by Christine | Writer Wednesday
I am pleased to introduce debut author Jody A. Kessler to you today. Welcome, Jody! Let’s get right to the interview, shall we?
CA: What made you decide to write a novel?
JAK: I’m not sure I did decide. One day I was taking care of my toddler and the next I was writing a story during his nap. Every day since, I have been totally engrossed in all aspects of writing novels. I loved to write when I was a kid and through high school, but then my life took a completely different direction. Returning to writing has been the most amazing challenge but I’ve loved every second of it — except maybe those #&*%#! query letters and the dreaded two page synopsis.
CA: Why paranormal?
JAK: Paranormal is more normal for me than it isn’t. I’ve been interested in the metaphysical, spiritual, and paranormal my entire life. I even tried to learn how to read tarot cards when I was around ten years old — by the way — I’m not very good at it. I loved playing with the pendulum and going to the metaphysical store when I was a kid and it never really stop appealing to me. So when it came to writing, I basically write what I know, but also what I like.
CA: How many books/short stories do you have planned for this series?
JAK: I’m pretty sure there are four books in the series, An Angel Falls. Death Lies Between Us is the first and Angel Dreams is the second. Number three is in the works.
CA: Where would you live, if you could live anywhere in the world?
JAK: I’d like to see more of the world first, and then I’ll have to get back to you. But I would like to add that Europe is at the top of the list. I love the history and the architecture.
CA: Name 3 simple joys in your life
JAK: Spending time with my family. Relaxing outdoors — especially near water. & See’s chocolate. I always feel better after a piece of See’s. It’s the best. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it.
CA: Ooh, I love Sees, too! If you could have dinner with any person, living or dead or fictional, who would it be and where would you go to eat?
JAK: There are so many fascinating people in history, but for today, I will say Leonardo da Vinci. And I would love to eat a meal with him in his home territory of Florence or Milan. If he was unavailable, I wouldn’t hesitate to sit down with, Aristotle, Yogananda, Saint Francis, Mozart, or Benjamin Franklin.
CA: If you could give just one piece of advice to a writer starting out, what would it be?
JAK: Enjoy it. Life is too short to waste time doing anything you don’t love.
CA: Excellent advice! What do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have a Day Job?
JAK: My main job right now is to raise my son. But I also teach yoga and have done so for about ten years.
CA: Wow, I’d love to teach yoga! Name one thing your fans would be surprised to learn about you.
JAK: I’m missing my thumbs. Nah, I’m just kidding. Actually my thumbs were my most important tool when I was a deep tissue massage therapist. I had my own practice for years and even though I am only 5 foot 2, I could put a good hurt on just about anyone.
CA: So you’re a massage therapist AND a yoga teacher? Plus a Reiki Master? WOW! Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?
JAK: Thanks for having me, Christine. This has been fun.
CA: Thank YOU, Jody! And now, here’s a bit about her debut book, a YA paranormal romance that is garnering rave reviews on Amazon. Check it out…
Saving the life of someone you love should not be the worst thing you have ever done, unless you are an Angel of Death.
Disgruntled with his position in the afterlife and conflicted by his feelings toward his new client, Nathaniel Evans forgoes the rules and saves nineteen year old Juliana Crowson from being hopelessly stuck in Forge Creek. This alters Juliana’s destiny and she finds herself in a series of near death accidents.
In the mountains of Colorado, Nathaniel comforts Juliana as she struggles to understand her paranormal abilities while coping with her brother’s drug addiction. When an ill-tempered Native American Shaman teaches her the difference between ghosts and place memories, she decides she wants nothing to do with the supernatural world. Too bad she doesn’t know that Nathaniel is part of it.
Will fate bring these two together, or has Nathaniel made the biggest mistake of his afterlife?
Bio
Jody A. Kessler enjoys writing paranormal novels and is a member of Pikes Peak Writers. She is a yoga instructor, Reiki Master, and a graduate from the Colorado Institute of Massage Therapy. When she took an extended leave from her massage practice to stay at home with her newborn she returned to her first true passion —writing. She spends most of her time being a mother, writing, and teaching yoga, but also likes going to concerts, hiking, practicing herbal medicine, and reading anything that catches her interest. Jody lives in the mountains of Colorado with her family.
