford’s Red Sky at Morning, she’d built up a cache of words.

Later, she won a prize for her writing. At the award ceremony she had to stop—just before going on stage to read the tale aloud—and ask her teacher how to pronounce writhing. Even though she’d written it, she’d never heard it spoken.

“Is it a long i or a short i sound,” she asked the teacher? She felt ridiculous not knowing. But this was eons before Google. And she’d never thought to look it up in her Webster’s. After all, she knew the meaning. She had read it in her library books.

Years later, she returned to sit at the New Releases table in the local bookstore, a stack of to-be-signed-books at her elbow. Her old teacher approached and pulled out an early copy of his own. Without preamble he said, “I suppose you live in New York now.”

She grasped the book he laid before her. “Why no,” she replied. “Not at all.” She sensed he wanted to say more. “Do you still write?” She recalled how vividly he had read aloud his poetry one day in class.

He shrugged. “I still dabble,” he said. “But every year I tell my new students about you. About how you didn’t know the pronunciation of a word even though you knew its meaning. And about how that never slowed you down.” He tapped her book title with his forefinger. “Writhing at the Door,” he read. “That was the word, writhing. I’ll never forget it.”

His voice softened. “Your book already has a special place on the shelf in my classroom. I tell the kids you followed your dreams to New York where you live in a loft apartment overlooking Central Park. I’ve made up a whole writing life for you, thinking you’d never return here to Backwater, Texas.”

She opened the cover, laughing. “Thank you. To be the main character in someone else’s made-up story truly makes me happy.”

The teacher relaxed. “I’m glad you don’t mind.”

“I feel like a star,” she said, thinking of her sweet little apartment in Dallas, not so far away. She wasn’t rich. Didn’t have a blockbuster novel, but she had a loyal following, and the words still filled the spaces inside her soul.

She took up her pen. On the flyleaf of her very first novel, she wrote:

Mr. D--
Thank you for not making a simple high school scribe feel like a fool.
All my best,
B--

And that is the story of my first story. And this one as well.

August 2022
Ann Swann (Formerly known as Benji)

Yeah, But I Didn’t by Ann Swann

Benji Stevens is 14 years old when her world falls apart. Betrayed, bullied, and battered emotionally, physically, and spiritually, her life spirals out of control. She is certain there is nowhere to turn and nothing to live for. Yet in the midst of the darkness there appears an array of hope in the form of her crazy uncle, her single mom, and a host of other characters she never dreamed would be there to help. When she is forced to join the Yeah, but I Didn’t therapy group, Benji is finally able to confront her inner demons and embrace her own self-worth.

Author website: https://www.authorannswann.com
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/pj5uc9j3
Facebook: www.facebook.com/annswann.books
Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/6vuw7vl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ann_swann
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annswann.author/

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Penulis [Writer]

8/24/2022

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I am Ey (“E”) Isadora-Lyphe Wade. Penulis. Author. Inventor. My motto: "Life is Inspirational." I tend to see myself as a rambler in conversation and thinking. A scrambler of thoughts and words without designated paths that always end up telling a good story. I have never been able to conform my writing style to any specific pattern and more often than not, I’m working on one story, using the same pen I’ve used for the past fifteen years, when the characters from another will just be dying to get my attention and I run off into their world. Which is why I write in varied genres from creative nonfiction, thriller, romance, YA, women’s fiction to children’s picture books. I have so much to say.

So, knowing me as an author is like cracking an egg’s shell in the air and wondering how far the splatter will spread. Pretty much the same with knowing me as a person. I’m like all over the board and always working on three to five projects at a time. I have no favorite spots to work, and my view tends to be pointed at the keyboard. When an idea comes into my head, I just flow with it. Which is one of the things that brought me to writing my creative nonfiction history book, Beads on a String – America’s Racially Intertwined Biographical History. I’d become frustrated with all the racial divisions and wanted something that celebrated us all, so I dove into researching America’s diverse history. Because I started off writing the book with the intention of teaching my own children to be tolerant, informed, and proud of all who are American and contributed to this country’s growth – I am humbled and thankful for the encouragement and praise of the readers who have given me feedback. The most impressive words came from a young history enthusiast, Gage Bailey:

My name is Gage Bailey, and I am fourteen years old. I really liked the fact that the author added so much more information in this book, more than you can find in the textbooks we get in school. The title is perfect. There are more than just "Americans" who helped to make the history of our country and I think it is sad that we don't get to hear about them at school. We are all beads on the same string, and everything we do, no matter how big or small, makes history.

