The Evolution of a Garden

My Mom's lot is a wooded space that tells a 50 year story of family and growth.  When my parents bought the lot on Meadowood Road in Kingston in 1956, it was an empty space with a creek at the back, and a small house in progress.  Today, this space is burgeoning with gardens, mature trees, wild flowers, and workshops and sheds. 


















As we were growing up, my mom did much to bring this space to life.  Raising four kids, she had little time for gardening, but somehow she managed to make the wooded spaces and the tended gardens work together. 





Over the years, the space took on the character of our family.  It reflects the hard times and the happy times and everything in between with a gentleness and laughter, as well as a hardy striving, and a talent for survival. 







My brothers and sister and I spent many hours in the woods around our property, or at the mill pond fishing or playing or gathering chestnuts and strawberries.  Our childhoods were filled with these endless hours surrounded by natural beauty.  Much of that is now covered by housing, but through the years, I transplanted trilliums, and jack-in-the-pulpits and ferns from the woods and marshlands around Collins Bay into my mom's gardens.







Today, these reminders of our childhood thrive year to year alongside my mom's lilac trees, tulips and daffodils, dogwood, blood root, rose bushes and the many ash and maple trees that shade the lot.

Mom's garden became a hybrid of who we are and the natural surroundings of where we had made our home.  As they blended into the unique character of what we now call, simply, 'Meadowood' to refer to our childhood home, this space has become an integral part of our identity as a family.

























When my dad died four years ago and my mom was diagnosed with leukemia that same year, our lot suffered.  Neglected for chemo treatments and funerals and estate settling, the plants became overgrown, branches died, the ash trees were at risk by beetles, and the grass became tangled with weeds. 

My mother was unable to tend to her flowers, and the usual baskets of annuals did not make it to her lot. But underneath it all, the plants she had so carefully tended year after year, the roses my sister had planted, the trilliums and wild flowers I had transplanted struggled to claim their patch of soil and waited for our family to take notice again.

This year, my mom is healthy and happy again.  With renewed energy, she and my sister have returned to the gardening they love, and with the help of a gardener, they are restoring our lot on Meadowood. 

As the flowers bloom, the trees spring to life and the beds become free of weeds, the stunning legacy of Mom's garden is being returned to us. Its beauty and stunning refusal to relinquish its claim to this particular bit of turf reminds me of the resilience of home and family. 

Now, as we make a concerted effort to restore balance and growth, order and beauty, the lesson of Mom's garden is a simple one.











However many weeds sprout and threaten to choke us out of our life, the true nature of who we are, the roots we put down, the potential to return and bloom better than before will always be waiting for us underneath.      

Paths of Success

Tomorrow, I am co-leading a Meet and Greet in North Durham for The Writers' Community of Durham Region with The Writing Fairy, Dorothea Helms at Blue Heron Books.  The purpose is to introduce local writers to each other, to the WCDR, and discuss proven methods of critiquing each others' writing.  We are hoping to meet fellow writers, new, emerging and seasoned, in the various stages of their writing path.

 

For any goal there is a path, but how to know what path to take?  As a Historical Fiction writer, I picture a wooded track, lush vegetation on all sides, bunnies frolicking and deer grazing on one side, with the dark figures and gleaming eyes of the unknown peering out the other.  The woods can be a bountiful sanctuary or a frightful, mysterious place.

The path has all kinds of off-shoots, and as you peer down them, deciding which fork in the road is right for you, it's good to take a look at the path you came down before veering off.

Think of the main path as the 'spine,' the road that gets you to the other side of the woods.  Now, why did you start on this path in the first place?  What's on the other side of the woods that made you begin this path? 





Map out the beginning, middle and end, just as you would a novel.  First, there is the step that takes you on this journey.  You attended your first writing circle and became hooked.  You must be a writer!

Now what?  Look at the end.  The one, true, spectacular goal you hope to achieve.  There's your spine.  The journey in between doesn't have to be a maze, but it will have a lot of off-shoots that will eventually take you to the right place. 

Go back to the beginning and list all the things you have to do to get to the other side of the woods.  Alternate between the beginning and the end, working forwards, working backwards, until all possibilities you can see are visible.  You will soon start to see a pattern. 


For instance, one of the things you may want to do from the time you go to your first meeting with other writers to the end goal of publishing a novel is get an agent.  Work back from there and list all the things you have to do to sign with an agent.  How do you find one?  What will you need prepared for that fateful day when you do meet one?  How can you learn how to prepare those materials most effectively? 




