Tag Archives: SCAN

SCAN – STATS – STORIES – SMOKIN’ Good Stuff

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Post #156

January 4, 2019

 

THANK YOU for reading, sharing, re-blogging, and commenting on SCAN-a-Blog  in 2018.  Most of all, I THANK the 95 FOLLOWERS of SCAN. How much I appreciate your VISITS and how much I enjoy VISITING YOUR BLOGS, too.  You inspire me and teach me, and you widen my world.

Here are some stats from 2018.

 

90 Posts Published

TOP STORY for 2018:  RIVER, a poem and reflection.  Read it here!

47,753 Words Published

620 Average Words per Post

493 VIEWS in DECEMBER

2,647 VIEWS in 2018

7,943 All-Time Views on SCAN-a-Blog

5,552 VISITORS on SCAN in 2018

 

Saturday is for Sharing is a  Special Feature I started in 2018. It had a lot of attention for my fellow authors. I can think of nothing I enjoy more than promoting your work and seeing you thrive and grow.  For this feature, I invite published authors to contact me. You can learn more about this interview by looking for “Saturday is for Sharing” on the top MENU BAR of the page. 

Contact me for more information and let’s set you up with an interview to promote you and your book.E-mail:  riverwoman@zoominternet.net

–

Congratulations to Amy Bovaird for garnering the TOP VIEWS for your interview with Lynda and Miss Opal on Saturday is for Sharing!

Read Amy’s interview here: Click Here!

You will LOVE READING the TOP POST in Saturday is for SHARING by Amy Bovaird.

–

CONGRATULATIONS TO 2  Saturday is for Sharing featured guests – Mike and Bruce  came in 2nd place – a tie!

Mike Bayles: Read it Here!

Bruce Atchison: Read it Here!

Share the Happiness.

Re-blog or share on your social media.

I love you for that!

RIVER

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River

What comes to your mind

when you say the word,

“RIVER?”

I live on a ridge overlooking a winding 50-mile long creek in western PA.

This special place in my heart  is called,

“The Connie”

by local people, like me.

Others know this as the Connoquenessing Creek.

I have writing of my love affair with this river all my life.

I found a poem today on a blog. In this poem, I can feel  memories and love for this river.

I am glad to re-blog this poem so that I can enjoy  it today on SCAN.

I love the use of “hair” and desire that is wind-swept through this poem. It is memorable. Thanks for sharing.

I’d like you to visit this blog link  and read it, too.

Red the poem below and please respond with a comment on your own idea of what a RIVER means to YOU. Thank you!

Read “River” now!

If you like the poem, please leave a comment for the poet.

Spread the Happiness.

I LOVE YOU FOR THAT!

–

Published by Lynda McKinney Lambert.

You can visit my story about my favorite creek here in western Pennsylvania Read it here!

River, I hear you call me to you,
Gone are the days when I walked
On your grassy banks, the wind in my hair,
But still I hear your song,
The air thick with desire,
If just for one more time I could come

On summer days I would often come
Finding peace as I watched you
Around, all that I could desire
My spirits lifted as I walked
Deep within a joyous song
As the wind tossed my hair

Wayward always was my hair
As I felt each season come
Accompanied by a different song
That I sang as I danced beside you
Many miles over time I walked
To walk was always my deep desire

Now I am filled with a deeper desire
So different is my hair
No miles now will ever be walked
Never again will I come
But I never will lose my love for…

View original post 87 more words

Saturday is for Sharing – LKHunsaker

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Post #125 – September 8, 2018

Saturday is for Sharing

Series of Guest Authors – #10

Miss Opal & Lynda

Welcome YOU to

Saturday is for Sharing 

_____

LK Hunsaker 

 

Western Pennsylvania Author

 

 

  

Hi LK.

Miss Opal is seated in the window this morning and I can hear a hawk calling as the new day begins.

We  both think it is a treat to feature a Guest Author who is so passionate about MUSIC and want to know more about how  your writing projects what you love.

I am a retired professor of fine arts and humanities, and so much of my own writing is inspired by MUSIC.

Your stories are  of great interest to me and I know they  will be to our readers, too.

Q_ I’d like to start by asking you to give our readers an overview of your writing career and  books you have authored.

LK_  I began writing seriously in 1996. During this time, my husband was active Army and away much of the time, or working very long days, and we had two young children I was raising mainly on my own away from home in a place I detested. So, for the sake of sanity, I picked up my pencil and my long ago habit of writing stories, poetry, and plays, and rewrote a scene that I’d written and lost years before as a young teen. The story has been in my head since then and was inspired by an actual band of the times, meaning mid-1970s. (No, I don’t worry about showing my age. Trust me, it shows.) I started writing in scenes, on paper with pencil, filling binders by putting the scenes in order as I finished them. I wrote until tendonitis set into my wrist and spread into my whole arm up my shoulder, and then I began writing with my left hand until the right healed. The computer has sped things up quite a lot and is far better on my hands!

 

At this time, I have 18 books plus a novella

in a multi-author anthology

out under two writing names:

LK Hunsaker

and

Ella M. Kaye

My LK books run from romantic to literary to historical to art journals and a children’s book.

 

My EMK books are all contemporary romance with psychological elements all centered around the arts, in three series related by setting and art medium (Dancers & Lighthouses, Artists & Cottages, Songwriters & Cities).

 

That scene I wrote in 1996… It’s part of my epic musical saga serial entitled Rehearsal. It will run from 1974 through the mid-Eighties and is a series of 6 books approximately 700 pages each. There will also be a sequel that’s in progress and a prequel that’s in planning stages. Four books have been released, but they are in the midst of an upgrade all under my own publishing company, Elucidate Publishing. A scene from the first book of the series will follow at the end of the interview.

 

 

Q_  Do you have a favorite piece of music or a song that brings back good  memories?  

LK_ I’m music obsessed, and I have been for as long as I can remember. All of my novels include music, along with the whole epic musical saga. Naming one favorite song is rather impossible, so I’ll mention one foremost in my mind at the moment.

 

Two months ago, one of the founders of that band I mentioned, the one that inspired so many hours of writing a novel series so very close to my heart, died of illness brought on while traveling. It was a big blow and a huge mortality reminder that felt like a punch in the gut. His favorite song from his own band was “Don’t Let The Music Die” and so, that song right now brings back wonderful memories of my teen days, of my book-of-heart inspiration, and of every moment Alan Longmuir and his band the Bay City Rollers swept this young teenager away from real life and brought so much joy and upbeat vibes when they were most needed. It also brings the reminder that individual life is finite and we must use our time productively and joyfully, with any luck, leaving a nice legacy to others along the way.

Don’t let the music die…Listen to it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWJj7SZOuKc

 

Q_ Describe a phone call that surprised you recently. What was it?  

LK_ First, I should say I rarely answer the phone since it’s almost entirely spam and I can’t be bothered with that. I do not like talking on the phone. So when my husband, who doesn’t mind the phone as much, answered and came to tell me it was a radio station about the book festival, I stared at him for several seconds before taking the call.

Four years ago, I started up a little local book festival to help local authors, mainly indies, get the word out into the community about their work. It has grown to the point I have authors from out of state contacting me about attending and we’ve had over 50,000 hits to our website. Still, I did not expect a radio station to call. They were asking about advertising. My first thought: Hey! They’ve heard of us! That’s pretty cool! And then… yes, but my budget is very small. Still, it’s radio.

 

So, this year, the West PA Book Festival, located nearly on the border of west central Pennsylvania (did you know PA is the only state where we literally call our state “P.A.” rather than the actual name?) got airtime on two Cumulus radio stations. WestPABookFestival.com will give you more info about the event. We’re also on Facebook. 😉

Photo of the set-up at the

Western Pa Book Festival.

