Send 'em South!

     The Aldermere Achievers 4-H Club members have worked hard in preparation for this day.  They fly to Louisville, Kentucky (their cows went on ahead with Ron and Jake) to compete at the North American International Livestock Expo. 
  

   

Alice, Addie, Erin, Ellie, Frances, Tyler, Sam, and Lucy with leader Heidi and Randi in pre-show meeting.

     This trip is the culmination of not just their regular show season in New England, but preparing their animals (and themselves) since the end of last year’s show season. 

     Their heifers and steers have been trained and conditioned to represent the Belted Galloway breed, Aldermere Farm, and Maine in the best possible light.

     Their own involvement in 4-H has included participation in youth events and competitions, conferences, community service projects, and excursions. These activities included sales and marketing presentations, Livestock Knowledge Bowls, the Mentor Program, fitting and showmanship, animal husbandry and herd management classes, photography and art, and even a cooking contest with our naturally raised Belted Galloway Beef. The club has enjoyed many enriching experiences, taken home awards, and one of our members even won the Sportsmanship Award at the Skowhegan Fair in August. They visited farms, and made many friends across New England.

     They have, through various fundraising events over the past year, such as public dinners, raffles, the farmstand at Aldermere Farm, and the kind support of local businesses, friends, and families, raised the cost of this trip.

     All of the members (and their parents) thank the Baker and Howard families; Heidi, Ron, Jake, Dwight, and all of the staff at Aldermere Farm.  With out their constant guidance and support none of this would be possible.  Most especially Sonja, who is an unfailing voice of enthusiasm, and Farm Stand Fairy Extraordinaire!  

Special thanks to Randie, Matt, Raymond, Jeff, Kevin, Sarah, and Amy for all the efforts and support!

It's going to be a good time!  

Spooktacular Giveaway Winner Announced!

Congratulations to Martine, winner of a $20.00 Amazon Gift Card 

in the 

Spooktacular Giveaway Hop!

Thank you all for participating!  Two more Gift Card Giveaways in November!

I am Proud of America

Guest blog post by Frances Pendleton (gr. 8). Frances' essay has been selected to be read at the Veteran's Day Assembly at Camden Rockport Middle School.

I am Proud of America 

by Frances Pendleton

America is a country to be proud of.  The red, white, and blue.  The stars and stripes.  Our flag isn’t just colors and shapes, it is a symbol of freedom, respect, equal rights, and justice.  When people all over the world look at our flag they think the same thing.  People know America and Americans will fight and die to help them, keep them safe, give them equal rights, shelter, food, water, and education.  I am proud of my country because of what we stand for, the differences we have made, and the improvements we are working toward for the future.

Even before America was a country, it and its people stood for freedom.  Americans fought and died so they could say their own pledge, and pray to whoever they wanted to every night.   In 235 years America has changed, and we have given equal rights to all our citizens.  We no longer have slavery, women and African Americans are considered equal and can vote , and we recently elected the first black President.  235 years later we are still fighting for the same thing, but for other people all over the world.

In the past, America has given much to other countries.  Haiti and Japan have both suffered horrible disasters and America was there to help. We gave them more than we had, risked the health of volunteers, and the time and services of our soldiers and doctors.  I am proud of this because we put those countries first and asked for nothing in return.

Even in my school, the qualities of America shows.  We have food drives, pet food drives, toys for tots, and many other ways to give to the community.  I believe my school is so caring because they are watching what their country is doing.  America has many organizations that are trying to solve the many issues of the world.  America isn’t only making a difference, it is inspiring others to care and take action as well.

America may not be perfect, but it is pretty close.  I know that whatever my country is doing, it is trying to help.  The things we have done in the past, what we are doing in the present, and what we are working towards for the future are things to be proud of.  I am proud to say that I’m an American.

