Author name: Sayling@@Away

My beautiful cat Elijah Moon died last night. When I can manage it, I will write a short tribute. Right now I need time to grieve. Will be back on line in a day or so… 0 0

Next post up is our trip to wine country in Burgundy, France…. In the meantime, have fun perusing these blogs. There are some great ones in here! And many thanks to all of these new followers. https://stellaranimals.wordpress.com  A fun blog with dog and cat pictures and videos that will brighten your day! Holly B at https://dressedtoread.com She is a book reviewer who spends hours reading novels and finding new books that intrigue her! Her favorite genre is mystery/thriller/psychological thrillers. https://tripambitions.wordpress.com The author’s aim is to gain knowledge around the World and spread it, so there are travel, entertainment, sports and world heritage posts. Great photos. The latest post is one on the top places to travel in 2017. Matthew Seufer at https://windowsfromheaven.org  He posts on the Bible, breaking news, God, fine art, miracles, nature, peace etc. Gary Thaxton at https://garythaxton-visualartist.com His photographs are stunning. Check out his blog. https://chineseforbeginnersblog.wordpress.com This blog even gives links to other blogs and sites to help people who are just starting to learn Chinese! https://thrillersuspensefestival.com The author of this blog encourages writers to submit their work for FULL FEEDBACK, plus get it performed/showcased at the monthly festival – films, screen-lays and short stories. Aparna at https://happilymuffined.wordpress.com  who hails from Madras, India, but who now lives in Manhatten. She writes about travel adventures, recipes and memories. Zeynepsi at https://zeynepsi.wordpress.com – a new blog, just started. I need a translation! Angelic Realm at https://nicolaangelic.wordpress.com This is a blog filled with positive, uplifting messages. https://shortstory4all.wordpress.com/ by Mohammed Jamsheed / Pushpendra Gupta, who are currently working as Software Professionals in a reputed IT firm. They blog tech new, real life stories, and fiction. Stuff that millennials will dig. Taifur Rahman Fuad (sorry, have no online address) Cathy Lynn Brooks at https://cathylynnbrooks.com/ Cathy daughter was diagnosed with bipolar disease, then died in a car accident at age 29. Cathy writes her story but also inspirational and motivational pieces. https://globalcompliancepaneltraining.wordpress.com  GlobalCompliancePanel is an online training gateway delivering high quality regulatory & compliance trainings in a simple, cost effective and in a user friendly format. Sevan Malikyan at https://paintersjournal.wordpress.com https://paintersjournal.wordpress.comhttps://paintersjournal.wordpress.com Sevan Malikyan is a British expressive painter of Armenian Ancestry. He paints paints ‘ intense personal images figurative in style which draw on his personal and family history . His sketches and paintings are colorful and evocative. Rough Bandit at https://funpunblog.wordpress.com  This blog makes me laugh. I love a blogger who isn’t serious! Sumand Das Freelancer at https://sumandasfreelancer.wordpress.com/ Suman is a professional freelancer in Upwork, the technique to boost your website traffic, and ranking in the Search Engine. He  can work both locally and world-wide. Mohammed Jamsheed and Pushpendra Gupta at https://shortstory4all.wordpress.com They work as as Software Professionals in a reputed IT firm. Apart from managing this site, they like to hang out with friends, Sports activities and participating in marathons. They post about business and inventions along with stories, all sorts! And last but not least https://funnybone2017.wordpress.com/ A blog written by someone with a funny creative mindset, posting funny comedians and funny videos! 0 0

