Here's the link: Rollin' on the River
Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts
Sunday, July 1, 2018
Rollin' on the River - #Sasee Magazine
Sasee Magazine is featuring another one of my short stories in its July issue. This one is about a family canoe trip on the Neches River in Southeast Texas. I hope you enjoy the ride!
Here's the link: Rollin' on the River
Here's the link: Rollin' on the River
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Faultlines - #TeaserTuesday and First Chapter / First Paragraph / Tuesday Intros
If you enjoy books that delve into family relationships in true-to-life situations, you'll enjoy Faultlines too. I definitely recommend it.
FYI: I saw no errors or typos in this book, which I always appreciate.
First Paragraph:
Jordy wasn't dead.
Sandy plucked that single fact from the sea of information she was hearing from the police sergeant, and she clung to it as tightly as she clung to the phone. Behind her, she felt the bed shift when Emmett sat up. She felt his warmth, his sleepy unawareness - his beforeness, and she envied him. "What is it?" he asked, and he was close enough that his breath on her bare shoulder made her shiver.
Teaser (from 28% on my Kindle):
But there had always been so much goodness in her life, enough that at times she felt compelled to apologize: I'm sorry my childhood was so happy, stable, abundant. It was only after she learned that the one blessing she longed for most - a child - would be denied her that she thought there was a price for having been given so much when she was young, that possibly there was such a thing as too much good, too much joy.
Genre: Women's Fiction / Mystery
Book Length: 305 Pages
Amazon Link: Faultlines
Author Website: Barbara Taylor Sissel
Synopsis (from Amazon):
It’s the phone call every parent dreads: in the middle of the night, Sandy Cline learns that her twenty-year-old son, Jordan, has been in a car accident. Her nephew, Travis, was also in the car, along with Travis’s girlfriend. All three are alive—but barely. The car was smashed against a tree along a remote and winding road, beautiful but deadly, in their rural Texas Hill Country town.
In the wake of the car crash, the close-knit family is tested like never before. Jenna, Travis’s mother, blames Jordan—as well as her sister, Sandy—after reports surface that Jordan had been driving. As the young adults struggle to survive, tension between their parents escalates. But when trust is broken and a shocking family secret is exposed, it creates a perfect storm of harrowing consequences. Rumors in the small town spread like wildfire. When details of the accident are questioned, Sandy and Jenna wonder if their family has been destroyed beyond repair.
As always, there’s much more to the story…if the family is to survive, they will have to come together to confront the terrible truth and overcome their pain. But are some betrayals unforgivable?
Teaser Tuesday is hosted by The PurpleBooker. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please! List the author and book title too.
Link up HERE
First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by I'd Rather Be at the Beach. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.
Link up HERE
Twitter: @SandyNachlinger
Friday, November 24, 2017
Granbury, Texas - #SaturdaySnapshots
Inspired by a Southwest Airlines fare sale and a kind invitation from my life-long friend (and co-author) Sandra Allen (plus a reunion with high school friends), I recently made a quick trip back to my home state of Texas. During my visit, one of our adventures took us to the town of Granbury. According to the National Register of Historic Places, Granbury's town square is one of the most complete 19th century courthouse squares in Texas.*
(Click on photos to enlarge.)
The centerpiece of the square is the Hood County Courthouse.
The beautifully renovated Granbury Opera House faces the courthouse entrance. We had a great time at the "Salute to Opry" concert.
There are certain foods I must have every time I go back to Texas: Tex-Mex (preferably tamales and enchiladas), chicken fried steak, and fried okra. I had all those. But this time I had a bonus meal of delicious German food: pork schnitzel, red cabbage with apples, and hot German potato salad. Along with a warm dark-bread roll and a glass of pilsner, my meal at Ketzlers Schnitzel Haus and Biergarten was heaven. (FYI: Many German immigrants settled in Texas's Hill Country.)
I also had a fantastic reuben sandwich at The Fillin' station (also on Granbury's town square). A glass of local beer-- Revolver Brewing's "Blood and Honey" (American wheat ale) -- and freshly cooked potato chips made the meal complete. Forget dieting!
