Holly Michael's Writing Straight

~ Connecting and Inspiring Along Life's Crooked Lines by Author Holly Michael

Holly Michael's Writing Straight

Tag Archives: Goa

Crooked Lines: From America to India Along Life’s Crooked Lines

28 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Holly Michael in Books, Christianity, Crooked Lines, India, Inspiration, Photography, Writing

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

America, Author Holly Michael, Bishop Leo Michael, Christian Fiction, Crooked Lines, Darjeeling, Faith, fiction, Goa, Holly Michael, India, India to America, Mumbai, Novel, Spirituality, Tamil Nadu

My novel, Crooked Lines, is featured on India’s Crown, a premier site linking American authors to Indian Readers. Find out some fascinating facts about Crooked Lines and some awesome pictures of India, too! Read on!!

India's Crown in Christian Literature Excellence - ICICLE

104 (2)

I’m so pleased to introduce my debut novel, CROOKED LINES, on our premier site, India’s Crown. It’s been such a pleasure launching this site with talented and acclaimed author Caryl McAdoo. We’ve also added new talent from India to our team, lovely blogger and social media expert, Natasha Lopez from the Mumbai area.

Like INDIA’S CROWN, CROOKED LINES–a novel set partly in India and partly in American–blends two cultures. Here’s my answers to a few of our interview questions.

How do you suppose a reader living in a different culture—such as India—will relate to your book?

Crooked3 (1)CROOKED LINES was inspired from stories of my husband and clergy friends who came of age in a religious order in India in the mid-1980s. Their tales as young seminarians (80s and into the 1990s and beyond) fascinated me—serving in a Mumbai slum, meeting Mother Teresa, freeing “untouchables” from bonded labor situations, rescuing youth out of radical communist situations, working in orphanages.

I also laughed with them at…

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Crooked Lines: From America to India Along Life’s Crooked Lines

28 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Holly Michael in Crooked Lines, India, India's Crown

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

America, America to India, American, Author Holly Michael, big dreams, Bishop Leo Michael, Christian Fiction, Christianity in India, Crooked Lines, Crooked Lines A Novel, Darjeeling, debut novel, Faith, fiction, Goa, Holly Michael, Hope, India, Novel, Religious Fiction, Spirituality, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, www.indiascrown.com, www.writingstraight.com

Crooked Lines: From America to India Along Life’s Crooked Lines. India’s Crown (ICICLE) symbolicea premier site linking American Authors to India Readers featured my novel, Crooked Lines! Read for a fascinating look at how Crooked Lines came to be and a photos from India.

Also, a chance to win a free signed copy of Crooked Lines!

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Gotta love Goa, India

27 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by Holly Michael in Christianity, India, Inspiration, Photography

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Blog, Goa, Holly Michael, India, St. Francis Xavier, www.writingstraight.com

Visiting an older blog and reblogging. About this time last year, we were in Goa, India. What a lovely place. Did you know the remains of St. Francis Xavier are there.  Gotta love Goa, India.

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Award Time! Yay!

13 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by Holly Michael in Award, Best Web Sites for Writers, India, Inspiration, Jake Byrne, Monday's Connections, Photography, Travel, Writing

≈ 37 Comments

Tags

Awards, Beautiful Blogger Award, Blessed Virgin Mary, Blog, Christmas movie, Colorado, Diabetic, Estes Park, flowers, Goa, Holly Michael, India, Inspiration, Isle of Iona, Jake Byrne, Kansas, Lily Lake, Lily of the Valley, New Orleans Saints, One Lovely Blog Award, Scotland, Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award, Spring, sunflowers, Sunshine Blogger Award, The Nativity, type 1 diabetes, White bell-shaped flowers, Wisconsin, www.writingstraight.com

I won a few awards! Just like the olympic athletes! Though I’m a writer, not an athlete, by any means. But if you read my blog, you might know my son is an athlete and a “saint.” (A New Orleans Saint and a saintly child, too). But, this post isn’t about him. It’s about ME and a few other fantastic bloggers. As part of my Monday Connections, time to connect with other bloggers. Come on in and join the fun!

Award Number One: I received a Sunshine Blogger Award….

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…from fellow writer, Maribeth Graham over at Writing Like Crazy

Thank you Maribeth. In accepting this award, I am required to answer a series of questions and then pass the torch (aka Sunshine Blogger Award) to other bloggers who I think deserve the award too, link my nominees to this post and comment on their blog letting them know of their nomination. Below are my answers and the blogs I have nominated.

