Wreader Fun

Along with a new website, I've divided my blog into one for my writing and books, and one for family life and nature photographs. You can find my new writing blog with posts from July 2011 onward at  http://www.anitamaedraper.com/writingauthor-blog My family life and nature photographs can be found at  http://anitamaedraper.blogspot.ca/ You're welcome to follow along on my journey... Anita.

I went to Dallas, Texas in Sept and although I didn't see much of the city itself, I really enjoyed my trip to the American Christian Fiction Writers annual conference. I'm posting a day-by-day diary of my trip over on my writing blog and so far, have posted these days: - Going to Dallas : Travelling from Regina to Dallas and my first impressions - ACFW Dallas Wed : Meeting author friends and venturing away from the hotel The following photos are different from the ones over on my Woven Under Western Skies writing blog , but if you want to see pics of the conference itself and my author friends, you should check it out. Dawn breaks at 6:22 am Sep 19th, 2012 at the DFW airport in Dallas, TX.   Looking toward Dallas from my 8th floor room in the DFW Hyatt Regency.   Using the 700mm zoom on my Nikon Coolpix P500 camera, brings the Dallas skyline closer.   Anita Mae Draper standing in front of the Love & War in Texas restaurant in Grapevine, Texas, Sept 21, ...

I'm blogging about my recent research trip at the Inkwell today under the title, Research Trip: Trails of 1885 Part 1 . Here's a hint about my trip: And if you're a member of the Draper and/or Nelson families, you may be interested in my Author Memories post 100 Year Old Postcards where I show one postcard addressed to Noah Draper and 2 to Ethel Isabell Nelson, all in chronological order so you see what they're doing before they marry. I also discuss how I'm using this information for genealological purposes.

Last week I was in St Louis, Missouri at the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) conference. As usual, the conference ended on Sunday morning with a worship session which included the ACFW choir. Rachael Phillips, the 2011 ACFW Choir Director said, "They are a wonderful, gifted group, and I love working with them. I send them music and mp3 files beforehand, which they rehearse on their own, and in four/five crazy conference practices wedged in between classes and appointments, these singers from all over the country blend their diverse talents and spirits into a single voice of praise. SO proud of them!" So there I was in the back corner of the room with my little Lumix camera. Because I was so far away, the faces in the choir are barely discernable. And the video is shaky since I didn't have a tripod. However, the music is a beautiful outpouring of the spirit. I hope you can look past the inadequacies - perhaps just close your eyes - and receive the blessing of the...

So after being in my cave for most of the summer - not counting the 2 wks I took off for travel - I finally finished my new manuscript. A day later, Nelson came back from the city with this beautiful bouquet and said it was for completing my book. The new novel is set in 1888 in the North-WestTerritories of Assiniboia and Saskatchewan (now the Province of Saskatchewan) and my hero is a North West Mounted Police corporal. I really enjoyed writing this story. There'll be more info posted on my new website on my research and books pages as well as my Woven Under Western Skies blog.

I've created a website for my writing career which has necessitated the need to split this blog into two: one for writing and one for family. This blog is now incorporated into the new website. (I'm working on the tabs to convert weebly to blogger.) To celebrate my new website and re-defined blogs, I'm giving away a prize package. The rules are listed at the top of the right column of this blog. Where it says, 'this site' that means my whole new website . Check my WELCOME PRIZE GIVEAWAY post for a photo of the prize and a list of contents. Hope you enjoy your visit. :)

JJ and I drove to Fort Walsh National Historic Site in the Cypress Hills on the Saskachewan side of the border shared with Alberta. Our visit was two fold: research for my Mountie story, and to see if I could find a Mountie to use for promotional purposes with my story. The Cypress Hills are the highest land elevation east of the Rocky Mountains. (I can't remember at the moment if the Laurentians in Quebec are higher.) Fort Walsh was part of the Old Forts Trail which ran from Fort Benton, Montana up to Edmonton, Alberta and other places. To get to Fort Walsh, we had to go down this hill, across the valley, and up a steep, winding road. This road with hairpin turns is so steep, you're advised to unhook your trailer/camper and leave it in a designated parking area for that purpose. Once you get to the top of the hills, you cross the wide plateau you see at the top of this photo. After several kilometres, you find the visitor's centre with the actual fort down...

I'm back from the Romance Writers of America (RWA) conference in New York City and am blogging today with a post, Anita Mae At RWA in New York   over at the Inkwell Inspirations blog. This was my first view of New York after breaking through the clouds. You can see the lighted Empire State Building on the right and the Chrysler Building on the left at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island which I blogged about in my Inkwell post  19th Century Mission Coffee House  and my post here called,  It Can't Be June . While flying, I'm not usually scared of the landings, but I did fret a bit when we seemed to be heading right for the Hudson River as we headed down to LaGuardia Airport. I mean, I've heard several news stories of planes crashing into the Hudson River and it seemed we were taking the plunge as well except no one else on board seemed concerned. Why didn't anyone tell me the runways were on the water? Another misconception of mine was Times Squar...

To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer, Bethany House, May 2011 Karen Witemeyer’s suburb story skills shine in this second-chances tale that caught my attention at the first paragraph and kept me enthralled until the very end. Little details on every page gripped my heart and drew me into the lives of a man seeking a new life and a woman trying to shed her old one. I agonized between writing my own story and reading To Win Her Heart which I kept close so I could snatch a peek at every chance. I believe Karen Witemeyer reached new heights with her choice of strong, yet vulnerable characters - social opposites who believe past errors have ruined their chance for a family of their own. Eden Spencer is only in her late twenties, but in 1887 she’s considered a spinster. She lives with a small staff - people who’ve known her forever, and opens her personal library to the town. Church, good works for orphans and reading at her weekly children’s story hour fills her with joy, but it’s n...

