tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37998784046110061652024-03-12T21:14:57.487-06:00Every Life is a StoryA place to share my own family stories.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-47214466227058491842016-05-19T15:48:00.003-06:002016-05-19T15:48:59.167-06:00Sometimes Life is Scary Enough!I haven't posted in awhile. Life has turned upside down and backward. In just a few weeks my youngest is graduating from high school, and I am losing the teaching assistant job I've had for a few years. Not long after that my oldest daughter is getting married, I am starting a new career teaching fourth grade, and I will be an empty nester as everyone leaves. <br />
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To say I'm a little stressed out is an understatement. <br />
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The reason why we tell scary stories is because sometimes it's easier to tell stories about vampires and monsters and ghosts and things that aren't real than to deal with the real terrors of daily life! I'm thinking ghosts are easier than planning a wedding! Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-66068842996859886542015-11-30T10:03:00.003-07:002015-11-30T10:03:46.494-07:00Books for Christmas!<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am THAT Aunt that gives books at birthdays and Christmas. This makes me fairly unpopular when it comes to gift giving occasions. Last year, my opened the birthday present I got him, and his face fell in disappointment as it was JUST books. I’m not worried about it, because I overheard this very same nephew at Christmas looking over the books that I got him and saying, “These are really cool books.” I have no regrets, and I don’t plan on changing things. For those of you who believe in giving books, or who want to start a new tradition, I am here to help.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This last year has been amazing in terms of writing. Not only did I get my first short story published, but many of my friends, who always dreamed of becoming writers, began fulfilling those dreams. Not only that, but writing has led me to an association with many other amazing local authors, everyone trying to succeed in the publishing business. Over the next few posts, I am going to make a few book recommendations from local Utah authors who are all dealing with the publishing business and struggling to get their work noticed. These are books that I personally liked and would recommend to others to read. Most of these are books for adults, but I will make suggestions for young people as well. </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-9b548e88-5958-0e05-60ab-87ff24442ad7"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To start, for the young girl in your life, I have a wonderful recommendation! <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ravenous-Gown-Tales-about-Beauty/dp/1939629594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448902062&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Ravenous+Gown" target="_blank"> The Ravenous Gown: And 14 More Tales about Real Beauty by Steffani Raff.</a> Steffani is a fellow storyteller. I have seen her perform telling stories at various events, and she is an excellent performer. She creates amazing modern folk tales and fairy tales, then tells them to a captivated audience. Here, she has created original fairy tales all about what it means to be beautiful. The stories are delightful. The princesses are smart and strong, and learn a thing or two about what it really means to be beautiful. Princes also learn about beauty, and show us that even a prince can struggle with body image. In this day of negative body image, and dangerous media messages about what is beautiful, these are stories that entertain and teach messages that counteract those negative messages. It is a must read for any girl over the age of eight. </span></div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-27382120823230543292015-11-09T09:04:00.001-07:002015-11-09T09:04:42.087-07:00Halloween is Over...Time to Tell Ghost Stories!Christmas is the time to tell ghost stories! At least, it was in Victorian England. It makes sense. There was no Halloween, it was dark earlier, it was very cold, so people weren't out and about. There was no television, or radio, and as the family gathered around the fire in the evenings after dinner, it makes sense that it was the time to tell ghost stories. <br />
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Charles Dickens gets much of the credit for continuing the Christmas ghost story tradition. He managed to tell a ghost story, and bring in the warm spirit of Christmas both at once with A Christmas Carol. That wasn't his only ghost story, and it was only one example of his love of ghost stories. Every year he would release a periodical at Christmastime featuring ghost stories contributed by several writers. <br />
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There was a bittersweet moment at the end of the evening on Halloween, where I didn't want to say goodbye to the spooky holiday. As I look to the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions, I think it's time to resurrect the Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories! It's a tradition that should never be allowed to go out of style. Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-82307865732055794382015-10-16T08:26:00.000-06:002015-10-16T08:26:13.993-06:00Beyond the Wail Blog Tour: A.F. Stewart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHaasZHyklCxYGGpMzVVIOnvZGbjz-htYnrUdpgthNtSFgqpc2MuXUlfByUukJBkPUA3lC4dBuLRZj5UVKHbMO8Z6m_LPtgKJpGkiv6oWaAXl7jLDusyZNZG_oyY118ZCiFSJZ_OgVdV9/s1600/BEYOND-THE-WAIL-front-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHaasZHyklCxYGGpMzVVIOnvZGbjz-htYnrUdpgthNtSFgqpc2MuXUlfByUukJBkPUA3lC4dBuLRZj5UVKHbMO8Z6m_LPtgKJpGkiv6oWaAXl7jLDusyZNZG_oyY118ZCiFSJZ_OgVdV9/s320/BEYOND-THE-WAIL-front-web.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-5c97b690-70ed-248a-1a56-b42c6a7a26e7"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is it about fear and the unknown that pulls so passionately at the human heart? Perhaps we are drawn not to the darkness itself, but to the resolution, the overcoming of what we most deeply dread. After all, the more terrible the struggle, the greater the victory when it comes at last. Presented in this anthology are twelve remarkable stories of the darkness that overshadows us, and the resolution that may be found beyond them. They are stories of fear and oppression, but ultimately stories of hope, stories that will take you <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Wail-Grave-Stories-Love/dp/1940810485/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445003671&sr=8-1&keywords=beyond+the+wail" target="_blank">BEYOND THE WAIL</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/beyond-the-wail-blog-tour/" target="_blank">The Xchyler Publishing Blog Tour</a> continues today with author A.F. Stewart. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">A.F. Stewart was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, and still calls it home. The youngest in a family of seven children, she has always had an overly creative mind and an active imagination. She is fond of good books (especially science ficton/fantasy), action movies, sword collecting, and oil painting. Ms. Stewart is an indie author with several published novellas and short story collections in the dark fantasy and horror genres, with a few side trips into poetry and non-fiction. She has a great interest in history and mythology, often working themes into her books and stories.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs2v2WWVuzBn0IJJFSXwhyphenhyphenc6hW_N0C-l6DCKZVW3RSOFd3zWlKGFSAoS1Qat7UrhqtOqCw52ulMomPy2Ku5zdg380l_dQU9QMHtJudYM7xdydvfZzkr_uUnYaVJEziw_6RBFr9wuwrdzwL/s1600/Anita+Stewart_200x274.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs2v2WWVuzBn0IJJFSXwhyphenhyphenc6hW_N0C-l6DCKZVW3RSOFd3zWlKGFSAoS1Qat7UrhqtOqCw52ulMomPy2Ku5zdg380l_dQU9QMHtJudYM7xdydvfZzkr_uUnYaVJEziw_6RBFr9wuwrdzwL/s1600/Anita+Stewart_200x274.png" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her story is "The Weeping Lady". Eva Douglas must face her mother issues, past and present, when the disappearance of her sister forces a confrontation with a terrifying ghost. Not to give too much away here, but Stewart makes use of her love of history and mythology when she uses a familiar ghost story in folklore to build this unique story. I really enjoyed it, and you will too! <br /><br /><br />Here are some questions for the author: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. How did you come up with the concept of your story?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve always loved ghost stories, so that’s what I decided on when I went to write my paranormal tale. And since the submission theme of the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beyond the Wail</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> anthology was “Losers Weepers”, the the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">La Llorona</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, or “The Weeping Woman” ghost story seemed an ideal place to start. I also threw in some inspiration from the eerie tales of the “White Lady”, an oft repeated ghost phenomenon. I tweaked a few details of the original tale, added some family drama, and I had a story. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. How did you come up with the title?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The title was simple, I combined the names of the two ghost legends. I put “Weeping Woman” and “White Lady” together, and viola, I had </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Weeping Lady</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-f82d3be3-70ff-ac57-3639-ec89ab27c8f8" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. What is your preferred writing genre?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love writing fantasy, preferably darker tales bordering on horror. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Weeping Lady</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is actually tamer and slightly more upbeat than much of what I write. Although, it is still rather dark.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Who is your favorite author? Who has most influenced your work?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have two favourite authors, Neil Gaiman and Guy Gavriel Kay. They are both exquisite writers and masters of storytelling. I adore their work and refuse to choose just one.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My biggest influence, though, is Ray Bradbury. His short stories warped my little child brain and imprinted the love of the written word on my grey cells forever.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. What's up next for you?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have several stories in the submission process for anthologies, including one for the charity anthology, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christmas Lites V</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Plus, I have two novels in various stages of creation, a steampunk adventure book, called </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Racing the Hellfire Club</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and a fantasy novel, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Prophecy of Seven</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. And there’s always a chance of another poetry book showing up in the near future.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just for fun nerd list:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Star Wars or Star Trek? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both. And yes, you can love both.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hunger Games or Divergent? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Neither. Not a big YA fan.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James Bond or Jack Ryan?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jack Ryan, definitely. I’m a big Tom Clancy fan.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sherlock: Robert Downey, Jr. or Benedict Cumberbatch?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As much as I adore Robert Downey, Jr., Benedict Cumberbatch has the edge in the Sherlock department.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spock: Leonard Nimoy or Zachary Quinto?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leonard Nimoy. Part of me still sees Zachary Quinto as Sylar from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Heroes</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">X-Men or Avengers?</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Probably the Avengers, but it’s a tight race.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aliens or Predators?</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not big on either. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Minions or Penguins?</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love them both, although Pinky and the Brain have top spot in my heart. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batman or Superman?</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batman, always and forever.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean?</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pirates, of course. Pass the rum, boys.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beatles or Rolling Stones?</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Neither. I’d rather listen to The Doors.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peter Jackson or James Cameron?</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peter Jackson. I was a fan before LOTR.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steven Spielberg or George Lucas?</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lucas, but that’s just because of the original Star Wars trilogy.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vampires or Werewolves?</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Probably Vampires, but I like them both.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">LARP or MORPG? </span></span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Neither really, but I’ve always wanted to LARP. </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Find out more about A.F. Stewart at both of her blogs: </span></span><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://afallon.bravesites.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">http://afallon.bravesites.com/</a></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
