Tag: Northern Survival

Northern Survival on Sale 99 Cents

by Diane, posted in book sale

Until midnight Friday January 24th, Northern Survival is reduced from $4.99 to $0.99. Download your copy at Amazon. It is available to Kindle Unlimited Members.

Description

Olive Tweed planned her trip for two years. She’d vacation at Summer Beaver, gather the research material needed to write the next book and spend a few days hiking the vast wilderness. When she is called home unexpectedly and boards a chartered plane, she never dreamt it would crash, leaving her alone with a man who knew nothing about survival or the woods. If they don’t put aside their differences and work together, they’ll never escape alive.

“Northern Survival” was inspired by a video created by a pilot who recorded the crash of his small plane in Northern Quebec. The only reason he survived was because the plane had a parachute.

If you love stories of adventure, survival challenges and characters who test each others ability to endure, you’ll love “Northern Survival”.

Book Quote (Olive): “You don’t believe me now but wait. You’ll see. The first night you lay in bed surrounded by four walls with the window closed, you’ll wonder where those sounds are. You’ll start to wonder if everything on the planet is dead. It will be so quiet, so void of life you’ll feel like you’re sleeping in a tomb.”

Book Quote (John’s perspective): He rested his cheek against the top of her head. In their short time together, they had endured more than some married couples. In the real world, they’d have parted after the first disagreement, never to see each other again. But, here, where they existed purely for each other, their time together had created a connection he couldn’t deny. They were friends in spite of their differences or perhaps because of them.

Book Quote (Olive’s perspective): She stared at the bright red apple with streaks of green. Her mouth watered at the thought of the juice that would spring forth when her teeth dug into its flesh. She’d seal her lips around the bite and suck the sweet liquid in slowly to fill her mouth with joy.

Book Quote (John’s perspective): The woman was like books he’d read, ones that were slow to start, ones he often put down to pick up later because something nagged at him to return to the story but didn’t excite him enough to read every day. Books like that didn’t capture his full attention until he was three-quarters of the way through, then he was hooked and devoured the rest like the final bites of a juicy steak.

Book Quote: John: “Incredible. You shouldn’t have seen 50. How do you feel?”

Olive: “Like I’m 23 again except I love life more. I’m here for the fun of it, the adventure. It’s why I don’t watch TV, avoid the news and don’t spend energy on the junk society thinks is important because it’s not. Each day, I’m living.”

He laughed. “Even here? With a city boy lost in the woods?”

“You make it challenging, but I enjoy the hike. I’d prefer more food, better accommodations, cream for my tea but…” She twitched her nose. “It could be worse. I’m alive and well, and that’s all that truly matters.”

Northern Survival – Amazon Review: a book you’ll burn through in a weekend.

Sleeping in a Tomb

by Diane, posted in adventure, book sale

In Northern Survival, there’s a scene where John is complaining about how noisy nature is at night. Whether it’s owls hooting or peepers peeping, the night air is a chorus of musical creatures, and they keep him awake.

Olive says this to him: “You don’t believe me now but wait. You’ll see. The first night you lay in bed surrounded by four walls with the window closed, you’ll wonder where those sounds are. You’ll start to wonder if everything on the planet is dead. It will be so quiet, so void of life you’ll feel like you’re sleeping in a tomb.”

I wrote this from experience. Several years ago, when the kids were small, we owned a pop-up trailer. From mid-May until mid-October, we slept in it every night. It was only in the backyard, but the kids and I thought of it as an adventure. We were all together, and we talked in the dark until we nodded off to sleep.

The canvas of the camper kept out the weather, but not the sounds. We heard our rooster go off at 5:00 am, the ducks quacking spells throughout the night and the train whistle blow. And then there were the peepers. They were loud at first, but eventually, they blended into the background.

Continue reading “Sleeping in a Tomb” →

Magical March 99 Cent Sale

by Diane, posted in book sale

For the month of Magical March, Northern Survival will be on sale for 99 cents (a savings of $4.00). I classify this story as Survival / Adventure / Romance / Action in that order.

Reviews

Northern Survival has 159 5-star reviews and 53 4-star reviews. Here’s what Amazon readers are saying about Northern Survival:

Great Survival Story: Realistic characters, just two flawed people struggling to survive together in the harsh wilderness. I will definitely look for more books from this author!

Continue reading “Magical March 99 Cent Sale” →

A Five-star Amazon Review

by Diane, posted in News Flash

My philosophy from the beginning of this writing journey has been to write books I enjoy reading. If these books found readers who also enjoyed the stories, then it made publishing these books worth the time and energy. Those readers are the ones I am writing for. I can’t write for all readers, so I don’t even try.

So when I come upon a positive review of one of my books, it makes me smile. I found one today, posted yesterday and for me, it reaffirmed the reason I do what I do. And that’s write books that I enjoy, not books on the latest fad, political statement or books similar to those on the best-sellers’ list.

What kind of books do I enjoy? Ones with adventure, a little romance, a little humour, hope even when things look tragic, hard-working people with good values, loving family, loyal friends, a good sense of home and entertainment. I like to create worlds we can escape to, ones that make us forget about the current state of the world around us.

