The Magic of Children’s Books … by Delsora Lowe

I thought about veering off topic this month, but frankly in a world so full of dark right now, I need some magic in my life.

Books, especially children’s book are filled with magic and imagination. One of my favorite children’s books is Goodnight Moon. Full disclosure, I barely remember books I read as a child. Fuller disclosure, I barely remember what I read last night 😊 What I do know was that the book was a romance with a happily-ever-after that takes me away from the universal troubles of yesterday and today, and will again tonight and tomorrow night. When I was a kid, I read constantly and I still do.

Daylight Moon

For children, books can either take you away into a magical land or they can show the splendor of the world around us. That is what Goodnight Moon does. I can still see the look on my first-born grandson’s face when he was three—he’s now thirteen—as I read him Goodnight Moon. We sat on a cushioned bench seat underneath his bedroom window, with a full moon shining over the snowy Colorado mountains in the distance. His eyes were wide as he looked at the pictures, then pointed to our very own moon right outside the window. This book was passed down to his brother.

I don’t have a copy of Goodnight Moon, so I can’t quote from the book. But I do have a copy of my third-born grandson’s tattered and well-loved Goodnight Maine, inscribed by moi – to my precious Jack. This is my book of choice to give to my friends with newborns.

Books like this take us to magical places, like the shores and mountains of Maine, as we say hello to the seagulls, bears, moose, and lobsters. We play at the beach by the Atlantic Ocean, kayak down rivers, and climb mountains, and then we say goodnight to the moon shining above the mountains, and the lobstermen putting away their boats, and the lighthouse that shines all night. The book takes us through the seasons in this vast state, from snowy mountaintops to the summer seashore with seals.

Now that my grandson is eleven, he is experiencing mountain climbing and kayaking in the bay near his home, where great views of the moon shining on islands and the ocean abound. The moon still remains a magical place for young and old together.

Crazy Cloud Formation Surrounding Full Moon

I’ll admit to standing in my backyard in the middle of the night taking photos of the moon. Or rising early to see the sun peaking at us on the eastern horizon, while the moon dips low in the western skyline. Gazing at the moon takes me away from my problems. It puts into perspective the grandeur, and yes, the miracle, of our lives. And each time I gaze on the moon, I visualize the wonderment, and the hope of innocence, in the eyes all three grandsons.

Perfect position to peak through two trunks of the oak tree

And I pray that all three will be able to live long, magical lives, in peace and harmony and love, in a world much better than the one we have today.

After The Ice Storm

So, enjoy your favorite books, and once in a while look back on those that were favorites as a child. AND remember the magic!

For grownup magical romance in Maine, check out: Starlight Grille

Amazon: (also in print) https://www.amazon.com/Starlight-Grille-Serenity-Harbor-Collection-ebook/dp/B07CN8JV2Z/

Books2Read       books2read.com/u/3yDjWe

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine.

Social Media Links:
Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Author FaceBook page: fb.me/delsoraloweauthor
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Books2Read Author page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delsora-lowe-93c6987f-129d-483d-9f5a-abe603876518
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe

LINKS: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnight_Moon  https://www.mainemadeandmore.com/product/goodnight-maine/

Favorite AND Most Challenging First in Writing ... by Delsora Lowe

I have a first book ever written (2001), along with many written full manuscripts, still sitting under my bed. But my first book to be published was The Legacy of Parkers Point, released in 2016. My novella, published in an anthology (Welcome to Serenity Harbor), was part of a compilation of novellas by members of the Maine Romance Writers. As one of the project managers on this project, I learned a ton.

The excitement of publishing a first book is beyond description.

When the anthology ran its course in early 2017, and we all received back our rights, I was soon able to experience new excitement. I republished the novella as my first indie-published book. I did the soup to nuts work, same as we did on the anthology: re-editing with a professional editor, working with a cover artist and a formatter, and promoting my “first-born,” as I did the same for two more newly written novellas that would make up the series. The three books, published individually, came out as the Starlight Grille series over the months during the fall of 2017. And then the three were published as a collection with a new short story added in 2018. Scary but exciting, for sure!

The learnings from being one of the project managers on the anthology were expanded as I indie-published The Legacy of Parkers Point and the other two books in 2017. Each book I put out has its own excitement. But that first book—there are no words to describe the feeling.Following is a blog, originally published here on Romancing the Genres (and updated), about my experience as the co-manager of the anthology. The book that kicked off and catapulted me into published-author territory.