and <span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://afstewartblog.blogspot.ca/" style="text-decoration: none;">http://afstewartblog.blogspot.ca/</a>.</span><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can also find her on <a href="https://twitter.com/scribe77" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/afstewartauthor" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">VERY important, make sure you enter our rafflecopter contest! Each one of these prizes is specific to the stories, and there are some pretty cool ones. We're also giving away free books! Don't miss out! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out the other upcoming spots on our blog tour, and visit past tour stops: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<br />
<h1 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1940810485"><img alt="BEYOND THE WAIL: 12 Grave Stories of Love and Loss" class="aligncenter wp-image-2316 size-full" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BEYOND-THE-WAIL-Blog-Banner-.jpg" height="244" width="649" /></a></h1>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">
Book Release Blog Tour</h1>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: Danielle E. Shipley</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Danielle-Shipley_200x274.png"><img alt="Danielle E. Shipley" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1210" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Danielle-Shipley_200x274.png" height="275" width="201" /></a></td>
<td><h3>
Saturday, October 10, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://afstewartblog.blogspot.ca/2015/10/october-frights-meets-beyond-wail.html" target="_blank">Are you Afraid of the Dark?</a>
<a href="http://johnmolsen.blogspot.com/2015/10/beyond-wail-twelve-grave-stories-of.html" target="_blank">John's Writing</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: Alex McGilvery</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Alex_McGilvery_200x274.png"><img alt="Alex McGilvery" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2322" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Alex_McGilvery_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
<td><h3>
Sunday, October 11, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://www.ash-krafton.blogspot.com/2015/10/interview-with-alex-mcgilvery-one-of.html" target="_blank">Ash Krafton: Emotion Between the Lines</a>
<a href="http://scotttarbet.timp.net/archives/872" target="_blank">Scott E. Tarbet, Author</a>
<a href="http://tnicolepayne.blogspot.com/2015/10/beyond-wail-blog-tour-interview-with.html" target="_blank">Writer's Law of Motion</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: T.N. PAYNE</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Nicole_Payne_200x274.png"><img alt="Nicole Payne" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2324" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Nicole_Payne_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
<td><h3>
Monday, October 12, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://authorsarahhunterhyatt.blogspot.com/2015/10/beyond-wail-book-review.html" target="_blank">Author Sarah Hunter Hyatt</a>
<a href="http://www.songsofmann.com/notes/2015/10/12/author-t-n-payne/" target="_blank">Notes from Author Ginger C. Mann</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: Ginger C. Mann</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Ginger-Mann_200x274.png"><img alt="Ginger C. Mann" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1225" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Ginger-Mann_200x274.png" height="275" width="201" /></a><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Ginger-Mann_200x274.png">
</a><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/LK_McIntosh_200x274.png">
</a></td>
<td><h3>
Tuesday, October 13, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://www.lkmcintosh.com/2015/10/featured-author-ginger-c-mann-beyond.html" target="_blank">L.K. McIntosh</a>
<a href="http://janasbrown.com/2015/10/13/blog-tour-ginger-c-mann-and-beyond-the-wail" target="_blank">J S Brown</a>
<a href="https://fairiesandpirates.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/in-which-i-return-to-the-blogging-world-with-a-book-blog-tour-and-author-interview/" target="_blank">Fairies & Pirates</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: L.K. McIntosh</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/LK_McIntosh_200x274.png"><img alt="L.K. McIntosh" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2303" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/LK_McIntosh_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jay-Barnson_200x274.png">
</a></td>
<td><h3>
Wednesday, October 14, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://rampantgames.com/blog/?p=9547" target="_blank">Rampant Games</a>
<a href="http://scottywattydoodlealltheday.blogspot.com/2015/10/announcing-beyond-wail-including-short.html" target="_blank">Scotty Watty Doodle All The Day</a>
<a href="http://terraluft.com/2015/10/14/beyond-the-wail-blog-tour/" target="_blank">Terra Luft — View From the Crystal Ball</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: Jay Barnson</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jay-Barnson_200x274.png"><img alt="Jay Barnson" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1230" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jay-Barnson_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Anita-Stewart_200x274.png">
</a></td>
<td><h3>
Thursday, October 15, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://www.amandagaelic-writing.com/blog/2015/10/14/beyond-the-wail-featured-author-jay-barnson" target="_blank">A Storyteller's Journey</a>
<a href="https://creativityfromchaos.wordpress.com/2015/10/15/new-paranormal-anthology-get-your-scare-on/" target="_blank">Creativity from Chaos</a>
<a href="http://christinehaggertyauthor.com/" target="_blank">Christine Haggerty</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: A. F. Stewart</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Anita-Stewart_200x274.png"><img alt="A. F. Stewart" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1200" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Anita-Stewart_200x274.png" height="275" width="201" /></a></td>
<td><h3>
Friday, October 16, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://blog.talesbyjulie.com/" target="_blank">Tales by Julie</a>
<a href="http://amindwandering.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Perpetual Chaos of a Wandering Mind</a>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%E2%80%9Dhttp://holdingamoonbeam.tumblr.com/%E2%80%9D" target="”_blank”">Alas, Earwax</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: Amanda Banker</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Amanda_Banker_200x274.png"><img alt="Amanda Banker" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2306" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Amanda_Banker_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
<td><h3>
Saturday, October 17, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://sebastianbendix.com/news/" target="_blank">Sebastian Bendix</a>
<a href="https://galacticavoice.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Alex Campbell</a>
<a href="http://semishort.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Semi Short chic</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: Julie Barnson</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Julie_Barnson_200x274.png"><img alt="Julie Barnson" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2304" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Julie_Barnson_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
<td><h3>
Sunday, October 18, 2015</h3>
<a href="https://inkcaster.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Ink Caster</a>
<a href="https://darcnina.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Road to Nowhere</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: Sebastian Bendix</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Sebastian-Bendix_200x274.png"><img alt="Sebastian Bendix" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2326" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Sebastian-Bendix_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
<td><h3>
Monday, October 19, 2015</h3>
<a href="https://jaurelguay.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The J. Aurel Guay Archive</a>
<a href="http://dandilyonfluff.com/" target="_blank">:DandiFluff...</a>
<a href="http://etherealvoices@gmail.com/" target="_blank">OriginiquEquanimity</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: Tirzah Duncan</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tirzah_Duncan_200x274.png"><img alt="Tirzah Duncan" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2327" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tirzah_Duncan_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
<td><h3>
Tuesday, October 20, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://alexmcgilvery.com/" target="_blank">Alex McGilvery's World</a>
<a href="http://amharte.com/" target="_blank">A.M.Harte</a>
<a href="http://afstewartpromotion.blogspot.ca/">In The Spotlight</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: F.M. Longo</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Frank-Longo-200x274.png"><img alt="F.M. Longo" class="aligncenter wp-image-1222 size-full" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Frank-Longo-200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015</h3>
<a href="https://everonword.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Ever On Word</a>
<a href="http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Cult of Me</a>
<a href="http://cobblestonescribe.com/">Cobblestone Scribe</a></td>
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</table>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-85276214777938498792015-10-10T10:51:00.001-06:002015-10-10T10:51:27.879-06:00Beyond the Wail<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G_6s6ImmfiE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G_6s6ImmfiE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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I am thrilled to announce the release of my very first published story! I am featured in the paranormal anthology Beyond the Wail along with my husband, Jay and ten other writers! This was a contest hosted by Xchyler Publishing and I decided to write something- since ghost stories are my thing! To my amazement, they liked my story, and it has been amazing working with writers and editors. I have learned so much, and it has been a lot of fun!<br />
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My story is called Go Gentle. It's the story of a young musician who uses a magic violin to stop a string of fatal accidents on a lonely mountain road. I did a lot of research for this to weave in folklore on violins. It's a ghost story that talks about love and letting go. <br />
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SO! Check it out, buy the book, read the book, PLEASE review the book! <br />
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You can buy the book at Amazon right here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1940810485" target="_blank">Beyond The Wail</a><br />
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There's going to be an AMAZING blog tour involved with this release! Check the schedule and visit the blogs of all the authors. There will be a new giveaway every day, and you can win some pretty cool prizes- including my ghost story cd! <br />
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Time to get your spooky on! <br />
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Here's the blog tour schedule. Make sure you enter the contest to win today's prize! <br />
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<h1 style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BEYOND-THE-WAIL-Blog-Banner-.jpg"><img alt="BEYOND THE WAIL: 12 Grave Stories of Love and Loss" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2316" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BEYOND-THE-WAIL-Blog-Banner-.jpg" height="244" width="649" /></a></h1>
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Book Release Blog Tour</h1>
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Featured Author: Danielle E. Shipley</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Danielle-Shipley_200x274.png"><img alt="Danielle E. Shipley" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1210" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Danielle-Shipley_200x274.png" height="275" width="201" /></a></td>
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Saturday, October 10, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://afstewartblog.blogspot.ca/2015/10/october-frights-meets-beyond-wail.html" target="_blank">Are you Afraid of the Dark?</a>
<a href="http://johnmolsen.blogspot.com/2015/10/beyond-wail-twelve-grave-stories-of.html" target="_blank">John's Writing</a>
<a href="https://ninadarc.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Spreading the Writer's Word</a></td>
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Featured Author: Alex McGilvery</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Alex_McGilvery_200x274.png"><img alt="Alex McGilvery" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2322" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Alex_McGilvery_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
<td><h3>
Sunday, October 11, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://www.ash-krafton.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ash Krafton: Emotion Between the Lines</a>
<a href="http://scotttarbet.timp.net/" target="_blank">Scott E. Tarbet, Author</a>
<a href="http://tnicolepayne.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Writer's Law of Motion</a></td>
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Featured Author: T.N. PAYNE</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Nicole_Payne_200x274.png"><img alt="Nicole Payne" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2324" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Nicole_Payne_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
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Monday, October 12, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://melissamcshanewrites.com/" target="_blank">Melissa McShane, Author </a>
<a href="http://sarahssecretstash.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Sarah's Secret Stash</a>
<a href="http://www.songsofmann.com/notes/" target="_blank">Notes from Author Ginger C. Mann</a></td>
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Featured Author: Ginger C. Mann</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Ginger-Mann_200x274.png"><img alt="Ginger C. Mann" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1225" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Ginger-Mann_200x274.png" height="275" width="201" /></a><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Ginger-Mann_200x274.png">
