Joyce's Blog Hop.........Joyce Oroz

Hop! Hop! Hop!

March 23, 2014

My friend Bart Gilbertson, author of DEATHBED AND BREAKFAST, a Pookotz Sisters Bed and Breakfast Mystery, asked me to participate in a Blog Hop. You can read his Blog Hop entry HERE. The rules of the Blog Hop are that I need to answer four questions and then bounce the blog and the questions on to 3 or more of my author friends. In a week’s time, they post their own blog answering the same 4 questions and then bounce the blog on to 3 or more of their author friends…and so on. Sounded like fun to me! And it's all right with Josephine and Solow.

 Question 1: What am I working on?

I am currently struggling—I mean working on my sixth novel in the Josephine Stuart Mystery Series. I am seventy percent finished. It’s that pesky thirty percent I still have to invent. I finally know who the killer is and the book title will most likely be “Roller Rubout.”Yes, the story takes place at the roller rink where Josephine is painting a mural. Painting giant letters spelling words to the Hokey Pokey song is the most boring work she has ever been hired to do. Her hired painters end up doing most of the work while Josephine snoops around for the killer of the former owner of the roller rink. 

Question 2: How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My protagonist is a fifty-year-old widow who paints murals for a living. Like Jessica Fletcher, every new mural environment has a dead body. Unlike Jessica, Josephine drives a red Mazda pickup and wears colorful, paint-smeared clothing. She is a down-to-earth gal, quick to judge and even quicker to seek justice for her friends. Her side-kick is a basset named Solow who can sniff out the bad guys in a crunch. Unlike “Cabot Cove” type small town cozies, Josephine is all over central California—-sometimes by choice, but not always.

Question 3: Why do I write what I do?

I spent my life painting, murals mostly, until arthritis forced me to quit. But the urge to create was still strong. I took creative writing courses and nine years ago I started my first novel, “Secure the Ranch.” When the book was finished I immediately started another. Writing can be frustrating, but like painting, it is an outlet for my creative juices such as they are. I am working on my sixth book in the Josephine Stuart Mystery Series and I’ll keep writing until I run out of juice. I have more fun writing than old ladies should be allowed to have, and I try to write some of that “fun” into my books. Beetles in the Boxcar is a lot of fun and it's free from Kindle March 27 to March 31.

 Question 4: How does my writing process work?

My teachers recommended outlines, but that never happened for me. I start with one sentence and elaborate on it until I have a full story. I set up an unusual murder situation and then I figure out who did it and why. From start to finish, I imagine my readers trying to figure out which of the many suspects is the real killer. Sometimes I can’t decide who done it until the book is nearly ended. I picture in my mind the characters as if I were watching a movie or TV show. I try to write everyday, even if it’s only a paragraph. I like to work hard in my garden, and when I am physically exhausted, I settle into my chair and write. Sometimes it flows, other times I just correct parts already written. So far I have five books on the market, Secure the Ranch, Read My Lipstick, Shaking in Her Flip Flops, Cuckoo Clock Caper, and Beetles in the Boxcar. Now let me introduce some of my wonderful writer friends.

Lyla Fox is the author of MURDER ON CINNAMON STREET, a Shaky Detective Mystery, and SNOOP, a Small Town Gossip Mystery—both published by Cozy Cat Press.

When Lyla was very young she read the Nancy Drew series.  She fell in love with Nancy and her “boon companions” and actually wrote to Carolyn Keene. She got a letter back and treasured it, carrying it around and showing it off for six months.  In the letter the author said something to the extent that Lyla was a good writer and should keep it up.  Over a decade later, when she learned that there was no actual Carolyn Keene, the damage was already done.  She’d been convinced that a writer was within her.