 

 

Q_ Are you an introvert or an extrovert? What makes you think you belong to that group of people?

LK_I am not only an introvert, but I’m also constantly fighting social anxiety disorder. I love to be home, alone, with either the quiet of nature, windows wide open to hear my birds chirping and trees rustling, or with my music that I play loud and sing along with if no one’s around. I won’t even sing in front of my family, although I used to be in chorus all the way through to college choir, plus church choir.

Even too much social media time is exhausting. A minor online debate will literally make me shake from nerves. Talking to people in person: my first thought is always “Um, no.” So yes, book signings have been tough. They’re also necessary, so for years, I’ve gritted my teeth and gone out there, anyway. The upside to this is that my SAD is lightening up with practice, as I realize I won’t actually have a heart attack and fall right through the floor (or dirt, since I try to stick with outdoor events that are easier than enclosed places events). That said, yes, I still decided to organize and run a book festival. Okay, I may be a little bit nuts. Actually, I’m a lot driven, so although I’d love to just hide away either inside my house or puttering in my garden (I have only one neighbor close enough to somewhat see me when I’m in my yard around the trees between our properties), I know there’s the work to be done of … gasp … marketing! … so out I go. Sometimes. Not nearly as much as I should.

Q_This might be a good spot to share a BOOK WORM with our readers? I think many of us can relate.

Q_ _Do you have a favorite kind of bird or animal? Is it a “totem” animal, to you? When did you first sense or become aware that it was a special creature in your life?

LK_ I love the Cardinal because it was so special to my grandma. I also love the goldfinch because of its bright yellow cheerfulness, and the blue jay because of its beauty and its testy personality. I love labradors and we have a full lab and a mixed lab/border collie. They’re so friendly, so sweet, so good with kids, and very trustworthy.

However, the creature I feel the most connected with is the hummingbird. They’re tiny little things that just go about their business not looking for attention, friendly as far as buzzing around my head if I’m beside their feeder without worrying much about me (they do startle me, since they sound like very large bees!), beautiful with their vivid colors, and they’re always so very busy. You have to look quick to catch them taking a drink (please do not add red food coloring to their nectar) before they’re off on their mission. There are more than 300 species of hummingbirds, all unique in their alikeness.

I’m not sure when I first started taking notice of them. It’s been a lot of years. I particularly love Anna’s Hummingbird with its bright pinkish-purple head and bright green body, but they’re all beautiful and absolutely charming. And yes, I relate to their constant busyness.

~~~

Comment from  LK_ So, there you have it. . Obviously, I do tend to be verbose in writing. Thank you so much, Lynda, for having me here.

I’ll be around for several days answering questions and comments. You can also find me at the following places:

LKHunsaker.com and www.facebook.com/author.lkhunsaker

EllaMKaye.com and www.facebook.com/ellamkaye

My blog: http://lkhunsaker.blogspot.com

~~~

As promised, the excerpt from Rehearsal: A Different Drummer by LK Hunsaker

 

Babe? He hadn’t called her that before. “As Kate told Mike, you better be careful about those promises.”

“Are you goin’ t’ hold me to it?”

Searching his eyes, she kept herself from asking him if it would work if she tried. She couldn’t believe that in such a short time, she would honestly be able to make him stay only because she asked. “I would never want you to do anything against your will, not even for me.” She took his hand and continued down their path.

They didn’t bother to talk and the silence was nice with his fingers entwined in hers, his bare feet making tracks next to hers. They walked far enough their friends’ voices faded out, and farther yet to where the smooth sand ran into large boulders and they had to walk up into the coarser sand to go up around them.

He stopped when the dock came into view. Staring at it.

“Duncan?”

“Is this wha’ y’ wanted me t’ see?” His eyes remained ahead. They were as cool as his manner.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Susie was puzzled. It was only a dock. There was nothing else there, other than the large boulders making a cove that protected the dock on each side. “Because it’s one of my favorite places. We used to come down here before they closed off the road above. It’s pretty much always deserted now, and I like it even better this way. It’s so quiet.” He didn’t answer. “Was it too far to walk just for this?”

“Your favorite place.”

“One of them. It reminds me of Dad’s cabin, but a lot closer. I love coming here. I just thought it would be nice to share it…” His face had clouded, his breathing forced. “What’s wrong? Why are you upset?” Her stomach turned. She had done something wrong, though she couldn’t imagine what. All she wanted was to share this with him, to be alone, here, surrounded by the peace. And after their kiss, what he’d said about walking anywhere… “We can go back.” When he didn’t answer, she released his hand and started away. Away from the dock. Away from whatever she had done wrong.

He grasped her arm. “Suse, donae go.”

“What did I do?”

“You didnae do anything.” Her silence brought him closer, and his head lowered until it nearly touched hers. “Y’ did no’ do anything. I am sorry. It is … old memories. Some I had tried t’ forget.”

Memories? She thought back, searching her mind for what he already told her. Had she missed something she shouldn’t have? But he hadn’t said much. Almost nothing. Except he had grown up by the water. She remembered that.

He touched her face again, then took her hand and turned toward the dock. “Come.”

 

©2006 LK Hunsaker

Elucidate Publishing:  https://www.alignable.com/mercer-pa/elucidate-publishing

_________

Dear Readers of SCAN,

Your support of our Featured Guest Authors is  appreciated.

Here’s how YOU can spread the HAPPINESS:

Please  share this article with your friends on Social Media and by Re-Blogging

OR – you can copy and paste the entire blog articler into your own FB page or blog.

You can purchase our featured book: Gift Giving Season is closing in on us already!

Thanks again for your support of the Authors who are featured on Saturday is for Sharing.

________________

Lynda McKinney Lambert. Copyright: September, 2018. All rights reserved.

Saturday is for Sharing

is a weekly series coordinated by Lynda and Miss Opal, her feline writing partner.  Lynda and Miss Opal live in rural western Pennsylvania in The Village of Wurtemburg.

Lynda is the author of 4 books:

Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage Buy it!

Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems Buy it!

Lynda has just completed her 3rd book

Star Signs: New & Selected Poems – not yet published.

AND… her FIRST CHAPBOOK

first snow, 16 Poems with a Wintry Theme – Not yet published.

Both new books  are now available for publication. Editors, please contact Lynda for the manuscript.

 

Thank you for visiting with us today.

Miss Opal and Lynda McKinney Lambert

Contact Miss Opal and Lynda at:  riverwoman@zoominternet.net

Your COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, and SUGGESTIONS are always welcome.

PLEASE SHARE by Re-Blogging this article on Social Media  I only require that you copy/past the entire blog post including our Copyright and blog information.

 

PLEASE share LK’s story and buy a copy of one of her books!

 

If you are a published AUTHOR or an actively exhibiting ARTIST – Miss Opal and Lynda  want YOUR STORY for our “Saturday is for Sharing” blog features. We spotlight one outstanding author or artist a week.

Right now, we are scheduling into the month of November.

E-mail us today: riverwoman@zoominternet.net

 

Saturday is for Sharing

is brought to you by

Pennsylvania Author, Lynda McKinney Lambert and her feline writing partner, Miss Opal.

SCAN is owned by Lynda McKinney Lambert.

View Publications Page for updates on my stories and poems.

Walking by Inner Vision.

Lynda’s Author ‘s Page

Saturday is for Sharing is Lynda’s property. You have permission to SHARE this blog post with your FRIENDS on FaceBook.

Copyright: September 8,, 2018. Lynda McKinney Lambert. All rights reserved.

Please share with your Friends on FaceBook and SHARE to your blog. Please Re-Blog this article and spread the HAPPINESS.

I only ask that you re-post the entire article with the copyright information attached.

