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Zoe Younger

~ Life Changing Journeys, Life changing Love

Zoe Younger

Tag Archives: sailing

Apologies for going Missing in Action…

05 Thursday May 2016

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, LOVE, MY BOOKS, SHATTERED, THE WRITERS' LIFE, TORN

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"North and South", books, courage, Elizabeth Gaskell, friends, goals, Irish Australians, John Thornton, LIFE, loss, LOVE, Margaret Hale., Relationships, Richard Armitage, sailing, Survivors, thriver, victim, writing

Retirement crisis concept as a couple of adirondack chairs sinking in the ocean during a thunder storm as a metaphor for financial investment problems for retiring seniors who lost their savings or broken dreams symbol.

My humble apologies for neglecting you, my friends. Life has been all go and not much stop recently. Now, though, it’s time to get back into routine.

My work on “Shattered” has slowed to a crawl. This is Rosaleen’s story, a redemption story. She and Mary from “Torn” were childhood friends and I’m sorry to say that the Rosaleen of “Torn” was not the friend Mary knew back when. She had always wanted more… more money, more things, a higher position in social circles and she thought she had it all, until “Torn”. Now she must start again, from the bottom; and when I say from the bottom I mean much further and she’d have to dig!

I’m sorry to say that Rosaleen died in the first iteration of “Torn”. She died in childbirth. She was swept off the ship en route to Australia. She was left behind in Africa. What I didn’t do to try to kill her off is hardly worth mentioning but – she survived. She always was a survivor. If there is one thing that stands out from counselling, it is that the victims are dead. The fact that one is a live makes one a Survivor. But, don’t be content to merely survive, make sure you go on to thrive.

Survivors are the backbone of my writing. I admire and look up to people who have not just survived but who go on to thrive. Those who pick themselves up by their own bootlaces and head onward and upward.

Who are your inspirational literary thrivers? One who was in part the inspiration for “Torn” was Elizabeth Gaskell’s John Thornton from “North and South”. For those of you who have not read this book or seen the miniseries where Richard Armitage does a very memorable job of playing “Go where you will… the name of John Thornton of Milton is know and respected amongst all men of business…”. From childhood poverty after his father’s suicide he paid his father’s debts AND raised himself and his family to fame not “in England only, but in Europe…” as his mother proudly declares. To be bankrupted himself, lose everything and yet not afraid to begin again.

Of course, beside him he had the resilient Margaret Hale, survivor of much family heartache and tragedy. Surviving and Thriving are always so much better when  you are not alone.

So, I’ve told you mine, now please, tell me about one of your inspirational literary heroes?

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Monday’s Mood

15 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, MY BOOKS, TORN

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horses on ships, sailing, shipwreck

Portrait of a quiet foggy lake
Monday mornings are notorious and this morning was a doozy! This morning the city was enshrouded in fog. Out in it, the fog became mizzle. Too fine to be called drizzle but more than just a fog, just as I imagine would set the mood for my Irish characters as they left their homeland. Just enough to mask some of the tears one tried to hide.

Travel by sailing ship was a gamble. Of course many sailed the high seas for years without encountering the kind of tragedy which could and did strike the strongest ship with the most experienced crew without warning and with devastating results. Before the Suez and Panama canals were built, the journey was especially hazardous around the “horns”, Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope.

The Roaring Forties and the Freemantle Doctor were and still are almost as hazardous as the Great Australian Bight but still they braved them, as the wrecks found scattered about and those forever lost attest. It took a brave and/or adventurous emigrant, or a desperate one, to embark on such a journey voluntarily. Those shipwrecks might seem great diving spots today but the sorrow and the loss of those aboard and those at home must have been immense. To risk your most valuable horses on such a journey was also a calculated risk, not undertaken lightly which is why it was the last resort for Liam in Torn.

Every horse in Australia came from somewhere else. I thought it would be easy to understand the logistics and find out how it was done. It only sounded easy. I spent months, off and on, searching for answers specific enough for me to feel confident to write those scenes aboard ship and in the hold with Liam’s horses. There were some great stories when I finally found what I was searching for.

Those shipwrecks might seem great diving spots today but the sorrow and the loss of those aboard and those at home must have been immense.

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Where am I Wednesday

27 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by Zoetic Words in LIFE, LOVE, MY BOOKS, SHATTERED, THE WRITERS' LIFE, TORN

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family, food, Irish Famine, sailing, ships, shipwreck

 

Fresh Fruits and vegetables. Health and diet background

As part of the gathering of the clans, I am up in Rockhampton, Central Queensland. People are arriving from everywhere. My great-nephew and his sister are here from New Zealand, sisters and other family arriving from all over.

My trip up was… interesting. I can’t remember how long ago it was when I flew in a propeller driven plane! It felt a little, dare I say, archaic? We really are spoiled in this modern world. So many things we take for granted. Warm clothes, cool air-conditioning, fast jet planes and more food than we could eat or than is good for us! Especially now, food has been arriving for days. I’m with my nephew and his family at the moment and she is saying she hasn’t had to cook in days!

What a different world it is, even in this age, in other parts of the world some not so far away and others not so long ago in history. Excuse me for harping on about the Irish Famine, but that’s the era I’ve been “living in” for the last I-don’t-want-to-say how many years. It hard to imagine a world without electricity for a start! Add to that the transport problems.

At that time in history steam ships were the newest latest whizz bang technology. Sailing ship captains navigated by the stars without the aid of computers and it took months to travel from Ireland to Moreton Bay off and Brisbane. Many didn’t make it that far. Shipwrecks were not uncommon either.

When I was tempted to turf Rosaleen off the “Reliance” in Africa. My critique partner wisely told me I shouldn’t. Rosaleen is, she said, was “such a good bad character”. After nearly being pushed overboard again in the Great Australian Bight, I relented and she survived! She kept trying to take over the story in “Torn” but I’m pleased to report she has settled for being the leading lady in “Shattered”, the follow on book from “Torn”.

Before I go, spare a thought for Liam’s horses on the “Reliance”. Every horse in Australia came at some time from overseas. It wasn’t easy to transport horses and it was not easy to research how they did it! But that’s a story for another time.

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