Category: Friday Fiction

Author Interview: Darlene Foster

Published on by J. Kelland Perry82 Comments

Hi Everyone! It’s been a while since I tossed a Blogger Bouquet or featured a Friday Fiction post. My guest today, Darlene Foster, makes for a perfect opportunity to feature both.
A fellow Canadian blogger and writer, Darlene is the author of the Amanda Travels middle-grade fiction series. The latest in the series is Amanda in Ireland: the Body in the Bog.

Darlene Foster grew up on a ranch in Alberta, Canada, where her love of reading inspired her to see the world and write stories. Her Amanda Travels series features spunky Amanda Ross, a twelve-year-old girl who loves to travel. All ages enjoy following Amanda as she unravels one mystery after another in unique destinations. Darlene is retired and has a house in Spain where she writes full-time. Her constant interest and enthusiasm for everything keep her young at heart. When not travelling, meeting interesting people, and collecting ideas for her books, Darlene enjoys spending time with her family in Canada and with her husband and entertaining dogs in Spain.

The blurb for Amanda in Ireland: The Body in the Bog

Twelve-year-old Amanda Jane Ross is invited to be a bridesmaid for her cousin’s wedding, in Ireland! She falls in love with this emerald isle the moment she lands in Dublin. The warm, friendly Irish people immediately make her feel at home. Towering castles, ancient graveyards, and the stunning green countryside are filled with fascinating legends, enthralling folktales, and alarming secrets.

Things take a dark turn when disaster strikes. Amanda wonders if there will be a wedding at all. As she joins the search for a missing horse, she stumbles upon a world of screaming banshees, bloody battles, and dangerous peat bogs. The closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous things become. Will she become another body in the bog?

Thank you for joining me today, Darlene. I love that you do, but may I ask why you include an animal in each of your Amanda books?

Darlene: I have always been an animal lover. We had all kinds of animals on the farm, including a pet antelope, and later I had dogs and cats as pets for my kids. I now have two adorable rescue dogs here in Spain. It was only natural that Amanda would be an animal lover too. In the first book, Amanda meets a camel called Ali Baba when she visits the United Arab Emirates. Ali Baba became a favourite character for many readers. There is a dancing pony called Pedro in Amanda in Spain, Rupert the bookstore cat in Amanda in England, and Joey the abandoned puppy in Amanda in Holland to name a few. Kids have an affinity with animals and they add something to the stories.

I remember that camel Ali Baba in your first of the series! What are some of the books with animals you enjoyed as a child?

Darlene: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell immediately comes to mind. I loved that book so much. Others I loved were Old Yeller by Fred Gipson, The Yearling by Marjorie KInnan Rawlings, and Beautiful Joe by Quinn Currie. I tear up thinking about these books even after all these years. 

Yes, you mention a couple of my own favourites there. Is there an animal in Amanda in Ireland?

Darlene: Yes there is. A beautiful horse called Aiofe.

Excerpt:

After leaving the airport, Amanda enjoyed the drive through the countryside, past rolling green hills, fields dotted with black and white cows, and white-fenced paddocks.

Taylor pointed to the left. “Over there are the stables where Roisin keeps her horse.”

“Do you own a horse?” Amanda’s eyes widened as she pushed up her glasses.

“Yes. But I don’t get much time to ride her anymore. Would you like to meet Aoife while you’re here?” Roisin opened her phone and showed Amanda a picture of a gorgeous white horse with a dark brown mane.

“That would be awesome. I love horses. And she’s beautiful.  How do you pronounce her name?”

Roisin grinned proudly. “Her name is pronounced Ee-fa. Almost like Eva with an f. And it means ‘beautiful’.”

 Darlene, I wanted to mention that I have another of your books on my “To Be Read” list: “You Can Take the Girl From the Prairie: Stories about growing up on the Canadian prairies”. I’m looking forward to that one as well. 

Social Media Links:

• Website: https://www.darlenefoster.ca/

• Blog: https://darlenefoster.wordpress.com/

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darlene.foster.777

• Twitter/X: https://x.com/supermegawoman

• Bluesky: @darlenefoster.bsky.social

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darlene6490/

• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Darlene-Foster/author/B003XGQPHA

• Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3156908.Darlene_Foster

Buy Links:

https://books2read.com/u/4EYQ2A


Calmer Girls Giveaway!

