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Tag: #legacy

Brides Aweigh Synopsis

Mockup BridesAweigh

I have had many people ask about the details of the novel.  Below is a brief synopsis, but there is so much more to the story I don’t believe that this description does it justice.  I chose to write this piece of historical fiction not as a love story but to share the remarkable lives of the WWII War Brides and the undeniable importance that The Queen Mary played in their journey.  The strength and resilience of all involved had a story of their own.  One deserving to be told.

Brides Aweigh

Synopsis

 Emma, like many other young British women, falls in love and marries one of the American GI’s who are stationed in her town during the course of WWII.  Her husband is shipped out and she remains at home in worry and wonder for more than a year; when a letter arrives from the Army stating that she can be reunited with her American husband.  The Queen Mary, still in military service, will ferry War Brides to the United States for the “Operation Daddy” mission.  With two other brides from her town, Emma sets sail on the biggest adventure of her life, leaving behind all she has ever known. 

Emma faces more than loneliness onboard the ship.  Self-doubt, self-recollection, and adversity force her to wonder if her husband is little more than a stranger.  Fortunately she encounters many characters on the Queen Mary who help her discover who and what she wants to be in the future.  Her traveling companions include a male War Bride, a child who is meeting an unknown American father after the death of the child’s mother, and many other women from different backgrounds and stations.  Emma encounters true tragedy for the first time in her life, as an American soldier dies just days prior to arriving on American soil, and she loses the friendship of her best friend over circumstances involving morality. 

In the end, her journey teaches her the strength to walk off the ship and become the woman she has been destined to be always.

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The Novel – Brides Aweigh

Mockup BridesAweigh
Mock Up Cover

 

I have shared with a few of you and made mention of the novel that I have been diligently working on for the past year.  I am in the end stages as I do some rewrites and editing, but I have fallen in love with a Mock Up Cover that was made for me by my business partner, Gabriel Alvarez, and wanted to share it publicly.  I know that it is a good possibility that the cover will be changed and it is extremely possible that I may not find a publisher for this work of love, but none the less I will have completed my first novel and that will serve to remind me that “I can do it.”  This book has weighed heavily on my heart and mind as I was determined to share the historic facts of this heroing tale.  There is so much to be learned on events from our past and the history behind the feats of the Queen Mary, the gallantry of the soldiers, the patriotism of the Red Cross, and the determination of the WWII War Brides.  There was a story that continued to plague my thoughts until I put pen to paper and let the characters speak for themselves.  The story is fictional but based on events that I have thoroughly researched.  I have spent hours reading and note taking to make sure that my historical facts were accurate.  It is important to me that although not written as a documentary, my readers are still given the authentic details of the time and place.  I will continue in my dedication to hopefully see this novel printed and share the journey with all of you.  

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My Life as a Content Writer:

My Life as a Content Writer:

It is more often than not that when I tell someone that I am a Content Writer that the very next question is “Oh Wow, that’s cool…….. pause……..what is that?”  Which doesn’t offend me because it was only recently that I discovered that job title myself.  Yes, I was unaware that my work as a writer actually fell under further specification with the title Content Writer.  So, let’s work on clarifying exactly what that means.

The title of Writer in itself does not hold much of a description as it is open to full flexibility and interpretation, and that of a Content Writer is also one of many hats.  It is much more than writing articles, reviews or even the ongoing blog posts.  If you were to ask a dozen Content Writers what they do, you would have over a dozen different answers.  I will briefly give a more detailed list of what my various tasks have been over the last month to give a better understanding, and maybe help you realize that you may very well need to higher your own Content Writer to enhance your business presence.

Most Content Writers work for small or personal businesses, or even write for government websites.   Employed by a business or working as an independent contractor, Content Writers write and can be viewed as a sales representative, journalist, comedian or an expert of the field.  Skilled in html and specializing in SEO.  The Voice Behind the Curtain, if you will, as the writings of the Content Writer put your voice into the world and if done correctly, your path to success within the internet world.

From just that brief introduction, it is clear that it is near impossible to define the job of a Content Writer, because to many people, I have done many different jobs so the answer will always sound different, but my skill set remains the same so let’s look at the similarities.  There are essential elements that are not exclusive to the Content Writer, but a definite part of any Content Writers repertoire.

The Researcher:

No matter who or what I am writing, I am a researcher first, a writer second.  There have been multiple occasions when I have had to write detailed descriptions of a business that I am unfamiliar with so I must research to make sure that all the information that I relate through my article or blog post is up to date, accurate, as well as informative.

The Editor:

The bane of my existence…… Editing!  However, it is the job of any writer, to edit their own work repeatedly, and as a Content Writer, I have to edit the writing of many a client.  The wrong format, bad spelling, and sentence structure, all must be corrected and still stay within the ‘voice’ of my client.  It is comparable to cleaning someone else’s home, you don’t quite know where anything goes, yet must clean it anyways.  You smile and figure it out, because my job is to make you look good, which in turn makes me look good.