Click on her website for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card www.jodyakessler.com
Find her at the below places.
Amazon: DEATH LIES BETWEEN US
Goodreads
Twitter: @JodyAKessler
Facebook
~ Until the next time, cheers – and remember to drink responsibly! ~
~oOo~
Demon Soul and Demon Hunt are all available for the Kindle and Kobo! Have you fallen into the Caine Brothers’ world yet?
by Christine | Life, Observations
I love Daylight Savings Time.
I cannot lie. I have always loved the leap ahead, fall back routine. As everyone around me gets grumpy, and as we lose around a billion dollars of productivity nation-wide on the leap-ahead Monday, I revel in it.
The daffodils under my apple tree. A happy surprise every Spring!
My body rejoices. More sunlight in the evenings, more time to linger in the garden, more time to slow down and enjoy after I get home from work. I can feel my spirit unfurl from the chill of winter, stretch and grow in the warmth of the sun. This is a time, for me, of reaching out, stretching beyond my known parameters; a time of growth, renewal, and joyous abandon. Of taking leaps of faith – in myself, in my loved ones, in new opportunities.
In the winter, it’s different – then, the time change signals to me to gather loved ones close, to prepare the hearth and home for cold days and nights, for simple joys of hearty meals and fires and the holidays. It’s soul-searching, inward work that needs to be done. But the springtime? That is when all the inward searching is given the permission to flower, to grow.
I wonder how many people would grumble so if the clocks just changed automatically and if we didn’t set ourselves up to dread it so much? I’ll never know. But I dearly hope we can keep Daylight Savings Time for as long as I’m hanging around. It does my spirit good.
What About You?
Do you like the time change, or do you wish it would all just go away? I’d love to know!
by Christine | Wine Friday
It’s been a rough week at Chez Ashworth, culminating in coming down with a nasty cold that’s been making the rounds of the office, so I am way behind in today’s wine blog. Instead of highlighting some affordable wines, I’m pointing you toward two funny but educational videos on wine tasting. The first looks like it was produced in the 70’s but was done in 2008; here’s a live female showing you the ropes.
How to Taste Red Wine
Now, if you prefer your guide to be of the cartoon male type, here you go…
Another Video on Tasting Wine
I did learn a couple things from these videos, namely how to tell the relative age of the wine (which was discussed clearly in the first video).
When was the last time you did wine tasting? I’d love to know!
~ Until the next time, cheers – and remember to drink responsibly! ~
~oOo~
Demon Soul and Demon Hunt are all available for the Kindle and Kobo! Have you fallen into the Caine Brothers’ world yet?
by Christine | Uncategorized, Writer Wednesday
I am an Optimist.
Eleanor H. Porter
Born: December 19, 1868, Littleton
Died: May 21, 1920, Cambridge
Part of the reason may be that I grew up reading and re-reading the Pollyanna books. Eleanor H. Porter wrote the first Pollyanna, and the sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up. Pollyanna went on to have many adventures as first a young married woman, then a mom as well. I learned how a girl could have ideals, and grow up still holding those ideals. The Glad Game wasn’t necessarily something I played in my childhood, but I did learn to look on the bright side of life and keep my focus there. For those of you who haven’t read the book, here’s the cover and the blurb:
Published by L.C. Page; first edition cover, 1913
“Once you start looking for the happy things, you don’t think about the bad ones as much.” That’s the joyful way Pollyanna sees the world: no matter what happens, she plays her “Just Be Glad” game and finds the sunny side of any situation. But when she’s orphaned and forced to live with her rigid Aunt Polly, will high-spirited Pollyanna succeed in melting her Aunt’s cold heart?
My Copies Were From the 1940’s.
The first book was originally published in 1913; my copies were thick ones, bound in blue cloth, with lighter blue lettering, first owned by my mother. The thick paper pages are brown and brittle with age, but I had them on a bookshelf in every house I lived in until fifteen years ago, when bookshelf space was at a premium and my husband asked me, gently, to put away my girlhood books. I still yearn for them and at some point, I will get them out and put them back up on the bookshelf where they belong.
