Monday, June 14, 2021

Changing Blogs

As an author, I'm always searching for the best ways to promote my books. Blogging seems to be a good avenue to take. Even though Blogger has been working fine for me, I've decided to change to Wordpress because it looks a bit more professional. It reminds me of a "website" rather than a blog.  At first I was using Wordpress for posting about my books only, but I've decided to start blogging about things I've learned while researching for each of my books and other things I'm interested in, such as writing about your ancestors and other interesting facts. I have titled this blog: Author Linda Weaver Clarke, Author of Sweet Romance and Mystery.

 

Check out my Wordpress blog at: https://lindaweaverclarke.wordpress.com.

Read my newest blog post at: https://lindaweaverclarke.wordpress.com/giveaways-books-audios

And you can follow me, as well. I hope you stop by and check out my blog. Hope you like it.

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Who Are Your Ancestors

Learning about your ancestors can be so much fun. When it comes to genealogy, you probably wonder where to start, especially if you’re a beginner. When I first became interested in my ancestors, I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I needed some help. So I became a volunteer at the Family Search Center and was taught how to help the visitors who came into the center. That was the beginning of a marvelous experience. The Family Search genealogy website is free to the public at www.FamilySearch.org. There are no fees. Even with covid19 and being closed during the past year, we are still helping people who call in.


How do you begin?

1. Create a username and password.

2. Fill in the information about yourself, your parents, and grandparents. Record two to four generations of your family, including children.

3. You can upload photos, documents, stories, and audios to the pages of your family members in the section labeled “Memories.” Preserve original photographs by scanning them at 300 dpi and uploading them to Memories. This should be your number one priority. If you don’t record these memories, they will be lost.


Only deceased people are visible to the public on FamilySearch. Anyone who is still living that you added to your family tree will not be visible to the public. It will only be visible to you. This is for the privacy of that person. Don’t get overwhelmed with too many projects! As you gradually become confident, you can set more goals such as researching your family’s history. Work on “Memories” first and make that your number one priority.


What is Genealogy? “Genealogy is the study of a family’s origins and history and is often referred to as a family history.  The first known use was in the 14th century to display a pedigree of royal, aristocratic, or clerical bloodlines as a means of gaining and commanding respect.   Some family trees, like that of Confucius, have been found to list 80 generations dating back 2,500 years.” –FamilySearch



Writing a Biography


Have you considered writing a biography of your parents or ancestors? Whether you’re writing a story about a loved one or your own autobiography, you might feel that it is overwhelming. I have an idea. If you have an inspiring story to tell or intriguing incident to describe, perhaps writing each experience as short stories would be easier for you rather than beginning at birth and listing everything they did chronologically. Each chapter could be a short story.


How do you organize your story to make it interesting? First thing to do is divide it into four sections.


1. The hook: Introduce your character. Tell something interesting about him or her.


2. Develop your Character: What does he look like? What was his personality like?


3. Construct Events: It sets the stage for what you’re about to tell your reader, leading up to the purpose of the story.


4. Present the Theme of the Story: The character should be faced with a decision to make or a problem to solve, etc. This is the plot of the story.


Remember! Write your story in narrative style rather than just adding facts. Keep it interesting. Add description. Here is an example of facts only:


Marcus was asked to bury the skunks his father had shot. Before burying them, he would drain their scent into a bottle first. When he took the skunk oil to school with him to show his friends, he accidentally dropped it and it splattered all over the floor. It smelled so bad that the teacher excused school for the rest of the day. His friends considered him a hero because he had gotten everyone out of school.

 

Now… taking these facts, I narrated this story and added description. This is how my father’s short story turned out.

When Marcus was thirteen, one day he closed down the school. It wasn’t on purpose, but his friends thought he was a hero. Marcus was asked to bury the skunks that his father had shot. Before he buried these skunks, he went to his bedroom and got his glass jar. Then he drained their scent glands and screwed on the lid nice and tight.

