#GuestDayTuesday – #ChristineSkarbek – #ConfrontingPower&Chaos

May 7, 2024April 14, 2024 / Marcia Meara / 25 Comments

Today’s guest is author Christine Skarbek, and I think you are going to really enjoy her post, so let’s get going! Christine, take it away!

Thanks, Marcia!
~~~

10 fun (we hope!) facts ~~

1) Though I’m not particularly intelligent, I outsmarted both professionals regarding my daughter’s OCD which threatened her life for years and “spooks” who had invaded my home and harassed me and my 16-year-old son for about six months.

2) My adventure memoir, Confronting Power and Chaos: the Uncharted Kaleidoscope of My Life, has gotten rave reviews from reviewers in the UK, France, South Africa, Canada and USA.

3) Hardly knowing a word of Polish, I moved to Poland and lived there by the skin of my teeth for over 12 years.

4) My youngest daughter is an acclaimed artist in Macon GA.

5) The screenplay I wrote back in 1990 after investigating my distant cousin’s life (the only person male or female to have distinguished herself on both the Eastern and Western fronts of WWII) and interviewing her wartime associates. That script, in its present version, is now being pitched in Hollywood.

6) I have translated all of Polish author Dominik Rettinger’s novels and adapted three of them to American or UK settings.

7) I listen to Beethoven, Dvorak, Schubert and Grieg music religiously.

8) I totally love travelling by train. I have had the world’s best conversations on trains. The folks I’ve met have been exceptional!

9) Best way to entertain your kids at mealtimes is to have them recite lines from their favorite movies, and sprinkle questions about the actors, directors, etc. for them to answer.

10) Best way to educate your kids during summertime is to take them to Europe.

~~~ “That one event, that one ten-minute car ride, radically bowled over my life’s kaleidoscope.”

What’s in a name?

Her trailblazer of a distant cousin forged a solitary, singular path during and after WWII. Unassuming and somewhat clueless, Christine eventually finds she has to do pretty much the same. A teen fully expecting her Midwestern life would be drab and ho-hum, she meets in Germany an elderly man who offered her a ride – and insight into a legacy she was going to rely on throughout her entire life.

Marrying the wrong guy, divorced, isolated, and responsible for four chronically ill children, she charged forward, brooking no fools to get her children the healthcare and education they richly deserved, even if that meant blackmailing the governor of Iowa. She took on the powers that be (including spooks invading her home for six months), while always striving for the career she pined for.

Throughout all the decades of financial and personal setbacks and the chaos that swirled around her, Christine’s legacy constantly beckoned her: to be worthy of that distant cousin, WWII’s most decorated courier, and of a timeless love story she witnessed.

Christine’s life journey, including her 12 years in Poland (her other homeland), is a stirring testament to determination, imagination, and the power of perseverance and of thinking out of the box.

Author Christine Skarbek

With an MA in journalism from the University of Iowa, Christine Skarbek has worked as a foreign student exchange coordinator, written op-eds for several newspapers—including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution—and co-authored three screenplays. Besides continuing her public relations promotion of D.W. Rettinger’s novels, she has had articles published in online journals. She’s currently enjoying her semi-retirement in Silver Spring MD as her LA producer pitches her and Rettinger’s biopic on Countess Krystyna Skarbek, WWI’s most decorated agent who distinguished herself on both the Eastern and Western fronts.

You can reach Christine on Facebook HERE
Email Christine here: cskarbek@gmail.com

Check Out Christine’s book HERE

My adventure memoir, Confronting Power and Chaos: the Uncharted Kaleidoscope of My Life, has gotten rave reviews from: the UK, France, South Africa, Canada and USA.

#GuestDayTuesday – #DarleneFoster – #AmandaInScotland – #TheStandingStones

April 23, 2024April 15, 2024 / Marcia Meara / 68 Comments

It’s #GuestDayTuesday, folks, and today our special guest is Darlene Foster. I know you’ll enjoy Darlene’s post, so please welcome her to TWS. Darlene … take it away!

Thanks, Marcia!