Cozy Cat Press Author, Christian Belz has been a practicing architect in Metro Detroit for 28 years, with experience in retail, educational, and industrial projects. He is Vice President of Detroit Working Writers. He won the Grand Prize in Aquarius Press's 2011 Bright Harvest Prize for his short story "Chambers". Christian's fiction has appeared in Writers' Journal, The Story Teller Magazine, and Wicked East Press's anthology: Short Sips, Coffee House Flash Fiction Collection 2. His poetry has been published in WestWard Quarterly and Yes, Poetry. His latest accomplishment is a cozy mystery, THE ACCUSED ARCHITECT, a Ken Knoll Architectural Mystery.

Author Elissa Grodin has written a mystery published by Cozy Cat Press CCP, called PHYSICS CAN BE FATAL. Her second book in this series is nearly finished, in which the movie director, Alfred Hitchcock, figures into the plot. Elissa has a strong background in film studies, and has published on the subject. In her second Edwina Goodman mystery, the plot revolves around the Film Studies Department at the college where Edwina teaches. Ms. Grodin lived in England in her 20s, and wrote for the Times Literary Supplement as a freelance journalist. She later moved on to children's books, and has had six children's books published, the most recent being C Is For Ciao, a picture book about the history and culture of Italy.

Author Jacob Appel has written many books, but his latest is a cozy mystery called WEDDING WIPEOUT, a Rabbi Kappelmacher Mystery. Jacob remembers being a young child in a commuter suburb watching the men and women – but mostly men – disembarking from the evening train after long days at their offices in New York City. They looked so miserable, so Cheeveresque in their suffering. He determined at that moment that he would never live in a bedroom community and spend his days pushing papers in circles. The only occupations he knew of as a child that didn’t involve the rat race were medicine and writing. Jacob is relieved to say that he is both a physician and a novelist—and he hasn’t travelled by commuter train in over fifteen years.

Well, there you have it, my first attempt at a Blog Hop. I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little bit more, and I hope you’ll follow along on the blog hop with my friends as well. It’s time to bounce out for now…

Hop…hop…hop…

 Thank you, Bart for a hoppy hoppy good time!

The Spring in Your Step........Joyce

Today I'm thinking about spring because it's almost here. Already the days are sunny and warm and I wish I could share our left coast weather with east coast people looking for a break in the cold and wet. 

 another winter so mild
 another tax form filed
 another Saint Patties fling
 another lovely spring
 another hill to climb
 another clock to chime
another clock on the wall
doesn't work atall
the tick tock's stuck
yet time runs a muck
soon it will be summer
followed by fall 

I never said I was a poet. I leave that to my cousin, Joyce Riley.

Here is a special poem for spring.


When Sowing

Remember
Every thought which comes to mind,
takes root and sprouts,
each thought in it's own kind.
If your garden of experience
seems pale or choked with weeds,
choose thoughts and words more carefully,
and plant some loving seeds.

Joyce Riley's wonderful book of poems, "Color This Day Beautiful" is on sale from Amazon.

Happy spring dear friends.

May the spring in your step never rust!

Zentangle.......Tina Baine

When something is extra super good, I love to pass it on. Recently I attended an AHA meeting at our local grange. 
When the normal business was concluded, we had instruction from Tina Baine on how to zen-doodle with a black pen on white paper. (Yes, you can add color later.)Twenty-five of us doodled away the evening. I don't think my zen got tangled, but I did create a very interesting design. Be sure you check out Tina Baine's fabulous blog. Now, here is Tina:

http://www.tinabaine.blogspot.com/
The Joy of Zentangle

Yoga for the brain

Zen Doodling

Originally published February 7, 2014 in the Santa Cruz Sentinel

Zentangle is an art form that promotes drawing as meditation. The theory behind Zentangle is that, by making simple, repetitive strokes, you become totally focused on what you’re doing. As you become absorbed in the process, you find yourself getting calmer, less stressed, less judgmental, and feel happier and more content—like yoga for the brain.

    

A classic Zentangle—by Jennifer Miller—is drawn

on a 3 ½ x 3 ½ paper tile, using a black archival pen
to draw patterns in each random section. Jen calls
drawing mistakes “a beautiful oops,” since you can
easily incorporate an unplanned line into a new design.