1. What is your favorite Christmas movie?

The Nativity Story, because without the true “Christmas Story,” we couldn’t celebrate Christmas. The scenes and costumes appeared so authentic. The movie renewed my admiration for The Blessed Virgin Mary, a young girl from Nazareth and Joseph, her spouse. I appreciate his faith in God and his trust in the words of the angel from his dream.

2. What is your favorite flower?

White bell-shaped flowers, Lilly of the Valley, grew around the perimeter of our white farmhouse where I grew up in Northern Wisconsin. I used to pick them for my grandma and for my mom. Sweet memories and their intoxicating fragrance takes me back to my childhood and to Wisconsin in the springtime. Thinking about them, I can almost smell the fresh dew on the morning grass and can relive my delight in those perfectly crafted charming little bells. God is so creative!

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I also like sunflowers. My older brother Mark once planted fields of them on his acreage when I was a teenager. Recently, my husband and I discovered sunflower fields in the northeast corner of Kansas during a trip from Kansas City to Northern Colorado. Here’s a photo I shot:

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3. What is your favorite non-alcoholic beverage? Chocolate milk!

4. What is your passion? Living life fully and giving glory to God while appreciating all of His creation. And if God’s plan is for me to be writing, then it works for me.

5. What is your favorite time of year? Spring. This renewing, fragrant, colorful time of the year fills me with hope.

6. What is your favorite time of day? Nap time!

7. What is your favorite physical activity? Riding bicycle. As soon as I get on a bicycle and pedal, I smile!

8. What is your favorite vacation? So many…hmm…I loved Goa, India.

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It was magical. Walks along the Arabian Sea at night, hearing its mighty roar. We had such a nice time.

Loved the Isle of Iona, Scotland.

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So green and lush and lovely

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A recent get-away to Lily Lake in Estes Park, Colorado was also very refreshing.

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Now, these bloggers have earned gold for their wonderful blogs:

1. Lada Ray is one of my favorite bloggers. Her site, http://ladaray.wordpress.com/ is totally worth the click over there. Lada was born in Russia and is a writer, internationally certified feng shui master practitioner, world traveler, linguist, financial consultant & investor, nature/animal lover and spirituality & metaphysics researcher. She’s really awesome!

2. Judith Evans at http://innerhomestead.wordpress.com/. I loved her post about “thin places” on her blog, Among the Pots and Pans. Her blog features her favorite aspects of everyday life, such as recipes, crafts, and natural health.

3. Cindy Dwyer’s: A Reason To Write is full of humorous terrific writing about the ups and downs of working full-time while raising a family.

Award Number Two: The Beautiful Blogger Award…

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….from Daniela at Lantern Post. Her blog is full of lovely poetry, prose, quotes, reviews of books or movies, and reflections on the weird and wonderful art of living in our time. You’ll love it. Go check it out.

Here’s the rules of this award: Post seven interesting things about myself and nominate other bloggers who I feel deserve the award, and let them know about nomination.

So…about me:

  1. I’m left-handed.
  2. I have a novel with an agent that’s being shopped around to publishers. Please say a little prayer that one grabs it soon because…
  3. I’m impatient.
  4. I’m crazy about a big-hearted guy who sticks a white band in his shirt collar every day and dresses in vestments on Sunday. (My husband! He’s an Anglican Bishop in the Holy Catholic Church – Anglican Rite)
  5. I’m very proud of our kids and their accomplishments (The dynamic and cute diabetic NFL player, the beautiful darling who’s going off to study in London for a semester, and the sweet handsome boy (also an awesome football player) who will graduate before the year is over. They’ve been great kids and I’m one totally blessed mom.
  6. Both my husband and I are the seventh child in our families
  7. Um….I like chocolate

And for the winners. These bloggers also deserve gold:

1. Meri at ourdiabeticlife.com is my hero. She is the mom of four boys, three of which have Type 1 Diabetes. She is courageously and amazingly managing life with her sons’ diabetes and her husband’s cancer diagnosis. She’s a true hero who inspires. Her blog says: Through this blog I hope to share our ongoing story, to help others see that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Like you, I have muddled through all the emotional phases diabetes has to offer a parent. I know of the worry that sits with you like an old friend, because he is my friend too. I just try not to make him the life of the party. Take the ride with me. Visit her site, offer a prayer for her and her family, and come away a better person.

2. Melody Lowes at Melody Muses is full of beautiful prose and pictures. One of my fav sites and sure to be yours, too.

3. Becky Doughty deserves all the awards for her inspiring blog, Braveheart: Tales From the Front Line. She’s awesome and so is her blog!