Interview with Amanda Jane Ross by Darlene Foster
~~~

I would like to welcome intrepid traveller, Amanda Jane Ross, to Marcia Meara’s radio show.

DF: Hello Amanda. Welcome to the show. I understand you have just returned from a visit to Scotland.How did you enjoy It?

AR: It was awesome! I spent a week on the Isle of Arran which has everything the whole of the country has. It’s called Scotland in miniature as it has highlands and lowlands.You are never far from a beach and there are all kinds of wildlife like cute red squirrels.

DF: What took you there?

AR: My bestie, Leah Anderson, has an aunt who lives on the island, and she invited us to spend some time with her. She lives in a really cool old house. I already knew Aunt Jenny because I met her in Malta and she took us to France too. She is a cool aunt.

DF: You sure like to travel. What is one of your favourite places?

AR: Oh, I don’t have a favourite place. I love every place I visit. I like trying new food and learning about the history and meeting the local people. My teacher tells me that I get a better education travelling than she could ever teach me. I always share my experiences with the class when I return.

DF: You always seem to get involved in a mystery wherever you go. Why is that?

AR: Well, I don’t do that on purpose. It just seems to happen. There wasn’t going to be any mystery to solve this time, but a woman from the past kept showing up. At least she seemed like she was from the past. I did touch the standing stones, hoping I would be transported back in time. That didn’t happen, but someone could have come though to our time. I mean, you never know, do you?

DF: No, you never do. Do you have any other plans to travel.

AR: My cousin, Taylor, is marrying an Irish girl and they asked me to be a junior bridesmaid. The wedding is going to be in a castle, in Ireland! I’ve never been there before so I can’t say no.

DF: Sounds like fun. Thanks for taking the time to be on the show, Amanda. Happy travels.

Amanda in Scotland: The Standing Stones

Blurb:

What could possibly go wrong on the magical Scottish Isle of Arran? It’s such a peaceful, charming place with castles, mountains, old graves and ancient standing stones.

Amanda Ross and Leah Anderson are visiting Aunt Jenny who owns an old house on the island. But something is not right. A mysterious woman, who seems to have stepped out of the past, keeps appearing, Leah’s father hasn’t contacted the family for some time, and Aunt Jenny’s house may have an uninvited guest.

Amanda is intrigued by this picturesque island, often called Little Scotland. She watches exciting sheepdog trials, attends a lively ceilidh, makes friends with the locals, and visits the mystical Holy Island. Join Amanda as she tries to solve the mystery of the strange woman and the disappearance of Leah’s father. Will the past catch up with the present?

Short Excerpt:

Amanda grunted lifting the heavy metal bar to open the gate. She tugged at it but it wouldn’t budge. The muddy ground caused her to lose her footing. She slipped and fell—face down in the sticky mud. As she looked up, she saw someone running through the trees. A woman in a white cap and a plaid shawl. The woman from the past.

Author Darlene Foster

Brought up on a ranch in southern Alberta, Darlene Foster dreamt of writing, travelling the world and meeting interesting people. She also believes everyone is capable of making their dreams come true. It’s no surprise that she’s now an award-winning author of the children’s Amanda Travels Adventure series, and divides her time between the west coast of Canada and Orihuela Costa, in Spain.

Social Media:

Website: www.darlenefoster.ca
Blog: https://darlenefoster.wordpress.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3156908.Darlene_Foster
Twitter: https://twitter.com/supermegawoman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarleneFosterWriter

Buy Links:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Darlene-Foster/author/B003XGQPHA

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Darlene-Foster/author/B003XGQPHA

#GuestDayTuesday – #GuestPosts – #ShareYourNews

April 12, 2024 / Marcia Meara / 14 Comments

Happy Freya’s Day, Everybody! Hope you are all eagerly awaiting a wonderful weekend ahead. I’ll be planting a couple more roses and doing a wee bit of gardening each morning, before the day gets too hot.

Just wanted to put out a call for guest posters. If you have a new book to share, or an old one to remind folks about, we can do that. If you have something writing-related you’d like to discuss, (Do’s and Don’ts, or a book you’ve read recently and would like to chat about) we can do that, too. Actually, I’m open to lots of topics for guest posters, so please contact me if you have something you’d like more folks to know about. Here are just a few of the headers for the types of posts I’ve shared on TWS in the past, though we aren’t limited to just these topics.

I’m open to various topics, and would love to have you visit. Just email me or respond below, and we’ll make it happen. The Write Stuff wants YOU!!

Hoping to Hear From You Soon!

#GuestDayTuesday – #GwenPlano – #SoulWhisperer’sDecision

April 2, 2024March 7, 2024 / Marcia Meara / 65 Comments

Today, we’re welcoming my good friend Gwen Plano as our Guest. I know you’re going to enjoy this, as Gwen will be sharing a bit about her newest book, Soul Whisperer’s Decision, so let’s get right to it. Happy Reading, Everyone, and …

Welcome to The Write Stuff, Gwen!

Thanks so much for having me here today, Marcia.

BACKSTORY:

I have a special interest in the Near-Death Experience phenomenon. Since the 1980s, I’ve read original research of accounts, and I’ve also read numerous books by survivors. Though I’ve not experienced an NDE, I’ve had several inexplicable experiences of a loving presence at times of great duress.

For ten years, 2002 – 2012, I was an administrator at a college near Camp Pendleton in California. I worked directly with the Marine veterans and, to a lesser degree, veterans from the other branches of the military. I quickly discovered that almost all the Marines suffered PTSD and/or physical injuries from their service in Iraq or Afghanistan. I became their advocate and tried to provide a ‘safe’ place for the veterans to meet, hang out, and process. To this day, my experience with the veterans remains the highlight of my thirty years in Higher Education.

