START YOUR SUMMER DAY WITH BURNING PASSION

 Judy Ann Davis

"Now that your eyes are open, make the sun jealous with your burning passion to start the day. Make the sun jealous or stay in bed.” – Malak El Halabi ~ Poet and  Consumer Behavior Expert 

What a way to start the day--with a burning passion! 

But what about the end of it?  Have you ever felt you’ve accomplished anything? Even when we do things according to a well thought-out schedule, do we take any time to do the things we want or like??                                                                   

I’m learning that variation in our daily or evening schedules is a healthy and a rewarding way to change the pace of the day. Chores don’t have to be done on the same day every week. Laundry can wait a day. Dinner doesn’t have to be a strict time every day. We’re allowed to unwind, be more alert, center ourselves, and enjoy life instead of frantically keeping pace with it. 

I’m now taking some respite with my writing as well. I’m taking time to ponder the last 20,000 words I need to finish my novel, and I’ve decided not to let my Type A personality poke, push, or guilt me.

Instead, I’ve been reading an old book called “The Plot Thickens,” a series of short stories by best-selling mystery and crime writers Mary Higgins Clark, Janet Evanovich, and Ann Rule, to name a few of the authors. It’s refreshing and enjoyable to read the
short, compact, mystery stories in one sitting.

I’m playing music. I’ve made a batch of cookies. I met with card club friends. I’m taking time for myself. I’m breaking my routine, and I’m feeling cheerful as I embrace that much-needed passion to start my summer days.

So tell me—how are your days evolving? Are you making the sun jealous with your burning passion?   

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HUCKLEBERRY HAPPINESS now only $1.99

                                                                                              
                                                                            

HUCKLEBERRY HAPPINESS - Releasing June 24th

                              by Judy Ann Davis
My latest novella, Huckleberry Happiness, is being released today. It’s the historical story of a young woman, Emelia Stone, who runs a bakery and her best friend from childhood, Joe Sawicki, who owns an ice company with his brother. Amelia bakes pies from native Pennsylvania huckleberries and buys ice from Sawicki Ice Company. She wants to make a special huckleberry ice cream to enter in the Pennsylvania Railroad’s dessert contest.

Huckleberries are edible, small, round berries resembling blueberries. In fact, in some parts of the United States, huckleberries might be called blueberries and blueberries might be called huckleberries, although they’re not the same fruit.

The various species of huckleberries range in color from bright red to dark purple to blue. The purple and blue huckleberries taste sweeter. In addition to humans, many animals enjoy huckleberries, including bears, red foxes, opossum, skunks, squirrels, chipmunks and white-footed mice.

Huckleberry bushes are native to Pennsylvania and stay green all year. A patch, discovered near Losh Run, north of Harrisburg, has two plants that botanists determine are 13,000 years old, older than the Sequoia trees of the West. The gigantic patch sprang from the same plant thousands of years ago as the ice cover was melting. 

Huckleberries also grow wild in many different parts of the U.S. Perhaps this is why the huckleberry inspired many different phrases dating back to the 1800s.

Because huckleberries are small, the word “huckleberry" was often used as a nickname for something small, unimportant, or insignificant. Scholars believe this was the meaning Mark Twain had in mind when he named his Huckleberry Finn character. People at that time would have understood that “Huck" Finn's name was a clue that he was a small boy who was of a lower class than his companion, Tom Sawyer.

       MY FAVORITE PASSAGE:

Emelia jabbed furiously at the mixture inside the bowl with her pastry cutter. How could her very own sister abandon her without an ounce of misgiving? Couldn’t she have waited until the end of the month and, at the very least, earned her pay before leaving the bakery?

Joe watched her work, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Are you trying to kill the lard…or is it the flour that has you so riled?” He peered over the rim of the bowl.

“Be careful,” she shot back and gave him a lethal glare that would stop a rattlesnake from making a fuss. “This place is armed with sharp knives.”

AMAZON LINK

 

HUCKLEBERRIES AND ICE CAVES - by Judy Ann Davis

I have just finished writing a short novella for a summer release where ice cream must be used somewhere in the story line. Although Huckleberry Happiness will stand alone, it will be part of the One Scoop or Two collection published by the Wild Rose Press. 

Huckleberry Happiness was fun to write because I wandered back to 1885 when refrigeration consisted of ice boxes, sometimes called ice closets. I also used huckleberries as the flavor, because in Pennsylvania, these little dark berries were picked and used in recipes like cultivated blueberries. The heroine, Emelia Stone, makes huckleberry pie for her bakery, but also plans to make a special ice cream dessert for a contest the Pennsylvania Railroad is having.

I’ve always been interested in ice caves since one exists in Coudersport, Sweden Township, Pennsylvania. Originally the ice caves were used to store meat and for ice harvesting. So naturally, Joe Sawicki, my hero, has to own an ice company with his brother. He stores some of his ice in an ice cave and regularly delivers ice to Emelia Stone’s bakery to keep her perishable goods fresh.

How do ice caves work? Heavy cold air from outside cascades into the cave and warmer air inside the cave rise up and escapes, lowering the temperatures. The ice that forms inside makes it harder to warm the space and acts as a buffer that stabilizes the temperatures to freezing.

Although Huckleberry Happiness is still in the production stage, here is the blurb:

In 1885, Emelia Stone and her sister must learn to operate their deceased parents’ bakery in the small town of Pennsylvania. A large mortgage looms on their family home. When her sister leaves town, Emelia is forced to handle the bakery and burden alone.

The Pennsylvania Railroad is searching for the perfect dessert for its passengers. Joe Sawicki, owner of Sawicki Brothers Ice Company, is certain Emelia can win the contest and the hundred- dollar bonus if she creates a special ice cream to accompany her popular huckleberry pies. He has loved her since they played hooky in grade school to explore the company’s ice cave.

Can Emelia find courage to stand up to the town’s bully to win the competition? And will Joe have the mettle to express his undying love and win first place in Emelia’s heart?

 Link to WILLIE, MY LOVE - $2.99