Back in Sherman, TX, we ate at MG's. Great burgers and car-themed decor.
Pegasus (AKA The Flying Red Horse) was a landmark in the Dallas skyline for many years and the symbol of Mobil Oil Company, atop its downtown headquarters.
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!
Sources:
Hood County Courthouse, TX
Ketzler's Schnitzel Haus, Granbury, TX
(Click on photos to enlarge.)
The centerpiece of the square is the Hood County Courthouse.
I also had a fantastic reuben sandwich at The Fillin' station (also on Granbury's town square). A glass of local beer-- Revolver Brewing's "Blood and Honey" (American wheat ale) -- and freshly cooked potato chips made the meal complete. Forget dieting!
Back in Sherman, TX, we ate at MG's. Great burgers and car-themed decor.
Pegasus (AKA The Flying Red Horse) was a landmark in the Dallas skyline for many years and the symbol of Mobil Oil Company, atop its downtown headquarters.
How do you know you're in Texas? Longhorn cattle alongside the road!
Sources:
Hood County Courthouse, TX
Ketzler's Schnitzel Haus, Granbury, TX
Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.
To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you
(or a friend or family member) have taken, then leave a
direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite.
To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world visit
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Half Broke Horses - #BookBeginnings on Friday and The #Friday56
I've been reading as much as ever lately but haven't been participating in The Friday 56 or Book Beginnnings on Friday in a long time. However, I enjoyed Half Broke Horses so much that I decided to jump back in. This is a novel based on memories from Jeannette Walls's mother, relating to the author's grandmother -- Lily Casey Smith. In the "Author's Note" section, Walls writes: "... since I have also drawn on my imagination to fill in details that are hazy or missing... the only honest thing to do is call the book a novel."
Book Beginnings on Friday:
Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did.
It was late on an August afternoon, the air hot and heavy like it usually was in the rainy season. Earlier we'd seen some thunderheads near the Burnt Spring Hills, but they'd passed way up to the north. I'd mostly finished my chores for the day and was heading down to the pasture with my brother, Buster, and my sister, Helen, to bring the cows in for their milking. But when we got there, those girls were acting all bothered. Instead of milling around at the gate, like they usually did at milking time, they were standing stiff-legged and straight-tailed, twitching their heads around, listening.
Buster and Helen looked up at me, and without a word, I knelt down and pressed my ear to the hard-packed dirt. There was a rumbling, so faint and low that you felt it more than you heard it. Then I knew what the cows knew -- a flash flood was coming.
Synopsis (from Goodreads):
"Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls's no nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town -- riding five hundred miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car ("I loved cars even more than I loved horses. They didn't need to be fed if they weren't working, and they didn't leave big piles of manure all over the place") and fly a plane. And, with her husband Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette's memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle.
Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds -- against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn't fit the mold. Rosemary Smith Walls always told Jeannette that she was like her grandmother, and in this true-life novel, Jeannette Walls channels that kindred spirit. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa or Beryl Markham's West with the Night. Destined to become a classic, it will transfix audiences everywhere.
Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did.
It was late on an August afternoon, the air hot and heavy like it usually was in the rainy season. Earlier we'd seen some thunderheads near the Burnt Spring Hills, but they'd passed way up to the north. I'd mostly finished my chores for the day and was heading down to the pasture with my brother, Buster, and my sister, Helen, to bring the cows in for their milking. But when we got there, those girls were acting all bothered. Instead of milling around at the gate, like they usually did at milking time, they were standing stiff-legged and straight-tailed, twitching their heads around, listening.
Buster and Helen looked up at me, and without a word, I knelt down and pressed my ear to the hard-packed dirt. There was a rumbling, so faint and low that you felt it more than you heard it. Then I knew what the cows knew -- a flash flood was coming.
The Friday 56 (Pages 56 and 156 were both blank, so I chose an excerpt from page 157):
That well water tasted sweeter than the finest French liqueur. Some folks, when they struck it rich, liked to say that they were in the money, and that was how I felt - rich - only we were in the water.