When I wrote The Soul Whisperer’s Decision, I sought to illuminate the struggles of those who have experienced extreme violence. And, as well, I tried to show the healing power of love. None of us can erase our past or another’s, but by our choices, we can carve a hopeful future for ourselves and others.

BLURB:

Sarah Jameson, a nurse at County Central Hospital, survives an accident that kills her two young children. While comatose, she travels into the heavenly realm where she visits with her precious little ones. She is given a choice – return to her husband, Jack, or remain with her children in their celestial home.

Jack was not in the fated automobile. Though he heard the crash and ran to help, there was nothing he could do. He suffers the loss of his children, fears the potential demise of his wife, and wonders about his own sanity. His struggle with PTSD from his military years has returned and at times, he cannot distinguish between the present and the past.

An accident tragically changed the lives of this young family, but out of sorrow emerges unexpected blessings.

QUOTE FROM THE BOOK:

Time blurs when dreams fade. The present, without its past, drifts obscurely before us. We see it but only vaguely. Like a stranger in a foreign land, we wander alone. What was, no longer is. But what remains feels like a hologram—unreal and elusive.

PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon: https://bit.ly/488Ziay

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/48aWmdu

BLOG: www.gwenplano.com ( https://bit.ly/48AKRvE )

Author Gwen Plano

Gwen grew up on a farm in the great Southern California desert bordering Arizona and Mexico. She claims to have climbed more sand dunes than Lawrence of Arabia. This desert habitat helped shape her core beliefs in hard work and gracious acceptance of others.

Gwen is retired from a lengthy career in higher education, which spanned both the East and West coasts and included five years in Japan. She now calls the high desert of Chino Valley, AZ her home. And most any day, you’ll find her hiking or writing, if she and her husband are not on the road exploring.

#GuestDayTuesday – Featuring #MaeClair – #NewRelease – #TheKeepingPlace

March 12, 2024February 19, 2024 / Marcia Meara / 32 Comments

I’m SO happy to have Mae Clair, one of my best online friends, visiting us today, and I know you’re going to enjoy learning all about her latest book, so without further ado, here she is: Take it away, Mae!

Hi, Marcia! Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog today. I’m delighted to be here, sharing my upcoming release The Keeping Place, a dual timeline mystery which is now available for pre-order! Most readers know me as someone who loves weaving urban legends and threads of the supernatural into my stories. The Keeping Place took an entirely different turn.

Well… there is a small thread that does involve an old town legend and a ghost, but nothing that takes center stage as in my other books. This one is about relationships, and what happens to an estranged mother/daughter when the remains of the youngest daughter are discovered ten years after she disappeared. It’s more of a “quiet” mystery than I usually write.

In its heyday, Hornwood was the launching point for the Boone Rail Line which served passengers in the early 1900s.The line has long since been abandoned, but the original rail shack still stands. It’s here where the daughter of the town founder died after being cast out by her father.

During my “past” timeline of 2013, the shack has become a local teen hangout and a dumping ground. A huge tree known as “the Hornwood Oak” dominates the location. In this excerpt, twelve-year-old Janie Seabrooke discusses the rail shack with a woman who works at the restaurant her mother owns.

As you’ll discover in the excerpt, Janie’s mom has her own unique backstory.

EXCERPT:

Phyllis’s smile was her best feature—wide and toothpaste white. “So, what are you doing today? It’s gorgeous outside.”

“Going for a bike ride.” Janie closed her notebook. The restaurant wasn’t busy, the lunch crowd over, dinner still hours away. Sometimes when it was like this, mostly empty, she’d sit and study the old photos on the wall, wondering what life would have been like if her mom had become an A-list Hollywood star. Would they live in a mansion and have a long black limo with tinted windows? Would she go to a private school, bodyguards trailing her every move?

Life would be different, with no time for lists or her secret keeping place where she squirrelled away castoff trinkets like coveted pirate booty. Other girls giggled over boys and wanted to experiment with makeup, but she was more interested in the way a rock glinted when the sun washed over it, or the dance of a bat when it swept the night sky for bugs.

Mom said it was because she’d been in the hospital for a long time when she was a baby, and that made her look at things differently. Sometimes kids in school called her strange or backward, but Janie knew her brain just fired on odd cylinders.

Phyllis slid into the seat across from her. “I remember the days when I could bike from the Hornwood Oak to Kocher’s Market without getting winded.” Heavy creases at the corners of her eyes, combined with excess weight she laughingly called jelly rolls, told Janie those days were far behind.

“I always heard you shouldn’t go to the Hornwood Oak.”

“You shouldn’t.”

Janie fiddled with her pen. “But you did.”

“That was a long time ago, when I was a kid.”

“Weren’t you afraid of Lettie Boone’s ghost?”

“That’s just an old legend. I was more afraid of snakes slithering from weeds in the rail beds.” Phyllis laughed. “My friends and I would tell ghost stories under that big oak tree. Every now and then, we’d invite someone new and hold a snipe hunt.”

“What’s that?”

“A bit of old foolishness. Nothing anyone your age would be interested in today.”

“Did Mom go?” Janie tucked her notebook along with the envelope into her backpack. “To the Hornwood Oak?”

“Sometimes. I think she’d meet your father there, but that was before Rod Barrett convinced her she could make it in Hollywood.” A trace of vinegar soured Phyllis’s voice.

“Mom said he wasn’t a bad agent.”