Georgia Rose is one of my favorite writers and bloggers, and she has a new book coming out, called Parallel Lies, on September 12th.I thought it might be nice to give all y’all (that’s plural of y’all) a preview so I asked her to visit me today. Her gift to my followers is her favorite scene in Parallel Lies. When I asked her to pick, here is what she said: ***** Oooh! Decisions, decisions. How on earth do you pick a favourite? Many in Parallel Lies had their moments, while some I would not want to repeat. It came down to something involving one of my favourite characters, Diane, who has already been described in a review as ‘a wonderfully free spirited woman in her 60s’. My protagonist, Madeleine, Maddy to her friends, and Diane are very close and some of the best conversations happen between them. I loved writing these! I could easily imagine myself sitting and typing the scenes, while in that kitchen perched on a stool at the end of the pine table as I earwigged on the two of them. I’ve chosen a short taster in an attempt to whet your appetite for more, oh, and you also get to meet Cat… From Parallel Lies: ‘…I push the door wider and enter a place that resembles The Burrow, home of the Weasleys. Admittedly there’s no actual, obvious, magic going on but that doesn’t matter, it’s the atmosphere, the ambience. There’s a large range with pots and pans piled up all over it and a huge black kettle coming to a boil. Bunches of plants hang drying from the ceiling and Diane is standing at the worn and well-scrubbed pine table using a pestle to mash stuff together in a huge grey stone mortar. The smell is divine. Woody, spicy scents mingle with citrus and flowers, all natural and raw, every element, fresh and dried, combining in a heady mix, and I take a deep breath as I put the cakes I bought onto the table. “Can I do anything to help?” I ask, knowing what the answer is likely to be. “No, no, no, just take a seat.” And the minute I do Cat leaps onto my lap and I push him off. It is common belief that he is Diane’s familiar, and I’m not a fan. He is stereotypically black and Diane is adamant that he is not hers hence the fact that he doesn’t have a name, other than Cat. He simply arrived one day, she once told me, and as far as Diane is concerned he is a free spirit, able to come and go as he wishes. He disappears for long periods of time which doesn’t worry Diane a jot as she believes that he is off helping people who need him. I’m not convinced and think he is merely tomcatting around but not wishing to ruin Diane’s vision of him as a cat in shining armour I keep quiet on the subject. Diane finishes mashing whatever it is she’s working on and turns her attention to a vat of simmering liquid on the range. I peer into the mortar to see an uninspiring brown sludge at the base and briefly wonder what it might be used for. My thoughts are interrupted by a bowl of golden broth being placed in front of me, a hunk of homemade bread at its side. There is no ceremony here, no side plates needed and I break off a piece of the bread and dunk it into the soup. It is flavoursome, and hearty and I make soft noises of appreciation.’                        My name is Madeleine, Madeleine Ross. It is a name chosen with thought and                                          because it is classy, and that is what is needed here…’                                         Madeleine Ross has life exactly as she planned it.                                            Cosy cottage, friendly village, satisfying job.                                                     Company… when she wants it.   Blurb for Parallel Lies: It’s an enviable existence for an independent young woman, and one she’s keen to protect. Enter Daniel – strong, dependable and a danger to everything she’s built. He’s not something she was looking for, but hearts can’t be controlled and maybe, just maybe he might be worth letting into hers. But, all is not what it seems. Because Madeleine is hiding a lifetime of secrets. Deep secrets. And they never stay buried for ever. Her darkest secret returns, like the proverbial bad penny. He is her first love, shadowy, dangerous, the baddest of bad boys. No matter how far she runs, or how well she hides, she can never escape him. Or her past. Here he is, on her doorstep, with a proposition she is powerless to resist but which could devastate the future she hoped to have. Can Madeleine satisfy the old love while keeping the new? You can’t always get what you want but, desperate to preserve the life she has worked so hard for, Madeleine is willing to risk everything to prove that she can. ***** You can pre-order Parallel Lies by clicking here: getbook.at/ParallelLies But wait! There’s also a Giveaway for you to enter, should you wish! “http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/adc035ab1/   About the Author (lots of good information!) Georgia Rose is a writer and the author of the romantic and suspenseful Grayson Trilogy books: A Single Step, Before the Dawn and Thicker than Water. A short story, The Joker, based on a favorite character from the series followed and is free to download from Amazon. Her fourth novel, Parallel Lies, a standalone to be released on 12 September 2017, encompasses crime along with Georgia’s usual blending of genre. Georgia’s background in countryside living, riding, instructing and working with horses has provided the knowledge needed for some of her storylines; the others are a product of her overactive imagination! Georgia prefers silence to noise, and, being socially inept

This is the catchall title I use in emails to my friends when nothing much is happening, but I’m overwhelmed with work. What I am up to: Trying to read at least half of the wonderful posts I get each day from fellow bloggers (I get well over 200 a day – I know, I can’t help myself) and send a reply. Doing the editing of my fourth book for my beta readers, trying but failing to keeping my nose to the grindstone. Posting at least once a week about a stop in our vacation all over Europe. Two to go… Reading books for Rosie Amber and posting my reviews Beta reading a book for a friend Doing some work on an online anatomy program (mine, actually) for Elsevier. The program won first place for a digital teaching program from the British Medical Society last year, so I am invested. Critiquing contributions from members of the two groups to which I belong. Lastly, working hard not to go nuts! PS For all the Blogger’s Bash attendees, my short story Connection was accepted by the Bella Online Literary Review! 0 0

