Blair Bancroft's Blog

 

 

Venice (FL) Beach, November 2025

Another great pic from Susan Coventry

MUSINGS ON THANKSGIVING

 Although born in Nebraska, from the age of three I grew up in New England, where Thanksgiving is a really important holiday.* I was, in fact, shocked when I moved to Florida and discovered, other than a hymn or two and a passing reference, the Sunday before Thanksgiving was just another Sunday. And then came the Black Friday nonsense. Yes, it existed while I lived in New England, but no one was lining up at store entrances directly after eating Thanksgiving dinner. Or skipping Thanksgiving festivities completely in order to join the Black Friday madness. And no one put up a single Christmas decoration until the day after Thanksgiving.

*On Thanksgiving Sunday the church warden, dressed in full Pilgrim costume, prowled the aisles of the church, holding a long wooden pole (10 feet?) with a double-head on one end:  one side, a cluster of feathers (to tickle the noses of those not paying enough attention?), the other, a round knob to tap sleeping congregants on the head. I would imagine the pole was an original, more than 300 years old.

To get back to my comments on Thanksgiving in the 21st century . . . 

I could only applaud when, in the last few years, there seemed to be a movement away from Shopping almost totally obscuring the Thanksgiving Holiday. But Holiday decorations? Stores, HOAs, offices, etc., seem to have skipped Fall decorations entirely, going straight to Christmas in early November. If not before.

Hey, guys, have we totally forgotten our forefathers? The church I belonged to in Connecticut celebrated its 325th Anniversary around the time I moved to Florida—forty-five years ago! I.e., it was founded by some of the people who came over on the Mayflower! (Dissenting from the Dissenters.) Yes, I know the Vikings got here first, as well as the ill-fated settlers in Jamestown, but it's the Pilgrims who stayed the course, surviving with the aid of the Native Americans living on the east shore of what is now Massachusetts. That first Thanksgiving was held to celebrate the survival of the Pilgrims (half of whom died that first winter). It is a truly important event in the creation of our country. So, heads up! Do not let it fall by the wayside.

Each year, I am tasked with saying the blessing over our large family Thanksgiving dinner. I used to "wing it," but one year I decided to search the Internet for inspiration. After several years of good but not great blessings, I found one we all liked so much that it is now adopted as the Kone-Reale Thanksgiving Dinner prayer. I am copying it below, just as I found it.)

  

We Give Thanks to You

Adapted from a blessing by Ethel Faye Grzanich


As we bow our heads to pray, we give thanks to you, God, for this Thanksgiving Day.

We thank you, Father, for our families, friends, and for all the blessings, both big and small, that you pour out on us each day.

We give thanks to you for this food, and for the hands that have prepared it. We ask your blessing upon this meal.that it will nourish our bodies and refresh out souls.

We give thanks to you for this wonderful time together, and for each one present here today. 

We ask you, dear Lord, let each one of us feel your love, comfort, and presence in our lives today and every day.

Let us not forget those who cannot be here with us today. We give thanks to you for them, too. We miss our loved ones, Lord, but we are thankful for all the good times that we had with them.

And now, Lord, please bless all those present and let us live lives of honor, responsibility, and kindness to others.

In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. 

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No Blog Post over the Thanksgiving weekend 

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For a link to Blair's website & editing info, click here. 

For Archives, see the menu on the right. 

 For recent blogs, scroll down. 

 

 

 

Veterans' Day Sunset, Sanibel Island, FL

Photo of Sanibel Causeway by Peter Busch

 

Northern Lights, Innerarity Point, FLORIDA 

Yes, that's right, FLORIDA. Innerarity Point is on the western edge of the Florida Panhandle. Amazingly, views of the northern lights were snapped even farther south, people reporting that their cameras picked up on what their eyes could not see.

 

Stonehenge Aurora, 11/25

 

A little something extra from one of Susan Coventry's deer photos:

 And—drum roll, please . . . 

Below, a pic of youngest granddaughter, Cassidy, and long-time boyfriend, Alex, in Tampa where Cassidy is receiving a $5,000 scholarship. (Just last month they flew to New York, where Alex received a $10,000 from a different aviation organization.) So, rest assured, with go-getters like these two, the future of aviation is looking good. (Cassidy's goal - commercial pilot; Alex, airport management)

My daughter's post to Facebook explains the above far better than I ever could:

These two.... wow! They were just in NYC at a gala for Alex to get a big aviation management scholarship! Tonight, they're in Tampa where Cassidy is receiving a big aviation flight scholarship. Glamorous, hard working, dedicated, ambitious and schmoozing with the CEO of Delta, the founder of Jet Blue, I think an executive of American Airlines in NYC?? So proud of them both. Amazing!

[Posted to Facebook by Susie Kone Reale, 11/14/25]

Needless to say, Gramma is busting her buttons!  

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The article below was one of my blogs from Way Back When. I like to republish it every so often as a warning to authors of a variety of pitfalls just waiting to trip you up. [All my blogs from 2011-2019 are available in my 200,000-word "how to," Making Magic With Words, available on Amazon Kindle and other e-book sites.] 

 

WRITING MISTAKES I HAVE MADE

The following is a "confession":  mistakes I've made, recorded here in the hope that others may be saved from similar pitfalls.

* * *

I’ve always admired those who could juggle family, birthday parties, soccer, and PTA, and still find time to write. I made some efforts during my children’s growing years, but they were pretty pathetic. My mother, a highly successful children’s book author, told me, gently, that perhaps writing wasn’t for me. (It was a real thrill some years later when she changed her mind.) But, believe me, wisdom didn’t come easily. Below are some of the pitfalls I encountered.

Shooting Myself in the Foot.
There was a business downturn in the early ’90s that prompted me to give up my costuming business and become a full-time caretaker for my husband, who had suffered a massive stroke. Retiring from the costume business also allowed me time for writing. At last. There were no author groups, particularly not romance groups, in my area, so I plunged in blind. And made Mistake Number One. The Sometime Bride ran to 140,000 words. But these were the days when an author could still submit directly to almost any New York publishing house, so I blithely sent it off to Ballantine. Mistake Number Two: when I received a letter from a senior editor stating they were interested in Bride if only I’d make the heroine older, I stood on my high horse and responded that my heroine had to be that age. The book simply didn’t work otherwise.

