I like gardening — it's a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself. — Alice Sebold

After a hard winter, and vexing spring, June has been a joy to the senses. Such a delight to dash outside any time the pure gold light beckons. I never know what I'll find to photograph, a new hobby for me. I'm using my cell phone, haven't advanced to an actual camera yet. The garden is alive with butterflies, bees, bumbles, birds, and fireflies (tough to capture pics of those tantalizing glimmers) in addition to the plants. Extra time in the garden is good for the spirit, so I'm out the door the instant it summons. 

The double apricot hollyhocks I photographed below are blooming on the only plant that survived the winter from the many seedlings I started last spring and nurtured all summer. Endless watering during the long dry spell...and all gone, but this one remaining hollyhock is glorious. I will save seed from it and try again for more.

The poppies are exquisite, like butterflies fluttering in the breeze...their silken petals fabric for sumptuous gowns. If such whimsy were possible. Maybe for the fairies. The pollinators also love poppies. 

"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides." ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show

(Breadseed Poppies below. I got the seed for these at Monticello)

(Shirley Poppy and Miniature Hollyhocks)

Another thing about the garden, I think best there. Story ideas and scenes come to me. I've been advised to talk into a recorder so as not to lose these thought threads before jotting them down. I haven't yet done that, though. I'm already a neighborhood eccentric. Old Order neighbors have spotted me--gasp--in the garden on a Sunday more than once as they drive past in their buggies. Not done, you see. And they're not the only ones who disapprove. For those of you who do not live in a highly conservative area, you have no idea how wicked I am. I try to simply tour the grounds on the Sabbath and not do any actual frowned upon work. But a stray weed here and there temps me to a quick tug. And I've transplanted a geranium or two..three. I got caught arm deep in potting soil a few weeks ago. Daughter Elise was with me then and said there was nothing for it but to wave as they drove by. She did. I pretended not to notice.

(Red Admiral butterfly on cone flowers)

If possible, I hide from passersby, sink down behind the asters or dart around the sunflowers. I'd really like a secret garden. Speaking of, I love The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Another lovely children's book, also wonderful for appreciative adults, is Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce. She has some of the most beautiful garden imagery I've ever read.

“Nothing stands still, except in our memory.” 
― Philippa Pearce, Tom's Midnight Garden

That quote is true of life, and certainly of the garden. Each day is different out there. If you stay away a whole week, the growth in summer is staggering. Two weeks and it's a jungle.

(Evening Primroses bloom at dusk like time lapse photography. This pic was taken in the early morning while they are fresh and dewy.)

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” 
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

I believe the world would be a far far better place if more people had gardens. I'm all for community gardens, and getting children involved in growing things. Herein lies the key to world peace. Beth's shared wisdom. If only the world would listen.

(Poppies and larkspur)

“At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done--then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.” 
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden


"My garden is my favorite teacher." ~Betsy Cañas Garmon

(Abraham Darby, my favorite rose)

If anyone is interested, I wrote an herbal available in kindle and print at Amazon, also print at Barnes & Noble.  

Amazon link:https://www.amazon.com/Plants-Medieval-Garden-British-Isles/dp/1496111494 

An illustrated collection of plants that could have been grown in a Medieval Herb or Physic Garden in the British Isles. The major focus of this work is England and Scotland, but also touches on Ireland and Wales. Information is given as to the historic medicinal uses of these plants and the rich lore surrounding them. Journey back to the days when herbs figured into every facet of life, offering relief from the ills of this realm and protection from evil in all its guises.

YA Fantasy Series--The Secret Warrior

The Secret Warrior series is a YA fantasy/paranormal/romance trilogy (unless I write a fourth story) set present-day in our Virginia Mountains. Native American and mountain people lore, my love of herbs, colonial America, and my wild imagination are part of the inspiration behind the series. Shawnee warrior/wolf shifters, witches, a warlock, the Star People, and other characters, shifters, and creatures run through the stories. And there's the prophecy...

The lizard shifting witch is drawn from mountain people lore about an old woman who basks in the moonlight as a large lizard. They call her the Lizard Lady. In the story, her name is Lilith Dubois, and she lives in a ramshackle old house back in the hollow in the mountains. Not only is she a lizard shifter in the moonlight, she’s a witch with memorizing eyes. If you gaze into their green depths, she can put a spell on you that only she can break. This sort of enchantress is called a gorgon. Bad things happen if you look into their eyes. Tough not to do with her magnetic lure.

(Old mountain home that inspired her house in the story. Image by hubby.)

