Bethany Maines is the award-winning indie and traditionally published author of romantic action-adventure and fantasy novels that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind-end. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel or screenplay. Learn more about Bethany and her books and find links to her on social media at her website.
Poppies Inspired by an Elevator Ride
This craft was used in Elevator Ride—Book 1 of the Valkyrie Brothers Trilogy—an action-packed, age-gap romance mystery. The heroine, Vivian Kaye, is the chair of the event committee for a Veteran centered non-profit. When the non-profit throws a fundraising gala, they use oversized paper poppies as part of the décor.
Of course, poppies are also used to denote Memorial Day—a tradition since World War I, inspired by a poem written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. So there was a nice nod to veteran tradition as well. Vivian’s father was a Marine Corps veteran who helped found the non-profit and Vivian has always been dedicated to it—something that the hero Rowan Valkyrie, an ex-Marine, doesn’t realize when he dismisses Vivian as a non-serious twenty-something. Of course, he ends up eating his words AND shooting at the bad guys who are trying to kill Vivian and her boss.
The Valkyrie Brothers Trilogy was inspired when I visited the Smith Tower in Seattle several years ago. The Smith Tower has a hand operated elevator and was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi. It’s distinct pyramid top and gorgeous art deco interior are an amazing setting for any story. However, while I quickly came up with the idea for the opening of what would become book three, when Ash and Harper meet in the elevator, it wasn’t until several years later that I finally figured out how to make all the brothers meet their love interests in their own elevators. Yes, that’s right. I really made them all meet in an elevator.
In Elevator Ride, Vivian ambushes Rowan in an elevator to serve him with papers.
In Between Floors (Book 2, available June 23rd), Rowan’s brother Forest is a single dad who thinks that perfection is the only answer to controlling the chaos of the universe. So, of course, fate delivers him a perfectly imperfect nanny. And then they get stuck in an elevator together and have to escape.
And in Emergency Exit, the youngest Valkyrie brother Ash arrives at a party with Harper, the girl he just met in the elevator only to have everyone assume she’s his girlfriend. Except that a fake girlfriend might be just what Ash needs. The Valkyrie Brothers trilogy is a laugh-packed series of connected romantic mysteries starring the Valkyrie Brothers--Rowan, Forest, and Ash--as they struggle to find love AND stay alive in Seattle.
Elevator Ride
The Valkyrie Brothers, Book 1
Vivian Kaye has been tasked with serving a cease-and-desist letter to Rowan Valkyrie—the most hated tenant in Seattle’s Hoskins building—but when she ambushes the seasoned security professional in the elevator, she ignites a powder keg of tempers and attraction.
Buy Links
ebook (on sale for .99 cents)
Between Floors
The Valkyrie Brothers, Book 2
Wild-child Chloe Jordan returned to Seattle to face her past, but when she gets stuck in an elevator with grumpy Forest Valkyrie—the terminally stressed single dad who just rejected her as a nanny candidate—Chloe discovers that it's her future at stake.
Pre-order (on sale June 23rd)
Paper Poppies
Video link: https://youtube.com/shorts/zrR-ohmASOI
Materials:
Hard straws or sticks
1” Styrofoam balls
Glue (Use a hot glue or low-temp glue gun or tacky glue.)
Red and black tissue paper or crepe paper
Florist tape
Directions:
1. Cut out approximately twelve red circles for the petals of each flower. The sample used a 3-1/2” circle template, but you can use slightly smaller or larger circles. If you don’t have a template, use a glass, round dish, or round cookie cutter. The circles don’t have to be perfect. Trace the outline over folded paper, then cut all the petals out at once.
2. For each flower, cut a black paper circle large enough to cover the Styrofoam ball. Cover the ball, securing with glue.
3. Fold/twist the petal shapes. Imperfect is best. Do a little zig-zag folding and crumpling.
4. Poke a straw into the bottom of the ball, glue to secure.
5. Glue petals to the ball and stem. Use as many as you think looks good.
6. Wrap florist tape around the base and straw stem, securing both ends with glue.
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