Maybe you already doodle on a notepad when you’re bored or daydreaming, or just want to escape. It’s relaxing and transporting. Like doodling, Zentangle (also known as Zen Doodling) is easy and requires no artistic skill. Zentangle.com says, “You cannot fail to create a Zentangle. Since it is not a picture of something, you have no worries about whether you can draw a hand or a duck. You always succeed.”

I recently took one of Nancy Domnauer’s monthly Zentangle classes at BookSmart in Morgan Hill. I’ve never practiced any form of yoga or meditation, but I definitely experienced a calming, focused state while creating my first Zentangle. A classic Zentangle is drawn on a 3 ½ x 3 ½ paper tile. Using a pencil, we drew a dot in each corner of the tile about ¼-inch from the edge and connected the dots with straight or wavy lines to create a border. We then drew a loopy “string” inside the border creating four or five random sections. Using a black archival drawing pen, we drew patterns she taught in each of the sections.

The creators of Zentangle—Rick Roberts, a former monk, and Maria Thomas, a lettering artist—developed Zentangle ten years ago as a method for anyone to achieve a peaceful, meditative state through simple drawing. Today there are more than 400 CZTs (Certified Zentangle Teachers) worldwide, thousands of Zentangle enthusiasts, and many books and websites devoted to the practice.

Nancy has also organized monthly meet-ups—the Morgan Hill Zen Doodlers Club—where her student can gather, exchange new patterns and resources, and draw together. Karen Fitch, who brought her 7-year-old son, Matthew, to the January meeting, says Zentangle is great for her son because “he can do it and be successful. We try to draw something together at least once a week, after he’s done his homework,” she says. “You’re really engaging both sides of your brain.” That evening they each worked on making valentines—filling in the letters L-O-V-E with Zen Doodle patterns.

Pam Drayton is quite enthusiastic about her latest hobby. “I’m addicted. I have to get every book there is. I’ve given this to all my nieces and nephews, and now they are Zen Doodling all over the Midwest,” she says. “I work in high-tech and it’s a very stressful job.” She says that within minutes of drawing her first Zentangle, she felt calmer. “It’s just the most relaxing thing in the whole wide world,” she says more than once. “You don’t expect it to be pretty, but this is so cool. I’m a 70s girl. I used to get detention for drawing stuff like this in class.”

Jennifer Miller draws Zentangle

designs on shrink plastic squares

and then hinges them together

with jump rings to make bracelets.

Zentangle can be done anywhere with only a black pen, white paper and a pencil. No eraser is needed because there are no mistakes. An errant mark can be easily incorporated into the design, and may even “take you in unexpected and exciting new directions,” says Nancy. Its portability also allows you to improvise wherever you are—on a business card or a napkin—anytime you feel the need to relax and focus.

The official Zentangle website (Zentangle.com) offers instructional videos demonstrating the basic technique, products, a newsletter, CZT training dates, and a blog with project ideas and links. There are quite a few books available on Zentangle and hundreds of pattern ideas and applications online. Zentangle patterns can also be used to decorate fabric, note pads, shoes, jewelry, cards, mugs, journals, scrapbooks, furniture, gourds, tiles—any surface that will accept ink.

Pat's Easter Scene..........by Joyce Oroz

Because I am the CEO (Creatively Elected Organizer) of my blog, I can talk about whatever sits on my tired squishy brain. Today I am still thinking about my friend's fabulous Easter display. The pictures I am about to show you speak of untold hours of hard work and unbound creativity. 

Pat Tharp has been building and sharing her famous Christmas scenes for decades. Now she has moved into the second year of her Easter motif. She shaped clay into over a hundred carrots for her miniature vegetable garden, just one tiny example of her ingenuity. 

She has expertly painted dozens of birdhouses, adding actual miniature balconies and pillars and such. She also uses many ceramic houses, bridges, etc. which she painted.