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Tuesday, October 13, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://www.lkmcintosh.com/" target="_blank">L.K. McIntosh</a>
<a href="http://janasbrown.com/" target="_blank">J S Brown</a>
<a href="https://fairiesandpirates.wordpress.com/blog-2" target="_blank">Fairies & Pirates</a></td>
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Featured Author: L.K. McIntosh</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/LK_McIntosh_200x274.png"><img alt="L.K. McIntosh" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2303" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/LK_McIntosh_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jay-Barnson_200x274.png">
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Wednesday, October 14, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://rampantgames.com/blog/" target="_blank">Rampant Games</a>
<a href="http://scottywattydoodlealltheday.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Scotty Watty Doodle All The Day</a>
<a href="http://terraluft.com/" target="_blank">Terra Luft — View From the Crystal Ball</a></td>
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Featured Author: Jay Barnson</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jay-Barnson_200x274.png"><img alt="Jay Barnson" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1230" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jay-Barnson_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Anita-Stewart_200x274.png">
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<td><h3>
Thursday, October 15, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://www.amandagaelic-writing.com/blog/" target="_blank">A Storyteller's Journey</a>
<a href="https://creativityfromchaos.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Creativity from Chaos</a>
<a href="http://christinehaggertyauthor.com/" target="_blank">Christine Haggerty</a></td>
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Featured Author: A. F. Stewart</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Anita-Stewart_200x274.png"><img alt="A. F. Stewart" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1200" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Anita-Stewart_200x274.png" height="275" width="201" /></a></td>
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Friday, October 16, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://blog.talesbyjulie.com/" target="_blank">Tales by Julie</a>
<a href="http://amindwandering.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Perpetual Chaos of a Wandering Mind</a>
Anna Winter</td>
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Featured Author: Amanda Banker</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Amanda_Banker_200x274.png"><img alt="Amanda Banker" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2306" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Amanda_Banker_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
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Saturday, October 17, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://sebastianbendix.com/news/" target="_blank">Sebastian Bendix</a>
<a href="https://galacticavoice.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Alex Campbell</a>
<a href="http://semishort.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Semi Short chic</a></td>
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Featured Author: Julie Barnson</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Julie_Barnson_200x274.png"><img alt="Julie Barnson" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2304" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Julie_Barnson_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
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Sunday, October 18, 2015</h3>
<a href="https://inkcaster.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Ink Caster</a>
<a href="https://darcnina.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Road to Nowhere</a></td>
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Featured Author: Sebastian Bendix</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Sebastian-Bendix_200x274.png"><img alt="Sebastian Bendix" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2326" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Sebastian-Bendix_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
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Monday, October 19, 2015</h3>
<a href="https://jaurelguay.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The J. Aurel Guay Archive</a>
<a href="http://dandilyonfluff.com/" target="_blank">:DandiFluff...</a></td>
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Featured Author: Tirzah Duncan</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tirzah_Duncan_200x274.png"><img alt="Tirzah Duncan" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2327" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Tirzah_Duncan_200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
<td><h3>
Tuesday, October 20, 2015</h3>
<a href="http://alexmcgilvery.com/" target="_blank">Alex McGilvery's World</a>
<a href="http://amharte.com/" target="_blank">A.M.Harte</a></td>
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<td colspan="2"><h2>
Featured Author: F.M. Longo</h2>
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<td><a href="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Frank-Longo-200x274.png"><img alt="F.M. Longo" class="aligncenter wp-image-1222 size-full" src="http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Frank-Longo-200x274.png" height="274" width="200" /></a></td>
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015</h3>
<a href="https://everonword.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Ever On Word</a>
<a href="http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Cult of Me</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-845754025678867392015-10-07T12:31:00.001-06:002015-10-07T12:31:11.040-06:00Ghost Stories in the Gloaming<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On October first, I got dressed up in my favorite gothic black costume, and joined my husband in a drive up the canyon to the first Halloween event of the season: Ghost Stories in the Gloaming. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was an event planned by Alan Macfarlane, who loves ghost stories with a passion, so much, in fact, that he decided to form a facebook group and plan an annual event where people could come and just share ghost stories. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was held at a very nice outdoor pavilion which was decorated with electric candles, black ribbons and feathers, skeletons, and baby doll heads. It was both elegant and creepy in my favorite kind of way. Food was set out for snacking- bags of popcorn and candy, and beautifully decorated donuts on platters. Other guests brought things to add to the pile. There was water and hot chocolate served in black cups. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As twilight or the “gloaming” descended, the stories began. There was a lovely set up with light sources and sound systems. Stories were read or told. Two stories were original pieces, read aloud. They were good choices. One storyteller told an Irish tale about Stingy Jack, the origin of the jack-o-lantern stories. Some of my favorite classics were shared, The Cremation of Sam McGee, and H.P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was the final performer, which was quite the honor. I told the “Room in the Tower” by E.F. Benson. It’s a vampire story with a lovely creepy moment at the end. By this time it was really dark, and everybody had spent the last couple of hours absorbing ghost story after ghost story. They were ready for a good shiver to send them home. I think I succeeded. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hosts of the event were so kind. They prepared well, and threw a classy party. This is exactly my favorite thing for Halloween. To get together and tell scary stories. It beats out the horror movies, the haunted houses, the parties with games and music, all of it. Just a quiet time where we can all get together and tell stories that make us look over our shoulders as we walk to the car in the darkness. Maybe check the back seat of the car very carefully to make sure that nothing is lurking behind us. There’s nothing better. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m looking forward to next year! </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For more information, join the Ghost Story Group on Facebook.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is Brian telling the story of Stingy Jack- complete with Jack-o-lantern carved turnip! </span><br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-17960358261017511622015-09-29T15:28:00.000-06:002015-09-29T15:28:00.065-06:00The Halloween Spirit<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9VC4Ym_SMhkU27Whbl3c6tPvQ99pbhyA6xVCEM5YZ4lR4EJRH_U3RTp-xC9gf3LM9Bngp3Mnz90LJsdM9JcBzJxu0y-knTM49NylSv7nXwvV4jvnYpWfqzxiyjGwkvMS_IYSh1fQlI4k/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9VC4Ym_SMhkU27Whbl3c6tPvQ99pbhyA6xVCEM5YZ4lR4EJRH_U3RTp-xC9gf3LM9Bngp3Mnz90LJsdM9JcBzJxu0y-knTM49NylSv7nXwvV4jvnYpWfqzxiyjGwkvMS_IYSh1fQlI4k/s320/013.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A friend once described the way I decorate for Halloween. She said, “Julie decorates for Halloween the way most people decorate for Christmas. And she decorates for Christmas the way nobody does.” I love to transform my entire house into a Halloween haven. Every room gets some treatment, even down to the hand soap in the guest bathroom. Now that it’s just a few days until October, however, I find myself reluctant to open up those boxes. I’m not ready to decorate. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think the biggest reason for this reluctance is that it’s 85 degrees outside. This is summer weather. It has been a beautiful September, and no, I am not complaining about the temperature at all, but it doesn’t FEEL like fall. When I mentioned this to my husband, he reminded me that this is Utah. It will be summer weather until there is a sudden cool down. We will have fall for two weeks, and then it will be winter. I don’t want winter. If the weather wants to stay in the 80s through October, then I will not complain. It just doesn’t feel like the time to decorate. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another reason is that it’s been a busy September! We’ve had events and activities every week. It has not been the settling down into a school routine that I expected it to be. We just finished up a fun and frenzied weekend at Salt Lake Comic Con, and the idea of starting my month of spooky ghost story events in just a few short days seems very abrupt. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not to fear. This morning as I drove to work I noticed there were trees who had leaves falling, even in the hot temperatures. I made sure to crunch through them as I went walking with my friend this afternoon. I’m going to put on my spooky music, and carefully open one or two of the many boxes of Halloween decor. It’s still a few days away, but if I put up something here, and something there, I’ll be ready. </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It will be delightful. </span>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-67188532481894531202015-09-19T09:29:00.001-06:002015-09-19T09:29:24.849-06:00International Talk Like a Pirate Day!Good day to ye, Maties! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! <br />
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This is one of my favorite not a real holidays to celebrate because it's so much fun! I'm bummed it's on a Saturday this year, because I work at a high school, and always dress up like a pirate. I'll simply have to dress like a pirate for cleaning my house, I guess. <br />
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There are many stories of ghost ships, and phantom sailors, but my favorite ghost pirate is the pirate Jean Lafitte who sailed around the New Olreans area. His stories take two different forms. Some say that he still sails with his pirate fleet after he and his eight ships vanished. Some say his fleet can be seen when the coast of Louisiana is in danger, and that his ships were sighted right before Hurricane Katrina. <br />
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Other stories talk about his hoard of pirate treasure. The treasure is cursed, and haunted by Jean Lafitte's ghost who is not allowed to move to the beyond because of his treachery and greed. It is usually a sad tale of warning to those who put gold above all else. <br />
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Remember Jean Lafitte as you talk like a pirate today! <br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-41964689266682736842015-09-11T04:39:00.000-06:002015-09-11T04:39:28.259-06:00Story CrossroadsThe Story Crossroads has featured me recently in their blog, celebrating stories. It's exciting and an honor to be a part of it!<br />
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Utah is one of the biggest supporters of storytelling as an art form in the nation. It has the largest storytelling festival in the nation with the Timpanogos Storytelling festival, and it supports numerous local festivals all over the state. There are programs to teach storytelling in the schools, and guilds to support those who love stories and wish to learn more. <br />
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With so much support, it's exciting to see The Story Crossroads come to the Salt Lake area. This storytelling festival is set to premiere in 2016, and the focus is on story as a way of bringing people and cultures together. Check out the post, and plan on supporting this exciting event! <br />
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<a href="http://storycrossroads.com/2015/08/31/caps-off-to-you-julie-barnson-and-celebrating-story/">http://storycrossroads.com/2015/08/31/caps-off-to-you-julie-barnson-and-celebrating-story/</a>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-40675006150350809072015-09-05T12:50:00.001-06:002015-09-05T12:50:20.837-06:00Coming Soon: Beyond the WailComing out in early October is the paranormal Anthology Beyond the Wail! <br />
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I am one of twelve authors (one of them is my husband!) My story is a ghost story: <br />
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<i>Margaret Murphy is a young musician who loses her boyfriend
in a tragic motorcycle accident.