The Fence

   

       The stranger swore his innocence to the end but the hanging commenced without mercy on the Village Green.  It took a long time, and many turned their backs to the gallows, uncomfortable.  
     "Cursed be Ye'," he rasped, his face mottled with hopeless fury.  A final shudder, and he was dead.  Those who saw his bulging eyes gape open one last time wished they hadn't. 
     Clive, the town's blacksmith and gravedigger, cut down the body, gave it a kick, to check, and hefted it to the waiting cart. The crowd dispersed as the oxen carried the stranger's remains away.
     Impatient to get back to the tavern and partake in the merrymaking of the spontaneous event, Clive passed the church graveyard with a grimace. He resented the extra distance to the unmarked hole at the edge of town but there was naught for it.  The stranger would not be buried in the churchyard.  Only townspeople and members of the congregation were buried in the Church's shadow and afforded the protection of the iron fence surrounding the small graveyard.  Criminals and paupers went to the swamp.  
     Clive cursed the slow oxen and slapped their haunches all the way to the intended plot. He backed the cart as close as he could to the shallow grave and shoved the body to the ground. 
     A stupid and greedy man, he checked the pockets of the stranger first. He found a coin and pocketed it, but was disappointed until he pried open the stranger's mouth.  Three gold teeth glinted. He yanked them out quickly with the forceps he wore on his belt.
     He rolled the body into the grave, spat, and hastily refilled the hole.  Soon he was on his way.
     Feeling rich with his scavenged gains he spent much coin that night, filling his tankard again and again with bitter autumn ale. By all witness accounts, he left the tavern in a boisterous, jovial mood.

* * * 

     The next morning the townsfolk found Clive by the Churchyard on the frost-covered ground, his iron forceps beside him, rusty with dried blood and bits of tissue. Every tooth in his head gone, his jaw gaped empty but for the bloody pits.

     Had Clive understood the protective properties of iron better he might have survived that fateful fall night.   The iron fence around the graveyard doesn't keep evil out - it keeps it in.

Authorities Investigate Reports Count Olaf is Impersonating Lemony Snicket

     Authorities are reacting to rumors that Count Olaf is impersonating children's author Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket. 
     "What other conclusion can be reached?" whisper parents.  Children are being indoctrinated to support Occupy Wall Street protests by videos released by Handler/Snicket.
     Count Olaf, the nefarious character, has been heard to say,"All that I ask is that you do each and every little thing that pops into my head, while I enjoy the enormous fortune your parents left behind."
    Comments on Snicket's website fuel rumors: Written in Snicket’s trademark black comedic voice, the observations range from the instructive to the cheeky: “People who say money doesn’t matter are like people who say cake doesn’t matter — it’s probably because they’ve already had a few slices,” he writes.
     "Sounds like Olaf to me," one child was heard to say, looking around nervously. 
     As kids continue to watch the Occupy Wall Street movement unfold around the world, Snicket isn’t the only one trying to teach them what anti-capitalism means reports warn, echoing the eerily similar statements made in the past by the count and his troupe who openly discussed his intentions to embezzle the Baudelaire children's inheritance.  Authorities worry Count Olaf has crafted a grand scheme to steal all children's inheritance.  Signs at protests support the confiscation of estates.
     Has Olaf has reassembled his gang of shady accomplices?  Sightings of freakish characters resembling Count Olaf's theater troupe, described as a motley crew which includes a man with hooks for hands, a bald man with a long nose, two women with white-powdered faces, and one who is so obese as to resemble neither man nor a woman, surface at protests. 
     Authorities warn parents and children to be on the lookout for Olaf and his accomplices, which will be difficult as Olaf and his ilk are masters of disguise, and have escaped capture thus far.  

Mother told me there'd be days like these

   

   

    October.  Busy time of year. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. Dead. Lines. I just process 'em - I have a friend who deals with the ones who go over the wall. 

     Dead.    Lines.

     Lost souls get backed up if you don't stay right on top of them. This one isn't happy with where they are going. That one has unfinished business. blah blah blah. The whining gets to you. Now serving number 8,936, 472, 785. Next.

