Cindy A. Matthew Returns to Ohio

I returned to Ohio in 2013 after thirty years of living in the west. It's challenging to return home after such a long time away--you can't help but compare things. I grew up in the rural northwestern corner of the state, which was then populated by friendly folks living in farm towns and cities filled with auto-industry related factories. Nowadays, most of the family farms are gone, it seems, and the cities are waning as well as factories are shuttered due to overseas competition.

So, what's the biggest difference I observed from the Ohio I remember from my childhood and the Ohio I live in today? The biggest difference can be found in the biggest natural feature of the state. The beautiful blue waters of Lake Erie are now tainted every summer with toxic blue-green algae blooms that cause "Don't touch!" warnings to be posted for our drinking water along with swimming and fishing bans. This is definitely not the "Beautiful Ohio" (the name of our state song) where I grew up!

As a proud Buckeye, I'm not about to let our beloved lake remain in its current sorry state. This past year I joined with others and worked on bringing about the first Rights of Nature law passed in the United States, the Lake Erie Bill of Rights. "LEBOR," as we call it for short, gives Ohio citizens the right to make those who would pollute our lake responsible for cleaning up their own messes and paying for it out of their pockets--not the taxpayers'.

Not many people realize that Lake Erie is the source for drinking water for over 11 million people in the U.S. and Canada. It's important we stop the CAFOs (or "feedlots" where thousands of cattle, hogs and chickens are contained within a very small area) from pouring their wastes directly onto the fields where it eventually washes into our scenic creeks and rivers and then into Lake Erie. Once these agricultural wastes pour into our lake, they become a super-food for microscopic blue-green algae, multiplying the algae beyond all imagination.

Unfortunately, these massive algal blooms produce toxins that are potentially lethal to both humans and animals. Our current government agencies don't seem to be able to stop the pollution, either. The factory farms and their supporters fought us every step of the way as we worked to place LEBOR on the ballot, and they are currently trying to overturn our citizens' initiative in court. They have very deep pockets, but we will not be defeated. After all, it is our lake and we drink from it, as well as boat, swim and fish in it. Proud Ohioans will not be bullied by polluters!

My love of nature and organic gardening has found its way into my fiction writing in my latest romance from eXtasy Books (written under my Celine Chatillon pen name), What Money Can't Buy. Francesca is a city girl who takes a summer internship at Bouncing Butterfly, a Midwestern eco-village. There she discovers her love of nature brings her a better understanding of the handsome veterinarian Callan and of herself as a person. Francesca learns there are some things in life that money can't buy, and those are the ones worth keeping.

https://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-2347-6-what-money-cant-buy/

I've learned that lesson, too, since returning home. Lake Erie still has some wonderful natural tourist destinations. It is teaming with aquatic birds as well as deer and other wildlife.  Ohio has more than its share of scenic meandering streams and some big hills and forests in the southeastern corner and along the majestic Ohio River Valley. Of course, Ohio has plenty of nightlife in its famous "3-C" cities: Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. But there's also Toledo, the city where I live, located at the mouth of the Maumee River, the largest watershed in the entire Great Lakes system. Toledo has a first class art museum, an award-winning zoo and the National Museum of the Great Lakes (complete with a humungous retired freighter, the James M. Schoonmaker, open for you to explore). Along with its many area parks featuring walking trails through woodlands, wetlands and along canals, Northwest Ohio really is a microcosm of the entire state.

It would make for a perfect "happily ever after" if Ohioans like me can protect the waters of Lake Erie and its environs for future generations to enjoy. There are simply some things that money can't buy--and shouldn't!

BIO: Cindy A. Matthews writes fiction under three pen names now--she can't seem to help herself! She writes traditional contemporary/fantasy romance tales as Cynthianna www.cynthianna.com as well as pens erotic/contemporary/paranormal/SF romance stories as Celine Chatillon. (www.celinechatillon.com). She also writes the Young Adult sci-fi romantic-adventure BloodDark series under her "real name" with her husband Adrian J. Matthews. (http://blooddarkbooks.blogspot.com ) In her spare time she volunteers with Toledoans for Safe Water and grows organic tomatoes. Quite a lot of them actually--she's never killed a tomato plant yet!

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Ohio ReBoot: Author and Reviewer, Wendi Zwaduk

My name is Wendi Zwaduk and I am a lifelong resident of Ohio. Kinda like the John Mellencamp song, “Small Town” (even though it’s written about another state) fits me well. I was born in a small town and I live in a small town. I’ve often told people there’s not a whole lot in Ohio save for corn and soy bean fields. I’m stretching the truth a little. There is actually a lot in Ohio.

