Spokes-dog Goes Undercover

Abby is the spokes-dog for Gracious Jane Marie, our family owned business promoting the silly, the patriotic and Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie series, a whole lot. She is aka The Abster, Abbykins and Stinkhead.  She loves role playing and this day she is pretending she's a spy, going undercover(s). Clever doggie, that one! 

From the Author of The Goodbye Lie Series

I now understand the definition of a labor of love. 

Discover-ing the personal-ities of the Irish Dunnigan family, the players in my Goodbye Lie series set on historic Amelia Island, Florida, has been all-enveloping.  As I walk the beach, with the Atlantic Ocean's cool waters washing over my feet, Breelan and Carolina and Pat and Marie, the siblings featured in the novels, whisper their secrets in the passing sea breeze. I can't help but listen as they tell their stories.  Sometimes they call me out for sharing too many of their personal details, but then understand the necessity of it.  Without those details, they would hold far less interest for me or my readers.  Their actions and reactions, their deeds and misdeeds are the result of deep and sometimes dark developments in their lives. I am fascinated, intrigued and just plain curious as to where their whispers will lead me, and in turn, the reader. Please join our band of beloved friends, the Dunnigans of Amelia Island. 
                                    - Jane Marie Malcolm  


#Fernandina, #Fernadinabook, #AmeliaIslandbook, #AmeliaIsland, #Irishdrama, #Irishfamily, #romance, #historical, #smalltown, #mystery, #passion, #comic, #island, #Floridanovel

Tire Tribute

I spied these fun and fabulous tire planters hanging on the wooden fence of our Amelia Island Montessori School.  Of course, I asked a teacher if I might take pictures of these cleverly repurposed items, to share with you.  Permission granted, she said they got the idea from Pinterest. These days, where else?  So, don't throw away that worn out tire. With a little spray paint (meant for rubber), dirt and colorful flowers, you can fancify your gate or fence or wherever you want a shabby chic/country garden kind of look.  Happy Spring and Summer to you all!  And thank you to Montessori, too!

Fun Holiday Ofice Idea, Goodbye Lie Diaries w Aunt Noreen and Peeper

     Kids have Elf on the Shelf. That's the stuffed toy, which mysteriously is moved around the house during the Christmas season, and made to do harmless and funny antics to bring laughter to children anticipating the arrival of Santa.

     It came to me that adults working in an office building could have their version of Hide the Stuffie.  All you need is some smallish form of stuffed Santa, elf, reindeer, teddy, etc., that you have tucked away with the Christmas decorations or in the corner of your child's room.  Just don't borrow the child's favorite toy lest you spoil his or her chances with Santa because they are unwilling to share and throw a tantrum.
     Add a copy of my letter below, filling in the blanks to personalize it for your particular office.  Email the letter to everybody in the place and see how they respond. With delight, I hope. The idea is to get all your coworkers in the holiday mood!

TO:  Our Team of (add silly adjective here)  Employees

 

It has come to our attention that a male has been spotted hiding in various areas of our ____________ building!!! 

 

DESCRIPTION:   (example) 12 inches tall, wearing a red suit and hat, with a full tummy, black boots and a felt beard

 

Should you discover this character in your office, please email all  staff so they know his where-abouts.  Then pass him along, IN SECRET, to some other unsuspecting person’s desk drawer, closet, file cabinet, etc.,  to be found.  We have heard this little fella is one of Santa’s helpers and his job is to completely make it around our building and report who is naughty and nice to the Big Guy!  Just to be clear, everybody be on your best behavior or he’ll rat you out! 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

     By the way, this idea could be for just about any holiday as long as the stuffed item or any item you decide to hide is in keeping with your particular occasion.  Enjoy!

*****  The Goodbye Lie Diaries *****

Late 1800s

City of Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

Aunt Noreen writes:  You mean to tell me you would enter someone's office, uninvited?  I have never heard of such poor manners.  Why, a person might be tempted to snoop and that would be most unseemly!