“He wasn’t the best, either, or your mom would still be making movies.” Phyllis shook her head. “Listen to me jabber. You just forget everything I said.” With a grunt of effort, she shoved to her feet. “I need to get back to work, and you should go enjoy your bike ride. It’s refreshing to see you’re not glued to your phone or some other device like most kids your age.”

Janie smiled. “Mom calls me an old soul.”

“She’s right about that.” Phyllis turned away then shifted back with a raised eyebrow. “One more thing—be sure to stay away from the Hornwood Oak. That old shack out there is held together with spit.”

As in most dual timeline mysteries, The Keeping Place delivers a mystery in the present as well as the past. I hope the blurb will tempt you further:

Even if it means killing again.

Thanks again for hosting me today, Marcia. I appreciate the opportunity to share The Keeping Place with your readers. I’ve held onto this novel for two years, uncertain how I wanted to publish it. As an author, I naturally like every book I’ve written, but The Keeping Place is my personal favorite—perhaps because it’s so different in tone from my other mysteries.

I still utilize dual timelines, but rather than having centuries between them, my timelines are separated by a mere ten years. It’s my sincere hope readers will enjoy the story!

PURCHASE LINK

Connect with Mae Clair at BOOKBUB and the following haunts:

#GuestDayTuesday Featuring Author #ValerieOrmond

October 24, 2023October 24, 2023 / Marcia Meara / 31 Comments

It’s been a while, but it’s finally #GuestDayTuesday again on The Write Stuff, and today, our special guest is Valerie Ormond. I know you are going to thoroughly enjoy her post, so without any further delay, I’m going to turn the floor over to her. Take it away, Valerie! 😀

Thank you, Marcia, for inviting me back to your blog with your fun and engaging group! One of the questions I’m most frequently asked is why I chose to write young adult (YA) fiction horse books given my military background. So I thought I would answer that question here in my Guest Post.

Why YA?

When I retired from the Navy, I spent a lot of time at the barn with our horses. I noticed many girls at the “young adult” age losing their sense of self and succumbing to peer pressure. I was one of them not long ago, it seemed. I thought maybe, if I could reach one or two of them, I could make a small difference.
Although my initial intent upon retirement was to retire and enjoy life, I realized I had learned so many valuable lessons that I could share with others. I decided to do it through a young adult book. This book later turned into two, and then three, and now, I’m working on the final book in the series.
Some of my favorite books and young reading memories had been YA fiction books – the entire Nancy Drew series, Catcher in the Rye, The Outsiders, and YA horse books including Marguerite Henry’s iconic Misty of Chincoteague.
A bonus benefit was that my brother was a career teacher for this age group. He not only helped me write to this age reader, but he also created a teacher’s guide to accompany my first book, Teacher’s Tack for Believing In Horses.
Educators recognized the educational value of the Believing In Horses book by selecting an excerpt from it for the national Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) annual assessment. McGraw Hill’s Actively Learn platform and CommonLit’s nonprofit literacy organization also included reading passages and curriculum materials from Believing In Horses for their learning assignments. So this little colt got legs from the education community!
FUN FACT: Although my books are categorized as YA, I believe many more adults have read them then young adults. I think many of us like to time travel back to those days, and of course I included a cool grandmother in my books based on my own.

Why Horses?

I had a passion for horses from as long as I could remember with no true understanding of where that came from. I still can’t explain it, but it’s not unusual for horse people to have this affliction.
I wrote what I knew, and at the time, I was immersed in the barn life and had plenty of characters, settings, and plot ideas to bring a story to life.
I had a wonderful inspiration that I had to act upon. While buying the first horse I had purchased who was a young and untrained so I could start him on my own, a conversation ensued where the owner suggested what I had said would make a cute children’s book. The first book was born with that horse as the star.
People say that horses are the eyes to the soul…for a reason.
FUN FACT: The cover of Believing In Horses includes and almost imperceptible image of a young girl reflected in the horse’s eye. That is an old black-and-white photo of my mother-in-law when she was a young girl.

What about the Military?

When I started outlining my story, I did my research on what other YA books were out there about military families. In 2009, there were surprisingly few. I wanted to change that.
Having been a military granddaughter (both sides), daughter, niece, cousin, wife, and member of the military, I felt I had the credibility to write a story about a military family.
Some of my happiest moments have been at school visits where a child will tell me that he or she understood more about what military families endure due to reading one of my books. That made it all worth it!
Because of my military connection, I ended up becoming a member of the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA), which has awarded each of my books Gold Medals. I’ve also made lifelong friends through this organization and am now the Vice President. I encourage anyone who is in the military, a veteran, a family member, or interested in writing about the military to check out this welcoming organization.
FUN FACT: I’ve met many military members, veterans, and family members through my writing and have had the opportunity to encourage them to tell their stories – whether through fiction, non-fiction, short stories, essays, or poetry. I’ve been thrilled to see people write words in workshops they have held inside for years and even have their work published for the first time. I’ve been fortunate to provide resources to those who had something to say but weren’t sure where to turn. This entire unexpected book writing journey has been a gift.