4. Check out Brother Jon’s blog at http://ldsconvertblog.com/. He’s got great stuff going on over there!

5. Don’t miss Hugh Curtler’s blog

Ok, Next award: Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award.

Doesn’t it look cool?

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Thanks Ashley over at Author Ashley. She’s a teenager who writes about life and writing and everything in between.

First I’ll list the rules, and then I’ll follow through with what I was asked to do…

1) All recipients need to thank the giver 2) Post 7 things about yourself 3) Pass the award on to 7 other bloggers of their choice and let them know that they have been nominated. 4) Include the logo of the award in a post or on your blog

***

It is my pleasure to nominate the following blogs:

1. Liza at http://mylifeisapictureshow.wordpress.com/ deserves this award. She’s an amazing writer and blogger who invites us to come along for the ride (if you dare). I took the dare and am so glad I did. She’s a wonderful person and very creative blogger.

2. All Things Boys is an awesome blog. Arnel’s humorous and inspiring blog is loaded with great reads and beautiful photography. She’s someone you want to get to know and check out her other blogs, too. I’m so glad I found Arnel and her blogs! You will be too. I promise!

3. I’ve been bragging about Glenda Mills in other awards I’ve given, so if you haven’t already checked out http://glendamills.com/, you need to. It’s so inspiring and beautiful!

4. Gracie Hill at Gracie’s Quest is full of Biblical, faith-filled messages. Check it out if you want your spirit to be renewed in the Lord

5. PT Bradley honors God with her stories

6. Emma Moore’s Blog deserves every blog award out there, dipped in gold!

7. And another great blog: http://pauletteharper.com/

And last but not least, the Lovely Blog Award…

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…given to me by Julie at The Read Room, a reading, writing, and word-related blog that catalogs the journey of a struggling writer.

The rules of this award are:

  • Give credit to the awesome person who nominated you,
  • Describe seven things about yourself,
  • Nominate 15 other bloggers.

Seven things about myself:

1. When I was fifteen, I purchased a solid little blue notebook and in it, I recorded funny and heartwarming stories about my little sister who had Downs Syndrome. I wrote about her every day and expressed my love for her and what a gift she was to our family. A week later, she unexpectedly died. I still have the notebook and used the basis of this story for my first novel, Crooked Lines.

2. I love coffee, but only with flavored cream in it.

3. On a long car ride recently, I had a Rollo Flurry from McDonalds and enjoyed every last bite with no regrets. It was awesome! And something good came out of that ice cream dream delight. I got inspired to…

4. …begin the “Couch to 5K” app run/walk program. I just finished day two. Gotta get in shape.

5. My current novel, I’ll Be Seeing You, centers around the American Indian people, in particular the Shoshone and Arapaho in Wyoming.

6. When I was in Kindergarten, at a small consolidated school in Northern Wisconsin, Mrs. King, my teacher wouldn’t let me be the princess. She said, “You’re too shy.” I remember being really mad at her because I wanted the part and I knew I wasn’t shy. How dare she judge me like that! Those words labeled me and affected me and I became somewhat shy after that. If I’d had that part, I probably would have been a much more outgoing child. But perhaps everything happens for a reason. Maybe I needed some humbling from the beginning. I grew up to be fairly outgoing after all.

7. I like this Bible Verse: Romans 8:28 King James Version (KJV) 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

And last, but not least, Guilie, over at Quiet Laughter, nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award. Guilie has a lovely site where she blogs about: Musings and stories on blurred cultural boundaries.

There are rules, four hoops that I must jump through. The first, most important, is to thank my awarders and link to them (check). Then I must answer these ten questions: (if your sick of me, scroll down and check out the cool blogs at the bottom.)

What’s your favorite song? I love most all music and can’t say I have a favorite, but this morning, while walk/jogging, I heard, “I’ll fly away,” done in a southern gospel/jazzy rendition and I totally got into it.

What’s your favorite dessert? Well, that Rollo McFlurry I had the other day was pretty awesome.

What ticks you off? When I’m writing and my computer gets stuck and I lose stuff.

What do you do when you’re upset? Probably Cry, pout, or something like that. But mostly, I don’t have much that upsets me.

Which is your favorite pet? I grew up on a farm, loved animals. We must have had about 30 dogs during my growing up years, puppies galore, hundreds of cats. How could I have a favorite? The kids had pets, too. Now, I avoid pets because we are never home.

Which do you prefer, black or white? Black for clothes that slim, white for iPhone color

What’s your biggest fear? Being out of God’s will and grace.

