Nicci Carrera

July 9, 2014July 9, 2014 Nicci Book Reviews, Mystery

Aussie novella, Heartland series book 2, a mystery

Thank you for the great support for Somewhere Far from Iris. John and I appreciate your interest and efforts.

The second installment in John Holland‘s Heartland series, a novella length mystery, is now available.

A lovely English governess goes missing from the homestead on a local cattle station in the Australian outback. The local people think the mysterious Min Min light has something to do with her disappearance. Senior Police Constable Mick Creedy doesn’t buy into paranormal explanations and is exploring foul play. However, when the young woman’s mother, Eveling, arrives from England wanting a full investigation, including the possibility of a paranormal event, Mick needs to balance his methods with a grieving parent’s needs. Eveling’s inclinations further complicate matters as they might lead her into a danger Mick does not yet understand. Pressure mounts as unexpected feelings for the victim’s mother raise the stakes in this case that seems to have no leads.

Editor’s note:

I suggested to John, “Hey, you should write a mystery.” We were on Google Hangout, so I could see his sly smile. A few days later he sent me The Light at the Bottom of the Garden. Once again I was drawn into his straightforward style and was delighted by finding John’s humor in the story. I still laugh every time I read the scene between Mick and Bessie.

We hope you enjoy the story! If you do get a chance to read this installment in the series, a review at your favorite online book review forum will help other readers discover John’s unique voice.

Nia Simone

You can read the first 20% of this fun book at these outlets.

Kindle electronic book: Amazon

and Smashwords (electronic book formats: epub, mobi, PDF, lrf)

You can also check out this nice interview with John at Smashwords. There’s another really good interview I just found out about here: Patti Roberts and Guests.

July 7, 2014 Nicci Photography

More shots from around the area

I’ve been busy finishing up a manuscript and getting ready for my New York trip. I’ve taken a few shots out the window and one of the sky tonight, but I’ll save those for next time. For now, here are some flowers I passed the other day.

And the shot my friend Jeff took of me with the new camera.

July 4, 2014 Nicci Photography

Hakone Gardens Saratoga

Hakone Gardens in the hills of Saratoga is a lovely heritage site showcasing traditional Japanese tea houses and grounds. I had a lot of fun there today with my friends and the new camera.

Let’s start with the panorama. This was so easy to do. The camera will be great for travel.

There was a wedding rehearsal going on and other visitors, including us, were watching the action. I liked having the people on the bridge for this photo.

Koi and turtles share the water.

The camera has a creative mode that you can set to dynamic monochrome. Not that many things look better in black and white, I’ve found, but I thought this view up through the pagoda frame was better in black and white. My friend thought it was because of the emphasis monochrome places on shapes.

This is the view from the deck on the large tea house. You can see Hakone Gardens is up the hill a bit.I liked this little gate. Except for the lock, it seemed to invite you inside. (I made the picture a little smaller so the lock wouldn’t be visible and you could just enjoy the idea.)

One of my friends suggested slowing the shutter down to get the smooth water effect. I never thought it would work without a tripod.

I still like the blue and purple hues produced by the Sony DSL more, but I haven’t set to work on that yet. Little by little I’m trying new things and reading bits of the manuals. The camera is pretty easy to use. I want to explore the advanced features.

July 2, 2014 Nicci Photography

San Francisco with the Panasonic DMC-ZS40

I went a little crazy today with the camera in San Francisco. We needed to go up there to get visas to visit Russia. I was happy it was a foggy day because I’ve needed some photos in these conditions for a project.

What follows is a chaotic sampling of San Francisco taken hanging out car windows, shooting through the windshield, or getting the hubs to stop for a moment while I clicked. I think they will give you a bit of a flavor of the city on this quintessential San Francisco day.

Before I get into it though, I have to show this action sequence. After I discovered what the creative dial on the camera can do, I said, “Wow, now I can take each picture on our trip a dozen different ways!” This was my husband’s reaction.

Oh, the travails of being married to a shutterbug. Okay, here are some photos. I deliberately went back to the spot I went last month with the Sony DSLR A300 just so I could try the same shots with the new camera. Here is a shot in Pacific Heights. It’s nothing extraordinary, but I like looking out over the city.

Here is that apartment building I turned into a pen and ink plus painting.

We had lunch on Union Street near the Marina District at Betelnut. I had Chilean sea bass on noodles.

I took this out the car window.

Some shots out the window as we made our way down 19th Avenue out of the city.

June 29, 2014 Nicci Photography

Agapanthus, Sony A300 versus Panasonic DMC-ZS40

This is a little sad. I am starting to wonder if I’m going to continue using the DSLR. I still like its color hues more, but I know I can adjust that in the Panasonic. In fact the Panasonic does bracketed exposure. And you can also adjust brilliance.

The first shot is with the Sony DSLR. I just couldn’t get it to focus any closer.

The second one is with the Panasonic. I learned how to adjust the depth of field. I had to do that after looking at the macros I took yesterday in which the only things in focus were the tips of the stamens. Wow, that’s powerful, but I didn’t want the stamens as the subject. (Although it is good to know it’s possible to get that tight of a macro.)

