Jacqueline Hopper Official Author Website

Spent some time with my desktop publishing software; trying to figure things out is half the fun. I know I enjoyed it very much. Here's a pic from the book trailer: Ysonde and her grandmother.

Goal for now: relax time. I've been at the computer for the majority of the day.

Excerpt from Bouquets and Motorbikes:

Helping with chores had once been a wonderful bonding time for Ysonde and her grandmother, but not that morning. It too had lost its usual charm. Most days, washing up didn't take any time at all. But that morning, it seemed every dish in the house needed cleaning.

 And the drudgery didn’t end there. After dishes, Ysonde collected laundry, polished the good silverware and held the dustpan while Grandmother swept the main floor. She knew it served her right, losing her temper and getting into a fight with the obnoxious Denis. However, she’d rather have been spanked than be forced to endure the heavy silence that had fallen after Cousin Bernie left for school.

“I’m going into town now,” Grandfather announced an hour later, pulling on his heavy, woolen coat. “Would the little girl like to come with me?”

“May I, Grandmother?” Ysonde asked from where she sat at the table, hands clasped together and ready to cry from sheer boredom. Because she was being punished, she couldn’t color in her book, or play Old Maid with Grandfather; it meant sitting in silence and contemplating her sins. And she’d failed badly at that, considering that she couldn’t seem to pull her thoughts away from the broken down motorbike sitting in the shed.

“She is being disciplined, not rewarded for bad behavior, Etienne,” Grandmother said. 

“Well, what if I promise not to buy her any treats,” he said, wrapping the black scarf his wife had knit him for Christmas around his neck. “And … I see that she gets some books from the library, to stimulate her brain.”

“You know,” Grandmother pressed her index finger to her lips, “That is a very good idea.”

Books? Ysonde made a face, she hated reading. However, she kept that thought to herself. It might only give her grandmother ideas to make her punishment that much more horrendous.

“Perhaps, a good history book,” Grandmother continued. “She will discover that if we don’t learn lessons in life we will make the same mistakes in the future.”