Proofreading 2

    The first in a great mystery series, by 

Canadian author and genealogist, Virginia Winters

Canadian doctor and amateur genealogist Anne McPhail finds a murdered woman on the floor of the library in Culver's Mill's, a small town in Vermont. Jennifer Smith, the dead librarian was a gifted genealogical researcher who had been collecting information about her clients, and using it to blackmail them.

American and British English and spelling differences

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"Spelling differences" redirects here. For other uses, see Category:Language comparison.

For guidelines on dialects and spelling in the English-language version of Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style#National varieties of English.

Doubled consonants

Doubled in British English

The final consonant of an English word is sometimes doubled in both American and British spelling when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, for example strip/stripped, which prevents confusion with stripe/striped and shows the difference in pronunciation (see digraph). Generally, this happens only when the word's final syllable is stressed and when it also ends with a lone vowel followed by a lone consonant. In British English, however, a final -l is often doubled even when the final syllable is unstressed.^[65] This exception is no longer usual in American English, seemingly because of Noah Webster.^[66] The -ll- spellings are nevertheless still deemed acceptable variants by both Merriam-Webster Collegiate and American Heritage dictionaries.

• The British English doubling is used for all inflections (-ed, -ing, -er, -est) and for the noun suffixes -er and -or. Therefore, British English usage is cancelled, counsellor, cruellest, labelled, modelling, quarrelled, signalling, traveller, and travelling. Americans usually use canceled, counselor, cruelest, labeled, modeling, quarreled, signaling, traveler, and traveling.
  • The word parallel keeps a single -l- in British English, as in American English (paralleling, unparalleled), to avoid the unappealing cluster -llell-.
  • Words with two vowels before a final l are also spelled with -ll- in British English before a suffix when the first vowel either acts as a consonant (equalling and initialled; in the United States, equaling or initialed), or belongs to a separate syllable (British fu•el•ling and di•alled; American fu•el•ing and di•aled).
    • British woollen is a further exception due to the double vowel (American: woolen). Also, wooly is accepted in American English, though woolly prevails in both systems.^[67]
• Endings -ize /-ise, -ism, -ist, -ish usually do not double the l in British English; for example, normalise, dualism, novelist, and devilish.
  • Exceptions: tranquillise; duellist, medallist, panellist, and sometimes triallist in British English.
• For -ous, British English has a single l in scandalous and perilous, but the "ll" in marvellous and libellous.
• For -ee, British English has libellee.
• For -age, British English has pupillage but vassalage.
• American English sometimes has an unstressed -ll-, as in the UK, in some words where the root has -l. These are cases where the change happens in the source language, which was often Latin. (Examples: bimetallism, cancellation, chancellor, crystallize, excellent, tonsillitis, and raillery.)
• All forms of English have compelled, excelling, propelled, rebelling (notice the stress difference); revealing, fooling (note the double vowel before the l); and hurling (consonant before the l).
• Canadian and Australian English mostly follow British usage.^[65]

Among consonants other than l, practice varies for some words, such as where the final syllable has secondary stress or an unreduced vowel. In the United States, the spellings kidnaped and worshiped, which were introduced by the Chicago Tribune in the 1920s,^[68] are common. Kidnapped and worshipped are the only standard British spellings.
Miscellaneous:

• British calliper or caliper; American caliper.
• British jewellery; American jewelry. The standard pronunciations /ˈdʒuːəlri/^[69] do not reflect this difference. According to Fowler, jewelry used to be the "rhetorical and poetic" spelling in the UK, and was still used by The Times into the mid-20th Century. Canada has both, but jewellery is more often used. Likewise, the Commonwealth (including Canada) has jeweller and the US has jeweler for a jewel(le)ry seller.