The Designer:

Yes, a writer is an artist.  Most of the art is seen within the beauty of our words, but that of a Content Writer can be seen in the structurally well designed web site, and detailed placement of headings within a blog.  The words of the article are what matters, with proper editing and flow, but the copy must be eye catching and aesthetically pleasing to make the reader want to read it.

The SEO Expert:

Search Engine Optimization, this is where the details start to separate a Content Writer from just Writer.  I don’t only write a piece with a word count and submit it for printing, I take the time make sure the key words are woven through the copy to bring it to the forefront of the search rankings.  I put on my Researcher hat, and know that the key words I am incorporating our most current to have the best effect in attracting more visitors.  It is the tag headline, the key word density, and staying abreast of the newest methods to keep you from SEO silence.  If you are not present in Social Media and in the top 10 of Google search, chances are you are in need of a Content Writer.

The Accomplice:

I do not think of myself as just your employee, while I write your vision, I become your best friend, your confidant, your accomplice in your mission to bring your best face forward, making your business an online success.  I only want to see you succeed because that means I have succeeded.  The better relationship we have is only going to better the content of the writing I do for you.  If you are searching for the perfect ally to do your research, design the perfect pitch and give beauty to the words placed on your site, edit the prose with which you entrust me, and make sure that you have prime SEO techniques to give you top ranking in social media forums, you need to befriend your local Content Writer today.

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Autumn Leaves

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Autumn; a season that defines the term Beauty in Chaos.  The world becomes awash with warm colors of yellow gold, burnt orange, warm reds that entrance its inhabitants.  The air is crisp with a scent that can only can be described as that of Autumn.  A breeze blows the leaves gently as they fall covering the ground in a myriad of colors, softening the footsteps that tread down the path drawn toward the light that gleams through the trees.

I am unable to see an Autumn picture without imagining that path through the trees leading to a brook, a creek of running water, leaves floating in the current, ripples heard as the water falls over the smooth stones.  Why must there be a brook in my scene?  Because it is my name, Autumn Brooke, the true personification of chaotic beauty.  I have spent my life in wonder if I mirror the season for which I was named, or does the season of Autumn itself; define me?

When I was first born my mother wrote a poem called Autumn Leaves.  It begins with a description of the season, similar to that above.  The second paragraph is a description of the word Autumn, hair of yellow gold, a smile bright like the sun, bubbling laughter carried in the wind this is now what Autumn means to her.  I was worthy of being named after a season, my mother’s beautiful description gave me a measure that I spent years believing that I needed to live up to until I began to create opinions of my own and Autumn didn’t hold the same beauty to me.

What I saw was death, destruction, and bitter cold, sadness amongst the trees as the once beautiful leaves lost their color and dropped as they died.  The grass became brown and brittle, the flowers withered and died.  Eventually I grew brave enough to share my opinion with my mother and how I didn’t see the beauty that she saw in my name.  It was then that she changed my view not just on my name, or the season, but my entire way of life.

Autumn wasn’t a season of death but of that leading to a rebirth.  Every year the trees grew new leaves and flowers would bloom, the earth alive with the new and as the months passed and Autumn approached the world was once again a washed with bold, bright, colors before the leaves fell to make way for new.  A chance to live each season to its fullest knowing that the slate would be wiped clean and we could start anew.

What a glorious way to view life, knowing that nothing was permanent and there was always room for change.  I had to reevaluate what that meant for me, as I had always tried to be the beauty that my mother envisioned, but I saw Autumn as death but also rebirth, such confusion, disarray, and chaos in that thought.  That was until I combined her viewpoint with mine and became beautiful chaos.  It is a perfect description of the season of Autumn, and in such the personification of myself, Autumn Brooke.  Constantly changing, allowing the seasons of life to be lived to the fullest but embracing the imperfections, because there is beauty in all that we encompass through ourselves and that around us.

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Love & Loss

Today is the two year anniversary of my mother’s passing and I have debated all day about posting or what to post.  I didn’t want to write and share only words of sadness.  It was then that it occurred to me that every one has a tale of woe, some much worse or sadder than others, but that is what connects us all as people.  I thought about the response that I received on my Mother’s Day Tribute blog and realized that is where my voice is, what gives me the strength to write from my heart, mind, and soul.  I share, and hope that people identify with what it is that I have to say and maybe it will bring joy or solace to those that read it.  So, with that being said, I found a piece of myself today and may not be nearly as lost in my loneliness as I assume, because we all have loved or lost in some form, some way, at sometime.  I have posted before on my mother’s page that ‘I’m not trying to learn how not to miss you, I’m trying to learn how to live life while missing you’ and that has become a mantra for my life that I would like to give to others dealing with how to move on.  I cannot go a day without something reminding me of my mother and I am okay with that because the things that drove me the most crazy about her are the things that I miss today.  She instilled greatness in me by all the good works she did, and although she set the bar high with her expectations, I will live up to her standard, knowing in all that I do, I follow in her footsteps, hoping that when my time on this earth is done, that I too, leave a legacy for others to follow or learn from.

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