Mourning his death, she makes the chilling discovery that other people
are dying on that same road in exactly the same location of her boyfriend’s
death. Suspecting something of
supernatural origin, Maggie draws on some old family stories and an ancient
gift to stop others from being lured to their deaths. Alone at night on a remote mountain road,
Maggie must overcome her own doubts, face the killer, and let go of her own
feelings of grief and loss. </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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As an added bonus, here's a video of the upcoming book!</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G_6s6ImmfiE" width="560"></iframe>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-38563437533203557802015-09-05T07:43:00.002-06:002015-09-05T07:43:59.085-06:00Getting Ready*blows the dust off of this blog* <br />
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It has been a long time since I've posted! I've had many adventures since then, too many to catch up on in one small blog.<br />
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In truth, it's time to change the blog completely! The whole website needs to be changed! I'm waiting on some artwork to help me do it, and then there will be a remodel. Some new paint, new pictures, maybe a couch or two....you won't recognize the place. <br />
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I have always been a storyteller. I am so lucky to perform and share stories to so many people. I am excited to embark on my newest adventure and write my own stories! Next month, I will be publishing my first short story in a paranormal anthology with Xchyler publishing. It is something I never thought I would do. I'm surprised to be here. It's a great feeling. <br />
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Because of that, I'm changing the blog. I'm going to start posting about my book, about things that are coming up with Xchyler, because they are a small publishing house run by wonderful people who deserve to have people discover their books! But most importantly, I'm going to start sharing the stories that I love the most. I love ghost stories. It's why my first actual attempt at writing was a ghost story. Ghost stories are the stories I most love to tell. They have a place and a purpose in our culture, and I am happy to do my part to keep them alive. <br />
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So look for changes, starting later today when I share the title and cover of my new book. The rest of the cosmetic remodeling will follow. <br />
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-60462958038787312312012-08-05T22:29:00.000-06:002012-08-05T22:29:20.707-06:00New AdventuresIt has been over a year since I posted on my blog! I have no idea how the time went by so fast, but it escaped, and now we are here. I think it's high time that I let the post about my grandmother go to the archives and let me cherish the memories of her! In the last year, I have had many new adventures! Let me share a few of them.
Thanks to my grandmother, we got to travel back to Oregon, and see family and friends. We visited cherished events and places of my childhood, such as the Scandinavian Festival at Junction City, Oregon, and the beach at Florence, Oregon. I am so grateful for that chance!
Another new adventure was that I got a job! Okay, yes, I've already had a job as a storyteller, but storytelling isn't exactly steady work. With both of my girls getting older, it was time for me to start looking at what I wanted to be when I grew up. Last March I started work as a High School Science Teacher! Kind of. My official title is Teacher's Assistant, and I work with Youth in Custody in a local school district. Part of my list of responsibilities is to teach their science class. This was not a job I expected or even wanted when it was offered to me. It turned out to be something that I loved doing! In a few weeks summer will be over, and I'll be going back for my first full school year. I'm looking forward to it!
My last really big adventure was that my husband and I were able to go to France! My husband was sent out there for work, so I tagged along, and we took a few days in Paris before travelling out to his work site. Europe was a place I longed to see, but never imagined I would ever get there. It was magic, and I dearly hope that the opportunities come to visit again!
The rest is a string of little adventures, some wonderful, some not so much. Isn't that pretty much how life works? While living the stories, I need to remember to come over here and write them down. For certain, the story isn't over!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-7833131281032816342011-06-30T21:38:00.001-06:002011-06-30T21:38:59.218-06:00KathrynKathryn Partridge was the only girl surrounded by three brothers. Growing up, she spent time working with her mother who cooked for a logging camp. She loved music, and desperately wished that she could play the piano. There were no funds for a piano or for lessons, so she would pretend that the windowsill was a piano, and play that. She would also sneak down to the church and look through the windows at the piano keyboard and pretend to play it. She caught the eye of Milo Bernard Glenn one day as she was riding her bike. He thought she was beautiful and promised himself right then that they would be married. Years later, they were, and in time they became my grandmother and grandfather. <br /><br />For many years, my grandmother worked at Ray’s Drugstore and Hallmark shop. Half of the store was your standard drug store- aisles of toiletries, and over the counter medicines with a few small areas for toys or candy. The other half of the store was the Hallmark shop- aisles of cards and gift items displayed attractively much like it is today. Because of her job, she began what became an important holiday tradition for my family. Every year, she purchased a Hallmark ornament for each of the grandkids. When I got married, my mother packaged up my ornaments and gave them to me. That first year of marriage they were the only things hanging on my tree. Now, I buy my girls Hallmark ornaments every Christmas just like my grandmother did. <br /><br />My grandparents lived in a small country house out among the fields of Junction City, Oregon. They planted pine trees all around their yard to block off the view of miles of open field. It made the house cozy as the trees began to grow, but it wasn’t until I was grown that the trees were big enough to serve their purpose and to provide privacy and a great shelter from the wind. I have fond memories of their house. I stayed there many times as I was growing up. My favorite room in the house was the room we called the White Bedroom. It had a white carpet, a brass bed, with a quilt that was a white fabric surrounding pale calico pieces. It had white sheer curtains and one of those old fashioned windows that had to be pushed up to open. They had apple and cherry trees bordering their driveway, and beyond that a flower garden filled with every kind of Dahlia. When I got married, they decided to sell the house, get a trailer, and travel. I miss their house very much. I got their bedroom set when they moved. I still have it. <br /><br />My grandmother always went to the beauty shop to have her hair done. For many years, she dyed it black- a very common look in the 1950’s, but one that got to be too strong a color for her as she got older. She started to lighten it to brown, then, as the years passed, her hair couldn’t hold the color anymore. Her color got lighter and lighter until for awhile it was nearly pink. She finally let it go white, but she still got it styled as often as she could. She was very generous, and always gave things when she visited. There was always a shirt that she had just never worn after she bought it, or shoes that didn’t fit just right after she got them home from the store. She once tried to give me a used pair of nylons. She loved writing cards and letters, and took great pride in her lovely handwriting. <br /><br />My grandparents traveled the countryside for many years in their trailer. They loved RV campgrounds, and had joined RV communities. As they grew tired of travel, they settled for the winter months at an RV park in Southern California, then would take the pickup truck to visit family. When my grandmother fell and broke both wrists, it became apparent that both of them had deteriorating health. They lived with my parents, moving with them to Utah. My grandfather died after suffering from alzheimers and dementia. My grandmother lingered, suffering a series of mini strokes that left lasting damage. She died Saturday, June 18th. She was 90 years old. <br /><br />My relationship with my grandmother grew strained when I was a teenager. I had a great relationship with my parents, and wasn’t rebellious with them. Instead, all of my moody emotional angst was directed toward my grandparents. I was angry and irritated with her because every time she came over she would criticize my hair, or my weight, or something else she didn’t like. She would do it in a roundabout way that wouldn’t directly insult. “Why don’t you go comb your hair before we leave?” meant that my hair looked terrible and she didn’t like it. “Have you lost weight?” meant that I was looking pudgy. She would do the same thing when she wanted something done. Rather than asking for something directly, she would hint and comment about it until somebody was annoyed enough to go and do it for her. Her passive aggressive behavior, and my teenage rebellion were not a good combination. I spent years trying to repair the damage. I never did reclaim the adoration that I had for her as a child, but I think I managed patience and polite respect. <br /><br />It didn’t help that my family left the Methodist church to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My grandmother couldn’t accept our new religion, and would use her passive aggressive ways to make negative comments about our church. It was a big effort to stay polite, and it made us sad that we couldn’t share our faith with her. After my grandparents moved in with my parents, they decided that if they were going to move to Utah with them, they should join our church. I remember when my mother told me that they were getting baptized, my jaw hit the floor. I asked her, “What did you do with my REAL grandparents?” By the time my grandmother was baptized, she already had brain damage from several strokes. The church leaders determined that she was lucid enough to make the choice to be baptized, but I don’t know how much she really understood about the covenants she was making. I do know that it was a great joy to go through the temple with her, laying to rest one of the biggest sources of contention in our relationship. <br /><br />I will miss my grandmother, the good and the bad. I hope to treasure the good memories, and to learn from her faults and make sure they never become MY faults. She loved her grandchildren, and did her best to show us how much she loved us in so many ways. I remember once when I was sick, and my mother was working full time. She had never left me home alone before, and worried that I would be afraid. My grandmother left the pharmacy and came to see me on my lunch break to make sure I was alright. She made me soup, and brought me comic books and treats from the drugstore so that I wouldn’t be bored. As her gifts got stranger, like the used nylons, I never forgot the generosity and the intention behind them. I look forward to the day when I can see her again, free of the damage caused by so many strokes. I want to hear her stories.