The only thing I wish is that the author would have added more of her opinion in the book. I do realize it is non-fiction, but I would have liked to know more about what she thought when she was researching and writing it. What she as surprised as me to find out such important and interesting facts? I really liked this book and I recommend it to anyone who loves History!

Because of Gage, I am able to remember and express the myriad of emotions I encountered while researching for Beads on a String – America’s Racially Intertwined Biographical History. There was joy, amazement, sadness, and quite a bit of anger garnered. You can't even imagine how excited I was while penning the invention section and learned it was a Black man who invented the super soaker. The simple water filled toy that brought us through a lot of hot summers. I can't think of a race that does not love to play with one of those.

To Gage I responded: I guess in essence you can say my love and enthusiasm for Beads on a String – America’s Racially Intertwined Biographical History can be compared to playing a good game of hide and seek with a loaded water gun at my side. The anticipation of something new being around the corner, the trepidation of running into the unexpected blast of knowledge and last, but not least, I feel the rush of triumph over the hidden enemy – ignorance and discrimination. No matter what anyone says, I love this book, I love America. With all of her faults and the many angry voices trying to tear her down, I believe in the people ... our beads.

So, that’s me and my writing life in a nutshell. To find me, I'm no farther than a click away. Visit my webpage: Into the Deep Please explore my other writings at my Amazon Author Page and all other major booksellers. If you like trailing behind, you can follow me on twitter @Read_EyBooks or on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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Author Murray Fuhrer Pondering His Journey

8/17/2022

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I guess I have always been a ponderer. Is that a word? It’s undoubtedly a state of mind. If you were to leaf through an old family photo album, you would find plenty of pictures of me with a perplexed look on my face. I had an overwhelming desire to know how things worked, much to my father’s chagrin. I was always in his workshop, messing with his tools, taking apart everything from small gas engines and electric motors to radios and discarded toasters.

My father was not what you might call handy, so over time, he was happy to designate me as the go-to guy for everything from mechanical repairs and welding to carpentry and electrical.

I liked fixing things, but I also enjoyed reading and writing – a passion I inherited from my mother, a part-time schoolteacher. Before I could write, I would dictate stories, and my mother would write them down for me. I would then ask her to read them back. In a way, she was like my personal secretary. She seemed to enjoy the process, and we shared plenty of laughs.

As a farm kid, I was actively involved in 4H for several years and eventually became a Junior 4H Leader. I wasn’t much interested in the livestock aspect, but I enjoyed the camaraderie and public speaking, for which I won several awards. When I finished high school, I studied broadcasting and became a radio announcer and, later, a professional copywriter.

To supplement my radio income, I began writing advertorials for a local daily paper and eventually wrote a well-received weekly column on the paranormal: The Unknown.

Perhaps it’s the nature of a ponderer, but over time I began to ponder why people did and said things and why (more importantly) I did and said certain things. As a result, I developed a deep and abiding interest in psychology, philosophy, and metaphysics. Over time, I became a certified Master Hypnotist, Intuitive Hypnotherapist and Self-Esteem Coach. I wanted to make a difference in the lives of others – I wanted the world to be a better place for me having been here. I spent fourteen years working in a clinical setting as an Intuitive hypnotherapist.

I have always enjoyed talking to people and hearing their stories. I especially liked stories about how people faced and then overcame challenges. In our family, I was known as the storyteller as I seemed to have an empowering tale about nearly every relative.

On a (carpool) drive home from work one day, I shared a few insightful stories with a friend. As we neared our destination, he commented, “You should write down those stories. They’re entertaining, and each has a moral lesson. I think people would enjoy reading them.”