One of the most unusual creatures I’ve brought to life is the thunderbird, a mythological bird based on Native American lore. There are people, of course, who insist the bird is real. Check out YouTube, or MonsterQuest. Since I couldn’t conclusively prove its existence, I took characteristics from Native American lore and added a few of my own, like it hunts only at dusk and during storms. The legendary bird gets its name from the belief that the beating of its great wings account for the booms of thunder, and its flashing red eyes are the lighting. Pretty darn awesome. Likely, the thunderbird derives from Native American respect for the bald eagle and is a greatly exaggerated version. I featured a big territorial male in book 1, The Hunter’s Moon. The bird comes up again in Curse of the Moon in the form of an incubating egg. By book three, The Panther Moon, it's a hatchling.

What could be better than hatching and training a thunderbird yourself? It’s the Native American dragon. Thunderbirds are said to be intelligent, powerful, and wrathful, so you definitely want one on your side. In Curse of the Moon, Morgan’s younger brother, Jimmy, plans to train and fly a thunderbird. He’s a fearless kid.

Blurb for Curse of the Moon (Book 2, The Secret Warrior Series):

The bad news? Morgan Daniel’s wolf is out of control. The good news? There’s a treatment. She just has to get a potion from a lizard shifter witch--without looking into the witch’s eyes. Easy, right? But when the witch puts a spell on her younger brother, Morgan has to do the witch's bidding to save him.

Fortunately Morgan isn’t alone. She has Jackson to lean on, a few witches coming into their powers, a secret warlock, and the always mysterious Chief Okema. What could possibly go wrong?~

Up next, The Panther Moon. Release Date TBD.

(Setting for the series)

***For more on this story and my other books visit my Amazon Author Page.

***The Secret Warrior series is available from all online booksellers.

Some of the 'Whys' Behind YA Fantasy Series The Secret Warrior

I’m not a one genre author, possibly because I'm too ADD to stick with a single category or era. No, seriously.  I'm multi-published in historical, ghostly, paranormal, time travel romance, and some nonfiction. YA (Young Adult) is my latest venture. I love writing this genre.

Daughter Elise and several nieces encouraged me to take the YA plunge, so thank or blame them. :)

The Secret Warrior is a YA fantasy/paranormal (with romance) series set present-day in our Virginia Mountains. Native American and mountain people lore, my love of herbs, colonial America, and my wild imagination are part of the inspiration behind the series. Shawnee warrior/wolf shifters, witches, a warlock, the Star People, and other characters, shifters, and creatures run through the stories. And there's the prophecy...

The lizard shifting witch is drawn from mountain people lore about an old woman who basks in the moonlight as a large lizard. They call her the Lizard Lady. In the story, her name is Lilith Dubois, and she lives in a ramshackle old house back in the hollow in the mountains. Not only is she a lizard shifter in the moonlight, she’s a witch with memorizing eyes. If you gaze into their green depths, she can put a spell on you that only she can break. This sort of enchantress is called a gorgon. Bad things happen if you look into their eyes. Tough not to do.

(Old mountain home that inspired her house in the story. Image by hubby.)

One of the most unusual creatures I’ve brought to life is the thunderbird, a mythological bird based on Native American lore. There are people, of course, who insist the bird is real. Check out YouTube, or MonsterQuest. Since I couldn’t conclusively prove its existence, I took characteristics from Native American lore and added a few of my own, like it hunts only at dusk and during storms. The legendary bird gets its name from the belief that the beating of its great wings account for the booms of thunder, and its flashing red eyes are the lighting. Pretty darn awesome. Likely, the thunderbird derives from NA respect for the bald eagle and is a greatly exaggerated version. I featured a big territorial male in book 1, The Hunter’s Moon. The bird comes up again in Curse of the Moon in the form of an incubating egg.

What could be better than hatching and training a thunderbird yourself? It’s the Native American dragon. Thunderbirds are said to be intelligent, powerful, and wrathful, so you definitely want one on your side. In Curse of the Moon, Morgan’s younger brother, Jimmy, plans to train and fly a thunderbird. He’s a fearless kid.

Blurb for Curse of the Moon (Book 2, The Secret Warrior Series):

The bad news? Morgan Daniel’s wolf is out of control. The good news? There’s a treatment. She just has to get a potion from a lizard shifter witch--without looking into the witch’s eyes. Easy, right? But when the witch puts a spell on her younger brother, Morgan has to do the witch's bidding to save him.

Fortunately Morgan isn’t alone. She has Jackson to lean on, a few witches coming into their powers, a secret warlock, and the always mysterious Chief Okema. What could possibly go wrong?~

Up next, The Panther Moon. Release Date TBD.