It was the early days of e-books, and fortunately Starlight Writer Publications didn’t feel the heroine was too young. In August 2000, The Sometime Bride came out to reviews I still cherish. But later, after the demise of that early e-publisher, I found homes for other books, but not for Bride. Evidently, Editors have been so sensitized by the publicity on twenty-first century pedophilia that they wouldn’t take a chance on a heroine whose marriage age was not unusual for her time. Morals of both Mistakes: if a publisher asks you to make changes, even if you feel strongly about it, be open-minded. Try to work with it. Such a great opportunity may never come again. Also: modern sensibilities do affect historical novels, so think before you write. It’s easier to avoid writing something that might not play well with readers than give up a scene or two you absolutely love.

Book of Your Heart. 
On another tack, you often hear editors say, “Write the book of your heart.” Well, that’s what I’ve always done, and I discovered the book of my heart often wasn’t the book of the editor’s heart. Some authors seem to have a natural feel for what romance readers want. I, on the contrary, tend to write what I want to write, and the “books of my heart” tend to be too long, too literary, too much story, not enough romance. Question: Do you want to please yourself, or do you want to make money? Some authors seem born to write romance; others of us have to work at it. Moral of this story: Steep yourself in romance: read, read, read. Get the feel of it, then try to come up with a new twist, if possible. Yet not too many new twists, because today’s readers don’t want to cope with overly complex situations, new words, etc. They’re often reading on the run, multi-tasking like mad, and don’t want to have to think too hard while being entertained.

A story to illustrate this last point: I recently won an RWA chapter contest with Rebel Princess, a Futuristic Paranormal. The editor-judge commented that I should make the various terms more clear. I thought they were glaringly obvious, but I forgot not everyone reads SF, watches SF movies, etc. The agent/judge said that he would have requested the book, except the niche market for this sub-genre was so small. Moral: If you want to be saleable, you need to appeal to a broad market.

Grace note update: Shortly after this post was written, I submitted Rebel Princess to a different contest. To my shock, I who pride myself on my English skills, received a “1" (out of 10) in Presentation from one of the judges. For my “misspelled” words—all of which were an invented words for an alien vocabulary. And carefully italicized. Sigh.

Clueless.
Pleasing myself, as opposed to readers, brings up another writing problem, that old bugaboo, Point of View. Most of the novels I read over the years had multiple points of view. (No, not head-hopping from person to person, but points of view from more than the hero and heroine.) That’s probably why I ended up writing traditional Regencies for Signet, because the style of that sub-genre included multiple points of view. Which, I’m afraid, is among the reasons trads fell by the wayside, being dumped by both Signet and Zebra within a year of each other. But I had been writing that way for so long that it was almost impossible to adapt. But over the last year or two, when even e-publishers began demanding simpler POV, I had to force myself to stricter discipline. POV Advice:  stick to the tried and true for both print- and e-publishers. Hero, heroine, and possibly a villain. Publishers’ sales figures are showing them what modern readers like, and in these difficult economic times, publishers have to be very careful to give readers what they want.

Grace note update: the POV situation has become much more flexible. As long as you make it very clear whose head you’re in, multiple POVs are now allowed by the majority of editors.

Cross-genre.
Another common problem: cross-genre. E-publishers deserve halos for giving cross-genre novels a home when the marketing departments of New York print publishers balked, wailing, “How are we going to tell the bookstores where to shelve it?” No problem with e-pubs. They simply list it under both genres. Moral here:  just be aware of the problem.

Careless.
And now, my biggest near-disaster. I do a lot of research, and not just for my historical novels. But as I approached my fourth Regency for Signet, The Harem Bride, I must have gotten a bit cocky. I was writing about a girl visiting the British Embassy in Constantinople for an evening affair. She has a brief meeting with the ambassador, for whom I made up a name. Simple. Who could possibly know, or care, who was the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1803? But as I was editing that chapter, something nagged at me. Maybe I ought to check and see if the name of the ambassador was on record. I googled, “British Ambassador, Constantinople, early 19th c.” And page after page after page began to roll across my screen. The ambassador was Lord Elgin of Elgin Marble fame. That is how he was able to obtain a firman to “acquire” the friezes from the Acropolis. (Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire at that time.)

Needless to say, I not only choked and replaced my made-up name with Lord Elgin’s. I made him and his problems getting the government to buy his marbles part of the plot. The moral of this tale is obvious:  check your facts. Take care with your research. Don’t end up with egg on your face.

Tripped Up by Fate.
I’ll end with the “just plain strange” portion of mistakes I have made. This comes under Circumstances That Can’t Be Helped, such as having publishers’ “lines” close on you. (It’s happened to me three times!) The following incident was worse. I tell it because it is so unusual and because it illustrates that sometimes bad things happen, even when we’ve done everything right.

A number of years ago, I was surprised to see a youngish, and rather striking, Arab walking down my street in South Venice on Central Florida’s Gulf Coast. Over the course of a couple of weeks, I saw him twice. He was noticeable because he was truly “foreign,” not an American of Arab descent. And it was rare to see anyone walking down our street. We were a car, truck, motorcycle, bike community. There was also something special about him—a determined stride, a pulsing energy that was apparent even to someone passing by in a car. This was a man who walked with purpose. I remember wondering if he had escaped from a government safehouse, as ours was just the kind of sleepy, out-of-the-way community the FBI might use to hide someone.

I ended up making the man I’d seen the not-quite-villain of one of my books, and I came to like my fictional character well enough that I had my heroine help him get away at the end. And then came 9/11, and the FBI swarming our little town, shutting down two flight schools, confiscating all the library’s computers. Horrified, the town discovered that two of the 9/11 terrorists—one the coordinator, Muhammad Atta—had lived among us, training to fly at our airport. And, yes, they briefly lived on my street, before their host family threw them out for not respecting the wife of the household. And, yes, both times I saw my Arab, he was walking toward the airport. The aura that surrounded him was fanaticism, though of course none of us recognized it at the time.

I put my book away. I simply couldn’t face that I’d made an almost-good-guy out of one of the 9/11 terrorists.*

I hope you begin to see how easy it is to go astray, sometimes because you haven’t been flexible enough, sometimes out of sheer ignorance, sometimes through carelessness, and sometimes through the machinations of Fate. Hopefully, one of the above tales will help you avoid a pitfall or two.

*Grace note update: I did eventually re-publish the book mentioned above—Paradise Burning. It has the same setting and cross-over characters from Shadowed Paradise. And, sadly, I later encountered a similar problem with my Orlando-set book, Florida Wild [previously detailed in Random Thoughts - “Twisted Times”].

