Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’
- In: Books | guest posts | Writing
- 32 Comments
I am pleased to be featured on fellow Canadian author, Diane Tibert´s blog as a guest. Check out what inspired me to write Amanda in Holland.
Introducing children’s author Darlene Foster. She has several books in the Amanda series: Amanda in New Mexico, Amanda in Danube, Amanda in Alberta, Amanda in England, Amanda in Spain and Amanda in Arabia. Her Most recent book, Amanda in Holland – Missing in Acton, was released in September 2019. In this interview, she shares a little about it.
1) What is the title of your recent book? Is it a series, what genre is it and is it suitable for all ages?
My most recent book is Amanda in Holland: Missing in Action, book number seven in the Amanda Travels series featuring a young girl who has an exciting adventure wherever she travels. Although this a series, each book can be read as a stand-alone and does not have to be read in any order. The books are written for children between the ages of 7 to…
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- In: Books | Inspiration | Memories | short stories
- 63 Comments
I am delighted to be included in this anthology of unedited short stories, poems, and articles from around the world written during the 2020 Pandemic.
The Blurb
With Love, Comes Hope offers a unique glimpse into the lives of ordinary people, as they coped, suffered and inspired others; in this unprecedented time, the population of our planet found common cause. Frontline and key workers everywhere ventured out to save lives and protect the vulnerable, supplying and delivering food alongside other essential services, like teaching, transport, rubbish collection; all workers valiantly striving in difficult circumstances. Vast numbers of people self-isolated for weeks or months and adhered to new hand cleaning and face-covering regimes. Most of the world experienced a lengthy period of lockdown and economies were mothballed.
Around the world, governments responded differently with greater or lesser success, and the lives of the population were impacted in many different ways. There was large-scale loss of life, personal devastation, and enduring and serious health compromises. Many lost loved ones, families were cast into tragedy, jobs were lost and businesses failed. But there was also profound inspiration, people doing good, helping neighbours, friends and those, especially, in need of protection. Doctors, nurses, carers and support workers – cleaners, cooks, security people, heroically put their own lives in danger to care for the sick, often at the expense of being with their own families.
There have been pandemics before with even higher casualties, but we have never experienced a pandemic in such a connected society. The human race may not have responded as well as it could but for the first time, there was international communication and, to a very large extent, cooperation.
This book is one such example; it shares the voices of people from many countries. It is a collection of personal accounts, poems, stories and reminiscences from around our beautiful planet and illustrates the innate kindness of people in desperate times and a shared wish for something better for all our futures – a common thread in this volume, With Love, Comes Hope: Stories and Inspiration during the 2020 Pandemic.
100% of the royalties will be donated to an international humanitarian charity called Bridge2, based on the Channel Island of Guernsey.
The contributions came from the following countries: Bangladesh, Australia, Brazil, United Kingdom, Spain, South Africa, Israel, Greece, Canada, Italy, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, China (inc. Hong Kong), India, Romania, Japan, Haiti, Denmark, The Philippines, The Netherlands, Saint Helena, Guernsey, New Zealand, Palestine, Germany, Russia, France.
Here is a radio podcast by one of the organizers of the project https://www.talkradioeurope.com/clients/mmoss250820.mp3
This book can be purchased in print or digital format on most Amazon sites.
This valuable piece of our history should be in everyone´s library.
My Interview on AllAuthor
Posted on: February 16, 2020
- In: Books | guest posts | Writing
- 61 Comments
Brought up on a ranch in southern Alberta, Darlene Foster dreamt of writing at the age of eight. When she was twelve, one of her stories was published in the local newspaper. It took her three years to write the first book. Darlene Foster’s books have an interesting and fast-paced story and include a huge amount of fascinating information. She loves writing for children. Read full interview…
I was delighted to be asked by AllAuthor for an Author Interview with Mady Joshi. I enjoy being part of AllAuthor as it is a great place to showcase your books. They provide great promo materials and gifs that are easy to create, even for someone not that technical.
Thank you for this interview, Mady! I enjoyed answering your great questions.
I hope you enjoyed my interview on AllAuthor and learned about a favourite childhood memory of mine as well as other things about me and my books.
Here are a couple of promo photos and gifs I have created with AllAuthor.
My favourite
- In: guest posts | People | Writing
- 21 Comments
Sally Cronin is an amazing woman who is a tremendous supporter of other writers and bloggers. So I was so happy to see her here being interviewed by another writer friend of mine, Joy Lennick. Enjoy learning about her very interesting life.
Thank you very much Joy for inviting me over for an interview… it is a great pleasure.
Where you born and what was your first memory?
I was born in Wickham, a village in Hampshire, not far from Portsmouth. My parents lived in a house that my mother grew up in from about the age of 8 years old. Her step-father was the village butcher, with a shop in the main square. We went to Ceylon, as it was called in those days, when I was 18 months old for two years, and my first memories were of noisy monkeys. Small macaques lived all around us in the forest, and they would come into the house at any opportunity to thieve food, my father’s cigarettes and my mother’s jewellry. I also have vivid memories of the scents and sunshine, and I remember swimming at a very early age in my…
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FEMINIST FRIDAY 2018
Posted on: April 6, 2018
- In: Family | guest posts | History | Inspiration | Memories
- 19 Comments
I am honoured to have my story about my inspiring great-grandmothers featured on Bernadette’s blog. Some of you may have read it before but if you haven’t, please pop over and have a read and leave a comment if you wish.
