Donkeys (asses) are domesticated members of the horse family.
Male donkeys are called “jacks” and are sometimes bred with horses to create mules. Females are “jennys” and the young are “foals”.
Donkeys are often kept in fields with sheep to protect the sheep from predators such as wolves or coyotes.
Despite having a reputation of being stubborn, they can be willing and companionable partners.
Chipmunks are members of the Sciuridae family. These small, striped rodents are primarily found in North America .
They primarily eat nuts, seeds and fruit and other plant matter. Like their larger squirrel cousins, they have pouches on the insides of their cheeks so they can carry multiple items back to their larder in one trip.
Chipmunks can be coaxed to take food from humans and can be kept in captivity. In the wild, their life span is about three years but in captivity, they can live up to nine years.
Badgers are short-legged, nocturnal omnivores that belong to the same family as otters, polecats, weasels and wolverines.
Some of the Eurasian badgers (like the one pictured below) can tip the scales at 40 pounds!
Badgers live in burrows called setts and many have been culled in Europe and the United Kingdom to prevent the spread of rabies and bovine TB.
They are fierce and will go to great extents to protect themselves and their young but can be tamed as kept as pets.
Aardvarks are native to Africa. They’re a medium-sized, nocturnal mammal with a long pig-like snout, which they use to sniff out food. Their diet consists of ants and termites, dug out of their hills using their sharp claws and powerful legs. Their digging ability is also used to create burrows to live in and raise their offspring.
Once again, I’m taking part in the #AtoZChallenge. Last year my subject matter was random, whatever struck my fancy for each letter of the alphabet.
This year, I’ve decided to do a theme for the month – Animals!
Here is the schedule for 2015…
Follow me throughout April and see what I’ve chosen for my Animal of the Day.
There were a number of things that influenced and inspired me to write my debut novel, A Shadow in the Past. Here are some of them.
Start with one spooky, derelict mansion…
Add one ancient stone circle…
Sprinkle in a narrow country lane…
Lined with ghostly trees…
Add a generous dollop of old graveyard…
One full-sized headstone…
Spice it up with a village hall…
One lunatic asylum…
One small country church…
And lastly a smidgeon of Aberdeen…
Mix well.
Add characters…
Let all the ingredients simmer then write, write some more, re-write, re-write some more.
When finished it looks like this…
Blurb:
Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages, powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.
Where to buy:
4RV Publishing: http://www.4rvpublishingcatalog.com/robertson-king.php
ChaptersIndigo: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/A-Shadow-In-The-Past-Melanie-Robertson-king/9780983801887-item.html?ikwid=a+shadow+in+the+past&ikwsec=Home
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-shadow-in-the-past-melanie-robertson-king/1112348992?ean=9780983801887
A Shadow in the Past is also available at amazon for the Kindle (using the same links), Barnes & Noble for the nook, Kobobooks, and the iBookstore.
Blurb:
For twenty-two years Beverly taught children in grades two through five how to read and write. They taught her patience. Now, she teaches a women’s Sunday school class at her church. To relax she plays the piano. Her cats don’t appreciate good music and run and hide when she tickles the ivories.
Only one woman could hurt ultra-alpha bad boy Jake Braden.
Only one woman can heal him.
Fiona Steele has arrived…
Fiona Steele has a great career, strong friendships, and a loving family. To an outsider, her life appears happy and fulfilling. But the one thing that’s missing is true love, and the only man Fiona wants is the one she can’t have, sinfully handsome and seductively intense Jake Braden—the man whose heart she broke, which she has regretted ever since.
As an LA stuntman, Jake Braden’s at the top of his game. He’s hired for all the best movies, hooks up with the hottest women, and lives an unencumbered lifestyle where his needs come first—and where he doesn’t have to examine his life too closely. Except when he visits his family in his close-knit hometown of Trusty, Colorado, where he spends his time avoiding Fiona—the only woman who knows who he really is.
When Fiona’s best friend is hired to act in Jake’s movie, Fiona jumps at the chance to try to win him back. There’s no denying the white-hot attraction burning between them. With every encounter, Fiona hopes Jake can’t resist falling back into the love they once shared. But her well-orchestrated rendezvous doesn’t go over well with the brooding heartthrob. Living in the fast lane is perfect for a guy who’s buried his emotions so damn deep he’s not sure he can remember how to feel—and he’s not sure he ever wants to.