Leave Miss  Opal and Lynda some comments and let us know what you liked about this feature story today.

 

SHARE Good Thoughts

and Happiness

EVERY day!

 

riverwoman@zoominternet.net

September 8, 2018

https://llambert363.blog/

Saturday is for Sharing – Bruce Atchison

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Post #124 – September 8, 2018

Saturday is for Sharing

Series of Guest Authors – #9

Miss Opal & Lynda

Welcome YOU to

Saturday is for Sharing 

_____

Bruce Atchison, Canadian Author

 

 

  

Hi Bruce,   It is a pleasure to have you as a guest today on Saturday is for Sharing.  I’ve enjoyed reading your blog for several years and I also know you through the Behind Our Eyes organization.

You are our first international Guest Author.

I recommend your memoir

Deliverance From Jericho: Six Years in a Blind School

to our readers. I have this book and will quote from the back cover:

Imagine being a disabled child, hastily sent to a boarding school hundreds of miles from home, and being kept there for months at a time.  This was the fate of most physically and mentally impaired students half a century ago.  ntellectuals and governmaent  officials once believed  that the best way to educate “hadicapped youngsters” was to segregate them from the able-bodied population, concentrating those  pupils into large institutions. 

Bruce, I think this is a tremendous book and gives the reader a view into life as you experienced it during those years as a young child. This is a world at most people have never imagined and I found it to be enlightening and moving.

I have enjoyed speaking with you  about our mutual passion for animals, and I know that you are specifically passionate about  rabbits.  So, that’s where I will begin our interview – with a question about the awareness of animals.

___________

Q_ I  know that you have a favorite animal – rabbits!  Are rabbits  a “totem animal” to you?  When did you become aware of the importance of rabbits  in your life?  

Bruce_ I’ve always loved rabbits. They’re shy like me and they’re so picked on in nature. But sadly for our family rabbit, we killed her with kindness. That’s why I wrote my first memoir called

When a Man Loves a Rabbit

My first  book is  a warning to novice bunny owners.

 

In 1996, I found out about

The House Rabbit Society  (Lynda’s note – Learn More about Rabbits at this link:  https://rabbit.org/

and that rabbits can make wonderful house pets for adults. Their information confirmed some things I had already noticed with the rabbits I once had. For example, they like to toilet in one spot. Bunnies dislike chaotic situations but they are social creatures.

_____

 

 

Q_ I also know that you love music. I’ve enjoyed learning so much about a variety of musical genre by reading your blog posts. You give a sample of a piece of music and a performer or group that recorded the particular piece of music, Then, you give some background andhistorical context to that music. Your blog features are enjoyable to listen to,  also educational.  I would say you are a connosouire of modern music.  Do you have a favorite song that brings back good memories for you, Bruce?

 

Bruce_  When Klaatu released their first LP in 1997…

I fell in love with a song called “Little Neutrino.” It combined space rock and synthesizers, plus the vocoder vocals appealed to my love of science fiction.

I also named one of my rabbits after the song.

Neutrino was a feisty black bunny

who was very small and hard to see in dusky rooms.

He also had a knack of slipping through barriers I erected to keep him out of rooms which I hadn’t bunny proofed. Neutrino was three years old when I adopted him and we lived for eighty-two months together.

_____

Q_ What is one topic that you won’t ever choose to write about in the future? Is there something that is “off limits” to you, as a writer?

 In my book, My  Deliverance from Jericho…

Bruce_I told the story of how I was sent to a school for the blind. At age seven, I went there for months at a stretch and was raised by supervisors. I spent six years of my life in that uncaring institution before the government mainstreamed me and other Alberta children.

I learned the hard way that most people can’t relate to my experiences at that school.

My rabbit book was a relative success because I knew my readership. But I misjudged the interest of sighted readers, causing my Jericho book to sell poorly. Only fellow blind people wanted to read what I wrote. But since it cost too much to have the book made into audio or braille versions, and since most blind folks couldn’t afford to pay, few copies sold.

 

Q_ What  is on your “back burner” and waiting for your attention?

Bruce_I’m working on a new book called

You Think You’re Going to Heaven?

Many people who consider themselves Christians aren’t following Christ and have never obeyed him. They feel their good works and showing up at church will gain them entry into paradise but they’ll be turned away. I want every one to know the true way to eternal bliss.

 

My next book won’t be a  memoir. I made that mistake with my third book called How I Was Razed. Most folks don’t care about my experiences at a cultic house church. Even Christians weren’t eager to buy a copy of that book.

 

Q_ What do you have an eye on right now, for your future?

Bruce_I hope to retire in 2021. I’ll relax and enjoy life.

Note from Lynda:

Somehow I cannot imagine that Bruce would be retiring from the writing life. He seems to be an “Energizer Bunny” when it comes to ideas for book and publishing. Personally, I think he will go on, and on, and on….and we will see more books by him in the years ahead.  I surely hope so!

_____

Bio: Bruce Atchison lives in a tiny Alberta hamlet.

He is  almost blind, yet he has written three books and is writing a fourth. Bruce also writes freelance articles since 1997.

His blog posts appear three times a week.

www.bruceatchison.blogspot.com

AND

http://www.bruceatchison.wordpress.com

 

Bruce Atchison

 

batchison@mcsnet.ca

http://www.twitter.com/ve6xtc

http://www.youtube.com/ve6xtc

 

___________

 

_____________________

Dear Readers of SCAN,

Your support of our Featured Guest Authors is  appreciated.

Here’s how YOU can spread the HAPPINESS:

Please  share this article with your friends on Social Media and by Re-Blogging.

You can purchase this book: Gift Giving Season is closing in on us already!

Thanks again for your support of the Authors who are featured on Saturday is for Sharing.

________________

Saturday is for Sharing

is brought to you by

Pennsylvania Author, Lynda McKinney Lambert and her feline writing partner, Miss Opal.

SCAN is owned by Lynda McKinney Lambert.

View Publications Page for updates on my stories and poems.

Walking by Inner Vision.

Lynda’s Author ‘s Page

Saturday is for Sharing is Lynda’s property. You have permission to SHARE this blog post with your FRIENDS on FaceBook.

Copyright: September 8,, 2018. Lynda McKinney Lambert. All rights reserved.

Please share with your Friends on FaceBook and SHARE to your blog. Please Re-Blog this article and spread the HAPPINESS.

I only ask that you re-post the entire article with the copyright information attached.

Leave Miss  Opal and Lynda some comments and let us know what you liked about this feature story today.

 

SHARE Good Thoughts

and Happiness

EVERY day!

 

Saturday is for Sharing – Amy Bovaird –

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Post #122 – Aug. 25, 2018

Saturday is for Sharing

Series of Guest Authors – #8

Miss Opal & Lynda

Welcome YOU to

Saturday is for Sharing 

_____

Meet Amy Bovaird

Seeking Solace: Finding Joy After Loss

 

 

  

Hi Amy,   I am so pleased to present your books and hear your thoughts today on SCAN.

Your life-long love of travel and your humorous adventures abroad,  teaching English as a Second Language, seem to be  the backbone of  your writing.  No matter what the story is about, we get an excellent view of the world as you experienced it.  You bring us along wherever you are, in your writing. I’ve been reading your stories for a number of years.

Recently, I listened to the Spring/Summer issue of “Magnets & Ladders Literary Magazine.” This magazine was  recorded on digital cassette by the Perkins Library. I really enjoyed hearing your essay, “The Sweet Breath of Africa,” which won an Honorable Mention for non-fiction.  This story is about an African nurse  who took care of you while you were alone, in a foreign country,  in a hospital. It is a beautiful  and sensitive story. I have listened to it twice because it is so compelling. You are a natural storyteller, Amy.   Read this story here:  https://www.magnetsandladders.org/#the-sweet-breath-of-africa-memoir-nonfiction-)honorable-mentionwzxhzdk47by-amy-bovaird

Q_ What do you think about your name and do you use a pen name for your books?