Doubled in American English

Conversely, there are words where British writers prefer a single l and Americans a double l. In American usage, the spelling of words is usually not changed when they form the main part (not prefix or suffix) of other words, especially in newly formed words and in words whose main part is in common use. Words with this spelling difference include wil(l)ful, skil(l)ful, thral(l)dom, appal(l), fulfil(l), fulfil(l)ment, enrol(l)ment, instal(l)ment. These words have monosyllabic cognates always written with -ll: will, skill, thrall, pall, fill, roll, stall, still. Cases where a single l nevertheless occurs in both American and British English include null→annul, annulment; till→until (although some prefer "til" to reflect the single L in "until", sometimes using an apostrophe ['til]); and others where the connection is not clear or the monosyllabic cognate is not in common use in American English (e.g. null is used mainly as a technical term in law, mathematics, and computer science).
In the UK, ll is sometimes used in distil(l), instil(l), enrol(l), and enthral(l)ment, and often in enthral(l), all of which are always spelled this way in American usage. The former British spellings instal, fulness, and dulness are now quite rare.^[70] The Scottish tolbooth is cognate with toll booth, but it has a distinct meaning.
In both American and British usages, words normally spelled -ll usually drop the second l when used as prefixes or suffixes, for example full→useful, handful; all→almighty, altogether; well→welfare, welcome; chill→chilblain.
The British fulfil and American fulfill are never fullfill or fullfil.^[71][72]
Johnson wavered on this issue. His dictionary of 1755 lemmatises distil and instill, downhil and uphill.^[73]

Dropped e

British English sometimes keeps silent e when adding suffixes where American English does not. Generally speaking, British English drops it in only some cases in which it is needed to show pronunciation whereas American English only uses it where needed.

• British prefers ageing,^[74] American usually aging (compare raging, ageism). For the noun or verb "route", British English often uses routeing,^[75] but in America routing is used. The military term rout forms routing everywhere. However, all of these words form "router", whether used in the context of carpentry, data communications, or military. (e.g. "Attacus was the router of the Huns at ....")

Both forms of English keep the silent e in the words dyeing, singeing, and swingeing^[76] (in the sense of dye, singe, and swinge), to distinguish from dying, singing, swinging (in the sense of die, sing, and swing). In contrast, the verb bathe and the British verb bath both form bathing. Both forms of English vary for tinge and twinge; both prefer cringing, hinging, lunging, syringing.

• Before -able, British English prefers likeable, liveable, rateable, saleable, sizeable, unshakeable,^[77] where American practice prefers to drop the -e; but both British and American English prefer breathable, curable, datable, lovable, movable, notable, provable, quotable, scalable, solvable, usable,^[77] and those where the root is polysyllabic, like believable or decidable. Both systems keep the silent e when it is needed to preserve a soft c, ch, or g, such as in traceable, cacheable, changeable; both usually keep the "e" after -dge, as in knowledgeable, unbridgeable, and unabridgeable ("These rights are unabridgeable").
• Both abridgment and the more regular abridgement are current in the US, only the latter in the UK.^[78] Likewise for the word lodg(e)ment. Both judgment and judgement are in use interchangeably everywhere, although the former prevails in the US and the latter prevails in the UK^[79] except in the practice of law, where judgment is standard. This also holds for abridgment and acknowledgment. Both systems prefer fledgling to fledgeling, but ridgeling to ridgling. Both acknowledgment, acknowledgement, abridgment and abridgement are used in Australia; the shorter forms are endorsed by Australian governments.^[4][80]
• The word "blue" always drops the "e" when forming "bluish" or "bluing".

Past tense differences

In Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand it is more common to end some past tense verbs with a "t" as in learnt or dreamt rather than learned or dreamed.^[81] However, such spellings are also found in North America. The "t" past tenses may have been influenced by German past tenses; for example dreamt has an irregular ending found in no other English word, which is probably derived from the German geträumt.
Several verbs have different past tenses or past participles in American and British English:

• The past tense of the verb "to dive" is most commonly found as "dived" in British, Australian and New Zealand English. "Dove" is usually used in its place in American and Canadian English. Both terms are understood, and may be found either in minority use or in regional dialect.
• The past participle and past tense of the verb "to get" is most commonly found as "got" in British and New Zealand English. "Gotten" is also used in its place in American and Canadian, and occasionally in Australian English, as a past participle, though "got" is widely used as a past tense. The main exception is in the phrase "ill-gotten", which is widely used in British, Australian and New Zealand English. Both terms are understood, and may be found either in minority use or in regional dialect. This does not affect "forget" and "beget", whose past participles are "forgotten" and "begotten" in all varieties.

