Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Published Books, New Releases, and WIPs by the "Voyagers" Authors: This Week ~ Louise MacBeath Barbour

Over the coming weeks, the IWSG Anthology blog will be featuring posts from our winning authors in Voyagers:  The Third Ghost.  They'll be sharing their current works-in-progress (WIPs) along with other things they would like to share.  As blog coordinator for our Voyagers authors, I thought I should volunteer to go first.

First and foremost, I'm kicking myself.  Today is the deadline for the 2020 Anthology Contest, and I do not have an entry.  I didn't need a dramatic bolt from the black to get started like last year.  I was well underway.  I have a protagonist (Abby), a storyline (dark, existential matters), and a setting (a settlement by an underground lake in Planum Australe), and I've done a lot of research on Mars and the challenges of establishing a permanent human colony there.  But life intervened in July and into August, and I ran out of time. I'm still going to write my story:  It's a WIP.

Setting Near the South Pole Region of Mars, Planum Australe
Radar evidence at the site suggests the presence of an underground lake.



My problem is not so much WIPs as Works Finished.  I have a lot of irons in the fire, but I need to pull one out and hammer it into shape!  I've made some huge leaps forward this year, and it's all thanks to winning a spot in the Voyagers anthology.  I've moved from regarding myself as a writer to seeing myself as an author.  Right now I'm working on my author's website, and it needs more than a short story to showcase!

I'm moving forward with optimism and with goals.  This year I'm going to participate in November's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and finish a project.  I've always hesitated to take NaNoWriMo on because November is such a busy month, but I figure I'll never have a better chance to do this than when stranded at home by Covid-19.  Furthermore, I've learned so much this year through the publication of Voyagers, that my confidence and belief in myself has soared.

My biggest WIP in my memoir of my family's time in Lansdowne House inland of James Bay in Northern Ontario, Canada.  I am currently taking a course from the University of Alberta, Indigenous Canada, because I want a better understanding of the First Nations peoples experience of that time.  Working on this memoir is certainly one of the most challenging things I have ever done, and I am determined to finish it.

My Brother Roy and I Canoeing on Lake Attawapskat
Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, Canada
Spring 1961
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Another WIP of mine is a novel set in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Kansas. It is a multigenerational story of tragedy and perseverance connected to the Truxtun-Pollux naval disaster off Lawn on the Burin Peninsula in Newfoundland on February 18, 1942.  I learned about this heartrending story when I worked as a field geologist in nearby St. Lawrence in the summer of 1972.  The grandson of a man who helped in the rescue of drowning sailors told me the story of the wrecks of the Truxtun and the Pollux while we lying at the top of the Pinnacles looking down into Chambers Cove where the disaster occurred.  I was too scared to stand at the top of this cliff, and I had crawled on my belly to look down.  (The Pinnacles is the highest point in the photo below).

Chambers Cove, Burin Peninsula, Newfoundland



A third WIP of mine is a picture book tentatively called Along Piney Creek.  I have been photographing and studying the animals and plants in this open space for a decade.  Really, I have enough material now!

Mama Red-winged Blackbird
Along Piney Creek, Aurora, Colorado
April 7, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



And I have more, but I won't embarrass myself further by detailing them.  What has been holding me back is a lack of confidence and a fear of failure.  But Voyagers and the journey it has taken me through this year has given me a huge boost, and I'm already hammering.

If you haven't read Voyagers:  The Third Ghost yet, I hope that you will.  Here's a blurb for my story which turned me from a writer into an author.  And there are nine other wonderful stories to go along with mine!

Blurb
Who can resist a dare to enter a forbidden room?  Sara and her brother Kelsey find themselves in dire circumstances a long way from home after a rash "Dare" and "Double Dare."






Bio
Born in Nova Scotia and raised throughout eastern Canada, Louise is a writer and blogger who lives with her supportive husband in Colorado.  She writes fiction and nonfiction. Her love of reading, photography, geology, and travel rounds out her enthusiastic embrace of life.


Coming on Wednesday, September 16, 2020 . . .

Next up is Sherry Ellis who shares her new book Bubba and Squirt's Mayan Adventure which will be released on September 15th.



* * * * * * * * * *



You can order VOYAGERS: The Third Ghost here: 

Print 9781939844729 $13.95
EBook 9781939844736 $4.99
Juvenile Fiction - Historical / Action & Adventure / Fantasy & Magic
Dancing Lemur Press/Freedom Fox Press





Amazon - Print https://www.amazon.com/dp/193984472XKindle https://www.amazon.com/Voyagers-Third-Ghost-Yvonne-Ventresca-ebook/dp/B083C4WPR5/

Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/voyagers-yvonne-ventresca/1135912991?ean=2940163430857

ITunes - https://books.apple.com/ca/book/voyagers-the-third-ghost/id1493413956

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/voyagers-the-third-ghost

15 comments:

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Take that confidence and keep working on those projects.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Sorry you didn't get to enter this year's contest but it sounds like you have a lot of other works in progress to keep you busy.

Toi Thomas said...

Sounds like you've got a handle on things with your current wips and plans for NaNo. I wish you all the best. I've read VOYAGERS and it's been the 2nd best thing I've read all year.

Yvonne Ventresca said...

I've participated in NaNo! Good luck!

Sherry Ellis said...

Keep working on all of your projects, and don't be too tough on yourself for not entering this year's anthology. Your time was well-spent promoting the Voyager's anthology!

Fundy Blue said...

I am, Diane!

Fundy Blue said...

Me too ~ Busy is not a problem for me! LOL

Fundy Blue said...

Thank you, so much Toi! I'm glad that you enjoyed Voyagers. But you have me wondering what your favorite was ~ LOL!

Fundy Blue said...

Thanks, Yvonne! I'm actually feeling excited!

Fundy Blue said...

Thanks, Sherry! I've learned so much this year!

Beth Schuck said...

Love hearing about your WIP. They all sound terrific. Keep going, we all have many ideas, it’s getting them to the finish line that is tough. You can do it! Love your photos.

Fundy Blue said...

Thanks, Beth! I appreciate your encouragement!

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

All your WIPs sound great! So hang onto your confidence and keep forging ahead.

Fundy Blue said...

Thanks, Rebecca! I'm determined! All the best to you!

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