Our latest submission in the 2020 Authors Showcase is the third this year from Tina Wagner Mattern. 

Tina's latest story is a very personal, touching and inspirational extract from her upcoming memoir. You can read My Mother’s Last Gift by clicking here.

Welcome to the second half of this year's Authors Showcase.

Today's featured contribution is the third from Captain Denis Dextraze, and is another condensed excerpt from the book he is currently writing called Once Upon a Time in Cuba.  

After catching up with his bio below, read and enjoy Captain Dextraze's latest inspirational true story entitled The American smugglers in Cuba by clicking here.

Author Bio
 
Canadian born Captain Denis Dextraze started traveling internationally at age 18 when he hitchhiked around Europe during the summer break.  After graduating from two U.S. universities, he specialized in international high-tech marketing which took him around the world.  He retired early to enjoy sailing his 45 ft. ketch.  Between his career and his port-o-calls on Aventura, he visited more than 80 countries.
 
“Once upon a time in Cuba” is being written so that an interesting two years capsule of Cuban history, starting in May of 1998, will not be lost forever. All events reported in this book really happened no matter how ludicrous, illogical or incredible they appear.
 
These years were times of changes and uncertainty for the Cuban authorities. They wanted our money but did not want us because we were “contaminating” the communist indoctrination of their controlled population. We were living interesting times, sharing the docks in Marina Hemingway with an array of adventurers not representing any normal and organized society in the world.  They ranged from millionaires, drug smugglers, Hells Angels members, pedophiles, smugglers, tough Vietnam vets, world class sailors, escaped refugees.  We were pioneers living interesting times and loving it!
 
During those days as it is still today, the Cuban society was segregated into two categories.  On the 0.3% upper side, the communist ruling party composed exclusively of militaries whether in uniforms or not were living in incredible luxury ironically just like their ousted predecessors of the Batista regime.  On the down side were the other 11 millions slaving Cubans living in desperate conditions.  We, as visiting foreigners, were odd-balls in this two class system.  Since we did not belong to either class, we were tolerated and generally allowed privileges that were reserved to the Cuban military elite and forbidden to the population.     dextraze@yahoo.com
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A warm welcome back to Robyn Boswell, with her second contribution in this year's Authors Showcase.

​I am sure you will enjoy her inspirational true story The Kindness of Strangers - you can read it by clicking here.

Robyn Boswell
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I have spent most of my life living in the beautiful Far North of New Zealand. Our largest city, Auckland, is only a few hours drive away and I have driven that road many hundreds of times over the years – in fact I’m sure I could do it with my eyes closed. One cold winter’s Sunday before the advent of cellphones, I was driving home after a weekend with friends when the unexpected happened.

It is my pleasure today to feature the third contribution from Ronald Mackay in this year's Authors Showcase. 

After reading the introduction below, sit back and enjoy Ronald's latest inspirational true story entitled "If I may…" by clicking here.

The year after Ronald Mackay’s younger brother completed School in Scotland, their mother, Pearl, made the decision to leave her uncaring husband and recreate a new life for herself and her daughter in London. Sixty years ago, life in the UK was more conservative than it is today so such a momentous decision required courage, faith and self-reliance. This inspirational, true story demonstrates that Pearl possessed all of these characteristics

Ronald, his elder sister and younger brother, look back on those happy London days – though vacation visits only, for Euan and Ronald -- with great satisfaction knowing how comforting their mother and sister found the beauty, history and welcoming arms of that magnificent city.
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Pearl with Vivian, Euan and Ronald in Scotland 1947

Today's inspirational true story in our 2020 Authors Showcase is from Helen Bing and is her second contribution this year.

Read and enjoy Helen's latest story A Leader of High Regard by clicking here.

Our first inspirational true story this month is the third contribution from Roger Knight in this year's Authors Showcase.

You can read Roger's latest story A close call in the Cook Strait by clicking here.

Roger Knight

I continue to write prose and short stories mostly based on my experiences of having lived and worked in around 15 countries and 30 cities. I have had some of my work published in magazines such as the Writers and Readers publication and the Bermudian, as well as Robert Fear’s annual travel stories and highlights and memorable life experiences publications.

I have recently completed an anthology, “A circuitous journey taken”, which is a picaresque memoir that I hope may eventually find a publisher.  
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For today's contribution in the 2020 Authors Showcase, we have a wonderful story from  inspirational author Amy Bovaird.

