A huge THANK YOU to those of you who came to the launch of Love and Death, the sixth book in my Meg Sheppard Mystery Series. More than 40 people attended!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the event: I've received a lot of positive feedback, especially about the videos of our horses and Lucy Black's interview of me (see above).
I will share clips from the interview in future posts. I owe a huge THANK YOU to Lucy!
See below the story for a special video of Lions Raw.
Here are two more photos from the event. (Thank you, Bill!).
Here's a story which I wrote for a Uxbridge Writers' Circle Meeting - it was a word challenge and the words I had to use are in italics:
Obsession
I’m back in the house where I was raised, clearing everything out so that it can be sold. It’s cramped, cold and dingy, just as I remember it when I left, fifty-four years ago. I recall living in a hard, frugal environment, with parents obsessed with making do with almost nothing. I have no idea how much money came in, but I know for certain very little was spent. I was permitted either margarine or jam on my day-old bread, I had only one pair of shoes, my clothes were second-hand, mended and patched, and I was often cold because coal was expensive.
I was ashamed of myself and of them.
I held a private celebration that day when I left. I had a flask of milk to toast my freedom, along with an apple. But in the light of the bright red sunrise the next morning, I rose off the park bench, stiff and cold: the rebel in me was less enthusiastic about starting a new life on his own when faced with the reality of no food and no shelter. But there was no turning back, so I walked and walked until I came across a garden nursery hiring people to repot plants. I was sure that I’d be a strong candidate since I’d worked for hours in my parents’ garden as well as in their small, humid greenhouse, growing and nurturing vegetables from seed.
I got the job, not so much for my skills and knowledge, but because I was willing to work long hours for little pay. I found a boarding house which had a dark, damp, closet-sized room with one light bulb dangling from the ceiling on a cobweb-wrapped cord. The bulb danced every time I shut the door, but the cobweb stayed put. My mother had kept our meagre house clean and I couldn’t get used to living amongst other people’s filth, odour and garbage.
I moved up in the garden centre world and my last job was Manager of Bowden Tree Nursery, which grew thousands of trees for the wholesale market. This job would have been my favourite one if it hadn’t been for my boss. He was thirty years my junior but thought he knew everything. He didn’t, of course, and wouldn’t listen to anyone, especially me. I hear the place has gone bankrupt and the bank is selling it.
I didn’t see either of my parents after I left, and they didn’t come looking for me. I’ve never been far away. I could have been found and I can’t say there wasn’t a small part of me which was hurt. Perhaps they enjoyed the reduction in expense.
I’m here clearing out the house because my mother has died at the ripe old age of ninety-three. I think my father died when he was ninety-four. Perhaps their economical, thrifty existence extended their life spans, but I’m hoping it’s mostly due to their genes because I’ve just turned seventy and I want to live a lot longer.
This house won’t fetch much, even in this market. It’s a tear-down since it hasn’t been maintained and it’s so small. The roof has been leaking, creating havoc with the ceilings. And blackening wallpaper is peeling off the walls revealing crumbling plaster riddled with cracks. Without the mould spores, my parents might have lived into their hundreds. My mother had apparently managed to sweep the floors, dust the sparse furniture, and scrub the front doorstep until her dying day.
I open the freezer. My parents did spend money on a second-hand chest freezer to preserve home-grown vegetables. I find it devoid of food except for three bags of ice-coated green beans and a white plastic bag. I toss the beans into the garbage and reach for the bag. It contains something flat and square, and I have trouble lifting it. Newspaper is wrapped around the contents and is firmly held in place with rough gardening twine.
I tear off some of the newspaper and find wads of bills. At a rough guess, I’d say there has to be at least $100,000. I can’t stop my hands from shaking and my legs from trembling. Money is the last thing I expected to find in this house. I ask myself if there might be more hidden in other places.
I find similar amounts under the mattress in pillowcases, in cracked mason jars in the greenhouse, in an old pressure cooker under the sink, and smaller amounts in various tins, and about $50,000 in an old coal scuttle in the corner of the cellar.
It’s taken me two days to scour the house and its contents, and I’ve returned from the bank for the last time, having deposited $ 1.2 million. And my friends think I’ve lost my sanity because I’m going to buy Bowden Tree Nursery. I’m counting on my genes to let me live long enough to make it a tremendous success, and I plan to have lots of fun in the process.
Vicky Earle Copyright 2024
Lions Raw
The first part of this video clip is 27 1/2 years old! (I'm sorry, it does look its age!). It shows Lions Raw as a foal at Windfields Farm (home of Northern Dancer) with her mother Gato del Norte (the first racehorse Martin and I fully owned). I am leading Lions Raw (or trying to!). It was her first venture outside.
The next part shows Lions Raw as a three-year-old running her first race.
She is now 27 years old and lives on our farm with her daughter, I'm a Cheetah.
If you saw the video at the launch, you may still enjoy watching it again!!
Remember, books make great gifts!
My books are all available at Blue Heron Books and on Amazon (internationally). They can also be ordered at any bookstore.
Happy reading!
And thank you again to those of you who came to my book launch!
It was wonderful to see you and I had a great time (I hope you did too!).
Vicky
Loved the story and, wow, the video 👏👏👏‼️
Many congratulations on your sixth book!