Z is for Zebra

YouTube link The Zebra

What better Z word is there? I love zebra's. In fact I love almost all animals except for those smelling critters you find all over America. But we're not talking about them today. Zebra's are cool.

This ends the A - Z Challenge. My blogging schedule will change a little due to my writing schedule. My plot series continues on Monday, May 2, 2011. I hope to see you all then.

Cheers,
Nancy

Y is for YouTube

YouTube link The Royal Wedding (1923)

Y is for YouTube.

Why did I choose YouTube for my Y word. Because I've used them for almost every post. Because this technology is fun and now we can create Book Trailers. So I went over and searched and what do you know? I found another royal wedding on this royal wedding day. This is William's great grandparents who thought they would get to live a relatively quiet life. But George ended up being King during WWII.

No sound on this one. Tomorrow is the last day of the challenge. I hope you enjoy my Y pick.

Nancy

X is for X-ray

I know, it's totally lame. How many of you said...x what can I find for x except x-ray? So I searched for a picture and I got the usual x-ray shots and then I got this one.

Picture link.

Immediately I was reminded of my characters. They appear in my head, usually wearing skin and clothes, and say. "Who am I?" "What's my name?" "Where do I live?"

It's my job to let them know. Rarely do they come in the complete package.

So how do your characters stack up?
Nancy

W is for Williams, not me my daughter.

YouTube link

Hello all. It was a late night so I'm running late today.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that my daughter has decided to offer her talents as author services. Her rates are very affordable. After she helped me up load The Magic of Windlier Woods and then created this wonderful book trailer we started talking and she decided that she could help all the authors who would like help. She can also do book covers. How cool is that!

Please head over and have a look around at Tiger Author Services & Book Trailers.

Thank you, I'll make everyone's blog today. I couldn't get around yesterday.
Nancy

V is for Violin, Sad Violin

YouTube link

U is for Unforgettable. Natalie & Nat King Cole - Unforgettable (1992 The Unforgettable Concert )

YouTube link

When I was little, my parents had Nat King Cole's album. I loved his songs and his voice. For those who don't know, Nat died way to young from lung cancer. He was a chain smoker. When Natalie Cole came out with this dual, I loved it immediately.

Next week my plot series will continue. If you are trying to figure out which plot your using or which one you want to use check this series out. Previous plot post can be found under plot. Next week's master plot is: The Riddle

If you missed the book trailer that my daughter did for my new ya fantasy short story it's below. Please check it out and head to YouTube to like it. Thanks. 

Have a good day.
Nancy

T is for Trailer, book trailer: Magic of Windlier Woods

YouTube link.

Guess who made my book trailer? My daughter...so cool. More good news. She is going to start offering some services including one to make book trailers at an affordable rate. Her blog is, Tigeronmybookshelf.

The Magic of Windlier Woods is now available. I'm still working with Amazon to make it free, but it's only .99 so we'll see. It's free at smashwords and both links are on the left hand side.

Yeah!

Please go to YouTube and click on the like. I appreciate it.

In other news, my interview at Laurie's blog is still up. Go here if you have time.

Have a great day!
Nancy

R is for Review

 I have the privilege of having many wonderful reviews. I love them all. But I have to say that this review surprised me because I totally forgot Becky was reading my book. She touched my heart as did so many others. 

Becky's review

Feb 18, 11

status: Read in February, 2011

The Treasures of Carmelidrium is an amazing work of fiction by writer R. N. Williams. It expertly blends adventure, romance and magic with the wonders of music together to produce a truly breathtaking story. It is a gem of a book to rival even the most popular fantasy writers!
The characters are expertly portrayed and hurl you into their world with enthusiasm. The heroine Michelle, or Missie, is everything she should be and more, as well as the hero being instantly likeable and their story not at all nauseating! Music plays a large part of this story and is amazingly woven into the plot and expertly written so you can almost hear it yourself.
The story itself hurls you into a world of Princes, Princesses, Lords, Ladies, evildoers and war. The climax of the story is expertly reached; leaving you wishing the end would not come because then you would have to stop reading! Throughout, the Treasures of Carmelidrium had me laughing, crying and bouncing up and down in my seat anxiously awaiting whatever happened next. There are hardly any words that properly describe how I feel about this book...I was left speechless and anxiously await the next stage of the story!
N. R. Williams now joins my list of all time favourite authors with her book The Treasures of Carmelidrium taking pride of place. I highly recommend that if you haven't yet read The Treasures of Carmelidrium that you do so as soon as possible because you cannot begin to fathom what you are missing out on!!

A talented flutist is yanked from our world and thrown into a world that resembles Middle Ages France. Her music is the only thing that can save a Kingdom in desperate need. Along the way she finds the thing that is missing from her music...true happiness. Thus begins the amazing epic which will have you on the edge of your seat. A true page turner, I have not read its equal for a long time!