Hey, everyone, just a reminder that those folks in Texas really, really need our help. The outpouring of local help in terms of people with boats and food carts has been heart-warming, but I felt rather hopeless to do anything from where I am. There are thousands of people who have lost their homes, and who will need assistance in every way. For now, food, water and shelter are needed. Even the shelters are starting to flood in some areas. We can’t expect the government to do everything, and  the government has a poor record of being ready for a disaster of this magnitude (although it seems it’s a lot better this time around). We need to pick up the slack through the private organizations to help fill in the gaps. So how can we help? Donate whatever you can afford. The places I would recommend are The American Red Cross;  http://www.redcross.org/ Samaritan’s Purse:  https://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/donate-online/ Mercury One: https://www.mercuryone.org/hurricane-harvey Samaritan’ Purse is run by the Reverend Franklin Graham, while Mercy One is a Glenn Beck organization. Both of these use all of your donation without taking overhead and do not proselytize. I don’t care about religions or political affiliation – only that my money goes in its entirety to what I designate. I hope you can help! Your blogger friend, Noelle 0 0

PARTY, PARTY, PARTY! Sally Cronin is celebrating 4 years of blogging. Come and join the party! Grab your dancing shoes, a party hat and some sparklers and head to: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/smorgasbord-end-of-summer-party-music-dancing-headliners-and-you-and-free-books/ Let’s dance…footloose! 0 0

On our way back to Amsterdam and the plane home, we visited two cities in France: Dijon and Reims. Dijon was a convenient stop along the way and a very historical city. It also has great mustard! After driving around and finding the tiny entrance to our hotel’s underground parking garage and circling down three levels, we were convinced we were descending to hell – but we found a spot and a lift to take us up to the street. The hotel was a block down the street and blessedly air-conditioned. Dijon has an old city center, which we decided to explore early the next morning before it got hot. There are no cars there, just pedestrian ways, and it has a grand entrance! The houses are amazing and well-preserved, some with spectacular architecture. We stopped on one of the several stores we saw on our wanderings to buy mustard! Dijon mustard is one of the world’s best condiments as far as I’m concerned and we bought one large jar for ourselves. We later learned that Dijon mustard is not made with seeds from Dijon but from Canada! The best part of our morning walk was the visit to Dijon’s Notre Dame. Considered a masterpiece of 13th-century Gothic Architecture, it is situated at the heart of the old city.  There are 51 gargoyles on the western façade – I read that these are dummies — decorative rather than drain spouts. There are functional gargoyles on the lateral walls of the church and the walls of the apse. Once inside, I was fascinated with the ceiling with its Gothic arches, the spectacular rose window, and some of the statuary. One of the other churches in Dijon is the Dijon Cathedral, which showed something typical for Dijon – the colored tile roofs. Dijon has a large immigrant population, and the only time we felt unsafe during our entire trip was our first evening there. We came down to go out to dinner and the hotel lobby was swarming with gendarmes — there had been a large demonstration somewhere nearby, and they were just checking out various places in proximity. With the language barrier, we didn’t learn anything more. The other adventure we had in Dijon was a burgundy wine tour, which I’ll tell you about next! 0 0

