Boats and Floats - Saturday Snapshots

I love boats! The feel of the wind in my hair, the misty spray, the sparkling water. In celebration of things that float, today's Saturday Snapshot post features watercraft--from primitive to luxurious.
(Click on photos to enlarge.)

My son and I on a wild ride down the Taylor River,
Colorado. Great fun! (A long time ago.)
I'm the one wearing the yellow life jacket.

My son made this raft and poled it around
Lake Irwin, Colorado. I'm not sure how seaworthy
it was, but he didn't fall in! (Also long ago. He's 40 now.)

Punting on the Cam River,
Cambridge, England.
Same idea as my son's raft, but oh, so civilized.

Sailboat -- Quiet, tranquil, lovely.
Santa Barbara, California

Battleship Texas, dry docked at the
San Jacinto Battleground State Historic
Site, LaPorte, Texas

The Statendam, Holland America cruise of
Alaska's Inside Passage 

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

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Amazon Sale on Print Books - 30% Off!

I just found out that Amazon is having a 30% off sale on print books! So, if you've been thinking of buying the paperback version of Bluebonnets for Elly or I.O.U. Sex, now's the time to do it. 
(Links: Bluebonnets for Elly / I.O.U. Sex) 

Here are the details:

Take an Extra 30% Off Any Book

Terms & Conditions
 To use this promotion, you must enter "HOLIDAY30" at checkout under the "Gift cards & promotional codes" section to receive 30% off any ONE (1) book purchased in your order (up to $10 promotional credit).
 This offer is only valid on print books. Excludes Kindle eBooks and Audible Audiobooks.

 The promotion is valid for a limited time only, from November 26, 2014 at 9pm PST to November 30, 2014 at 11:59pm PST. Amazon reserves the right to modify or cancel this offer at any time.

 Offer only applies to products sold and shipped by Amazon.com.

 Limit one promotional code per customer and account.

 The maximum benefit you may receive from this offer is $10.

 Offer good while supplies last.

 Offer is non-transferable and may not be resold.

 The offer discount will be allocated to the highest priced book in your order.

 If any of the products or content related to this promotion are returned, the value of the offer will be subtracted from your return credit.

 This promotion may not be combined with other offers, including promotional certificates.

 Items must be purchased in a single order and shipped at the same speed to a single address.

 If you violate any of the Terms & Conditions, the promotion will be invalid.

 Void where prohibited.

 Shipping charges may apply

Rainshadow Road - Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter /First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros

      Ever since my husband and I moved to the Pacific Northwest, we've planned to visit the San Juan Islands. After reading Rainshadow Road, I'm more determined than ever to spend time in this story's beautiful setting.
      The heroine: Glass artist Lucy Marinn's boyfriend of two years breaks up with her because he's in love with her over-indulged sister. So Lucy not only loses her boyfriend, she also loses her sister and the home they shared. 
      The hero: Sam Nolan is one of three brothers whose parents were alcoholics. Sam makes no secret of his bachelor attitude and runs from serious involvement with any woman. A serious accident brings Lucy and Sam together. But can they both overcome their distrust?
      This book has a tiny bit of magic in it. For me that was a drawback, rather than an asset, but I know a lot of people enjoy a bit of supernatural in their stories. Rainshadow Road is a stand-alone book in the Friday Harbor Series.

Opening Paragraph:
When Lucy Marinn was seven years old, three things happened: Her little sister Alice got sick, she was assigned her first science fair project, and she found out that magic existed. More specifically, that she had the power to create magic. And for the rest of her life, Lucy would be aware that the distance between ordinary and extraordinary was only a step, a breath, a heartbeat away. 

Teaser (from Page 153 in my trade paperback):
"Friends are the support bras of life. We don't let each other down. Right?"

Genre: Women's Fiction
Length: 337 Pages (Mass Market Paperback)
Amazon Link: Rainshadow Road
Other Books by Lisa Kleypas: Author Website

 

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One Block Wonder - Saturday Snapshots

I've been making quilts for quite a few years, and every time I create one, I learn something new. This quilt is called a "One Block Wonder." The secret is to stack six layers of fabric on top of each other, line the patterns up perfectly, and then cut the shapes (triangles) through all the layers. When the six triangles are joined, you have a kaleidoscope effect. It's easier than it sounds. In making this quilt I learned that a fabric with a bigger pattern and with a greater variety of colors would have resulted in a more dramatic look. But I think it turned out nice anyhow. 
(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Two groups of three triangles pinned
together to form a pinwheel,
plus a stack waiting for assembly.