Sally, 1981...first draft

As you map out the things you need, and the things you need to get the things you need, you will find a very distinct pattern of learning, listening, connecting that will take you where you want to go.  And as you travel the planned path, you will add things as you go along, enhancing the journey.  You may find yourself stumbling from time to time, but you will soon get back on track, or simply take time to pause and appreciate the progress you've made.

Yes, even in 1978, all I wanted was to be a writer!

But by all means, take the first step!  Life is an adventure, and if you reach out and strive for that wonderful world you have envisioned, it gets easier and easier to see the bunnies and deer, and handle the dark figures with panache along the way.




The glorious horizon, where all things are possible- and worth writing about!

What Makes a Legend?

The 'Hero's Journey' is a story method that has its roots in classic literature from ancient Greek to fairy tales, to the nineteenth century greats such as Jane Eyre and Tale of Two Cities.  A hero goes on a quest and meets terrible obstacles, tries harder, suffers unbearably, and finally triumphs over great odds.

What makes a hero?  Why do we love heroes?  A connection with our inner selves craves these stories, demands the journey that leads to the coveted 'triumph of the human spirit.'  However set upon we become in our lives, we need to feel that we can rise above, a stronger and happier and honest version of ourselves.  Life takes a lot of effort, and it doesn't always seem fair.  Experiencing the trials of others who never give up and succeed against incredible odds feeds our desire to keep hoping and wishing and getting up each day to face the world.

Yesterday I attended a WCDR Master Class taught by bestselling author, Andrew Pyper.  He led us through the hero's journey in our stories, from the hook that raises a question for the main character to the 'inciting incident' that busts apart his world and sends him or her irretrievably on his quest, and then on through the stages that turn the character from a person with a problem to a triumphant hero.

When I first sat down to write Legend of Three Crowns, I had two elements of the story.  The main character, Aramanda, and the ending of the story.  From there, I mapped out her journey, and lived that quest alongside her throughout the first draft. 

Aramanda is my heroine.  All around her are the temptations to become someone less loving, less caring, darker and more ruthless.  Her father, tortured by the mysterious past of family secrets, would have her fight her own brother to become the mythic queen he envisions to immortalize his dynasty.  The lords, with their ancestral rights and military power, side with her brother to discredit Aramanda and block her path to the throne.  Her grandmother, long dead, set in motion a dangerous mystical force Aramanda must harness to triumph over the power of men.  And, perhaps most difficult of all, the man who loves her tempts her to leave her quest, and abandon her crown and the people who adore her.

From the ideals of love, to the machinations of her brother, to her desire to protect her sisters and preserve her mother's memory, Aramanda is beset with temptations to give up her quest.  But the needs of her people and an ancient calling drive her to persevere until her sacrifice is as epic as her cause. 


This is a quest most writers understand.  Our kingdom is our story.  And we will live it through, whatever the cost, until its triumphant end.  Then begin a new quest, undaunted by the sacrifice in delivering our truth.

Today, I am launching my new web portal for Legend of Three Crowns, designed by the ultra talented Amber Robinson and Brittany Leclerc of Amber Animation.  You can see excerpts of the novel, sketches of the characters, the world, the palaces, photos from my travels to Europe for research, and a book trailer crafted with Book Trailer101.  I hope you enjoy the journey!

Book Two of my Legend series is in the writing stages.  Book One is now being offered for publication by Sam Hiyate of The Rights Factory. 

Versatile Has New Meaning!

Blogger and fellow WCDR member Collette Yvonne has nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award!  Cheers, Collette!  I appreciate your interest in my blog and welcome the nomination with heartfelt thanks.

This is an award you earn by nominating 15 others who enjoy your insights and observations as a blogger.  I'm tremendously pleased that Collette has added me to her list.  I never considered myself so much a 'blogger' as a 'writer', and started my web site to develop a profile of myself as a writer and communicate with the enthusiastic readers of my stories. 

In fact, the blog has become a cherished part of this process, and I soon found writing these posts a meaningful connection to my followers and fellow bloggers.  With this nomination, I now feel like a bonafide member of the blogger community.  So, in the interest of this rite of passage, here are my 15 nominations for web sites I love (in no particular order) and the people who write them, followed by 7 things you may or may not know about me, and the rules of the VBA below.

1. Cryssa Bazos: A world of adventure, love and war in 17th century England, and Highwaymen that just won't quit.  For dash and dare, and solid historical fact, Cryssa is a good one to watch.