Peeper writes:  Noreena, only you kin turn a good-intentioned game like Jane Marie's atalkin'  'bout, into some kinda nosy-poke bad thing, faster than a goose can empty its bee-hind.  I think it's a fine i-dee and I'll be tellin' Miss Ella real quick  ta do it in her Aqua Verde office.  Hey, she can maybe start the game off by hidin' one a yur handkerchiefs ya keep aleavin' behind, just sos ya have ta come back over ta Dunnigan Manor ta sample my sugar tarts.  No.  We will find somethin' more fittin'  'cause yur handkerchiefs is too heavy-laid with perfume. Tell the truth, Noreena.  Do ya wear so much scent ta cover yur natural body odor, being too lazy ta take a bath like us cleanliness is next to Godliness kind of folks? My, oh my, how I like ta insult ya. Makes my day every time! 

*******************

Grandmother Peeper and Aunt Noreen are fussing next door neighbors who never quit squabbling.  They are both beloved favorites of readers in The Goodbye Lie series.

      

I Did It !

Avert thine eyes!!!!

           This might seem an odd time to talk diets, being in the middle of the holiday season.  Most reasonable people would wait to discuss such until the new year.  No one has ever accused me of being reasonable. 
     Therefore, it is no secret that I am celebrating my 31st year of dieting. My plan has been to either lose weight, notice how original I am in my efforts, or to keep weight off.  Then there is the goal of lowering cholesterol. That's my recent focus.  In the words of my husband, Bruce, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing to excess.”  That must be why we get along. We’re prone to extremes.  
     And so, for the last three months, this particular diet has consisted of fruitsies (as my father called them late in life) and veggies.  We all understand the importance of such. Every day for breakfast:  low sodium V8 juice and nuked instant oatmeal with water and natural plant sweetener.  Then we have what we call phony eggs.  You know, the ones with no fat, no cholesterol, no nothing.  Happily, they make pretty good scrambled eggs.  Add some salsa and yummo!  Slice an apple on the side for dessert, sprinkle on a bit of cinnamon, which is supposed to be good for you, and you have minute touches of a gourmet meal. Perhaps green peepers stuffed with no fat cottage cheese steamed on a bed of marinara sauce on top of the stove or chicken in the slow cooker with a light mushroom soup and drinking sherry gravy- add salt and pepper to taste. How about that delightful treat of an entire bag of frozen broccoli sprinkled with lemon and pepper, thawed and heated through, of course.  (I was using the lemon/pepper you sprinkle on from the little condiment bottle. Even at 60% reduced sodium, we're talking salt bomb!  Then someone suggested I use fresh squeezed lemon juice. Doy!!!!)   

     No eating at restaurants allowed except when a friend arrived from out of town. I couldn't very well expect her to join my diet.  After all, I had a 30 year and 364 day jump start on her. So, we went to a Mexican restaurant.  I had greens, tomatoes and sliced avocado. My taste buds were satisfied, even if the visual of her gobbling away on her triple cheese enchiladas will haunt me till death.
     But the most suffering I have endured was no pasta, no cheese and no chocolate!!!  Ladies and gents, I can proudly say, I did not cave.  Shocker, right?  Yes, to me, too, since the G in Gracious Jane Marie might well strand for gluttony. 

    Someone told me to pop a daily dose of natural olive leaf and chlorella which is supposed to be good for everything from left-handedness to uneven eyebrows. Now Bruce just told me he heard a doctor interviewed on the radio saying that you need cholesterol to hold the body together. Oh, I like that. Still,  I'll try to be good and not eat the entire pan of brownies, again, myself. 
     If this post rambles and I guarantee it does, blame it on calorie deprivation.

     Disclaimer:  I am not a doctor, nurse or orderly.  However, I was once a junior nurse’s aide as a teen. Should you trust my medical interpretation on any matters of health, may I suggest you see a shrink because, how should I say this ... You're nuts.

P.S.  It's probably a better thing that Miss Ella, instead of me, is in charge of the menus for the Dunnigan family's Aqua Verde Passenger Line in The Goodbye Lie series.  She seems somewhat less extreme than I am.  

Grammy Camp 2016 Antics

Corn Husk Dolls

Annual Grammy Camp was a success, once again!  Granddaughter Ava and I tried new activities, made new crafts, cooked and ate what we cooked, and laughed more than we have ever laughed before.  That's the best part of Grammy Camp, after all. Here are some pics from the good times we shared! 