Tentative layout

Kaleidoscopes/pinwheels after quilt top assembly

The finished quilt measures 52 x 64 inches,
a good size for snuggling under while reading a book.

Quilters who are curious about this technique can find detailed instructions in a book by Maxine Rosenthal: One Block Wonders

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Bodily Harm - The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings on Friday

I don't often read legal thrillers, but after enjoying Bodily Harm by Robert Dugoni, I've become a fan of the genre. This story kept me riveted from start to finish with its superb plot and dramatic action. Seattle attorney David Sloan (the book's hero) is a likable character, and I felt empathy for him from the very beginning. I'll be reading more books by this talented author.

To learn more about the story, read the synopsis below. Although this is the third book featuring Sloan, it stands alone. (Why can I never seem to read the first book first??) 

Book Beginning (Prologue):
     
Guangzhou, China
      It hurt to blink.
     The light stabbed at his eyes, shooting daggers of pain to the back of his skull. When he shut them an aurora of black and white spots lingered.
      Albert Payne had never been one to partake liberally in alcohol; not that he was a complete teetotaler either. He'd been hungover a handful of times during his fifty-six years, but those few occasions had been the result of unintended excess, never a deliberate intent to get drunk. So although he had little experience with which to compare it, his pounding head seemed a clear indicator that he had indeed drunk to excess. He'd have to accept that as so, because he could remember little about the prior evening.

The Friday 56 (from Page 56 of my hardback book):
     Sloane glanced from the road to the manila file on the edge of the passenger seat and wondered if Kyle Horgan had hit upon the next "It" toy. If he had, Horgan's scribbled drawings could be as valuable as a Rembrandt, according to Stroud. And that changed everything.
     Money always did.

Genre: Legal Thriller / Mystery
Length: 369 Pages (Hardback)
Amazon Link: Bodily Harm
More Books by This Author: Robert Dugoni's Website

Synopsis (from Amazon):
     Bodily Harm opens with a big win for David Sloane and his new partner, Tom Pendergrass, in a malpractice case centered on the death of a young child. But on the heels of this seeming victory, an unlikely character—toy designer Kyle Horgan— comes forward to tell Sloane that he’s gotten it all wrong: Horgan’s the one who’s truly responsible for the little boy’s death and possibly others—not the pediatrician Sloane has just proven guilty.
     Ordinarily, Sloane might have dismissed such a person as a crackpot, but something about this case has always troubled him—something that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. When Sloane tries to follow up with Horgan, he finds the man’s apartment a shambles— ransacked by unknown perpetrators. Horgan has vanished without a trace. Together with his longtime investigative partner Charles Jenkins, Sloane reexamines his clients’ son’s death and digs deeper into Horgan’s claims, forcing him to enter the billion-dollar, cutthroat toy industry. As Sloane gets closer to the truth, he trips a wire that leads to a shocking chain of events that nearly destroys him.
     To get to the bottom of it all and find justice for the families harmed, Sloane must keep in check his overwhelming desire for revenge. Full of nail-bitingly tense action scenes as well as edge-of-your-seat courtroom drama, Bodily Harm finds Robert Dugoni at the very top of his game.

                            

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Bridges - Saturday Snapshots

When a friend posted video of Galloping Gertie, the bridge over the Tacoma Narrows that collapsed in dramatic fashion on November 9, 1940, I was inspired to feature bridges on Saturday Snapshots. Here are a few I've encountered, along with a film of Galloping Gertie's demise. Luckily, all of the spans have remained standing (so far) except Gertie.

The Bridge of Sighs
Venice, Italy

According to Wikipedia: The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge name, given by Lord Byron in the 19th century, comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells. In reality, the days of inquisitions and summary executions were over by the time the bridge was built and the cells under the palace roof were occupied mostly by small-time criminals. In addition, little could be seen from inside the Bridge due to the stone grills covering the windows.

Tower Bridge, London, England - Built 1886-94
It's a combined bascule and suspension bridge.

No, this isn't London Bridge. That's located in Lake Havasu City, Arizona!

The Main Street Bridge crossing the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida.
It's a lift bridge, with the center section rising straight up.

Jacksonville is located in far northeast Florida (U.S.), near the Atlantic Ocean.  The river is wide at this point.