Different spellings for different meanings

• dependant or dependent: British dictionaries distinguish between dependent (adjective) and dependant (noun). In the US, dependent is usual for both noun and adjective, notwithstanding that dependant is also an acceptable variant for the noun form in the US.^[82]
• disc or disk: Traditionally, disc used to be British and disk American. Both spellings are etymologically sound (Greek diskos, Latin discus), although disk is earlier. In computing, disc is used for optical discs (e.g. a CD, Compact Disc; DVD, Digital Versatile/Video Disc), by choice of the group that coined and trademarked the name Compact Disc, while disk is used for products using magnetic storage (e.g. hard disks or floppy disks, also known as diskettes).^[83] For this limited application, these spellings are used in both the US and the Commonwealth. Solid-state devices also use the spelling "disk".
• enquiry or inquiry:^[84] According to Fowler, inquiry should be used in relation to a formal inquest, and enquiry to the act of questioning. Many (though not all) British writers maintain this distinction; the OED, on the other hand, lists inquiry and enquiry as equal alternatives, in that order (with the addition of "public inquiry" in a 1993 addition). Some British dictionaries, such as Chambers 21st Century Dictionary,^[85] present the two spellings as interchangeable variants in the general sense, but prefer inquiry for the "formal inquest" sense. In the US, only inquiry is commonly used; the title of the National Enquirer, as a proper name, is an exception. In Australia, inquiry and enquiry are often interchangeable.^[86] Both are current in Canada, where enquiry is often associated with scholarly or intellectual research.^{[citation needed]}
• ensure or insure: In the UK (and Australia and New Zealand), the word ensure (to make sure, to make certain) has a distinct meaning from the word insure (often followed by against – to guarantee or protect against, typically by means of an "insurance policy"). The distinction is only about a century old.^[87] In American usage, insure may also be used in the former sense, but ensure may not be used in the latter sense. According to Merriam-Webster's usage notes, ensure and insure "are interchangeable in many contexts where they indicate the making certain or [making] inevitable of an outcome, but ensure may imply a virtual guarantee ensured

the safety of the refugees>, while insure sometimes stresses the taking of necessary measures beforehand insure the success of the party>."^[88]

insurance or assurance: In the business of risk transfer, American English speakers will normally refer to life insurance or fire insurance. In British English, "assurance" refers to risk associated with certainty, such as covering death (death is inevitable), whereas "insurance" refers to uncertainty (such as a home insurance policy). In British English "life insurance" is used for a policy covering uncertainty (for example, a pianist's hands may be covered under "life insurance"). Canadian speakers remain more likely than US speakers to use assurance.^[89] Assurance is also used for the legal names of several Canadian insurance companies, such as Canada Life Financial^[90] or Great-West Life.^[91]

matt or matte: In the UK, matt refers to a non-glossy surface, and matte to the motion-picture technique; in the US, matte covers both.^[92]

programme or program: The British programme is from post-classical Latin programma and French programme. Program first appeared in Scotland in 1633 (earlier than programme in England in 1671) and is the only spelling found in the US. The OED entry, updated in 2007, says that program conforms to the usual representation of the Greek as in anagram, diagram, telegram etc. In British English, program is the common spelling for computer programs, but for other meanings programme is used. New Zealand also follows this pattern. In Australia, program has been endorsed by government writing standards for all meanings since the 1960s,^[93] and is listed as the official spelling in the Macquarie Dictionary;^[4] see also the name of The Micallef P(r)ogram(me). In Canada, program prevails, and the Canadian Oxford Dictionary makes no meaning-based distinction between it and programme. However, some Canadian government documents nevertheless use programme for all meanings of the word – and also to match the spelling of the French equivalent.^[93]

tonne or ton: In the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the spelling tonne refers to the metric unit (1000 kilograms), whereas in the US the same unit is called a metric ton. The unqualified ton usually refers to the long ton (2,240 pounds or 1,016 kilograms) in the UK and to the short ton (2,000 pounds or 907 kilograms) in the US (but note that the tonne and long ton differ by only 1.6%, and are roughly interchangeable when accuracy is not critical; ton and tonne are usually pronounced the same in speech).

See also meter/metre, for which there is a British English distinction between these etymologically related forms with different meanings but the standard American spelling is "meter". The spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is "metre".^[94] This spelling is also the usual one in most English-speaking countries, but only the spelling "meter" is used in American English, and this is officially endorsed by the United States.^[95]

Proofreading is a dying art!

