Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Category: Nature (Page 10 of 20)

Grounding Myself Update

Back in September, I mentioned how I’ve been doing this whole literal grounding technique (full grounding post here, but in short it’s my attempt to put my feet on the actual earth everyday for a year). Okay, admission time: I haven’t been out everyday since the weather has turned cold, but I have been trying to get out at least every few days.

We had a bit of cold spell in November (like temps in 20’s and low 30’s for almost a week straight). This proved to be a slight deterrent, but didn’t totally derail my grounding. And just the other day, in December, we were back in the high 50’s. A good day to get out there in bare feet.

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Barefoot on the beach during an unseasonably warm October day.

A few tips if you ever decide to attempt such a crazy thing. Don’t go out in bare feet because any concrete, asphalt, unnatural surface will be colder than a natural one and will freeze your feet before you get to your intended spot (even throwing on sandals or slippers works). Scout out a good spot before going outside because that equals less time in the cold. Don’t go out when you’re already cold. A good time to venture out is right after a shower when you’ve still got the residual heat of the warm water.

So all in all the grounding is still happening, and I think I’m a more relaxed person for it (and getting heartier in the process). What have you been up to lately?

Staying Grounded

Okay, some blog tour stuff first (because I know you all are dying to hear more about my blog tour–hey, quit the groaning!). I’m over at the blog of Stuart R. West (who you all met last month when he guest blogged about Females in YA and his Tex, The Witch Boy books) offering some sage (I hope!) advice about book openings, including my favorite ones.

Now for the actual intended blatherings of today’s post…staying grounded. Earlier this summer I embarked on a mission to ground myself every day. No, not I-stayed-out-past-my-curfew-and-got-grounded kind of grounded. A more literal kind of grounded, as in putting my feet on the earth kind of grounding.

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The hubby and I getting grounded in St. Lucia.

There seems to be some legitimate(?) health benefits to this and certain techniques that are supposed to work (here’s one article about grounding techniques and another with some supposed health benefits). It’s all bit new agey for my sensibilities, but try to stay with me here because I think it might be working.

I’m not doing anything crazy, but simply going outside and touching my feet to the actual earth (grass, dirt, sand, etc…) for a few seconds every day. (Admittedly I’ve already missed a day here or there, but it’s more the spirit of the idea than being super strict about it.) I’m going to try and do this for a whole year. That’s it!

And you know what? I have been feeling a bit more grounded lately. Less stressed, more even-keeled, even with a lot going on in my professional life, a toddler to take care of, renovations on our attic, and my allergies going a bit wonky with the change in weather.

If I think about some of the most relaxed people I have ever come across, I go back to Tahiti or St. Lucia and the people of islands. You know what they do? They walk around barefoot a lot (granted they also live in a less stressed environment in general)!

So the only problem is I live in New England. The weather is still pretty nice right now, so it’s not hard to get out there barefoot. But I’m a warm-weather kind of girl…some years I barely make it through the winter without falling into that sun-deprived kind of depression. I like to be warm and get cold pretty easily. So I’m not making any promises come January when the temperatures drop into the 20’s and snow is on the ground.

Though my husband (who has been oddly enthusiastic about this whole thing…probably because he’s not the one putting his bare feet on the grass everyday) says he won’t let me get away with NOT doing it this winter. He’s even offered to keep a little spot of grass in the yard free of snow this winter (how generous of him…notice he hasn’t offered to do this grounding thing with me!). I’m committed but not crazy, so we’ll see how it goes.

What’s the strangest, craziest, weirdest thing you’ve committed yourself to?

Summer Update

Where did the week go? Where is the summer going? Spent a good part of the week offline, and boy, did I need that. In an effort not to be too neglectful of my dear blog readers, here’s a post in pictures.

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One of the reasons I’ve been so busy is I’ve been preparing for the paperback release of Elixir Bound this fall, including this massive blog tour! Stay tuned for more specific details on this. I have a feeling you all will be sick of me by the time September ends! 🙂

And now for some fun summer pics!

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What have you been up to this summer?