The bridge over the Royal Gorge, Colorado (U.S.) towers 955 feet (291 m) above the Arkansas River. I was happy to be down at ground level, riding a train, instead of up on that bridge!

And here's film from 1940 showing "Galloping Gertie." These days, two one-way bridges span the Tacoma Narrows Strait of Puget Sound, Washington (U.S.) and I'm sure they're sturdy. But visions of Gertie still pop into my head every time I drive across.

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

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The 13 of Hearts - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

      A young mother on the run. A Marine coping with the aftereffects of war. Those are the major conflicts in The 13 of Hearts. The author does a great job of conveying her characters' thoughts and fears. She goes deep. I enjoy the way she reveals their pasts, little by little, with surprises along the way. Pete and Lin don't fall instantly in love--both of them have a lot of baggage--and this story is much more than a simple boy-meets-girl romance. 
      The 13 of Hearts is Book Five of the Heart Stories and is a sweet romance with no sex scenes or profanity. It is free of typographical and grammatical errors, which I always appreciate.
      *FYI: In honor of her late friend, author Monique O'Connor James, Kay Springsteen is donating royalties from the sale of this book to author Kristine Cheney for her fight against breast cancer.

Book Beginning (Prologue):
War. It's not just a string of constant bloody battles. More often than not, you find yourself watching ... and waiting... Because that other shoe? It will fall. -- From the Deployment Survival Journal of Pete "Rabbit" Kincaid

Friday, December 13, 2013
Waiting always felt as pleasant as swimming in a stagnant pond. Rabbit hated it. Some nights, though, he wished the waiting would go on for just a few hours longer.

The Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
Gloom settled over Rabbit, as real as twilight falling when the sun went down. It might as well be a sunset. The sun setting on his life.

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Military
Length: 399 Pages
Amazon Link: The 13 of Hearts
Author Blog/Website: The Romance of Your Life

Synopsis from Goodreads:
      Peter "Rabbit" Kincaid wasn't always superstitious but after several deployments with the US Marines, he's picked up a few quirks. His last tour of duty didn't go so well, and now he's back home recovering from injuries and awaiting clearance to get back in the fight. The fight is about to come to him in a different way. 
     Melinda "Lin" Doyle is a two-time US Marine widow on the run from the fallout of an incident that threatens to separate her from her two children. Making their home in a motel where she works for board and half pay, with her oldest child attending school under an assumed name isn't her idea of being Mother of the Year. Then again, neither is being at the center of a murder investigation. 
      Rabbit believes everything happens for a reason so when he and the young family cross paths multiple times over the course of a couple of days, he pays attention. Lin would rather the handsome Marine officer take his attention elsewhere before he ruins everything. How can they ever get along when everything they do appears to be at cross purposes?

                                                                    *********

                           

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The Legacy Letters - First Paragraph / First Chapter / Tuesday Intros and Teaser Tuesday

The Legacy Letters is a fictional story told in letters from a dying man, his last days spent alone in a cabin in the wilderness. He's estranged from his wife, and his letters are written to his children, to be read when they're ten years old.  The Amazon description says:

"The Legacy Letters reveals to us the stories, memories, and music of a dying father, which ultimately becomes the practical, moral, and spiritual gift and guidebook for his children he'd never live to see, and for his wife, his redemptive story of love."

Carew Papritz's writing is superb, and his advice is common-sense smart. This is a book to savor. 

Here's the First Paragraph:

December 23
Mr. Tremayne-Editor
8806 Cutterson Street
Seattle, WA 98002

Dear Mr. Tremayne - Editor:

It was nineteen years ago that my husband and I faced what seemed an irreconcilable difference, now minor in retrospect, that caused us to separate. Shortly after his leaving, I found that I was pregnant with twins, but out of anger I did not share this information with him. It was at this time that our tragedy deepened. My husband learned that he was terminally ill and then heard through a mutual friend that I was pregnant. For fear of placing my pregnancy in jeopardy, he decided not to notify me of his impending death. Instead, he lived alone for another seven months, dying far away from his family and friends.

Teaser Tuesday (from 21% on my Kindle):
I've seen more brats per square inch from folks not taking charge and letting kids know where the boundaries are. Part of loving kids is laying down fencelines. They need to know immediately when they've crossed a line; otherwise, the lesson doesn't get learned. 

