Celebrating Veterans Day; Honoring the Veterans in my family
November 12, 2018 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as Family, history, military, research, storiesCelebrating Veterans Day; Honoring the Veterans in My Family
By: Denise M. Colby
Since my post is set for the day we celebrate Veteran’s Day and I love history, I thought it would be fun to celebrate my family in the military and do a bit of research. I don’t have a long list of family members in the military, nor do I have a lot of stories passed down from generation to generation. What I do have are snippets and a few photos.
My great-great-great-grandfather was a Mounted Ranger and a First Dragoons
1832-34 Mounted Volunteers, Mounted Rangers, First Dragoons
I will start with my great-great-great-grandfather James Clyman, who I wrote about a few months ago. He wrote down information in his journal and it is here that I learned he enlisted as a private in a company of Mounted Volunteers on June 16, 1832. He was in the same company with Abraham Lincoln for a month (and together they fought in the Black Hawk War). He is quoted in James Clyman, Frontiersman (quoting a quote from another book by R.T. Montgomery, “Biographical Sketch of James Clyman”) of saying “We didn’t think much then about his ever being President.”
Military Inventory with James Clyman’s name on it. 1833-1834
He was then commissioned as a second lieutenant of Mounted Rangers, and later appointed as assistant commissary of subsistence for the company. It’s here that several of the receipts and inventory papers he signed are in the Huntington Library. I was able to go through these papers and take photos a couple of years ago, which was an amazing experience. And finally, I get to use them in something I’ve written.
Clyman transferred to the First Dragoons and nine months later sent in his resignation, which was accepted on May 31, 1834. He wanted to get back to his farm and business and, according to the Frontiersman, after he returned home, “he was besieged with accounts from the Commissary General of Subsistence at Washington, requesting the return of vouchers and abstracts of ration issues made during campaigns in the field, some of which were dated back to the time of his predecessor in 1832. Clyman stood charged on the books with over $400.” I’m interpreting this as basically the government sent bills to pay for the vouchers and ration issues made while he was in the field.
Unknown Stories Needing to be Found
I believe that my grandfather, Carroll W. Marsh, Sr. was in the military, but I don’t have any specifics on him. As I’m writing this, I realize I need to ask and find out something. We have lots of details on my grandmothers side of the family, but not my grandfathers.
My dad, Carroll W. Marsh, Jr.
1950 Army National Guard
Next on my list is my father, Carroll W. Marsh, Jr., who left the National Guard long before I was born, so I didn’t know him in that capacity. Nor, was his service really talked about. He didn’t fight in any wars that I’m aware of, nor did he have any big stories that were shared to me as a child. My dad passed away over twenty-one years ago and the information I have on my dad and his stint in the Army National Guard is actually very small. But, I decided to find out more.
It’s amazing to be able to research via Google. This large company photo has a title above it that says “Local Boys In Sonoma County’s National Guard Company”. One of the men holds a banner with 579HQ on it. I was able to search up the number. The 579th was an Engineering Battalion, based in Petaluma and still exists today. My dad turned 18 in 1950. I don’t know how many years he served, although I do know he was still in when my parents were married, which would’ve been beyond 1952.
My nephew, Jason
Present-day United States Navy
My nephew, Jason Burrows, just retired from the Navy earlier this year after twenty-four years of service. We are close in age, raised more like brother and sister. I’m quite proud of him. He’s been all over. Italy, Japan, Florida. On the Atlantic and the Pacific. The few times our families have gotten together, I have loved hearing his stories. The little things, that as nation we have no visibility to. The inside scoop. I remember staying on the U.S.S. Midway with my family for a scout event and finding how tiny the bunks were for even myself. I couldn’t imagine how they were for him for six months at a time given he’s 6’4”. He said when on ship he’d jog for exercise but would have to duck to clear the doorways. I loved every minute of my twenty hours on board, feeling closer and gaining an understanding of where he was and what he did.
I remember when my dad was sick and close to passing, email was new. Hard to believe now, but given my corporate job at the time, I was the only one in the family that could communicate with Jason and keep him updated so that he could be flown off the ship when the time came to come home.
