My Dad – he was a veteran of both WWII and Korea. Thank you, Dad!
It’s been a long time coming, but the website is ready to be seen after a tumultuous redesign & production!
It is hoped you will take the time to visit all pages, click on links, and have a wonderful time visiting in my virtual home. I’m so glad you are reading my blog again too!
Julie did a fabulous job with the website redesign!
Please join me in giving Julie many thanks for her wonderful design work in helping my website become what I dreamed. She worked hard on incorporating many things that are dear to me. I especially love the feather! It’s a sweet touch!
~~ Status of Book 2 – DarkShadow ~~
I’ll be spending the rest of May and the month of June finalizing Book 2. I’m about 50,000 words into the book, which is part of The Chronicles of Eldershire series. Plans are to knuckle down and get the last half of Act 2 and all of Act 3 written. Second step, a series of editors and VIP SQUAD readers will receive the book to help me clean it up and make sure the story flows as intended.
For more information about DarkShadow – description, backstory, dates for the book release, and other events – watch my website, specifically page: https://pambnewberry.com/media/events/.
Well, that’s it for now! My hope is to hear from you and what you think of the new website. In the meantime, check out my books! This creative appreciates your support! Cheers with Smiles,
P. S. Mr Scruffy asked me to tell you to get ready for a most fantastic journey in DarkShadow! He said he is very happy about what I’m doing. Isn’t he just the sweetest!
The post New Website – Look & Feel first appeared on Pam’s Blog on Monday, May 27, 2019.
Today marks one month since Pam posted to her blog. Life tends to take turns in unexpected ways. This past month was like that in several ways…
Pam B. Newberry, a little older than 61, of Virginia was reported missing and presumed lost at sea on September 14, 2018. Her brother, Archie, called Pam’s husband, Albert, and was not able to speak with him. “I think she left for Ireland or maybe even Scotland,” Archie said. You should talk with Pam’s daughter, Julie.
After checking the airlines, and not finding Pam’s name among those listed. Julie told us she contacted various cruise lines. She said, “It wouldn’t surprise me that she hitched a ride on a cruise ship making its way across the Atlantic for the winter. I talked with her neighbors. They said they saw my Dad leave with several bags in tow.”
Then, one of Pam’s BFFs called. “I gave Pam a ride to the Charlotte airport where she got a plane. The weather was not too bad that day. She let me video her getting out my car. She was so happy to be going on a trip. She loved to travel, you know even though she was scared of flying. But, now, I’ve not heard from her. I have no idea where she is. She promised she would write me once she arrived wherever she was going. She wouldn’t tell me where. I’m worried.”
Albert, a retired Public Safety Director for the little hamlet where he and Pam have a seven-acre farm told a neighbor the day before he was seen leaving, “Pam and I like trying or experiencing different things—we’re Renaissance people. It seems no one really knows what someone would or could do if given the chance. Including me after being married to Pam for over forty-years.”
A high school chum of Pam’s said, “I saw her car at Lover’s Leap along the Blue Ridge Parkway. You don’t think they jumped, do you?” Another called and admonished Julie. “Do you know where she is? Why would you let her disappear like that?”
The neighbor said Albert seemed calm about the fact Pam hadn’t been seen since he came back from an errand in town. He said, “I was with her most of that day. When I last spoke with her before I had to run to Lowe’s for an errand, she said she would make us a gourmet meal. She loved cooking, trying new recipes, and enjoying a glass of wine while she worked in her kitchen wearing one of her many aprons she collected over the years. I miss my wife.”
Jean said, “As her sister-n-law, she told me things she didn’t always tell others. She always wanted to learn to fly. She went to the airport alright. She got a plane alright. But, it wasn’t a commercial plane. She rented a two-seater, and she took off over the ocean. She wanted to be like Amelia Earhart. She is an independent woman who wanted to go to Ireland.”
When this news reporter called Julie asking about the rumor that Pam flew a plane to Ireland, she replied, “That’s plum foolish. She didn’t know how to fly. And, she has claustrophobia. Besides, she gets lost driving in town. If anything, she is doing a famous stained glass piece for some magical place. Or, she’s helping a community of free-spirits farming and living off the land. She loves growing her own food.”
She went on. “Did you know that she owned several restaurants in various parts of the country. And, she managed them all from home. She works magic with food. Her favorite place state-side is in Bolinas, California. Back in 1997, she setup a quaint little restaurant there. It is one of the best kept secrets of hers.”
Then, a fellow writing friend, Rosa said, “My friend was a comedy writer for variety shows and even received some awards using her pen name–Juan Day-Isle Gough. She did all sorts of technical writing gigs for some really big dudes in the northeast area. I imagine she’d become a YouTube sensation one day, given the chance. Her audio work is pretty impressive.”
Pam’s great-niece said, “I think she is hiding out in the John Muir woods or the Redwood Forests or she and Uncle Albert might be in the hidden world of the Great Smokey Mountains. Aunt Pam told me once that she loved the old growth forests the best. She said there weren’t many of them left, but I bet if she has the chance, she’d get herself a cabin there and you’d never see her or my Uncle again. They are constant companions and love each other. Neither one would go away without the other.”
That’s one story. Another is that for the past year and one-half Pam’s been gradually getting sicker and sicker fighting a hidden illness that conventional medicine did not know how to diagnose with the usual tests. It turned out to be a chronic condition that got worse over the course of twelve years. During that time, Pam had six colonoscopies and six endoscopes. Nothing was found. Yet, her symptoms persisted. And worsened. The inflammation was horrible and the pain severe. She often said that she knew in her heart of hearts she had cancer and they didn’t know how to find it.