Thank you, Marcia, and as a thank you for letting me tell my story here, I have a free book promotion for the Kindle version of Believing In Horses from Tuesday, October 24 at 12:00 AM through Thursday, October 26 at 11:59 PM. Please stop by for your free copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Believing-Horses-Valerie-Ormond-ebook/dp/B086BTVPC7/

Book Trailer

Believing In Horses book trailer: https://youtu.be/QvA-HcQz7ak

Book Blurb

First the move to Maryland. Then Dad’s deployment to Afghanistan. Sadie is in trouble. Then she gets Lucky, a new, young horse who proves to be a handful. But that’s just the beginning. Together they encounter horse thieves, Maryland storms, and unwanted horses destined for auction and uncertain futures.Sadie makes it her personal mission to save the horses. Along the way, she meets other people who are dedicated to rescuing horses. She also learns some people in the horse industry are driven by greed. And she’s only twelve.

Author Valerie Ormond

Valerie Ormond retired after a 25-year career as a naval intelligence officer and launched her second career as a writer. She is the author of three award-winning young adult fiction books in the Believing In Horses series – Believing In Horses, Believing In Horses, Too, and Believing In Horses Out West. Her books have been called inspirational and motivational and share stories of today’s youth making a difference when focused on their passions. Valerie’s fiction and non-fiction stories, articles, and poetry appear in books, magazines, newspapers, and blogs worldwide. She owns and manages Veteran Writing Services, LLC, working primarily for defense contractors. She lives happily in Maryland with her husband and their three horses and one spoiled dog. For more information, please see her website: www.BelievingInHorses.com.

Buy Links

Believing In Horses: https://www.amazon.com/Believing-Horses-Valerie-Ormond/dp/0973633026/

Teacher’s Tack for Believing In Horses: Ormond, Edward, Ormond, Flo, Willis, Doug, Ormond, Valerie: 9780985187408: Amazon.com: Books

Believing In Horses, Too: https://www.amazon.com/Believing-Horses-Too-Valerie-Ormond/dp/0973633042/

Believing In Horses Out West Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Believing-Horses-West-Valerie-Ormond/dp/0985187417

Buy Books – Believing In Horses(Author website for personally inscribed copies)

Amazon Author Page – https://www.amazon.com/author/valerieormond

Social Media links

Blog: https://valerieormond.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BelievingInHorses/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/believeinhorses

Goodreads: goodreads.com/ValerieOrmondAuthor

Contact Info

Email: valerie@believinginhorses.com

Website: www.BelievingInHorses.com

#GuestDayTuesday Featuring Author #LiesbetCollaert

August 15, 2023August 15, 2023 / Marcia Meara / 71 Comments

Once again, it’s #GuestDayTuesday on The Write Stuff, and today, I have the pleasure of introducing Liesbet Collaert as our special guest. I feel sure you are going to enjoy getting to know Liesbet better, so without any further delay, I’m going to turn the floor over to her. Take it away, Liesbet! 😀

Hello everyone – and thank you, Marcia, for featuring me today on your excellent website and for giving us, indie authors, a chance to shine!

I am Liesbet Collaert from Belgium, although it’s been a long time since I lived there. Twenty years to be precise. That’s how long I have been roaming the world fulltime, with my husband Mark and – over time – three rescue dogs. We are currently overlanding in Ecuador with our 60-pound pooch Maya, as part of a multiple-year South American journey. Our home on wheels, a truck camper disguised as a cow, is called Thirsty Bella.

My two main passions have always been traveling and writing, so a book had to emerge at some point. After five years of writing and editing (life of an unretired explorer is busy!), that moment finally came in November 2020, on my 45^th birthday, with Plunge – One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary. A unique birthday present to myself! 😊

BLURB:

Tropical waters turn tumultuous in this travel memoir as a free-spirited woman jumps headfirst into a sailing adventure with a new man and his two dogs.

Join Liesbet as she faces a decision that sends her into a whirlwind of love, loss, and living in the moment. When she swaps life as she knows it for an uncertain future on a sailboat, she succumbs to seasickness and a growing desire to be alone.

Guided by impulsiveness and the joys of an alternative lifestyle, she must navigate personal storms, trouble with US immigration, adverse weather conditions, and doubts about her newfound love.

Does Liesbet find happiness? Will the dogs outlast the man? Or is this just another reality check on a dream to live at sea?

Have you ever wondered how life could be if you had made different choices? If you didn’t marry early, commit to a large loan for the house, focus on your career, start a family?

Maybe you’re just curious about how a person thinking outside the box manages? A person without boundaries, striving to be flexible, happy, and free.

What you are about to read is how one such person follows her dreams, no, her intuition, and how she survives her naivety, life altering twists, and a relationship in close quarters.

Plunge is a story of what happens when you go with the flow, when you have a bright idea – or thought you had one – and ride the waves of the unknown.

I’d like to share some of my recent book news with all of you and hope you’ll check out my “refreshingly honest,” “compelling,” and “beautifully written” travel memoir. Feel free to follow our adventures on my ad-free blog Roaming About as well.

A recent 5-star review for my travel memoir
Plunge – One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary

I could not put this book down. Beautifully written in the present tense, which confers a sense of urgency, I felt I was aboard with the author throughout her seaborne adventures.

Although living her dreams, Liesbet is very honest about the difficulties brought about by choosing an alternative lifestyle, and the strain it puts on her relationship with her new husband, Mark:

“Sailing the world was once my dream, until a first practice session in a Mirror dinghy with my then partner ended with, “I’m never sailing with you again!” to which he responded, “Good, because I’m never going to ask you to!” We realised the only way we would ever sail around the world together was if we set off in opposite directions. I have so much admiration for Liesbet and Mark, who weathered storms, both real and personal, while miles from anywhere and confined in a tiny space.”

Yet, this realistic depiction hasn’t put me off. The descriptions of familiar island destinations in the Caribbean, the enchanting wildlife in the Galapagos, and the remote and less well-known island paradises in French Polynesia are wonderful. I completely understand why Liesbet, an unlikely sailor who suffers from seasickness, felt a transit of the Panama Canal and hair-raising Pacific adventures in a vessel not quite suitable for ocean crossings, was so worthwhile!”
Source: TripFiction.com/review
Amazon reviews for Plunge

And, I’m excited to share that Plunge made the list of Ten Great Stories of Female Adventurers on TripFiction!
Read the article HERE

NOTE FROM MARCIA:

I highly recommend you also check out the wonderful story about how Liesbet met Mark, and the adventures that followed that stroke of luck:
Chance Encounters
Trust me. This is a story well worth reading!

Author Liesbet Collaert

Liesbet Collaert’s articles and photos have been published internationally. Born in Belgium, she has been a nomad since 2003 with no plans to settle anytime soon. Her love of travel, diversity, and animals is reflected in her lifestyle choices of sailing, RVing, and house and pet sitting. Liesbet calls herself a world citizen and currently lives “on the road” in South America with her husband and rescue dog. Follow her adventures at
Roaming About

BUY LINKS

Amazon Author Page
For general info on my blog, including free chapters, reviews, and purchase links HERE
Buy on Amazon universal link HERE
For eBook versions worldwide, go HERE
For paperback distributors worldwide, go HERE

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

Facebook Liesbet Collaert
Facebook Roaming About
Twitter
Goodreads
Email: lbcollaert@gmail.com

Blog URLs
Roaming About
It’s Irie

#GuestDayTuesday – Featuring Author #YvonneBlackwood

August 1, 2023June 21, 2023 / Marcia Meara / 47 Comments

It’s #GuestDayTuesday once again, folks, and today, we have a wonderful post from our special guest, Yvonne Blackwood. I found Yvonne’s story to be both interesting and inspirational, and I think you will as well, so let’s get right to it. Yvonne, you’re on! 😀

Thanks, Marcia!

There is a maxim that says people come into our lives for a reason and a season. Influencers sometimes appear like genies without warning or explanation. We must recognize them and decide if we want to travel the road they try to lead us. I believe Olga was my genie.

Going Back to School is Good Medicine by Yvonne Blackwood

I had retired seven years, ending a thirty-seven-year banking career, and my life was advancing swimmingly, when I attended the inaugural meeting of a new writer’s group in my city. Olga and I were the first to arrive. We introduced ourselves and exchanged copies of one of our books. I became an author while working full-time.

At the second group meeting, Olga pulled me aside when it ended.

“I finished reading your book. I enjoyed the story very much,” she said sweetly. “You know what I would do if I were you?”

“What?” I asked abruptly. I detested people who offered unsolicited advice, especially when I didn’t know them well.

“I suggest you do an English degree at the university. Nothing is wrong about your English, but I have that degree, and it helps me greatly to add texture to my writing. It will do the same for yours.”

I took a deep breath and slowly calmed down. Okay, advice about texture is not a bad thing.

I’ve always felt that my writing was not textured enough, and I tried to improve it, but the writing courses I’d taken and the numerous books I’d read on writing had not helped to master texture.

Why Go Back to School Now?

I pondered Olga’s suggestion for months, and thoughts of other potential benefits entered my mind. Dementia was ravishing more and more seniors every day. Dr. Sanjay Gupta quoted from the Alzheimer’s Association in his book Chasing Life: “When you’re sixty-five, there’s a one in ten chance you are affected, by the time you’re over eighty-five, there’s almost a one in two chance you have the disease.” Researchers concluded that exercising the mind could defend against dementia. I decided that my weapon would be pursuing an English degree.

I learned that humans are social beings. Attending university would motivate me to get dressed and leave the house a few days each week to be with other humans. It would provide a consistent structure for the years of my studies.

The fourth reason was to inspire my two young grandsons. I wanted to show them that you are never too old to learn and to encourage them to aim to attend university after graduating from high school.

When you make a commitment, you keep it

I set a goal to earn the degree in six years, culminating with a memorable seventieth birthday party. Why six years? I was on a government board and three committees, was the head teller at my church, and was the emergency babysitter for my grandsons. I didn’t want to abandon those duties, but I wished to avoid stress and maintain a balanced life.

Unforeseen hurdles appeared

My studies became like climbing a steep mountain. As I tried to reach its summit, I stumbled upon obstacles, including two strikes; the COVID-19 pandemic that caused the lockdown of the campus; hard-to-connect-with millennials; and the hardest one—a diagnosis of sarcoma cancer. I was hellbent on earning the degree and persisted because of my faith in God and strong support from family members, church family, and remarkable friends.

More Than I hoped for

During my study years, the university awarded me the continuing education scholarship in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The Golden Key International Honour Society invited me to become a member. Devoted to helping its members achieve excellence through the advancement of academics, leadership, and service, the organization, with more than two million members worldwide, offers membership only to high-achieving university students in the top 15 percent of their programs. I was flattered to the tenth degree.