***For more on this story and my other books visit my Amazon Author Page.

***The Secret Warrior series is available from all online booksellers.

Step into the Garden

Spring 2016 in the Shenandoah Valley has been especially challenging for farmers and gardeners. Crazy warmth in March lured plants out to be zapped by inevitable frosts and May has been the coldest, wettest I can recall until these past few days. We swung from having the furnace on in this old farm-house to sweltering heat. Not easy on people or plants. Still, there is much beauty in the garden, captured by daughter Elise.

"A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself." ~May Sarton

(Chives and poppies)

We mix herbs with flowers and vegetables. A wonderful meld. Wildflowers are also a favorite in the garden, like wild aster and Queen Anne's Lace, plus, plus. Some were planted by birds and the wind, others from seed or stock we purchased. There are those who might refer to these as 'weeds.'

(California Poppies)

Of course, we have the garden cat, also called the Apothecary Cat or Apothecarist. I decided our garden is a physic or apothecary garden because it has many medicinal plants, which includes some of the so-called 'weeds', thus justifying its less than perfect state (according to suburbia, anyway, which, thank God, we don't live in). Elise suggested kitty be called the Apothecarist (one who dispenses medicines and herbal cures). Kitty doesn't do that, but it's a great name. Before this, he was known as one of the triplets.

The Apothecarist Cat

This spring we're making pathways with cardboard boxes covered in straw, using my Amazon box collection. I save those boxes religiously. The straw we gleaned from the barn. Pathways are a work in progress. Below is a pic of me against a patch of sweet alyssum we've planted in drifts in many sections of the garden. It's just beginning to bloom. We are using alyssum as a ground cover and to attract beneficial insects and honey bees.

It is utterly forbidden to be half-hearted about gardening. You have got to love your garden whether you like it or not. ~W.C. Sellar & R.J. Yeatman, Garden Rubbish, 1936

My box/straw pathway, next to the potato patch. The sticks mark the many little herbs and flowers we've added to keep them from getting stepped on. How glorious it will be when this is all lush and blooming. I'm smashing potato bugs.

(Salad Patch)

(This Peony has been here forever, since my Mother-in-law's time and possibly farther back than that. The house was built in the 1870's.)

(Cyclamens)

In the kitchen window, I have several pots of cyclamen. These remind me of my late sister-in-law, Catarina. A cyclamen was the last plant she ever gave me. She loved flowers. I grow cyclamens in remembrance of her, and I often think of her. I ordered this pink one last year from Jackson & Perkins to commemorate her passing. The next month, J&P sent me a second identical plant. So I have two thriving cyclamens. Thank you whoever sent this. I inquired, but no one at the company seemed to know why it came at no charge. Maybe Catarina didn't trust me to keep the first one alive. Admittedly, the cyclamen she gave me didn't make it, but this is the same color, and I've learned more about their care now.

One of life's mysteries. The garden is full of surprises.

Some roses didn't survive the plummeting temps this winter, but Abraham Darby did. My favorite rose.

***All images by Elise Trissel.

Short Western Romance The Lady and the Warrior Free through 5-30

For a taste of my historicals with a frontier flavor, The Lady and the Warrior is Free in kindle through the 30th at: https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Warrior-Beth-Trissel-ebook/dp/B007EEF3O8

Note This is a Short Story. Also note how many readers have bashed it for being a short story, even though I have stated this, as has Amazon. 

Short stories are not as easy to write as some might suppose. The idea is that if you enjoy this story, you may enjoy my full novels in the same genre.

Story Description for THE LADY AND THE WARRIOR:

An abused young wife stranded in the Alleghenies in 1783 is rescued from drowning by a rugged frontiersman who shows her kindness and passion. 

But is he more than he seems? And can they ever be together?

My Native American Warrior Series includes:

Through the Fire, The Bearwalker's Daughter, Kira, Daughter of the Moon, and Red Bird's Song.  Amazon bought the eBook rights to the last two novels from The Wild Rose Press. All are available at Amazon. Visit my Amazon Author page:

THROUGH THE FIRE: Will love inflame these two natural-born enemies in fiery destruction?

Passions run deep in the raging battle to possess a continent, its wealth and furs. Both the French and English count powerful Indian tribes as their allies.

English lady Rebecca Elliot, having eloped to America with a British captain, finds herself a widow. When she ventures into the colonial frontier with the militia to seek her uncle, she unwittingly enters a dangerous world of rugged mountains, wild animals, and even wilder men. The rules are different here and she doesn't know them, especially those of the savagely handsome warrior who captures her body and her heart.

Half-Shawnee, half-French warrior Shoka, former guide for English traders, is the hawk, swift, sure, and silent as the moon. He knows all about survival in this untamed land and how deadly distraction can be. His intent is to sell Rebecca to the French before she draws him under her spell, but if he lets her go he can no longer protect her. If he holds onto her, can he safeguard his heart? With battle looming and an enemy warrior bent on vengeance, Shoka and Rebecca must decide whether to fight together or be destroyed.