Featured Book of the Week

 

 
  MAKING MAGIC WITH WORDS offers easy-to-understand advice on Writing, Editing, and a wide variety of Publishing topics—206,000+ words designed to get you started on your writing project, support you every step along the way, and advise you on what comes after "The End." Topics range from choosing a genre to the difference between an editor and a copyeditor. From how to develop your characters to the nitty-gritty of punctuation. From Point of View, Hooks, and Show vs. Tell to helpful aids like ASCII codes, Microsoft codes, and how to work with Track Changes. From "Edit the Blasted Book" to Where and How to submit. MAKING MAGIC WITH WORDS also includes step-by-step instructions on many of those tricky little technical problems we have to cope with in the Age of Computers, such as how to change manual tabs to automatic.

MAKING MAGIC WITH WORDS is a compilation of nine years of blog posts on Writing and Editing, which first appeared on Grace's Mosaic Moments and are now organized by topic under three major headings: Writing, Editing, and Random Thoughts. The author was trained as a teacher, spent more than thirty-five years as an editor, and a quarter century as an award-winning author. Blair Bancroft has published more than forty novels*, including Regency (Traditional, Historical, and Gothic), Suspense, Mystery, and SciFi. Additional information can be found at www.blairbancroft.com. Grace Note:  *now 50+ 

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For a link to Blair's website & editing info, click here. 

For Archives, see the menu on the right. 

 For recent blogs, scroll down. 

  

 

 

Explanation needed for first photo. A SWAT team descended on a neighborhood, positioning themselves around a certain house. Neighbors told to shelter in place. Except no one explained matters to the cat who zipped out the cat door, found a comfy spot, and settled down for a snooze. (Supposedly, the SWAT officer never flinched, but shoulders were shaking among the observing officers.) Article went on to say that finally one of SWAT team observers scooted out, picked up the cat, and returned him to his owners. Was the raid successful? The article didn't say.

  

More cat pics, just because . . .

 

 Updates to Central Florida Flood Stories

The 50 people in 21 homes (in Eustis) who had to abandon their homes due to a washed-out bridge are still homeless, with no end in sight, as that bridge was the only access to their homes and the money to fix it has to come out of their pockets (bridege HOA-owned, not county). Plus the length of time and effort to fix the problem, even if the money was readily available. The oddity is:  their homes are not damaged; they just can't get to them. Try to find a moment to add these people to your prayers for those whose homes were flooded.

Today—more than ten days after Sunday night's deluges—Seminole County issued a "red flood warning" for the areas along the St. John's River. Evidently, all that water is finally making its way into the river, raising the possibility of serious flooding when it hasn't rained a drop since that fateful night.

Monday, Nov.10, 2025—Update to Update!

Because water and sewer lines for the whole area run under the bridge and were affected by the flood, the city of Eustis has agreed to pay for the repair of the bridge—all homeowners expected to be back home by Thanksgiving. At least one happy ending to the Tale of Two Deluges.                                                   

 Updates to supposed T-shirt link

Last week I posted a link to what I thought was my daughter's fossil-oriented website. Instead, it seems she sent me the link to her real estate videos. I have now corrected the description of that link. If you'd like to see videos about custom-built homes in one of Florida's most charming communities, please check out last week's link. (And yes, I'm talking about Mt Dora, featured in last week's washed-out bridge pics. It's still one of Florida's most ideal communities.)

Update on Grace's Reading 

 I usually avoid listing my Regency reading lest I offend any of many Regency author friends, but . . .

Julie McElwain's Regency Time-travel series is so unique I cannot pass it by. In a nutshell, Kendra Donovan, a highly intelligent, well-educated, very modern female FBI agent, is suddenly deposited in 1816, resulting in resounding culture clashes, modern detective methods applied in the early 19th c., and a romance with a gentleman dead two hundred years before Kendra was born. Stories include a wide variety of intelligent and interesting characters, including a Bow Street Runner, solving a series of well-thought-out mysteries—always with Kendra wondering if she will be plunged back to the 21st century as precipitately as she left it.

I devour each book in Anne Cleeland's Doyle & Action series as it comes out. The most recent, #21:  Murder in Mercy. (Book 1 of this series is so unique I've probably read it at least four times.)  Series highly recommended, particularly if you like humor with your mystery.

One of the most heart-warming mystery series out there—no, not a cozy—is Alison Golden's Inspector Graham series. Set in the supposedly peaceful countryside of the Isle of Wight, this series not only features clever murder mysteries but the remarkable growth of Inspector Graham's team as the series advances. 

The same recommendation goes for Faith Martin's long-running Hillary Green series. Great stories and the continuing development of Hillary's team—all struggling to solve cold cases in a teeny weeny space in the basement. Latest: Murder Under the Sun. 

Ann Lee Huber's Verity Kent series, set in post-World-War-I England and Ireland has very little humor, featuring as it does, a wealthy, upper class Englishwoman who risked her life as a spy, only to be dismissed as unceremoniously as the lowest-ranked soldier—until the Spy Master discovers he still needs her (unofficially, of course). The two most recent books feature the terrible times in Ireland in 1920. Ms Huber's detailed research is both astonishing and enlightening. To alleviate the pain of the challenges Verity faces, she does not do her sleuthing alone. (I won't spoil a major plot point by saying more.) An excellent series but not for the faint of heart.

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For a link to Blair's website & editing info, click here. 

For Archives, see the menu on the right. 

 For recent blogs, scroll down. 

  

 

                                                              

 

 

  

 

"Florida Halloween," posted by All Things Emerald Coast: 

Below, family friend, Teddy Fournier, starring in Disney's VERY adult evening show, Howl-o-Scream. The Reale family visited the show this week. (Teddy was also the Christmas-Tree-on-Stilts" in last year's Macy Parade.) Teddy has the most exuberant personality of any person I've ever met.

 

TALE OF TWO DELUGES 

Sunday, October 26, 2025, Seminole, Lake & Brevard County, Florida 

Preface:  Florida has really lucked out this year. No hurricanes. But last Sunday, while we're all keeping an eye on Melissa, the front that was "saving" Florida by pushing Melissa out into the Atlantic struck Central Florida an unexpected blow, now described as "a once in a thousand years event." Sunday began peacefully enough—partly cloudy, followed by rain that lasted all afternoon, rather than just a passing storm. A family dinner was planned, for which I had promised my "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" Salad. But . . .