As Marcia wanders the streets of Cracow, Poland searching for the man she once intended to marry,
she's unaware that her every move is being watched. Is Lazarz still alive? And which side did he spy for?

Proofreading is a dying art!

Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter

This one I caught in the SGV Tribune the other day and called the Editorial Room and asked who wrote this. It took two or three readings before the Editor realized that what he was reading was impossible!!! They put in a correction the next day ..


Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
No , really? Ya think?! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers

Now that's taking things a bit far! _____________________________

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
What a guy!
---------------------------------------------------------------

Miners Refuse to Work after Death
Good-for-nothing lazy so-and-so's!
------------------------------------------------------

Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
See if that works any better than a fair trial!
----------------------------------------------------------

War Dims Hope for Peace
I can see where it might have that effect!
----------------------------------------------------------------

If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
Ya think?!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Who would have thought!
----------------------------------------------------------------

Enfield ( London ) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
They may be on to something!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?
----------------------------------------------------------

Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
He probably IS the battery charge!
----------------------------------------------

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Weren't they fat enough?!
-----------------------------------------------

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
That's what he gets for eating those beans!
---------------- ---------------------------------

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Do they taste like chicken?
******************************

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Chainsaw Massacre all over again!
***************************************************

Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they tall!
*******************************************


And the winner is....


Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Did I read that right?
***************************************************

So HOW do things like this get into print?  Easy.  The editor was so interested in the content of the story, they completely missed the obvious.



Trust me, I do enough editing to Know. The  better a book is, the more gripping a story, the less likely I am able to see the forest for the trees.

Catching UP!

Books that went to press, or back to press this week:

LAINEE DELANEY BACK IN BUSINESS, by Frances Langley
    Lainee Delaney, social debutante turned private investigator wannabe, and substitute teacher gotta be to make ends meet, has just landed her first big case. Enter straight-laced and amazingly hot Cade Gainess, an acquaintance from Lainee's past who has done nothing but irritate her in their brief dealings with each other.   

News Flash! 

 Still more computer troubles, but the Guru, God Bless Him, came again this morning and it seems to be working...for now!

Galleys that went out, or went out again this week:


TOBY MARTIN: STATE FAIR SECURITY, by Barbara Grengs 
   YA Detective Toby Martin is back in her fifth adventure. This time she's keeping her private-eye open at the State Fair where wurst theives have set up business.


A  GHOST OF BROTHER JONATHAN'S: Shannon Delaney Paranormal Mystery Series, Vol. 6, by Elizabeth Eagan-Cox
    A GHOST OF BROTHER JONATHAN’S takes Shannon Delaney on a cold-case quest to investigate a mystery surrounding one of California’s legendary shipwrecks… of 150 years ago.


WHILE I DANCED, by Lynn Slaughter
   A nerve-wracking audition for a summer ballet workshop reminds fifteen-year-old Cass how much she wishes her mom hadn’t died so young. 

Work began, or continued on the following:  


LIVING THE CALL, by Barbara Garro
    By listening and answering God's call to serve...consider being a lifeboat and keeping people afloat. Hold out a ladder to raise people up. We are all God has to serve Him on our planet. Do you believe that? Or are you thinking God can do everything Himself?

VENDETTA, by Ian Welch
   Ethan is alone and destitute on the other side of the world. His Dad is murdered, their business fails, his Mum unable to cope takes her own life. This is too much of a coincidence, rumors indicate one man is responsible. Ethan learns the truth, but what can he do? He is dealing with a powerful adversary, a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. 
 

BLEEDING HEARTS: Killian Kendal Mystery Series, Vol. 1
   Winner of the Stonewall Society's 2002 Pride in the Arts Literary Award in the Whodunit Category! 

REAP THE WHIRLWIND: Killian Kendall Mystery Series, Vol. 2,  by Josh Aterovis.
   Suicide, or murder? That's the question in the second Killian Kendall mystery. Will Smith suspects murder when an old childhood pal drowns, and asks his friend Killian for help in solving the mystery.

A SNUG LIFE SOMEWHERE,  by Jan Shapin
   A Snug Life Somewhere is about Penny Joe Copper, daughter of a roustabout shingle weaver, who is caught up in a 1916 union tragedy known as the Everett Massacre. Her brother Horace is killed, as is the cousin of a radical organizer, Gabe. When her love affair with Marcel, a music student seven years her junior, is thwarted, Penny Jo is pulled into Gabe’s campaign to avenge the “Everett Martyrs.” 