For more excellent reviews see the pages above this post and below my banner that says: Reviews 4 Treasures. 

 But wait...it's late on Wednesday night and my short story is just up today and already I have a review by the wonderful Nicole MacDonald at Damsel in a Dirty Dress. 

Here's the review that she gave 5 stars:
A gorgeous wee childrens story, April 20, 2011

By 

Nicole MacDonald (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: The Magic of Windlier Wood (Kindle Edition)

This is one of those story's that instantly makes you nostalgic for the fun, imaginative stories you read yourself as a child. It had very vivid descriptions and the main character is just adorable with his stubborn, determined objective. The open ending, I hope, suggests at more to follow as I'd love to see more of Newert the Erbit.
I'd recommend this to those looking for a simple and sweet bedtime story for kids and if my niece and nephew are anything to go by they should love it. Could easily appeal to ages 4-10 (and even me *lol* as a 29yr bedtime reader). 

If you'll have time, Laurie posted an interview with me here.

Have a great day.

Nancy

Q is for Quidditch:

YouTube link
Harry Potter:Quidditch

Now Quidditch is a game I could get into. As long as I don't have to ride the broom. I mean, ouch! The first year they didn't have any seats on those brooms. Imagine being a cheerleader for Quidditch. Not only would you have to learn how to cheer properly, but you'd better be good at ducking in case a blunger decided to hit you off the top of someone's shoulder. Anyway, seriously folks, J. K. Rowling came up with an amazing game. Here's to all those daring wizarding students.

Now for more fun. It's Hump Day and on Hump Day we do an Improvisation. So, have at it. In one or two sentences show us your character having fun with Quidditch.

I'll post my sentences later today.
Nancy

O is for Ocean Journey

Yes folks, their is a huge aquarium in  Denver, Colorado the mile high city. I'm sure these fish have never been this high before. Shhh...don't tell them, they are all under water.

My daughter, her four year old son, his father and I...or should I have started with I? I had a teacher drill it into us that the I was last and forever since I have done that even though I am now told it is wrong. Anyway, we went to Ocean Journey a couple weeks ago.

There was a time when my children were little that someone, I think my sister, let them watch Jaws. Everyday I had to reassure them that there were no sharks in Colorado. Not anymore, take a look at this guy. Do you know what he is staring at? My daughter. For a very long time. Did someone ring the dinner bell?  He continued to stare at her until all the people there began to notice and remark on it. We hated to disappoint him but we moved right along.

One of the attractions are Bengal Tigers. No good, I spotted a paw way up high, they were sleeping.

Here is another picture:

Someone once shared that they had a job as a Mermaid when they were young. I don't remember who that was, but I can assure you that this skill is still practiced here in Denver. We didn't catch the show but they have a mermaid swimming with the sharks and...wait for it....you can sign up and swim with them too. After the above incident with that shark, I don't think I will.

One last picture.

I hope you enjoyed Ocean Journey. Now some other news. Laurie has posted an interview with me, myself and I. See...the I is last again. I hope you will head over and read a little bit about my book, The Treasures of Carmelidrium. My short story, The Magic of Windlier Woods, will be available soon. See the awesome book covers on either side of this post. Happy Monday all.
Nancy

M is for Me, Myself and Music: The mission / Nella Fantasia instrumental flute

YouTube link

I love music! I love almost every kind of music. Recently I found this young man from Norway, Houtblazer. He is a self taught musician and among the instruments he plays is the flute. Notice the flute on my book cover. That's because my heroine plays the flute and it is her music that empowers, The Treasures of Carmelidrium to save the day.

You may wonder about my choice today and think that it is because, The Mission, starts with the letter 'M.'
You are partly right. But I wanted to use this song in my book trailer. No good, copyright issues. So I am still looking for the best song.

Another thing that  you might notice is that this song only plays if you click the arrow. I don't have one of those music things on my blog because when I go to someone's blog who does have that music thing that automatically comes on, the music follows me after I leave and slows down my computer. That is annoying. I have to get out of the internet and wait to get back on. That slows down my whole day. So please folks, don't add the music thing to your blog. I will be grateful. You can always share your favorite music as I have done.
Cheers,
Nancy

K is for Keys & Thank you new followers. Followers Awards

First before we do the K is for Keys post, for the A - Z Challenge, I have so many knew followers and I want to thank them for showing their interest in me.

Eric, Empty Nest Insider, Briana, Tracy, e.a.s.demers, Maggie, Rae, Mountain Mama, Sarah, Sherree, Hold my hand, Matt, Marcy, Stephanie, debbie, Melissa, Ju, MJ, margokelly, Jamie, Emily, Alison, Lucy, Jeanne, Seans, Leovi, Snakesmom, Matt, Bard, (Giggle, Laugh, Cry), Chris, Karen, Siv, Charmaine, Gina and Heahter. I appreciate all of you. Please choose one or both of the follow awards and link back to their creators.