     Days like this I need an assistant but good help is so hard to find. Most applicants see the position as a stepping stone, and corporate sabotage is always a concern. Some would lift your best spells and curses, some are just using you to climb the corporate ladder - they don't know the back door is at the top. Some have aspirations of Disney. Not everyone is a Sabrina but they don't want to hear the truth.

     My left arm for a Renfield. Yeah, he had a few problems, needed occasional stroking and fresh blood, but all in all he was a loyal employee fulfilled by his career choice.

Darkness in the Hills

The Warriors spread in formation searching a mountain slope. Each craggy rock face and chasm, each ridge and depression. Evil touched the air, but it the source was indeterminable. A foul whiff, but nothing strong enough to follow.                   

The Keeper and the Alabaster Chalice

The Keeper and the Alabaster Chalice   (Kindle)
    The Keeper and the Alabaster Chalice    (Nook)
The Keeper and the Alabaster Chalice     (iTunes)

Book II of The Black Ledge Series

Tragic Magic

     A deafening crack shook the kitchen. Harriet glanced around the kitchen with anticipation for what she'd conjured, but when her eyes rested upon it, her spirits sank.
     The bunny twitched his nose and gave her a baleful look.
     Darn it. Money, not bunny.
     The old kitchen was hot from the fire.  Harriet waved the smelly fumes away and wiped the perspiration from her forehead. Charred and tattered, her sleeve left a streak of soot on her face. She turned the book and re-read the spell: 
     Two eyelashes from a Pekin duck and the snout of a dead trout. Bring to bubbling boil, remove immediately from heat, stirring in a - rats! A gold feather - not an old feather.
     Well, this wasn't going to work - that was the last of the eyelashes. Now what? 
     She needed cash - not the least of which was to get some more eyelashes. 
     She eyed the bunny, thinking. He eyed her back, not liking what she was thinking...

to be continued

Tragic Magic II

Tragic Magic III

Columbus Day

     

    He wasn't the first, you know.  Like the travel section feature on a new watering hole, he screwed it up for those of us already here. No. There is no valet parking. No. There's no drink special. Or Aztec gold. Or Fountain of Youth.

     Indies? Yeah, take a left at the second atoll.

     He wasn't so easily misdirected.

     We even tried the "I think I hear Ferdinand calling you" bit. Didn't work.

     He was on a mission. He had the funding. His sales pitch was strong. That the Earth was round was heady stuff to Isabella.  A variation on we have trouble in River City. Well, good for you. If this doesn't work out you might consider a career in telemarketing.

      So Columbus made several trips to the new world in search of land and riches. 

      But the girls all got prettier at closing time - or someone did. Modern epidemiological evidence indicates Columbus' men took syphilis home with them, later resulting in the deaths of five million across Europe.

      Gives new meaning to Last Call.

                                

Magical Blog Award!

 Gustatus Similis Pullus is thrilled to receive the

Magical Blog Award 

by Artist and Writer Deirdra Eden Coppel at A Storybook World .   

Deirdra is a fresh new author with a strong voice and a passion for creative marketing in a changing literary world. She works full time as a professional writer and illustrator. In 2009 she began creating animation for e-books.

For more information visit her art gallery at www.Knightess.com

Thank you, Deirdra, for this award!  We're honored!

Five Chances to Win!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Slow Boat to Purgatory

by Vernon Baker

Giveaway ends October 25, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Catastrophic

     The mole scurried back under the garbage bin clutching a limp brown cucumber peeling. 
     Smokey stretched, eying him from his perch atop the bin, but the stretch was the only effort the cat had any intention of expending. The mole was too scrawny, more bone than than meat.