I have lots more stories, but I had originally planned to keep this short, so I will save them for another time.
Another picture of my dad
As I’ve written this, I realize I have much more information than I thought I did about my family and their military history. I’m very thankful I have the ability write about it and an audience to share it with. Thank you for joining me in learning more about my family and its military roots.
I wish you and yours a Happy Veterans Day.
0 0 Read moreGive the Gift That Lasts Forever – A Handwritten Note
October 12, 2018 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as character journal, handwritten notes, journals, legacy, writing words
The Gift of A Handwritten Note
Any personal communication from loved ones can be a blessing, but I consider a handwritten note a gift that keeps on giving long after it was written.
Every person’s handwriting is unique.
And even though a lot of us don’t like our handwriting, have you ever thought what our handwriting means to our loved ones?
It’s not something I ever thought about till I lost my dad over twenty years ago. Whenever I come across something he wrote down, I stop and pause. I remember him. And remembering him touches my heart. So in some ways having something in my dad’s handwriting makes me feel a connection to him, even after all these years.
My character in my story keeps a journal, so I created one and wrote in it as if I’m her. I even changed the handwriting to fit her personality.
Do you handwrite in a journal?
Write letters to people?
Write a personal message in the cards you give to people for their birthday?
Things have changed much over the years with email and texting. I feel like handwritten notes is a lost art with some people. My mother-in-law always writes a personal message in every card she sends. She also includes a trademark of sorts with an abbreviation LYMTYK in every card. My husband says she always did that even when he was a child. Love you more than you know. I’ve come to cherish her messages because her words come from her heart in her own writing.
I was recently looking for a blank journal for my next prayer journal and came across several different journal books in a drawer. One of them was a book created for me at my first baby shower nineteen years ago—“Advice to the new mom”. I skimmed through and came upon the page my mom wrote and I was blown away.
First, to see her handwriting. Personal, from her and something she physically touched.
Second to read her advice. Personal, from her and something she wanted to pass on to me.
My mom passed away this summer and so finding that was a little gift and a wonderful reminder for me to hold on to and cherish. My heart overflowed with gratitude to be holding on to this note from my mom. Kinda neat to see that I took my mom’s advice too.
Here’s the advice my mom gave me.
Do you hang onto the notes you receive?
Every once in a while I remember to write my boys a note. They may not appreciate it enough to keep it. But I believe the words sink in and by receiving a personal note from me, I’m sending them a little bit of love that I hope they will remember at times. In fact, I think I might go handwrite a note to each of them now.
I encourage you to write a note or journal something in your own handwriting.
We all need to leave a little love behind.
I’d love to know if I’m the only one who loves handwritten notes. Mention in the comments section whether you keep any handwritten notes you receive or when a handwritten note has touched you in a special way.
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Finding Family Mentioned In A Novel
September 12, 2018 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as historical, history, James Clyman, Writing History
Imagine you’re reading a fiction historical romance book set in the back country of Montana and one of the characters asks another character if he’s always been a freighter.
He responds with no. He was a trapper.
Aww. Cool. Immediately my mind went to my Great-Great-Great-Grandfather who was a trapper. I continued to read.
He was a part of the great mountain men.
Wait! My Great-Great-Great-Grandfather was called that too. Now my heart was thumping faster as I continued to read. Somehow I just knew what I would see next.
Mountain men like Jedidiah Smith and Jim Clyman.
Stop the presses! That’s my Great-Great-Great-Grandfather’s name! Here in the fiction book I’m reading!!
How cool is that?
I ran around the house showing everyone my Kindle I was so excited!
A lover of all things history, I’ve wanted to write a blog post on James Clyman and our family history for a while, but I’ve been so busy with other topics, I hadn’t gotten to it, but I just had to share this exciting news and tell you a little about him now.
James Clyman. My Great-Great-Great-Grandfather.
He called himself a mountain man. A trapper with Jedidiah Smith, he was the one who sewed Jedidiah’s ear back on after a bear almost swiped it off. He also came over the pass in the sierras and encountered the Donner Party, advising them not to go that way since winter was settling in. And unfortunately they opted not to listen.