2. Elaine Cougler: Loyalty, a Canadian twist on the American War of  Independence, and the journey of a writer.  Elaine is a feisty writer with equally plucky characters in her Loyalist series of books.

3. Gwen Tuinman: Stories, words and whispers, all inspiration for Canadian frontier enthusiasts, and seekers of intergenerational truths.

4. Amber Robinson: Illustrator, animator, artist of princesses and all things that go bump in the night!

5. Sandra Clarke: Paranormal walk into the unknown, boldly going where fear is a dream and the unknown an irresistible challenge.

6. Dale Long: Inkstroke, Author's Voice, charcoal sketches, creeps and fascinations, and all things fearward.

7. Dorothea Helms: The Writing Fairy makes it all better.  Fairy sprinkles that make the unimaginable real, and the journey a ton of fun!

8. Rich Helms: Absolutely brilliant resources for all writers on creating a book trailer video, how to and why not, and why you can't do without one! (see my Legend home page for mine, produced in Rich's BT class!)  This and skate bikes, coffee, hanging off a cliff in Costa Rica, and a whole lot more!

9. Leetah Bagalle: The hard truth.  Honesty in a writer is hard to find, but we make our own truths, and Leetah knows all about that.  Brave Blog with honest insights.

10. Lilianna Tommisini: Time for a break to sample life's greatest pleasure- food!  Lili's recipes, insights into cooking and food are the dream column of the Montreal Examiner.  My Cookbook Addiction is just the cure for winter cravings!

11. JL Madore: A writer to watch, untethered, blazing trails, paranormal, romance....it's all here!

12. English Historical Fiction Authors: The aristocracy, English Civil War musings, research, writing, the Historical Novel Society, and more insights for HF authors and enthusiasts.

13. Ruth Walker and Gwynn Scheltema: Writing retreats that celebrate the writer, editors, story doctors, very sharp blue pencils, Ruth and Gwynn at Writescape are a writer's best friends.

14. Kevin Craig: Burned, Broken, Poets and Long Summers, Kevin is an extraordinary YA author who takes on the bravest subjects with forgiveness and style.

15. Sharon Overend: A journey prize nominated writer and editor with insights and success indicators to share, short story awards, and a novel now offered for publication.


7 Things to Share About Me:

1. I have a diploma with distinction in Commercial Communications, and once worked in high tech as an Advertising exec with a budget of $100 million. My novel, Wings of a Fly is based loosely on those days.

2. I worked in product placement in Hollywood in the nineties, and have met Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Heffner, Dom Deluise and Dyan Cannon.  Unfortunately, the closest I got to Peter Falk was his car.  You can still see the Corel balloon and products on reruns of Frasier, Seinfeld, and other shows, as well as a few movies, including Twelve Monkeys.  To this day, I am an honorary member of the Set Decorator's Society of America.

3. My Dad had an old army truck from the second world war which he owned with his Bay Hunt Club hunting buddies.  He designed a bright yellow logo for the club and painted it on the driver's door.  He and his buddies used to drive it north of Lanark to their hunting camp and drive through the Clyde River, which at times came half way up the windshield of the truck.  Years later, they sold the truck, and I found it some time later at the War Museum in Ottawa.  There is a picture of me in evening attire stepping down from the truck, the only time I was ever in it.

4. My wedding pictures were taken by a student of Karsh, and the images won photography awards.  The photographer sold the rights to my wedding photos to a CD-ROM company, who released them on a license free CD worldwide.  Somewhere in Japan, there are probably busboards with my picture on them.....

5. I moved to the GTA to take a job running environmental programmes for industry, and launched an education initiative called Building a Sustainable Future, which awarded scholarships to students at the high school, college and university levels for their innovative environmental ideas. I sat on the executive boards of several environmental organizations, including The Canadian Brownfield Network, Energy Star and Ontario Centres of Excellence. 

6. An avid supporter of films, I won a Gold Remi award from the Wordfest International Independent Film Festival as Executive Producer of A Sustainable Future: The Story of the Earth Rangers, produced by Clare Productions.  I also served on the Board of Directors for Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Centre, and was a script consultant and executive producer in the early development for A Windigo Tale, the American Indian Film Festival's Best Picture film.

7. There is a running theme of rabbits through my life that is probably too crazy for a memoir, but I have drafted some of it anyway under the working title: One Rabbit.