The reader knows there will be some fun in this book from the introduction by Sean Lock, a well-known British comedian who just happened to share a part of this travel adventure with the author. However, this is definitely not your average travelogue: it is gritty and horrifying for much of the time. I will admit I was not entertained – except by the humor – for the first third or so of the book, which was basically the wanderings of a 20- something young man and his friends on a drug-infused trip through India and Nepal in the late 1980s. However, I was drawn in to Giblin’s gruesome story of survival, trekking out of the Himalayas, and his equally disturbing and unpredicted recovery from the undiagnosed illness that drove him home. Quite a contrast. The dry jocularity made it all palatable and ultimately, a page-turner. Mark’s adventure begins at a time when young Englishmen were drawn to India and Nepal with the promise of cheap drugs, free love and high adventure. He is traveling solo in Nepal and in a dumb and dumber move, decides to cross a glacier with only his slick-soled shoes and no other equipment. He nearly loses his life escaping the glacier, but his adventures in India and Nepal send him home to earn enough money to return. He talks his friend Sean Lock into accompanying him, but they choose the wrong time of year for their trip. Sean becomes nearly unhinged when they arrive in a steamy, humid, pre-monsoon Dehli. When the two go looking for fellow travelers, liquor and drugs, all they find is boredom, mosquitoes, and snakes with nothing but humor, getting high and/or drunk and the occasional book to keep them occupied. Until they reach Katmandu… Once there, with Sean healed from bout with what is nicely described as arse-boils, they decide to try a four week trek into the mountains, even though Mark is not feeling quite right. By the time they are halfway to their destination, Mark is feeling bad enough to send Sean continue on his own. What began as ‘not feeling right’ turns into monumental pain and frightening, continuous loss of all sorts of bodily fluids. At this point, it became a book not to be put down, even though you know the author survives. I had my suspicions about what he suffered from, but that’s because of my medical background. Turns out I was close, but not quite on spot. I was awed by Mark’s bravery, humor and determination to survive despite the increasing odds that he wouldn’t. The story of how he managed to get back to England in incredible pain, with no sleep, no food and little water, and most especially without any treatment (there were no MDs qualified to treat him) is unbelievable. His ability to make interesting observations, find kindness in strangers and even make fun of his situation may have helped him survive and definitely helps the reader! Even after getting to a hospital at home did not guarantee his survival, as his treatment threatens to kill him. This book begins as a series of travel misadventures, but quickly morphs into a remarkable journey, seasoned with dry humor, and a testament to the human spirit, which runs strong and true in the author. PS You have to get to the very end to discover what ailed Mark. About the author  Mark Giblin is a cartoon making, song writing, guitar playing, banjo twanging English man. He also makes classic motorbike and car art for his company Revs And Threads. Sean Lock is successful British comedian and TV personality. His TV appearances include QI, 8 Out of 10 Cats, TV Heaven, Telly Hell, Live at the Apollo, 15 Stories High. He also won the Perrier Comedy Award. Speed Bump Himalayas has a forward by the English comedian Sean Lock. I had to check him out on You Tube, and he IS hilarious. It seems he shared this adventure with the author Mark Giblin, and I am glad he survived to write about it! You can find Mark Giblin on Twitter: @mark_mgiblin Speed Bump Himalayas can be found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Speed-Bump-Himalayas-Mark-Giblin/dp/0995421307/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503069724&sr=1-1&keywords=Speed+Bump+Himalayas 0 0

Nondula is a YA book, the second in the Waifs of Duldred series by Ana Salote. I reviewed Oy Yew, the first in the series, and was totally enchanted with the story. Nondula follows the adventures of the children who at the end of Oy Yew have escaped on a raft from their slavery in Duldred: Oy, Alas, Gritty, Gertie and Linnet. Nondula opens with the children awaking in a haystack in the country of that name, having been picked up and blown there by a tornado. The children view this peaceful land and its gentle inhabitants as a land of milk and honey, but they soon learn that Nondula’s neighbors, the cruel and primitive Felluns, are in the process of destroying it in the search for a healer who can treat their queen, Fellona. Each child is assigned a duty: Gerties and Gritty become assistants to the librarian in the Sajistry, a large, underground complex; Linnet, who is pale and colorless is assigned to the weaving barn to make dyes for their yarns; Alas is to be a jack of all trades, and Oy is left to find his way. Eventually he becomes an apprentice healer. Linnet, Oy’s closet friend, falls deathly ill, and Oy works feverishly to find something to restore her color, trying to find a source of the correct yellow color that will make her well. When all the healers of Nondula have been captured by the Felluns, the half-trained Oy is the only one left. Oy decides to go to their land to look for the yellow herb but is captured and thrown into the pits where the animals are kept – the animals being the only source of Fellun food. He is trapped there, cleaning out the pits. Gertie goes after him, joining a dancing company in the hopes of finding him. More than this I don’t want to say; I’d hate to give the story completely away. There are many magical things in Nondula – how could there not be, since the author’s imagination is complex, colorful, and enthralling? She is talented at creating new names from words that we recognize: Sajistry – Sacristy; husbeaus, husbinds, and husbeens, for future, currents and past husbands, for example. Those made me smile. Her five waifs are fully developed into complex individuals in this book, and she limns the other characters so well as to develop the reader’s emotional attachment…or revulsion. Salote has an extraordinary and wondrous voice, painting color and wonders and worlds in lyrical and compelling words. Like the last one, Nondula is a children’s classic for adults, too. It tickles the brain as a fairy tale and an adventure story with ogres. The Felluns are definitely its dark side, but the adventure of it all keeps you reading. Like Oy Yew, I will probably read it again. Because this book focused on the five children, rather than primarily on Oy Yew, as the first one did, I found it very, very, slightly less enjoyable. On the other hand, having the development of all of them will expand the possibilities for the third book, which I anxiously await. I recommend this book highly for anyone from 10 to 100. It takes you on a journey to a wondrous place. About the author Taken from an interview by Maddy at Writing Bubble Ana Salote’s father was a heavyweight boxer from Tonga, her mother was a Derbyshire miner’s daughter. She grew up among strong characters with constant drama, and it became a mine of material.  She attended a comprehensive school where the teachers but left at 16 and went to the university of life, one of reading. She now lives in Somerset, England, which she finds a beautiful, magical place. Ana find some things are intrinsically magical: acorns, seahorses, teapots, owls and chimneys. Chimneys seeded the central mystery of Oy Yew, and the character of Oy is based on a real person: a shy, sensitive character with a voice you strain to hear. In Nondula, his voice rings loud and clear. Ana is also fascinated by nature and nurture. As a writer, Ana is a pantster. She kicks off with a trigger then runs with the scenes, and plot ideas form as she writes. The next books in the series is set for release in a year. You can find Ana on Twitter @AnaSalote Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/ana.salote Nondula is available on Amazon: 0 0

