Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers

My Book News & Advocate for the Writing Community ©

Bibliophile’s Collective Tuesday – My Winter Poem and a Book Review

December 21, 2021
mandyevebarnett


Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com

Winter Forest

The wind whistles around the pine trees

Scattering fallen snow into festoon veils

The eagle flies on high

Its wings like sails.

Creatures huddled together in burrows

Sleeping the winter away in hibernation

Others braving the weather conditions

As hunger requires them to be brazen.

The forest lays quiet in winter’s grip

Sounds are dulled, its inhabitants scarce

Branches bare or thickly covered in white

The conditions make life adverse.

Fur changed from brown to white

Camouflage a lifesaving trait

Blending into the white landscape

With no option to migrate.

Footprint trails the evidence of life

Hooves and fluffy feet, both large and small

An outline of outspread feathers

The scene of a life and death brawl.

The forest sleeps until spring’s return

Life hidden, silent and encased

Patiently waiting for animation

And life once again chased.

I really enjoyed this story. A mystery, a realization of self and re-connecting with family. The author immersed me in her main character’s world and kept me turning the pages. My take away – be true to yourself.

Do you have a favorite winter time book you read?

Bibliophile’s Collective Tuesday – Book Review & Book Titles

November 16, 2020
mandyevebarnett


In my research for my new detective series, I read a novel by M.J. Arlidge entitled Eeny Meeny. The premises of the narrative becomes all too clear and links to the title all too well as you read. You can find my review on my Goodreads page but just in case, here it is: Absolutely riveting! I didn’t see the culprit coming. Well written and structured. A fast paced, who done it. A real page turner.

I will endeavor to ensure my own narrative has the same tension and surprise culprit. M.J. Arlidge uses the same detective for his novels, using various scenarios for each narrative. My detective series has a different structure, covering three detectives and three different cities but the same antagonist.

I have been asked to explain the reason I chose the title of my series as The Delphic Murders. I wanted a word that meant obscure, as my antagonist is just that. So I delved into my knowledge of Greek literature and found Delphic. It means deliberately obscure or ambiguous.

What books have you recently read? What was your review on them?

Winter Arrived

As you can see winter arrived here in Alberta. So I have decamped from my writing desk into the living room, where there is a huge window. This gives me welcome daylight but also a cozy writing space beside the fireplace.

The first book in my series, The Delphic Murders is well under way, with over 36,000 words. As with any first draft, I am just writing where the characters take me. Early next year, I will begin revisions and editing and making notes for book two.

I am so pleased my steampunk novel has proven so popular, with online and in person purchases. Thank you all for continuing you enjoy the stories I create. All my books are here: https://amazon.com/-/e/B01MDUAS0V

Please leave a review it would mean the world to me.

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Effects of Weather on Your Writing

October 29, 2020
mandyevebarnett


Weather can have quite an effect on our writing as it influences us emotionally and physically. Each season has its benefits.

Spring

Spring brings hope of warmth and plans conjured for outdoor pursuits, clearing of winter’s destruction and planting for summer blooms. It is also a time when a new project or idea may come forth. Use the short days and early evenings to plot, plan and create.

The sunshine and heat of summer tempts us outdoors to the wonderful variety of activities and abundance of the season. Looking at our writing area sends sharp pangs of guilt into our sub-conscious. I should be writing is its taunt. Remember experiences count as research so enjoy your summer. Find a quiet nook to write in the early mornings, or in a hotel lobby observing guests going back and forth or curling your toes in the sand on a beach. People watching is a trait a writer should indulge.

Fall (Autumn) with its burst of colour and chilly winds encourages warmer clothing and the last hurrah before the winter. The seasonal change turns our thoughts inward to postponed projects and the opportunity to begin them. Plotting, character development, and the first lines into a new story warms our Muse.

winter

In Alberta, my homeland now, winter is severe. We experience extreme cold, lots of snowfall and limitations on outdoor pursuits. Obviously, some people relish the opportunity to ski, snowboard, sled etc. but for others it is a time of indoor pursuits and a hibernation mentality takes over. Secluded in your writing area, your focus can dwell on your writing, ignoring the cold, harsh weather outside.