Anyone who is following me can have these awards.

The Blogger = Love Award is by, Jules at Trying to Get Over the Rainbow.

   
The Thank you Followers Award is by, Tiger85 at Tiger on My Bookshelf.

Both bloggers are wonderful people. Jules has been my friend for a long time and Tiger is my daughter.

Now for today's post:

Normally I do a writing exercise on Wednesdays called: Hump Day Improvisation. I'll show a picture and ask you to write one or two sentences in the comments using the picture as inspiration.

                                                                      Picture Source

Today's exercise is Keys...have your character do something with keys. Any genre, just keep it PG. Have fun. I'll add my sentences in the comments later tonight.

J is for Jeremiah, Three Dog Night-Joy To The World-Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog

Tuesday's on my blog is music day. Enjoy!


YouTube link

I is for Iguana, Ice Cream and Ireland

I is for:

Iguana eating...

Ice Cream...

In Ireland.

Don't ask...I was stumped to come up with anything better. I'm sure you'll be much more clever than I.

Made you smile!
Nancy

For new visitors. In May I will begin the plot series on Mondays again.

Picture source: Iguana, Ice Cream, Ireland.

H is for Humpback Whales: Awesome Whales Music Video

YouTube link

I love, love, love whales. Do you remember the Star Trek movie where we were threatened by the monolithic black thing and Spock and Kirk had to go back in time to bring back a pair of Humpback whales to save the day. The threat was a stretch, but the whales were great.

Enjoy,
Nancy

P.S. I have a big announcement tomorrow.

G is for Good Times

Good times...many things make up a good time. For me it is spending time with my family. I have two daughters and they both have a four year old. Good times is listening to my two grandchildren playing together, laughing at silly things. Running for the joy of it. Recently my oldest daughter, her son, his father and I went to Ocean Journey in Denver. A good time was had by all. I will blog more about Ocean Journey on the O day, April 18.

My daughter has a blog called Tiger on My Bookshelf. She made this wonderful award to thank all her followers from a photo she took with my smart phone. How amazing is that! The writing is small and the program she used wouldn't let her increase the size. Anyway, another good time is blogging with all of you. So my followers, help yourself and please link back to my daughter at, Tiger on My Bookshelf.

Have great day.
Nancy

E is for Egg(s)

Every morning my grandson wakes up and runs into my office blurting out, "eggs!" While he does this he jumps up and down with glee. So, I put a chair in the kitchen, get the pan going, he helps to put the butter in. I crack the eggs, he opens them, grins and says, "eggs! I do it, I do it!" He's four so now you may understand. When the eggs are ready to turn, he helps turn them. When they are ready to plate, he helps plate them, when they are ready to eat, he carries the plate to the table as if it is the most prescious thing on earth.

Picture link:

Once we were at the grocery store and the 'egg man' who stocks the eggs dropped a couple dozen continers of eggs on the floor right in front on my grandson. The next time he wanted eggs, he pulled them out of the refrigerator and turned to his Mom and said, "eggs." But he was shaking like a leaf afraid he would drop them and his Mom and I had a good laugh.

So, you can guess, my house has a lot of eggs. And soon it will have a gigantic bunny hopping around hiding them.
Cheers,
Nancy

P. S. For all my visitors, normally Wednesday is Hump Day Improvisation where you come up with a couple sentences to describe what a character is doing or thinking or experiencing. Just so you know.

D is for Dog(s): Polar bears and dogs playing

D is for Dog(s)...the Polar Bears are just an added bonus.


YouTube link.

Normally on my blog I share my favorite music on Tuesdays. One per week so that I don't take up your valuable time. But I couldn't find a 'D' song that anyone would let me share. So, instead I give you dogs.

Enjoy,
Nancy

B is for Bear, bear desert island

YouTube link

Enjoy!

A is for Awesome

Awesome is the new word…or maybe not so new, but the current word to express what similar words have done before it. I don’t know who first brought about this trend, but that person was awesome. Perhaps it was started as dialogue in a movie or on a T.V. show. Regardless…awesome is…well…awesome.

Before awesome we had some pretty great words. I racked my brain on this one, but I can’t remember the trend in the 90’s, however, in the 80’s it was heavy. I’ll never forget the line in the film, Back to the Future, when Dr. Brown said, “There’s that word again. Heavy. Is there something wrong with the gravitational pull in the future?”

Now I have to tell you, as a child of the 60’s, which means I was a teenager, too young to run off and become a flower child, but not to young to repeat the favorite and very original word, groovy. I can also tell you with certainty that The Beatles didn’t start that particular trend.

Before groovy there was cool which was still great in the 60’s and maybe still is. When my mother was a young girl it was swell. Lois Lane had an issue with Clark Kent when he used the word swell.

So there you have it, all awesome words if you ask me.

Do you remember the word for the 90’s?