“We can have feminist icons, but the real heroines are just quietly doing what is needed.” Osyth
The following post was written by Darlene Foster who writes at Darlenefoster.wordpress.com. It is the tale of her two great-grandmothers who made a fulfilling life for themselves and their families while enduring great hardships. What struck me about this story, of these two real heroines, was that Darlene said that because of the legacy of these women it has given her the confidence and courage to know that she can thrive under any circumstance.
A Tale of Two Katharinas, a Legacy of Strong Women
“People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.” Edmund Burke
I was fortunate to know both of my maternal great-grandmothers. They passed away when I was in my early teens but I remember them well. They were formidable women with hearts of gold. One…
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- In: Inspiration | quotes
- 30 Comments
This is me some days!! Thanks for this Lynn.
- In: Books | guest posts | Writing
- 29 Comments
Book six in the Amanda Travels series, Amanda in New Mexico – Ghosts in the Wind has been officially released on Amazon, Kobo and other sites. A recent reviewer stated: This story combines a good young adult adventure story with hints of the paranormal while also providing some well placed educational material lightly in the text and great ideas for other young people to aspire to.
Thank you to everyone who has already purchased a copy of the book. I do hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you like the story, a short review would be most welcome.
To celebrate, we are featuring a fabulous giveaway that includes a copy of the book, a colouring book, the cutest little ghost stuffy, cookie cutters and an Amazon gift certificate. All in time for Halloween!!
You can enter this great giveaway here:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4e6fad2120/?
Please note it’s only available to US & Canadian entries. Any international winners will be granted digital copies of the full Amanda Travels series.
And there´s more! I was honoured to be invited to be a guest on The Maltese Tiger´s Tips From a Pro. My responses to his excellent questions.
Do you think that creative writers need to pursue a formal education, or can you learn the craft on your own?
Foster: I think creative writers need to continue learning as long as they breathe. But I don’t believe they need a formal education, although it certainly doesn’t hurt. But not having a formal education should never stop one from writing. There are so many ways to learn and improve the craft of writing. Reading everything you can get your hands on will always be the best teacher. I’m a great believer in workshops and seminars, both in person and online. Critique groups also provide a fount of knowledge. Hanging around other writers, not just those who write in your genre, can teach you so much. Every time I attend a writers’ conference, I come away feeling like I just received a degree.
What kind of research do you do when writing a book or story?
Foster: I usually start my research during my travels by being curious, taking a lot of pictures, keeping notes and chatting with people. When I return home and start the story, I do more detailed research on certain topics I plan to include in the book, usually on the internet.
Read the rest of the interview here and leave a comment if you wish.
Don´t forget to enter the giveaway http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4e6fad2120/?
I hope everyone is having a super autumn, whether you are basking in the sun or enjoying the freshly fallen snow, it is always a lovely time of the year. Life is good!
- In: guest posts | Inspiration | Writing
- 15 Comments
I am featured today on the wonderful blogsite Mother Daughter Book Reviews where I discuss how my photographs inspire my writing.
How Photographs Can Inspire Ideas
by Darlene Foster
As a writer of children’s books, I am often asked where I get ideas for my stories. I’m inspired by my travels for the most part and eager to share what I have seen and learned with my young readers. I start with a place, somewhere interesting, and include an adventure or a mystery for my main character, Amanda, to solve. Although I have the main idea, I often get stuck while putting the story together.
Read more of the article here
Inspired by Dreams of Travel
Posted on: January 11, 2014
- In: Books | Dreams | guest posts | Inspiration | Writing
- 9 Comments
Today I am guest blogging over at T.B. Markinson’s blog Making My Mark
Inspired by Dreams of Travel by Darlene Foster
I recently met Darlene via her blog. Most of you know I love to travel, so when I discovered that her books were centered on traveling and introducing new people, places, and cultures to a younger audience I had to find out more. Darlene was kind enough to agree to guest post. I was inspired when I read her post and I hope you will be as well. And now here’s Darlene:
Read more: http://tbmarkinson.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/inspired-by-dreams-of-travel-by-darlene-foster/
Drop by and make a comment.
While there, check out TB’s other blog site The 50 Year Project where she challenges herself to visit 192 countries, read 1,001 books, and watch the top 100 movies. I love this idea of listing places, books and movies one plans to experience in the next 50 years.
TB is also an author (boy do we have a lot in common!)
Check out her latest book Marionette
We Cannot Create Alone
Posted on: April 12, 2011
- In: Writing
- 10 Comments
I thought perhaps I was spending too much time on social networking and not enough time on my writing lately. But then I thought about all the wonderful new friends I have made on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and various blog sites. I have learned so much from other writers, readers and interesting people. I have acquired many new ideas that help me with my writing. That’s when I realized that whenever we are creating, we need others for inspiration and motivation.
I was at a friend’s birthday party recently where I only knew the birthday girl. I walked away with a number of ideas for the book I am working on currently, just by talking to her and her wonderful friends.
My publisher asked me to write an acknowledgment page for my next, soon to be print-published book, Amanda in Spain – the Girl in the Painting. As I went through the people I planned to thank, I also realized this was not a project completed on my own. Some say writing is a lonely profession but I disagree, without any collaboration we would have no books worth reading.
So, I want to thank everyone who reads my blog, as you are part of my team, so to speak. I love your comments and observations as they add fuel to the fire and keep me going.
I would love to know, do you believe that we need other people in order to create?
“An artist is a nourisher and a creator who knows that during the act of creation there is collaboration. We do not create alone.” Madeleine LˊEngle
Madeleine L'Engle