It's history day at the Inkwell and I'm blogging about dining cars and meals on the old Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) back in 1888. I've included a the modern VIA Rail video to show train interiors and the Canadian landscape. The questions for discussion are: Have you ever eaten on a train? When and where? What did you think? Today's photo is a bison cow and calf. As you can see, momma is shedding her winter coat to stay cooler during our short summer.  

I'm blogging over at Inkwell Inspirations today with a book review on Karen Witemeyer's book To Win Her Heart . I'm giving this historical romance a 5 star rating because of it's such a great story I had a hard time putting it down. Come over and join our discussion if you get a chance. I wanted to give you another look at the Cedar Waxwing that's hanging around our crabapple trees. Actually, there are a couple of them, but this is the one I caught in action. I thought they were going after the nectar. Apparently, it's the blossoms they like. While I was out taking pics of the Waxwings, other birds caught my eye which I hadn't seen since last year. These included an American Goldfinch, Baltimore Oriole and a Hummingbird. They all flitted about so fast I didn't get a chance to zoom in close, but I'll try again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll see you over at the Inkwell. :)

I have a free book draw and a whole bunch of my duck, crane, avocet and sandpiper photos over at Inkwell Inspirations today. Not much talking, just photos of birds. It's self-help day so I figured I'd give everyone a few minutes of just looking at pics. :) Here's a teaser for you... So grab a cup of coffee, tea, latte, etc, sit back, and watch the pictures. :) My question for today is... did you actually just sit and watch, or were you multi-tasking at the same time? And here's a video I made about these birds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVMiMJKegmM Free Book Draw: And for a little something extra, I need your opinion and I'm giving away a new copy of Marilyn Meberg's Love Me Never Leave Me (non-fiction) for helping me decide. If you wish to be entered for this draw, please leave your email address in your comment over at the Inkwell only . (Comments left here can't be in this draw). Draw closes midnight, Sunday, June 5th, 2011. I'm trying to dec...

I've been remiss! On Tuesday I blogged at the Inkwell about a fascinating 19th century Mission Coffee House which served the area near Blackwell's Island in Yew York and I forgot to mention it here. Eeps! Blackwell's Island sits between Manhattan and Queen's.   It's now known as Roosevelt Island.    Opened in 1856, a smallpox hospital on the southern tip of Blackwell's Island was part of a multitude of public institutions to care for New York City's unfortunate and destitute. This 2002 photo shows the roofless Renwick Ruins. There are trees growing inside as well as around the abandoned hospital.      An ongoing restoration and stabilization effort is in place. Here, the stones of the former smallpox hospital on Roosevelt Island are being removed and numbered.  The building will be put back together again at a later date.  It seems the restoration of the Renwick smallpox hospital is a mystery at the moment. A high fence has been placed acr...

Book Recommendation Finally a Bride (Book 3 Texas Boardinghouse Brides) by Vickie McDonough Barbour Books, May 2011 "He made her want to be a woman for the first time in her life." Jack’s story in Finally a Bride was worth the wait. It's the tale of grown up Jacqueline (Jack) Davis who now wears dresses and looks like a lady, but still acts like the 10 yr old tomboy we met in the first book of this series. Consider the opening… Jack is after a story and climbs on the mayor’s roof to eavesdrop on his conversation with two strangers. No, I won’t tell you if she accomplishes her mission, but I will say pain is involved. Because she’ll do anything to uproot the truth. If you remember book 1, you’ll remember Butch Laird who wrote “ Jack is a liar” across every paintable surface in town. Bully that he was, he even locked Jack up in jail and left her there. Man, she detested that kid. Never mind that he had a point, he still shouldn’t have done it. And after he left town, th...

Happy Friday, folks. I was thinking of changing my header photo since the road is no longer flooded, but with all the rain we've had water started coming in the basement. And it's still coming! I wanted to draw your attention to the website of Sandra Ardoin who mentioned me in her High Five Friday!! post. Thanks, Sandy. :D Tomorrow, my post will be a book review on Vickie McDonough's 3rd book in her Texas Boardinghouse Brides series, Finally a Bride . There will be a book discussion going on, but it'll be over on the  Inkwell Inspirations blog. Now that I'm finally back in my office out in the garage, I'll be writing all weekend. The boys can play all the video games they want and I won't hear a thing. Except the rain. If you look at the header photo, today's picture would've been taken a few feet before the water's edge where the ground was soft and wet. It's the paw print of a coyote and that's my shoe, so those tracks are big! Nelson...

 I'm back from my road trip for research with mixed results. Although I discovered lots of neat places and took oodles of pics, many of the historic sights I needed to photograph wouldn't be open until Victoria Day. I missed by a week! For this post though, I want to show some of the weather related things I found on my travels. Although I saw many farmers out in their fields, some tried to get a head start and only got bogged down in the muck. Here's a tractor that didn't get too far in the task: And here's the dozer that tried to pull him out: The wind was so bad one day, the flags were flying straight and high... Two days after the super-windy day, I passed one large fire and saw another in the distance. It could've been another dangerous situation, like up at Slave Lake, if the wind took control of this small grass fire... Road conditions were horrible. Part of the reason was due to flooding. Here is an example of just one of the many roads being eaten away ...