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-69060110813030128672011-06-26T23:01:00.002-06:002011-06-26T23:08:02.921-06:00Going to Space!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIKpL5cgg8DmWFFTQtRKRGEvQ6qPRyyVl7NQ2UBv4Xt1jZDsOTEWZ7TgRH78EGegfv-S5W1Md4pfEl6OEoyq1ca7wv13mKAnfiyZOLOVItc6O_GypEU6NFHR6j6rrUDpnh62dzYKMc_0MP/s1600/P1000065.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIKpL5cgg8DmWFFTQtRKRGEvQ6qPRyyVl7NQ2UBv4Xt1jZDsOTEWZ7TgRH78EGegfv-S5W1Md4pfEl6OEoyq1ca7wv13mKAnfiyZOLOVItc6O_GypEU6NFHR6j6rrUDpnh62dzYKMc_0MP/s320/P1000065.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622761517285652258" /></a><br />People always say “I never win anything” when it comes to contests and drawings and all of those things. I used to say the same thing. I never won drawings or raffles or contests for things, at least until this year. This year the cosmic karma has turned around and I have won a recipe contest where I got a gift card to my favorite store, and THREE drawings where I won a Santa key, tickets to a chocolate event, and last but not least, a chance to go into space! Okay, not really actually space, but to a very cool and amazing event. Iworlds is the new exhibit at the fabulous Thanksgiving Point. It is a space shuttle simulator that lets a group of sixteen crew members have a science fiction adventure similar to Star Trek. The package I won was the Ultimate Party Adventure. My name was announced on television on Good Things Utah, and I won dinner and a two hour mission for sixteen people. WOW. <br /><br />The hardest part of winning something amazing like this is deciding who to take, and who to leave out. It was a difficult decision. I ended up taking almost everyone in our regular gaming group, and my girls. We met in the lobby of the Museum of Ancient Life, and were led to their party room, all decorated like a jungle. Dinner was catered by Wallaby’s- an Australian grill in Lindon. We had pulled pork, rice and beans, salad, bread and butter, mint brownies and punch. The food was wonderful, and everyone had more than enough to eat. <br /><br />At the end of the hour, we were met by someone from iWorlds, and led out to what was the trailer of a semi truck. The trailer was filled with all of the décor and equipment needed to take our group on a space mission. We met first in one section of the trailer where we selected jobs, and had a briefing on the background of the world we were part of, and what our mission was going to be. There were sixteen different jobs, each with their own responsibilities. There were jobs for damage control, engines, weapons, communications, navigation, scanners, transport, ambassador and security. My husband ended up as Captain of the ship, and I was his first mate. My daughters were chosen to be security- a good place for the two teens on the mission, we thought. <br /><br />Our mission was complex, but the young woman doing our briefing did a great job explaining it quickly. We were a crew on a ship working for a democratic union of planets. We were assigned the task of traveling to the planet of New Earth which had been taken over by a dictator. We had information from spies on the planet that would convince another planet alliance to join with us in removing the dictator from power. We had to go to the planet, stay outside the cloaked satellites that would destroy us if we reached their range of detection. Then we had to wait for a shuttle from the planet bringing our spies, and a briefcase with the information. We would then get the information to the other alliance, then go down to New Earth to evacuate our embassy there, and return home. After the briefing, we were given uniforms to wear, and had to go into the “transporter” which was basically a tube with a revolving door. The door opened to reveal the “ship”. <br /><br />The ship had computer stations for all of the crew members, and a large viewing screen in the center. As captain and first mate, my husband and I were led to a couple of very wobbly bar stools as our posts. We were all given ipods and headphones with a recording to play that trained us on our different positions. The Captain’s job was to make the final decisions and run the ship. My job as first mate was to make sure the Captain’s orders were followed, maintain order on the bridge, and to notify our home planet of our progress every ten minutes. I had a clipboard, a pen, and forms to fill out with those messages. I was to give those messages to our long range communications officer who then typed in the message to send back to command. Everyone else had their own set of instructions. <br /><br />When the training was done, the mission began. It started with some simple introductions from the engine room, and the voice of the computer (played by iWorld employees who were watching from another room). We quickly got our ship to the planet, and waited outside of the satellite field. It didn’t take two minutes before things started going wrong. Our rendezvous ship was captured, the documents taken, our position was suddenly VERY bad without those documents. The adventure got crazy with us navigating through the satellite field, falsifying passcodes to get down to the planet, transporting refugees onto the ship, and escaping before enemy ships blew us up. Not to mention the intruders that were on board the ship, trying to shoot us from the transporter, the constant repairs from weapons damage, messages flying, and other endless things to scan, adjust, and navigate. Two hours flew by with every one of our sixteen person crew busy with something critical to the success of the mission- and their own little quests that kept them busy even when their job was not in the spotlight at that moment. <br /><br />In the end, we successfully completed all requirements to win the mission. We had two “strikes” which were times when we needed to back up and start again. These were both for navigating the satellites- a very difficult job. This adventure used an average of three strikes, which made us better than most others playing this mission. We cheered our success, regretfully folded up our uniforms, gathered our things, and left the trailer. We stood outside in the fading light talking over the mission, all of us buzzing from the experience. We had so much fun! All of us said that we would love to come again, and that the group rate would absolutely be worth the cost. With reluctance, we said goodbye and started to drift off toward our various cars to go home. <br /><br />I can’t say I never win anything anymore. This was such an amazing experience. I felt so very spoiled. All I can say is thank you Thanksgiving Point, and iWorlds for providing such a spectacular opportunity for us. Now, I can do my part, and tell all of you to try this! Schedule an event! Get your family and friends together and run a mission! This is a blast! I can’t wait to try this again!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-38577199113101091152011-05-03T12:44:00.003-06:002011-05-03T13:16:12.311-06:00New Orleans!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBSdlHk6Q5e10FUQgVVcakjJ-iUm5CzUYYDMrJRFJz-0cCNUoXfxoKIpLL7hvYWq2P_FRnbr5EY1gembwq3w0ZetfK3TzxAg-aweoOZ1SGaidNiLwZtYgBNzAg_wWbjscPMDWYmNGRW7G/s1600/085.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBSdlHk6Q5e10FUQgVVcakjJ-iUm5CzUYYDMrJRFJz-0cCNUoXfxoKIpLL7hvYWq2P_FRnbr5EY1gembwq3w0ZetfK3TzxAg-aweoOZ1SGaidNiLwZtYgBNzAg_wWbjscPMDWYmNGRW7G/s320/085.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602570416187783538" /></a><br />This year is our 20th wedding anniversary. We decided to celebrate by taking a trip to New Orleans! My husband has wanted to go for years, and after the both of us played some roleplaying games taking place in New Orleans, we both had an interest in the city. It was interesting the reaction we got from people out here. Some of our friends had gone and loved it. Others, not so much. "It's good to go, but you probably won't ever want to go back." one person said, "Why would you want to go to that pit?" said another. Another person mentioned that the people were horrible. I was starting to get worried. We don't even drink, so we were betting our anniversary trip on the idea that there was more to do out there than hang out on Bourbon street! <br /><br />My fears weren't alleviated when we arrived. Our hotel was located ON Bourbon street, right across the street from a blues club and bar. Although we had requested an inner room, we were given a room right on Bourbon street. As we stepped out on to Bourbon street for the first time, I got a good whiff....okay, some of the critics were right. Bourbon street stank. Everything was old and run down. Maybe this was a mistake. <br /><br />I shouldn't have worried. The trip was delightful! The food was amazing- we had po' boys, beignets, muffuletta, gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish, alligator, and I even learned that I liked grits! Our room was beautiful, and very comfortable. While we could hear some of the music, the hotel had done very well damping the sound, so it wasn't a problem getting to sleep at all. Being around the old buildings was like travelling back in time. Everything had an old world feel to it, and we were enchanted by the balconies, and narrow little streets. We toured the St. Louis Cemetery, marvelling how living below sea level necessitated building above ground vaults for the bodies. We visited the Voodoo temple, and spoke to the Voodoo priestess. We went on a ghost tour, and visited such haunted sites as the Lalaurie mansion, and the little alleyway by the St. Louis Cathedral where a priest is said to be singing the Catholic Kyrie on late rainy nights. We even got to take a steamboat ride on the Mississippi river. <br /><br />The people were welcoming and charming. As we were walking to our hotel one afternoon, a street musician asked me if we were here for the jazz festival. I replied no, that we were leaving the day the jazz festival started, but that we were here for our 20th wedding anniversary. He grinned and said, "Well, congratulations to you! Did you get married here?" I said no, but that for our 20th, we needed to do something really spectacular. He shook my hand and said, "You have a wonderful anniversary here, honey." In the end, we came home happy, well rested, and really not wanting to get back into our regular every day lives! <br /><br />Were the bad things there? Sure they were! My critics were right about many of the things they brought up. They were also wrong. I think you find what you're looking for. I found a city full of interesting culture, architecture, and history. I found people to love and food to crave. I loved our vacation, and I hope to return someday- my box of beignet mix isn't going to last forever!