     A loud crash spun Smokey's head toward the back yard.  Smoke billowed and curled, and the cat hackled. Fear clutched what was left of his black heart and he leapt to the ground.   He sidled along the fence toward the hollering and clamor, alert to likely danger manufactured by the beastly children. 
     The mole peeked out, sniffed, and scuttled back to the safety of his lair.
     Smokey slunk, ears up and whiskers testing.  A piece of smoldering cardboard floated through the air, dropping charred chunks hither and yon.  Hollering turned to delighted laughter as another resounding boom echoed.
     "Aim it away from the house!" 
     "I tried.  It flipped over."
     Smokey peered through the broken slat.  Three grubby boys gathered 'round a piece of plywood balanced on crooked sawhorses.  One taped a soda bottle to a fresh piece of cardboard, taking care not to cover the short fuse stemming from the bottle's neck. 
     This wasn't going to end well.  Smokey quickly retreated, seeking refuge under the overgrown shrubs encroaching the rotting front steps.  As he disappeared into the swale he had a quick vision of the mole disappearing beneath the bin.  He dismissed it -  it wasn't the same thing at all.

Cataclysmic 

The Trappings of Christmas

More Questions

Maine Coon Cats, like Patters, share DNA with the Norwegian Forest Cat. Did the modern day breed originate with trans-Atlantic travel thousands of years ago? Did cats return with the Red Paint People? 

One wonders.

Nob, Midgard Serpent of Penobscot Bay

  

Without warning she dove ahead of Jack, reared out of the water and threw her arms wide, obstructing his path as a triangular head broke the surface.

It was that of a dragon, with horns decorating its thick brow, and heavily lidded eyes. As its serpentine body rose from the depths one could see wing-like fins on its sides.

Jack froze, and Ringo backed toward Willow and Flora. Rob leapt from Sargent’s back and ran into the water.

Baelhar and two Elves materialized above Jack, swords drawn.

Meg kept her hands in the air, shielding Jack from the dragon. She waved one behind her, indicating everyone should be still. “What brings you inland, Mighty Nob?” she asked the beast.

“The seas are unsettled. Strife comes this way,” it said. When it spoke the words rolled together in a deep rumble.

“You can’t stay in the River,” she said. “You’ll be seen.”

“I cannot stay in the Bay. Who is it you shield?” He stretched his neck trying to see beyond her.

Jack tensed, but stayed still.

“Humans who are aware. Camedon won’t thank you for hurting them, or any others.”

The dragon snorted. “I don’t eat humans. Nasty things.”

Illustration by Thomas Block

 for

The Keeper and the Alabaster Chalice   (Kindle)
    The Keeper and the Alabaster Chalice    (Nook)
The Keeper and the Alabaster Chalice     (iTunes)

Book II of The Black Ledge Series

Interview with Vernon Baker

An interview with Vernon Baker, author of 

Slow Boat to Purgatory. 

Tell us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up? You're a Red Sox fan - how does a California kid become a Red Sox fan?

• • Well, I grew up in Southern California. We moved to Maine in 2001 when we found our property and fell in love with the Maine coast. In summer, that is. My family is all from the East coast - Boston, the Cape, and so I was indoctrinated into Redsox nation from day one. 
    
    

Who was Vernon Baker before he was a writer? 

• • Ha! I like the sound of that, “writer”. I have done a lot of different things up to this point, from law enforcement to owning a handful of businesses. I've been an entrepreneur my whole life, which I think is going to pay off in my new career as a writer. These days, being an author means being in business for yourself. That excites me almost as much as the writing.

Can you tell us a little bit about this book? 

• • Slow Boat To Purgatory is Book One in a series that features three main characters. 
    
    
    The first is Gaspar de Rouse, an immortal Templar Knight who is murdered in 1291 after he is entrusted with an earth shattering secret. He’s resurrected by an archangel and given a second chance to redeem himself. 
    
    
    The second character is Alex Dononvan. Alex is a former Navy Seal who retired after a disastrous mission that left his team dead and him with a career-ending injury. Alex's grandfather dies and leaves him a vast fortune, but more importantly, an ancient manuscript that tells the story of Gaspar. Alex, as his grandfather was, becomes enthralled with the story and sets off to find the immortal knight.
    
    
    The third character is Dominicus Bureau, a catholic priest who belongs to a modern day version of the Knights Templars, one that has been in pursuit of Gaspar, and the secret he guards, for hundreds of years. 
    
    
    All three of these very dangerous men are on a collision course that I am enjoying scripting.