I pondered the idea for some time and then devised a plan. I would pitch a new column to the local newspaper. It would be called Thoughts along the Path (To Inner Harmony) and would feature my “insightful” stories and a life lesson. After writing two columns – each 550 words – I made an appointment with the newspaper editor. He was polite and professional but rejected my idea. However, he did provide me with some good advice. Ground each column – they’re too “out there” for the average reader. Reign in your vocabulary – write at a grade 8 level – and make it memorable – ring the reader’s emotional tuning fork. Oh, and he did mention that the name was too long. Consider changing it to something more … relevant to the topic.

Taking the editor’s suggestions to heart, I returned to the keyboard and wrote two new columns under the working name Extreme Esteem. I returned to the newspaper a few weeks later to find a new editor. He listened to my pitch and told me he liked the idea. He asked me to write eight more columns and return in a month. I was back in a week – now with ten columns under my belt. That’s when he confessed to wanting to see if the column was sustainable. He didn’t want to green-light a new column if I was going to run out of ideas in three months.

The column was exceptionally well received and led to my being asked to speak at several functions, including colleges, universities, and hospitals. I also joined the local Self-Esteem Society, eventually becoming Vice President and conducting several monthly sessions. It also prompted me to create a weekend workshop titled Extreme Esteem, where attendees would experience some of the most profound and life-changing lessons and exercises.

In 2006, I established Extreme Esteem Publishing and released Extreme Esteem – The Four Factors shortly after. The volume was well received, went through four printings, and was considered for a Provincial Literary Award. The book featured the best of the first two years of columns. As time passed, the newspaper allotted me more space, allowing me to take the column from 550 to 750 words. The result was a much deeper dive into the topic of discussion. It also allowed me to expand upon each column’s storytelling and lesson aspects.

Fourteen years and nearly 1000 columns later, Extreme Esteem finally wrapped up its run. People have often asked me if I ran out of ideas. Of course, there were occasions when I was a little pushed for ideas – the column ran weekly – but for the most part, the well never ran dry.

Fans of Extreme Esteem have often asked me when I would be writing a sequel to my first volume. Starting a few years ago, I seriously began to ponder the idea of a sequel. Even before the column wrapped up, I was considering it. With nearly 1000 columns to choose from (excluding those used in the first volume), I would have a great deal of material to draw upon.

After a few years and more than a few stops and starts, Extreme Esteem – The Four Factors 2 is nearing completion. The manuscript has gone through multiple revisions and edits and is only one final edit/rewrite away from going off to the printing press.

Once published, I hope fans and new readers will enjoy the stories and embrace the life lessons contained within. If so, I have done my job and perhaps … made a difference.

When I would conclude a speech, I would share the following quote. It was also written on every certificate of completion I handed out at the end of my Extreme Esteem workshop.

“This is our purpose: to make as meaningful as possible this life that has been bestowed upon us . . . to live in such a way that we may be proud of ourselves, to act in such a way that some part of us lives on.” ― Oswald Spengler, German historian and philosopher

Links for Murray Fuhrer: www.hypnotism.ca / www.extremeesteem.ca

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A Snapshot of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice

8/10/2022

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Were you aware that the working title of Pride and Prejudice was First Impressions? It is assumed that this title reflected the immediate dislike of each other by Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Unfortunately, another press had just published another book with that same title. As it turns out, the final title has worked out very well!

Pride and Prejudice was published on January 28, 1813. Thomas Egerton, bookseller and publisher, purchased the copyright for £110. Prior to this, her brother, Henry Austen, who was a banker had been circulating the book among circles of friends and acquaintances who could afford to buy books for pleasure-reading. Due to his efforts, the book had developed quite a reputation prior to Egerton’s offer to Miss Austen.

In five months after publication, the book sold over 1,000 copies! A 2nd edition was published that same year and a 3rd in 1817. Considering there was no internet and no social media at the time, that's amazing.

Today, her novel has sold more than 20 million copies! As is often the case, Miss Austen was never recognized with literary awards in her lifetime. Fortunately, her words live on.

For those not familiar with Pride and Prejudice, below is a quick catch-up.

Elizabeth Bennet’s household is all aflutter with the news that a wealthy gentleman named Charles Bingley has rented a nearby manor. There are five unmarried daughters in the Bennet household, and their parents are anxious to see than all married. The Bennets attend a ball where Bingley is not only in attendance, but is quite taken with Jane Bennet. Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is not nearly as exuberant over the evening’s festivities and refuses to dance with Elizabeth.