A STORY BOOK, by Elena D. Bowman 
   This is a sample of literary short stories from an author who already has several books with us. The theme of the collection is a writer’s connection with the creator.

MOONLIT BAY, by Elena D. Bowman
  A Paranormal Mystery Novel. 

Now I lie ME?

   It was just another ordinary school day for fifteen year old Zac Hudson and his friends. Little did he know that this day would mark the beginning of the end for the highly technological society in which he lived, and it would be the start of a struggle for survival.
Question from the e-mail:  I keep getting lay and lie mixed up. Can you help?

Answer: Watch Lay and Lie. Despite what we all learned at our mothers’ knee, “Now I lay me down to sleep” is archaic use of the English language and no longer correct. Lie is a verb, with tenses lie, lie, lain. I will lie down, I did lie down. I have lain down, and the past participle is "was lying." Never was laying.

It can also be an adjective describing a situation, as in “the lie of the land,” and can be both a noun (he told a lie) or a verb (You lie!) when the meaning is that of telling an untruth. 

Lay, another verb, has the tenses lay, laid, and has laid. Lay is interchangeable with lie, only if used as an adjective (the lay of the land), but it’s use as a verb mean to put or set down. For example you can “set the table” or “lay the table”, but you can’t “lie the table." 

Webster’s Ninth does not list “layed” and I don’t believe it is a real word, though I have seen it in print. Lay can also mean that something is produced, as when a hen lays an egg. But she laid the egg, or she had laid the egg, if you get into past and past perfect tenses of “lay” when the chicken and egg kind of lay is used.

One joking way to remember is, “People may Lie, and Objects may lay, but  People will get laid!" 

Capitalist Cat Fish Recipe

Nick Schaevers was in Clover! Everything was wonderful until a venture capitalist did some high-speed bouncing on the sidewalk before posing for the crime scene photographs. How quickly the high and mighty have fallen, or in this case, were launched.

Capitalist Cajun Cat Fish

Ingredients

4 (6-ounce) cat fish fillets
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
1 teaspoon Cajun Catfish Seasoning, recipe follows
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 stick, cubed, softened unsalted butter
1 tablespoon minced shallots
2 tablespoons white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Freshly ground pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Season the catfish fillets with the salt and Cajun Catfish Seasoning. Lightly dredge the seasoned trout in the flour, shaking off any excess. Set a 10-inch saute pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil to the pan. Once the oil is hot, place the fish fillets in the pan, 2 at a time and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes per side. Place the cooked fillets on an oven-proof platter and place in the oven while you cook the remaining fillets.

Once the fish are cooked, return the skillet to the stovetop and set on medium heat. Add the butter to the pan and once melted, add the shallots. As the shallots cook, and the butter stops foaming, about 30 seconds, add the white wine, lemon juice and parsley to the pan. Continue to cook for 15 to 20 seconds, swirling the pan occasionally. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Remove the fish from the oven and pour the sauce over top the fish. Serve immediately.

Cajun Catfish Seasoning 

(also referred to as Bayou Bounty):

4 1/2 tablespoons paprika
4 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoon Italian Seasoning

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Store in a mason jar with top tight.  Shake well before opening. Take out a tsp or whatever you need to give any recipe a touch of Cajun flavor. 

Note: If you give leftover fish to your cat, to avoid tummy upsets please wash off the seasoning before putting fish in the kitty's dish.

This foil grilled or baked trout recipe with a delicious Jalapeno-Mango Salsa Recipe is for 2 fish. Other fish can be substituted.
What you will need:  Mixing Bowl Aluminum foil
Ingredients:
2 whole trout, cleaned
Large jalapeno pepper diced
3 chopped green onions
¼ cup diced bell pepper
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup ripe diced mango
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 clove grated garlic
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Directions: Prepare jalapeno-mango salsa in a mixing bowl. Mix together the mango, onions, bell pepper, parsley, lime juice, olive oil, garlic powder.
Cut two sheets of foil large enough to wrap each fish individually.
Lightly coat each foil sheet with olive oil.
Salt and pepper inside of trout
Place fish on the foil.
Stuff each with about ½ of the jalapeno-mango salsa.
Seal the fish inside foil.
Preheat grill or oven (375 degrees) Cook: Place foil packets on grill. Cook the foil packets for about 40 minutes. Turn about half way through cooking (20 minutes on each side) or fish flakes easily.
- See more at: http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/wfn-ambassadors/post/trout-tropicale-recipe#sthash.LwrhEkFh.dpuf