The Pollyanna books continued on, with Harriet Lummis Smith writing books three through six. Elizabeth Borton wrote another five Glad books, as they were called. Pollyanna and her children lived in Mexico, Hollywood, Boston; many of those stories still live inside me. When I think of today’s girls, I think you’d have to get them started early on stories like these; say, around 9, which is when I first delved into the treasure trove of books that my mother had managed to keep from her childhood. The Pollyanna books are sweet, simple, focused on community, helping each other and looking on the bright side. Even as Pollyanna grows, and her troubles grow to adult size, she still holds to community, helping each other, and looking on the bright side. Maybe today’s kids need more flash-bang in their fiction; maybe the books are too old-fashioned; but at this point, they do have a “historical” feel to them, which may serve to catch their interest.
If you have young girls, or nieces, or friends who have young girls, I urge you to introduce them to Pollyanna and the Glad books. Their parents will love you for it, and your influence may well be felt long after the child has grown. (I tried to get my sons to read them; they would have nothing to do with the books!)
Which classic novels did you read as a kid, and that still resonate with you today? I’d love to know!
~ Until the next time, cheers! ~
~oOo~
Demon Soul and Demon Hunt are all available for the Kindle and Kobo! Have you fallen into the Caine Brothers’ world yet?
by Christine | Cooking
Salad Dressing. Until lately, I did without – at least, at home I did. My best friend, Tammy, always used to make her own dressings without using a recipe – because her mother always did the same. Me? I tend to go for bare greens. But they can get boring.
So, since I’m determined to cram more salad eat better, and since that includes leafy greens, I have been turning to a brand new-to-me dressing.
It’s a citrus-based salad dressing. Using, of all things, lemon curd. Very simply, you put a lump of lemon curd, add in a splotch of whole grain Dijon mustard, a couple splashes of rice wine. Whisk that all together until the lemon curd isn’t lumpy any more, then drizzle in olive oil while you’re whisking it. Voila – a sweet-tart salad dressing that you can use on just about anything. (Brussels sprouts, anyone?)
Now, please note that I don’t give you amounts. Why? Because when I first used amounts, I made way too much dressing and ended up throwing most of it away. Err on the stingy side of things with the lemon curd, and you’ll cut your calories down. If you don’t have rice vinegar, feel free to use white wine vinegar. I never have that in the house, which is why I use rice wine vinegar. For some reason, I have two almost-full bottles of the stuff. If you don’t want to use whole grain Dijon mustard, feel free to use any dijon-type of mustard like Grey Poupon.
I was in Cost Plus World Markets a couple days ago (I LOVE their kitchen section!), and found an embarrassment of fruit curds available. I never knew they came in other flavors! Lemon curd, two different kinds and sizes and prices; key lime curd; raspberry curd. Don’t they sound delicious? Don’t they make you yearn for summer and an excuse to bring a bright flavor to your salad?
This dressing plus a bag of 50/50 lettuces equals a nice, big salad for four people. Sprinkle that salad with some citrus pieces, add a small handful of sliced almonds, toss a handful of the jewel-bright seeds of the pomegranate – mmm. Tasty! Just keep divvying it up onto plates until the bowl is empty – then fill the rest of the plate with broccoli, perhaps, and a small piece of poached fish. Voila – put a nice Pinot Grigio behind that, and you’ve got a healthy meal.
And if you want to bring out your inner domestic diva and make fruit curds of all kinds for yourself and friends, there are plenty of recipes out there – just give it a google and you’ll see.
In the meantime, my family is eating more salad than ever. And they’re enjoying it more, too. Let’s hear it for (hopefully not too fattening) salad dressing!
What’s your favorite recipe, or do you tend to buy the bottled? I’d love to know!
~oOo~
Demon Soul and Demon Hunt are all available for the Kindle and Kobo! Have you fallen into the Caine Brothers’ world yet?
I am pleased to introduce debut author Jody A. Kessler to you today. Welcome, Jody! Let’s get right to the interview, shall we?