Genre: Fiction / Relationships / Motivational
Length: 253 Pages
Amazon Link: The Legacy Letters

Carew Papritz Interview:  

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Eclectic Collection from Secret Cravings Publishing and Sweet Cravings Publishing

Chihuly - Saturday Snapshots

Several years ago when a friend visited from Florida, we decided to drive over to Tacoma to Dale Chihuly's Museum of Glass. I'm so glad we did! Not only did we see an exhibition of gorgeous works of glass, we actually saw artists creating their glass sculptures in the museum's Hot Shop. Here are some photos I took of that visit.
(Click on pictures to enlarge.)

The distinctive stainless steel cone marks the museum's location.
Mt. Rainier peeks over the hill in the background.

The Chihuly Bridge of Glass (pedestrian walkway)
 is dominated by these huge glass sculptures. The bridge also
includes a covered display featuring smaller works.

One of the glass objects featured
in the covered display on the Chihuly Bridge.

A glass artist at work in the Hot Shop. 

You can watch glass artists at work here: Hot Shop Video / Live Feed

By the way, Chihuly Garden and Glass opened in Seattle in 2012. I haven't seen the exhibition, but it's supposed to be glorious. Here's more info: Chihuly Garden & Glass - Seattle

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below. 

Dear Sugar - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

Dear Sugar, a novelette in Irma Fritz's Angel of Death Series, is told in letters between Cayenne and Sugar. The author takes us to Italy through beautiful descriptions in Cayenne's correspondence while also showing Sugar's despair through her letters. Little by little the relationship between the two letter writers is revealed--just enough to make you keep reading to find out more! Ms. Fritz ramps up the tension as the story nears its end, making you wonder if Cayenne survived, and holding out the answer until the conclusion.

Book Beginning:
Villa Isabella, L'Aquila, Italia, December 10, 2008
Dear Sugar:
Never buy a house sight unseen, especially if the price is too good to be true.

The Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
And what about the hermit, you ask? He became Pope Celestine V. It seems to be a common practice for Italian males to have female sounding names.

Genre: Women's Fiction

Length: 48 Pages

Amazon Link: Dear Sugar

Other Books by Irma Fritz: Amazon Author Page

Synopsis on Goodreads:
One love ends; another begins. One has embarked on a new life. The other is left behind and can’t let go. Across the miles, memories and longing interposed with an exuberant joy of life keep the two bound to each other. 
Dear Sugar - an intimate exchange of love letters.

                                                                   

                           

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The Blessing Way - Teaser Tuesday and First Paragraph / First Chapter / Tuesday Intros

Last week, my Teaser and First Paragraph selections were from The Bearwalker's Daughter, and that reminded me of the excellent mysteries written by Tony Hillerman. So this week I reread and again enjoyed The Blessing Way. Hillerman's books provide a fascinating glimpse into Navajo beliefs, superstitions, and way of life, all of which play a part in his stories. They take place in the Four Corners area of the American West (where the borders of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet), and the weather and rough terrain of that region are significant elements in his stories. The Blessing Way is Book #1 in the Navajo Mysteries Series.

First Paragraph:
Luis Horseman leaned the flat stone very carefully against the piñon twig, adjusted its balance exactly, and then cautiously withdrew his hand. The twig bent, but held. Horseman rocked back on his heels and surveyed the deadfall. He should have put a little more blood on the twig, he thought, but it might be enough. He had placed this one just right, with the twig at the edge of the kangaroo rat's trail. The least nibble and the stone would fall. He reached into his shirt front, pulled out a leather pouch, extracted an odd-shaped lump of turquoise, and placed it on the ground in front of him.

Teaser (from Page 43 in my book of three complete Hillerman novels):
Here the cliffs closed in, rising in sheer, almost smooth walls nearly four hundred feet to a narrow slit of sky above. Here in this slot of eroded stone darkness came early.

Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Book Length: 304 Pages (mass market paperback)
                       171 pages (in my 3-book volume)
Amazon Link: The Blessing Way

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Auburn Market - Saturday Snapshots

Every Sunday during the summer, my little town of Auburn, Washington, hosts a farmers' market. It's a small set-up--only a couple dozen vendors--but my husband and I have bought some good produce, beautiful flowers, and delicious balsamic vinegar there. Here are a few photos I took in August. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Peaches, nectarines, and other delicious fruits
from Martin Family Orchards, Orondo, WA

Handmade jewelry

A large variety of vinegars and oils from
A Taste of Eden, Chehalis, WA

Frou-frou fashion

The market is set up at the commuter train terminal.
I thought it was strange that the band's name was "Trainwreck."

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

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