So after our all too brief stop in Innsbruck, we headed off on the hottest day thus far to Lake Lucerne, and an inn with a great view of the lake. We put this spot on our itinerary because behind the inn was Pilatus, one of the Alps. For some reason, the heat in our room got to me and I lay on the bed feeling sick until later that evening. Gene ordered a caprese salad for me, which I ended up eating on the balcony of our room after the sun had departed. The view of Lake Lucerne was spectacular, and we made plans to swim the next day after our trip to Pilatus. Pilatus is a 7000 foot mountain, which we had climbed in 1972. This time – older, wider, and less in shape – we decided to take the new and ferociously expensive aerial tramway up to the top. It’s spectacular and well worth the price though. You start out in a small, four person cable car and then transfer to a larger one halfway up that holds 25 or so people. At the top there are several buildings, including a hotel, a restaurant, and gift shops. The view is amazing, and the best part was the bright sunshine and cool breeze. You can see the expanse of the Alps, including the Jungfrau (13,00 feet) and the Eiger (also 13,000), two of the tallest, that lured mountain climbers each year. This day the horizon was very misty, so I am including another view. Here’s the view on a You Tube video: We climbed all around the top – there are passageways craved through the rock – had a drink and enjoyed the view. We were entertained by a traditional Swiss horn blower, quite a treat, and the jackdaws that flew over the various areas where people were eating. The smallest member of the crow family, they are cavity nesters, so the top of the mountain is a natural habitat. They are a protected species and are quite bold. One landed on a tray a waiter had left momentarily and made away with a whole piece of toast. They are also quite tame, and you aren’t supposed to feed them, but when they trailed us on a path to the far side of the summit, I gave in. They’ll eat right out of your hand, but their beaks are pretty sharp. On the back side of the mountain was the trail we had followed up to the summit. It is a good deal more difficult than the gentle switchback one on the other side. We started our ascent at the bottom part of the white, squiggly trail, in a meadow where we had wine, bread and cheese for lunch. Then, slightly inebriated, we decided to climb. We met a Swiss couple on the way up, we said we could climb with them. They were first cousins to mountain goats, so we were glad when they left the trail to visit a chapel (not in the picture.) You can just see the trail in the middle of this picture, above the tree line. From there we climbed up a wall of scree before finding a passageway in the mountain that led us to the other side and the view of the Alps. Since you can’t see the Alps from this back side, when we emerged at the summit, the view took our breaths away. The Esel and Oberhaupt are two peaks which can be easily reached from the top of Pilatus by climbing some steep stairs. We climbed to the top of Esel – the peak in trhe back of the opening view in the You Tube video, so we have now ascended two of the Alps! There’s another way down the mountain, on a cogwheel railway, which has been making the run to the top for years. This is how we got down in 1972, on the last car of the day. You can see a bit of the gentle switch back trail on this side of the mountain in this picture. On the way back to the inn, we scoped out the beach from which you could swim in Lake Lucerne, the only one nearby. There was no parking and it was about four miles down from the inn, so we decided to skip it. Next time! 0 0