Author name: Sayling@@Away

It’s been a while since my human has let me take over her blog. She had an excellent opportunity when she was in Maine selling books and eating seafood (yes, she taunted me with that!) but somehow she felt I would have a hard time adjusting to having the daughter taking care of me. Little does she know, I got brushed every night and received lots of cuddles. Anyway, I’m sitting at the computer this afternoon while she is out swimming. I have been my usual busyself – sleeping in the new round bed that showed up one day, sunbathing on the porch, sleeping on the sofa with ‘she who must not be named,’ sleeping out by the pool, sleeping on my favorite cushion in the living room, playing with a sock, and lying upside down on the family room rug to entice passersby to rub my tummy. It’s no wonder I need to sleep! Amidst all this summer activity, I reminded my humans what a good watch cat I am. One early summer night, there was a commotion out on the back deck. It was just a big cat with large big ears playing through glass door with me, but it ran away when Noelle opened the door and talked to it. I heard my humans say it was a bob cat. A few days later, it came back very early, before the sun was up. www.felidaefund.org (if you want to save our North American bob cats) Apparently during its absence, it had decided it didn’t like me.  So it crashed into the glass door. Do you think it wanted to eat me? I was very brave! I howled and hissed and screeched and yowled, which naturally woke everyone in the house.  And you know what? That big cat ran away and hasn’t been back since. I was very proud, and my human told me many times how wonderful I’d been, so I just had to walk around with my fur all puffed out the entire day! I, Elijah Moon, had driven off that big cat. tvtropes.org I just wish my brother was alive to see it…Zeke was the hunter! 0 0

I couldn’t help responding to Sue Vincent’s photo prompt from last week. Ellen looked at the crowd of people around the cage in which she hung, their red faces contorted as they shouted cruel words at her. “I’m not a witch,” she yelled over and over, until her throat was raw. “I’m innocent!” The Elders hadn’t listened to her either, and she knew what awaited her – either the ducking stool or the hangman’s noose. Maybe even fire. She sank to her knees, weak with fright. Then she heard the sound of tramping feet and looked up to see the Elders approaching her cage. Someone lowered it to the ground and unlocked the door. Arms roughly dragged her out and along the dirt road to the river, her heels leaving two lines in the dirt. So, it was to be the ducking stool. She felt the faintest glimmer of hope. They tied her hand and ankles with rough rope and placed her on the chair at the end of a long pole. Their last step was to bind her loosely to the chair. She knew if she struggled out of her binding and came to the surface, she would be deemed guilty. If she stayed down, she would drown and be proclaimed innocent. Elder Williams pronounced, “Ellen Sayers, you have been judged a witch. You proclaim your innocence. Now you have a chance to prove it.” Ellen took as many deep breaths as she could before they lowered the chair, weighted by a huge rock, into the deepest part of the river. Wiggling out of her binding, she expelled some air, which rose in bubbles to the surface and helped her stay at the bottom, where she swam dolphin style with the faster-moving bottom current.  Hold on, hold on. Don’t breathe out. Follow the flow. God help me. She finally emerged from the surface out of sight of the crowd, knowing they would soon pull the chair up. She maneuvered to the opposite bank, imaging what the townspeople would think. Working the ropes from her ankles, she climbed out of the river. They didn’t know she’d been taught to swim by her grandmother and loved the water. 0 0

I really enjoy books that are aimed at a YA audience, and I did enjoy this one. The Owl Goddess by Jenny Twist is based on the claim of Erich von Dänekin that extraterrestrials or “ancient astronauts” visited Earth and influenced early human culture and is set in the prehistoric Mesolithic age.  It’s a first contact tale, which begins with the crash of the spaceship Atlantis on a planet populated by an intelligent but primitive people. The sign of their Goddess appears in the sky, marking the crash site – a giant Sacred Mushroom. The difference in this story is that the aliens aboard the spaceship are a group of Greek gods and goddesses: the teenage Athena, her father Zeus, Ares, Demeter, Artemis, Apollo, Hades and Poseidon, to name a few. Following the crash, which they all survive, they set up camp and very quickly recognize that this planet is exactly like their home. The gods become quite delightfully human in this author’s creation, having many of the foibles we associate with their myths, and assume the jobs of their mythic descriptions. Hestia, for example, the virgin goddess of the hearth, architecture and domesticity, takes on the job of camp cook, while Hera, the wife of Zeus, is portrayed as self-centered and shrewish. The book is told from the points of view of Athena, and the boy, Prometheus, who not surprisingly is the keeper of the fire for his primitive tribe, the Titans. Prometheus is in love with Pandora, who has become The Mother of the tribe and assumed sacred powers. The Mother decides to see the aliens and she and the tribe climb the mountain to reach their camp. What follows is an interesting story of assimilation and learning, as the two groups try to understand each other. There is plenty of tension: the love triangle of Athena, Prometheus, and Pandora; the hatred of Prometheus for his brother, who becomes Pandora’s husband; the challenge of Atlas to Zeus’ leadership.  The author also cleverly weaves in some of the legends: Athena adopts a baby owl, and the primitive tribe worships her as a wise goddess; Zeus banishes Atlas and his followers across the Mediterranean to Africa. This is a sweet story and an easy read, humorous with quirky characters. The only drawback for me was some of the dialogue – a bit simple. The book should be a great hit with tweens and younger teens who are into Greek mythology. Four out of five stars About the author from Amazon): Jenny Twist left school at fifteen and went to work in various jobs, including an asbestos factory and a bacon-packing plant. She even did a turn as an escapologist’s assistant before returning to full-time education, earning a BA in history at Manchester and doing post-graduate studies at Oxford. In 2001, she retired and moved to Spain where she lives with her husband and their rather eccentric dog and cat. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, knitting and attempting to do fiendishly difficult logic puzzles. You can reach Jenny at: amazon.com/author/jennytwist https://sites.google.com/site/jennytwistauthor/home https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenny-Twist-Author/291166404240446 https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4848320.Jenny_Twist Twitter: @JennyTwist1 You can find The Owl Goddess on Amazon: 0 0