Amy_ There is so much to a name, and over the years, I have learned not only to appreciate but also to cherish mine. My three siblings are named after other respected family members, but my mother said she chose my name simply because she liked it. That is so sweet, all by itself. As I traveled overseas to teach, having a small three-letter name like ‘Amy’ fit just right. My last name—French in origin—posed problems so my overseas students called me “Miss Amy.” This made me feel close to them; it facilitated stronger relationships and forged cultural ties.

In one class, which focused on teaching strategies for TOEFL, a college-entrance exam needed for non-native students to enter western universities, we came across the word, “amicable.” My Indonesian student said, “This is you, my teacher.” His observation filled my heart with gratitude. At some point, I heard the term, “Bon ami,” French for ‘good friend. and added that on to the lovely nuances of my name. It also has roots in Spanish, “amistad,” which means “friendship,” and “amor,” which means love. That described me well as I loved to make new friends. Later, I learned my name meant “beloved.” At that time, my walk with Christ was deepening, so my given name became even more meaningful.

I think it’s amazing how God ensures we have the tools we need to succeed in our careers—and that certainly includes the name we go by. I went by it as a teacher and I also use it as a writer.

Q_What have you done recently that really made you feel good about yourself?

Amy_ In the 90s I had the most wonderful job ever—teaching specialized English terms (think map reading, tanks, helicopters, etc.) to international military personnel at the Defense Language Institute at Lackland Air Force Base. I even helped set up language programs overseas. I left my job to marry an Egyptian Captain and teach in a civilian women’s college in the Middle East. I could never duplicate the unique teaching environment I had at Lackland.

About three weeks ago, one of my former colleagues and I met up in San Antonio and reunited with past co-workers. It was a whirlwind of excitement, beginning with an unexpected stop at the base from the airport and two full days of meeting up with memorable colleagues. It was also the best thing I could ever do for myself – to reconnect with the bold, daring teacher and intrepid traveler I once was in the days before the huge drop in my vision. It was good to remember I was still that person.

Q_ Are you a “Mountain,” “Valley,” or “Beach” person?

 Amy__I am definitely a mountain gal. Give me a backpack and I’ll climb high! I have a couple of humorous anecdotes in my second book, Cane Confessions: The Lighter Side of Mobility, about climbing mountains in Scotland and Japan. You can probably guess the challenges of climbing the Scottish mountain named Goatfell! There’s something about the high altitude that goes hand-n-hand with adventure.

 

Q_ What is your most notable achievement or accomplishment to date?

Amy_  I am  quite proud of my second book launch. I collaborated with the Sight Center of Northwest Pennsylvania to unveil Cane Confessions. We found a great location to hold the launch, a large senior center in our area. We put our heads together to create a strong line-up of speakers for our program.

The CEO of the Sight Center was our emcee. She introduced each speaker for the event. Other speakers included the director of the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services. This organization provides counseling, training aids, rehab and orientation and mobility to those who are blind or have low vision. Another speaker was on the Board of Directors for the Sight Center but also represented Pennwriters, a state-wide group of writing professionals of which I am a member. It also included the head of the Lions Club (of which I belong), followed by a leader dog (guide) trainer with her leader puppy. The keynote speaker was a laser eye surgeon, who I asked to speak on gene therapy. I also spoke and read a humorous passage from my book. The line-up ended with my pastor, who prayed for the outreach of my memoir, and also for the food.

While we served cake and punch, and I signed books,

we had a fabulous new group perform some original music,

including one song they wrote specifically tor the launch.  One of the group members was from Pennwriters.

We even had someone to take the money for the books, so I only had to focus on signing and connecting with those who came to purchase them.

I don’t think any of us expected such an incredible, comprehensive program to unfold without a hitch! We were thrilled! Unfortunately, although we sent out a slick press release to the media, they failed to show up. What a shame as my launch showcased so many facets of assistance available to the visually impaired community. We certainly put up a united front. It is still one of my fondest memories.

 

Q_ Tell us more about how you began to write books. 

Amy_ The first professional paid writing job I fell into was a ghostwriter job. I wrote a memoir my client termed as “the greatest love story ever told.” It was an upbeat story of my client and his wife (the love of his life) as they dealt with her ovarian cancer. I was so proud of it when I finished it.

That prepared me to write my own memoirs. I have written two books about mobility (using a white cane), which includes elements of fear, faith, humor and adventure. (I am currently working on my third and final mobility book. I plan to finish the series by December of this year).

Seeking Solace: Finding Joy After Loss

is the memoir I want to share with you today.  This new book combines my faith and experiences in a devotional format. It consists of forty-five devotions where God met my needs at desperate points of loss during my time in the Middle East. The first section focuses on loss in childbearing. The second section focuses on getting through divorce. The final section focuses on coping with the discovery of my father’s stage-four cancer while I was in the Middle East.

Writing these devotions helped me better understand how God carried me through my heartbreak. My devotions reminded me how God had ministered to me in the past, which, in turn, helped me recall who was in control of my life. Certainly not me. I was deeply grieving over the loss of my mother, who was eighty-seven. One day she was fine; the next, she suffered a massive stroke. You think you’ll be prepared when an elderly parent passes away but few of us truly are. The loss of a loved one causes grief no matter what the age of the one you love or of the bereaved.

The greater purpose in writing this memoir was to reach out to others facing similar losses. When I go to speak, not everyone can relate to challenges of my sight loss. However, many can relate to losing a child or a parent. Additionally, one out of every two marriages end in divorce nowadays. There is a great need to know God will remain firmly at our side in those frightening moments when we face our biggest fears, failures and disappointments. All devotionals show testimony and mine does the same, only thematically.

 

If I could pick a page that would sum up of the message of my devotional book it might be found in this devotion.

LOVE TRANSCENDS TOUCH

 “‘I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow,’ declared the Lord.”
–Jeremiah 31:13, NIV


When Noor died, everything happened quickly. Nadir completed the legalities for her birth and death at the same time. I received no birth certificate or inked footprints to remember her. Nobody brought Noor to my bedside, so I could hold her and say goodbye. Nadir carried her shrouded body away. He placed her directly into a gravesite somewhere in a Dubai cemetery I would never see. Losing a baby in utero devastated me. It left me without even a photograph—as if conceiving her never happened. My second twin’s heart beat together with mine. I nurtured and sang to her, fought and prayed for her. After I delivered Noor, the nurses whisked her away to an incubator. Most of the time, my emergencies kept me from going to her. Except for One. Special. Moment. I reached through the incubator holes to stroke tiny legs—my first touch. One time to last forever.

My lack of input and involvement in the burial left gaping wounds. I cradled a single Polaroid the doctor snapped of Noor shortly after birth. Nadir hid the photo. He believed it unhealthy and wanted me to move forward. But I had no closure.

That summer, I wept for the missing rituals and mementoes that typically accompany motherhood. To fill that gap, God gave me a beautiful song about love being deeper than touch. The lyrics slowly filled the void, like rays of hope seeping through a heavy black cloud.

The words seemed penned for my twins and me. When I listened to that song, I thought about how beautiful it was to have those hearts beating inside me for even a short time. I believe one day I’ll have that privilege again.

 

Heavenly Father, thank you for scripting special words to heal our unique pain.

 _____________________

 

Contact information:

Name: Amy L. Bovaird

Book Title: Seeking Solace: Finding Joy After Loss

Email: mailto:amybovairdauthor@gmail.com

Website: https://amybovaird.com/

Book Description: https://amybovaird.com/seeking-solace/

Blog: https://amybovaird.com/blog/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/amybovairdauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amy_Bovaird

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ls28BO

*Book is available in regular, large print, ebook and audio.