You and Gaspar were "acquainted" for a while before you told his story? What inspired you to set pen to paper?  

• • I have been writing little snippets featuring Gaspar for about three years. One day a couple of years ago I saw Gustave Dore’s illustration of Charon, the boatman from Dante’s Inferno and the idea for Slow Boat To Purgatory began to germinate. It took root when I ended up putting Gaspar into Charon’s boat.

Describe your typical writing day. What time of day do you write? 

• • My writing day? Ha! My wife and I have two children, a four year old and an eight month old. Plus I have my day job running a small resort and my night job running a restaurant. Writing happens when I am able to catch a breath and a clear headed moment. I do make myself write every day, something, anything. And I try to read something everyday. I guess most of it gets done at night when the house is quiet. I write large chunks in the winter when our businesses are closed. There’s nothing better than handwriting while sitting with your toes buried in sand. 

 You've done an enormous amount of research for Gaspar's story. Tell us about that.

• • As far as research goes, I thank Al Gore every night for the internet. I have been lucky enough to have traveled to many of the places I write about and my hope is that I am able to sell enough books that I can continue to travel to far flung corners of the world on “research” trips.

What are you working on now?

 

• • I’m working on two things currently. I am about 40% of the way through “The Arimathean” which is the follow-up to Slow Boat, Book Two in the series. That should be in print by Christmas, depending on whether our eight-month-old starts sleeping or not. I’m also working on another book that features an angel who wakes up in a monastery and has no idea why he is on earth. Very fast paced, a little more violent than Slow Boat, kind of a Jason Bourne with wings.

What music do you listen to when you write?

• • I love the Pandora music service. It allows you to make your own radio stations around certain songs or styles of music. I have about fifteen different stations that range from Satie and chanting monks to Whitsnake. The strength of the vibrations rattling the window panes depends on my mood or the scene I’m writing. I also like listening to John Powell or Hans Zimmer type music and visualizing my writing transformed into movies. Fun stuff.

Tell us about the Guardian Angel to whom you've dedicated you book.

• • Well, we all have a guardian angel. Mine just happens to be my wife. Cat’s and their nine lives have nothing on me.

Vernon Baker 

Find out more about Vernon Baker and Slow Boat to Purgatory HERE
and Vernon Baker, Dreams and Beaujolais

Slow Boat to Purgatory is available in print or digital format at:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

The Graves

                     

Eleanor looked to Rob, who shrugged, and she turned south.

                      She slowed the small boat as they neared the jagged ledges. The

                      waves churned, tugging the craft to a smashed and splintered

                      end, but Eleanor held the whaler steady as she circled the treacherous

                      cropping. Her white knuckles clenched the tiller handle’s

                      twist grip against the pull—or maybe the stories of The Graves

                      were getting to her. Eleanor wanted to leave this place. She was

                      relieved to see no sign of life. Nothing stirred. Not even seabirds

                      lingered in the forsaken spot.

The Keeper and the Alabaster Chalice   (Kindle)
    The Keeper and the Alabaster Chalice    (Nook)
The Keeper and the Alabaster Chalice     (iTunes)

Midsummer's Eve Giveway ...

.. has ended. Thank you everyone for participating. I will announce the winner shortly!

And ... our 19th entrant (June 21 at 9:22:21), Raelena, is the lucky winner!

Again, thank you all for participating!

UNATTENDEaD

Bodies don't bother Dell, but some of the people who made them that way really try her patience. Dell, and her best friend Miles, who hates bodies, solve the mystery surrounding a suspicious UNATTENDEaD death.

Kurt Vonnegut - The Shapes of Stories

I rarely post media. I thought this was delightful.

Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories

www.youtube.com

Short lecture by Kurt Vonnegut.

The Splash into Summer giveaway has ended ...

Thank you to all participants! The Winner will be announced tomorrow! Again, thank you. That was fun!


***Congratulations to Charla! Thanks so much, one and all, for entering. I will be hosting another giveaway - the Midsummer's Eve Giveaway later in June. Please come back and enter again!