One fateful day, it took a wise voice to change the course of her life. An understanding nurse practitioner suggested she try food allergy testing. She did. She learned that she was allergic to soy and sesame and all of the related products. Her symptoms were like having poison ivy in the lining of her digestive system from the top of her esophagus to the end of her colon and all points in-between. After learning how to remove soy and sesame from her diet, her life changed. For the first time in years, she wasn’t in constant pain or suffering from constant loss of blood.
The relief overwhelmed her. She took a break from the busy hustle-bustle of the world. It happened to coincide with Albert’s retirement and their fortieth anniversary. Two weeks away from all forms of communication, a piece of tranquility came over her. She decided to use this newfound free time to catch up on her writing. Her novel-writing had suffered the last six months. She was behind in meeting her deadline.
“Something strange happened,” she told me when this reporter reached her yesterday. Pam continued, “I found that weaning myself from feeling I had to do this or I had to do that freed me to love writing again. I was no longer chained to it. I was doing it because I loved doing it. I was free!”
This reporter asked, “Will there be other moments where you won’t be doing things you’ve done in the past. You know the kind of things I mean — get on FB, write your blog regularly, work on your current book, do your stained glass, work in your garden, be a gourmet cook — those kind of things?”
“Yes,” she said.
Update: Pam has written about a third of her new book. She is not going as fast as some would like, but she is having a wonderful time writing again.
Thanks for reading! If you like this post and want to support it, forward it to a friend, write me some love in a comment, or best of all, buy a book!
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Cheers,
This post – “It has Been a Month…” was first posted on Saturday, October 13, 2018 on Pam’s Blog.
Writing is a challenge when you are pulled in about six directions. Coming off summer, which is full of so much activity, I find I’m struggling to keep my bottom in my writing chair. But, if cool temps prevail, I may not have too much trouble.
KC is finding herself in some horrifying circumstances. It seems evil has its place even when it is not wanted. I’ve been listening to more podcasts from Lore ( I didn’t mention it in my prior listing), but understanding that the world can be strange and an evil place isn’t the same as hearing about how strange and evil the world can be. As the website at Lore says, “Sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction.”
We’re finishing up the last of the garden harvest over the next few weeks. Freezing and canning is on the agenda. Coupled with me writing, writing, and writing!
Hope you are following your dreams! If not, just follow the yellow brick road…
Write On!
This post first appeared on Pam’s Blog on September 6, 2018.
Arson, Murder, and Mayhem come together in The Fire of Revenge
After establishing a new life in the fictional town of New Brook, VA, Marine Letsco begins to put her past as an assassin behind her. She graduates from the Evansham Regional Fire Academy and begins a career as a local firefighter. A series of fires begin to plague Marine as she discovers the fires are set by an arsonist and are somehow connected to her past life.
“Marine, an amnesiac ex-assassin has begun to have flashbacks. Moreover, she thinks she saw the ghost of Ana-Geliza, her cabin steward she thought she killed at the end of the cruise in The Fire Within. To complicate her quest to regain her memory and overthrow a deadly revenge-seeker, more secrets are revealed that will change her future. What else could possibly happen?” The Fire of Revenge explores the power of love, family, and revenge. (J. K. Brooks Publishing, LLC; 2015; ISBN-13: 978-1-941061-03-9; $16.99; and Print available on CreateSpace and in eBook and print on Amazon)
Dr. Chet Henegar encouraged his aunt, Elizabeth Lanter James, to allow Marine to live in her old Victorian home. After several months, Marine makes the decision that she would like to become a firefighter. She felt it would enable her to give back to the people of New Brook that had welcomed her into their community. During the writing of Book One and while making plans to write Book Two, Pam began researching the requirements for someone to become a firefighter. She interviewed several practicing firefighters and fire investigators to learn how it felt in the heat of a fire. She even tried on fire gear to develop a feel for the sensation of the weight of pants, coat, and the air pack.
After completing the initial draft, Pam realized that she needed more authenticity. She interviewed several firefighters at a local Christmas party in order to get an idea of their sense and feelings for their chosen careers. She made a composite of what she learned that became the basis for several of the characters. If you like suspenseful twists and turns, thrills, murder coupled with revenge, you will enjoy reading The Fire of Revenge.
Quotes by other Authors:
“Pam Newberry lights a fire in her readers’ minds with the twists and turns she leads them throughout the second installment of her trilogy. They will be on the edge of their seats to discover what happens next.” ~~Rosa Lee Jude, award-winning author of the forthcoming new series, The Enchanted Journey.
“The surprises come rapid-fire in Newberry’s second novel of an amnesiac ex-assassin seeking a new life but plagued by a deadly revenge-seeker from her past. The heroine and others are not always who they seem to be in this thriller that will keep you guessing.” ~~Paul Dellinger, author of Mr. Lazarus and Other Stories and scriptwriter for The Adventures of Hap Hazard radio series.
For Book Signing Dates
Books ready for YOU to acquire your personal copy.
If you are planning on being in the area, click this link to Appearances and come on by for a visit, I’ll sign a copy of my latest novel for you, and we can chat and talk while we have a beverage or two!
Looking forward to visiting with you and hearing what you think of my latest novel!
Pam