Today, I’m very happy to have my good friend Gwen Plano visiting with us. Gwen is a gifted writer, a contributor to the wonderful #StoryEmpire blog, and a blogger in her own right, as well. Please join me in welcoming Gwen as she tells us a bit about herself and her background. Take it away, my friend!

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Thank you, Marcia, for inviting me to your blog site. I’m excited to join you and your followers today. When we first talked, you asked about my background and interests, and I’ll try to answer both in my response below.

I grew up on a farm and that’s important to know, because those formative years shaped who I am today. A simple lifestyle and hard work were part of my life and remain so by choice. As much as I love visiting a museum, I’m just as entranced being outside in nature. To this day, I get up before sunrise and fall asleep not long after the sun sets.

As the eldest of the seven, I helped mom with all the tasks of family life. But I was also a dreamer. My parents had a set of encyclopedia, and I loved turning its pages. I hungered to know more, and that deep desire remains with me today. 

I was the first in my extended family to go to college and were it not for the inconvenience, I would still be taking classes today. I love learning and that is apparent in the research that I do.

My first book is a memoir, and it is followed by a thriller series. I’m currently writing the final book of that series. I jokingly tell my four adult children that I will solve the troubles in the Middle East with this last book.

My most recent publication is The Culmination, a new beginning. It’s a military/political thriller that spans the globe and tackles complicated international concerns. For every hour I spent writing, I doubled that in research. My questions took me to places I never expected and before I knew it, I was traveling down a rabbit hole that had deadly consequences. The Culmination changed my life forever.

I am very grateful for the wonderful reviews I’ve received. The one below is from mystery writer, Mae Clair.

 5-Star Review from Mae Clair

Book three in a series, The Culmination reads easily as a standalone novel. A political thriller, that addresses denuclearization, tensions in the Middle East, and the fate of refugees, much of the story echoes current headlines. The plot is complex involving multiple heads of state, along with the strategical give and take of political maneuvering on a global level. The author clearly put an extensive amount of research into this book, and it shows. Adrenalin-fueled scenes alter with more cerebral moments, and even a few romantic interludes.

I especially loved the evolution of the relationship between the two central characters, Margaret Adler, VP of the United States and Ivan Smirnov, acting President of Russia. During the course of the novel those titles change, and we learn more about each, including richly developed backgrounds. I was thoroughly invested in the difficulties Margaret and Ivan faced, both on personal and political levels. Their scenes together were among my favorites of the book. There’s also a young refugee child who factors into the story and who stole my heart.

A unique combination of character-driven and plot-driven fiction, I recommend this compelling tale to readers who enjoy strong character development and complexly-plotted intrigue.

BUY THE CULMINATION: A New Beginning HERE

BLURB:

The Culmination, a new beginning is the third book in The Contract thriller series. After an assassination attempt on an Air Force base in northern California, tensions mount. Heads of state meet to craft a denuclearization agreement. The meetings between these nuclear powers take a murderous turn. A nefarious conspiracy re-emerges and leads the characters into the heart of the Middle East, where they encounter the unexpected and find a reason for hope.

Contact Gwen:

Blog:  https://www.gwenplano.com/blog-reflections
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/GMPlano
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gmplano
Amazon Author’s page:  https://amzn.to/3eAU2Bt 

Book links:

Letting Go into Perfect Love – https://amzn.to/3bToO7t
The Contract between heaven and earth – https://amzn.to/2U2Lgmv
The Choice: the unexpected heroes – https://amzn.to/3lcz8eA
The Culmination, a new beginning – https://amzn.to/3eEWkj9

 

And while you’re out surfing around today, be sure to check out Craig Boyack’s very interesting and enlightening post on #StoryEmpire yesterday. I think you’ll find it intriguing. I know I did, and I learned a new word, too! 🙂

Check out Craig’s post HERE

I HEARTILY recommend you stop by to check out the Weekly Round Up Post over on Smorgasbord blog today, and not just because I’m one of the lucky folks featured. There’s so much good stuff this week, I couldn’t begin to describe it all, but if you do nothing else, DO watch the Boogie video! It will make you smile BIG TIME! 😀

Visit Sally’s Weekly Round-Up HERE

Submissions for #FirstLineFriday are officially closed now. My thanks to all who emailed me with their guesses. Today, I’m sorry—but maybe not surprised– to say we have no winners. While I was hoping I’d be wrong, I was also thinking this would be a super tough one, even though it made several of my official Top 100 Opening Lines lists.  It’s one classic I admit I haven’t read, either, but I did see the movie some years ago. Didn’t help me recognize the line one bit. 🙄

“He was an inch, perhaps two, under six feet, powerfully built, and he advanced straight at you with a slight stoop of the shoulders, head forward, and a fixed from-under stare which made you think of a charging bull.” is the opening line of Lord Jim, written by Joseph Conrad in 1900. (Conrad was also the  author of Heart of Darkness, which has been made into several movies, including the 1979 adaptation retitled Apocalypse, Now, starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duval, and Martin Sheen.

Lord Jim was originally published as a serial in Blackwood’s Magazine from October 1899 to November 1900.  In 1965, Lord Jim was made into a film directed by Richard Brooks and starring Peter O’Toole as Jim.

An early and primary event in the story is the abandonment of a passenger ship in distress by its crew, including a young British seaman named Jim. He is publicly censured for this action and the novel follows his later attempts at coming to terms with himself and his past.

The opening event in Lord Jim may have been based in part on an actual abandonment of a ship. On July 17, 1880, S.S. Jeddah sailed from Singapore bound for Penang and Jeddah, with 778 men, 147 women and 67 children on board. The passengers were Muslims from the Malay states, travelling to Mecca on a holy pilgrimage. The Jeddah sailed under the British flag and was crewed largely by British officers. After rough weather conditions, the ship began taking on water. The hull sprang a large leak, the water rose rapidly, and the captain and officers abandoned the heavily listing ship. They were picked up by another vessel and taken to Aden where they told a story of violent passengers and a foundering ship. The pilgrims were left to their fate, and apparently certain death. However, on August 8, 1880 a French steamship towed Jeddah into Aden – the pilgrims had survived. An official inquiry followed, as it does in the novel.

In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Lord Jim 85th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

 

WHAT AMAZON SAYS:

A bold young English sailor has despised himself ever since an impulsive moment of cowardice. Jim moves East to Patusan, where natives worship him-and he may be able to find redemption…

Buy Lord Jim HERE:

And that wraps up this week’s quiz, folks! Again, sorry I couldn’t give away any downloads, but I’m still happy to be sharing a book I love with folks who may not have heard of it yet.

#FirstLineFriday will be back in two weeks, and I’ll try to have something that rings a bell with more of you. Maybe. You never can tell. 😀