Continue reading “A Five-star Amazon Review” →

What is Autophagy?

by Diane, posted in Essay, Non-fiction

If you’ve read my novel Northern Survival and stumbled over the word autophagy linked with self-eating, you’re probably not alone. When I first heard it, I was the same way.

Looking up the definition on the Internet, autophagy sounds like a horrible thing.

autophagy: consumption of the body’s own tissue as a metabolic process occurring in starvation and certain diseases.

Who would subject themselves to that?

Looking further, this is what you’ll find on Internet health pages.

Autophagy is the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells, in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells, according to Priya Khorana, PhD, in nutrition education from Columbia University.

“Auto” means self and “phagy” means eat. So the literal meaning of autophagy is “self-eating.”

https://www.healthline.com/health/autophagy

Who wants to clean out damaged cells to regenerate new ones? I do. I think everyone does. But there’s a lot more to autophagy, and it’s all good.

Here’s the few paragraphs where Olive talks to John about autophagy. This was several days after the plane crash, and with the lack of food, both were fasting most days.

Quote

Olive secured the fishing line to the end of the four-foot stick she’d brought along and plopped the hook into the water near the boat. He caught her eye, and she smiled with an ease that relaxed his muscles.

“This is my favourite kind of fishing,” she said. “Trolling. We do this for hours on the ocean. Sit back and let the fish come to us.” She lay with her back against the bow facing him and holding tightly to the rod.

“Don’t catch too many,” he said. “I want those growth hormones to kick in.” He grinned. “Tell me more about fasting and this autophagy theory. I need to regrow a few brain cells, recycle the cell garbage. I might look ten years younger by the time this is over.”

Her laugh settled him further, and he listened contently while she explained the self-eating approach to a healthier, younger self. In truth, she could have talked about anything, and she’d have had his attention. Her easy-going nature was addictive and time passed without notice.

I stumbled onto vital information about fasting two years ago while researching the Keto diet. I had known about the practice, but I had never considered it seriously as a way to get healthier. Exploring fasting further, I came upon autophagy and it’s incredible benefits to the body.

In early 2019, over the course of four months, I slowly reduced the amount of food I consumed and reduced my three square meals a day to two. I had even eliminated snacks when I was more intent on seeing results.

Continue reading “What is Autophagy?” →

Cranberries: the little berry for every season

by Diane, posted in Castle Keepers, Recipe

Readers of this blog know I love cranberries. It’s a berry for every season, and it’s made it into my books on more than one occasion. Bronwyn Darrow, one of the main characters in the Castle Keepers series, shares this love for the berry. In my fantasy series, I call them fenberries.

When Bronwyn travels along a mountain range in the fall with Alaura, Tam and Kellyn, he picks a sack of the tart red berries. Not long afterwards, Kelly, who often made fun of his love for the berry, catches a turkey and cooks it over a fire and calls on him to share the sauce he’s made with the berry.

Here’s the scene.

Scattered Stones

Book 2 in the Castle Keepers Series

The following morning, they came upon the river flowing south. Without a word, they headed north on a faint trail. With rations running low, they hunted as they travelled and enjoyed feasting on the pheasant and partridge they killed.

Late one afternoon, Kellyn spotted a turkey in the bush and leapt from the saddle to give chase. Ten minutes later, she strutted back to the others, beaming and holding up her catch. That night, as Kellyn sliced huge pieces of the roasted bird, she eyed Bronwyn.

“Hey, Mr. Fenberry, don’t be selfish with that spread. This is the only time anyone should eat those tart berries.”

He had been picking fenberries whenever he found a patch and had gathered several sacks. The coolness of the season drove out the green worms and made the red berries pop with flavour. He plopped a generous serving onto everyone’s plate. When he filled his mouth with the sauce, he shook from its tartness. The sensation made him crave more.

As he lay back against his ruck sack and stared into the late evening sky, he tried to think of a better meal with better friends but couldn’t. His objective hadn’t been reached when he entered Tigh na Mare, but he couldn’t complain about the outcome.

Cranberry Sauce

Sauce, jam or spread, which ever you call it, is so simple to make, I wonder why everyone doesn’t make it fresh for their turkey dinners and sandwiches. Here’s the recipe.

Dump two cups of cranberries in a pot with 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Simmer on low for 35 minutes or so. If it’s too tarty for your taste buds, add a wee bit more sugar. I simmer it until most of the berries have popped and the consistency is that of a jam. I don’t like it too smooth. I want to be able to see the berries within the sauce. Bottle this up, let it cool and toss it in the fridge. That’s it. Enjoy.

Another Use for Cranberries

If I want a thin cranberry sauce to drizzle over something, such as ice cream, I add more water than called for to the above recipe. I simmer the berries until they’ve just about popped, but there’s still juice in the pot. Then I drain off some of that juice, leaving behind enough to turn the berries into jam. If the juice is not sweet enough, I add a bit of sugar.

Taking this sweet sauce, I’ve added more water to make a drink for myself. Sometimes I’ve added a few raspberries or a shot of apple juice.