Audio is available at Audible.com, iTunes, Amazon and my website.

_______________________

Dear Readers of SCAN,

Your support of our Featured Guest Authors is  appreciated.

Here’s how YOU can spread the HAPPINESS:

Please  share this article with your friends on Social Media and by Re-Blogging.

You can purchase this book: Gift Giving Season is closing in on us already!

Thanks again for your support of the Authors who are featured on Saturday is for Sharing.

________________

Saturday is for Sharing

is brought to you by

Pennsylvania author, Lynda McKinney Lambert and her feline writing partner, Miss Opal.

SCAN is owned by Lynda McKinney Lambert.

View Publications Page for updates on my stories and poems.

Walking by Inner Vision.

Lynda’s Author ‘s Page

Saturday is for Sharing is Lynda’s property. You have permission to SHARE this blog post with your FRIENDS on FaceBook.

Copyright: August 25,, 2018. Lynda McKinney Lambert. All rights reserved.

Please share with your Friends on FaceBook and SHARE to your blog. Please Re-Blog this article and spread the HAPPINESS.

I only ask that you re-post the entire article with the copyright information attached.

Leave Miss  Opal and Lynda some comments and let us know what you liked about this feature story today.

 

SHARE Good Thoughts

and Happiness

EVERY day!

 

Saturday is for Sharing – Phyllis Staton Campbell

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Post #121

Saturday is for Sharing –

#7 Guest Author

Meet  Phyllis Staton Campbell

Guest Author

Where Sheep May  Safely Graze

 

Phyllis, We are honored today to have you on Saturday is for Sharing weekly event  on SCAN. 

The scope of your creative work in teaching, musical performance, writing and publication is remarkable. You are truly a Renaissance Woman, Phyllis.

Often, I like to begin by asking an author about their name as a way of introduction.  Our readers like to know more about the importance of an author’s name.

Q_ Do you use your own name for your writing projects or do you use a pen name?  What do you think about your name?  What do you think a name represents?

I can’t say that I have strong feelings either pro or con about the name by which I’m called. Conceited soul that I am, I always write using my name. I take pride in my work, and want the world to know it is mine. There is another writer whose name is Phyllis Campbell, so to prevent confusion, I sometimes add my maiden name, making it  Phyllis Staton Campbell.

However, each of us has another name, one that is never spoken, nor appears on a legal document. This is the face we present to the world. This name is what we are, not to be confused with what some people may think we are, although certainly it helps to form the opinion of others. “She has a name for being generous.” Only we know the truth of that name. It is what we are deep down. Are we truly generous, brave, etc, or do we simply show these characteristics to bolster the opinion of others. Think about it. Do you like your name, both of them?

Q_If you wanted to leave a message for someone you have not seen in a long time, who would get your message and what would it say? How could the message be left?

Phyllis_ It has been five years since I heard my husband’s voice, touched his hand, or felt the warmth of his kiss. Five years since I sat beside him, knowing that I could not go with him on that last step on his final journey. Do I have things I want to say, things I never said? No. They are the same things I said during those years of our marriage, but now, they seem different. “I love you,” somehow has a different, deeper meaning. “I’ve missed you,” is different from when it was spoken when one of us had been away for a short time. So many feelings are different, now that the voice is Silent, the touch is gone, the step no longer heard, the passion of youth is no more. I long to tell him so many things one more time with the deeper meaning that is in my heart. There is no conventional communication between us, yet there is that spirit of love that will connect us throughout eternity.

 

Q_ What do you look for in a personal relationship ? Tell us about your friendships.

Phyllis_ It has been said, and for me, it is true. “You may have many acquaintances, but few friends.” Don’t get me wrong, acquaintances are nice. They are the people you meet casually, in the neighborhood, at work or school, at the grocery store. You discuss the weather, your favorite sports team, perhaps a new movie release.

 

A friend is one that you may not have seen for months, and who walks back into your life, occupying the same place as when they left. A friend is there at midnight without asking why you need them. A friend knows without being told what is on your mind, or in your heart. A friend accepts you as you are, even though they don’t always agree with you. Acquaintances are for today, friends are forever.

 

Q_ What thing could you never live without? What would happen if this one thing went away?

Phyllis_ I pushed the play button on the recorder, and the day-room was filled with the notes of “All Glory Be To God On High” for brass and organ. She sat beside me, this woman, who had been the organist at Saint Francis Catholic church in my home town of Staunton, Virginia for over thirty years. I had visited the church on several occasions, and thrilled to her music. Now that talent was gone, and she was spending the rest of her life in what amounted to a state of oblivion. To our amazement her hands and feet began to move in time to the music. I gently placed my hands over hers, and the fingers were moving exactly as they had moved on the keyboard of the pipe organ. She had no idea where she was, perhaps didn’t remember her name, yet the music she loved brought a fragment of the memory of her former life.

 

Memory is so many things from the practical, “I must remember to buy toilet paper,”

to those things of the past, good and bad, funny and sad. In many ways,

memory is our very existence. For me, it is my life.

 

Q_Do you have a handicap – if so, how does that affect your life and what you do? What would you want others to know about you as a writer?

Phyllis_ I have been blind since birth. People frequently ask, “Is it better to have been born blind, or to have lost your sight later in life.” Well,” I reply, “I’d prefer neither.” This usually earns me a laugh, and moves in the direction I’d like to go.

Losing one’s sight and knowing about the loss when it occurs, can be a traumatic experience, and there’s no getting around it, but it isn’t the end of the world. Well, yes, in a way it is, because that person’s life can never be quite the same. For me, and others born blind, or who may become blind in infancy or as a toddler, blindness is the world we know. Of course, we have problems, but I sincerely believe that in many ways they’re easier to at least accept, but, hey, blindness is blindness.

 

I have devoted most of my writing, especially my books to showing the public that we, the blind, are like everybody in the world, and most important, that we are individuals, with individual likes and dislikes, and diverse abilities. I also hope that in reading my books the blind, especially those who have recently lost their sight, may see themselves and their place in their new world, in a more realistic way.

 

Q_Where can readers see your latest book, Where Sheep May Safely Graze, as well as your previous titles?

Phyllis_  http://www.amazon.com/author/psc-books-all

Continue reading →

Saturday is for Sharing – David L. Faucheux

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Post #118

Saturday is for Sharing

Across Two Novembers: A Year in the Life of a Blind Bibliophile

by David L. Faucheux

 

Miss Opal & Lynda

Welcome YOU to

Saturday is for Sharing 

_____

Meet David L. Faucheux

Across Two Novembers: A Year in the Life of a Blind Bibliophile

 

 

  

Lynda_ I’ve been hearing so many good reports on your first book, Betweeen Two Novembers.  I am so pleased to present your book and hear your thoughts today on SCAN. Thank you for coming to our little SCAN office here in Western Pennsylvania. You’ve come a long way to visit with us today.

Miss Opal_ Our readers will know so much more about you and your life-long love of books and reading. I have a few questions for you this morning, just to get the conversation started. I always worry I won’t remember what I wanted to say, so I will begin first with my question for you.

 

Miss opal_ I am going to ask my favorite question!

What could you never live without? And, why? What wold happen if this would go away?   That is something that I always worry about myself, David. I hate to lose things!

David_ Books and libraries. Let me tell you why and how I actually wanted to make my love of books and libraries my job. Part of this essay is taken from an article I wrote in 2001, at a time before Bookshare had taken off, before Kindle and eBooks, before Audible and BARD.