I grew up in a small house on a plain avenue in Ohio. I had friends, lots of room to run, and my imagination to keep me company. I’d like to think it was all the time spent sitting in Mom’s Lilac bushes, creating scenarios for my Barbie dolls that helped to cultivate my love of storytelling. I wanted them all to have happily-ever-afters. Who wouldn’t? I didn’t start writing until after college, but I’m glad I started putting my stories onto the computer screen. It’s been a fun release and a great way to meet people who also love to tell stories. Check out my novel, “Right Where I Need to Be”. It’s set in Ohio farmland. Also a one of my favorite stories. I work for the Long and Short Reviews and love being there. Check them out, too.http://www.longandshortreviews.com/LASR/index.htm

But enough about me. Let’s talk about Ohio!!One of my all time favorite places to go in Ohio has got to be in Cleveland. You got it, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. I love going there and seeing the clothes that belonged to John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix’s guitar, original lyrics written by the Beach Boys...It’s a blast.  http://rockhall.com/
Want something a little more spooky? I got some great resources from this location. The Mansfield Reformatory. Never heard of it? You’ve probably seen it. Have you seen “The Shawshank Redemption” with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins? Then you’ve seen Mancy. It’s a prison that’s over a hundred years old. There are ghost tours, ghosts, and lots of history there. If you dare to go after dark. You can see where they shot parts of the movie and even the tunnel where Tim Robbins escaped. Think it looks more like Dracula’s castle? You wouldn’t be far off. Come check it out. http://www.mrps.org/

Spooky not your thing? That’s fine. We have the Wright Patterson Air Force base down in Dayton. While you’re there, you can check out the National Air Force Museum. I love looking at the gigantic planes and wondering how they get those things into the air.http://www.wpafb.af.mil/index.asp

And then if you’d like to slow down a little, there’s the Ohio Wine Country. It’s not really one particular place, but Ohio is known for its ice wine. Great on ice cream. Hang out in the Northeastern corner of Ohio, in the Lake and Ashtabula county regions and you can take guided tours. It’s a lot of fun. http://www.touring-ohio.com/ohio-wines.html

I’m sure there are plenty more places in Ohio for you to check out. We’ve got Cedar Point and the sky-high roller coasters, The Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati zoos. We have the Mid-Ohio Indy course. There’s lots to do in Ohio. And for more about me and my work, plus I’ve got a full page on my site devoted to FREE reads, visit my websitehttp://www.wendizwaduk.com/ 

I also run a blog http://wendizwaduk.blogspot.com/ There you’ll find Flirty Fridays and great book trailers for my novels plus links to sites I love and events where you’ll find me. 

Ohio, a State with a Rich Spiritual History with Tamera Lynn Kraft

While many think of Ohio, they think of a Midwestern state that decides presidential elections. Some go on the mention Ohio’s contributions throughout history. More US presidents, inventers, and astronauts came for Ohio than any other state. All of that is true, but what many people don’t know about is Ohio’s rich spiritual history.

Ohio was a part of the First Great Awakening. Ohio’s first white settlement was in the 1770s by the Moravians. A band of Moravians moved to Schoenbrunn to become missionaries to the Lenape Indians. The Moravians started the First Great Awakening with a hundred year, round-the-clock, prayer meeting that launched the modern missionary movement. Moravian leaders

were also responsible for the salvation of the Wesley Brothers.

The great camp meeting revivals of first decade of the 1800s swept through Ohio as well as Kentucky and West Virginia. Revival broke out in Cane Ridge, Kentucky in 1801. It soon spread. In June, 1801, a large camp meeting was held at Eagle Creek in Ohio. Before 1804, revival had broken out in the following Ohio cities: Turtle Creek, Eagle Creek, Springdale, Orangedale, Clear Creek, Beaver Creek and Salem. The people at these revivals reported many strange spiritual manifestations such as falling out, jerking, and laughing.

Ohio played a major role in the Second Great Awakening. In the 1830s, two Presbyterian ministers started Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. From the start, this college was the first college to accept women and blacks as students and allowed them to earn regular college degrees. A few years later, Charles Finney, Second Great Awakening preacher, became the president of Oberlin College. There he started a church that became the largest congregation at the time, draw 6,000 to 8,000 members. Before the Civil War, Oberlin became known for its abolitionist activities, and during the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue when students rescued a fugitive slave, the college was almost responsible for Ohio separating from the US over slavery.

Ohio was also instrumental in the American Missionary Movement. It started with the

missionaries in Schoenbrunn and continued throughout Ohio history. Between 1860 and 1900, 90% of all American missionaries sent forth by the American missionary society were graduates of Oberlin College. Latter in the early 1900s, many missionaries were called in Pentecostal camp meetings held in northern Ohio and traveled overseas.