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

 In honour of International Women’s Day,
I’m having an e-book Giveaway!
↓  ↓  ↓

Grab your FREE copy of #CalmerGirls 

Book One of the Calmer Girls 2-Book Series:

getbook.at/CalmerGirls

Free promotion ends Monday

 #YA #teenfictionbestseller #loveandheartache #siblingrivalry

Friday Fiction: The Location App

Published on by J. Kelland Perry10 Comments

During a Saturday morning long-distance chat, they had an argument, heated and out of the blue.

Before Joanne could apologize and take back the words she’d barked into the receiver, her daughter had ended the call.

No goodbye. Just a click, then cold silence.

Emily was Joanne’s only child. She’d secured a position the year before at the Children’s Hospital in the capital city. Living nearly three hundred miles apart was taking its toll. They never used to fight, until their lives became more separate – more disconnected.

On days or nights when Joanne felt particularly alone, she’d pick up her phone and jab at the Find Friends app to see what Emily was up to. Most times she was at work, other times at the mall or the gym or at an address Joanne didn’t recognize. Probably visiting friends or out for the evening at a downtown restaurant.

On her loneliest days, it became an obsession; she’d tap on the app every hour. She knew Emily was a busy professional and couldn’t always answer her texts or calls, but tracking her whereabouts gave Joanne a ray of comfort and inclusion, even in this small way.

Emily’s was the only app location to whom she had access. The only one she needed. Two years ago when Emily came home on winter break from nursing school, Joanne had been worried about the icy roads on her daughter’s long drive back to the city.

Snatching up her mother’s phone, Emily had made a few taps, and voila: she’d added and activated the app so her mother could track her progress all the way home to her apartment building.

Joanne sighed and called Emily back. It went to voice mail. She sent a text. Not read, no response. She waited an hour and tried again – same result. Over a stupid disagreement!

When she picked up her phone another hour later and jabbed at the location app, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Her heart twisted in her chest.

Emily had turned her location off.

Joanne finally gave up trying to reach her at 7 pm. All she’d wanted to do was apologize for what she’d said and for being so needy.

While she stared into the fridge at the overdue leftovers, a twin beam of headlights illuminated the window and flickered across the kitchen wallpaper. Joanne waited until she heard the slam of a car door and the click of a key in the lock. She ran to the front door. It swept open and Emily, eyes red-rimmed, fell into her arms.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

“I’m sorry too, honey. You came all this way! But why didn’t you call or text, or answer any of mine? And why did you turn off your location?”

“I took a week’s family leave to spend with you, and I wanted it to be a surprise. I’ve missed you so much, Mom.” She brushed her lips across Joanne’s cheek. “Now, what’s for supper?”

***

Thanks for reading!

Jennifer’s Friday Fiction

Friday Fiction appears on the occasional Friday as a place to share my writing in the form of short stories, flash fiction, poetry and vignettes.

My Eighth Year in the Blogosphere

Published on by J. Kelland Perry30 Comments

Dear WordPress bloggers, fellow writers, followers and friends,

December 31, 2018 marked my seven-year blogging anniversary.

Yikes! I’m into the eighth year! Who knew that when I published my first post, Follow the Yellow Brick Road on New Year’s Eve of 2011, my blog would still be active in 2019? I genuinely hope I’m not wearing out my welcome here and that you continue to let me into your in-boxes, your readers, and your lives for my brief visits once or twice a week. 🙂

pinterest.com

I’m not one to get hung up on blog statistics, as I value quality of interaction over quantity any day, but I’d like to share a few highlights from my 70 posts of 2018.
I’ve set aside statistics on my About Me and Author Page  to concentrate on regular posts.

The three most-liked posts of last year:

Beach Love
When your address is Sandy Beach Avenue and you live near one of the longest beaches in the province, posts like these are bound to show up regularly. These photos taken at Lumsden North Beach grabbed the most likes of 2018.

Winter Morning Haiku
Summery beaches didn’t get all the love.
A haiku poem with one of my best-loved winter photos,
taken from my back yard.

Book Review – Encounters: Relationships in Conflict by Fred Rohn
So happy to see the traffic this one generated.
I loved this book and I love my book friends.
Rest in peace, Mr. Rohn.

The three most-commented:

Imagination
Kids with coffee filters.
How could one possibly resist a click?

Morning Coffee
(Again with coffee?)
No surprise – this beverage is a vital part of the day for many of us.
Even some of you who prefer tea were moved to give your two cents worth!