“What is a library?” Depends on whom you ask, right? For me, this question immediately conjures up that hot summer many years ago. My guide dog, Nader, and I had just entered library school at the Louisiana State University School of Library and Information Science in Baton Rouge. I had been emailing the dean for months, endeavoring to discuss the many concerns I had. Yes, I knew I was throwing the faculty and other LSU officials a proverbial curve ball. I was sitting in the auditorium, wondering what I was doing there, overdressed in a silk tie and linen blazer, and listening to the dean talk about professionalism and what that meant, with Nader was blissfully half-dozing at my feet, tail occasionally twitching.

LYNDA_I am a former professor, so I am getting the picture here that you are creating.  I can’t help but ask you to talk a little more about your academic challenges.  I am thinking about how a blind man would be so interested in pursuing the disciplines that you were thinking about. How did that work for you?

David_  I know, it  may seem almost ironic to some that a blind person would even be interested in a profession that upon first consideration might seem to be so dependent on sight. For as long as I can remember, my interest in reading has been counterbalanced by the scarcity of braille and recorded materials. As a result of eagerly awaiting the next book in the mail during school breaks, having my aunt look up words in her encyclopedia during long weekend visits, later having the 145-volume 1959 edition Braille World Book literally at my fingertips during junior high study hall, and developing various strategies to obtain materials in high school and college, I have become increasingly concerned with the availability of print materials to the blind library patron.

Miss Opal_ But what do you get from a library?

David_ For me, that question is complicated by my rapid vision loss. I remember as a child during the endless summers of swimming lessons and crafts classes also going to the public library with my mother and brothers. They looked at shelves of books, adult novels for her, and books my mother thought we would like. She often read to us before bed. I remember wondering if breakfasting on green eggs and ham would be half as repulsive as the Dr. Seuss character Sam-I-Am insisted and if buying a feline as sagacious as The Cat in the Hat would be possible. I remember liking the stereopticon slides that lived in a box that reposed on top of one of the low bookcases in the children’s room below a window. I even listened to the long-playing recordings of what I later learned were Newbery books. I just thought they were funny-smelling records with a silhouette of a profile and a gold medallion. They were never long enough. I was always running out of books to hear.

Miss Opal_ But isn’t a library more?”

David_  Yes, it is. After I lost my remaining vision, I turned more and more to a different kind of library: a postal library. That’s right, a postal library. Let me explain. The Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is a network of cooperating regional libraries that serves those who meet the qualifications. I would receive mysterious black cardboard–later blue plastic–containers full of slow-playing records. My talking book machine was my magic carpet to such fantastic realms as Oz, the center of the earth, the moon, Venus, the Italy of Romeo and Juliet, and the mitochondria of a cell. I endured the exquisite suspense of Madeline L’Engle, laughed at The Jack Tales and some Scott Corbett books, and was scared to death by several John Bellairs books. I had a hard and fast rule: Talking books were for home, and braille books were for school. I rarely wavered from this rule. And then 4-track, slow-speed cassettes made their appearance. I enjoyed the portability, ease of storage, and knowing that each pale green box held hours of listening and even a kind of para-social-friendship. I learned to speed-listen. I used the variable speed control switch to gradually increase the speed of the machine. This made reading books such as Jennings’s Aztec, Clavell’s Noble House, or Michener’s Texas faster by 50 percent. I do also remember the torture of waiting for the library in Baton Rouge to send a replacement for a cassette that had the impertinence to break before I had finished it.

And I’m glad that because of so many online and physical resources today, I never have to wonder what I’d do if books and libraries disappeared!

 

Lynda_ Your thoughts on what a library is are so interesting TO US, dAVID.

iT MADE ME THINK more about What would you like to know more about? 

David_  I  have always been subtly aware of scents and fragrances. Certain perfumes take me back. One day in 1996 when a student came into my braille class, I instantly thought of my sixth grade teacher. The student’s perfume was Wind Song, by Prince Matchabelli. This floral perfume was launched in 1953 and has top notes of coriander, orange leaf, mandarin orange, tarragon, neroli, bergamot, and lemon. Middle notes include cloves, carnation, orris root, jasmin, ylang-ylang, rose, and Brazilian rosewood. The base notes that anchor this fragrance are sandalwood, amber, musk, benzoin, vetiver, and cedar. The ingredients seem so exotic and sing of foreign climes,  mystery, and romance.

 

lYNDA_ Tell us about how you began to write your book.  Please give us a sample page  that would sum up what the book is about and give us insight into your themes.

David_ My book was written to take you into my world. I wanted my voice to be heard. Seems today, everyone is being heard somewhere: on a reality TV show or on Twitter, Facebook, or other online venues. I wanted to add my voice to the growing field of memoirs by blind authors. In any event, I put the fears of writing and disclosing aside and jumped in. Here is how I explain it in the introduction to Across Two Novembers: A Year in the Life of a Blind Bibliophile, which I am now attempting to have produced as an audio abridgement, as well as in print and e-book formats, with a slightly different title.

I have long wanted to write and publish something, be it an historic novel, a young adult novel, or nonfiction. When, in November 2013, Dr. Katherine Schneider asked me to read and review her just–published Occupying Aging, I conquered my usual reservations: Would I be a good reviewer? Would I be able to write something interesting and help her book sales? I dove in and came up with this review, which appeared on http://www.goodreads.com:

This book, with its mixture of the quotidian and sublime, stands as an interesting glimpse into the life of one early 21st–century woman. Schneider, a retired psychologist, recounts a year of thoughts and events in this journal. Her ruminations on death, spirituality, dogs, and navigating the landscape of the sighted as a totally blind inhabitant of her Wisconsin college town are enlightening. Touches of humor involving Fran, her Seeing Eye® dog, add a sense of fun.

As someone who is acquainted with Dr. Schneider (we have exchanged emails), I could wish I occupied my forties quite as well as she does her sixties. The proactive attempts to educate about disability issues, the volunteering, and the public speaking are outstanding. Maybe some of her enthusiasm for life will rub off on all her readers.—An excellent vade mecum, a handbook, for handling the uncertainties of retirement.

While reading her book and formulating my review, I thought, Oh! I just might be able to write something in this journal–type format. So I jumped in right then, not waiting to begin on the more traditional January 1. I thought that to wait was to postpone indefinitely and fail; to start could mean a chance at a successful resolution. Who says a journal has to run from January 1 to December 31 to be of interest?

Miss Opal_ So, everyone, here goes nothing!  I just have to ask you, David, about something else that is on my mind. I hope that is ok with you.  Tell me, what is your idea of the perfect job? What would you be doing if it were your job? What do you think is the best job ever? Wold this be Plan A for your life?

David_ I would like to collaborate on a multi-media project documenting a group of students pursuing the MFA in Gastronomy offered by Boston University. What a book that would make! It would be along the lines of Snapshots from Hell, released in the early 1990s, about the author’s quest to obtain a Stanford MBA, or that book One L , by Scott Turow, that describes his first year of Harvard Law School. The project could be built around several students and their experiences with course work, internships, and even early employment.

Lynda_ If you could write or commission any kind of book, what would it be? Have you given that any thought now that this first book is finished?

David_  I have several ideas and will briefly discuss each below. They range from fictional biography to historic fiction and end with a short story collection.

* Empress Eugénie of France: She was just as interesting as Empress Elizabeth of Hapsburg or Queen Victoria, two of her contemporaries. But I find no writer today who has done anything with her, either fictionalized or straight biography. If French writers have covered her, I have not located the translations. She lived at a particularly interesting time and reigned over the carnival that was the empire of Napoleon III. It all came tumbling down in 1871, and she later lost her son in a hunting accident in South Africa. She lived until 1920. Surely, if Marie Antoinette rates high enough, Empress Eugénie should.