Here’s my people for this week! Check them out – as usual, amazing! Madelyn Griffith-Haynie https://addandsomuchmore.com/  Madelyn has a lot of degrees (CTP, A.C.T., CMC, MCC, SCAC) and is a certified [Life] Coaching pioneer and ADD Coaching Field founder. She blogs about ADD and all the other alphabet disorders. I wish I had had her around when my son (who even as an adult is still ADHD) to help me. She could be a fantastic resource for some of you. https://kittomalley.com/2016/07/06/arms-length/ Kitt O’Malley is a mental health advocate, wife, mother, sister and daughter who neglects housework as she blogs, connects using social media, and lives with bipolar disorder. This is a great resource blog for those who live with or are living with bipolar disorder. https://tammikale.com/2016/07/04/independence-is-a-state-of-being/  Tammi Kale is mother, daughter, mammy and a budding author.  She is loves to travel, loves to read, loves to make new friends, and a lover of animals.  Her travel recommendations and photos are wonderful! https://burbuqeraufi.wordpress.com/2016/06/07/short-stories/  Burbuqe writes short stories, inspirational pieces, quotes and other uplifting posts. Visit this blog is you need a lift! https://bloggingpuppies.wordpress.com/about/  This blog specializes in photos of dogs, alone or with humans, and other pets. I love the these! https://lcaisling.wordpress.com/  L C Aisling is the pen name of an Estonian author, whose writings have grown into worlds of their own over the years with characters, rules, weather forecasts and shoes that need to be remembered and organized: an alternative to the modern world, a parallel universe with an urban fantasy twist, and aliens in a futuristic world. Some of her posts involve an encyclopedia with all the information about these worlds.  I checked one out, and she does an amazing job! https://immodiumabuser.com/2011/08/03/wanna-hear-something-ironic-imodium-ad-actually-tried-to-stage-an-intervention-with-me/  And now for something truly different.  For him, Imodium is a lifestyle choice.  He will not leave the house without Imodium in his pocket. Throughout his whole life, the constant support system and the thing that enabled him to accomplish anything has been Imodium, so name of his blog is a shout out to the Rx. He writes wonderfully sarcastic posts. Check out: My relationship with St. Patrick’s Day: It’s nothing to shake your shillelagh at! https://alwaysnforeva.wordpress.com/2016/06/15/love-is-work/ This is an uplifting and spiritual blog of encouragement by a person who spreads the word that if you learn to work with all the negatives in life, you will surely make better pictures out of it. https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2016/05/28/the-stamped-addressed-envelope/ Pamela Canepa posts reflections on writing, life, dogs, learning, books, and almost everything else. This latest one is about accepting the fact her son is not going to be a college student, how he found another niche, and cashing in his college fund to add to a retirement fund. Lots of letting go and acceptance. Which I did myself when my son decided to join the Army instead of college. Check this one out! The Impeccable One https://theidlerinrapture.wordpress.com/2016/06/19/notes_from_underground/ The Impeccable One is Subhajit Das, an extremely good-looking (as per his gravatar – what? I’m not dead!) young Indian man who reviews anime, books, movies, TV series, music and dance in great depth and insight. Check out his blog for recent reviews if you have a question about a choice in any of these categories. 0 0

Sue Vincent is one of my blogging buddies, and she asked me if I would do a guest post. You can see it here: https://scvincent.com/2016/08/09/guest-author-n-a-granger-pilgrim-children/ I was honored to be asked, and I decided to use the opportunity to present some of the research I’ve been doing for my historical novel. Since the woman about whom I’m writing was 4-5 years old at the time of the Mayflower voyage in 1620, Pilgrim children are much on my mind. What you will see is that children are not much different, no matter the historical era. If you haven’t had a chance to meet Sue, do check her out. Her blog is nothing short of amazing. 0 0