Blog Hop: Born in a Treacherous Time by Jacqui Murray
Once again, I’m delighted to share news from my author colleagues.
I loved this book of the prehistoric fiction genre.
So much so, it got me reading the Earth’s Children series by Jean M. Auel.
I look forward to Murray’s next novel in her Man vs. Nature saga.

***

2018 was a special year all around, but it didn’t exceed previous records set by my blog.
January 18, 2016 still holds the favored position as the day that generated the most views thus far, when I introduced the ever-popular Newfoundland and Labrador page…

Newtown, Newfoundland
…and the individual post that has scored the most views to date under that Newfoundland banner is Berg Watching, originally shared on June 2, 2015.
Springtime in Iceberg Alley at its beautiful best.

Iceberg Alley

The Sunday Snap series has gained in popularity since its inception in August 2017, and my new addition for 2018, Friday Fiction, has met with positive reviews as well.

Many thanks to everyone who visits my blog. However long I continue, I appreciate all the follows, likes, comments, and shares. Love to you all, and blog on!

Sincerely yours,
Jennifer

P.S. to bloggers: Have a favourite post from your own blog I may have missed or you’d like to highlight? Don’t be shy – share a link with me in the comments below. 🙂

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Friday Fiction – A Special Guest

Published on by J. Kelland Perry29 Comments

Jennifer’s Friday Fiction

I’m pleased today to feature a special guest post on Friday Fiction.

My 12 year-old granddaughter Leah wrote the following flash fiction piece for school recently. When her mom showed it to me, I liked it so much, I asked Leah if she would allow me to publish it here on my blog.

Our family’s budding new writer readily agreed. Friends and followers, please take a moment to read it and tell me what you think!

roller coaster ride

Bart, the security guard, has always loved his job at the amusement park. He loves the greasy smell of deep-fried onions and the sweet smell of cotton candy drifting in the breeze as people happily skip by.

But there was just one thing that made Bart sad. He would always see people of all ages having so much fun with huge smiles on their faces as they jumped with excitement. Bart looked down at his chubby belly sticking out under his uniform with grease stains all over it from his recent lunch break. “I wish I could ride one of the roller coasters,” Bart thought to himself. All he wanted was to be able to ride a roller coaster and know what it was like to be happy and have fun.

Bart decided to make a plan. Maybe he could sneak onto a ride. No one would notice he was gone from his post because no one ever noticed he was there. Except for Trevor.

Trevor was Bart’s very strict boss. If Trevor ever found out about Bart’s plan, he would fire him for good and Bart definitely did not want that to happen. But he wanted to ride a roller coaster so bad, he was willing to take the chance.

Late one day, Bart was ready for action. It was 9:00 pm and the park closed at 10:00 pm. It was dark out so he wouldn’t be seen as easily. Bart slipped off his uniform so that he was left with a T-shirt and a pair of shorts on. He quickly put on his ball cap and ran off to the scariest ride in the park called “The Brain Wash”.

Bart got in line. While everyone was passing their tickets to the tall man standing at the entrance, Bart squeezed past the man without being seen. Bart had made it through!

He was finally on the ride. As the roller coaster was going up the steep hill with a ticking sound, he looked down at everyone below. They all looked like little ants. But there was one face that Bart could pick out. It was Trevor looking up at him with his arms folded across his chest. What if Bart got fired from his job?

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Friday Fiction: The Test

Published on by J. Kelland Perry19 Comments

I wish I could say I wrote this lovely piece, but I found it shared on Karen Lang’s blog, Healing Your Life.

Stepping into the unknown, takes courage and strength to move out of our comfort zone. But sometimes we can be left believing it was not worth it;  Be patient. In time, you will discover, you receive exactly what you need.

The Test

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose. His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind.

In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Holly Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond.

The two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like. When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting – 7.00 p.m. at the Grand Central Station in New York.

“You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.” So at 7.00 p.m. he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen.

Mr Blanchard describes the scene: “A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim in a green suit. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small provocative smile curved her lips. “Going my way, sailor?” she murmured.

Almost uncontrollably, I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Holly Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly inspired me.

And there she stood. Her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her.

This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever by grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. “I’m Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?” The woman’s face broadened into a tolerant smile. “I don’t know what this is about, son,” she answered, “but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”

~ Paulo Coelho

Jennifer’s Friday Fiction