 

The following day, he took the “skunk oil” to school with him to show his classmates. Marcus was so excited as he explained what he had done. His friends were listening and a few girls were peeking over his shoulder. They had never seen “skunk oil” before. With all the excitement and attention he was receiving, he felt the bottle slip from his hands and land on the floor of the schoolroom.

 

The bottle broke into a million pieces and skunk oil splattered everywhere. It landed on the pant legs of his friends, the skirts of young girls standing nearby, and on his own shoes. As the oil saturated the wooden floor, the children moaned as the room filled with the most putrid, foul, disgusting, detestable odor anyone had ever breathed in. 

 

The children instantly held their noses with their fingers and turned and ran out the door, stumbling over one another as they ran. Marcus was close behind. And so was the teacher! She excused school for the rest of the day and Marcus did not get into trouble. He figured the children were so excited to get out of school that no one told on him. 

 

Don’t forget to add photos to the biography. Pictures help to bring a story to life. 


FREE online classes at FamilySearch!


Classes are taught daily at 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time at

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/St_George_Utah_FamilySearch_Center.

 

To see what classes are taught each day, click “Online Classes.” Then click “Class Schedule.” To join a class, click “Join Current Class.” You can listen to the instructor and join in the conversation because it will be live. The teacher can answer any questions you have. The two classes I teach each month are Writing Your Biography and Publishing Your Biography. 

 

Bio of Linda Weaver Clarke: I was raised in the Rocky Mountains of Southern Idaho and now live among the red desert hills of Southern Utah. I am the author of 32 books and 28 Audible audiobooks: Historical Romance, Cozy Mystery, Swashbuckling Romance, Historical Mystery Romance, a Children’s Book, and Nonfiction. I work at the St. George Family Search Center where I help people find their ancestors so they can learn about their heritage. Every month I teach a class at the Center that is free to the public. I believe it is important to learn about our ancestors.

An Awesome Show

 Hello Everyone! I would like to share something with you. The Chosen is a marvelous show that is touching many hearts. And it is changing many lives, as well. I have watched this show several times and each time I learn something new. Some scenes are humorous while other scenes are full of emotion and bring tears to my eyes. I have fallen in love with each of the characters. This is a fun Sunday activity for the whole family. Check it out. "Come and See!"

Season 1

Season 2




Thursday, February 25, 2021

From One Small Garden


Lillian and her husband Dave are the team behind Brummet Media Group, high-fiving cheerfully as they pass each other on the way from checking off one item or other from their long to-do list. After moving to their dream location (in the Kootenay Region of BC, Canada), they have been methodically converting the abused lot over to the little park it has become – and in doing so have gained certification with bee, pollinator and wildlife organizations. Their home, too, has become energy efficient via the many upgrades they have done. Their business includes Dave’s music studio and percussion accessory products and graphic design work as well as numerous award-winning non-fiction books and popular blogs. Today we help them celebrate their latest book release - From One Small Garden, with over 300 delicious, nutritious recipes!

 

Dehydrating Garden Harvests

 

Owning a small dehydrator can avert a great deal of kitchen food waste, and you’ll never have to pass up people offering you their garden extras again. Also, leftovers from meals can be easily dehydrated and used later for on-the-go situations like backpacking or snowshoeing.

 

After dehydrating any vegetable, use a blender, or grinder, to create a fine powder, and store in separate jars. Every year we dehydrate at least one jar each of chopped sweet peppers, hot peppers and ripe tomatoes. If any recipe calls for chopped chilies or peppers, fresh or 'sun-dried' tomatoes, we can easily substitute with a dried version. We also have a jar of mixed vegetable powder; using a few teaspoons of this mixture in homemade stocks for more flavour or to help thicken and enrich stews and soups. Simply reconstitute powders by covering in a little boiled water for a few minutes. (Reserving any excess water to use as stock.)

 

Adding tomato powder to hamburger patties or meatballs makes for an entirely different, delicious experience. It also works as a fantastic thickener for salsas or tomato sauces that are a little too watery. Also, in a pinch, 1/4 cup of reconstitute tomato powder can be used in place of a small can of tomato paste.

