We live in a fascinating time.\u00a0 Through the power of the internet, the wonderful people of Egypt took to the streets to assert their rights. We can now only hope and pray that their desire for freedom and democracy will be rewarded by the new order.\u00a0 Yesterday, I had a sweet taste of those internet connections myself when I began to research my mother’s story. I found an American’s blog, giving an account of her stay in the village my mother was born in during World War I.\u00a0 It was astounding to me as it’s an obscure village in what was then occupied Ukraine.\u00a0 Who knows what else I can find.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We live in a fascinating time.\u00a0 Through the power of the internet, the wonderful people of Egypt took to the streets to assert their rights. We can now only hope… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[88,4],"tags":[52,140,7],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-writing","tag-blog","tag-internet","tag-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-26","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":162,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/inspiration-and-the-kings-speech\/","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":0},"title":"Inspiration and The King’s Speech","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"28 \u041b\u044e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"When Tom Hooper, won for best director at the Academy Awards last night, he mentioned his mother inspiring him to do a film based on a staged reading of the play The King's Speech. Inspiration can come from anywhere-\u00a0a poem, a song, a memory, a news item, an anecdote. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Kings-Speech-202x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1783,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/setting-the-stage-in-fiction\/","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":1},"title":"Setting the Stage in Fiction","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"9 \u0412\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043d\u044f, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"How do you write the scenes in fiction? I spent quite a few years honing the craft of writing screenplays, which is useful in setting the stage in fiction. It\u2019s natural for me to think visually when I write. I see the scenes\u2014the rooms or outdoor spaces with people and\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Writing the setting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Killybegs.jpg?fit=500%2C376&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6683,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2025\/books\/an-enduring-love-story-for-valentines-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":2},"title":"An Enduring Love Story for Valentine’s Day","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"17 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"To celebrate the upcoming launch of Along Came A Gardener, I'm offering a Special Sale of my debut novel, A Cry from the Deep, an enduring love story for Valentine's Day. The ebook, a time-slip romantic mystery and adventure, is now .99 and the paperback is $11.97 US ($14.99 Canadian)\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"enduring love story","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACFTD-highheels-1.jpg?fit=700%2C492&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACFTD-highheels-1.jpg?fit=700%2C492&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACFTD-highheels-1.jpg?fit=700%2C492&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ACFTD-highheels-1.jpg?fit=700%2C492&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":638,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/a-whole-empire-walking\/","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":3},"title":"A Whole Empire Walking","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"16 \u0421\u0435\u0440\u043f\u043d\u044f, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I was old enough to comprehend, my mother has bent my ear with stories of how awful it was in the old country, before she immigrated to Canada when she was 14.\u00a0 Although my mother is a born storyteller, she can only remember so far back. She also passed\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/A-Whole-Empire-Walking.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1961,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/writing\/pushing-boundaries\/","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":4},"title":"Pushing Boundaries","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"29 \u0411\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437\u043d\u044f, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"For writers and artists, pushing\u00a0boundaries is\u00a0a natural act.\u00a0 As creative spirits, we\u00a0want to test how far we can go. Look at how the book Fifty Shades of Grey\u00a0changed the publishing landscape. How about film and television? I'm stunned at the explicit sex and violence in prime time. We're also pushing\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Manuel Roque","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Manuel-Roque.jpg?fit=1200%2C514&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Manuel-Roque.jpg?fit=1200%2C514&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Manuel-Roque.jpg?fit=1200%2C514&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Manuel-Roque.jpg?fit=1200%2C514&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Manuel-Roque.jpg?fit=1200%2C514&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1244,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2013\/writing\/the-brother-comes-to-town\/","url_meta":{"origin":130,"position":5},"title":"THE BROTHER Comes To Town","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"21 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"On Jan.24th, our 16 yr. old grandson, Michael Stevantoni, premiered his thirteenth film, THE BROTHER, in\u00a0 Campbell River, B.C. With Michael being in school, it\u2019s taken a year and a half to get this 25 min. film this far. Though he and I co-wrote the screenplay, it\u2019s his vision that\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/film-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"theBROTHERposter","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/theBROTHERposter.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}