Genre: Faction (fiction based on fact)
Book Length: 265 Pages (hardback)
Amazon Link: Half Broke Horses
"Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls's no nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town -- riding five hundred miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car ("I loved cars even more than I loved horses. They didn't need to be fed if they weren't working, and they didn't leave big piles of manure all over the place") and fly a plane. And, with her husband Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette's memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle.
Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds -- against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn't fit the mold. Rosemary Smith Walls always told Jeannette that she was like her grandmother, and in this true-life novel, Jeannette Walls channels that kindred spirit. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa or Beryl Markham's West with the Night. Destined to become a classic, it will transfix audiences everywhere.
Friday, December 30, 2016
Memory Tree - #SaturdaySnapshots
Our Christmas this year didn't work out exactly as we'd planned. In fact, we haven't exchanged gifts yet! That's because our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter have all been sick with a highly contagious virus. So we'll keep our tree decorated for another week and celebrate a delayed Christmas in a few days. In the meantime, here's a photo of our tree. It's artificial because of my allergies. [Click on photos to enlarge]
Our collection of ornaments has grown over the years and many of them represent a memory or were given to us by friends. This Käthe Wohlfhart brewmeister (and a couple of miniature nutcrackers) came home with us from Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, Germany.
This guard left his post at Buckingham Palace to perch on our tree.
A side trip on our Alaska cruise resulted in this ornament.
Closer to home, we picked up this moose while skiing at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. My granddaughter loves it because the moose jumps when she pulls his string.
And for many years my sister-in-law Judy has sent us official Texas capitol ornaments, each one with its own history. Here's the one for 2016.
When my son was young, I did a lot of crewel embroidery, including these two ornaments made from kits.
Our collection of ornaments has grown over the years and many of them represent a memory or were given to us by friends. This Käthe Wohlfhart brewmeister (and a couple of miniature nutcrackers) came home with us from Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, Germany.
This guard left his post at Buckingham Palace to perch on our tree.
A side trip on our Alaska cruise resulted in this ornament.
Closer to home, we picked up this moose while skiing at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. My granddaughter loves it because the moose jumps when she pulls his string.
Since we're both native Texans, we have lots of ornaments from our home state, too.
When my son was young, I did a lot of crewel embroidery, including these two ornaments made from kits.
My friend Nan created this ornament for me because we share a love of quilting.
And Sandra gave me a herd of candy cane hobby horses.
Add in a bottle of wine, some jingle bells, and much, much more and we have a one-of-a-kind eclectic Christmas tree full of memories!
I hope your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, or other holidays have brought you peace and joy. Wishing you a glorious 2017!
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.
To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member)
have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Pitchin' Horseshoes - Saturday Snapshots
When I saw a Throwback Thursday post on Facebook, showing a backyard picnic, it reminded me of church picnics from my childhood. So I searched through my old photos and came up with these.
This photo was taken in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, where I grew up, and the get-together probably took place at Weiss Park.
A favorite competition at picnics was horseshoe pitching. I remember the loud clang when someone scored a "ringer" or hit the stake with the horseshoe. Here's a photo of my parents' friends in action.
The man who's tossing in this picture has his right foot next to a stake.
If you're curious about the rules of horseshoe pitching, here's the link to the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association website:
Rules
We also played "Washers." In this game, competitors pitched large washers toward a shallow hole in the dirt. I don't remember the scoring, but the washer that landed in the hole (or got closest) got the highest point. I remember the washer as being about as big as the palm of my hand. I understand that nowadays the washers are thrown toward a cup set in a box, but we didn't have that fancy equipment.
Did you play similar games growing up?
This photo was taken in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, where I grew up, and the get-together probably took place at Weiss Park.
A favorite competition at picnics was horseshoe pitching. I remember the loud clang when someone scored a "ringer" or hit the stake with the horseshoe. Here's a photo of my parents' friends in action.
The man who's tossing in this picture has his right foot next to a stake.