I am a weather-freak, keeping a close watch on the local radar all through our rainy season, which was just winding down. On Sunday, more often than usual, as I definitely do  not like to drive in the rain. Happily, the rain appeared to be clearing from the south, stopping completely just about the time I began putting the salad together. I had no sooner placed it in the trunk of the car than Susie called to ask if I was still coming, as several family members had backed out due to the rain. (She was in Mt Dora at the time, where it was still raining.) I told her it hadn't rained in Longwood for 45 minutes and assured her I was still on my way.

Dinner went well, followed by Susie demonstrating the power of AI, which she has been using to create the fossil-oriented T-shirts she is selling on her new website.* However, as I stepped out the door around 10:30 pm, I was startled to see the rain had NOT cleared. Although there was no rain where I was, the sky was lit up on all sides by lightning illuminating massive roiling dark clouds. A state that continued all the way home, our part of Seminole County wet from earlier rain but that was it. I had to turn on my wipers but only to clear condensation from the windscreen. [I did, however, heave a sigh of relief as I rolled into the garage, lightning still lighting the sky all around me (too far away for thunder).]  BUT . . .

*Correction to original post: It seems that, instead of a link to her AI-aided T-shirt designs, Susie sent me a link to her real estate videos.( She sells custom-built homes in the charming town of Mt Dora, FL.) For a look at her videos,  click here.

Being a newshound, I always start the day with the TV news accompanying my coffee. And that's when I learned what Seminole County escaped on Sunday night. My eyes popped as I saw a pic of a severely washed-out road—maybe 50 yards of destruction—a white Honda in the stream-bed on top of the chunks of concrete from the destroyed bridge. It took most of Monday for the whole story to unfold. Two bursts of rain (15-19" in a matter of hours) occurred c. 50 miles apart. One in Lake County, the other in Brevard County (home of the Space Coast). Roads and backyards washed out, homes flooded—the damage as bad as if a hurricane had swept through—except it was just in those two spots. (Estimated time of Mt Dora bridge replacement:  one year.) All local TV channels reporting stories of flooded homes, homes now teetering on the edge of twenty-foot cliffs, pics of furniture, even refrigerators being carted out to the street. People kayaking down flooded streets . . .

The happy news—no one dead or even hurt. But wait! What about the driver of the white Honda? Gradually, over the course of Monday, the story was revealed.

The head waitress at a pizza place in Mt Dora was driving home when she was trapped on the bridge, the road crumbling in front of her. For some reason—probably pure shock—she didn't run for it, but instead texted her boss. He became the hero of the disaster, rushing to her aid, getting her out of the car before the entire bridge dropped, taking the Honda with it. He later told Ch. 9 news:  "I don't think she realized how much danger she was in."

Sadly, even as both areas struggled to clean up, 21 homes in Eustis had to be evacuated on Thursday night. Aware that the bridge, the only access to their homes, had been badly damaged when Eustis got 19 inches on Sunday night, the evacuation was planned for Friday, but conditions worsened enough that residents were suddenly ordered to leave on Thursday night. (Although their homes were not in danger, the bridge was their only access, and neither they nor emergency vehicles would be able to get in or out if the bridge went.) 

Main road into Mt Dora

Clean-up Challenge (Thursday, 10/29/25)

HOA Bridge to 21 homes in Eustis

Moral of this tale:  Climate change is creating more storms, more dangerous storms, more frequent storms, more freak storms. And I fear we are just going to have to adapt. (If the Powers That Be had only listened forty years ago . . . Sigh.) 

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 Signing off with Wicked Witch Riley . . .

 

Last-minute addition (Nov. 1, from Facebook):

 

For 50+ Blair Bancroft books, click here.

 

 ~ * ~

For a link to Blair's website & editing info, click here. 

For Archives, see the menu on the right. 

 For recent blogs, scroll down. 

Some of my favorite No Kings pics:

  

New Haven, CT

New Haven, CT

****

Chiricahua National Monument, AZ

 

Willcox, AZ

  

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

 The secret to successfully negotiating a recipe with umpteen ingredients is to do all the chopping and cheese-shredding ahead of time. I.e., in late afternoon I chopped the onion and green pepper, minced the garlic, and shredded the cheese. The first three can all go in one bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed. I have a grater with its own lidded catch-basket, which makes it very easy to store the shredded cheese until ready. No catch-basket? Dump the shredded cheese into a baggie before refrigerating. Or if chemical preservatives don't bother you, you can go with a bag of store-shredded cheese. 

This recipe—a meal in one pan—is from Taste of Home's Cast Iron Cookbook, 2022. (This is a stove-top recipe. A cast iron skillet is not necessary, just a large, high-sided frying pan.) Great for a big family and freezes well for households of only one or two.

 

CHILI SKILLET

 

 

1 lb. ground beef 1 cup chopped onion½ cup chopped green pepper 1 garlic clove, minced 1 16-oz. can kidney beans, drained & rinsed1 cup tomato juice½ cup water4 teaspoons chili powder*1 teaspoon dried oregano1 teaspoon salt*½ cup uncooked long grain rice 1 cup canned or frozen corn½ cup sliced ripe olives1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheeseThinly sliced green onions (optional) 

*I used 2 tspns. chili & Mrs. Dash garlic herb in place of salt.

 In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the beef, onion, pepper, and garlic until the meat is no longer pink.* Add the next seven ingredients; simmer, covered, until rice is tender, about 25 minutes.

Stir in corn and olives; cover and cook 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; cook, covered, until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. If desired, top with green onions.

*I start the beef before the other ingredients. 

ENJOY!

 

This week's featured books—my only two Contemporaries I consider more Romance than Mystery/Adventure

My father's first job out of Harvard Graduate School was in the small outer Cape Cod town of Wellfleet. Even after moving away, we returned every year to the place my family had grown to love. So no surprise when I compressed my scope from Regency Historical Romance to writing for Kensington, I chose Cape Cod as the setting. (I was living in a suburb of New Haven, CT, when I wrote it, so I believe I can say the background is truly authentic—including the skunk.)

Following a tough trial, all defense attorney Vicki Kent wants is a few days of peace and quiet at her parents' cottage on Cape Cod. Instead, she finds a man challenging her with a 9mm in his hand. John Paollilo is an angry, burned-out homicide detective from New Haven, exiled by his boss to an enforced vacation on the Cape. Needless to say, conflicts abound—from a clash of professional viewpoints to the odoriferous retaliations of a family of skunks—as Vicki and John reluctantly share the cottage, exploring the Cape and each other, and in the end discovering that opposites really do attract. 