I had nine credits remaining to earn my degree when I received a call from a radiologist to report to the hospital for five weeks of radiation treatment, five days per week.

“I’m doing a course at the university, and I don’t want to withdraw from it. Will I be okay to continue my studies while receiving radiation treatments?” I asked.

“Radiation will not affect your brain,” he said. We both laughed. “You can continue your studies.”

Hospital room classroom.

Six weeks after radiation treatments ended, I underwent a thirteen-hour surgery to remove the sarcoma tumours from my right thigh. I could not walk unassisted and spent two months in a rehab hospital. I continued my studies, and every day nurses pushed me in a wheelchair to the tall, broad windows at the front of my hospital room. They brought me my over-the-bed table, laptop, notebook, and pens. I sat there and Zoomed into the lectures and completed all my assignments. The nurses nick-named me “The student patient”.

I am ecstatic that I took on the challenge and climbed the mountain. College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way will inspire and motivate you to pursue your dreams. It was recently released and is available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and other major booksellers.

BLURB:

Seven years after she retired from a lengthy career in banking, Yvonne Blackwood surprised her friends and family by returning to school at age sixty-four to pursue an English degree. Her purpose was fueled by four powerful reasons—to add texture to her writing; to ward off dementia; to enhance structure in her life; and to inspire her two young grandsons to continue their education after high school. But as she stepped onto the campus of Canada’s third-largest university, Blackwood had no idea of the hurdles she was about to face.

Author Yvonne Blackwood

Yvonne Blackwood is the author of four adult non-fiction books, Into Africa: A Personal Journey, Will That Be Cash or Cuffs? Into Africa: the Return, and College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way. She has also published three children’s picture books: Nosey Charlie Comes to Town, Nosey Charlie Goes to Court, and Nosey Charlie Chokes on a Wiener. An award-winning short-story writer, Blackwood has contributed stories to several anthologies, including Human Kindness, Canadian Voices, and Wordscape. She has published articles in magazines including More of Our Canada, Adelaide, InTouch, and Green Prints and has written columns for the Toronto Star, Pride Newspaper, and The African Connection.

You can Buy Yvonne’s Book Here:

College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way – Kindle edition by Blackwood, Yvonne. Health, Fitness & Dieting Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

“College Life of a Retired Senior” | eBook and audiobook search results | Rakuten Kobo

College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way by Yvonne Blackwood, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Yvonne Blackwood Books – BookBub

You Can Find Yvonne on Social Media HERE:

Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
Website
Email: eblack2@ymail.com
Cell: 416-333-5936

#GuestDayTuesday Featuring Author #RosieMitchell

July 18, 2023July 4, 2023 / Marcia Meara / 38 Comments

Hi, Everyone! It’s #GuestDayTuesday again, and today’s guest, Rosie Mitchell, is a new visitor here on The Write Stuff. What do you say we give her such a great welcome, she’ll feel great about stopping by again in the future? That sounds like a Plan to me, so Rosie, the floor’s all yours. Take it away! 😊

Hello fellow writers and readers. I am a newbie at all of this, but I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to be on Guest Day Tuesday.

My passion is travel, which also includes house sitting, so is it any wonder that my first book, Open the Door, is about our early days establishing ourselves as international house sitters, something we having been doing since 2011. Thirty-six house sits and counting.

My husband and travel companion Victor, comes along for the ride and always steers me in the right direction so I don’t get lost. My navigation skills are not the best but I do excel at booking our airlines tickets, arranging the travel insurance and the most wonderful house sits.

House sitting may not be everyone’s ‘cup of tea’, but for us, it gives us the opportunity to travel for extended periods of time, and have the opportunity to explore new neighbourhoods, and feel like we are part of the community and not just tourists. Mind you, every now and again we do like to take ourselves off and spend time in hotels and soak up a bit of luxury.

I should at this point make it quite clear that we do not get paid for our house-sitting services. We feel that it is a privilege to be asked and given the opportunity to stay rent free in such beautiful homes around the world. We miss our dogs who have now passed on, so we are only too happy to shower our love and affection on the pets that come with the property, be they dogs, cats, fish, chooks or whatever. We do draw the line at reptiles. Snakes in the backyard are more than enough to cope with!

You Can Buy Open the Door HERE

BLURB:

‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’ — Loa Tzu.

Open the Door. Just take a deep breath and one giant leap forward. Venture out into the unknown… As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, ‘The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.’
So, take a chance to dream and explore a new way of life. It’s not going to be easy at first, but the rewards and the self-confidence you gain in knowing that you have achieved something you have wanted for a long time will make it all worthwhile.
So why not seize the day? Fear is the thief of our dreams.

You Can Buy Avaning Around in Arabella HERE

BLURB:

When the world was gripped by the Covid19 pandemic in 2020, Rosie Mitchell and her husband sold their property in the Riverina, New South Wales. Trapped by lockdowns and border closures and with no chance of escaping overseas, they bought a small caravan, planning to spend time travelling around the wonderful country of Australia.