As writers, we learn to use emotional, social, and climatic insights and feelings to the benefit of our craft. It gives us an idea how weather can effect a character’s situation or show the passing of time.

How do the different seasons affect your writing?

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Weather Affects Our Writing

July 9, 2020
mandyevebarnett


July has been a wet month so far here in Alberta. Walking my little rescue pup, has left us often soaked, but when we do manage to escape a thunder storm and finally catch a break in the clouds, we enjoy the sunshine to the fullest. Sammie is an enjoyable addition to my life – my step count have gone through the roof! Another good point in our writing life – bum off seat for exercise.

BBQ SAMMIE

The weather can affect our writing too. Sunny days draw us out into the warmth away from our usual writing spot. A patio or deck, balcony or beach or mountain retreat become our new inspiring spot. Cold weather has the opposite effect – cozy in front of a fire, huddled in blankets and fluffy socks. Whatever the weather, our writing changes ever so subtly. We may not even realize it.

Do you write more in the colder months or does creating outside in the sunshine increase your word count?

beach3

Do your character’s situations reflect how you feel? Frustrated not to be outside in the warmth? Or happy not to have to trek through snow drifts?

Are your characters experiencing your weather or climate? Does it change how you write the scene? Or does it inspire you to accelerate their situation to extremes of weather?

With the effects of COVID19 across the world, we have either found writing to be an escape or a block on it. Maybe, we cannot find the inspiration for a narrative but our journal writing has increased. A record of our experience for future reference.

sofa

Have you written a scene a certain way because of the weather you were experiencing at that time?  There are ways weather can be used in a narrative. It can give a mood or be symbolic, or even complicate the character’s situation.

I have currently returned to a manuscript, where the main protagonist escapes into the wild and the current storms helped set the mood. I could feel the intense foreboding, the expectation, the fear of the next thunderclap.

What weather inspired writing have you experienced in 2020 so far?

An English Woman in a Canadian Winter

October 10, 2019
mandyevebarnett


car in winter

When we first came to Canada it was a trial run over Christmas – not the time you would think is best to get an idea of the country. However, we were thinking of moving to Alberta, where the winter’s are harsh and temperatures drop to ridiculous lows -40 at times. Yes you read that right!

So why come in winter? Because we thought if we came in the most harrowing season and liked it then the rest of the year would be a breeze. Little did we know. The decision was made and we immigrated – there were many obstacles to overcome, too many to go through here that’s for sure – but we arrived in September 2007.

My first morning the sun was shining, the leaves were golden and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. If you have ever been to England we always have clouds. Then the next day it was the same, and the next. It was unusual to me but also pleasing. By the beginning of October we saw our first snow and it was a novelty. Big piles of snow (at that time) were rare in England so we took advantage of all the winter themed activities available. It was fun but as the years passed and the snow came early and stayed, the novelty soon wore off. Vacationing in a winter wonderland is very different to living in one – that was our lesson learned.

There are so few green trees during the greyness of winter and that is what I miss the most. The green lushness year round of England. Albertan seasons are not like ‘home’ – spring is almost an overnight experience – a faint green flush one morning and then the grey sticks of winter suddenly become vibrant emerald and lime green. Summer creeps in and heats up the land in some cases +40 (yes it is a land of extremes). Then fall (autumn to my English friends) comes turning gold and red but only staying for a brief while before the leaves drop.

The snow arrives normally before Halloween and leaves sometime in April or even May – it is a winter gripped land for a long time and we have to live with it. There are many devices that make the winter’s easier – winter tires (tyres), auto-start for the vehicles, so you can warm it up before getting in, in-door shopping malls, winter sports and events, fire pits and Jacuzzi’s.

It has been an adjustment for us all and over time we have found ways of coping but we all wish for one more day without snow! We know it is coming and cherish the time without.

twink

 

 

Blog at WordPress.com.