BUY LINKS
Amazon
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About Melissa Foster
Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women’s fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café and Fostering Success. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.
Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.
Visit Melissa on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.
Authors Links:
Sign up for Melissa’s newsletter to stay up to date with releases and giveaways
http://www.melissafoster.com/newsletter/
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GIVEAWAY!
(3ecopies of the previous book in the series – Dreaming of Love)
In 1869, the Earth experiences the close pass of a new comet. In its wake, thousands of Terra’s inhabitants find themselves strangely changed. Among humanity, many find that any talent they may naturally possess has been elevated to an astounding degree. Likewise, a number of animals become self-aware and intelligent. A young “comet prodigy” from humble beginnings, Ichabod Temperance, has become one of the world’s foremost inventors in this age of prolific genius. Traveling to England to deliver his latest brilliant device to a famous explorer, the young tinker is unexpectedly struck by the fearsome hand of fate. Meanwhile, a lovely young aristocrat, Miss Persephone Plumtartt, survives an experimental accident only to find herself imbued with a power she can neither understand nor control, while dark forces and malevolent creatures pursue her, leaving a gruesome wake of death.
Yet, worse is to come. The naïve young inventor and the lovely intellectual find themselves fighting not only to save their own lives, while concurrently coming to terms with their own budding romance, but to prevent the destruction of all life on Earth in this humorously told and poignant steampunk adventure!
This is the first book in the series, ‘The Adventures of Ichabod Temperance‘. There are six books. Though in a series, each book is a stand-alone adventure.
Buy Links
http://www.amazon.com/Ichabod-Temperance/e/B00J71862M/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
About the author
Ichabod Temperance is a silly little fellow living in picturesque Irondale Alabama, USA, with his lovely, gracious and kind muse, Miss Persephone Plumtartt and their furry pack family.
https://www.facebook.com/ichabod.temperance
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7077425.Ichabod_Temperance
GIVEAWAY
The prize is for 3 ecopies of the book.
I’m thrilled to welcome Scottish author of seven brilliant novels, Linda Gillard, to Celtic Connexions. I’m so excited to host you here today. I’ve read all of your novels and loved them. I’m anxiously waiting for number eight.
Shall we get started?
When did you first get bitten by the writing bug?
1999. I was at home recovering from a nervous breakdown. I’d recently given up teaching which I’d found very stressful. I taught in an unruly school in an impoverished area. One day a disturbed pupil punched me during a lesson and I decided I’d had enough.
I was diagnosed with depression and eventually mild bipolar. I recuperated at home doing a lot of reading and quilt-making, then I read a book called Writing as a Way of Healing by Louise deSalvo. One paragraph sent me straight to my PC and I started to write – almost automatically – the opening page of what became my first novel, EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY.
I was writing for myself, just an escapist novel that was something like an alternative autobiography, but before long I was hooked on writing – and completely in love with my hero!
I’d been an actress and a journalist before I trained as a teacher and writing put me in touch with words and creativity again. I realised writing was the only thing I wanted to do and it led to a new and successful career as a novelist.
I was 53 when EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY was published, so I always tell people it’s never too late to start writing and you never have to retire!
Are you a plotter or a pantster or a combination of the two?
I used not to plot very much and I’ve never begun a book knowing how it will end. Readers often describe my books as “un-put-downable” and I wonder if that’s because even I don’t know how they’re going to turn out. I write to find out what happens.
I think if you let it, your unconscious mind will write a better book than your conscious mind. Your conscious mind will go for quick fixes, easy answers. Your unconscious will surprise you and the reader.
When I was writing HOUSE OF SILENCE
http://www.amazon.ca/HOUSE-SILENCE-Linda-Gillard-ebook/dp/B004USSPN2/ref=sr_1_2_twi_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423578897&sr=8-2&keywords=linda+gillard I didn’t know until quite late on which man the heroine would end up with. The decision I eventually made was one my publisher wanted to reverse and that was one of the reasons I withdrew the book. I didn’t want to re-write for what I considered to be commercial reasons.