Black Raspberry Muffins--recipe

    Plagued by religious friction, violent fights and a belief, "the grass is always greener,"my peripatetic parents dragged their five children in search of the next good farm. From upstate New York to the Mississippi Delta, to the hills of Ohio and West Virginia their dreams led us forward to disillusion and defeat.

Yummy Black Raspberry Muffins

3/4 stick (6 Tablespoons) unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups berries (I used frozen black raspberries)

Put a rack in the upper third of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.  Generously butter or spray muffin cups.  This recipe makes 12 standard muffins.  If using paper cupcake liners, you don’t have to grease the muffin pan.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over moderately low heat; remove from heat.  Whisk in milk, egg, yolk, and vanilla until well combined.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Add milk mixture and stir until just combined.  Gently but thoroughly fold in the berries.

Divide the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.  Sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.  

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 18-20 minutes  Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around edges of muffins and carefully remove from cups.  (I used paper cupcake liners, and they come out easily.)  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Catching UP!

News Flash!

The Computer is fixed, Hurrah! Hurrah!

Books that went to press, or back to press this week:

A ROSE FOR A FOREVER LOVE: A Coverton Mills Romance, by Lynette Hall Hampton
   Seth Armstrong felt obligated to marry his college sweetheatt when she became pregnant. The marriage was never a happy one and they both wanted out, but when Eve learns he’s fallen in love with someone else, she threatens to run to her home in England and never let him see his children again.

  Galleys that went out, or went out again, this  week

VENDETTA, by Ian Welch
   Ethan is alone and destitute on the other side of the world. His Dad is murdered, their business fails, his Mum unable to cope takes her own life. This is too much of a coincidence, rumors indicate one man is responsible. Ethan learns the truth, but what can he do? He is dealing with a powerful adversary, a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. 

WHILE I DANCED, by Lynn Slaughter
   A nerve-wracking audition for a summer ballet workshop reminds fifteen-year-old Cass how much she wishes her mom hadn’t died so young. 

LAINEE DELANEY BACK IN BUSINESS, by Frances Langley
    Lainee Delaney, social debutante turned private investigator wannabe, and substitute teacher gotta be to make ends meet, has just landed her first big case. Enter straight-laced and amazingly hot Cade Gainess, an acquaintance from Lainee's past who has done nothing but irritate her in their brief dealings with each other.   


SOLID OIL, by Russell Hunter
   The rainforest’s secret is known to a very few. But each is perfectly placed to profit from it. The secret is lithium—sometimes described as the oil of the 21st century—and the knowledge of it has spawned a crime cabal led by Vietnamese gangster-turned-investor Johnny Ho and including a diverse cast of fellow crooks.


LIVING THE CALL, by Barbara Garro
    By listening and answering God's call to serve...consider being a lifeboat and keeping people afloat. Hold out a ladder to raise people up. We are all God has to serve Him on our planet. Do you believe that? Or are you thinking God can do everything Himself?

Work began or Continued on the Following this week: 

TOBY MARTIN: STATE FAIR SECURITY, by Barbara Grengs 
   Youngster Toby Martin is back in her fifth adventure. This time she's keeping her private eye open at the State Fair.






BLEEDING HEARTS: Killian Kendal Mystery Series, Vol. 1
   Winner of the Stonewall Society's 2002 Pride in the Arts Literary Award in the Whodunit Category!

   Killian Kendall is used to being overlooked, even in his own family. That's about to change. With the arrival of a new kid at school, Killian's whole world is about to be turned upside down. The new guy is openly gay and, for reasons he can't really understand, Killian finds himself drawn to him. 

REAP THE WHIRLWIND: Killian Kendall Mystery Series, Vol. 2,  by Josh Aterovis.
   Suicide, or murder? That's the question in the second Killian Kendall mystery. Will Smith suspects murder when an old childhood pal drowns, and asks his friend Killian for help in solving the mystery.