The Second Great Awakening spurred on various social movement in the last half of the 1800s, and Ohio was a part of all of them. Ohio was a state that was prominent in the Christian feminist movement of the 1800s. Frances Dana Gage organized Women’s Suffrage Conventions all over Ohio in the 1850s. Ohio had strong ties to the abolitionist movement as well. Lucy Stone and Harriet Beecher Stowe, both Ohioans, were strong abolitionists. Sojourner Truth gave her famous ‘Ain’t I a Woman’ speech in Ohio. At a Woman’s Rights convention in Massillon, Ohio. People in Ohio also fought for prohibition. The Ohio Women’s Temperance Society, organized in 1853, was one of the first temperance organizations.

The Azuza Street Pentecostal revival in Los Angeles in 1906 quickly moved to Ohio. Ivey Campbell, a native Ohioan had heard about the meetings and traveled to Los Angeles to attend She was soon baptized in the Holy Spirit. In November, she returned to Akron, Ohio to hold meetings there. Soon everyone heard of her meetings. Revival flourished, and a Pentecostal camp meeting was held in Alliance, Ohio.

There have also been some strange spiritual movements that were birthed in Ohio Mormonism in Kirtland, and they still have the first Mormon church there. Shakers arrived in Ohio in 1805 and established many communities there. The largest was Lebanon.

Through the 1900s, many famous revivalists and evangelists preached in Ohio including Billy Sunday, Kathryn Kuhlman, and Billy Graham. Large churches such as Rex Humbard’s Cathedral of Tomorrow were established in Ohio. During the Jesus Movement of the 1970s, revival broke out at Ravenna Assembly of God. Also the great theologian AW Tozar was raised in Akron, Ohio and is buried at a cemetery there. Ohio has a rich spiritual heritage.

Tamera Lynn Kraft has always loved adventures. She loves to write historical fiction set in the United States because there are so many stories in American history. There are strong elements of faith, romance, suspense and adventure in her stories. She has received 2nd place in the NOCW contest, 3rd place TARA writer’s contest, and wass a finalist in the Frasier Writing Contest. She has two novellas published (A Christmas Promise and Resurrection of Hope). Her new novel, Alice’s Notions, is a WW2 Romantic Suspense.

You can contact Tamera on her website at http://tameralynnkraft.net.

You can contact Tamera online at these sites.

Website: http://tameralynnkraft.net

Word Sharpeners Blog: http://tameralynnkraft.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/tameralynnkraft

Twitter: http://twitter.com/tamerakraft

Prizes: I’m offering both prizes to the same person

#1--Alice’s Notions autographed paperback

In this quaint mountain town, things aren't always what they seem.

World War II widow Alice Brighton returns to the safety of her home town to open a fabric shop. She decides to start a barn quilt tour to bring business to the shop and the town, but what she doesn't know is sinister forces are using the tour for their own nefarious reasons

Between her mysterious landlord, her German immigrant employee, her neighbors who are acting strange, and a dreamboat security expert who is trying to romance her, Alice doesn't know who she can trust.

#2--Apple Butter from Ohio Amish Country

Leave a comment here to enter and make sure to leave a avenue of contact.  

(all info provided by author or from author's site) 

Ohio is Like No Other State by Tamera Lynn Kraft

I was born in Ohio and have lived here all my life. Ohio truly is the heart of the nation in many ways. It has a bit of everything: big city life, sports teams small quaint towns, Amish Country, mountains, grassy plain, a great lake, and a mighty river. Most people don’t know the rich heritage Ohio has to offer.

Ohio has a historical heritage like no other state. Throughout history, this Midwest state that has roots in New England and West Virginia has been in the thick of things. During the days of the US Revolution, England wanted to keep the colonies from settling in the West otherwise known as Ohio. Schoenbrunn Village, the first settlement in Ohio, was a missionary village to the Lenape Indians and had the first coed and multi-racial school in America. During the days leading up to the Civil War, Ohio led the way for abolitionists and rebel rousers such as John Brown from Akron. The rescue of a fugitive slave in Oberlin, Ohio almost caused Ohio to leave the Union because of the Fugitive Slave Law two years before the Civil War broke

out. In the early days of Women’s Suffrage, Ohio again was in the middle of things hosting a conference that featured Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” speech. During the mid-twentieth century, Ohio was a leader in industry with Cleveland, Akron, and Dayton playing major roles. In today’s world, Ohio is still leading the way in deciding elections and public opinion.

