King Norodom Sihanouk

Below I have attached an article about the former King who is now known as the King Father. When reading my book you may wonder why at times he was at one point the King and another a prince. In reading the article you will see why. Also please watch the little video at the side. It is a prime example of Cambodian Classical Dance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk

The Kings of Angkor:The Army of a Thousand Elephants

Well it's been a long time since I have written a post here. Not that I have been doing nothing... on the contrary I have been either editing or working on another book(an older one written before The Kings of Angkor. Another one that is dear to me, but that's another story.
No, I haven't just been sitting around. I have decided that the second book in the series will be torn apart and started again. I could see the way I wanted it to start and I wasn't liking the way it was coming along... So I am attacking and tearing apart the 2nd book...
On top of all this I am back in school. I am going for my Fire Fighters 1&2. I had joined the Camden FD back at the end of September. I went to all the trainings even before I was official which came the beginning of Dec. Just in time for the monthly meeting, which was a supper meeting with Camden's Town Manager. Where she welcomed me onto the CFD personally. I can tell you that was a happy day. I will also tell you just because I am a woman doesn't make it easier for me. If anything I feel I have to work harder and now with these classes I am going way beyond anything I have ever thought I would do and it's only the beginning.
Just to get into the academy I had to pass a fitness test. Which for me shouldn't be hard even though I am 50. BUT I had to do it in a certain amount of time... So me who power walks anyway , doing everything had to be faster. Plus I had to do sit-ups and push-ups... Now I have never been able to do push-ups... and I was given the choice to do them regular or bent knee. I thought "sure I will do them bent knee" I only had about a week to get myself up to snuff. I ran every day. Not power walk but run and I was running hard to get my pace and beat my time every day. The chief was impressed because sometimes our work out times would overlap. I decided to move my test day up to the Monday right after Christmas, two days earlier. I figured I have been just about making my time and that's all I had to do was make it. Why torture myself with two more days and not sleeping due to stressing over it... So that Monday I went in. I was bound to get this done and pass. It wasn't an option of failing... At one point though I looked at my distance and the time I had left and I was like "I'm not gonna do it..." Well that just gave me that extra kick. when I was near the finish line I yelled for the Assistant Chief who was timing me and just kicked it into over drive and sprinted the last bit. He yelled at me to stop and said I had done it. I had run further then I had to but didn't even care about my time. All I cared was I had finished it! I told him "give me twenty and I will do the rest. I ended up doing my sit-ups in less then half the time. He said he should have had me do what the 20 year olds were doing. Then came the push-ups... Lol I tried the bent knee and failed...I just couldn't do it. So the good thing about the push-ups. I only had to do 2 and I had as much time as I wanted. I did 3. I am now up to 5 but I only do those once a week. I am running still 6 days a week. I give myself one day off. The first time the chief saw me still running and working out. He came in and was standing next to me while I ran on the tread mill. I pulled my ear bud out and looked at him while I ran and he smiles and says "What are you doing?" I looked at him and said "And what does it look like I am doing? I am running." He smiles and says "BUT you don't have to now you passed and did well." I just shook my head and said "But I have to stay in shape cause it's only going to help me to keep up." He just shook his head and smiled.
Last night at the beginning of class while we were don(ing) our gear he, the Chief says "I am going to be adding work to your lessons on Wednesdays..." I must have been a sight in my gear and putting on my face mask . I stopped and just stared at him open mouthed at him with a look like 'you can't be freaking serious' cause he had added stuff to my course load already that I worked on all yesterday while I was in bed sick. I worked on two FEMA classes. I was still not feeling great. Well he smiles and laughs and says "but I won't tonight because I am upsetting Mary... I can tell by the look on her face... So out of courtesy to her, you guys won't have extra work tonight." I took off my face mask and said "Thank you!" Cause I would have been so over loaded at that point.
So if nothing eles going through the academy is making me realize every minute counts and there is no time for wasting. Any free time I have is used for writing and or studying. When I run I work on plots and scenes.
As my Mom would say "there is no rest for the wicked..."
A P.S. here
It's the 25th of Jan. We are into chapter 12 already, Ladders. Monday at training we went over the Ladder Truck . I was at the controls. To say the classes are hard is well an understatement. Then again there are days I feel like it's easy and then days when it's like I just want to bury my head somewhere. Thank goodness I have a good class and even though the Chief spoke to us on Friday of last week, he thought we didn't interact enough together. He doesn't see us in class because he generally leaves. BUT when we were putting on our gear(don) , one of my classmates always gets his on first in about 29-34 second range. That is getting your night hitch pants on, that includes your boots, then your protective hood, then your turnout coat. Have it all closed up and then your helmet and then your gloves. Well I come in right behind him. My best time has been 34 seconds. When you are complete you slap your gloves together. Then this classmate and and I smile at each other. This time though I saw a gap in his suit which would mean a instant flunk in that part of the end test or if on the fire ground not safe. So I ran over and fixed him quick and the chief smiled at me. He then after everyone got their gear on said "That's what I want to see..."
We really do interact and actually joke around. Ie are just so intent with what we are learning we don't do much at least while he is around.
So with all the studying I make sure in the morning, early I write or edit. Going back to school makes me even more disciplined then I was before.