Working on an anthology is an entirely different beast. Think Beauty and the Beast. You start out with a quarrelsome, growly, domineering chunk of words that need to be tamed into one cohesive book.

Picture this: Beauty dreaming of finding her hero. Every August the Maine Romance Writers partake in a brainstorming retreat. Okay, so it’s like a huge slumber party. We arrive with sleeping bags and pillows and laptops and snacks (salty and savory) and wine. Did I mention laptops? Yes, we do work. We spend all day either brainstorming our next story in small groups, or sitting on the deck or down by the lake writing on our current work. We break every few hours to exchange writing tips, eat, or take a boat ride around the lake. Oh, and sip wine 😊

Two years ago, we sat on the deck, sated with food and talk and wine (just a little <WINK>,) with the sound of loons on the lake and the full moon arrowing a golden path across the lake and right up on the shoreline in front of us. The setting was one of those perfect end-of-summer evenings.

Our host suggested we might like to try writing an anthology. Within minutes we’d created a town, brainstormed names of the town, set a few guidelines, and we were off and running…

Or so we thought.

The reality is the work we did that night was Beauty’s fantasy. Then the Beast appeared. All the details of actually putting together an anthology. The writing was the easy part—Beauty’s fantasy. Managing a project, was the roaring and untamable Beast.

I am happy to say we did finally tame the beast, and named it Welcome to Serenity Harbor. Beauty and the Beast are now living happily ever after. But as with all good marriages or committed relationships, one must open their eyes, negotiate, persevere over the hurdles, and make a strong commitment to reach that Happily Ever After.

As one of two project managers, working with a group of six committee members and all the authors who were excited about the project, here are the things I learned: (caveat, not all anthologies revolve around a town, like ours did. Some have a theme. Some are made up of a group of authors and there are no rules around story content.)

The following are my suggestions from the experience of working on the anthology, but most of this can also relate to individual works

♥ Map out the project, and plot exactly what the project will look like.

·         Set rules, such as genre of anthology (ours was contemporary), length (we chose short novellas, 15 – 25K words).

·         Write a contract. Include costs, such as professional editor for each work, (authors absorbed that cost), due date of manuscript, anticipated release date, budget (cost of formatter, cover artist, and promotion, for which we shared cost), and production timeline.

·         Determine as a group, parameters around the theme (story bible,) such as name and details of town that all authors will set their story in, name of overall anthology, type of promotion, voting on book cover design, etc.

♥ Research

·         What anthologies are being sold now, how are they set up, etc.

·         Talk to other authors in anthologies to understand their process.

·         Find professionals, editors, formatters, cover artists, etc.

♥ Communicate

·         As a committee, agree on the process.

·         Communicate with all authors each step of the way.

·         Vote on any spending.

♥ Evaluate at the end. Our learnings included:

·         Make sure you factor in realistic expenses, such as copyediting and project manager costs up front.

·         Set deadlines and stick to them.

·         Hire a copy editor, and have one person, not an author related to the anthology, determine if the book fits the criteria and is edited properly

♥ Make it your own

·         One fun thing we did, was to insert the mention of a sheep into each story. Look at the back cover and you will see a rendering of a sheep that says “find me,” designed by one of our authors.

Although, as a group we bumbled our way through the process, for me it was an incredible experience of teamwork and learning about self-publishing. And although the Beast still growls once in a while, the Beast is also loving and tamed. And he and Beauty are living happily ever after.

Although the idea was conceived at our brainstorming retreat, the book is not a product of the Maine Romance Writers, but of a group of writers, some members from out of state, whose bond is through MRW.

Now that it has been several years since we took on this project, I can look back on the process with clarity. This project was indeed hard. One of the hardest things I’ve ever tried, starting from scratch, and learning along the way. Despite the intense undertaking, I learned so much and gained the confidence to go on and publish more books, and for that I am grateful.

 

The Rancher Needs a Wife

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Rancher-Needs-Cowboys-Mineral-Springs-ebook/dp/B07YXB5C4W/

Books2Read

books2read.com/u/bxv56d

~ cottages to cabins ~ keep the home fires burning ~

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine.

Author of the Starlight Grille series, Serenity Harbor Maine novellas, and the Cowboys of Mineral Springs series, Lowe has also authored short romances for Woman’s World magazine.