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-91570959030057915562011-04-24T07:10:00.003-06:002011-04-24T07:23:55.590-06:00The Great Cookie Experiment<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" 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"><img 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border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />My goodness, where has the time gone? Clearly I have been neglectful, so I am going to correct that, and tell you about a fun project I am starting up again. One of my hobbies is cooking. I love cooking, so I'm always collecting recipes and trying new things in the search for that great recipe. A few years ago I wanted to look for new cookie recipes. So I chose a recipe book I had and I made every recipe in the book. One recipe a week. I shared with friends and family and asked their opinion on the recipe, and I rated it based on everyone's opinions. This time, I have started the experiment up again, but I am going official. <br /><br />My best friend works for Cornabys. Her family business makes absolutely the best tasting spreadable fruit you will ever find. It's low in sugar and calories, and it's made from raspberries grown right on their family's 21 acre raspberry farm. I get to help her out at the farmer's markets, tasting demos, and boutiques. One of her marketing jobs is to maintain the blog on the Cornabys website. When I was talking to her about starting The Great Cookie Experiment again, she said that I should write it up as a blog post, and she would make me a guest poster on the blog. <br /><br />So that's what I did! The first post went up this week! If you would like to read about great cookies, not so great cookies, and dismal cookie failures, then go check it out! <a href="http://cornabys.wordpress.com/">The Great Cookie Experiment</a>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-66309377595948623632010-12-02T12:31:00.003-07:002010-12-02T13:11:35.540-07:00The RingA few weeks ago, I was in the bank, and happened to glance down at my hand as it was resting on the desk. To my surprise and horror, there was no wedding ring on my finger! I don't even know when it slipped off, or where it could have gone. I just hope and pray that someday it turns up again. As heartbroken as I am, it's not the ring itself that is important in the long run, really, it's the story. THAT will always be with me. <br /><br />When I was in college, there was a local jeweller that advertised in the campus directory. Their advertisement featured a ring that won an award for best design. It went on my wishlist for what I wanted out of a wedding ring because it was named "The Julie"- clearly a sign that it was meant for me. When my dreams came true, and my fiance took me ring shopping, I HAD to go and try on that ring. I learned a couple of things. First, winning ring designs are very expensive- far too expensive for a couple of poor college students. Second, my hands are very tiny and that ring was big enough to swallow my entire left hand. I needed a simple ring. <br /><br />We didn't end up finding a ring out in Utah. We got engaged early in Decmeber, and we decided to search over Christmas break when we were with my family in California. We had a couple of generous, and very precious gifts to help us out. My mother, when she was a college student, lost her wedding ring in a ceramics class. It got mixed up with some clay, and that was the end of it. My parents couldn't afford another ring, so my grandparents bought her a replacement ring to wear. She wore it for several years before my father bought her a new ring. In honor of our engagement, my mother gave me that replacement ring to use as needed. Likewise, my fiance's mother and father had divorced, and she had remarried. She sent us her old wedding ring to help offset the cost of a ring. With two rings in hand, we went shopping two days before Christmas. <br /><br />We found the ring in a strip mall of all places. A little jewelry store had recently opened between the Radio Shack and a dry cleaning business. The store was run by two brothers from Russia who crafted their own designs. It was originally an emerald ring- one round emerald stone, with two tiny diamonds coming off of it. The engagement band held the one stone, the wedding band the two tiny stones. The two bands swirled together in a simple curl. It was tiny and simple and very elegant. We decided to substitute the emerald for the diamond in my fiance's mother's ring, and use two small diamonds from my mother's ring, then trade in rest of the rings to offset the cost. <br /><br />It was snowing that evening a few days later when we slipped outside for some privacy. We stood in the light of the white icicle lights framing my parents house and my sweetheart asked me to marry him again- this time pulling out a small box, and slipping the single band on my finger. I accepted again, a decision that has brought me so much joy over the last 20 years. The ring was a symbol of our combined families- his mother's diamond, my mother's diamonds resting side by side. It was a symbol of our love- for time and all eternity.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-6635674963125620602010-10-07T12:12:00.002-06:002010-10-07T12:41:27.188-06:00Slime Soup!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlExRfSU9nZwzV2S1yoBWp7Iz8rFk5WGoNq31_Ylv5CkkNVES1cAS8aJTTRy46hMLu00PhYUFdGV26ExI4-NNyy1MoHpu25istNiafHW2ytqqNWhhYIZbwngsgxMTAcqxuJ_lwsT1BC1JU/s1600/DSCF0598.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlExRfSU9nZwzV2S1yoBWp7Iz8rFk5WGoNq31_Ylv5CkkNVES1cAS8aJTTRy46hMLu00PhYUFdGV26ExI4-NNyy1MoHpu25istNiafHW2ytqqNWhhYIZbwngsgxMTAcqxuJ_lwsT1BC1JU/s320/DSCF0598.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525375950829311922" /></a><br />I just won a recipe contest! This is completely unexpected because I never win anything! I have to share with you my recipe, and my story! <br /><br />One of my favorite Halloween traditions is to make Spooky Suppers the week before Halloween. I collect the Halloween editions of all of those little recipe magazines you find at the checkout stand of the grocery store. I have a huge stack of them now, and I pore through them every October looking for new things to try, and ways to make a good creepy supper. Some of our favorites are things like Mummy wrapped hot dogs (pigs in a blanket) or Mummy rag soup (egg drop soup). Pizzas have faces the week before Halloween and spaghetti doesn't just have meatballs, it has EYEballs. <br /><br />When my very favorite store, <a href="http://anastasiasattic.com/">Anastasia's Attic</a>, announced that they were having a Spookilicious Recipe contest, and that they wanted submissions of our spookiest recipes, I knew this was the contest to enter. I don't enter many of them, because, well, I never win anything. If it requires a great deal of effort to be part of the contest, it needs to be worth it. THIS was worth it! The problem was? I didn't have any time! I've been in rehearsals for the Ghost Tours, I've had Storytelling guild responsibilities, on top of dealing with the kids parent teacher conferences, and just trying to manage the household, I was literally swamped! <br /><br />I WANTED to do a cupcake version of a cake I made for a Halloween party one year- it bled when you cut into it. But then I'd have to bake and decorate. I thought about adapting a Tomato Basil soup recipe to make it my own. But then I'd have to make several versions until I found the perfect combination. There were too many ideas, and no time at all. <br /><br />I was pondering my dilemma as I was rushing to cook dinner one busy weeknight. I had to leave in half an hour to drive to Layton for a Guild meeting, and I was rushing a bit. I looked down at the zucchini soup I was making for dinner. It was green! It was an old family recipe that I had never seen in a cookbook, and I seriously doubt anyone knew where the recipe came from in the first place! Gears started clicking in my head. I called the girls and told them to help me clear the table and put out a green placemat. I pulled out my black dishes I save just for Halloween time (What? You don't do this?) and served up my green soup. I had made little cheese biscuits to go with the soup, so put those along the side of the plate, and I shot a few pictures, trying to get the best light possible. Then I quickly ate the soup and rushed out to my meeting. <br /><br />A few days later I uploaded the picture and the recipe, and forgot about it. When they announced the winners yesterday, I couldn't believe that my name was listed! I win a $50 gift card I can use to spend on beautiful things! Thank you, Anastasia's Attic, and thank you Mom for serving us Zucchini (I mean, Slime) Soup! <br /><br />Slime Soup (aka Zucchini soup)<br /><br />1 onion, chopped<br />6 cups zucchini. chopped<br />1 can chicken broth<br />6 strips of bacon- cooked and crumbled<br />1/2 tsp. salt<br />1/2 tsp. pepper<br />1 cup milk or cream (To make this really low calorie, use skim milk. To make it KIND of low calorie, use evaporated milk. To make this decadent, use cream.)<br /><br />Simmer the onion and zucchini in the chicken broth 15 minutes or until tender. Put in a blender and blend until smooth. Add 3 strips of bacon, salt, pepper, and milk. cook until warm. Top with remaining crumbled bacon. Serves 4.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-53241916622784525122010-09-29T22:03:00.003-06:002010-09-29T22:23:30.562-06:00Happy Halloween!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLj4BZxaAvzFAmy4ADhegc8F-k83uzM_KYQq4VjflBm5N8jZaFywnxGWgsHPs6SXxsUW4NiFEcyQ7feUkOP77leSVVkXTUz4dNi3rNyDgeQhQC6S1XIxzaIV9FNVEr962-v0nF0iw-n1A/s1600/Halloween+picture+no+wrinkles.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLj4BZxaAvzFAmy4ADhegc8F-k83uzM_KYQq4VjflBm5N8jZaFywnxGWgsHPs6SXxsUW4NiFEcyQ7feUkOP77leSVVkXTUz4dNi3rNyDgeQhQC6S1XIxzaIV9FNVEr962-v0nF0iw-n1A/s320/Halloween+picture+no+wrinkles.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522557244795701922" /></a><br /><br />It may be a few days early, but the month of October is going to be exciting in so many new and amazing ways! <br /><br />First of all, the Salt Lake City Ghost Tours begin Friday, October 1st, and run Tuesday through Saturdays all month long! This has been my favorite Halloween activity for years. We've gone on the tour three times, once with my girls, and it remains just the right blend of good stories and the creepy shivers. Exactly what I want in a Halloween experience! THIS year is different, however, because I will not just be attending the tours. I'm telling in them! I was hired this last August to be a Story-Guide on the Salt Lake tour, and I couldn't be more thrilled. The last month has been filled with learning all of the stories, and practicing the route so I can help the bus driver get to all of those Haunted spots in Salt Lake. I'm telling October 6th, 9th, and 15th, the 7:00 and 9:00 tours. Even if you can't come those nights, come! It is a lot of fun! Make reservations at <a href="www.storytours.com">www.storytours.com</a><br /><br />I will also be sharing some new Halloween stories this year, as I premiere ghost tales from other lands. Look for me at Ten Thousand Villages, and Red Butte Gardens later in the month, and see what scares people from other parts of the world!