The Versatile Blogger Award Rules:

• Display the Award Certificate (cut and paste it from my post)
• Write a post and link back to the blogger who nominated you – that’s me!
• Nominate 15 other bloggers
• Inform them of their nomination via comment on their blog
• Post 7 interesting things about yourself

Judgement Day

Today is the anniversary of the execution of King Charles I of England, that most majestic and complex of kings.  To many, a martyr who died for the cause of Royalty, and to some, an unbending tyrant who imposed his fanatical beliefs of divine right upon his people.  Given the confusion and paranoia of the times, I suspect the truth is somewhere in between.  This was, after all, the era of witch trials, religious persecution, gunpowder plots and assassination attempts. 

The execution of Charles I, 1649

Charles' grandmother, Mary Stuart, the infamous Queen of Scots, was the first reigning crowned head to be executed on a public scaffold (Henry VIII's wives being consorts).  The horror of precedent was not lost on Elizabeth I, her cousin, who prevaricated on the execution of the death warrant, even after what could be described as a balanced trial (Proof! Mr. Secretary, bring me that proof first!) established that Mary had plotted to assassinate Elizabeth, her cousin and Queen of England.  Only subterfuge by Elizabeth's counsellors finally ensured the execution.


Elizabeth Tudor's agony and fury upon discovering that the sentence had been carried out is testament to her foresight in recognizing the royal tragedy.  Kings were no longer above the law.

So it was for Charles.  His people saw fit to judge his actions as king, to blame him for political wrangling and subterfuge, spying and waging war on his subjects when they would not uphold his law.  Even today, we wrestle with these questions.  What is the balance between the needs of our leaders and the rights of our people?

In London, England, recently, to attend the Historical Novel Society conference, I managed to slip away from the fascinations of historical and story discussion, and visit the Banqueting House, the last surviving wing of Whitehall Palace and the place of King Charles I's execution.

By all accounts, Charles deported himself as a gentleman during his incarceration at Whitehall, and with dignity and courage on the day of his death.


 


And certainly the Banqueting House was the setting for it.  A posh place indeed with high white pillars and marble walls, carved details and priceless works of art, and to crown it all, King James I by Peter Paul Rubens, emerges majestic from the clouds on the ceiling above.

 

James Stuart was a true believer in the divine right of kings.  With John Donne's brilliant expostulations from the pulpit of St. Paul's, James practically invented the concept of kings who could rule unquestioned.  And he rewrote the bible to prove his point.  Only God's right hand would be worthy of such a task. 

Whitehall Palace, c. 1675

The Banqueting House is interesting for another reason.  It's easy to gaze up at the ceiling, lying in one of the bean bags strewn about the floor or gazing at one of the mirror stands installed for the purpose, and listen to the guides tell the story of Charles I's last walk through this hall, how this place was the site of his journey from a 'corruptible to an incorruptible crown', and forget that Whitehall was once a sprawling palace. 

Charles and his court lived here.  He and his wife, the venerable Henrietta Maria, raised their many children here, held masques, conducted the nation's business, and celebrated their daughter's wedding to William of Orange.


James I and his son Charles had been born in Scotland, but Charles' children had all been born in England: English princes, raised to serve the crown and uphold English law.  Two of Charles I's children- Charles and James- became English kings themselves, two- James and Mary- spawned three other English monarchs- William, Mary and Anne.  That is the legacy of Whitehall.

As the principal royal residence, Whitehall defined the richness, artistry, and beliefs of the Stuart monarchy in England.  And, as Charles I stepped out of the second floor window onto a scaffold this cold January day 366 years ago, and died boldly, with the dignity of his crown intact, he drew the admiration of adherents and enemies alike.  He had defined an age of elegance and royal manners that did not die with him. 

The Cromwell regime, for all its repudiation of the concept of monarchy, in the end was more a hiatus in the political arena than a lasting legacy.  It could ultimately not defeat that royal veneer.  Like the painted masterpiece on the ceiling of the Banqueting House, heralding the triumphant ascent of King James to the divinity that transcends earthly disruption, the monarchy in Britain endures; its dignity, pomp, veneration, for all its buffeting then and now, survives.  And we can thank Charles Stuart I for that.  For, like Britain herself, in dignity and duty and courage, he never flinched.

For more on the life and execution of Charles I:

Official Web site of the British Monarchy

The History Learning Site

Cryssa Bazos, 17th Century Enthusiast

@CharlesStuart42

BCW Project - British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate

Brittania

 

The Maple and the Ash

This Christmas, my sister Lorie gave us all a very special present: beautifully wrought wooden bowls.  These true gifts were crafted by my uncle, Bob Clayton, with wood from the maple tree we were forced to cut down in my mom’s front yard this past year.  