Eugénie lived during a time of convulsive change. Three empires toppled during her lifetime. The new nations of Germany and Italy were born.

* Inca: Gary Jennings wrote Aztec. (Actually, there were several follow-up novels to his Aztec, but it was Aztec that was outstanding; the others were possibly written at the suggestion of an editor to cash in on Aztec’s success). I always hoped Jennings would live long enough to write about the Inca, to do for that South American people what Aztec did for Mexico.

* A short story collection about my days at a residential school for the blind: I could possibly do this with some guidance. This type of school is rapidly fading from memory. Most blind students today are mainstreamed into public schools. In the 1970s, this was not always the case.

 

Lynda_  They SAY “TIME FLIES WHEN YOU ARE HAING FUN,  i SEE OUR TIME IS JUST ABOUT OVER AND YOU NEED TO LEAVE US.   we HAVE ENJOYED YOUR VISIT TODAY AND WE WILL BE WATCHIG TO SEE WHAT NEW PROJECT YOU HAVE COMING OUT IN THE FUTURE. H FOR COMING TO SEE US.

–

Additional information on David can be found on Joan Myles blog:

Read David Faucheux interview here!

–

David L. Faucheux

Author of Across Two Novembers: A Year in the Life of a Blind Bibliophile

Scopist65@gmail.com

http://www.dldbooks.com/davidfaucheux/

BUY  the book –  Click on the link above.

_______________________

Dear Readers of SCAN,

Your support of our Featured Guest Authors is  appreciated.

 

Here’s how YOU can spread the HAPPINESS:

Please  share this article with your friends on Social Media and by Re-Blogging.

You can purchase this book: Between Two Novembers, DLD Books, 2017.

It would be a fantastic gift for giving over the holidays – just ahead!

 Thanks again for your support of the Authors who are featured on Saturday is for Sharing.

________________

Saturday is for Sharing

is brought to you by

Pennsylvania author, Lynda McKinney Lambert and her feline writing partner, Miss Opal.

SCAN is owned by Lynda McKinney Lambert. & Miss Opal, her feline writing assistant,.

 

Walking by Inner Vision.

Lynda’s Author ‘s Page

Saturday is for Sharing is Lynda’s property. You have permission to SHARE this blog post with your FRIENDS on FaceBook.

Copyright: August 11, and December 9,  2018. Lynda McKinney Lambert. All rights reserved.

Please share with your Friends on FaceBook and SHARE to your blog. Please Re-Blog this article and spread the HAPPINESS.

Leave Miss  Opal and Lynda some comments and let us know what you liked about this feature story today.

 

SHARE The HAPPINESS

We Love You for That!

 

Saturday is for Sharing – Abbie Johnson Taylor, Author

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July 14, 2018

SCAN is hosted by Lynda McKinney Lambert.

If you are NEW to SCAN, I recommend:Just SCAN it!

 

Guest Author

Abbie Johnson Taylor

Author of  4 Published Books

 

18_SCAN_Sharing_AbbieTaylorPortrait

Abbie, It is wonderful to have you here today as our Guest Author.

I first met you on an internet  writers group, Behind Our eyes. At that time  you were serving as the group’s president.   You were, and still are, are really the “Energizer Bunny” of this international group of writers., You are a role model and inspiration  to many of us who are writers with sight loss or blindness. You model for us all what we can do if we stay focused and keep on going on the writer’s path.

Miss Opal and I are glad to have this opportunity to share your life and your books with our readers today. 

Abbie’s Story

 

Q_What do you think about your name? Do you use your own name for your writing?  

My full name is Abigail Louise Taylor.

My middle name was that of my paternal grandmother, but I’m not sure how my parents came up with my first name. Taylor is my married, or should I say widowed, name. Johnson is my maiden name. I like the sound of Abbie Johnson Taylor, so that’s why I publish material under that name.

 

Q_Who would you like to see walk in the door right now?  

 I would like to see my late husband Bill

walk through the white door to my office

right now. Although he has no vision, he would know exactly where I’m sitting. He would saunter up to me and start massaging my shoulders, as I’m sitting here in my chair, typing away. Then, I would stop, turn around, stand up, and we would embrace. Of course Bill hasn’t walked since January of 2006 when he suffered the first of two strokes that paralyzed his left side. Now, he’s in a better place, so I know he’ll never walk through my door again, but I can dream, can’t I?

 

Q_Tell us about the books you authored. What is your most recent book?

I’ve written 5 books.

My latest published work is a memoir about how I met, married, and cared for Bill after he suffered two strokes that paralyzed his left side. Here’s the synopsis. You can learn more and find ordering links at http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com/memoir.htm

 In September of 2005, Abbie Johnson married Bill Taylor.

She was in her mid-forties, and he was nineteen years older. Three months later, Bill suffered the first of two strokes that paralyzed his left side and confined him to a wheelchair. Abbie Johnson Taylor, once a registered music therapist, uses prose and poetry to tell the story of how she met and married her husband, then cared for him for six years despite her visual impairment. At first, there was a glimmer of hope that Bill would walk again, but when therapists gave up on him seven months after his second stroke, Taylor resigned herself to being a permanent family caregiver.

She discusses learning to dress him and transfer him from one place to another, sitting up with him at night when he couldn’t urinate or move his bowels, and dealing with doctors and bureaucrats to obtain necessary equipment and services. There were happy times like when she played the piano or guitar and sang his favorite songs, or when they went out to eat or to a concert. She also explains how she purchased a wheelchair accessible van and found people to drive it so they wouldn’t always depend on the local para-transit service’s limited hours. In the end, she describes the painful decision she and Bill made to move him to a nursing home when he became too weak for her to care for him in September of 2012. He seemed to give up on life and passed away a month later.

 

Q_Do you have a favorite dance partner?  

 My father was my favorite dance partner.

When I was a teen-ager, he taught me to waltz. My family often went to establishments where there was live music, either old standards or country and western. If there was a dance floor, you can be sure Dad and I were on it. My father passed away in 2013. When I met Bill, he could no longer dance because he had some infused limbs. Now that he and Dad are both gone, I still go to dances, but I sit on the sidelines, watch others, listen to the music, and remember.

 

Q_Do you have a favorite song that brings back good memories?  

 My favorite song is “I Want to Spend

My Lifetime Loving You”

from the movie, the Mask of Zorro. When Bill proposed to me in January of 2005, he was living in Fowler, Colorado, and I was living here in Sheridan, Wyoming. We’d been carrying on a long-distance relationship for two years. For Valentine’s Day, he sent a care package which included, besides the obligatory chocolates and other items, a cassette tape of love songs he’d downloaded from the Internet. This song was one of them. I found it amazing that a man wanted to spend his lifetime loving me, and I finally got to the point where I wanted to spend the rest of my life loving him. Here’s a link to the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo4AWDELNiY

 

Abbie Johnson Taylor

SCAN_AbbieTaylorBook_MyIdealPartnerCreatespaceCover (002)

My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds

Abbietaylor945@gmail.com

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/ybmouz5y

Website: http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com

Abbie, Miss Opal and I agree that your  story

is encouraging and inspiring to our fellow authors and to the readers. It was fun learning so much more about you! 

We know our readers will be inspired and encouraged by your journey and we thank you for being m first guest here at SCAN on “Saturday is for Sharing.”

 Abbie’s final Comment – a Poem for you!

 

THE RISE AND FALL OF MY ZORRO

With cape, hat, mask, rapier,

he rode out of the darkness.

“Take my hand. Dance with me,” he said,

“I want to spend my lifetime loving you,”

but happily–ever–after was not to be.

My hero fell and rose many times.

I felt the glory

until he fell for the last time.

Where there’s love, life begins again.

When life dies, love goes on.