I did put that shot at the end so you can see. I think the f-stop was 3.3 on that one at the end.

Adjusting depth of field is very easy. I think this was about 4.5.

Here is yesterday’s shot at 3.3.

Here is a comparison of leaves: the DSLR first, followed by the Panasonic.

So, I’m having a crisis over whether or not I’m going to find myself ever using my DSLR any more. My husband says not to worry about it. It’s five years later and the technology has simply improved.

June 27, 2014 Nicci Photography

Flower, apple, Panasonic DMC-ZS40

My “out-of-the-box” experience of the Panasonic DMC–ZS40 is that it is optimized for zoom photography. This seems like the ideal camera for travel. However for around home base, I would definitely want to have the DSLR, just like Suz Jones said in a comment on my last post about the new camera (Butterfly bush), I’m going to love having both.

I had to do some work on the flower. The light was not balanced on it and still isn’t, however I’m sure that’s photographer error.

I didn’t touch the apple.

What is your out-of-the-box experience of the new photos?

June 25, 2014 Nicci Photography

Butterfly bush and look what the Panasonic DMC-ZS40 does

I was telling my husband how pretty I think the butterfly bush is now, but it doesn’t seem to attract butterflies. I was so wrong!

Yesterday I was outside trying to get good shots of the butterfly bush with my DLSR, when my husband came trotting out with the Panasonic DMC-ZS40, which we had just received in the mail. I decided to try it. Look with it can do.

Great zoom, great autofocus and auto functionality, very quick to use. Also it’s light. We bought it for travel.

Here is a shot using the Sony-A300 digital SLR:

I love the gorgeous color saturation in the Sony photos. I won’t be giving it up anytime soon, but I think I will be very happy with the Panasonic for travel.

I’m going to want to get a camera to convert for infrared photography after seeing the post on Leanne Cole’s blog by Infrared Robert. To me, that is really beautiful art. Check out this beautiful house and amazing river.

June 23, 2014 Nicci Photography

Still life and agapanthus

Okay, not all the flowers were cooperating this morning. There is a lovely flower outside the kitchen window, but it seems to only open later in the day. Who knew? The agapanthus wanted to be featured today, I think. I love these, they look like fireworks and they are always blooming at their peak around the 4th of July (American Independence Day). They provide a quiet and lovely version of celebration.

My sister-in-law put together this arrangement on her kitchen table. There’s a little waterfall in the background, outside the window. She really has the decorator’s touch.

June 21, 2014 Nicci Book Reviews, Literary

I edited an Aussie novella…

My friend John Holland let me edit his Heartland novella series. I love his work! We released the first installment, Somewhere Far from Iris a couple days ago.

A man struggling with depression travels back to his Australian outback hometown to reconstruct himself and walks into an explosive situation that is somehow entangled with the secret of his origin.

Here is the longer blurb. I also included my editor’s note for some background on how this project started.

Clinically depressed Shane Morris is trying to learn how to cope with his condition and find balance within the turmoil of his mind. He embarks on a mission to reconstruct himself by going back to his roots in the Australian outback town of his childhood. In Iris, this man who thinks he is nothing discovers at its extreme, life has two poles, the tender and the brutal. In the fires of the worst and best expressions of man, Shane learns he’s far from nothing and just where he fits into humanity’s broad spectrum.

Editor’s note:

When I first opened this file, I was sitting in our friends’ house in Sydney. We had left Townsville just days before. My husband and I spent three weeks with John and his family so John and I could collaborate on a novel. John sent me an email saying this story idea had poured out of him after we flew out. But, he said, he didn’t know where it was going and wasn’t planning to finish! No fair. I was riveted. So I demanded he finish. And when I received the finished draft, I was thoroughly satisfied with the story.

I never know what John’s going to come up with next for his stories. I found Somewhere Far from Iris to be twisty and intense.

I am pleased and honored to be John’s editor and thrilled to help bring this book to you.

Your reviews will really help other people find John’s work, so please post your review at your favorite online book review forum. Your support is very much appreciated.

Nia Simone

Available at Amazon: Somewhere Far from Iris

Smashwords: Somewhere Far from Iris

June 18, 2014 Nicci Photography, San Francisco, Travel

San Francisco impressions 2, Hayes Valley and Pacific Heights

I liked the 3-dimensions shown in this San Francisco Pacific Heights apartment building. To make it a bit more interesting I added some art effects.

Here is an interesting dresser made out of rulers, spotted in a shop in the Hayes Valley area.

Here is some “hula art” hanging on a cyclone fence around some Hayes Valley restaurants.

After the 1989 earthquake, some of the freeway ramps in San Francisco collapsed. The city used the opportunity to relocate some of the ramps from gorgeous (the Embarcadero) or interesting (Hayes Valley) areas. They redeveloped the areas that were now free of transportation blight.

There’s a lovely park in the Hayes Valley with interesting shops and a coffee vendor serving cold-brewed ice coffee (delish) and an ice-cream shop.