What’s your attitude, mostly? Happy! Grateful!

What is perfection? God is perfection. I fall way short.

What’s your guilty pleasure? Sleeping late

Hoop #3: I need to share 10 random facts about myself. Hmm…I think we are all done with this Holly Michael show. Let’s move on.

Hoop #4: PASS IT ON! These are my seven nominees for the Kreativ Blogger award, because they’re so wonderful:
Now, those who accepted the award must: thank the awarder, link back to them — answer the ten questions above — share ten random facts about yourself — pass it on to seven other bloggers. It’s all right if you don’t–no pressure, just a small token of my admiration, and a thank-you for being a part of my blogging community.

1. Wanda at the Watered Soul where she offers short, sweet nuggets of inspiration on Bible, Books, and Blogging.
2. OneEarthUnited has a great blog post up now. Don’t miss it. (heehee)
3. Love this blog. While I’m “Writing Straight” Barbara is Scribbling Outside the Lines. Lol!
4. Another great blog. Just click. I promise you’ll like it!
5. Damyanti @ Daily (W)rite blogs about writing on her fantastic site!
6. 4 AM Writer balances writing and life beautifully. 4 AM? Really? You go girl. You deserve this award.
7. Steven W. Watkins has a fantastic blog: OBSERVE. THINK. PLAN. WRITE. PURSUE. EXECUTE……… INSPIRE.. He delivers on all of these points. You can get lost in his posts. Wonderful professional writer.
8. Ms.Nine, a writer and a teacher, has a great blog going on over at her site.
9. Life on the Farmlet, my new life in Northern Alabama is another great blog site. Lynda’s got some great reads and photos over there. Entertaining for sure!
10. Want to be inspired by beautiful prose. Check out Lori Lipsky @ Poetry Patio
11. Check out Marney McNall at the http://volunteerfringe.com/. Another great blog site!
12. Diane at http://hometogo232.wordpress.com/ has a wonderful blog. She’s really a sweet inspirational writer.
13. Alex at Martian Sunrise has a fascinating blog about “the Expression of the Cross within Culture.” Be sure to visit his unique blog.

14. Bill Jones ponders life through the eyes and heart of a Christian man here.

15. And check out Dawn at Since You Asked. Great stuff going on over there.

Thanks everyone. If you’ve read this far you’re committed. No click those links and have some fun!

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Gotta love Goa, India

07 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by Holly Michael in Christianity, India, Photography, Travel

≈ 32 Comments

Tags

altar, Arabian Sea, banyan tree, Blog, Bom Jesu, Bom Jesus, Church of St. Augustine, Goa, Holly Michael, India, monsoon, photography, Portuguese, shrine, St. Francis Xavier, www.writingstraight.com

Goa is the most fascinating place I have visited in all my travels around India. You hear the roar of the Arabian Sea and the sudden whoosh of tropical monsoon rains. You smell earthy bouquets, spices and oils from Indian open street cooking, and salty sea air. You see…well, let the photographs show what I saw in Goa…

…lush tropical flora and fauna

The Banyan Tree

The Arabian Seashore…

The Portuguese influence…below, the restored ancient Viceroy’s Arch that marks the Portuguese conquest of the city in 1510.

Ruins of The Church of St. Augustine, built by the Portuguese in 1602

Goa remains very Christian

Christian street shrines

The Basilica of Bom Jesus holds the mortal uncorrupt remains of St. Francis Xavier., except he is missing his big toe. Story is that a Portuguese woman, in a fit of revererence bit it off! Gross!

Beautiful altars where the God of Goa, Jesus Christ, is worshipped. 

And before we left, I shot this from a table at a seaside restaurant.

 

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A to Z Challenge: B is for Blessings

02 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by Holly Michael in A to Z Challenge, Football, India, Inspiration, Jake Byrne, Photography, Travel

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Badger Football, Betsy Byrne, Bishop Leo Michael, Blessings, Charleston, Goa, Holly Michael, India, Jake Byrne, Nick Byrne, Rose Bowl 2012, Sarah Morgan, South Carolina, Writing Straight

My theme is: Person, Place or Blog. Today I’m posting photos of four people who are blessings, three places I’ve been in the last year where I’ve felt blessed to visit, and three A-Z blogs that are Blessings. All begin with B.

