Author Interview: Michelle Davenport

Have you met our author Michelle Davenport?

No?

If you click on the AUTHOR INTERVIEW TAB you'll find an interview that we did with her as well as a few photos.

Each of the contributing authors submitted a question for this interview.  Which makes for an interesting interview.

So stop by and check out Michelle's interview.  Here's just a sample of one of the many questions.

What is your favorite genre movie and is it the same genre that you like to read?

I don’t have one favorite genre.  I’ll read horror, romance, comedy, sci-fi.  You name it I’ll read it at least once and the same can be said for movies.  Although I do go see a lot of Pixar and Disney movies.  And I admit I'm a bit of a sci-fi geek.

Tag! You're Dead

Today we have an excerpt from "Tag!  You're Dead" by Michelle Davenport.

But first let's read her blurb. 

What would you do if you woke up on a beach with no memory of how you got there or what happened?  And you were completely alone.  Missy’s about to find out.

Wow!  Don't you want more with that?

Well here's a bit more,  check out an excerpt from her story.

Happy Holidays

Over the years everyone creates traditions and memories and I'm no exception.  They may vary from year to year, but they always involve the people I love.

One thing that we try to do every year is see the Garden of Lights at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.  If you haven't gone, I highly recommend it!  I love that they do all the seasons.   The past few times we've gone in our convertible and done it with the top down.  My favorite part is the starry skies.  You drive over a small bridge and for a moment it feels like you are among the stars.  Breath taking!

A Day In The Life: Hampton Roads Naval Museum

Chief Tomich & Rosie

Writtten by Michelle Davenport

As many people may know, I volunteer at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk, VA.  Normally I do administrative work, some scheduling and keeping my 'boss' entertained, but that's not what this article is about.  I've chosen to share an event versus the day to day of what I do.  Because let's face it, data entry is boring.

Every year in August the museum spends time with the Chief Selectees and gives them a bit of naval history on chiefs. It's called CPO Heritage.  I've been fortunate enough to help in four of these.

For three years I helped sell raffle tickets to win a cutlass.  The cutlass is normally donated by Vanguard, so all proceeds go to the museum to pay for coffee and such for the volunteers.  A big shout out to Vanguard for doing this!  My first year, on the first day, I even went through all the presentations with a group of selectees.  This year, the chief's mess took care of the raffle and I was not needed.  I turned to my 'boss' and asked what I could do.

This was my last year for this event and I did NOT want to miss out on it!

We can do it!

So it was decided that I would help with a presentation.  Tom would be portraying Chief Peter Tomich during his presentation of what happened on the USS UTAH on December 7, 1941.

Yes, Chief Tomich was a real person and actually on board the ship during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  

But how were we going to work in why I was there?  I wanted to blend in with the presentation.  At first I had thought to dress like a woman from the 1940s, that could be fun, but why would she be on the ship.  Then my husband came up with the idea of Rosie The Riveter.  Tom loved it!  I loved it!  It was an easy costume and Tom could quickly explain why I was there.

Chesapeake Bay Living: Norfolk Botanical Gardens Part 3

Rembrandt

Written by Michelle Davenport & Elizabeth Kimball

As mentioned before in an earlier post, there is so much to see at the Norfolk Botanical gardens that it needed to be broken up into more than one blog post.

So once again we'll take a look at that little oasis in the middle of the city.

The Statuary Vista is a unique outdoor sculpture gallery set in a 400-foot long double border garden stretching from the back of Renaissance Court to the edge of Lake Whitehurst. 

Halloween Spirit

Written by Michelle Davenport

Every year I look forward to Halloween.  It's my favorite time of year.  I love the kids dressing up, the candy, the crispness in the air and the scares!

I will start watching any scary movie I can get my hands on starting the first of October.  I love them all!  Well I'm not as fond of the gory ones, but I will watch them (through my fingers).

Chesapeake Bay Living: Norfolk Botanical Gardens Part 2

Written by Michelle Davenport & Elizabeth Kimball

As mentioned before there is so much to see at the Norfolk Botanical gardens that it needed to be broken up into more than one blog post.

Another part of the garden is World of Wonders: A Children’s Adventure Garden.  

Chesapeake Bay Living: Botanical Gardens

Written by Michelle Davenport & Elizabeth Kimball

The Norfolk Botanical Gardens is a gem in the middle of the city.  If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend going there!

Recently Elizabeth and I headed out there for a little exploring.  I had never been before so Elizabeth and her lovely daughters took me out to explore.

There's so much to see that it's going to have to be broken up into a few blog posts.

The Butterfly House is going to be the first stop on our look of the Botanical Gardens.

Mosaic Mermaids

Written by Elizabeth Kimball

Last month, the East Beach Peninsular Magazine featured a special group of 

military spouse volunteers — The Tidewater Officers’ Spouses’ Association Mosaic Mermaid Club! Four of our very own writers are involved in the group! Gina Warren Buzby leads the group, and Michelle Davenport, Jenny Sparks, and Elizabeth Kimball all volunteer! Here is an excerpt from the article and a few photos of the volunteers and the mosaic mermaids they create!

Mosaic Mermaids that Give Back to the Community 

Elizabeth Kimball's Mosaic Mermaid

As we pause to reflect and be grateful for our freedoms, I’d like to share a coastal craft and highlight a hard-working and artistic bunch of military spouses volunteering to create beautiful mosaic mermaids sold to benefit military families. 

Chesapeake Bay Living: Willoughby Live Oak

Written by Michelle Davenport

You loved reading about the area where your favorite authors live in our last blog didn't you?  Getting a glimpse of the fantastic mermaids that are in our area.

