Category: Tasman

Tasman Background – On the Ship

adventure novel / book reviewing / giveaway / story background / Tasman

Tasman Background – On the Ship

  Work on board a ship was unending. Since sailing required 24-hour attention, the crew worked long shifts. Bells signaled each hour and their shifts. Workers who didn’t perform their duties were often punished by being beaten and/or having their rations cut. Off-shift sailors took to different ways to use their time. Many played cards and brawled. Others created scrimshaw items to sell. They used knives and carved animal-shapes or intricate designs into bones. Once in a harbor, they sold them to earn money for drinking in grog shops or to buy products while ashore. In addition to manning the...

Tasman Background – Sailing From England

adventure novel / giveaway / story background / Tasman

Tasman Background – Sailing From England

In the 1850s sailing ships plied the earth carrying cargoes as varied as the ports they visited. Live animals, local crops, mined ore, lumber, government notices and soldiers as well as letters and humans; convicts were among its paid cargo. The trip to Port Arthur, Tasmania meant stops along the way: Tenerife, Rio, Cape Town. Ships used the trade winds to advantage as they distributed or exchanged both sanctioned and secret cargoes. Most honored Neptune, the god of the sea, when if they crossed the equator. That meant raucous celebrations or silly antics while wearing outlandish outfits consisting of buckets...

Valentine’s Day is Coming!

84 Ribbons / Ballet Trilogy / Educating America / Letters to Follow / Sonnets for Ambrosia / Tasman / When the Music Stops

Valentine’s Day is Coming!

Looking for something to give that someone special in your life? Consider purchasing my books from my website now through February 21st*.               ALL will include free shipping within the U.S. My ballet trilogy is perfect for that someone who loves the arts. If you purchase the three book set, I’ll personalize the books and send along the wrappings and a ballet-themed ornament as well as a set of ballet note cards. All you’ll need to do is buy a card!  (Individual books are also available.) [product_category category=”ballet”] For the adventure-minded sweetie in your life, consider Tasman. I’ll personalize the...

Tasman Updates

Book events / musings / Story project updates / Tasman

Tasman Updates

I’m certainly enjoying the chance to share Tasman- An Innocent Convict’s Struggle for Freedom. The story began so many years ago and now I’m able to revive those early days of writing and researching as well as hearing feedback about Ean’s story. I’ve created several handouts (with the help of my creative publisher) and will gladly mail you information if you are interested or considering using my book for a book club or group event. I will gladly speak with you and your friends via Skype or attend your book events around the northwest. If I’m traveling to your area,...

Tasman Excerpt: On the Ship

adventure novel / book excerpt / Tasman

Tasman Excerpt: On the Ship

Backstory: Ean has been falsely accused of stealing from his sweetheart’s employer, Lord and Lady Colridge. After several days in London’s Newgate Gaol, he’s removed by a constable. He thinks he’s to be freed. We walked along narrow, twisting streets. The smell of wood and tar mingled with that of stale beer and rotting vegetables. A sea of barefoot men dressed in rough jackets and canvas breeches steered past, hauling boxes and crates on their rickety carts. The constable yanked my tether and used the loose end of the rope to whip my back and head. He smiled as the...

Is it Winter or Summer??

adventure novel / musings / Tasman

Is it Winter or Summer??

Us northern hemisphere residents forget that southern hemisphere residents have weather that is opposite to ours. When I wrote Tasman—An Innocent Convict’s Struggle for Freedom the differences were a constant concern because in Tasmania, June was winter  and December was summer. Talk about needing to be consistent! Tasmania is comparable to the Pacific Northwest if you reverse the seasons. The island lies between 40° and 45° degrees while the Pacific Northwest lies between 45° and 50° degrees. Antarctica and the Indian Ocean influence Tasmania’s weather; the Arctic and the Japanese Current in the North Pacific influence ours. Both locations have...

Order Books for Holiday and New Year Giving

84 Ribbons / adventure novel / Ballet Trilogy / Book Specials / Educating America / Letters to Follow / Tasman / When the Music Stops

Order Books for Holiday and New Year Giving

Time to start thinking about the readers on your holiday giving list. Here’s a sale for you and your friends! Order copies of TASMAN, my newest historical fiction, my ballet-themed trilogy, and/or Educating America materials between today, Dec.5th  and December 16th. You’ll receive a 20% book discount and free priority shipping (within the U.S.A.) valued at $10 per novel or up to $6 per educational book. Click the links above to order! When you order the entire trilogy, you’ll receive special wrapping materials and a set of ballet-themed note cards at no additional change. That’s an additional $4 discount per...

Author Quotes on Adventure

adventure novel / quotes / Tasman

Author Quotes on Adventure

Following are quotes that are relevant to Tasman’s story. I suggest you keep them for the days when you are reading the novel to see why I selected them and how they impact the storyline. “Until you step into the unknown, you don’t know what you’re made of.” ― Roy T. Bennett “Keep reading. It’s one of the most marvelous adventures that anyone can have.” ― Lloyd Alexander “To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one’s self…. And to venture in the highest is precisely to be conscious of one’s self.” ― Søren Kierkegaard “Love, like...

Tasman Excerpt #2 Newgate

adventure novel / book excerpt / musings / Tasman

Tasman Excerpt #2 Newgate

The following is a glimpse inside the book, Tasman: An Innocent Convict’s Struggle for Freedom. Back story: The local constable has hauled Ean into London with no comment as to why. From the novel: As we entered the edge of city the workers extinguished the gas lights, street sweeps and gawkers laughed at me and spit at my feet. Lavender ladies whispered behind their hands as they strolled to their rooms to rest up for tonight’s return to their corners where they stood to entice men to their beds. The jumble shops stood open; their bric-a-brac crowding onto the sidewalks...

Tasman: A View through Pinterest Images

adventure novel / musings / Tasman

Tasman: A View through Pinterest Images

Pinterest is a wealth of information collection by millions of people with a million different interests. Fortunately some pinners have an interest in topics related to elements I address in Tasman-An Innocent Convict’s Struggle for Freedom.  Here are a few images I found related to London in the 1850s. I hope you will keep a copy of these and future Pinterest images I post to enhance your reading of Tasman. Newgate Prison housed the worst of the worst criminals sent there for murder, theft and such. It was “a labyrinth of dark cells, subterranean corridors and iron bars as thick...