Gracefully Bowing Out…

Gracefully Bowing Out…
Sometimes you are just so busy. You have the kids, your job, classes, your writing schedule and then someone asks you to help... you have been there, I have been there and you know that one more thing is just going to sap your energy... or like the straw on the camel's back... What do you do?
Be honest, tell that person, your friend you just don't have the time, the energy, you are booked, maxed out. If they are a true friend they will understand. If they don't understand they don't have your best interest at heart. You have to be able to say no once in a while and you will be better for it in the long run. I call it spreading myself too thin and I have done and do it all the time. Recognize the signs and let go and say no.

Fame...debunked (read on)

Fame...debunked (read on)
I just wanted to share this... I am also learning as I go about the whole E publishing process. Thank you Melissa for sharing!

The Hidden Aspects of Writing

The Hidden Aspects of Writing
Writing is a very long drawn out process and even after the book is done and you have it in the hand of a publisher you are asked to edit. This is a great article.

Bonding With Characters

Bonding With Characters
I found that when writing the Kings of Angkor, which I am currently editing the final proofs. I really fell in love with the characters that I created. There were times when they surprised me and there were times when I thought I had something cemented down or so I thought that was my creation but found it to be a part of history and there was no way I could have known that. But how did I? I would get goose bumps after one of those moments. I was doing a lot of research along with writing so there were times I would just write and then go back and do the research, because the way I looked at it I wanted to get the story down and I could always clean it up after. Which I did many times. It was a wonderful learning time. It was a time when I poured out my love of history to create this book and characters. Something that won't end with just the first book.

Angkor and The Titanic

That may seem a strange title and you my say what in the world does Angkor wat which is located in Cambodia have to do with THe Titanic? Well I will get to that.
Here are some cold facts that I am sure many of you have seen before or at least heard:

Titanic Survivors

Of the 2,223 passengers on the Titanic, only 706 survived leaving 1,517 dead. The largest percentage of survivors were first class passengers, followed by second class, and finally third class. Most of the deaths were due to hypothermia in the freezing water, which would cause death in less than 15 minutes. 6 of the 7 children in first class survived. All of the children in second class survived, whereas only 34 percent were saved in third class. 4 first class women died, 86 percent women survived in second class and less than half survived in third class. Overall, only 20 percent of the men survived, compared to nearly 75 percent of the women. First-class men were four times as likely to survive as second-class men, and twice as likely to survive as third class men. Another disparity is that a greater percentage of British passengers died than American passengers; some sources claim this could be because many Britons of the time were too polite and queued, rather than to force and elbow their way onto the lifeboats as some Americans did. The captain, Edward John Smith, shouted out: “Be British, boys, be British!” as the ocean liner went down, according to witnesses.
What brought this subject to mind is yesterday my son Daniel was home sick and was watching the movie "The Titanic". He asked questions so I started telling him about what I knew. I have another son who is 11 who was given on his birthday an collectors book of the Sinking of The Titanic. He at a very young was outraged at the fact that most of the 3rd class passengers never stood a chance. You can see from the figures above how it was.
I was just reading in the book that my son Ian was given, the name of the book is "Titanic, The Truth Behind the Disaster" . I had read before how the life boats were under filled. I have a photo of a half filled life boats. Well back to one instance where a Lady Duff Gordon, her husband Sir Cosmo and her secretary were in Life Boat #1. That boat held only twelve when it was launched. That was probably the worse example of under filling of a life boat. Surprisingly The 1997 movie on the Titanic, had scenes that were actually factual, like the orchestra and staying to play "Nearer, my God, to Thee" while passengers tried to get on life boats.
Here is something from the inquiry about the filling of the lifeboats.

At the British investigation, Charles Lightoller as the senior surviving officer was questioned about the fact that the lifeboats were not filled to capacity. They had been tested in Belfast on 25th March 1912 and each boat had carried seventy men safely. When questioned about the filling of lifeboat number six, Lightoller testified that the boat was filled with as many people as he considered to be safe. Lightoller believed that it would be impossible to fill the boats to capacity before lowering them to sea without the mechanism that held them collapsing. He was questioned as to whether he had arranged for more people to be put into the boats once it was afloat. Lightoller admitted that he should have made some arrangement for the boats to be filled once they were afloat. When asked if the crew member in charge of lifeboat number six was told to return to pick up survivors, the inquiry was told that the crew member was told to stay close to the ship. (questions 13883 - 13910) Lifeboat number 6 was designed to hold 65 people. It left with 40.

Titanic also carried 3500 lifebelts and 48 life rings; Useless in the icy water. The majority of passengers that went into the sea did not drown, but froze to death.

Many people were confused about where they should go after the order to launch the lifeboats had been given. There should have been a lifeboat drill on 14th April, but the Captain cancelled it to allow people to go to church.

Many people believed that Titanic was not actually sinking but that the call to the lifeboats was actually a drill and stayed inside rather than venture out onto the freezing deck.

Life Boat #1 carried 12, Life boat #6 that carried Margaret Brown or as she later became known as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and Helen Churchill Candee who would go on to write one of the first survivor accounts and then later go on to travel to Cambodia and Angkor Wat.
Some asked why they waited for over an hour before even launching any of the life boats. Something we will never know.
I read an account of a young brother and sister who were buffeted from side to side by people scrambling to find a way to get onto a life boat. When all the 1st class passengers were safely aboard life boats that could get onto one (But again they were under filled) at that, These two were trying in vain to find their family. They were standing on the deck crying and a man who the young boy later identified as Col. John Jacob Astor put them in a life boat after he made sure his young pregnant wife was safely aboard a boat. That was the last time anyone saw that man, the richest man at that time in the world went down with the mightiest ocean going vessle.
So now I get back to why the Titanic and Angkor Wat are connected... because of one survivor Helen Churchill Candee.
Helen Churchill Candee wrote in 1922 from Angkor Wat:
It is with hesitation that I mention the larger ladies of the carvings, the Tevadas or sacred dancers. I am made shy in their presence, while they remain unperturbed. They are so many to know all at once, and their character is to me unfathomable.
Helen Candee
Angkor Wat, 1922
Her account was one of the first English accounts of this wonderful place. Up till then most accounts were in French.
I have a lot of old travelogues but this one means a great deal to me being about the country of my natural children's birth and where my grandchildren still live. I lived there for about 11 years and hope to get back there this coming May.