I’m now working on my eighth novel and I’ve planned the last few books a bit more, but there are always surprises. I can be writing a scene and some twist will suddenly strike me, or I’ll realise something important about a character’s back story that I didn’t realise. I always listen to my characters and write what they tell me to write, even when I think the story should go in a different direction. Your characters always know best.
Ed. note. House of Silence was the first novel written by you that I read. It’s stuck with me and I want to read it again but most of all, it made me look for more books written by you.
You parted ways with your publisher with House of Silence, because they said it would be too difficult to market, if I remember correctly. Any regrets?
No. It was the best thing I ever did, both creatively and financially, although at the time it felt like professional suicide. I hoped I’d get another publisher, but after 2 years my agent hadn’t found one. We just had a lot of nice rejection emails saying editors liked my books but couldn’t see how to market them.
My fans kept asking for a new book and I had two that my agent had been unable to sell, so I decided to publish them myself. This was in 2011 and indie publishing was quite new. I didn’t expect to sell many copies, but HOUSE OF SILENCE became a Kindle bestseller. Amazon selected it as one of their Top Ten in the indie author category. I re-published my out-of-print backlist and 4 new books and I now earn a living from writing non-genre fiction which is quite rare.
But it’s a lot of work being indie. I’d rather be writing than doing admin and marketing, but I’ve really enjoyed working with a designer on my covers. In my opinion two of my traditionally published novels were sabotaged by their covers and I had a title foisted on me that I hated, so it means a lot to have books that have titles and covers I’m proud of.
How much research do you have to do in advance of sitting down to write?
In advance, not that much. I do preliminary research but start writing as soon as I can. I think if you do too much research it can take over. It’s tempting to include fascinating facts even though they don’t actually help tell the story. I keep in mind Elmore Leonard’s advice to writers: “Try to leave out the parts readers skip”!
You need to do just enough research to be able to write the story. As you write, it becomes clear where the gaps are. But you can do more research later, after you’ve finished the book if necessary.
I recall seeing pictures on Facebook you’d taken while on a tour of a stately home for use in an upcoming book (possibly your work-in-progress). How many actual locations – castles, mansions, cottages, etc. make it into your novels as fictional ones?
I usually base my locations on real places and buildings but they’re adapted. I lift bits from several different places and combine them to make a new location. So the decrepit Scottish castle in CAULDSTANE
http://www.amazon.ca/CAULDSTANE-Linda-Gillard-ebook/dp/B00HZYAIOM/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423579166&sr=8-1&keywords=linda+gillard was inspired by several that I visited in the Highlands – Cawdor, Crathes, but mainly Craigievar in Aberdeenshire.
I visit places as part of my research but I also use photographs. I visited a lot of ruined tower houses for UNTYING THE KNOT http://www.amazon.ca/UNTYING-KNOT-Linda-Gillard-ebook/dp/B005JTAMQO/ref=sr_1_3_twi_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423579351&sr=8-3&keywords=linda+Gillard but for the restored version of Tullibardine Tower I had to rely on photographs of towers that had been refurbished as family homes.
Of all the books you’ve written to date, does one remain your favourite?
I think my best book is A LIFETIME BURNING but my favourite – the one of which I’m most fond – is HOUSE OF SILENCE. I really enjoyed writing that one, though the plot did rather strain my brain! Both HOS and ALB are family stories and I enjoy writing about extended families.
Of all the places you’ve lived in Scotland, is there one would you like to return to or would you like to stay in your current location?
I would like to return to the Isle of Skye where I lived for six years. I wish I had a holiday home there, but it wouldn’t be very convenient. Skye is a long way. When I lived there hardly anyone came to see me from the south and I didn’t see much of my adult children, so I think I’d just have to go back for holidays. But not in the summer. Skye midges are legendary for their ferociousness!
There are three words that come to mind when I look at these photographs of your home on Skye – beautiful, rugged, remote.
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Biography
Linda Gillard lives in the Scottish Highlands and has been an actress, journalist and teacher. She is the author of seven novels, including STAR GAZING, short-listed in 2009 for Romantic Novel of the Year and HOUSE OF SILENCE, which became a Kindle bestseller and was selected by Amazon UK as one of their Top Ten “Best of 2011” in the Indie Author category.
Links
Website: www.lindagillard.co.uk