Announcement for Writers

For all the winters among us, something exciting is happening on the QueryTracker blog.

It’s the second anniversary of this wonderful website that is so helpful to writers of all genres. Not only does it give us a data base of literary agents all over the world in the particular genre we’re trying to market, but it offers statistics about these agents and it helps us to organize and track our query letters.

For a new writer it’s a veritable gold mine and it’s listed on Writer’s Digests 101 Top Websites for writers. So click on the link below and learn how you can win a complete free website makeover.

http://QueryTracker.net/carnival

Getting Real

Reality shows—you gotta love them. Many of them are so much more interesting than the sappy sitcoms and soap operas offered by the networks. It seems that May is the month when a lot of finals are held and winners proclaimed. Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, American Idol, The Amazing Race and Dancing with the Stars all come to an end this month.

My favourite is Dancing with the Stars. The energetic dancers, the colourful costumes and the fabulous band music—all take me back to the great movie musicals of the 40s and 50s when stars like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire ruled the silver screen.

I’ve been watching this program since I first saw Mario Lopez, the dimpled Mexican charmer strut his stuff in Season Three. This year’s semi finalists are probably three of the best contestants ever. French actor, Gilles Marini; gold medal winning Olympic gymnast, Shawn Johnson; and Mellissa Rycroft, the Texas beauty TV’s bachelor so cruelly dumped in front of the viewing audience this last March, are all vying for the top honour—the mirror ball. It’s going to be a very close race since they have all taken top marks at least once or twice.

Speaking of winners—the writing contest that I’m so interested in winds up this month. The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards competition has been narrowed down to the three finalists. These books are: “Bill Warington’s Last Chance” by James King and “In Malice, Quite Close” by Brandi Lynn Ryder—both in General Literature and a fantasy novel by Ian Gibson entitled “Stuff of Legends.” There are excerpts on all three that anyone with an Amazon Account can read and vote for as their favourite. One vote per account.

Whichever book wins will be published by Penguin and sold on Amazon later this year.

Idol Talk

I never really got interested in the latest American Idol contestants until the night they sang music from the Rat Pack era. That was fascinating for me because that’s the music I grew up on. I remember being twelve years old and sitting in front of the radio in our living room and squealing over one of Frank Sinatra’s songs because I thought it was a cool thing to do. My mother quickly put a stop to that and told me “not to be so ridiculous.” But it was what the bobby socks generation did and I wanted to be a part of it.

Later, of course, television brought the ‘rat pack’ right into our living rooms and many nights were spent watching both the Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra shows—in black and white, of course. Variety shows were the reality events of those days and they were a great diversion.

One of the most enjoyable evenings of entertainment I ever had was when my husband and I flew to Reno, Nevada for a 25th anniversary treat. We drove up to Lake Tahoe to see Sammy Davis Jr. at Harrah’s and he was totally amazing. My husband gave the bellman a twenty dollars tip so we would get seated as close to the front as possible. Even though Sammy’s lungs were already giving him trouble, he sang every song in his repertoire. I remember his big smile with porcelain white teeth in his expressive black face and, of course, the sparkling “bling” he wore on almost every finger. The teeth and the diamonds were equally blinding when the spotlights were turned on him.

Anyhow, since I don’t usually like the raucous singing of this younger generation, I was not only surprised, but completely blown away by how well each of the four contestants did with the songs they chose. I was torn to pick my favourite, although I have liked Kris Allen since the beginning. In spite of Simon’s comment, I loved his rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight.”

But when Adam Lambert, came strolling down that staircase “a la Sinatra in the ‘40s and ‘50s”, it took my breath away. And it became extremely difficult for me to choose between the two of them. Now this week I note, Allison is gone—three are left—and what will happen to these talented young people after May 19th, we will have to wait and see. They’re all pretty deserving in my book.

Vancouver -- My Favourite City Ever

Whether it’s to live in; or to work in; or to visit; when they make lists of the world’s best cities, my home town of Vancouver, B.C. is pretty much always near the top. It happened again this week.

This doesn’t really surprise me all that much. I was born in this amazing city and for most of my life lived in Richmond, less than eleven miles from Vancouver’s city center. Since retirement, we’ve moved further out in the Fraser Valley but it’s still only a 45 minute ride either by Sky Train or automobile to where the action is.

Vancouver really emerged into the vibrant city it is today after Expo ’86. That was the year we invited the world to come and discover what our city could offer and the world came. When people saw this beautifully clean metropolis nestled in its unparalleled setting of rugged mountains and sparkling blue water, Vancouver suddenly emerged into a world class cosmopolitan.