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-7361103467130930312010-07-28T22:26:00.003-06:002010-07-28T22:58:19.606-06:00Pie!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizMjLX-zJJXqFwPwA3yDhXz7gVj6_G9XNYw5dhwhRqG_EuYbCcy0zvVsc5rps8VBMLEV_uG9nwU2cFry8FGo1vf9S9cxFQOmt4IBTxuJPCWn_Q75A0gcekL-Mt5CayvhEF5PBbjNtSnWF/s1600/pie.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizMjLX-zJJXqFwPwA3yDhXz7gVj6_G9XNYw5dhwhRqG_EuYbCcy0zvVsc5rps8VBMLEV_uG9nwU2cFry8FGo1vf9S9cxFQOmt4IBTxuJPCWn_Q75A0gcekL-Mt5CayvhEF5PBbjNtSnWF/s200/pie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499187527294365890" /></a><br />I got my raspberries last weekend! One of my closest friends has access to her family's 21 acres of raspberries, and I get a couple of flats of raspberries from her every year. Most of the raspberries go to make jam, some get frozen for future use, but half a flat always has to be saved for pie. Some people associate pie with Thanksgiving or fall, but for me, summer is all about pie.<br /><br />I grew up in Junction City, Oregon, and every year in August, the tiny town holds a festival celebrating it's Scandinavian heritage. This is the big fundraiser for every club, church, and organization in town. The Girl Scouts always serve ice cream, and krumkake. GoodWill, the thrift store, sells clothespin dolls. When I was there, our church had two booths- one selling roast beef sandwiches, and one selling pies. All of the members were called on to help out preparing the food- particularly the pies. Every year, my mother would sign up to make fifty pies for the booth!<br /><br />We didn't have any refrigeration in the pie booth, so all the pies had to be fruit pies. This meant that the growing seasons were devoted to collecting enough fruit. We'd work picking fruit on farms, buying at the best prices we could find, and storing everything cut up in ziploc bags in the freezer- sometimes to be saved until the next summer. We'd save everything. We made apple, pear, apricot, blueberry, blackberry, marionberry, boysenberry, gooseberry, cherry, rhubarb, peach, raspberry, loganberry, and anything else we could think of that might be good in a pie.<br /><br />When it was time to start making the pies, we had a pretty nice assembly line going. My mother would handle the pie crust, I would make up the filling, and my little sister would add the butter on top. We'd take turns cutting a design for the top crust, and crimping the edges to be as pretty as possible. We would freeze the pies, and pull them out to thaw the day we needed to bake them and run them out to the booth, so they were hot and fresh upon delivery. <br /><br />I didn't just help make pies for my mother. The young women of the church would also sign up to make fifty pies! There would be a special activity on a Saturday where all of the girls and the youth leaders would get together to assemble them. That meant I was involved in making a hundred pies every summer! <br /><br />I don't make a hundred pies anymore. As the summer starts winding to August, and the summer fruit starts showing up at the farmer's markets, however, I always get the urge to make pie. Now, I just make one, and it's my favorite of all of those many flavors- raspberry. <br /><br />It's just not summer without it.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-90384002733203846442010-06-30T22:03:00.003-06:002010-06-30T22:37:04.093-06:00RunningA few weeks ago, I ran a 5k. <br /><br />This was a big deal for me because it was something I never ever thought I would be able to do. I've posted before about my lack of athletic ability. P.E. class was pretty much a soul crushing experience all through school. In fact, I remember running in P.E. Twice a year, we would do a twelve minute run. We were expected to run for twelve minutes and keep track of the number of times around the playground we were able to go in that time. My record number of times around the playground was less than one. I got three quarters of the way around the track, and couldn't catch my breath, and I was done. I honestly felt that running wasn't something that I was able to do. That was for athletic people. I walked, danced, did pilates and aerobics, but never went running. Later hip problems only confirmed my beliefs that running was something other people did. Not me. <br /><br />Things changed when my youngest came home from school and told me she was having trouble in P.E. They were running every other day, and training to run a 5k by the end of the year. Running was difficult for her, and she was struggling. I was encouraging, and told her to keep going, and she'd be fine. I felt like a hypocrite. I knew I couldn't do it, and yet I was expecting her to be able to? On my daily walks I started to break into a jog, just to see how it would go. It didn't go well. I lost my breath pretty quickly, and had to stop. Maybe some people were just born to run naturally, and my family was missing that gene somewhere. <br /><br />In March, a friend of mine mentioned something about a couch25k program. It's designed to get someone who had never run to gradually train to run a 5k. I looked it up. It started out pretty easy- walk for 30 seconds, jog for 30 seconds. Maybe I could do that. Even better, I found out that there was music you could download for free on itunes that went with the program! The music would speed up or slow down when you needed to walk or jog so you didn't have to watch the clock to time your workout. I decided to try it. I downloaded the Podrunner Intervals First Day to 5K podcasts, and I started jogging. <br /><br />I still didn't believe that this would actually work. I made a deal with myself that I would try, but if it got too hard- like, if I threw up, or passed out, or threw out my hip or something, then that would be it. The first week, I had no problems. I was able to do the workout without difficulty at all. The second week, the bursitis in my hip and knee started to act up. I thought that would be it, but I looked up knee and hip pain and read some good suggestions on how to work through it. I waited an extra day to make sure the pain went away and tried again, using some of the advice. No problem. I kept going. I kept succeeding. Week after week, I would finish my run astonished that I had done it without any serious pain or difficulty. I started to like it. <br /><br />The last week of the program happened to coincide with my daughter's final 5k run in P.E. Parents were invited. I stood with all of the sixth graders, and several other parents, and for the first time in my life I ran a race. I ran with my daughter. Unfortunately, we got separated pretty quickly, and had to run on our own. I was able to keep going the entire way, and it was so amazing crossing the finish line to the cheering of a whole bunch of students, teachers, and parents. A few minutes later, I was able to cheer as my daughter finished the race too. <br /><br />I'm still running, and I'm still surprised. I start off in the morning, thinking of how far I have to go, and a part of me still hesitates. Then I go ahead and run it anyway. It's not necessarily my favorite way to exercise. Nothing really compares to the joy of dancing, or a long walk on a perfect day. The sense of accomplishment, however, is pretty amazing. <br /><br />I expect that I will continue to be surprised. About a lot of things.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-34234499911738076592010-04-29T13:01:00.002-06:002010-04-29T13:40:51.270-06:00A recipe!I don't remember where the recipe came from. Probably somebody gave it to my mother, and she tried it, but Swedish Pancakes were an instant hit at my house from the very first batch. It became THE breakfast anytime we had a sleepover or slumber party. It was our traditional Labor Day breakfast for a few years. They were a staple in my family. <br /><br />Similar to crepes, but easier to make, these were a thin, rectangular pancake. You added any toppings that you liked, then rolled them up to eat them. They fed a ton of people, they allowed for endless creativity in toppings and they were a lot of fun. <br /><br />The tradition changed when I went to college. Our church has a general conference two weekends a year. In Utah, this means we get to watch conference on television. One year, one of my friends invited everyone she knew over for a conference breakfast. We all had pancakes, bacon and eggs, and sat and watched the Sunday morning session of the conference together. It was great! Six months later, another friend decided to carry on the tradition and hosted it. It turned out well, but we hadn't anticipated the appetites of some of the college boys, and there wasn't enough food. I ended up running home to grab some muffin mix I had in the kitchen to add to the breakfast so people wouldn't still be hungry. That's when I remembered Swedish Pancakes. They were the perfect breakfast. As long as you had eggs, milk, and flour, you could just keep on making them and it was easy to feed a crowd. <br /><br />When the next conference rolled around, I was the one who hosted the breakfast, and the first Swedish Pancake Conference Breakfast was born. I provided the pancakes, and guests were invited to bring toppings or drinks to share. This has continued for twenty years now. People have come and gone, children have been added to the mix, houses have changed, but it's always Swedish Pancakes for conference. I imagine that the day will come (in the FAR FAR future) when we'll add grandchildren to the guest list. The recipe is as follows: <br /><br />Swedish Pancakes<br /><br />3 eggs<br />1 1/4 cup milk<br />3/4 cup flour<br />1 Tbl. sugar<br />1/2 tsp. salt<br /><br />Mix the eggs and milk, gradually add flour, sugar and salt, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. The batter will be thin. Heat a griddle. Spray with no-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter across the hot griddle in a long row. When the batter has set, use your spatula to cut the batter vertically into roughly rectangular shapes. Flip to cook on the other side. Top with a tablespoon or so of your favorite topping, roll up, and eat. We typically make 6-8 batches for every conference breakfast, and we'll get 30+ people attending.<br /><br />Favorite toppings include: <br />any fruit<br />whipped cream<br />jams and jellies<br />syrups <br />applesauce<br />sugar and cinnamon<br />peanut butter<br />chocolate syrup<br />ice cream toppings <br />powdered sugar <br />brown sugar<br />butter<br />coconut <br />nuts<br />pretty much anything else in your pantry you are brave enough to try<br /><br />My favorite topping combinations are: <br />chocolate syrup and powdered sugar<br />sugar and cinnamon and maple syrup<br />white sugar, butter, and lemon juice<br />Strawberries and whipped cream<br />butter and brown sugar<br /><br />The nastiest topping combination ever attempted was powdered orange drink and peanut butter. The powdered orange drink was meant for drinks. The guys insist it was really good. They're wrong.