I know I did.  So we're going to try to do more blogs about the area.

I've lived in this area for more than a few years but I never knew about this tree until recently.  I have yet to actually go to the actual site, but this is such a cool article.  I now feel the need to find this place.

You never know the kind of history you're going to come across.  And this area is full of history.  I highly recommend that you explore your area.  You never know what hidden gem you'll find.  Maybe it'll be a small book store.  Or a wonderful coffee shop.  Or who knows what else?  The possibilities are endless!

So go out there and explore!

About the author: Michelle Davenport is the author of “Second Chances at East Beach” in By the Bay: East Beach Stories.  Her story “Tag!  You’re Dead” will be in Volume II, to be published in 2017.  For more information on Michelle, please visit her website. 

Chesapeake Bay Living: Slover Library

Did you know thate we had a talk on June 28th at Slover Library?  We did!

We were also fortunate enough to get a tour of the library from our very own Will Hopkins.  We really appreciated the time he took to tell us the history and show us around.  It was fantastic!

I know what you're thinking.  What's so great about a dark, cramped library?  Well for one it isn't dark.  Two, it isn't cramped.  This place is huge!  I could honestly get lost in it.  It's very open and bright.  

Karen Harris, Gina Warren Buzby,
Will Hopkins & Jayne Ormerod

And it quite modern.  I was blown away when I found out you can look up books at the special kiosks.  I'm from a time when you had to search through card catalogs.  I may have just dated myself there, but that's okay.

Plus it's not just books.  They have computers and offer different classes.  I won't tell all, you'll just have to go check it out for yourself.  This place is fabulous and offers a lot!

And I absolutely love that they incorporated the old building with the new structure.  There's so much beautiful architecture downtown that I was glad they blended instead of just tearing a building down.

So if you are in the downtown Norfolk Area, I highly recommend stopping by.  And if you haven't already, get yourself a library card.

Book Signing

February 27th was your opportunity to get an autographed copy of our book.  Did you miss your opportunity?  

Jenny Sparks, Mike Owens, Jayne Ormerod, Mary-Jac O'Daniel,
Karen Harris, Michelle Davenport, Patrick Clark & Gina Warren Buzby

Not to worry!  We will have another book signing on April 30th, so mark your calendars!  More information to come on that event.

Origins Part Four

Did you read Origins Part One?  How About Origins Part Two?  Maybe you read Origins Part Three?

No?

Well go ahead and read it, we'll wait.  Take your time, we're in no hurry.

So you're back for more right?  You would like to know where more of the stories from in By The Bay came from right?  Did it stem from something that happened to them or was it just a creative idea?

Well wonder no more!  Our wonderful author, Jenny Sparks, came up with a great idea.  Why not share how we came up with our stories.  

So, over the course of the next few days we will share our authors thoughts with you.

I hope you enjoy installment number four!

Big Screen Dreams: Second Chances

So once again we get to peek inside our author's head to see who they would cast as their characters if their story was made into a movie.  Be it big screen or a made for TV movie.  That's right we dream big here.

Everyone envisions a character differently, but wouldn't it be interesting to see what our authors were seeing in their mind's eye when they wrote their story?  So here's our chance!

And please feel free to comment below on who you 'saw' this character as.  Does your idea of who the character looks like go with who the author envisions?

Michelle Davenport envisions Rick Moranis as Rick Dandes and Jewel Staite as his loving wife Anna.  Dorothy Dandes would be played by Betty White and Stella would be played by Lauren Cohan.

Stella

Of course Stella's convertible would have to be a white 1990 Mazda Miata.  And Michelle's hoping that she'd get to keep the car.

Rick Dandes

Anna Dandes

Dorothy Dandes

What do you think?


I hope you had as much fun with this as we did!

Books For The Holiday

On November 20th the East Beach Writers Guild got together for their monthly meeting.  This month we brought children's books to donate to Toys For Tots.  Books can be a fantastic gift.  From toddlers to teenagers we donated books that we thought someone else would love.

Back Row: Gina Warren Buzby, Jayne Ormerod, Jenny Sparks & Patrick Clark
Front Row: Mike Owens, Skip McLamb, Mary-Jac O'Daniel, Karen Harris, Michelle Davenport & Will Hopkins

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

Graham Green

The table is laid out beautifully, a centerpiece of mums is surrounded by food that makes your mouth water at the sight of it.  You are handed a glass of wine and told to choose a seat.

I'm sure at this point you're wondering what exactly is going on.  

I've just set the scene for a literary dinner party.  We asked our authors if they could choose three authors, living or dead, to bring to a literary dinner party.  So I thought I would share a few.

Mike Owens has invited Charles Dickens, Graham Green and Patrick O'Brian.

I wonder what these four men will be discussing?  

Second Chance at East Beach Excerpt

Today we have an excerpt from "Second Chance at East Beach" by Michelle Davenport.

But first check out the blurb!

The Dandes family is in need of a second chance, a second chance at their lives together.  Fortunately for them, The Fates have decided to give them a helping hand.  Will they take it?  

Wow!

Now check out the excerpt.

Author Interview: Michelle Davenport

Have you met our author Michelle Davenport?

No?

Well if you click on the AUTHOR INTERVIEW tab you'll find an interview that we did with her.  Each contributing author submitted a question.  It's proving to be very interesting. 

Did you know Michelle's favorite sport is baseball?  She grew up in the St. Louis area so she's a dyed in the wool St. Louis Cardinals fan!  She loves listening to the game on the radio.

So stop by and check out Michelle's answers.