Next winter she will once again be the center of global attention when she hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics. Because of this, the area has gained a few new venues and a new transit line on the high speed rail system connecting downtown with both the airport and the City of Richmond. Of course, we’re all hoping that it doesn’t leave us with a high tax bill.

But that’s all almost a year away. Now that spring is really here, there is much to do within the city itself—as well as the outlying districts—so over the next few months, I’m going to concentrate on showing you some of these interesting spots, both in the city and in the beautiful Fraser Valley I now call home.

By the way, as of June 1st, 2009 travellers from the United States to Canada and vice versa will require either a regular passport or the new NEXUS card to cross the border. The NEXUS is a card that will allow Americans coming to Canada and Canadians travelling to the States to enter each country with a minimum of trouble. It’s fairly easy to obtain and I would suggest you look up either the Canadian Government or the U.S.A. on-line sites which tell you how to obtain the card. Here from the Nexus website are the benefits for having a card:

“If you are approved to participate in NEXUS, you will receive a membership identification card to use when entering Canada or the United States at all participating NEXUS air, land and marine ports of entry.

Membership will enable you to save time by:
· using automated self-serve kiosks in designated areas at participating international airports;
· using dedicated lanes at the land border; and
· reporting to border officers by phone in advance of your arrival in the marine mode of transportation.”

I do have a passport but I still think that this would be worth looking into for anyone who crosses the border more than once or twice a year. So warning: if you’re travelling from or to the U.S.A. after June 1st; don’t leave home without one or the other.

Susan Boyle - You Go Girl!

Once in awhile a really talented person gets their fifteen minutes of fame. And with the planet now so instantly connected, it often leads to bigger and better things. It’s especially gratifying when someone deserving, who has long been overlooked, attains worldwide renown.

I’m speaking, of course, of the strange case of Susan Boyle who, only this month, managed to become a global icon in a very short time. Thanks in a great part to the phenomenon known as U-tube. Already she has well over 600,000 fans on Facebook. (Including me) Of course she’s not yet a senior, but still how Miss Boyle, now 47, escaped being discovered all these years is a puzzlement. She has one of the richest voices I’ve ever heard and her rendition of “Cry Me a River” has to be just about one of the best ever. It was even more delightful to watch her performance in front of Simon Cowell who usually is the very essence of cynicism. To see his facial expression change from mockery to amazement did my heart a world of good.

Susan Boyle, you go girl. I hope you win top prize, sing for the Queen and go on to have a marvellous career. You’re definitely a wonderful example to the rest of us older folks to never give up in going after our goals.

And now back to Betty’s travelblog.
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Our second day of wine tasting took us north to the Aconcagua Valley. This is an area of cool, rainy winters; hot, dry summers and moist Pacific breezes. We were told irrigation is necessary for the wonderful growth we could see around us. Snowmelt from the soaring Andes flows into the river system and is diverted to canals that surround the valley. The result? Everywhere orchards and vineyards climb the slopes of the sere foothills.

We again visited three wineries in the valley and had lunch in another delightful hacienda style resort—a lovely spot where wealthy citizens from Santiago come for a weekend get-away.
Our final winery was the renowned Vina Errazuriz founded in 1870 by Don Maximiano Errazuriz, a son of one of Chile’s most prestigious 18th century families. Today, his descendant, Eduardo Chadwick is the sixth generation to be involved in the business. We spent two hours at this premium winery, climbing first to the top of their hillside vineyard overlooking the breathtaking panoramic view of much of the valley. After touring the beautiful gardens, we ventured into the coolness of the century old cellar. Here their finest wines are aged. We tasted three of their award winning appellations and declared their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon one of our favorite red wines ever. Feeling very happy with our two days on the Chilean wine trail, we returned to Santiago for an evening of fine dining and folkloric dancing at one of the cities’ fine restaurants.

Our five nights in Santiago were spent at the charming Plaza San Francisco, a boutique hotel in the centre of town. The king sized room was furnished in beautiful Spanish modern furniture and the elegant, marble bathroom was spotlessly clean. Given four stars by both Fodders and Travelocity, I can highly recommend it.

And I definitely recommend a visit to this amazing country at the bottom of the world.
(Coming soon: Buenos Aires, Argentina.)

A Day of Wine and Roses

First the roses: Congratulations to the Amazon top one hundred semi-finalists in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards.

I've got a lot of reading to do. Only three of the excerpts I reviewed made the cut, even though I felt my choices all deserved either 4 or 5 stars and I would definitely want to read the full manuscript. However, this all leads me to believe that subjectivity plays a very important part in what gets picked for publication. In other words, there are probably thousands of very good manuscripts out there that are never in print and thus never read by the masses.

Now back to my ongoing travelblog of our South American tour.