If you're curious about the rules of horseshoe pitching, here's the link to the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association website:
Rules
We also played "Washers." In this game, competitors pitched large washers toward a shallow hole in the dirt. I don't remember the scoring, but the washer that landed in the hole (or got closest) got the highest point. I remember the washer as being about as big as the palm of my hand. I understand that nowadays the washers are thrown toward a cup set in a box, but we didn't have that fancy equipment.
Did you play similar games growing up?
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.
To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member)
have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite.
Friday, September 9, 2016
Fredericksburg, #Texas, PTA #Cookbook - #SaturdaySnapshots
Because my husband loves to cook (lucky me!) we have a huge collection of cookbooks. One of the first ones we acquired was issued by the Fredericksburg, Texas, PTA (1965 Edition) and was given to us by my husband's mother.
A little history: According to the Texas State Historical Association, the first wagon train of 120 settlers arrived at the Fredericksburg townsite on May 8, 1846, after a sixteen-day journey from New Braunfels, TX. Surveyor Hermann Wilke laid out the town, which was named Fredericksburg after Prince Frederick of Prussia. The town was laid out like the German villages along the Rhine from which many of the colonists had come.
[Click on cookbook pages to enlarge.]
And one last helpful bit of advice to wives (below). By the way, I thought the way the contributors' names were shown was interesting. Rather than being listed as Helga Reichenau or Heidi Keidel, they're shown as Mrs. Hubert Reichenau and Mrs. Victor Keidel.
I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my vintage cookbook. Let me know if you try any of the recipes I've posted!
More: Fredericksburg History
A little history: According to the Texas State Historical Association, the first wagon train of 120 settlers arrived at the Fredericksburg townsite on May 8, 1846, after a sixteen-day journey from New Braunfels, TX. Surveyor Hermann Wilke laid out the town, which was named Fredericksburg after Prince Frederick of Prussia. The town was laid out like the German villages along the Rhine from which many of the colonists had come.
[Click on cookbook pages to enlarge.]
The cookbook covers everything from soup to nuts ... and more! I've included some of the more unusual and interesting recipes below. I wonder if some of them were carried over from early editions of the book.
Some of these soups sound pretty good, but... when was the last time you ground up some liver for a dumpling?
Have you plucked a duck lately? In Rabbit De Luxe, I imagine it would be practical to use a "tame" rabbit as opposed to wrestling a wild one into the stewpot! (I'm just being silly.)
Noodles and dumplings are a big part of German cuisine.
The cookbook also includes a large selection of cookie recipes, many of them traditional.
This information on substitutions and can sizes is quite helpful.
I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my vintage cookbook. Let me know if you try any of the recipes I've posted!
More: Fredericksburg History
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.
To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member)
have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Chasing Charlie - #BookBeginnings on Friday and The #Friday56
I liked the characters in this sweet love story and enjoyed escaping in the plot. The book was well written, and I saw no grammatical or other errors, which I always appreciate. Chasing Charlie is Book 1 in the Texas Two-Step Series, and it stands alone.
Genre: Texas Romance
Book Length: 162 Pages
Amazon Link: Chasing Charlie
Author Website: Kathy Carmichael
NOTE: The Lassoed Bride (A Novella), book two in the Texas Two-Step Series, is available HERE
Book Beginning:
It was love at first sight. Charlotte Nelson rocked back on her heels, closed her eyes a moment and then reopened them. There was no doubt about it. She'd fallen in love - with a dress.
The Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
Closing her eyes for a moment, she allowed the call of the water to wash over her, bathe her in its tranquil harmony. "No wonder your mom wanted to get married here. It's beautiful."
Synopsis (from Kathy Carmichael's website):
Raised in a family of rodeo champions on a South Texas cattle ranch, Charlie wants only one thing: to avoid thrill-seeking cowboys.
Davis Murphy, cowboy wannabe and one of Dallas's most eligible bachelors, needs a pretty and witty faux fiancée so his widowed mother will marry her longtime gentleman friend.
Charlie, his local librarian, seems the perfect choice.
Charlie's first reaction is to run, but she's promised herself to step out of her plain-jane routine.
When Charlie accepts, Davis's plan is set. But now Charlie's sweet ways are challenging his bachelor heart.
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