 

For most of the twenty-five years I lived on Florida's Gulf Coast, I was a member of The Society for Creative Anachronism, giving my hand-crafted costumes away only when I moved to Orlando in 2007. Therefore, the background in this one is also truly authentic, from the Joust on the grounds of the Ringling Museum to the traffic jam on I-75, and Medieval life in the 21st-century-Florida woods. Also, authentic—tho' not suffered by me, I hasten to say—is the abuse this heroine suffered. 

 Kate Knight fights memories of a former abusive relationship by armed combat with male members of a Medieval re-enactment group. To Kate, men are anathema, yet somehow she finds herself sharing a postage-stamp-size tent with a Florida Highway Patrol officer who is attempting to discover who almost killed his brother in a tournament at a Medieval Fair. For Kate, trust comes hard as they deal with obsessive enthusiasts, quirky personalities, and a ruthless killer.

Author's Note: My thanks to the Florida Gulf Coast shires of the Society for Creative Anachronism for providing so much colorful detail for this story. And to the John & Mable Ringling Museum for all the years it hosted truly grand Medieval Fairs.

~ * ~

For a link to Blair's website & editing info, click here. 

For Archives, see the menu on the right. 

 For recent blogs, scroll down.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft) 

 

 

Title of recent pic below:  "Texas Skies." Poster swears it is not photo-shopped. 

by Colin Myers 

As I searched my files for the above photo, I discovered I had another pic from Texas (not nearly as pretty) Title:  "Texas Snakes."

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EDITING METHODS ARE NOT SET IN STONE 

Over the many years of this blog, I have come back to this topic over and over again. This week seems like a good time to bring it up for the umpteenth time. Rather than re-post previous articles, I'm starting from scratch, hoping that some new angle will crop up, drawing in a few more authors to reconsider the so-called "rules" of editing their manuscripts. Most of all, I want to assure newbie and wannabe authors that not every method fits all. It is important that you don't feel you have to "follow the rules" and that it is all right to work out an editing method that works for you.

Drawing from my own experience . . .

Back in my early days as an author—not long after I joined RWA (Romance Writers of America)—I began to hear the so-called "Rules of Writing," which included the STRONG admonition to plow through the draft as fast as possible, and then go back and edit. I recall sitting in a workshop where this was being pounded into attendees and going, "Huh?" My problem? I'd already written a 140,000-word Historical Romance, The Sometime Bride (clearly, I had no concept of the rule—"not more than 100,000 words"— either), and had lots of time to work out my own editing method, which was about as far from finishing the draft before editing as one could get. 

Surely RWA had to be kidding! When I attempted to analyze my negative reaction to the concept of "plow through the draft before editing," I realized I believed that one scene builds upon another, and, frequently, in an author's haste to tell the basic concept of the chapter, both "meat" and "color" are left behind. Therefore, I felt it only logical to stop after every chapter and read it over to see what I had missed:  descriptions of Setting, Main Characters, Secondary Characters of importance. Sometimes dialogue that was "pedestrian" instead of having the necessary "sparkle."  And countless other tweaks, from a single, more colorful word to adding entire new paragraphs.

It is also possible you may discover you have written too many words, obscured your point in convoluted verbiage, wandered off on a tangent that detracts from the plot. In which case, you need to delete words, phrases, sentences, perhaps whole paragraphs to keep your story on message. Yes, it's okay to give brief backgrounds on Great-aunt Betty or Uncle Peter if they have a bearing on your story, but don't get carried away.

My personal editing method:

I edit after every chapter, again after every group of five chapters. When I find something that needs to be changed in earlier chapters, I scribble a note so I will be sure to add that point when I finally do the top-to-bottom edit. In recent years—I don't know whether I've grown fussier or merely older (sigh), but I have added a second top-to-bottom edit. Then, and only then, do I feel I have done my best. 

Summary: 

You do not have to follow the "Finish the Draft first" rule unless it works for you. (I understand there are some who fear if they stop to edit, they won't get started again.) Do not be afraid to work out your own editing rules. Whatever works for you. Just as I did for The Sometime Bride.

Whatever editing method you use, here are some of the things to look for:

 1.  DESCRIPTIONS.

Have you made the setting clear, adding interesting or colorful details? Have you given adequate descriptions of your hero and heroine?  Secondary characters of importance to the story? Example:  if your story is a classic, light-hearted Regency Romance set in London during the Season, did you provide good descriptions of household furnishings, gowns, shops, etc.? And on and on.

Grace note:   I am one of those who tend to keep my eye on Plot, Character, and Dialogue, ignoring descriptions, so I know how easy it is to do. This is one of the reasons I edit after every chapter, adding hopefully more colorful descriptions and recording such details as hair and eye color so I don't mess up later in the book. 

2.  DIALOGUE.

Does your dialogue sparkle or just plod along (alas, the way most of us speak)? The written word (unheard) must convey what tone of voice does in reality. And, of course, our characters are expected to come up with those bon mots that in real life we only think of later. All too often the dialogue first off our fingers is mundane. Do not let it lie there, hampering your main characters while you move doggedly on in the same vein. Put more thought into your characters and their words. Get to know them better before you move on.

3. INTROSPECTION (what your characters are thinking).

See Dialogue. Introspection is just another way of revealing your characters to your readers. (Most romance novels reveal only the Point of View of the Hero and Heroine. In Historical Romance and other genres multiple Points of View are more common.

4.  CONFLICT.

Have you introduced at least a hint of the book's main conflict fairly early in the story? (The hero or heroine must rescue the family by marrying money; the rake about to meet his fate; an inheritance issue, etc., etc.)

*****

 There are, of course, many other things to look for as you edit, including the utter nonsense our fingers sometimes type! I can only repeat, I strongly believe it is much easier to discover and fix these problems as you go along, rather than rush through to the end and be faced with the daunting prospect of editing the whole thing at once. For example, what if you want to make an important change in Chapter 2, but it will force changes in nearly every chapter after that? Groan. 

Final Note: Whatever you do, DO NOT SKIP EDITING! If you truly feel you cannot see the mistakes you have made, then it may be necessary to hire an editor. (Blair Bancroft Editing will be glad to help. Grin.) 