The maple tree was planted in 1978 by my father, to commemorate the marriage of my eldest sibling, Tom, to his wife Karen.  It was barely taller than me at the time. 






Me, with my sister Lorie 1981



As we grew, so did the tree, until it towered over the house.  My father would sit on the porch, stare at that tree, and say it was getting too big.  But he let it grow, for reasons I understood completely.  That tree was part of our family. 

Mom, with Lorie, Tom and baby Sally










In 2011, Dad and I sat on the porch of the home I grew up in, the house he bought with his pregnant wife over 50 years before, and where he had raised a family. 

 

The sun shone over the neighbourhood on a perfect July day, as if everything were going to be perfect, the birds singing, the grass lush and green, my mom’s roses in bloom.  Only now, my Dad knew he was dying and so was the tree.  It was my 50th birthday.  And Dad said, “I should have taken that tree down . . . I wanted to . . .”  He turned to look at me, and I understood the regret, the desire to preserve a life we all valued. 

 

And I said, “I will take care of it, Dad.”

 

 

He was 98 pounds by this time, the first I’d ever seen my Dad look old.  He passed away two months later from esophageal cancer. 

Landscapers came to assess the trees on my mother’s lot, and they agreed the maple must come down, and the many mature ash trees in the backyard would need to be treated to prevent infestation of the Emerald Ash Borer, now sweeping through Ontario.  It seemed to me that so much of what I thought was permanent was being eroded.

The Maple and the Ash

by SA Moore

 

Cut down,

because you towered over my mother's house;

the wedding that planted you

long since sprouted grandchildren

Housefront obscured

 

Infested,

because Chinese lumber is cheap;

fifty years at creekside

no match for foreign pests

Backyard at risk

 

Alone,

because black cells invaded my father’s stomach;

the marriage that made you

cut short to fifty-five years

Inside suspended 

 

After the tree was removed, the house seemed lonely and exposed.  The driveway was stacked with hunks of wood that had once been our tree.  The landscapers told us the centre of the tree had been rotting, but the limbs were solid.

My younger brother, John, began inviting people to take pieces of the tree, and his friends from my dad’s hunting camp and my uncle, a wood carver like my dad, obliged. 

 

To have a piece of that tree now in my house, and so beautifully crafted is a reminder of the values my dad and I shared.  Family comes first, true beauty lies in duty, and our place on this earth requires dedication . . . and sometimes, it requires letting go.

 

Writing Doesn't Have to Be a Solitary Act

The slogan for The Writers' Community of Durham Region is not just a mantra, it's a singular truth.  Writers often feel closeted in their passions.  We dream of other worlds as we examine the past, envision the future.  And sometimes we don't tell anyone for years at a time what's going on in our creative mind's eye.  We quietly, obediently live other lives, and do what reality requires on a daily basis.  But whenever we can, we take the opportunity to hide away and escape to that other world that accepts our musings as reality.  Our real reality.

The WCDR is holding a massive book fair in the Durham Region to encourage local writers to come out of the shadows and unveil their creative selves for the benefit of booklovers.  I will be joining over 80 others at UOIT to reveal the creative world that has captured me for so many years. 

The image above is a new drawing created by Brittany Leclerc and Amber Robinson of AmberAnimations which I will be unveiling at Bookapalooza on Saturday, November 22.  It is part of a collection of tapestry images that brilliantly unfold the story of my trilogy, Legend of Three Crowns.

Over the next few weeks, we will be posting these images in a new portal about the world of Aramanda, the princess and would be queen of three mythical kingdoms.  Legend of Three Crowns, Dark Lady and The Third Crown follow Aramanda through her early days as Princess of Lyxton, her contests with her brother, battles, dark secrets, mystical conquests, tragic love, and bitter struggles.  Palaces, court life, sumptuous balls, and sixteenth century towns come to life at the expert of hands of Amber and Brittany. 

We look forward to sharing these images with you on this site over the next two weeks.  I will be posting excerpts from Book One for you read and enjoy as we add the character portraits and scenes in vivid colour.  And, yes, there's even a booktrailer.  But if you can't wait, come to Bookapalooza and see them for yourself.  I will be at booth 45, beside the marvellous historical fiction writer, Elaine Couglar and across from the fabulous Writing Fairy and Booktrailer101.  We promise you a world of creative imagining and plenty of reveal about the secret musings of writers. And admittance is free!