Painting Secret Pebbles

Jewelry Making   

Fine Dining

Painting Mailboxes



Painting More Secret Pebbles

 Contortions on the Beach in the Name of Physical Fitness

Cooking No Bake Cookies

History Class at Fort Clinch

Chemistry AKA Salad Dressing



Book Marks from Paint Chips

Science Experiment - Growing Crystals and It Worked!

Music Appreciation on the Spam Canjo

Drawing Class - Subject is Abby, the Singing Chihuahua

P.S. Our only activity "fail" was making our own lip gloss from a kit.  Well, in a pinch, maybe it wasn't a complete fail.  I mean, if your lips were so parched they were cracked, the lumpy wax bits, which didn't melt, might offer just enough grease to sooth any blisters.  Nah.  It was a fail. But it was still fun. 

Ye Olde Rubber Band Trick

You are probably looking twice at the picture above. This is the inside of my purse.  You see some gum and a tube of lipstick within a zippered pocket.  And the only blue in the photo is a rubber band wound tightly around the gathered pocket fabric, closing off the hole in the corner.  While this may be less than sightly, it certainly is functional, until I either sew the hole shut or buy a new purse.  

I have my father to thank for this easy repair tip.  I remember him showing me the rubber band at the tip of the pocket in his trousers.  When the rip occurred as he was teaching school, he quickly solved the problem like this.  Thank you, Daddy.  Good one!

**********************************

Goodbye Lie Diaries
Fernandina, Florida 
late 1800s

Peeper

Grandmother Peeper writes:  I pronounce yur trick ta be Peeper approved, Jane Marie.  I been a-doin' the same thing with string once er twice myself, especially durin' the war.  My bonnet's off ta your pa.  Glad ta see you a-carryin' on his tradition.

***************

Note:  Peeper is the ever-thrifty grandmother who walked into Dunnigan Manor on Amelia Island, Florida in the 1860s, home of the beloved Irish family in The Goodbye Lie Trilogy, and never left! 

Chimney Pictorial + Velvet Undertow Excerpt

     Because I love Victorian era history, I took a course at our Amelia Island Museum of History to learn about the area.  That was many moons ago.  I never imagined I would complete three period novels set on this island and be working on a fourth in The Goodbye Lie series, as I am now. 

      I learned many things at the museum, one of which is to look up.  To that end, I discovered the beauty of chimneys!  Not such an odd thing, to my mind, anyway.  Statuesque and unbending, oh, what family secrets has the wafting smoke witnessed over time, only to share with the waiting stars by way of those chimneys ... 

Excerpt from Amelia Island's Velvet Undertow:

       Friends and volunteer firemen, townsfolk, and strangers stood about, not speaking. Their faces and bodies were dark with soot, like the dog. They were one with the surroundings. Only glowing wood and smoldering ash were left, save for five tall brick chimneys. Those towers rose like markers in an ebony graveyard designating the place where every ... possession lay burned or charred. 

A damaged chimney crowns a building Centre St. in downtown Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida. Note the bird nests on the left side roof line or was a seed blown high into the air to land and grow between the bricks?

 

INFO & TO PURCHASE Amelia Island's Velvet Undertow CLICK HERE

Grammy Camp - Braided Rug - Goodbye Lie Excerpt

braided rug from tee-shirt hems

Granddaughter Ava and I made this braided rug at Grammy Camp. Unlike the rugs my grandmother created from folded strips of old clothes, ours is made from the hems of tee-shirts. You see, we were making diapers for Honduras at church one afternoon. We cut off the hems from all the shirts and they were going into the trash until it came to me how we might use them to make a rug.  I tried looping one randomly colored hem into the next, pulled tightly, making a knot and then we braided three strips into one long length. The final step will be to sew that long braid flat and into an oval using the zigzag stitch on the sewing machine. I could hand sew the braid, of course, but that would take too much time from playing with Ava. 

Loop one circular tee-shirt hem into another, pull tight and make a knot

 ******************************************************
The following Goodbye Lie excerpt was inspired by my Grammy: 

Miss Ella

     Miss Ella shook her head at her sometimes moody, but very wonderful husband, thinking how lucky she was to have him. Back inside the aromatic kitchen, she checked the steeping jelly kettle of peaches, stirred the pot of salt pork and bean soup, and cleared a spot for the hot cornbread among the fresh radishes and onions. It had been such a peaceful afternoon. Too peaceful, she realized.