A SNUG LIFE SOMEWHERE,  by Jan Shapin
   A Snug Life Somewhere is about Penny Joe Copper, daughter of a roustabout shingle weaver, who is caught up in a 1916 union tragedy known as the Everett Massacre. Her brother Horace is killed, as is the cousin of a radical organizer, Gabe. When her love affair with Marcel, a music student seven years her junior, is thwarted, Penny Jo is pulled into Gabe’s campaign to avenge the “Everett Martyrs.” 

A STORY BOOK, by Elena D. Bowman 
   This is a sample of literary short stories from an author who already has several books with us. The theme of the collection is a writer’s connection with the creator.

MOONLIT BAY, by Elena D. Bowman
  A Paranormal Mystery Novel.

Computer Guru's Tip

Deadlocked by a legend, Kellach must find her kidnapped mother to remove the Dark Druid's curse and save her people from the rampaging Norse. 

Computer Guru's Tip

Still working on getting all the files back, but the Guru came up with a great tip on how to avoid future viruses!

He said that Your computer's Administrator MUST BE ACTIVE in order for the Virus.exe file to be installed.

The best thing you can do is set Admininstrator as a separate User ID from you and your Personal files.  Then create a User ID in your own name and move all your information and files to that User.

Seems I had mine set as Administrator and that's all and was the cause of my many Problems. Shelley did, too, and she caught the FBI Virus last week, a sneaky bit of larceny that demands that you send someone $300 via Paypal and (They Promise!) your computer will be restored, which of course it won't.

The Guru Says, "The Administrator must be up and running to Install any virus, which if won't be, if you are set up as a separate user. Only one user runs at a time. So a virus can come in, but it won't install...

Dissappearing Holiday Zucchini Bread

At last, here's a sweet, romantic Christmas paranormal anthology! 

Each story has its unique ghost and psychic experience where holiday traditions are kept alive and a love story warms your heart. And the most delightful ghost of all, Mary Blake's Christmas rubber ball, connects the stories to give you a read that will leave you longing for more.

Dissappearing Holiday Zucchini Bread

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  
• 3 eggs

• 1 cup vegetable oil
  
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
  
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  
• 2 cups grated zucchini
  
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
  

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
   
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
   
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
   
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.
   
   
   You can make this ahead now, while there's plenty of fresh zucchini in the garden and freeze it. It will keep fine until the holidays--Halloween, Thanksgiving, even Christmas ... but if it disappears too soon, it' always easy to make more.

Nothing Caught!

More News!

No new book files or ready-to-go galleys available as yet.  Shelley will try to make them on her computer over the weekend.  We just had hers fixed. If that doesn't work, the guru will come Monday or Tuesday...

NEWS FLASH

NEWS FLASH

Am having major computer problems.  The guru is on the way. Meanwhile I cannot print any new files until or unless he fixes the d____d thing.

Will do Catching up tomorrow, if there is anything to catch UP.  I have galleys to go out, that I can't make files to send. I have books to typeset and e-books to make, so I can keep working behind the scenes. I just can't send any files to authors, or to the printer, until it is fixed.

Scene Structure -- writing tip

A story of two young friends who e-mail aliens on Jupiter! When their space ship arrives, so does a lot of adventure. When the space ship leaves-a special bond has been formed.

Question from the e-mail bag: Other students in my writing class say they have trouble following my scenes and one commented that I needed more "structure." Any ideas on how to do that?

Answer: Every scene has the same structure. 

Here it is:
    1. Transition, preferably with hook. Who? When? Where?  With A Problem Statement with a hook.

    2. Rising action and dialogue.  Everything that happens in the scene and in the right order.

    3. Turning point of the scene  The place where something changes forever.
        (if there's no point, the scene goes, no matter how well written)

    4. End/resolution of the scene, preferably with another hook. Usually when we come to the end of a scene,

                                           * * *


we indicate it with the double line break, at least two extra lines of "white space"  and most people use the three stars, a line, or some other indication, because if your copy ever gets sent to a publisher, who will run it through a typesetting program, that program will close up any and all the blank lines.

Once the turning point is reached, set a final hook, and the scene ends.  The Scene Ends Right There! Yes, as soon as the point is made, regardless of what else might have really happened later in real time.

