Cheer-Inducing Activities by Eleri Grace

When I'm searching for happiness or an uplift in my mood, I often turn to my hobbies. I've got plenty, but I'll spotlight just a few of the activities that bring me joy.

Like most of you I'm sure, turning to reading generally is one of my go-to reflexes. Turning to a tried-and-true favorite novel, series or author is often the key for me -- I'm always a bit nervous about starting something new if what I'm looking for is a sure-fire lift. Some of my personal favorites that I can always return to with joy, in no particular order, are: the Harry Potter series, the Outlander series, WW2 romances by Noel Barber that started me on my author journey, stand-alone historical novels like "And Ladies of the Club" or "Lonesome Dove," romantasy series like my recent obsession with Rebecca Yarros and her Empyrean series, and childhood favorites like Laura Ingalls Wilder, S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders" or "Where the Red Fern Grows." 

I'm also a lifelong genealogist, and while many people might not understand how someone could derive joy from spending all day in front of a computer or microfilm reader trying to decipher 19th century German handwriting, reading deed books in dusty old ledgers in a county courthouse, or traipsing around country cemeteries -- there's nothing like putting another piece of my genealogical puzzle together! Lately, I've been a little obsessed with WikiTree, which allows me to preserve genealogical facts/relationships along with photos and scanned copies of my sources in an online format that even my kids might one day appreciate (they won't love the stacks of genealogical binders with old-fashioned paper, that's for sure). 

Scrapbooking is another hobby where I can lose track of time and put my worries aside as I unleash my creativity and my desire to preserve and pass on precious memories. Work has kept me busier than before the last few years, so I'm fairly behind with my kids' childhood scrapbooks, but I can always pick up where I left off. Sometimes even just taking the time to put together a page or two can be a relaxing diversion and a boost to those creative juices. I've accumulated (read: hoarded) tons of heritage scrapbooking supplies over the years - holding out for that point in time when my genealogy research would be fairly complete or solid. I've begun to realize that while my research may be ongoing, now is the time to use those supplies and preserve those memories. 

I was never much of a TV person until the advent of Netflix and other streaming services -- allowing me to binge a treasured old favorite series or try something new. Currently, I'm making my way through "The Gilmore Girls" again!

I hope you are all soon enjoying spring weather and tapping into the activities, people, relationships, and other things that bring joy and meaning to your life. 

You can learn more about me and my writing on my website, and you can find my Red Cross Girl novels on Amazon. 

Three Talents by Eleri Grace

 Our theme this month asks us to write about three things we do well -- I decided to not confine that to three things I do well in my writing life or as an author.  Although I'm sure there are many other things I also handle pretty well on some level, I opted to highlight three of my favorite talents.  

I am a life-long genealogist, and I particularly enjoy the analytical elements of genealogy. I often find myself shaking my head at online family trees or entries where someone has clearly not looked at the big picture OR the small details. The other day, I noticed that a family tree connection that's been shared and perpetuated all over the internet quite clearly is impossible -- basic arithmetic around known facts makes the data wildly inaccurate on its face.  I pride myself on attention to detail -- even if that means I must remain right where I am on that family line until I can find the proven links to earlier generations (resisting the temptation to add 10 more generations in one fell swoop!).  It should be said that same painstaking attention to detail is both a blessing and a curse in my historical research -- you can be sure I left no stones unturned in trying to "get it right" but . . . I might have spent weeks dithering around over one tiny and probably insignificant detail.  

Spreadsheets are my jam. Despite being incredibly math-challenged, I am the queen of spreadsheets, to-do lists, and any other data compilation. I actually wrote fastest and with fewer distractions when I created a spreadsheet-based chapter-by-chapter outline in Excel (with columns for typical romance novel beats, the perspective character's goals, motivations and conflicts in that chapter, etc). I suppose it's a mark of a certain level of geekiness to own up to enjoying data and spreadsheets. And I suspect it's an odd talent for a creative person to highlight. 

What else do I do well? Well, recently, I've been in a decluttering and organization frame of mind. I went on a spring cleaning frenzy -- and the results are fostering a stronger sense of calm and well-being. My hope is that improving my space and my mood might also send me back to my work-in-progress, which has been languishing for far too long!  I started with my very cluttered scrapbooking space and supplies and moved on to my desk.  Up next: closets!

I look forward to reading about what all of you chose to spotlight in this month's blogs!  

Finding a Moment of Peace in a Busy Life by Eleri Grace

 Since I'm guest-blogging later this month on the topic of peace as experienced by the Red Cross Girl heroines of my novels, I decided to use this space for a more general and personal look at peace and how I find it through the incessant demands of everyday life. 