1. My husband, Bishop Leo Michael

2. Beautiful daughter, Betsy:

3. and 4. Best Boys: Jake and Nick

5. Beautiful places I’ve been in the last year:

Beach in Goa, India

Boadwalk in Charleston, SC

Badger Game 2012 Rose Bowl Pasedena, California And three A – Z Blogs that I found to be a Blessing today:

Writing Like Crazy: http://ninidee.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/believe-2/  (Inspirational)

Sarah Mogran’s A Gringuita in Costa Rica: Expat Reflections from the Free Zone  (Always a blessing to learn something new)

Brand New Day: http://www.evolvingsoul11.com/ (More inspiration)

Get ready for Cool C!

Holly

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India’s Ancient Roots of Christianity

27 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by Holly Michael in Christianity, India

≈ 30 Comments

Tags

altar, Ancient roots of Christianity, Bangalore, Bom Jesu, Bom Jesus, Chennai, Christianity, East India Company, Goa, HCCAR, Holly Michael, Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite, India, Madras, National Georgraphic, Our Lady of Velankanni, San Thome, Shilpa Joshi, St. Francis Xavier, St. Mary's Basilica in Shivaji Nagar, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Thome Basilica, The Footsteps of the Apostles, Vicky Drachenberg, Writingstraight.com

During my first visit to India, Shilpa, my niece, handed me a photo. “Christian, Hindu, Muslim,” she said pointing to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In the photograph, Shilpa, a Christian, and her classmates (Muslim and Hindu) all had roles in their school Christmas pageant. (That’s me and Shilpa to the left. SO to a Shilpa in Bangalore!)

Then, newly married to an Indian native, the photo pleasantly popped one of my preconceived bubbles about India. While I understood Christian missionaries role in evangelizing India, I didn’t realize that, today, many of India’s best schools, hospitals, and social service organizations are run by Christians. And Muslims, Hindus, and those of other faiths study and work alongside Christians in schools and other organizations. Over the years, visiting Christian Holy sites, I’ve been surprised at the faces of various faiths mingled in the crowds.

Ancient Christian roots run deep in India, deeper and more ancient than when the 16th century British arrived to trade under the banner of the East India Company. While the British ruled India for more than two centuries, Christianity first landed on the shores of India with the arrival of St. Thomas the Apostle of Jesus Christ in A.D. 52.

On my first trip to India, my husband and I visited the San Thome Basilica in Chennai, (South India) previously named Madras, (meaning Mother of God).

San Thome is built over the tomb of St. Thomas, who was martyred in India. Only two other basilicas are built over the tomb of an apostle: St. Peter’s in Rome and St. James in Spain (Compestella, Santiago).

Below, my photo of the San Thome sanctuary.

My husband took this photo of me in solemn awe at the tomb of the apostle whom Jesus asked to touch the wounds of his resurrected body and believe.

Recently, while vacationing in Goa (a Portuguese settlement in Western India on the shore of the Arabian Sea) my husband and I visited Bom Jesu (good Jesus) Cathedral.

At this Holy Site, the incorrupt remains of St. Francis Xavier are displayed in a silver casket above a side altar, five hundred years after his death.

I shot the close-up below with a long lens

Altar at Bom Jesus

After leaving Bom Jesu, my husband and I roamed nearby ruins of the Church of St. Augustine, built in 1602 by the St. Augustine Friars. We opened our umbrellas when sudden whooshes of monsoon rains rolled in like a gentle breath.

Over on the shores of the Bay of Bengal in Southern India, a magnificent shrine was built after the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared with Infant Jesus to a Hindu boy under a banyan tree during the sixteenth century.

We visited Our Lady of Velankanni shrine twice. The first time was two weeks after the 2004 tsunami. My husband and I and Vicky Drachenberg (a parishioner), arrived in South India for mission work after our church sponsored a nationwide fundraising event. Though massive devastation surrounded all sides of the church, miraculously, water did not broach the shrine that Sunday morning. Those inside survived.

Our Lady of Velankanni Shrine

A few years after the tsunami, we visited the shrine again. Each September 8th, on the feast of our Lady, pilgrims show up in droves, arriving on their knees at the holy site.

On the same day in September, over in South Central India, a sea of devotees flood the festival at St. Mary’s in Shivaji Nagar, Karnataka.

When people ask my husband, an Anglo-Catholic Bishop in the Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite (HCCAR), how long his family has been Christian, he answers, “Probably since the time St. Thomas came to India.”

Christianity is alive and well in India and has been for a very long time.

More on Christianty’s ancient roots: The National Geographic Magazine’s March 2012 issue features, “The Footsteps of the Apostles,” a piece that includes St. Thomas’ journey to India, along with other apostles’ travels.