~ * ~ 

Featured Book of the Week:

I chose Orange Blossoms & Mayhem for the simple reason I have a personal connection to revealing the existence of the Inca Trail to the outside world, resulting in the great rush (in the late 20th c.) to hike the trail that once ran all the way from Cuzco to Machu Picchu. Sadly, the trail soon became far too crowded, and much too "civilized." I can only hope, now that the craze has died down, that serious hikers can once again enjoy this isolated mountain-top route in the beauty and solitude, as it was when it was used by Incan messengers. In any event, if you go to Machu Picchu, climb up all those steps to the trail that runs between the ancient city and the terraced planting fields above, hang a left, go through an arch, and you're on the famous Inca Trail. (Do NOT sit on the grass to enjoy the spectacular view. I picked up some nasty little parasites!)

 

Weddings and murder do not mix well. When things begin to go wrong for her family's Fantasy Wedding & Vacation business, trouble-shooter Laine Halliday gets more of a challenge than she bargained for, even with the aid of a mystery man she finds on the Inca Trail in Peru.

Author's Note: Only a few of my Golden Beach books have cross-over characters, but all share the idyllic setting of an actual Gulf Coast community, whose residents would prefer to keep its real name a secret.                                  

~ * ~

For a link to Blair's website & editing info, click here. 

For Archives, see the menu on the right. 

 For recent blogs, scroll down.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft) 

 

  

 

 

Another great deer photo by Susan Coventry  

 

Picture the amount of time and effort involved in setting up & waiting  for just the right moment . . .

Solar Halo, Stonehenge. Hannah Cole Photography

~ * ~

THE "CANCEL" SCAM

Over the last few years I have heard about supposedly reputable companies making it difficult for people to cancel their subscriptions, but I was still surprised, then frustrated, then truly shocked when I ran into that brick wall myself. I am going to attempt to disguise the name of the company involved, rewriting where necessary, as this blog is intended as a warning, an exposé of cancel scams, not a vindictive blow at a particular company. Changes are indicated by asterisks and [ ]. Sadly, the original letter was more dramatic, but . . .

The saddest part of my tale is that when I wrote the following letter to the Chief Honcho of the company involved, it was returned to me as "Undeliverable." So here is my letter (edited). Take heed, readers. Sometimes drastic measures are needed. 

[Managing Director]

Re: [Your company's] “cancel” system is a scam.

Dear ****:

[In the first paragraph I introduce myself, mention my many years as a faithful subscriber & explain why I felt it was time to drop the company's services. Below, the edited remainder of the letter.]
 

    I intended to cancel last spring but to my horror, when the six-month “renewal” postcard arrived, it was already a week past the time $292.11 was charged to my account. (At least that was the impression given by the notice of a renewal date of 7/17/25 arriving on 7/23/25.) So I let it go, making a mental note to cancel the next payment well in advance.

    And then my tale of horror began. When I called the number on the postcard, all I got was succeedingly lower “bargain offers” from the agent. I kept saying “No and No and No!” finally demanding “Cancel, that’s it!” 

    And what do I get? “You’ll have to wait until the next card arrives in January.” !!!

    I went online, attempting to get into Customer Service on both AOL and Microsoft Edge. Every time I went near anything like the word Cancel—NOTHING. After multiple times over a period of about ten days, a chat box finally popped up. I’m too old to like chat boxes, but I was desperate. I am enclosing a copy of yet another roundabout conversation, ending—unbelievably—with an offer to send me instructions on how to cancel AFTER FILLING OUT A FORM AND PAYING FIVE DOLLARS. 

    Nothing left but snail mail, I thought. Should have tried it earlier. Then I re-read the postcard. I quote: “We do not accept correspondence sent by U. S. Mail or otherwise.” !!!  By this time, it’s a wonder I didn’t have a stroke on the spot. In addition to the aggravation, I should note that I am the author of 50+ books, and this was an enormous waste of my time.

    The next day, I went to my bank and asked them to stop payment on any further money to ****. 

    [I am aware of the current hardships of the survival of this type of service, but] I am horrified by [a business known for its] integrity resorting to the use of a Cancellation Service that can only be termed a Scam. I can only hope that upper management was not aware of how low Customer Service has fallen. Please, for the sake of other elderly subscribers forced to give up [this service], FIX THIS ISSUE. And for the sake of [your business] being able to hold up its head with pride in all aspects of its service to the public.                                                        

[Signature lines removed for brevity]                                                        

Enc: copy of postcard & my “Chat” 

****** 

END OF LETTER to Managing Director, which, may I remind you, was returned to me, marked UNDELIVERABLE. Sigh. 

~ * ~ 

This week's featured book:

I have had a penchant for Science Fiction since high school, but not the technical know-how to write it. BUT Sci Fi Fantasy? I am so glad I took a plunge in that direction. What a great contrast to writing Regency. (Or maybe not.) Rebel Princess was supposed to be a one-off but turned into Book 1 of the 4-book Blue Moon Rising series. Plus the spin-off, The Crucible Kingdom. It portrays a world in a universe "far, far away," that I truly enjoyed creating. I hope you take a peek.

 The Princess Royal of a pacifist planet, whose people have spent a thousand years developing their powers of the mind, stages a personal rebellion, joining the space academy of a planet that has spent a millennium developing its military might. This odd pairing goes well until her senior year when her new "friends" turn on her. Only the swift action of an honorable huntership captain saves her from rape and possible medical experimentation. As a very special prisoner of war, she spends four years in solitary confinement, where she dreams of her rescuer but has no idea she has inadvertently sparked a rebellion against the military planet's vast Empire.

When the princess-in-disguise is finally freed and tossed into the middle of the Rebellion, she discovers there is a sharp contrast between her fantasy version of the man who rescued her and the flesh and blood starship captain leading the rebellion. She must also cope with his followers who fear her psychic powers, a fey younger brother who speaks only through illusions, royal parents with strict belief in non-violence, and a fiancé who happens to be a sorcerer. It would appear the hope of toppling the Empire is a dim light at the end of a very long tunnel.

~ * ~

For a link to Blair's website & editing info, click here. 

For Archives, see the menu on the right. 

 For recent blogs, scroll down.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft) 

 

 Since I began this blog in 2011, I have made it a habit to include pics of the granddaughters. Some readers may recall they were featured in my first two blogs—that horrendous tale of what happened when I attempted to drive them home from a Christmas concert in their mother's car (with three girls, six and under, in carseats and no gas). Now, even the middle grand has turned 21! How time flies. Below, Hailey on the cover of a student magazine at the University of Central Florida (Orlando) and Riley playing the euphonium in a band concert at Stetson University in Deland, FL.

 

  Riley (redhead) in the middle

Not surprisingly, entitled "Amazing Tree"  

From Cattitude, Facebook

 ~ * ~

 

 HOW NOT TO END A SERIES

Although I have edited many a manuscript, I almost never criticize published writing.  But this week I am going to do just that. (Hopefully, without giving a hint of which series I'm critiquing.) 