I wear many hats -- Mom (though the time energy required by that role dwindles as my oldest is a settled college student and my youngest moves ever closer to adulthood), lawyer, author, and co-founder of a growing college consulting business. As a consequence, I cannot remember the last time I was bored or at loose ends!  There is literally always something I could be doing, something I fear I'm not doing fast enough. Many days, it feels as though I'm working from dawn to late at night. I love my writing and my college consulting work, so neither of those pursuits feel like "work" per se. But those endeavors are also not always fully relaxing either. Any writer will tell you that writing is often a hard slog -- for as many days as the words fly out of my brain faster than my fingers can type, there are equally or more days where I stare at a blank screen or drum up one inconsequential task after another to avoid settling down into the hard work of that day's writing. 

So finding moments of peace with all the competing demands on my time is a challenge. I do take an hour-long walk every morning (unless it's pouring or below 30 degrees!). My walks are peaceful on some level, but of course, frequently my mind races to college choices for one of my clients or what sort of plot twist might work for the scene I'm currently writing. My brain doesn't always fully shut out the noise. A hike (not a walk in residential Houston) can usually prompt a true sense of peace, and I'm looking forward to once again having an opportunity to get out in nature this week as my son and I take a quick vacation in Colorado. Not sure if anything can beat this stunning view of Moraine Lake near Banff National Park, but I'm sure I will find amazing scenery there too! 

Other outlets that reliably bring me peace are two of my hobbies: scrapbooking and genealogy. Even a few hours of losing myself on Ancestry's newest databases or pulling out an old genealogical brick wall to see if I can make progress gives me a mental respite from everything else. Genealogy takes persistence and often involves many hours in front of a computer screen or microfilm reader or flipping through musty heavy volumes in a county courthouse -- the very opposite of scenic nature. But it brings its own peace all the same. 

But it's scrapbooking where I can really find a good longer-lasting dose of peace and relaxation. I eagerly look forward to my bi-annual weekend trips to Galveston with a group of close friends -- not only because of the peace and creativity scrapbooking will bring, but also the fun, the laughter and tears, and the soul-searching conversations with some of my best friends. The soothing sound of the surf helps too! It's also a great place to do some early-morning writing, before losing myself in the creativity of scrapbooking. 

Wishing all of you much peace this month, wherever and however you find it best!  

Capturing the Memories by Eleri Grace

Well, this month’s prompt definitely presented problems. My favorite first –writing or non-writing – experience. So many possible angles!

I wondered if I could highlight a “first” relating to one of my hobbies: reading, travel, scrapbooking, or genealogy research. And if you’ve been following me here, you’ve probably noted that I like to tie my blogs into my WWII-themed author brand.

Then I remembered that I created a scrapbook of my first visit to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans in 2016 and my first WWII travel tour a few months later.  The National WWII Museum graciously allowed me the opportunity to read through their holdings from one former Red Cross Girl while I was there. All told, I spent the better part of 3 days at the museum and still had the sense that I was rushing through parts of it. If you've not visited it, I highly recommend adding it to your travel bucket list!

Their exhibits, arranged thematically around the different theaters of the war in many cases, are incredibly immersive. In the Road to Berlin exhibit, one moves from the earliest battle scenes in North Africa and Italy to the reconstructed Nissen hut from an American bomber base in England,

to the hedgerow country of Normandy, and then through the icy forested environs of the Battle of the Bulge,

and on finally through the bomb-torn rooftops and crumbling ruins of Germany in the waning months of the war in Europe.

            This photo gives you a flavor of the Road to Tokyo exhibit.

Complete with audio of jungle sounds and clips of period movies on the movie screens, this portion of the exhibit vividly evokes the war experience in the Southwest Pacific. From a scrapbooking standpoint, I enjoyed the opportunity to play with textured embellishments and texture-themed background papers in this album.

            “Masters of the Air” by Donald Miller is hands-down my favorite non-fiction work on the Eighth Air Force in WWII Europe, and I’m still thrilled that I splurged on the Miller-led tour that took us from London to the old bomber bases in East Anglia, lovingly restored to their former glory by local villagers over the last few decades. At each base, we had a chance to meet and mingle with older locals who were children during the war. Their stories were captivating, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, but always related with a sense of awe and appreciation for the American boys who took the war to Germany years before D-Day and at such enormous cost.

            This bomber base was restored over the course of nearly 20 years, and I got a weird chill when I realized that I had attended a study abroad program not more than a few miles from this site in 1989, the year the local citizens began the restoration process.

Note the photos of original art that they were able to retain in the renovation. Living history is alive and well in England – at each bomber base, scores of re-enactors populated the base.

            The 100th Bomb Group at Thorpe Abbotts had a fantastic display of photos and memorabilia from the Red Cross Girls who had served at that location. One of the curators at the American Military Cemetery in Cambridge helped me locate the grave of a Red Cross Girl who died in a plane crash in Ireland late in the war.

            I enjoyed pulling out this album and sharing some of the highlights with you. Both these trips were a memorable first for me, and though I’m years behind with some of my scrapbooking projects, at least this one made it to the top of the heap.

Learn more about me and my writing on my website, and you can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. 

You can purchase my debut novel through the links below.

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon CA  ~  Amazon AU  ~  Google ~ Nook  ~ Kobo