This juice is what Olive made for John in Northern Survival to give him a boost after falling ill. In the novel, she sweetened it with honey. I’ve done that, too.

Here’s the scene that mentions it.

Northern Survival

John rested his hand on his stomach. For the first time in days, he felt satisfied. While he had slept away yesterday, Olive had caught eight trout, four of which they ate for supper and four they saved for breakfast. She’d also found a patch of cranberries and cooked them to make a thick drink she sweetened with honey. He drank this eagerly. She’d made enough to fill his water bottle, and he sipped on that instead of water. The liquid, more like a syrup, excited his taste buds; it was almost as good as coffee.

She had also tended to his feet, washing them, applying ointment and ensuring they were warm and dry while he slept. When he woke this morning, he was shocked to find the nail on his big toe gone. The only benefit was most of the pain went with it. Before he put on clean socks and dry hiking boots, she applied cream and bandages to keep the blisters from chafing. Starting on the trail, he felt almost as good as their first day in the woods. A day’s rest was exactly what he needed to rejuvenate his energy.

99-cent Sale

This week, Northern Survival is on sale for $4.00 off. It’s exclusively at Amazon.

Kindle Unlimited members read it for free.

The Day I Hit the Wall and Lost My Toenails

by Diane, posted in Essay, Non-fiction

I was 12 years old when I hit the wall. I had been hiking all day, walking many miles into the woods to a collection of cabins where we’d spend three nights. I was with about 16 others, but we had broken into smaller groups, hiking with friends or those who hiked at the same pace.

While I was used to walking and hiking with a pack, this day, I had set a pace with a few older friends, and we had gotten lost. After two hours, we found our way and continued onto the camping site. A program leader and a few others started back to find us since we hadn’t arrived and it was getting late. We met up with them, and as we told stories about where we had ended up, I kept chugging along, adjusting my pack on my shoulders and anticipating a break because I was tired.

Then it happened. Without warning, I was lying in the bushes, collapsed and crying. I had no idea what had hit me. I struggled to rise, but the leader told me to stay down.

Continue reading “The Day I Hit the Wall and Lost My Toenails” →

Metric vs Imperial Measurements

by Diane, posted in Essay

The main characters in Northern Survival, Olive and John, are different in many ways. One of those ways that causes friction at the beginning of the story is their preference for their country’s measurement system. I thought it would be great fun to compare the two and use them as an argument point.

Northern Survival

While Canadians have been using the Metric System for decades, it hasn’t completely erased the Imperial System still used in the United States.

Using kilometres is pretty standard, but it’s not uncommon for a Canadian to say, “It’s a mile up the road.” I don’t know anyone who knows their weight in kilograms or their height in centimetres. They’ll say they’re 150 pounds at 5 feet, 7 inches. Baking remains in Imperial measurements, too. I don’t know how much 100 grams is, but I can guestimate a cup of flour and a teaspoon of honey.

Continue reading “Metric vs Imperial Measurements” →

LAST DAY for $1.99 Sale for “Northern Survival”

by Diane, posted in Book Launch

Today is the day. It’s been an amazing month and a half promoting one of the most favourite books I’ve ever written: Northern Survival. To date, I think it’s my best. That means my next – the Salvation of Mary Lola Barnes – has to be better. Oh, my. I better buckle down. I can’t go backwards. No pressure.

With the official end of the book launch, the eBook price will rise from $1.99 to $4.99 at midnight tonight. So if you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, get it now.

EXCLUSIVELY AT AMAZON

Kindle Unlimited members read for FREE.

QUOTE from Northern Survival

These thoughts are from a scene in which Jonathan Stone has blisters on his feet and Olive Tweed is tending to them. I believe it’s the day after the plane crash.

For the past 20 years, he’d had more money than one person deserved. It gave him a lifestyle many dreamt to have, yet he’d never felt sincerely pampered until now. People paid to serve him performed their duties, but they did it for money or attention, hoping to snatch a piece of his fame. This woman did it for no reason other than she wanted to help.

If you’ve read Northern Survival, please, consider leaving a review at Amazon or the book’s Goodreads page.

Diane McGyver author

Zesty Cranberry Muffin Recipe

by Diane, posted in Recipe

cranberriesCranberries. They’ve been a part of my life since I was conceived. I’m certain my mother ate them while pregnant, and soon after I was off the bottle and on real food, I’m certain she fed them to me. I have never stopped eating them. If I had a penny for every cranberry I’ve eaten, I’d be a millionaire with growing investments.

Each October, we were sent to the woods with pails to pick berries. By the end of October, my siblings and I had picked enough cranberries to make dozens of bottles of ‘jam’.

I call it jam. Some call it spread. Others call it sauce. To me, it was jam because that’s what I put on my sandwich. If it was a successful pick, we had enough jam to do us until the following October. Most years, it was a successful pick.

While most endured the tangy taste of the red berry with turkey at Christmas time, I ate it every day. Every day. From primary to grade 12, I took a cranberry sandwich to school with me for lunch. While others were having peanut butter and jam sandwiches or egg sandwiches, I enjoyed the sour red berry squished between two slices of bread. Mmm.

Continue reading “Zesty Cranberry Muffin Recipe” →