Grammy

     Where was Jack Patrick? Her only son, age eight, was usually so noisy, she knew his whereabouts every minute. She left the kitchen, went down the long hall past the stairs, and entered the front parlor to find her mother, Hettie Eckert, known to all as Grammy. Grammy was swaying in her rocker, intently working on a braided rag rug, and there was Jack Patrick, sneaking up from behind, scissors in hand, about to cut the soft wild-hair wispies from his sainted grandmother's head. 

     "Jack Patrick!" yelped his mother. 

     Calmly placing the shears back in the sewing basket, he stated, "Mama, I hope lightning flies through the window and kills the cat. I'm innocent!" 

     She knew exactly how innocent he was. She allowed the boy to dash out the front door before he caught her laughing.  Fortunately, since Grammy's hearing was not quite as keen as it once was, she was oblivious to her grandson's near attack, figuring only that his mother was yet again reprimanding the boy for his usual mischief.     

Breelan

     Leaning against the wall, Miss Ella thought back to yesterday, remembering her middle daughter, eighteen-year-old Breelan, as she’d mimicked Grammy in the construction of her own rug. Over the last few weeks, Breelan had torn three-inch strips of cloth, folded their frayed edges inward and sewn the long thin tails, one to another. She had arrived at the final step of braiding and stitching the tails into a flat oval rug, when her mother had overheard her say, "This will be my scrap mine of colorful memories. I've made it from the worn dresses and torn trousers we've saved, Gram, just like you taught me. When I have my little girl, I want you to show her how to make your rugs, same as you've shown me."

     Miss Ella hoped her mother would still be around in the time it took Breelan to have a child old enough to learn the art of rug making. And interestingly enough, Breelan seemed certain her child would be a girl.

     "Whenever I look at my rug, I'll think of this pretty dress." Breelan pointed to the tail made from green plaid taffeta. "I couldn't wait for Carolena to outgrow it so it would be mine. Its lace petticoat was edged in red satin ribbon. I'll tell you a secret, if you promise not to tell Mama."

     "I promise, honey," Grammy had conspired...

******************************************************
Miss Ella, Grammy and Breelan are featured characters in The Goodbye Lie, set in 1882 on Amelia Island, Florida.

To order e-books or paperbacks in the trilogy, please click here:
amazon.com/author/janemariemalcolm

Hail from the Chief - Sailor Image

Aboard USS Chicago, 1900

Retired Chief Bob Harkins sent in this image of a sailor from 1900.  Pat Dunnigan, the hero in my Amelia Island's Mark of a Man historical novel set in 1898, served in the United States Navy during the Spanish American War and his uniform would have looked very similar this man's.  Bob found this picture on the US Navy Veteran's Facebook page. 

Thank you, Chief.   -jmm

****************************************************

 Excerpt from Amelia Island's Mark of a Man:

    Pat heard a door slam, lifted his gaze and looked around to realize he was in an alley between a bank and a barbershop. Snow covered the ground and the pile of bricks off to one side. The white crystals didn't glisten. Instead, they displayed a dull, gray sheen. The man before him wasn't his father but had transformed somehow into a sailor wearing a Navy uniform, the same as Pat now wore. This man was Eli Martin, one of his crewmates. Pat didn't care for the man, never had. No, it was more than that. Pat couldn’t stand him. The loud and boastful thug was powerful, standing two heads taller than most men. Pat looked around for Stewie and Riccardie.  Everyone had vanished except Eli, who swayed from liquor...

Purchase Amelia Island's Mark of a Man here  -Available in e-book and paperback at book sources everywhere

Gone With The Wind Anniversary

Scarlett and Pa on the hill overlooking Tara

Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, one of the best-selling novels of all time and the basis for a blockbuster 1939 movie, is published on this day in 1936. (June 30th). This quote was taken from the following website: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gone-with-the-wind-published 

Many years ago, before there was make your own cross stitch pattern complex software like we have today, I somehow created and stitched two Gone With The Wind themed pictures. 