 

Try rehydrating a few tablespoons of dry product with a small amount of water, making a paste to rub onto chicken breasts or roasts before cooking. Alternatively, add a little to store bought chicken coating mixes. In our latest release, a recipe collection of over 300 delicious, nutritious meals (From One Small Garden) we have a great recipe for making your own mix.

 

So, next time you see a great sale during peak harvest season, or a neighbor threatens to give you another box of vegetables, bring out the dehydrator and get it going!

 


Links: 

Available at AMAZON USAhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T7YRHPN

AMAZON CANADAhttps://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08T7YRHPN

Amazon Author Page: https://amazon.com/author/lillianbrummet

Brummet's Website: http://BrummetMedia.ca

FaceBook: http://facebook.com/lillian.brummet

 

The Secret of Writing a Biography

 

Have you considered writing a biography of your parents, grandparents, or your own life story? Whether you’re writing a story about a loved one or your own autobiography, you want to make the story intriguing for your readers. But it seems overwhelming to you. Right?

 

If you have an interesting character to write about, an inspiring story to tell, and an intriguing incident to describe… perhaps writing their experiences as short stories would be easier for you. Each chapter could be a short story. Creating a short story for each chapter might be easier than beginning at birth and listing one thing after another chronologically. I have a few tips to help you. Visit my WordPress Author Blog to read the whole article and learn more.

 

Monday, February 15, 2021

Beloved of the Bridegroom: Mary Magdalene

EBook Giveaway: Feb 15 – 22. Leave a comment and your email below, so an eBook can be sent to you as a gift.

 

Jewel Adams is a wife, the mother of eight children, and a grandmother. She has been writing inspirational romance for over twenty years and has over forty published works. She is an inspirational and motivational speaker to both youth and adult audiences. 

 

Always one to share a message of God’s love through her stories, Jewel is a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She loves the Lord with all her heart and has experienced many blessings and miracles in her life because of that love, and she is secure in the knowledge of God’s love for her and all men. In her spare time, you can find Jewel curled up with a good book and a healthy stash of orange Tic Tacs. She and her family reside in Utah. 

 

Mary Magdalene: You think you know me. You may think you know my story. But you don’t. There have been many things said about me, about my life–things that have been taught and touted as truth, lies that have been received and then retaught as fact. It is a human weakness to accept writings of antiquity with assured certainty, never questioning the validity of said writings. As a result, the tangled web that is woven ensnares the mind and heart, leaving no room for question. Nor room for God’s answers.

 

To the world, my life is a mystery–a fabricated one, but a mystery, nonetheless. Only a precious enlightened few know my heart. And only they possess the gift of discernment to know what is real. As for the rest, allow me to humbly set the record straight. Some hearts may not be open to my words. But no matter. Hidden truths will always be brought to light. And my story has been suppressed long enough.

 

"Mary Magdalene: Beloved of the Bridegroom is a sweet novella that follows a possible life path of one of the bravest heroines of the Bible. Mary Magdalene is heroic and courageous, learning and growing through the course of this tender love story." ~Loralee Evans, author

 

This is not the only book that Jewel Adams has written about a noble female character from the Bible. After much research, she wrote a book called: Women of Wisdom: Courage and Virtue. This book is about the lives of four women whom she admired: Eve, Ruth, Esther, and Mary... the mother of the Savior. 

 

When asked why she wrote this book, Jewel said, “These four holy women have greatly influenced my own life, and thoughts of their examples touch me so much, I can hardly find the words to express my feelings. Each of them owns a special place in my heart, and I don’t even know where to begin to share it. This small booklet contains personal, spiritual thoughts about four righteous women in the Bible…why I love them, and how they touched my life.

 

Jewel has many fans. One of her readers wrote: “Please never cease to bless us with your amazing stories, full of true love and wisdom." - Janel, a fan

 

Check out Jewel Adam’s Website.