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Whether it’s the thirst quenching embrace of a chilled Riesling on a hot summer’s day, or the mellowed, fruity taste of a fine cabernet with dinner: as the Psalmist once stated, “wine makes the heart rejoice.” Even John Milton, that puritan poet of the 17th century affirms,” Wine; one sip of this will bathe the drooping spirits in delight beyond the bliss of dreams. Be wise and taste.”

Since both my husband and I are lovers of the grape, when I realized we would be spending several days in Chile’s central valley, I knew we simply had to schedule some tasting tours at a few of the countries great wineries.

Our tour company sent around the perfect guide for us—a transplanted wine affection ado from the province of Alberta, Canada. He arrived as a tourist in Santiago about ten years ago; fell in love with a Spanish beauty with whom he has a daughter; and has studied viniculture ever since. The two days we spent with him learning about the art of wine were fantastic.

On the first day we headed south to the Maipo Valley, a lovely spot reminiscent of California’s Napa Valley. Fruit orchards, vegetable patches and, of course, miles of vineyards line the winding two lane roads that etch the valley. Our first winery, the Perez Cruz family’s beautiful estate, was situated in the Alto (high) Maipo region. Here we sampled their Gold winning Limited Edition Syrah Reserve 2004. Red wine doesn’t come much better than this. Their new ultra modern storage area was outstanding and an eye opener as to how far wine making has come in this country.

We then headed to a small, private museum of wine where the owner showed us some of the original primitive methods used by the early Spaniards. Fascinating to be able to see the difference one hundred years has made to this art. The history lesson over, our tour guide took us for lunch to the perfect spot in keeping with the mood of the early settlers—an 18th century hacienda built in rambling ranchero style. Here, while we waited for our meal of mouth-watering wild salmon from cold South Pacific waters, we sat on a cool veranda and drank delicious pisco sours made with Chilean Pisco Brandy, egg whites, lemon juice and sugar. By now, we were beginning to wonder if our livers could keep up to all this, but didn’t feel like hurting our hosts’ feelings by refusing.

One final winery visit in the afternoon and then we were whisked back to Santiago and our comfortable city center hotel for the evening. Needless to say we slept very well that night.

(Next time – our final days in Santiago)

Following HIstory

The final part of our trip around the bottom of South American began as we disembarked the “Golden Princess” in the seaport city of Valpraiso. It’s an interesting old place established around 1536 by Spanish explorers. From the harbour, Valpraiso (see picture) stretches up the side of a hill but fortunately there is an ancient funicular to convey you to the top. We took the slow ride up for an excellent bird’s eye view of the old town, the bustling harbour and the blue Pacific stretching to the west.

After a tasty, typical Chilean meal in an intimate restaurant tucked away in a dubious side street, we headed to the beach resort town of Vina Del Mar. I found it in some ways reminiscent of the hotel strips along Waikiki Beach. I would have definitely liked to have stayed a little longer in the area just to see the Easter Island museum (see picture) and the town’s famous floral clock. But time was limited, so we were soon on our way inland to the capitol city of Santiago.

Even though we knew a little about the city from family and friends who have lived there, its cosmopolitan flavour came as a complete surprise. Of course, as in most Latin American cities, there are areas of great poverty; still as a welcoming tourist destination it ranks high. The downtown area boasts both beautiful modern skyscrapers and 17th century Spanish architecture. For a start, I recommend a visit to Cerro San Cristobel Park where, once again, you ascend a steep hill in an old fashioned funicular railway. (pictured) At the top you can get a wonderful vista of the entire city with its backdrop of the Andes Mountain chain. The park also contains a zoo and a Japanese style garden.

One of the ways to see the buildings and get a sense of the history of Chile is to take one of the many walking tours that are offered. The tour we took was tailor made for us as one of our very good friends here in Canada is the great grandson of Benjamin Vicuna Mackenna, an important early Chilean politician and journalist. We wanted to visit both the Vicuna Mackenna museum and the small park which contains a mausoleum where his mummified remains are kept. Being friends, of Jean Claude Vicuna, we were treated like royalty by both our tour guide and the museum’s curator. Of course, there are other fine museums in the city with many artefacts of early Chilean history.

In our next instalment we are driven into some of the wonderful productive valleys of Central Chile and visit their local wineries. I love wine and I think it is one of the great gifts given to us by our Creator. Even the Bible promotes the judicious use of red wine which is now known for its many health benefits.

This week, wine becomes even more important as Christians around the world observe the last supper and the death of Jesus. Wine is significant to this occasion as red wine symbolizes the poured out blood of Christ and the great sacrifice he made when he laid down his life in our behalf. I don’t often get religious in this blog, but this is definitely an important week to my family as well as to many seniors I know. So please make allowances.