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. 

I am delighted to welcome back a regular supporter of our writing features - Helen Bing - with her first contribution in this year's Authors Showcase.

Read and enjoy Helen's inspirational true story A World Upside Down by clicking here.

Last month we featured the first part of Mike Cavanagh's inspirational story about his traumatic experiences in the Australian wildfires at the end of last year.

In this second part Mike brings his story to a conclusion and we find out what happened on that fateful New Year's Eve.

You can read Part 2 of New Year's Eve, 2019 by clicking here.

Today, in our 2020 Authors Showcase, we feature another inspiring story from Ronald Mackay, entitled In Sweet Rejoicing.

Before you read it by clicking here, check out the background to Ronald's story below.

Ronald Mackay spent an unforgettable year in La Isla Baja – the north-western corner of the Island of Tenerife -- when he was 18 years old.

In 2018, almost 60 years later, he and his wife, Viviana, visited the island and the village where Ronald had lived and worked in order to launch his memoir A Tenerife con Cariño. He wrote A Tenerife con Cariño, a Spanish version of his memoir Fortunate Isle, as a gesture of love and respect for the villagers of Buenavista del Norte. They had taken him into their lives and hearts and given him work in 1960.

During that recent return trip to Tenerife, Juan González now 83 years of age, who had been Ronald’s foreman and friend when he worked in the banana plantations there, took him to the nearby village of Garachico to visit the statue of the Migrant (El Migrante).

That visit and that moving statue inspired this story.

Ronald Mackay in Buenavista Del Norte, Canarias, Spain - 2019
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It is a pleasure to welcome back Captain Denis Dextraze with his second contribution in this year's Authors Showcase. This story is another extract from his forthcoming book about the time he spent in Cuba.

You can read My Dockside Neighbor in Cuba 20 years ago, Bill Clinton's Personal Friend 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.     [email protected]

It is a real privilege to be able to feature the second story this year from Tina Wagner Mattern in our Authors Showcase.

You may remember that Tina submitted four extracts from her memoir-in-progress in last year's showcase. She kindly permitted us to include them all in the resultant anthology - 40 Memorable Life Experiences, released earlier this year. If you haven't got your copy yet then you can pick it up here - getbook.at/40MLE.

Tina's latest submission is another inspirational story from her memoir, which is now near completion. You can read MAYWOOD by clicking here.

Starting today, and during the next 14 days, we will be one of many hosts for the 2020 RWISA "RISE-UP" Blog Tour, on a dedicated page that you can find adjacent to Fred's Blog.

Here is the introduction to this very special blog tour:

Welcome to our 2nd RWISA “RISE-UP” TOUR!

Because of the current state of the world where we are faced with a pandemic like none has ever seen before, where homelessness, hunger, job losses, and world-wide lock-downs are the norm, we wanted to give you a glimpse into our world as we are now living it.

Since we are also in the month of May, when Mothers should be celebrated even more than they should be every day, some of us are going to reflect upon our lives without our moms.  Yes, we have two themes this year!

For 14 days we invite you here to the RWISA site to enjoy, engage and to become enlightened – awakened even to the many plights of our communities and to share in our memories and sorrows as we navigate our world without the moms who brought us into it.  Hopefully, in some of these stories, you will be compelled to also RISE UP and share your story, in hopes of making someone else’s day brighter and their load a little lighter.
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Come along with us on this journey! Click here.

Our first inspirational true story in May is the second contribution to this year's Authors Showcase from Roger Knight.

Read and enjoy Roger's latest story The Sea Watch 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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