Monday, November 3, 2014

5 Things You Didn't Know About Author, Nancy Shew Bolton


  1. My father’s branch of the family emigrated from northern Scotland to the Catskill region of New York State in the 1700’s prior to the Revolutionary War, and we still have family members farming and tending the old cemetery dating back to those years.
  2. My favorite cat of my many kitty friends over the years, was named Skippy, and spent the last four of his eleven years as a paraplegic. His tail was run over by some bicyclist, which yanked his spinal column and damaged it. Though his back legs were useless, and he needed me to press down and help express his bladder twice a day, he still insisted on going outdoors most days, and scooting around on his front legs, which got very muscular. He still managed to catch mice! He was nearly as fast as he’d been on four legs. He died peacefully 2 years ago, and I miss him still. He was marvelous.
  3. Up until I met my husband at 17, and we married a year later, I never figured I’d get married or have a family. I’m not really sure why I thought that. I guess because I was so shy!
  4. I’ve written two non-fiction books about my life and experiences. They aren’t published. Yet!
  5. I’ve always been fascinated by fermented and pickled foods. So, I’ve made my own yeast breads,  lacto-fermented pickles and vegetables, kefir, yogurt, cheese and vinegar. I love learning new methods to preserve food in a healthy way, and I’ve started to learn what wild plants are good to use.

Nancy Shew Bolton is a wife of 41 years, 
mother of five grown sons, and grandmother to a boy and girl. 
Ever since she learned to write, she would jot down her
thoughts and impressions in little snippets of inspiration
in the form of poetry, song lyrics, or short essays. 
About six years ago, she decided to try her hand 
at writing a full-length book. 
She’s since written five works of fiction, two non-fiction, 
and is working on an idea for a children’s book, 
as well as more fiction manuscripts. 
Writing a full-length work is much more challenging than she thought, 
and she has received so much valuable assistance from 
other writers, especially from the ACFW critique groups. 
Her husband has been supportive of her long hours spent 
at the keyboard. Many thanks to her beloved Johnny! 
She thanks God and His Son for her life, her loved ones 
and the spark of creativity inside every person. 
She believes each person is a unique creation, 
with their own special voice and place in this amazing universe. 
God’s handiwork amazes her every day! 
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         THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS



Ann’s hectic work responsibilities demand all her time and effort, and what was once a useful, satisfactory life has become a burden to carry. Her bakery partner Susan has lost none of her enthusiasm for their business, and Ann can’t understand her exuberance, or her friend’s Christian faith. So she trudges along, hiding her dissatisfaction from Susan, resigned to a life of work, sleep and problems.
Unexpected comments offered by two different people cause a crack in Ann’s armor and her thoughts careen into unexpected directions. Attention from a young widower with a son challenges Ann’s resolve to stay safe and uninvolved. Susan’s example of faith through trial furthers Ann’s curiosity about God. Ann must choose to step toward the unfamiliar freedom of giving and receiving love, or stay in the shadows, stuck in the grip of past hurts.
                                                                                              




Ann hoped the bakery stayed empty of customers. She needed every bit of concentration to decorate the cake the way she envisioned it. Her eyes scrutinized the last patch of undecorated surface. Almost done. Shifting on the chair, elbows planted on the low icing table, she pressed her lips together and leaned closer. She calculated the perfect angle to hold the frosting bag.
A stray hair drifted into her line of vision and she blew out a quick upward breath to deflect it. How on earth could any strand escape her coiled braid? She should have worn the hairnet. But hairnets were old-womanish. Still, she preferred them to the flimsy paper hats she and Susan wore the first year they opened the bakery. They never fit well, and exasperated her by sailing off her head when she rushed past the ceiling fans.
The bell on the bakery’s front door tinkled. Ann sighed and wished Susan would return from deliveries. She glanced through the archway and out the picture window. Maybe she’d appear. No such luck. Oh, well.
“Be right there,” she called. Ann set down the icing bag, rose from the chair and angled her hips to slip past the table. As she stepped sideways, two bees zoomed in and flew toward her. She startled, brushed both hands to scare them away and lost her balance.
In helpless shock, her stomach fell as her forearms, palms and chin landed on the cake and sunk in while a groan escaped her. Ann lifted her head and stared in total horror. Loud moans erupted. “No…no, no.”
As though a protest would change anything. Tears gathered. She drew away from the cake, and straightened up. One little wobble, and her handiwork was destroyed.
“Are you okay?”
Ann stared at a tall, sturdy man in jeans and a tee shirt. He stood in the archway between the front and back rooms and surveyed the scene. “I’d have stayed out there, but I heard you cry out and thought I’d better check on you.”
Ann’s lip trembled. She pushed against the tide of emotion. No tears in front of customers. The two bees danced on the frosting, poking around on her ruined cake. “It’s all their fault. I tried to do everything right, and see what happened?”
She pointed a frosted finger at them while her tears overflowed. Through the blur, she glanced from the excited insects over to the man. She blinked to clear her vision. His eyes were sympathetic, and his mouth wore a suppressed grin. He stood in a firm stance, yet appeared poised to offer assistance. Ann searched for a clean part of her arm and brought it up to first brush the tears, then the frosting beard off her chin. She must look like some sort of clown.
The merriment left his face. “I’m sorry. I think maybe they flew in when I opened the door. Can I help?”









2 comments:

  1. You like to make fermented foods? Wow! I make them too, but it's because I leave them in the fridge too long and they mold. Is that the same thing? I enjoyed your book, The Right Ingredients. All those cakes made me hungry. You had so many yummy sounding ones, and I understand you have made them all at one time or another. Good job.

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  2. How interesting about the foods. I did some pickling when I was younger - too lazy now. The Right Ingredients was a fun read.

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