* see info about the above quote

 
I actually came up with the idea of Gone With The Wind cross stitch kits, complete with cloth, pattern and floss.  My intention was to make my fortune by selling the kits. I was certain there were millions of cross-stitching Windies out there.  So, I sent a sample kit to Ted Turner in Atlanta, Georgia, the owner of Gone With The Wind rights.  Happily, his people loved it.  Unhappily, they required I ship them a particular quantity of kits, oh, something like 10,000, that they might distribute them worldwide.  So much for that particular dream.  

Well, I can still share the results with you.  Sharing is the best part of anything anyway.  

* “There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind...” - written by Ben Hecht.  Mr. Hecht was paid $10,000 by producer David O Selznick for a fast doctoring of the Gone With The Wind (1939) script, for which he received no credit and for which  Sidney Howard won an Oscar, beating out Hecht and MacArthur's Wuthering Heights (1939) script.- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0372942/bio

Trailer for Amelia Island's Mark of a Man

Here is the trailer/video for Amelia Island's Mark of a Man.  Turn up the sound and click on the lower right  corner, to the right of YouTube, to enlarge the screen.  Then click the arrow in the center of the video to start. To watch again, click on the arrow circle on the lower left of the video. Enjoy!

Click on the link below for more about Amelia Island's Mark of a Man and the other titles in Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie series. Available in e-book and paperback at book sources everywhere. Amelia Island's Mark of a Man

Author's Digest Interview-Fave Authors

Suspicion and Betrayal – Jane Marie Malcolm’s Amelia Island

Posted May 15, 2015 M Burns

Welcome ... to Author’s Digest and the ... interview with Jane Marie Malcolm, ... author of the Amelia Island’s Goodbye Lie Trilogy : The Goodbye Lie, Amelia Island’s Velvet Undertow, and Amelia Island’s Mark of a Man.

Jane Marie talked about her (rather colorful) life and background. Today, she discusses her literary influences… and introduces us to her trilogy.

Jane Marie, were there any books or authors that influenced your style?

Little did I realize how watching the movie Gone With The Wind at age nine, and then reading Margaret Mitchell’s novel of the same name as a teen, would influence my future writing of historical romance. The strong hero, Rhett Butler, set the standard (in my mind and millions of others) of what tasteful-yet-thrilling romance should be. As I wrote my historical trilogy, my thoughts stayed within the limits of that kind of good taste. Having dedicated my first novel, The Goodbye Lie, to my father, I often tell readers, “I didn’t want to be embarrassed when Daddy read it,” and they understand what I mean.

Jan Karon (author of the Mitford series), Jane Austen, and Laura Ingalls Wilder are at the top of my list of favorite writers, too.

Tell us about your Amelia Island’s Goodbye Lie Trilogy.

While some call Florida’s Amelia Island a romantic Victorian paradise, suspicion and betrayal are part of the seductive setting of the Amelia Island’s Goodbye Lie Trilogy as well. Exploring the captivating mysteries deep within the Dunnigan family, the novels focus on the lives of each of their grown children. Discover where Little House on the Prairie meets Gone With The Wind on Amelia Island.

The Goodbye Lie – It is 1882. Men will die for Breelan Dunnigan. Her foolish vault into folly alters the lives of many… too many. Honor is relentlessly tempted by jealousy. Will it hold against the attack? The lure, the love, the legend …

Amelia Island’s Velvet Undertow – It is 1889. Carolena Dunnigan is judgmental and dismissive. Lured by a world-famous conductor to Charleston, South Carolina, she finds deceit creeping all around, which drives her into the horrific Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood.  His want, his will, his way …

Amelia Island’s Mark of a Man – It is 1898. Amidst the Spanish American War and a great hurricane hitting their enchanting island, Pat Dunnigan (hero or heel) lives hard and loves wild. His sister Marie is an innocent magnet for trouble. Their days and nights are laden with jarring conflicts and assaulted by haunting mysteries. The rains, the rage, the romance …

——————————

For more information about Jane Marie and her books, check out her blog at www.GraciousJaneMarie.blogspot.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.

The Amelia Island’s Goodbye Lie Trilogy is available at Jane Marie’s blog (above) or at the following links:

The Goodbye Lie

Amelia Island’s Velvet Undertow

Amelia Island’s Mark of a Man