Alpaca Farming with Priscilla Brown Author of Anna and the Soap Opera

Please welcome back Priscilla Brown, author of the contemporary romances Anna and the Soap Opera (see my Goodreads review here) and Nothing But Love. Alpacas play an important role in Anna and the Soap Opera, and when I found out Priscilla actually owned alpacas, I just had to learn more about these adorable creatures. Welcome, Priscilla!

annaandthesoapopera200x300I didn’t know I was looking for a story idea when I saw a newspaper advertisement for a seminar on alpaca farming. But as I read the information, a plot began to form in my head: he owns an alpaca stud and the local council wants his land for development of some kind.

Attending the seminar sparked my interest in these charming animals; the next stop was the alpaca exhibition at a country show. There, I fell in love. She was young, pretty, friendly, with fine black fleece, and she was for sale. My suburban backyard being no place for an alpaca, I negotiated agistment with the owner. Deal done, this excited writer turned alpaca owner began a new journey.

I bought a second young female, and through my visits to my huggable investments, my interest and knowledge increased. These animals are intelligent and curious, with individual personalities and mostly nice natures. My girls (they are referred to as girls and boys) let me hug them; they are soft and warm. I helped at shearing by collecting and separating the shorn fleeces, which taught me about quality. My two alpacas matured, were mated, and had crias; my small herd expanded.

As I spent time with them, the alpaca stud story developed. I sat in the paddocks absorbing the ambience of the peacefully grazing animals, making notes and jotting down possible scenarios. Much of this did not get into the final narrative, as I reminded myself this story was a romance, not a treatise on alpacas. There were two occurrences which I was particularly fortunate to witness; while they did not fit into the plot, they did feed into my overall experience. The first was a birth; she was a first-time mother, and while naturally protective of the cria (baby), she appeared completely relaxed. The second took place in a paddock with mothers and young crias; the girls organized the youngsters together with one mother sitting with them, while the other mothers grazed undisturbed. Alpaca child care.

The fictitious farm needed a problem, and I didn’t want to write about the use of agricultural land for anything but agribusiness. And why ‘he’? I had no mind picture of a male farmer.

But suddenly ‘he’ became ‘she’; her image, backstory and current difficulties arrived neatly packaged. My fictitious alpaca breeder Anna had a house, a position as mayor of her small country town and huge financial problems dating from her backstory. These were not sufficient to provide sustainable conflict, and the male protagonist was missing. Then at a party on a blistering hot day, one of the men joked about doing the full monty—they didn’t. But Kyle did—enter into the story a sexy television entrepreneur with designs on Anna, her farm and her town, appearing on page one in the full monty. He was nothing to do with my personal alpaca experiences, but as the ‘soap opera’ progressed, he fitted into it well.

This story is an example of what writers are sometimes advised—‘write about what you know’. By the time I felt ready to start on it, I had picked up a quantity of information concerning alpaca husbandry, but there were still points which I researched to confirm and expand my knowledge. I loved writing about these appealing animals, making them the four-legged stars in the romance between Anna and Kyle.

Anna and the Soap Opera blurb:

Excited that television producer Kyle Kinross wants to shoot his blockbuster drama not only in her struggling country town but on her cash-strapped alpaca farm, Mayor Anna Marshall sees his company’s fee as a solution to financial predicaments. But can she survive accusations of payola? Is this sexy younger man buying her influence against community opposition, or could he possibly want her for the generous loving nature masked by her business suit?

Anna and the Soap Opera is available at the MuseItUp bookstore, Amazon, and other ebook retailers. Nothing But Love is also available at the MuseItUp bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and other ebook retailers.

NBLcoverAbout the Author:

Since coming first in English in Primary School, Priscilla resolved language would be her future. She majored in Literary Studies and added a Diploma in Migrant Teaching (English as a Second Language). Creative writing always beckoned, and, over time, she collected a box full of story ideas: a notebook crammed with fragments of dialog mostly garnered from eavesdropping in cafes; observations of people again from cafes and also public transport; pictures from magazines of potential characters and settings; possible names and titles. Moving house proved the catalyst for turning this hoard into “proper” stories. Packing, she spent too much time browsing through the box, and as soon as her new desk was organized, she embarked on a fiction writing career. Priscilla lives in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, where she does much listening, observing and writing over coffees in the many cafes.

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