THE BEARWALKER'S DAUGHTER: A Handsome frontiersman, Mysterious Scots-Irishwoman, Shapeshifting Warrior, Dark Secret, Pulsing Romance…The Bearwalker’s Daughter

Karin McNeal hasn't grasped who she really is or her fierce birthright. A tragic secret from the past haunts the young Scots-Irish woman longing to learn more of her mother's death and the mysterious father no one will name. The elusive voices she hears in the wind hint at the dramatic changes soon to unfold in the mist-shrouded Alleghenies in Autumn, 1784.

Jack McCray, the wounded stranger who staggers through the door on the eve of her twentieth birthday and anniversary of her mother's death, holds the key to unlock the past. Will Karin let this handsome frontiersman lead her to the truth and into his arms, or seek the shelter of her fiercely possessive kinsmen? Is it only her imagination or does someone, or something, wait beyond the brooding ridges—for her?

KIRA, DAUGHTER OF THE MOON (SEQUEL TO THROUGH THE FIRE)

Logan McCutcheon returns to colonial Virginia after seven years in the hands of Shawnee Indians. 

But was he really a captive, as everybody thinks? He looks and fights like a warrior, and seems eager to return to those he calls friends and family. 

Kira McClure has waited for Logan all those years, passing herself off as odd to keep suitors at bay--and anyone else from getting too close. 

Now that he's back, he seems to be the only person capable of protecting her from the advances of Josiah Campbell and accusations of witchcraft. And to defend the settlers against a well-organized band of murderous thieves.

RED BIRD'S SONG:

Taken captive by a Shawnee war party wasn't how Charity Edmondson hoped to escape an unwanted marriage. Nor did Shawnee warrior Wicomechee expect to find the treasure promised by his grandfather's vision in the unpredictable red-headed girl. 

George III's English Red-Coats, unprincipled colonial militia, prejudice and jealousy are not the only enemies Charity and Wicomechee will face before they can hope for a peaceful life. The greatest obstacle to happiness is in their own hearts. As they struggle through bleak mountains and cold weather, facing wild nature and wilder men, Wicomechee and Charity must learn to trust each other.

Release Day for Curse of the Moon (Book 2, the Secret Warrior Series)!

Curse of the Moon (Book 2, the Secret Warrior Series) is a YA fantasy/paranormal (with romance) adventure set present-day in our Virginia Mountains. Those hazy ridges hide a lot of secrets...

Story Blurb:

The bad news? Morgan Daniel’s wolf is out of control. The good news? There’s a treatment. She just has to get a potion from a lizard shifter witch--without looking into the witch’s eyes. Easy, right? But when the witch puts a spell on her younger brother, Morgan has to do the witch's bidding to save him.

Fortunately Morgan isn’t alone. She has Jackson to lean on, a few witches coming into their powers, a secret warlock, and the always mysterious Chief Okema. What could possibly go wrong?

Curse of the Moon is available in kindle and print at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Curse-Moon-Secret-Warrior-Trissel-ebook/dp/B01DH16746

At Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/curse-of-the-moon-beth-trissel/1123602026;jsessionid=9398AF2D51525C41D6BCD74A5FCE11AF

At iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/curse-of-the-moon/id1104810183?mt=11

My publisher, The Wild Rose Press, carries the story in various eBook formats and print. Curse of the Moon is available from all online booksellers.

Traitor’s Curse won Creme de la Cover and is up for two more awards!

“A wonderfully spun novel that will keep a reader engaged till the end.” ~Stephanie Lodes for InD’tale

Historical/paranormal romance novel, Traitor’s Curse (Book 3, The Traitor’s Legacy Series) is on on a roll lately. The cover won Creme de la Cover’s weekly and then monthly contest, so it will be featured in a quarter page and then full-page advertisement in InD’tale Magazine. Here’s the win announcement link.

The novel has also been nominated for the Reader’s Choice Award at The Romance Reviews. Voting runs through April 30th at: http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=20356

You must be signed in to vote.

Traitor’s Curse is also a RONE finalist in the American Historical category at InD’tale. Voting for this category is from May 9th–May 15th at: http://indtale.com/2016-rone-awards-week-four

The story is second from the bottom of a very long list. Votes are welcome. Again, you must be signed in first.

Below is the beautiful advertisement daughter Elise put together for the upcoming spot in InD’tale Magazine.

Traitor’s Curse is available in print and kindle at Amazon, and in eBook from all online booksellers. http://www.amazon.com/Traitors-Curse-Legacy-Book-ebook/dp/B0165WGROE

***The novel is in need of more reviews. If you’re interested in giving an honest review, please contact me at: bctrissel@yahoo.com