Sections of my upcoming novel, Crooked Lines follow the trails of Christianity throughout the subcontinent of India.

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Location. Location. Location. Description. Description. Description.

23 Thursday Feb 2012

Posted by Holly Michael in Best Web Sites for Writers, Inspiration

≈ 30 Comments

Tags

Arabian Sea, Connecticut, England, Goa, God, Himalaya, India, Kent, Shilpa Joshi, Tamil Nadu, The Bookshelf Muse, Walsingham, Wind River Canyon, Wyoming, Yercaud

Frothy whitecaps shimmer under a pale disc of a moon as waves crash onto the shoreline and cascade like thunder over my ankles. A continuous oceanic roar swallows my acclamations of awe.

Words can hardly describe the majestic beauty of many places I’ve been blessed to visit, but as a writer, I wrest the best sensory descriptions from my mind onto pages. The scene described above was in Goa, India at midnight on the shore of the Arabian Sea.

Consider another beach scene. Crystal blue water merges into snow-white sands while sheep rest under rocky outcrops. Iona, Scotland, one of the most beautiful places in the world. Below photos by me.

Come away from the sea to ancient ruins in Walsingham, England. Breath musky fragrances along ivy-lined paths and twiggy thickets. (see my photo in my header. That’s from Walsingham. I also took this photo there.

I can’t even find words to describe the vivid colors of nature in Kent, Connecticut in Autumn.  Here’s a photo I snapped.

The Wind River Canyon in Wyoming must have been carved by the breath of God. You can’t just drive through it. You have to stop at the turn-outs, let go of the air in your lungs, and whisper, “wow!”

Thanks to God and to my wonderful husband I’ve been able to visit these and many other incredible places. Sometimes the grandeur of the locale laughs at my words that dare to describe it’s beauty.

Even photographs can’t do justice to what the eye sees. From Tiger Hills, India, watching the sun appear over the Kanchenjunga-one of the highest peaks of the Himalayas-and turn the white snow-capped mountains to gold is well…sorry no words. But I can tell you a place that helps me find words when I’m at a loss. The Bookshelf Muse.

I’ve incorporated a lot of my visits all around India in my novel, Crooked Lines. Look at this picture.

It’s mist falling on a Tamil Nadu hill-station around my husband and our nieces and nephews. Isn’t my niece Shilpa, cute? She’s a sweetheart.

Hazy whiteness and curls of smoky air currents obscure the surroundings. Muted light and color can hide movement. Cool dewy sensation to the skin.

The words above are lifted from The Bookshelf Muse Blog. The website is chock-full of inspiration. I can replace the word “surroundings” with my own words. I can play with the words, using my own creativity.

I’m a stalker at The Bookshelf Muse. I peek at the Settings Thesaurus, check out the Weather Thesaurus, linger at the Symbolism Thesaurus, creep around the Color Texture and Shape Thesaurus, and park myself at the Emotion Thesaurus until I cry in amazement at the words the site inspires me to string together. The Bookshelf Muse provides a plethora of help for any writer.

So, if you travel or even if you don’t, take The Bookshelf Muse wherever your journey takes you. And journey back to www.writingstraight.com too. It’s a great place to visit. One of my favorites.

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Holly Michael

  • Hi, neighbor 👋! Want to learn more about the latest market trends 📈, real estate developments 🏡, and lifestyle ins… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 10 months ago
  • Hi, neighbor 👋! Want to learn more about the latest market trends 📈, real estate developments 🏡, and lifestyle ins… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 10 months ago
  • Hi, neighbor 👋! Want to learn more about the latest market trends 📈, real estate developments 🏡, and lifestyle ins… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 10 months ago
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  • Cant believe it’s been this long...In 2004, Leo Michael and I were in South India immediately following the tsunami… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 year ago
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Me

Holly Michael

Holly Michael

Done this: Regular freelance ghostwriter and online editor for Guideposts for Teens/Sweet 16 Magazine, creator/editor of a magazine for Wal-Mart Corp., journalist, newspaper features writer, published in a variety of national magazines and local newspapers, script writing/editing for corporations. Doing this now: author of fiction and nonfiction, blogger, and editor of Koinonia Magazine. I’m the wife of Rt. Rev. Leo Michael, an Anglican Bishop in the Holy Catholic Church-Anglican Rite. Mom to three great kids: Nick (#81 Rajin Cajuns), Betsy (Super cute professor) and Jake (T1D & NFL player) Also, enjoy my travels extensively across the United States and internationally.

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