It is curious to me that Pat had a long career building elaborate landscapes on a large, real-life, scale for her clients, but these days she is able to create tiny villages for her beautiful Christmas and Easter scenes. 

She generously invites friends and neighbors to her house to view her amazing handy work. I can only say so much--the pictures will tell you the rest. 

Allen Boyer on the Hot Seat........Joyce Oroz

Sometimes people are just so darn smart and interesting. Author Allen Boyer is all that and more. He's a family man, a teacher and author. He has written the popular (Bess Bullock Retirement Home Series) plus a few non-fiction books, and he is a fellow Cozy Catter! Here is my conversation with this talented gentleman.

Allen, is there someone, something or an event in your life that set you on the road to being an author?

 The character of Bess Bullock was born from two very special ladies that I had the pleasure of knowing.

 The first was a dear aunt, Mae Gruber, who could charm the socks off of anyone.  When I visited Mae at her retirement home, I watched how she used her wit and smile around nurses and residents to motivate people to do things for her.

 My wife’s grandmother, Ruth Moore, was the second person who inspired me.  Ruth had a sharp mind right up to the end of her life.  She lived to be one hundred.  She took computer classes at a local college when she was ninety-three years old.  She read a few books a week.  She had lots of tricks to keep herself thinking throughout her time in a retirement home.

 These were the two ladies that really helped me form the character of Bess Bullock.

What do you like about writing and what bugs you about it?

I love tinkering with words.  Once I have a completed manuscript, the tinkering begins.  It’s the part of the writing process that I could spend months on.  I read James Joyce in college and the way he used language has a big influence on my writing.  I love listening to how words sound and combining them in a way that is poetic to listen to.

 What bugs me about writing?  Well, my only qualm would lie in how fast a reader wants a new book.  I’ll spend nine months to a year on a book, then a reader will tell me they read the book in a matter of days and ask me when the next one is coming out.  Wouldn't it be equitable to take nine months in reading a book, since it took nine months to write it?  Ha-ha.

Good point but it aint gonna happen, especially when it's a GOOD book. 

Allen, how long have you been writing books and what other writing do you do?

My first book was published ten years ago by a national publisher.  Arthur Ashe and Me was the name of the book.  It was a Young Adult novel that was part mystery and part biography.  The book was sold on the grounds of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships in New York for a few years.  That was kind of neat.  I wrote a second book about Roberto Clemente and then a nonfiction book about the West Point Academy and some of its famous graduates.  Terribly challenging to write nonfiction.  A bit more tedious in how researching facts set the pace for how fast I could complete the manuscript.

Please tell us about your protagonist. Is she--he a lot like you? What are his--her assets and weaknesses? 

 I thought it would be interesting to take a character with a heightened sense for observation and put them in a place where there is an abundance of time to watch other residents.  What secrets would be uncovered?  What mysteries would be discovered?  For a writer, it simply made for a situation that was begging to be explored.

What is the most amazing thing that has happened to you or that you have done?  

After I had my first three books published, my wife and I had three children.  That led to a long break from writing, but the experience of parenthood really is an incredible ride.  If I have to choose between writing or playing blocks with my kids, I’ll pick blocks every time.

Where can we find your books, Allen---and is there anything else you would like to say--such as a website or blog?  

All of my books are available where books are sold online.  I also have a blog at allenboyer.weebly.com It is always such a privilege to write a story that readers can enjoy.  When I wrote my first book, I was working at a private school and it was quite exciting to see students carrying my book in the hallways or reading my book in classrooms.  One day, I do remember two young boys walking down the hall in front of me.  One of them was carrying a copy of my book.  Before I knew it he pulled the book up and cracked the other boy on the back of the head with my book.  Both boys giggled and I knew right then that one man’s success can be another person’s headache.  I’m pleased that the Bess Bullock series has found so many devoted readers and look forward to continuing her adventures.  You can read more about the series at my blog:   allenboyer.weebly.com

Thank you, Allen, for writing wonderful books for us to read, and for taking the time to share the inspiring story of your life as a writer, teacher and father.