Social Media Links:
Author website: www.delsoralowe.com
Author FaceBook page: fb.me/delsoraloweauthor
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Books2Read Author page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delsora-lowe-93c6987f-129d-483d-9f5a-abe603876518
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe

Photo Links:Blue Beast: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/160000/velka/blue-monster.jpg / https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=155188&picture=blue-monster

Beauty – Blue Dress: https://cdn.clipart.email/15667992f55f25a3ff416a014ad7a001_beautiful-woman-girl-icons-png-free-png-and-icons-downloads_1840-2400.png

"If I Could Live for a Week in Any Time Period" by Delsora Lowe

When I was thirty-five, I finally graduated from college. I had an Associate Degree, earned at age nineteen, but then I went on to get married and have children. I was old enough to know what I wanted when I worked on obtaining a Bachelor Degree to finish my last two years of college, while holding down four part-time jobs and raising two young teens.

Margaret Sanger 1922

I fought with the administration of the college, and finally won the right to declare an independent major in Women’s Studies. My thesis was on women’s roles in history and sociology (my loosely-based minors to shore up my self-designed major) using, in part, my grandmother’s work with Margaret Sanger in New York City for my final thesis. I can’t remember how old my grandmother was during her time in NYC, but I will guess 20-25, so she would have been doing this work in around 1915-20.


Now many years later, my mind is foggy on the details and I cannot find the tape recording I made as my grandmother related her experiences, nor can I find my thesis (I think they are in a box in the basement somewhere). But one thing I do remember is my grandmother’s interview and her shrugging and stating her experience was no big deal. To me, a feminist and a student of women’s history, it was the biggest deal ever to know my grandmother, Dolly, was a huge part of the women’s movement history in our country.

My Grandmother "Dolly,"
Charlotte More Meloney, around 1915-20

So, as someone who has never claimed to be brave, I would love to not only put on my brave face but be able to follow my grandmother around for one week during that part of her life. She was a dynamic and brave woman, a huge role model in the way she led her life. I remember when I interviewed her, how she told me when she died and came back in another form, she hoped to be a nurse in Appalachia, riding horseback through the mountains to care for people. She would never marry. I told her that now she could be a doctor, the dream she gave up, and be married too. She shook her head and vowed to stick to her first plan of reincarnation.


My grandmother had attended college as a pre-med student, one of eight women in the course. Four went on to med school. Four married and raised families. My grandmother was in the latter group. She divorced when my mother was twenty-five. My grandfather went on to marry three more times. In Dolly’s mind, and in line with the era in which she lived, she had to make choices.


To me, going back in time and living that one week alongside my grandmother, would be an exhilarating adventure. I can’t imagine the hard work, the stress, the fear of doing work that was considered illegal at the time, all to help give women a choice in what they did with their own bodies. But I know in my heart, I could not stand up to the work and dedication shown by women like Margaret Sanger and my grandmother. Maybe it is my own fear to go out on a limb. Maybe in my younger days, I may have been that brave. I’d like to think so.

Suffragist March, 1913, Washington, DC.

I recently read a romance, Escape to the Biltmore, by Patricia Riddle Gaddis, based in the era during the time my grandmother was probably weighing her college and work options. The story is about two doctors who meet and end up working together. The heroine, an unmarried female who knew

By Patricia Riddle Gaddis

her choice to become a doctor precluded her from ever marrying. The hero, a doctor who was a product of his environment and the era in which he lived. It’s a romance, as I said, so you can guess what happens in the end. But up until then, Gaddis does a magnificent job of portraying how each character handles the life they have chosen and the societal parameters imposed on each.

Reading this novel, brought back all the memories of my grandmother’s stories. I wish she were still here today, to see that she could have had both—a career she was passionate about that would meld with the chance to include having love and a family.


Here’s to my grandmother and all the women who paved the way. And here is to generations of women who follow my generation, who will continue to work and love hard, as they make this world a better place in which to live. And here’s a salute to Women’s History Month.


P.S. Next time we have this topic, remind me to tell you about my actress aunt turned military pilot during WWII. Another brave and inspiring woman.