Ohio is the state of presidents. Most people don’t know this, but more presidents claimed Ohio as their home state than any other state including Virginia. Virginia had more presidents actually born in the state, but William Henry Harrison, the first Ohio president, was born in Virginia and moved to Ohio to make the state his home. Other presidents from Ohio were Ulysses S. Grant (the Civil War general), Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison (grandson of William Henry Harrison), William McKinley

(assassinated in office), William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding. There were eight presidents from Ohio and seven who were born in Ohio. Harding, Hayes, and McKinley have historical sites you can visit.

Ohio is the state of inventors. Many inventers were born in Ohio. Wilbur and Orville Wright, the inventors of the airplane, lived near Dayton. Charles Kettering invented the electric engine starter for cars and the cash register. Granville Woods, an African American born in 1856, invented overhead electric train wires, the train telegraph service, automated railroad breaks, and the egg incubator. Garrett Morgan, another African American, invented the stoplight and the gasmask. Thomas Midgley invented ethyl gasoline. There were many more inventors from Ohio. Probably the man who invented more devices than any other, Thomas

Edison, was born in Milan, Ohio in 1847. You can tour the Thomas Edison Birthplace Museum in Milan, Ohio.

Ohio is a state of tourism. There is plenty to do and see in Ohio. Ohio has one of the great lakes, Lake Erie, bordering its northern border. To the south, is the Ohio River which feeds into the Mississippi. To the southeast are the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Hocking Hills has caves and hiking trails to explore. To the northeast are the Cuyahoga Valley National Metro parks and canals. If you’re not into nature, you

can spend a relaxing day shopping in Amish Country and eating at one of our many Amish Restaurant. Ohio is the state with the largest Amish Community. You could also go to Cedar Point Amusement Park with the most roller coasters in the world, the Cincinnati or Cleveland Zoos, the Canton Football Hall of Fame, or the Cleveland Rock Hall of Fame. You can top off your visit with the Dayton Wright Patterson Airforce Base. It has more historical airplanes than even the Smithsonian. Make sure you allow yourself two days to see it all.

Prizes: This week I’m giving away a paperback copy of my new novella, Resurrection of  Hope, and a jar of Apple Butter from the Amish Door Restaurant in Wilmot Ohio to one lucky winner (US only). To enter the drawing, tell me which place in Ohio you would love to visit or something about Ohio that surprised you.

To learn more about me and my books, click on this link. http://tameralynnkraft.net or you can find me at these sites.

Word Sharpeners Blog: http://tameralynnkraft.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/tameralynnkraft

Twitter: http://twitter.com/tamerakraft
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O-H-I-O! My home state by TC Booth

Ohio is known as the heart of it all, is nestled between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. Ohio is the Iroquois Indian name for “good river”. Pretty awesome.

We experience all four seasons in Ohio and offer something to do in each. Expect to see Amish buggies no matter the season as Ohio has the largest Amish population of any state. Snuggle up at a cozy bed and breakfast in Berlin, Ohio after spending a day visiting the many unique shops featuring Amish made products. 

               

My favorite being the Berlin Village Gift Barn. Oh, and don’t forget to stop in at one of the many restaurants for some homemade Amish cooking.

The island life is for me. One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to take a ferry across Lake Erie to Kelley’s Island. The quaint little Island harbors the most complete glacial grooves in the country. Nature’s masterpieces don’t end there.

The north side of the island provides beautiful parks and beaches. You can boat or fish on one of nature’s Great Lakes, or just soak up the sun on its sandy beach.

Did you know Ohio has the largest performing arts center outside of New York? Yep, it’s true. The Playhouse Square in Cleveland hosts a diverse array of entertainment for all tastes.

Best of all, we are the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers! I frequent Quicken Loans Arena during basketball season to watch LeBron, Kyrie, Kevin Love, and all the other awesome Cavs

players.

I just touched on my favorite things to do in my home state. There’s so much more. I hope you come visit and discover all that Ohio has to offer. No matter what story I’m writing, my home state influences the setting of the story. 

Leave a comment to be randomly selected to win a digital signed copy of my new young adult novel, To Be Honest.

TC Booth was born and raised in a small town in Northeast Ohio where she currently teaches. She lives with her husband and four children ranging in ages from 13-23. Her pets include one dog named Sammy, and two cats- Sheldon and Sasha.

TC Booth views books as the best form of entertainment and her escape for life’s stresses. She prefers reading a book over watching a movie, and writing over almost any other way to spend her time.

When not attending her children’s sporting events and running them around, you’ll see her writing on her laptop, iPad, and even jotting ideas down on her phone apps.

She enjoys the escape from the adult universe into the adolescent world. The passion in which young people experience life is contagious and the driving force of her writing.

 

Author Social Media Links:

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www.facebook.com/tcbooth1

www.twitter.com/BoothTammi

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