__________

More about Abbie:

Abbietaylor945@gmail.com

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/ybmouz5y

Website: http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com

_____________________

Lynda McKinney Lambert. Copyright July 7, 2018. All rights reserved.

Saturday is for Sharing

is a weekly series coordinated by Lynda and Miss Opal, her feline writing partner.  Lynda and Miss Opal live in rural western Pennsylvania in The Village of Wurtemburg. 

Lynda is the author of 4 books:

Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage Buy it!

Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems Buy it!

Lynda has just completed her 3rd book

Star Signs: New & Selected Poems

AND… her FIRST CHAPBOOK

first snow, 16 Poems with a Wintry Theme.

Both new books  are now available for publication. Editors, please contact Lynda for the manuscript.

 

Thank you for visiting with us today.

Miss Opal and Lynda McKinney Lambert

 

 

Contact Miss Opal and Lynda at:  riverwoman@zoominternet.net

Your COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, and SUGGESTIONS are always welcome.

PLEASE SHARE by Re-Blogging this article on Social Media.  

PLEASE share Abbie’s story and buy a copy of one of Abbie’s books!

 

If you are a published AUTHOR or an actively exhibiting ARTIST – Miss Opal and Lynda  want YOUR STORY for our “Saturday is for Sharing” blog features. We spotlight one outstanding author or artist a week.

Right now, we are scheduling into the month of September.

E-mail us today: riverwoman@zoominternet.net

 

 

Tuesday Travels #4 ~ Venice

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Tuesday Travels  #4: Venice, Italy

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If you arrive by train you will have an amazing view of the Grand Canal immediately. The sights & sounds of Venice are spectacular.

Venicie_GrandCanal

Your travel in Venice will be by walking and by water taxis.

It is an exciting experience and you will want to return again, and again, once you have been there.

I recommend you visit a concert while there! They are spectacular.

Photos are the property of Lynda McKinney Lambert. Copyright.

 

 

The Architecture

 

Venice_Bridge05

The Music of Venice.

Listen to The Mandolin Concerto:  Listen now!

 

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Lynda stands in San Marco square  on one of her annual visits to Venice.

 

Tuesday Travels  is brought to you by author,

Lynda McKinney Lambert.

Copyright July 12, 2018. All rights reserved.

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View Publications Page for updates on my stories and poems being published.

Walking by Inner Vision.

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Thursday Treasures #5: Reading

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July 12, 2018

Post #106

Thursday Treasures #5,  by Lynda McKinney Lambert

 

Note: For today’s Thursday Treasure, I went to my other blog, “Walking by Inner Vision,” Read it here!

I looked into my Archives at Walking by Inner Vision.  I started that blog in December 2009 because I wanted to find a way to communicate with others after my 2-year struggle to be able to use a computer again.

I was trying to recapture my life, after an unexpected  life-altering event.

Today, I’m  publishing an article I first published on February 19, 2010.  I’ve revised that essay  for my readers here at SCAN.

 

Reading: The Stuff of Life

I am reading

 The Power of Myth

by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers.

This book was on my book shelves for a number of years. It is a larger book that is easily noticeable. I often picked it up and looked through it, waiting for a time when I could sit down and really learn from these two remarkable men.

 

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During my teaching years at Geneva College,

I often thought about what I would do

 

“When I RETIRE”

 

My profession required extensive reading. I loved to read and

I devoured books and periodicals like there was no tomorrow.

However, the reading I did for my courses was always centered around what I taught in my courses.

I longed for more  time to read outside my course materials and requirements.

I thought ,

Someday I will  be able to do that, when I retire.

I began working  towards that magical future time when I could read to my heart’s content with no goal of ever teaching the material. I wanted to  read  just for me. I would read to satisfy my inner longings. I would read for myself alone. I would read for the sheer joy of reading.

I prepared for my retirement, for years!

My book collection was a treasure  trove of books  gathered  & put on shelves in my home library.

The book treasures  awaited my day of liberation when I could begin reading them. I could spend my retirement days with a precious book in my hands, and have no concern about time or interruptions.  I imagined this new freedom, every day.

I anticipated the time when I no longer had to spend time on the road, traveling to classes, or taking trips for business purposes.

I would not have to organize classes or  take students on international study trips. And, no more endless meetings around a table, talking about strategies, evaluations and future plans for student development.

In my envisioned retirement, I would no longer write conference presentations, faculty reports,  or attend  professional development sessions.

I would merely be reading my accumulation of books from my library shelves. I’d be content.

 

My retirement collection contained books of poetry, art, and great literature  – many of the books are by authors I was not teaching in the classroom.

Some are by my favorite poets, and some are poets I want to read but never had time because of my intense teaching schedule. Of course, I had a collection of hundreds of books from which I created courses. But, my treasured books for retirement were different.

Each book, a treasure, carefully  selected and collected.  

 

What I did not  know was  that a CATASTROPHY  would STOP me COLD!

 Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

  changed my plans. I experienced sudden, permanent, and profound sight loss.

 

All of my  reading is now through technologies either on my computer or on a special machine provided to Blind and Handicapped  people. While I am thankful to be able to read this way, it is certainly not as satisfying as holding a real book in my hands – feeling it’s heft; its unique smell; and the sense of touch from my fingers on the binding or the page edges. And, listening to someone read the book takes away almost all of the quiet and personal imagination that is so much richer.  I will never get used to a professional voice reading a book to me. The voices inside my head, in my imagination, have been abducted by those voices on the machines. I hate it!

 

Despite all of my personal emotions at the drastic changes in how I read, I am still very thankful for  books provided as sound recordings by he National Library of Congress.  I am able to order a variety of books I would like to read, but the books by contemporary poets are quite few. I still love academic books by academics and in the poetry section they simply are not there!  The books from NLS come directly to my house and are sent through the postal service to  my mailbox.

 

Because I love the feel of a physical book, some days, I struggle to read one of my books by using a CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) which is a magnification device. I can only read a very small portion of text at a time, but I am grateful that I still have a small amount of vision so I can actually SEE some text.  I still love the feeling of a real book in my hands, even though my ability to read it as I sit on a comfortable sofa in my library is no longer possible. I’d give anything to snuggle with a quilt on a winter’s day with my book in my hands  and my mind and imagination taking flights of fancy.  There is no replacement for those delights. No machine can do it.

I am thankful for this retirement time  away from the bustle and frenzy that was my professional life up until ELEVEN  long years ago.

However, the loss of eye sight brought new vision to me and I can see some things I would never have known existed if I had not lost most of my sight.  My daily walk is quite different now. But, it is a precious life, nevertheless. I can hear nuances in a voice that tell me exactly what a person is thinking – not what they are saying. I am not distracted by their  expressions now.  I am far more aware of perceptions than I ever was when I had full sight.

As I edit this essay, my two dogs lay nearby and my 2 cats come into my office to sit in the open window each morning. We greet each day together, and it is a good life. My retirement is satisfying and I have even had the time to write books and poetry.  I just completed the work on my 3rd book,  a full-length book of poems,  (Star Signs: New and Selected Poems) and my first chapbook, first snow, is ready for publication, too.

As I write. my 2 dogs  are asleep nearby.  Our 2 cats spend a lot of time in my writing office and like to sit in the open window to survey their world.

Good books and contented dogs & cats bring joy to my life.

READING  is the stuff of MY life.

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Thursday Treasures is brought to you by the author, Lynda McKinney Lambert.

Copyright July 12, 2018. All rights reserved.

SCAN is the sole property of Lynda McKinney Lambert.

Guest writers may not always reflect the opinions of Lynda Lambert, but this blog is designed to feature authors and artists who have a positive world view.

SCAN is a QUIET PLACE of Inspiration. We love all things ART, NATURE and Literature.

 

Miss Opal

 

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