Just how do we know all this? He wrote journals. Daily. Details describing who he met and what he did. Those journals have been printed into books. One titled Frontiersman, was printed in 1960 in a limited number mostly for libraries.
He apparently wrote it all on slates and his daughter composed it into a book. I haven’t read it through completely but there’s a chapter on the Black Hawk War and being in the same unit as future President Lincoln and another on his later years when he settled in Napa, Ca.
Another smaller version came out in the 1980s. My dad signed that one for me. Writing on the inside cover that I’m the 6th generation born in Napa to James Clyman. Pretty cool.
And even more cooler…I’ve actually seen the original journals. They are in the Huntington Library in Pasadena.
A Page from a 4th Grade History book from 2014
He’s in the 4th grade history books as well, which was a real treat for my boys whenever they got to that particular unit.
He’s buried in the same cemetery as my parents and his grave is part of a historical tour they host every once in a while.
Another historical nugget – the original ranch house is still standing. My dad used to spend his summers there and when the land was sold off for housing developments my parents purchased in the neighborhood. You could see the top of the ranch house if you stood in my parents backyard.
There’s more but I’ll save that for another post. I have plans for him to make an appearance in a book or two someday. With all the books out there to read, how fascinating I found someone who beat me to it.
2 0 Read morePart 3: Increase SEO With Photo Image Caption In Your Posts
August 10, 2018 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as Denise M Colby, Image Caption, Marketing for Authors, SEO, SEO Marketing, website marketing, writer's tips
This is the third installment on using website images to increase and maximize the SEO potential for website pages and posts. In the first part I discussed ALT text, which is text added to the image file background before being placed in a post. The second installment covered specifics on Image File Names and how naming the file BEFORE it’s uploaded to a website will get better results in SEO ranking. In this post, I will discuss Image Caption, why Image Captions are important and how to use them best.
Image Caption are the words shown underneath photos on a website page or post.
Sample of an image with the caption underneath describing the photo.
It is a known fact that readers will scan and read the image caption more than the article itself. Thus, image caption helps to highlight what the article is about and draw readers in. When writing captions, it’s important to not just state what the picture is, but to tell readers something they don’t know from just looking at the photo. Captions can be a few short words or several sentences long. The decision is personal preference, but whatever is decided, keep consistent for an overall look and feel.
How to write Image Captions to maximize SEO?
1. Choose a great image.
An image surrounded by text that is related will rank better in a search, so choosing an image pertinent to the post is crucial.
2. Identify what is going on in the picture besides the obvious.
Save the obvious description for the ALT Text. See this post for details on writing strong ALT text.
3. Write descriptions without flowery or unnecessary words.
There’s a small space to communicate the idea so choose words wisely.
4. Provide context to connect the image to the article.
Make sure to share something the reader wouldn’t know just by looking at the photo.
5. Be informative.
If a reader isn’t going to read the entire article, what information should they walk away with? If they find the captions helpful, they may read more or reference the information later.
How does this apply to us as writers?
We want to find readers for our books, right? Ask—how would someone search (type in words in the search bar) to find a book that has a topic like mine?
Example #1
My working manuscript titled A Man Was Not The Plan is set in 1869. My heroine moves west to become a schoolteacher in a small town. One of the main settings is a one-room schoolhouse. Schoolhouses are a niche, so I might choose to write a post about schoolhouses. So for that post I would choose an image with a schoolhouse and add an image caption such as:
This One-room Schoolhouse in Sacramento, CA was used for inspiration in my latest novel A Man Was Not The Plan.
Example #2
If my book is released or I have the cover done, somewhere in the post I would include a picture of my book cover which I hope to include a schoolhouse—even if it’s in the background. The title itself doesn’t say anything about schoolhouses and I don’t need to mention where to purchase because I can provide a link with the image, so I would want the caption to be more descriptive.
This one-room schoolhouse seems to wreak havoc on Olivia’s plans in A Man Was Not the Plan by Denise M. Colby
What are other ideas to use for image captions related to our books?