Delsora Lowe writes small town sweet romances and contemporary westerns from the mountains of Colorado to the shores of Maine

~ cottages to cabins ~ 

~ keep the home fires burning ~

Lowe’s family visits to Colorado are the inspiration for an upcoming contemporary western series, Cowboys of Mineral Springs, book one to be released in April 2019. And her daughter’s wedding and her son’s home, both on the coast of Maine, provided plentiful ideas for the Starlight Grille series (released in 2017 and 2018).

LINKS:

Delsora Lowe FB Page: fb.me/delsoraloweauthor
Delsora Lowe Website: www.delsoralowe.com
Delsora Lowe Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2nRx1Bs 
Delsora Lowe Books2Read Author Page: https://www.books2read.com/ap/8GWm98/Delsora-Lowe
Delsora Lowe Author Newsletter signup (only sent out when there is news): http://www.delsoralowe.com/contact.html
Delsora Lowe Author Blog; http://www.delsoralowe.com/blog
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16045986.Delsora_Lowe
BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/3829267554
Escape to the Biltmore -Buy on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Biltmore-Patricia-Riddle-Gaddis-book/dp/B07FWDFQHV/


Photo Credits: 

Margaret Sanger 1922: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MargaretSanger-Underwood.LOC.jpg; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs division, reproduction number LC-USZ62-29808.

Suffragist March in Washington DC 1913, Women suffragists marching on Pennsylvania Avenue led by Mrs. Richard Coke Burleson (center on Horseback) U.S. Capitol in background (Library of Congress)

Putting A Little of Yourself into Each Book

By Delsora Lowe

Ever wonder where writer’s ideas come from?

So do I! I am what is known as a pantser or organic writer. So most of the time I get a kernel of an idea—a character, a setting, or a scene playing out in my head—and I start writing. I never know where that idea will take me.

My newest hero, Sam, was established as a secondary character in The Legacy of Parkers Point, book one, in the Starlight Grille series. I loved Sam, so I decided he had to have his own story.

Logical progression of the series meant Come Dance With Me would take place in the winter.

I had written the first few chapters, when the title came to me from song lyrics I heard as I commuted to work. Usually I agonize over titles. Instead, the title had me envisioning the ending—a Christmas Dance—with the hero and heroine in each other’s arms. In this case, the title, and the ending, helped drive the plot, theme, setting, time of year, and character arcs.

At times, words seem to flow from my brain to my fingers without conscious thought. When I reread what I wrote, I have no memory of thinking about those words or scene. In this case, during the editing process I realized many scenes evolved from memories of my high school dances. Remember the romantic teenage yearnings of getting ready for a dance?

Here are some examples of where my muse took over by conjuring up memories and turning them into something to fit the story.

·          I sewed my own high school Christmas dance dress, floor-length, maroon velvet, sleeveless, jewel-necked, slim-fitting. I found out at a reunion that the guys still remembered that dress. My heroine wears staid colors and classic designs. I am sure my muse decided at this point that my hero wished to see the heroine in bright colors, and makes it happen.

·         My dad was a chaperone. He stood on tip-toe the entire dance, tracking my every move. I remember ducking my head as I slow-danced, praying any dance partners would not notice my dad. When one of the star football players, one of a handful of blacks in our school, asked me to dance, I nearly swooned. I had a mad crush on him. Later, when he asked me to a rock concert, my dad grilled him in the front hallway—just like he did with every date my sister and I ever had. In this story my heroine is a chaperone and invites the hero to help chaperone. They also attend a rock concert together.

·         A classmate of mine sent a poem to Muhammed Ali and as a result got to meet him. My hero writes a jazz piece for Muhammed Ali. As I wrote the scene, I had the Queen in mind, but my words turned into Muhammed Ali right before my eyes.

·         Our school had recently integrated (a fact I was unaware of at the time, and thought was the norm). There were a few biracial couples. In my tight-knit, progressive, and accepting Quaker school community, those who were in biracial relationships were accepted, but not in the country as a whole. My hero and heroine are a biracial couple. Hopefully the world has changed since I was a teen, but I know the truth—we have a long way to go.

Add to the memories the impact of growing up in a city where I had access to classical concerts at the Kennedy Center, and the influence of the music culture of the 60s, including my love of Motown, jazz, and blues, and you have the seeds for a story that germinated and grew as my muse took over.

So I hope you enjoy Come Dance With Me, and the excerpt below, where I have played with facts of my life to create a modern fictional love story that culminates at the Christmas Dance.