Sandy Meets Mr. Roughage`.........by Joyce Oroz

Don't you just hate it when people go on and on about their darling child or their adorable dog or their talented grandchild....your eyes become heavy, your chin heads south and then you're supposed to remain awake and remember the name of this outstanding subject of the conversation. I would never do that to you, my friends, but today there is one shining star I would like to talk about. This beautiful star eats her vegetables, wears glasses when she reads, interacts with young children and dresses appropriately for parties. Solow is one of her best friends and swimming and hiking are her favorite sports. Think you know her?
Since we just learned from Steven Snyder that a picture is worth a thousand words, you probably guessed that Sandy is my sweet side-kick yellow lab. She keeps all cats out of my vegetable garden, and now I understand why. I have a potted three-year-old kale plant that suddenly lost half it's girth. I found the missing half of the plant in Sandy's mouth. She thought she needed a vegetable boost, or some extra roughage, so she pulled off a section and ate it as if it were a callused brown carrot with a bit of greenery on one end. The green-fluff-end was too wimpy to eat, but the stalk was a delicious challenge. Sandy disposed of the knarly old vegetable stalk in mere minutes.

And then the trouble came. I found a stream of blood in Sandy's bowl after she ate her dinner. Next day, more blood in the bowl. Now I was worried, dreaming up all kinds of terrible diseases in my head. So off to the vet we went. After a full physical with blood tests, the doctor blamed the kale stalk which was what I originally suspected. As of today, we have no more blood letting from our very healthy thirteen-year-old lab who never met a vegetable she didn't like. She especially likes couch potatoes and Cozy Cat writers.

Artist of the Month, Steven Snyder......Joyce Oroz

Capitola Village by Steven Snyder
Today I want to tell you about a well-known photographer on the Central Coast. Steven Snyder is the Dragonfly Gallery Artist of the Month for March. He is a valued, long-time member of the Aromas Hills Artisans. I can't wait to show you some of his pictures--and yes they are worth at least a thousand words. Steven has been selling his photographs at the gallery for the last three years. If you have never been to the Dragonfly Gallery, 380 Blohm Ave., Aromas, here is your chance to drink in some of his beautiful nature scenes. They are usually printed on large and extra large canvases.

His range of colorful photos runs from sunsets over the Pacific Ocean to Half Dome to cityscapes to micro-looks at slices of rock. I recently asked Steven about his photography.

Steven, how did you discover photography and how long have you been working at it? 

  Grandpa gave me a 120 camera, film and B&W developing kit back in 1966.  I fiddled a bit with it, but could not afford film and chemicals to pursue it, because all my money was going toward my first car. Fast forward to 1984 when I bought a 1 hour photo lab for one of my video stores. My first child was just born and my Canon AE1 got quite a workout. 1990's I was scanning photos to edit and store on my computer, 1997 bought my first digital camera.  My learning curve was pretty flat before then. 2004 I bought a 44" printer, to make big canvas prints for our house.

 Please tell us about your favorite subjects and some of your techniques. 

Landscapes, usually involving color and water. Sharp, contrasty, wide angle lenses and searching for the best light.

 Where do you live and why?  

Aromas, because I worked at Moss Landing.  Turned out to be a great area for wonderful nearby landscape photography.

Steven, what is the most exciting thing that has happened to you or that you have done? 

Watching my children being born.

   What do you like to do when you are not taking pictures? 

Spending time with my wife, traveling, watching the latest movies.

  How can we find your photographs? Website, galleries etc.  

WWW.VibrantCanvas.com ; https://www.facebook.com/steven.snyder.790/photos_all, Framer's Corner frame shop in Prunedale, my home studio (by appointment) and of coarse the Dragonfly Gallery.

 Thank you, Steven Snyder for sharing 
your work and your personal life with us today.