Animals, clothing, any setting—whether a specific building, ranch or room (a picture of the kitchen table where many discussions in the book take place for example), a map or even a quote from your book. If you did a quote, one idea for an Image Caption would be to state a behind the scenes thought to support that quote, such as:
Olivia Carmichael had no idea how much she would eat her words.
Luke’s heart had other ideas.
Note: You can bold, italicize the words, and alter the phrasing after they are placed in the post. The number of lines for the caption can vary by increasing or decreasing the size of the photo. The one thing I haven’t figure out yet was how to center the text under the photo. Of course once I hit preview it did center the text. So make sure to look at your preview-it will look different than where you input your post.
As you can see, there are several ways to be creative with the words used in the caption. I hope that this post gets those creative juices flowing. You don’t have to always use captions for every photo, but a few strategic ones here and there can help readers find exactly what they are looking for.
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Smile And Be Grateful In The Little Things
July 12, 2018 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as #amwriting, Be Grateful, poem, Smile, writing life
I had planned to have completed the third post in my “How to Maximize the SEO Potential of your Website Images” this month, but things got a bit derailed for me when my mom’s health took a turn.
Instead, I found myself sitting in her nursing home room with lots of family and nurses coming and going at all hours. Even though I lugged my backpack back and forth, I never pulled out my laptop. I couldn’t write. No quiet, no time, and my mind was just mush.
How did I come up with this post, then?
I rented a car to drive home and had over 6 hours by myself. So I made good use of the time with my handy voice recorder in my Notes APP where I preceded to share my thoughts about all that happened.
I’ll call it writing words with my voice.
I’d talk until I had nothing, then turn up the radio and sing a song. Then more would pop in my head and I’d talk some more. There was a lot. I hope to edit it and share it some day, but right now it’s pretty raw.
And once I got all my thoughts about my ailing parent and all that comes with this chapter of my life expended, my mind started to open up on my work in progress, and blog posts, and ideas for social media, and….I think you get the idea.
Remember, I had six hours.
And I probably could’ve used more.
One brainstorm was to write about enjoying the little things—like the color of my rental car.
It was green. And small. And quite cute. It made me smile, which was good because I needed to balance out the tears that kept flowing every time I thought about my mom and all that transpired.
Isn’t It Cute?
The rental car guy even joked that no one should hit me because they couldn’t see me.
I found myself wanting to have good driving behavior because I was the only green car on the road.
I stood out.
And it made me smile.
When I stopped for a snack, I smiled. Whenever I changed lanes, I smiled. When I stopped for gas….yep, I smiled.
We need to smile at the little things. Sometimes that’s all we can do.
I find a smile leads to a grateful heart. And I am immensely grateful to have had my mom in my life for as long as I did. Yes, my mom is no longer with us, her body no longer mangled and in pain. And she is finally reunited with Jesus and my dad. And that makes me grateful, which makes me smile. Or maybe it’s the other way around. It makes me smile and then I feel grateful. Both ways work for me.
My mom and her dog with my boys in 2008
I wanted to share a poem I wrote last year in her honor. It’s all written in one syllable words, which was quite fun to put together.
Thank You, Mom by Denise M. Colby
To be a mom is hard work. More than I thought it would be.
It was not till I was in the role, did I know by how much.
The trials. The hurt I take on for my child. The times I have to stay strong.
Now that I know, I want to say thank you to my mom.
For all she did. For all she gave. For the love she gave me.
Her words were kind, she backed me up when I had tough days.
She taught me how to read my bible and pray.
Her love meant more than just words to me.
She poured her heart and life into all I did.
She had pluck, pep and punch. She shared in my joys and woes.
She was there for me through it all.
She told me I made her proud to be my mom.
She held my hand. She hugged me and told me she loved me. I didn’t doubt it one bit. I knew.
My mom did cool things. She was fun. She showed up to all my acts and cheered me on.
I was in awe of her and looked to be like her when I grew up.
I hope I am.
She told me she loved me, hugged me, prayed with me.
She is my mom and I love her. And I hope she knows how much I thank her each day.
Thank you, Mom
Love you Mom.
My mom & me, 2008
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