Do you have some stand-out memories of high school that might lend themselves to being part of a story or a scene?

Here’s the blurb and an excerpt of Come Dance With Me: Book 2, Starlight Grille series. 

Improvisational jazz musician meets buttoned up English teacher—will the Christmas lights sparkle or shatter before the dance ends?

Sam Johnson, a burned out, New York City iconic jazz pianist transplanted to small town Maine, finds himself and his muse again through a disparate group of committed teen musicians and their buttoned up, efficient, high school English teacher who is roped into advising the afterschool jazz club.

Ashley Sullivan, an expert in classical music and teaching the bard, is out of her element when it comes to jazz or anything impromptu and desperately needs Sam’s help. What she doesn’t know is Sam has made it his mission before this gig ends to get Ashley to lighten up and enjoy the things in life she denies herself; music, friends, spontaneity, creativity, and yes, love.

When Sam works to rescue her from her childhood fears, Ashley runs the other direction. Can what is done out of love tear apart a relationship before it’s in full swing, or forever cement a love that is true?

 Excerpt: She watched his graceful body climb the three steps to the stage. She sat close enough to see Sam’s fingers stroke the keys. The notes swirled around her heart and straight to her toes. Ashley closed her eyes and swayed to the slow, sensual rhythms. His tempo eased from slow to fast. Her feet tapped out the beat, the sounds coursing a hot path through her veins. The ebb and flow of jazz, like making love, engulfed her entire being. She held close the urge to moan and sigh. Unlike the night she sat with Mary Beth, now she imagined Sam played only for her.

To think she owned his recordings, but never imagined she’d ever meet the man. His music had been the one thing that made her feel alive these last few years, and now she knew him…like a friend. He still scared the stuffing out of her. But not in a bad way. She hadn’t expected him to like her, and treat her like a friend, when she’d agreed to this after-school partnership. But here she sat.

“He’s something, isn’t he?”

Ashley swiveled toward the voice behind her. A petite, red-headed woman grinned.

Links to Come Dance With Me (A Starlight Grille Book 2):

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Come-Dance-Me-Serenity-Starlight-ebook/dp/B074N95RGK/ref=sr_1_8?s=amazon-devices&ie=UTF8&qid=1508776988&sr=8-8&keywords=serenity+Harbor

Books2Read – links to various vendors including iBooks, Nook, Kobo: https://www.books2read.com/u/bMrQva  

Links to The Legacy of Parkers Point (A Starlight Grille Book 1):

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Come-Dance-Me-Serenity-Starlight-ebook/dp/B074N95RGK/ref=sr_1_8?s=amazon-devices&ie=UTF8&qid=1508776988&sr=8-8&keywords=serenity+Harbor

Books2Read – links to various vendors including iBooks, Nook, Kobo:  https://www.books2read.com/u/b6rQzx

Links to Moonlighting (A Starlight Grille Book 3): on preorder, to be released on December 7

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Moonlighting-Serenity-Harbor-Novella-Starlight-ebook/dp/B075TK7KYS/ref=sr_1_9?s=amazon-devices&ie=UTF8&qid=1508776988&sr=8-9&keywords=serenity+Harbor

Books2Read – links to various vendors including iBooks, Nook, Kobo: https://www.books2read.com/u/mZ5eop

               

From Cabins to Cottages…Keep the Home Fires Burning

A transplanted big city gal, world-wide traveler, and foreign-service brat, who now lives in a coastal Maine town, Delsora Lowe loves to write about small town heroes from the cowboys and ranchers of Colorado to the game wardens and lobstermen of Maine. Her work in the hospitality industry, rape crisis, admissions, alumni relations, and women’s advocacy has allowed her to interact on a daily basis with real life heroines and heroes. Lowe’s family visits to Colorado are the inspiration for an upcoming contemporary western series in 2018. And her daughter’s wedding and her son’s home on the coast of Maine provided plentiful ideas for the Starlight Grille series.

Website: www.delsoralowe.com

Blog: http://www.delsoralowe.com/blog

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Delsora-Lowe/e/B01M61OM39/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Amazon Reviews for Book One: https://www.amazon.com/Come-Dance-Me-Serenity-Starlight-ebook/dp/B074N95RGK/ref=sr_1_8?s=amazon-devices&ie=UTF8&qid=1508776988&sr=8-8&keywords=serenity+Harbor