Gerald Hedgerow, son of two famous writers, one a novelist and the other a poet, has finally achieved success on his own . . . or rather, with the help of Miss Grainger, his pen-named alter ego. Unfortunately, though, this sweet, even tempered agony/advice columnist offers fame at a steep price.

Miss Grainger's Favorite Recipe for Baked Beans

6 slices bacon, diced

1 cup chopped Vidalia onion

1 (16-ounce) can pork and beans, drained

1 (16-ounce) can lima beans, drained

1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 (10-ounce) package sharp cheddar cheese, cubed

1/2 cup ketchup

3 tbsp. Dijon Mustard

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon French's Worcestershire sauce

Heat oven to 325 degrees.  In a small skillet, saute the bacon and onions until the bacon is crisp and onions are lightly browned. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add bacon-onion mixture; mix well. Pour bean mixture into a large casserole sprayed with Pam. Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.


 (Serves 8)

Is my ms. too long????

Kawaguchi has written the story of her mother's life as fiction, though it is very much fact-based. It is the tale of a woman left with three little girls to raise alone in the depths of the great depression.

Memoirs, Great Depression, Historical, Appalachia

Question from the e-mail:  I have just completed my historical novel and want to submit it, but I can't even get the members of my writing class to read past the first couple of scenes. They all say it is "too long to sell, anyway." Well, it is pretty long -- 650,000 words.  But aren't there any agents who will take on a book this long?


Answer: I can't say it has never happened, so I guess anything is possible. If you have invested the time and energy to write a book that long, clearly you have made a committment.

Back in the day, my friend Diana Gabaldon posted a scene from her "practice book" in an online writer's forum and the next day had responses from some Very Well-Known romance writers...

Because she mentioned that in her query letter, an agent agreed to look at it and for a long time she didn't hear anything. Finally she called him and admitted that the 350,000 word ms. she had sent wasn't the WHOLE book, but only the first third or so of her planned story.

"Oh," he said. "I'll get back to you..."

Another few weeks crept by. Finally, he called and said,"You'll have to make it a series of books.  You have enough here for the first three, after that we'll see how it goes."

The first book in her series was OUTLANDER and the three book contract he got her brought in an advance just short of a million dollars. There have been seven or eight more since then. In fact Starz just signed them for a cable TV series. 

So in publishing, ANYthing can happen. But as a publisher, if I received a query on a 650,000 word book, I would start off by saying, "No thanks. With paper costs today, I can't print anything longer than 80,000 and come out. That, too, is an economic fact of life, Jenna.

So look at it as a possible series. Look for sub-plots that you can cut.  Tighten it up any way you can, and see what happens.

Lemon Dream Cake -- recipe

Jack Watson Series, Vol. 1

Tabitha Solo thought nothing of dropping the name of Scot Cunningham, the object of her high school crush who recently died in a car crash, as the inspiration for her first hit song, “Dreamer,” during a TV interview. But now, the FBI is asking about him, people are following her, and Carren Bixby--Tabitha’s manager and Scot’s one-time girlfriend--is behaving suspiciously. When Tabitha finds a listening device in her bedroom, she runs away and hires private detective Jack Watson.

Lemon Dream Cake

• 1  8  ounce package 

  cream cheese, softened
  
• 3/4  cup sugar, divided
  
• 3   eggs, divided
  
• 1  9  inch 

  unbaked pie crust
  
• 3/4  cup 

  Karo® Light Corn Syrup
  
• 1/3  cup lemon juice
  
• 2   tablespoons butter
  
• 1   tablespoon 

  Argo® OR Kingsford® Corn Starch
  
• 2   teaspoons 

  freshly grated lemon peel

   
•  Whipped cream OR whipped topping

   

   

   

Directions

 

1.PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F.

2.BEAT cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg with an electric mixer in a small bowl, until smooth. Spread evenly in bottom of pie crust.

3.USING same bowl, beat 1/4 cup sugar, remaining 2 eggs, corn syrup, lemon juice, butter, corn starch and grated lemon peel until well blended. Pour over cream cheese layer. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup sugar evenly over filling.

 

4.BAKE 50 to 55 minutes or until filling is puffed and set. Cool on wire rack. 

 

To serve, top with whipped cream.