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-59096942153936654512010-04-05T17:08:00.000-06:002010-04-05T17:09:15.880-06:00MiraclesMy little sister always wanted to be a Mommy when she grew up. Except for a brief time when she wanted to be an apple picker, when you asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, it was always a Mommy. Life didn't turn out that way for her. Mr. Right didn't come along until she was in her thirties, even after everyone else had gotten married and started a family. She used to point out that our grandmother had beautiful wedding pictures of all of the cousins on one wall. Then on another wall was the single picture of just her. She called it the wall of shame. <br /><br />Even after she found her Prince Charming, starting a family and having children didn't happen either. Health problems, doctors, fertility specialists and years of waiting replaced being parents. They signed on for one adoption agency, and waited for three years for something to happen. Nothing. Finally, my sister started talking about giving up on the idea, and maybe they should travel instead, because just working and coming home each day, it just seemed like they needed something else in their lives. <br /><br />Over Christmas they heard about another adoption agency that seemed to have more birth parents listed than their previous agency. It was a relatively painless matter to fill out new papers, and transfer home study information to add the new agency to their list of things they needed to wait for. Before the final papers were even sent, the call came. There was an infant up for adoption, and were they interested. Their profile was one of four that was sent to the birth mother, and to their astonishment, the birth mother chose them! That was seven weeks ago. <br /><br />Things didn't stop there! Three weeks ago, they got another call from the agency. The same birth mother also decided to place her one year old baby up for adoption- a little girl. Were they interested in having two? They said yes, but had no information on either of the children, other than the gender of the one-year-old. It was almost like they were getting twins, because they needed two of everything! High chairs, cribs, and let's not forget clothes! We bought every gender neutral newborn size outfit in the store to help get ready. <br /><br />Last week they found out the infant was a boy. They also found out that the birth mother was flying out here early to be induced. Two weeks early. Monday morning they learned that the birth mother was arriving that night. Without any chance to finish their preparation, my sister brought home a one year old little girl two days ago, and yesterday her little boy was born. The doctors say they will be able to bring him home tomorrow. In the course of seven weeks things have gone from nothing to much much more than they could have ever hoped for. <br /><br />Yesterday, I was holding my new little niece, and she suddenly stretched out her arms, reaching for my sister. Surprised, my sister asked, "Do you want to come see your mama?" She took her in her arms, and the little girl patted her on the arm, and said, "Mamamamamamama." <br /><br />And they say there aren't any miracles anymore....Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-66094803065416163932010-01-27T13:33:00.001-07:002010-01-27T13:34:49.168-07:00AdoptionAdoption has been a subject I’ve heard over and over all this month. My sister is looking to adopt, a few friends have just gotten their paperwork finished to adopt, and the local papers are talking about Haitian orphans and the possibilities of finding families for them. Adoption. <br /><br />It reminds me that when I was in eighth or ninth grade, I very nearly had not just one sister, but three sisters and a brother. It all started with my father selling his old TRS-80 computer to a small business in Portland, Oregon. For our family, it meant a short vacation a few hours away from home so that my father could deliver the computer. He spent the day with the owner and secretary of a small office machinery business, setting up their computer with business applications, and teaching them everything they needed to know to get their business computerized. My mother took my sister and I shopping in the big city. We had a great time, and that was the end of it. <br /><br />When the secretary called us a few months later, I’m certain that my parents thought that something had gone wrong with the computer, and she needed some help fixing it. She called for an entirely different reason, however. She had been diagnosed with cancer, and she was a single mother, with four children, a fourteen year old, a ten year old, a three year old and an eighteen month old. She had no family, the fathers of the children were not in the picture, and she had no one to turn to who could take the children while she dealt with her illness. She needed someone not just willing to watch the children while she went through cancer treatments, but if the worst should happen, someone who would raise the children. She had been praying that she would be able to find someone, and one name kept coming to her over and over again: My dad’s. <br /><br />Out of the blue, she called up a man she had only known for the one day, and the family she had met only briefly at the end of a shopping trip to ask us to take the children. She didn’t know why my dad’s name kept coming to her, but she felt very strongly that he was the answer to her prayers. It was a time of some serious soul searching for us. Was this something we could do? Was it something we wanted to do? I remember a few family councils where we discussed the possibility. We prayed about it a lot, and came to the decision that yes, we wanted to help this woman. We worked with state Family Services to arrange to foster, and possibly adopt the three youngest children, the fourteen year old choosing instead to stay with friends up in Portland. Just like that, we opened our home to Christy, Antoine and Angie Ide. Our family grew overnight. <br /><br />This wasn’t an easy prospect. We had a three bedroom house, and there simply wasn’t room for five children. Not to mention room for a baby! We didn’t have beds, much less a crib! We scrambled to convert our family room into a makeshift bedroom for the two youngest. We put bunk beds in my sister’s room. My sister was the same age as Christy, and they could share. We had also signed up to host a Finnish exchange student that summer, and my sister’s old bed went into my room for her. We were packed full. <br /><br />There was a lot of adjusting to do, and it didn’t always go well. Antoine was the cutest little boy you ever saw, but he would steal things from my room. I was a teenager. My room was SACRED, and no one was allowed in it! I lived in my room, playing music, and reading books, and my door was always CLOSED. I would be so angry every time I found something missing. My mother never understood my pain. She simply reminded me that he was three, and he would learn. I probably slammed my door in a huff more than once over the situation. <br /><br />Dealing with diapers and bottles and high chairs was another issue. I did a lot of babysitting, but it was different when the baby was with you all the time! Angie was a beautiful girl, and her favorite word was “NO!” It was almost a game. We’d ask her silly questions like, “Are you a pretty girl?” just to hear her answer, “NO!” When it wasn’t cute, it was very annoying. <br /><br />The first few weeks were really hard. Everyone was adjusting to this new situation, and all of us were wondering how permanent this was going to be. After that first month, we fell into a routine, and by the third month everything seemed normal. Antoine was lively, but no longer made me angry. Angie still said “NO!” when I asked her for a hug, but then she’d wrap her little arms around me and give me one anyway. Christy and my sister were soul mates, and couldn’t be happier. This was starting to work. <br /><br />That’s when we got the most wonderful, and the most heartbreaking news ever. The kids’ mother was going to be just fine. The treatments had worked, and the cancer was going into remission. Just like that, it seemed, they were gone, and our house seemed very empty with their absence. <br /><br />I’m not really sure how we fell out of touch with the family. We moved a few years later to California, and when my parents tried to get in touch with them again, they were unable to locate them. I have tried to Google them, and found out that Antoine was playing baseball in the minor leagues. I’d imagine that the two girls are married and using different names now. I wonder about them a lot. I wonder what it would have been like if they’d really become ours-one big family. I wonder how my life would have been different. I wonder what their lives have been like. I wonder if they even remember us.<br /><br />I do know that we loved them, my almost brother and sisters.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3799878404611006165.post-48991015077477186722009-12-23T22:23:00.002-07:002009-12-23T22:35:08.684-07:00Chicken PoxWhen I was in kindergarten, I couldn't wait for Christmas to come! I had gone to bed the night of Christmas Eve tense with the excitement of Santa's visit. I was sure that I wouldn't fall asleep, but of course I did. <br /><br />I woke up very early before the sun was up, excited that it was Christmas morning, but not feeling very excited about getting out of bed. I forced myself up and woke up my little sister, then woke up my parents who grumbled about it being too early, but got up anyway. All of the relatives that had come to visit were awakened soon after. We went out to the living room, and there, just as I had hoped was a pile of presents under our tree! I should have been more excited, but somehow I just didn't feel as thrilled as I thought I would be. <br /><br />I sat down on the couch, and my Father passed around presents. There were a lot for me, and I was happy, but not terribly enthusiastic. I was tired. My head hurt. Still, it was Christmas morning, and those presents were for me! I wasn't going to ruin things. I opened a few presents. I got great toys. Wonderful. The headache was getting worse. Finally, a stack of presents still waiting for me, I opened a book-shaped present. It was the story of Heidi complete with a read along record. The cover had a girl wearing a dirndle dress, and braid loops on either side of her head. I looked at the book, and burst into tears. I felt awful, and presents weren't fun. <br /><br />Everyone rushed to my side wondering what was wrong. I had an awful fever, and a headache. Then my Mother saw the spot on my arm. A small red spot, right there above my wrist. By the time the sun had come up one spot had become eight. I don't remember the rest of the presents. I remember cool baths to get the fever down, and spending a lot of time in bed with orders not to scratch no matter what I did. <br /><br />I got Chicken Pox on Christmas morning.Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05161329548062465454noreply@blogger.com1