This book follows Rosie’s first book, Open the Door, which describes their international house-sitting adventures.

Author Rosie Mitchell

Hello fellow readers. I have now published two books, the first called Open The Door, which is about my early house sitting adventures and other overseas travels through Europe, Malta and the USA. My second book, Avaning Around in Arabella, was written about our caravan travels and house sitting experiences in Australia, which took place during the Covid19 pandemic. I enjoy writing for pleasure. I love to read and when I am at home I enjoy sewing and cooking. Travelling is what I do the most. In June 2022, my husband and I finally escaped overseas on our extended senior citizens gap year. My third book is now under way. I look forward to sharing the dream with you.

Special Bonus:

Excerpt from Senior Citizens on the Run
Intrepid Tales of International House Sitting
*****

Chapter 1.
Getting organised and booking house sits in the UK.

You know all those things you always wanted to do? You should go DO THEM!

We decided on business class tickets. Normally we would have been happy with premium economy or even economy, but since the Covid19 pandemic had taken hold of the world, we had become a lot more conscious of needing our own space. We had travelled by road around New South Wales and Queensland for nearly two years, staying in caravan parks and using public amenities without any incidents. So, perhaps we were being just a little too precious.

Finding the right travel insurance, something we would never leave home without, was a nightmare. As well as being exorbitantly high in price, making sense of all the fine print was a minefield. We had planned to travel continuously overseas for two to three years however, we were only able to get a travel insurance policy for twelve months, due to all the fine print about covid cover. This meant that we would have to return to Australia mid-2023, and then take off again, which was not a big problem for us. Perhaps by that time, the cost of airline tickets and travel insurance would be a little more reasonable. We were forever hopeful. With this in mind, we decided to concentrate our travels on the UK and Europe. There were just so many places to tick off on our bucket list.

Having made the decision to escape, within a few weeks we had booked a number of house sits in the UK which would take us through from the end of June to early December. We started off in Somerset, across the country to London, then Cambridgeshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire, back to Somerset, and finally to Kent. Christmas/ New Year would be spent in Huntington, Long Island, New York, where we had secured a house sit from early December to mid-January 2023. It wasn’t hard to get all the pieces to fall into place.

Meanwhile, we spent the last three months back in Canberra, where we had booked a house sit for two months on the north side of town. During this time, we sold our dearly beloved Arabella, the Avan Aliner camper. We sorted out our personal belongings, and stored a few more items in our storage unit in Griffith in the Riverina, which also contained our household items from Stanbridge. Our trusty steed, the Mitsubishi Outlander was next to go, and like the Avan it sold quickly within twenty-four hours.

We were excited to finally be on our way. The dream was at last coming true, and even though a few people thought we were perhaps just a little crazy to be taking the risk, we felt quite comfortable with our decision. What did we have to lose? We had already sold our country property and had spent almost two years in limbo in Australia, so venturing overseas was no big deal for us.

Buy Rosie’s Books HERE:

You Can Reach Rosie on Social Media HERE:

EMAIL: rosiemitchell56@yahoo.com

FACE BOOK Rosie Mitchell: www.facebook.com/rosie56mitchell

#GuestDayTuesday Featuring Author #LizaGrantham

June 20, 2023June 12, 2023 / Marcia Meara / 73 Comments

It’s #GuestDayTuesday again, folks, and I’m happy to announce that we have Liza Grantham visiting us today. Liza has a brand new book out, and it looks like another winner to me, so without further ado, I’m going to turn to floor over to her. Liza? Take it away, my friend! 😀

Hi, Marcia! It’s great to be back as a guest on The Write Stuff – thank you so much for having me here today!

Since I shared my ‘Ten Things’ with you back in February I’ve been very busy; not only coping with the usual fun and frolics of rural life, but also adding the next instalment to the Mad Cow in Galicia memoir series.

The series tells the ongoing saga of how my hubby, Gary, and I traded the sun, sea, and sands of Gran Canaria for a home in Galicia, one of the coldest, wettest parts of Spain. Living in an old stone house surrounded by fields and forests might sound idyllic, but our rustic lifestyle wasn’t quite as tranquil as we’d planned. Menacing cheeses, reports of hyenas, cows running amok, a bloodthirsty cockerel and a morning when the sun didn’t rise were amongst the many shocks and surprises that rural life had in store.

The fourth book in the series, Mad Cow Was Over the Moon, was released in March. It’s another madcap romp through the Galician countryside and guaranteed to raise a smile.

BLURB:

After three years in Galicia, Liza knows that truth can be stranger than fiction. As she heads into the fourth year, who knows what the future will bring?

Spring is in the air and Lenda’s no longer a puppy—will the ugliest dog in Galicia claim her for his bride?

When Gary visits the Ghost House he’s struck by a mystery illness—is it just a coincidence or is he a man possessed?

A chilling prophecy casts doubts over the future, but Liza gets crafty and the fur starts to fly.

JOIN LIZA AND GARY FOR ANOTHER YEAR OF
COUNTRY CAPERS IN RURAL GALICIA.

**Buy Mad Cow Was Over the Moon HERE**

Liza Grantham was born in 1965 in the brewery town of Burton-on-Trent, UK. She taught for over 20 years in primary schools in the UK and Gran Canaria. In 2011, she and her husband Gary decided to try their hands at a self-sufficient lifestyle in Galicia, northern Spain.

Liza is a published poet and author of the Amazon best-selling Mad Cow in Galicia memoir series in which she recounts, with honesty and humour, the countless adventures that are part of her madcap country life.