I have been following a certain series for some time now, eagerly awaiting each new book. The characters were well drawn, the plots remarkably imaginative. So I quickly downloaded what was billed as the last book of the series and began to read.

I was less than ten pages into the book when I frowned and went, "Huh? What's happened?This is just plain BORING." I kept reading, of course, assuring myself the author wouldn't let me down, but . . .

Too much repetition, too little inspiration. It took a number of chapters for the book to cease reminisicing and move into the plot. But as the final "wind up" plot proceeded, it seemed to substitute overblown action scenes for creativity. Relationships were given lip service—words but with no feeling of genuine emotion. All characters—the good guys and the bad—had faded from vivid color to sepia, into caricatures of their previous selves.

And then, just when I was expecting a big final chapter, the book simply stopped. I flipped my Kindle page, looking for more. Nothing. No reminders of the pain and sorrow, the joys and wonder that had gone before. The book simply petered out into nothing. It was as if the author, obviously bored with series, said, "That's enough. I'm done. Sayonara. Farewell. Time for something else."

Moral of this tale:

Authors, if you start a series, you need to finish it in the style in which it began. The only other case I can cite of such an egregious kick in the teeth to faithful followers is the lack of a final book in the Game of Thrones series, allowing the TV production to turn out one of the most dissatisfiying finales in the history of television. Please, have respect for your readers. Don't toss us a bone without meat, then have the nerve to write, "The End."

 ~ * ~

Featured Books of the Week:

My first book was published in 1999, so some of the many to follow are really old, and yet two of my early books keep appearing on my Amazon sales list despite their age— Lady Silence and The Temporary Earl. I have frequently wondered if this was because of their titles. Perhaps readers find the idea of a silent lady intriguing. And whoever heard of a temporary earl? In any event, I chose them both for this week's featured books.

 

 A snowy night; a waif on the doorstep, who doesn't talk. After agreeing to grant her shelter, Damon Farr goes off to six years of war, returning determined to be a recluse, only to discover the girl is still there. And still not talking. Is "the girl the cat dragged in" destined to be Damon Farr's Sinful Temptation or his Salvation? The odd pair walk a rocky road before the answer becomes clear.

Reviews:

"Blair Bancroft can always be counted on to deliver exceptional characters and/or settings, historical accuracy, unusual plots, and flawless writing. LADY SILENCE is one more sterling example." Jane Bowers, Romance Reviews Today

"LADY SILENCE by Blair Bancroft is a splendid Regency romance! The creative intrigue and alluring characters make this novel a must have." Nadine St. Denis, Romance Junkies

 

Former army engineer, Major Charles Tyrone, is catapulted to acting head of the family when his distant cousin, the elderly Earl of Wyvern, suffers a stroke at the news his only son has been killed in an accident and his grandson, age fifteen, lies in a coma. The major must also cope with the earl's ward, Lady Vanessa Rayne, who is a bit too aware of her status as daughter of an duke. Major Tyrone's efforts are also considerably hampered by a plethora of relatives (and prospective heirs), with hints of murder and attempted murder soon rearing their ugly heads. Yet despite being caught in the midst of these dire events, Charles and Vanessa begin to suspect it is possible for the daughter of a duke and lowly engineer to fall in love. If, that is, they live that long.

Reviews:

"The very talented Blair Bancroft has added another diamond to the Regency treasure chest with the tightly plotted and delightfully executed The Major Meets His Match."* Teresa Roebuck, Romantic Times
*now titled The Temporary Earl

"It's a vibrant and fun-filled glimpse into a time long ago, and I highly recommend it to . . . any fan of romance. It has all the qualities that we look for, regardless of the time period. Don't miss it. It's a keeper!" Celia Merenyi, A Romance Review

   *****************

BLAIR BANCROFT EDITING

Developmental Editingfor new and would-be authors

For link to details, please click here. 

  *****************

~ * ~

For a link to Blair's website & editing info, click here. 

For Archives, see the menu on the right. 

 For recent blogs, scroll down.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft) 

 Since I began this blog in 2011, I have made it a habit to include pics of the granddaughters. Some readers may recall they were featured in my first two blogs—that horrendous tale of what happened when I attempted to drive them home from a Christmas concert in their mother's car (with three girls, six and under, in carseats and no gas). Now, even the middle grand has turned 21! How time flies. Below, Hailey on the cover of a student magazine at the University of Central Florida (Orlando) and Riley playing the euphonium in a band concert at Stetson University in Deland, FL.

 

  Riley (redhead) in the middle

Not surprisingly, entitled "Amazing Tree"  

From Cattitude, Facebook

 ~ * ~

 

 SAD END TO A SERIES

Although I have edited many a manuscript, I almost never criticize published writing.  But this week I am going to do just that. (Hopefully, without giving a hint of which series I'm critiquing.) 

I have been following a certain series for some time now, eagerly awaiting each new book. The characters were well drawn, the plots remarkably imaginative. So I quickly downloaded what was billed as the last book of the series and began to read.

I was less than ten pages into the book when I frowned and went, "Huh? What's happened?This is just plain BORING." I kept reading, of course, assuring myself the author wouldn't let me down, but . . .

Too much repetition, too little inspiration. It took a number of chapters for the book to cease reminisicing and move into the plot. But as the final "wind up" plot proceeded, it seemed to substitute overblown action scenes for creativity. Relationships were given lip service—words but with no feeling of genuine emotion. All characters—the good guys and the bad—had faded from vivid color to sepia, into caricatures of their previous selves.

And then, just when I was expecting a big final chapter, the book simply stopped. I flipped my Kindle page, looking for more. Nothing. No reminders of the pain and sorrow, the joys and wonder that had gone before. The book simply petered out into nothing. It was as if the author, obviously bored with series, said, "That's enough. I'm done. Sayonara. Farewell. Time for something else."

Moral of this tale:

Authors, if you start a series, you need to finish it in the style in which it began. The only other case I can cite of such an egregious kick in the teeth to faithful followers is the lack of a final book in the Game of Thrones series, allowing the TV production to turn out one of the most dissatisfiying finales in the history of television. Please, have respect for your readers. Don't toss us a bone without meat, then have the nerve to write, "The End."