However, subsequent social events finds Mr. Darcy becoming attracted to Elizabeth. When her sister Jane is caught in a downpour on her way to the Bingley mansion, she becomes ill. Elizabeth is forced to travel through inclement weather to tend to her sister. Bingley’s sister is a bit of a shrew, especially when she realizes Darcy is attracted to Elizabeth.

... Continued

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Pamela Craze

8/3/2022

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Illus. from 1741 pirated edition of "Pamela."

In 1740 English writer Samuel Richardson wrote a novel titled Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded. It evolved out of a request for a series of letter templates he was working on for two book sellers. His only condition to the sellers for the project was that the letters must have a moral purpose. Inspired, he turned them into a story. He saw it as an opportunity to instruct and entertain through highlighting the social and domestic behaviors of men, women, and servants.

In today’s world this work would be characterized as a novel about sexual harassment of a fifteen-year-old girl, a maid servant, who as the story unfolds, is being continuously threatened with sexual assault by her boss. In Richardson’s world, her persistent fending off of his advances results in her virtue being rewarded. Hence, the subtitle Virtue Rewarded.

Her employer was relentless in his attempts at seduction, even going so far as kidnapping her. In the end, however, he reforms (or perhaps gives in) and offers her a legitimate proposal of marriage; hence, virtue is rewarded.

Pamela author Samuel Richardson

Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded is considered one of the first true English novels. Today, his writings would be considered content literature, a genre of books which attempt to educate the reader on social norms and ideals. At the time of its publication, Pamela was a bestseller, but it was not without its critics, who focused on what they perceived to be licentiousness as well as disregard for class barriers.

The work was considered poignant because the story unfolds through letters and journal entries by Pamela addressed to her parents. A great emphasis was placed on Pamela’s innocence and naiveté, which served to make Mr. B’s actions even more heinous.

Pamela was the first novel printed in America, courtesy of Benjamin Franklin. However, it was not as well-received across the pond in America as it was in England, Also, in 1742, the sequel, Pamela in her Exalted Condition, was published by Samuel Richardson.

Plate 1742 Deluxe Edition of "Pamela"

Impact

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the novels is the multimedia impact it had on the literary world. Copyright laws were not as strict then as they are today, so you can imagine how many unofficial sequels were written and published. Even Henry Fielding, a writer of humor and satire and considered a co-founder of the English novel along with Richardson, jumped into the fray. There were many satires during this era, which were considered conservative reactions to Richardson calling into question the accepted barriers set by socio-economic status.

James G. Turner, Berkeley professor, titles this phenomenon the “Pamela craze” and asserts that it was emulated “inn virtually every medium.” It smacks of modern-day merchandise marketing with its murals, paintings, and the like fashioned after the zeal for Pamela. The craze did not stop there. Plays, operas, and books galore, both supporting and parodying the original, emerged. One in particular was Henry Fielding’s An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews. Obviously, Fielding was not a fan of the character Pamela. He saw her instead as a gold-digger, who pretended innocence to manipulate Mr. B (whom he titles in his book Booby) into marriage.

Most interesting is the effect Pamela had on the attitude toward novels. There were those opposed to Pamela and its unexpected offspring as capable of igniting unacceptable passions and desires. Some even suggested that it went beyond that and nudged readers to ignore their wills and become automatons.

This perhaps sounds silly, but when one considers the continuous efforts to ban books by those fearful that readers do not know their own minds and are incapable of making their own choices, it is perhaps a continuing reaction to anything that threatens their belief systems. Just as in the eighteenth century and for all time, people have free will to choose what they want to read and to choose how it affects them.

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Sadness Is Everywhere

7/29/2022

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The Scribblers

No need to tell you our names since they are obvious on our other pages.

The two of us are great believers in the power of the written word. We write novels and nonfiction, not to mention our articles on conservation and spiritual psychology.

We are both entering what we term Act 3 of our lives with the deaths of our husbands, and writing will be an even larger part of our final acts in life.

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A Snapshot of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice

Pamela Craze

Sadness Is Everywhere

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