After reading her bio below, please read and enjoy what Amy describes as a 'slice-of-life memoir tale' - Dreams, Drama, and Dolphins, by clicking here.

Amy Bovaird, world traveler, ghostwriter, two-time bestselling author and inspirational speaker thrives with sight loss. She educates and entertains her readers with humorous anecdotes of coping with ongoing sight and hearing loss. Bovaird earned her M.A. in Bicultural – Bilingual Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio and is a lifelong learner, whether it is vision, writing or language related. She has written three faith-based, often humorous, memoirs. She calls herself the “low vision motivator with high expectations” because she feels everyone can and should live a rich full life. Bovaird lives in northwest Pennsylvania. Every day she negotiates for the upper hand with her three kittens, and on most occasions, fails miserably.

In 2016, her first memoir, Mobility Matters: Stepping Out in Faith received the Distinguished Medal of Literature by Ohio Valley University, her undergraduate institution, along with the Outstanding Alumni award.

Her other two memoirs in the Mobility Series are Cane Confessions: The Lighter Side to Mobility and Hitting a Home Run: Blind and Thriving. Her books are available in regular and large print paperbacks, eBook format and audio.  
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It is an honour today to feature well-known author, Patricia Steele, in our 2020 Authors Showcase,

After reading Patricia's bio below, sit back and enjoy her inspiring story High Tea in Colonial Williamsburg by clicking here.

Patricia Steele was born in Woodland, California to an English/Dutch mother and a Spanish father. Patricia’s writing career started from a very early age-and on toilet paper! Her aunt watched her poking her pencil lead through it and promptly gave her a paper tablet. Patricia has been writing ever since, following in the footsteps of her maternal grandmother, who was a prolific writer, linguist and poet.

Patricia studied creative writing at Marylhurst University and became involved with three different writer's groups. Several of her poems were published in ‘An Anthology’ through the Oregon Writer's Colony. Patricia retired in 2011 and was then able to write full-time. Her first paid writing was a magazine article ‘Living with Cystic Fibrosis’ which was published in My Health magazine. Patricia has written ‘Fairydust to Daffodils’, a memoir about her daughter Chrissy, who lost her life to Cystic Fibrosis in 1978 at a very young age.

Patricia followed short articles with her first book, a work of fiction, entitled ‘Shoot the Moon’. Since then she has a whole array of books. Two travel memoirs: ‘A Roundabout Passage to Venice’ and ‘Mind the Gap in Zip it Socks’, her new memoir ‘Fairydust to Daffodils’, more fiction books-‘Tangled Like Music’, ‘Wines, Vines and Picasso’, ‘Thorny Secrets and Pinot Noir’, ‘Cloisonné’, ‘Flamenco Strings Uncorked’, and a very unique cookbook titled ‘Cooking Drunk’ Three of her books are available as audiobooks.

Besides writing, her other passion is Genealogy. She researched her Spanish heritage and her ancestor's trek walking across the miles of Spain, through the flowers and sugar plantations of Hawaii and into the state of California. She wanted to explore the reasons why her grandmother and her grandparents left Spain in 1911. ‘The Girl Immigrant’ and ‘Silvan Leaves’ are Book One and Two of her ‘Spanish Pearls Series’. The series is based on her grandmother; Spain and Hawaii come alive and encompass five generations. A Book Three is in progress. She writes this series under the name Patricia Ruiz Steele.

Patricia lives in Casa Grande, Arizona.
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In our latest contribution to the 2020 Authors Showcase, it is wonderful to be able to feature an inspirational true story from Elizabeth Moore.

Those of you with long memories may remember that Elizabeth wrote a 100-word travel highlight version of this story back in 2018. It came second in the competition and is featured in the 2019 Edition of Travel Stories and Highlights.

You can now read her expanded version, entitled Poppies in the Battlefield, by clicking here. 

Elizabeth Moore 

Elizabeth has lived in Australia all her life. She is happily married, a mother of two, grandmother of five and devoted assistant to one very bossy tortoiseshell cat named Lucy. Her working career began as a speech pathologist and later morphed into the totally unrelated field of retail manager in a university science centre and planetarium.
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Travel has always been a focus and yes – there has always been a bucket list. This was brought into stark relief when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and following treatment, a travel timetable began to take shape. Guam was first, followed quickly by European and North American adventures. Illness nudged another long-held interest to the fore and Elizabeth began chronicling her trips with extensive photography, promising herself she would also write about her exploits.