 ~ * ~

Featured Books of the Week:

My first book was published in 1999, so some of the many to follow are really old, and yet two of my early books keep appearing on my Amazon sales list despite their age— Lady Silence and The Temporary Earl. I have frequently wondered if this was because of their titles. Perhaps readers find the idea of a silent lady intriguing. And whoever heard of a temporary earl? In any event, I chose them both for this week's featured books.

 

 A snowy night; a waif on the doorstep, who doesn't talk. After agreeing to grant her shelter, Damon Farr goes off to six years of war, returning determined to be a recluse, only to discover the girl is still there. And still not talking. Is "the girl the cat dragged in" destined to be Damon Farr's Sinful Temptation or his Salvation? The odd pair walk a rocky road before the answer becomes clear.

Reviews:

"Blair Bancroft can always be counted on to deliver exceptional characters and/or settings, historical accuracy, unusual plots, and flawless writing. LADY SILENCE is one more sterling example." Jane Bowers, Romance Reviews Today

"LADY SILENCE by Blair Bancroft is a splendid Regency romance! The creative intrigue and alluring characters make this novel a must have." Nadine St. Denis, Romance Junkies

 

Former army engineer, Major Charles Tyrone, is catapulted to acting head of the family when his distant cousin, the elderly Earl of Wyvern, suffers a stroke at the news his only son has been killed in an accident and his grandson, age fifteen, lies in a coma. The major must also cope with the earl's ward, Lady Vanessa Rayne, who is a bit too aware of her status as daughter of an duke. Major Tyrone's efforts are also considerably hampered by a plethora of relatives (and prospective heirs), with hints of murder and attempted murder soon rearing their ugly heads. Yet despite being caught in the midst of these dire events, Charles and Vanessa begin to suspect it is possible for the daughter of a duke and lowly engineer to fall in love. If, that is, they live that long.

Reviews:

"The very talented Blair Bancroft has added another diamond to the Regency treasure chest with the tightly plotted and delightfully executed The Major Meets His Match."* Teresa Roebuck, Romantic Times
*now titled The Temporary Earl

"It's a vibrant and fun-filled glimpse into a time long ago, and I highly recommend it to . . . any fan of romance. It has all the qualities that we look for, regardless of the time period. Don't miss it. It's a keeper!" Celia Merenyi, A Romance Review

   *****************

BLAIR BANCROFT EDITING

Developmental Editingfor new and would-be authors

For link to details, please click here. 

  *****************

~ * ~

For a link to Blair's website & editing info, click here. 

For Archives, see the menu on the right. 

 For recent blogs, scroll down.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft) 

 

Photo by Lonnie Lania, W. Virginia

From Mad Florida Memes

~ * ~

 My son sent me the following post back in August; no attribution. But I carefully saved it, knowing it was a perfect gem for my blog. As I frequently tell acquaintances:  "Never get old!"

 

Comments on "getting older" fromwell-known names of the past

"The older I get, the better I was"! JM

"If you want to know how old a woman is, ask her sister-in-law."  (Eva Gabor)

"Old age comes at a bad time." (Ed Sullivan)
 
"Old age is like a plane flying through a storm.  Once you are aboard, there is nothing you can do about it."  (Golda Meir)
 
"First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to pull your zipper up; then, you forget to pull your zipper down."  (Rob Reiner)
 
"Old people shouldn't eat healthy foods.  They need all the preservatives they can get."  (Bob Hope)
 
"At my age, flowers scare me."  (George Burns)
 
"It's like you trade the virility of the body for the agility of the spirit."  (Ed Sullivan)
 
"The years between 55 and 75 are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down."  (T.S Elliot)
 
"At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At age 40, we don't care what they think of us... at age 60, we discover they haven't been thinking of us at all."  (Ann Landers)
 
"When I was young, I was called a rugged individualist. When I was in my fifties, I was considered eccentric.  Here I am doing and saying the same things I did then, and I'm labeled senile."  (Milton Berle)
 
"The important thing to remember is that I'm probably going to forget."  (Martin Scorsese)
 
"We don't grow older, we grow riper."  (Pablo Picasso)
 
"It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone." (Andy Rooney)
 
"The older I get, the better I used to be."  (Lee Trevino)
 
"I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a lot more as they get older, and then it dawned on me — they're cramming for their final exam."  (George Carlin)
 
"Everything seems to slow down with age, except the time it takes cake and ice cream to reach your hips."  (Elizabeth Taylor)
 
"You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks."  (Dennis Quaid)
 
"Looking fifty is great — if you're sixty."  (Joan Rivers)
 
"Time may be a great Healer, but it's a lousy Beautician."*


*Grace note: Sorry, no attribution for the last one. 

 ~ * ~

 Featured Book of the Week - THE ART OF EVIL

 I worked for many years as a volunteer tram driver (one afternoon a week) on the 66 acres of The Ringling Museum in Sarasota. One of the joys of my life. I also volunteered (in full costume) for the Medieval Fair held on the grounds for many years until new construction at the Ringling forced the fair to go elsewhere. The Art of Evil is set at the Ringling in the era before the new construction, describing the Ringling before the new Circus Museum, new restaurant, and additions to the Museum itself. Descriptions are authentic, including the "disappearance" of a statue the state evidently did not approve of. Even the meeting with the aerialist in the Ladies Room and her explanation of "Break a Leg" actually happened. 

If you are ever anywhere near Sarasota, Florida, DO NOT MISS The Ringling Museum.  

A bit dark, but that's a body hanging from one of the many banyan trees at the Ringling.

 Someone is killing people at the Bellman Museum, staging the deaths as bizarre works of art scattered over the museum's sixty-six tropical acres. FBI Special Agent Aurora "Rory" Travis, broken in body and spirit, shuns the world as a tram driver at the museum until a friend becomes a suspect in one of the deaths. Rory's self-appointed investigation is complicated by the appearance of a mystery man who hops onto her tram in the midst of a thunder storm and the arrival on site of a determined Sarasota PD detective. In the end, only one of the new men in her life is watching her back when Rory is forced to confront her worst fears as she goes one-on-one with the villain.

Review:

"This is an engaging Florida investigative thriller starring a likable cast to include eccentric seniors especially Aunt Hy, polar opposite sleuths with an in-common interest in Rory, and a terrific heroine struggling to regain her sea legs. . . ."
Harriet Klausner 

   *****************

BLAIR BANCROFT EDITING

Developmental Editingfor new and would-be authors

For link to details, please click here. 

  *****************

~ * ~

For a link to Blair's website & editing info, click here. 

For Archives, see the menu on the right. 

 For recent blogs, scroll down.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)