Baby X by Rebecca Ann Smith is a work of science fiction…or is it? The story is built around the ethical and human considerations of growing a baby (embryo, then fetus) ex utero – that is, in an artificial uterus in a laboratory. Scientifically, we are almost at the point of being able to do this, so what are the concerns? The story is told in first person from different viewpoints: Alex Mansfield, the physician and scientist overseeing the entire operation, from conception to implantation to growth; Karen Frey, the woman, who for genetic reasons is unable to bear a child, and who chooses to have a donor egg fertilized by her husband’s sperm and grown ex utero; and Dolly, Samantha McFarlane, who takes the position of laboratory assistant in Dr. Mansfield’s lab and thus observes the motivations and emotions of both her supervisor and the patient. Having these three viewpoints is essential to understand the complicated motivations of each woman and added a depth to the story. What I had difficulty with was the timeline: the story jumped forward and back. I think it would have been better written in a linear fashion, since the changes in point of view, coupled with the jumps in time line, led to some initial confusion on my part. An element of surprise is given away at the very beginning – Dr. Mansfield births and kidnaps the baby boy, named Baby X, and goes on the run. This grabs the reader and the how and why of it develops through the rest of the story. I think using this as an introduction is fine, as long as the remainder of the story proceeded in a straightforward fashion. The author does a bang up job combining the science and medical ethics of the various techniques available to help childless couples, and since I myself went through a round of in vitro fertilization, I could feel Karen’s pain and sense of worthlessness. Her husband, Robert, came across as a cypher, in that he initially agreed to everything having to do with Karen’s decision to try IVG (in vitro gestation), only to reject his wife and her feelings after the event. This struck me as off, but it’s certainly the author’s choice in developing her characters! There was no discussion of adoption (something that was considered in passing later on), which is usually something childless couples discuss at the outset of their decision-making. The mystery comes with the involvement of scientist with a questionable past in Alex’s life – what is his motivation and is he trying to harm the baby? Why is Alex experiencing changes in her physiology? Through it all, we get the thoughtful observations of Dolly, who is being questioned about the process and the people involved via a Public Inquiry. Despite the furor generated by the media, she remains close to and supportive of Alex, all the while questioning the ethics and ramifications of IVG. This book explores the maternal instinct from any mangles, along with its challenges and compensation. I enjoyed it, possibly because of my scientific background and personal experiences, but also because there is good story telling here. It is leavened with the humanity and decency of the author’s consideration of the medical ethics and the readers are left to decide for themselves how they feel about the issues raised. About the author Rebecca Ann Smith writes novels for novels for adults, teenagers and children.  Her first published novel is Baby X. She is interested in creativity, feminism and social justice; she blogs mainly about her writing process, but occasionally about politics, swimming and other random stuff. She can be found on her blog: http://www.rebeccaannsmith.co.uk/ on twitter: @beckysmithhurst) and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebeccaannsmithauthor/?fref=nf Baby X is available on  Kindle through Mother’s Milk Publishers: http://www.mothersmilkbooks.com/index.php/shop/product/212-baby-x-by-rebecca-ann-smith And on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30823467-baby-x 0 0

As most of you know, I have made it a habit to do a shout out to new followers. I have been blessed with 30+ in the last month or so, so many that in order to do a shout out to each of them, I am instituting a post called New Followers Friday. Each Friday I will recognize six or seven people who have chosen to follow my blog…until I run out! I hope everyone will take a look at these amazing bloggers. I have, and I’ve come down with a case of blogger boggle! Hemangini blogs at My PetriDish.  This blog has book reviews and pretty darned good short stories, so check it out!  http://mypetridish.com/blog/me-before-you-by-jojo-moyes-book-review/ MeRaw   The Journey of My Left Foot (whist remembering my son) is written by a mother with malignant melanoma. She has already suffered the loss of her son to testicular cancer and writes movingly about her life.  https://alienblob.com/2016/05/18/remembering-you/ Stephen Anthony is a recent college graduate trying to build up his social presence. He is a skilled photographer – check him out at https://stevenphotos.wordpress.com/about/ Kritika Nangia at When the Pen Speaks, who is pursuing an engineering Degree from Delhi Tchnological University (formerly Delhi College of engineering) with majors in Computer Science and who likes to explore, travel, eat, meet people and write. Expand your world and go here: https://kritikanangia.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/the-dilemma/ Plaisted Publishing house for indie authors. Check it out at  https://plaistedpublishinghouse.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/scam-alert-paperbacks/ Amanda Fairchild at the Uncertain Scribe. She’s a poet, the author of short stories and thoughts on writing. https://theuncertainscribe.wordpress.com/2016/05/08/a-forbidden-mothers-day-poem/ Adam Harkus, a musician! His blog contains music, written and performed by him. To treat your ears, find him athttps://adamharkusblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/30/sitting-here-at-home/ 0 0

How could I resist reading a sci-fi book which has a blurb saying, “Parts of the world are disappearing…”? The premise is exciting: bits of our world are just gone – a part of a beach, a swath of African savannah, a wall in the Grand Canyon. The well-drawn characters who discover these phenomena are compelling, and the descriptive talent of the author is truly awesome – beautiful, colorful, lyrical. Eventually news of these individual events makes its way via circuitous and political avenues to the United Nations, where the allocation of money which can be diverted to investigate the phenomenon gets the ball rolling. Simple, yes? Hardly. This book is packed with expositions on fractal geometry, quantum physics, philosophy, civic and corporate politics, psychology, religion – all wonderfully written but heavy on minutiae. In many ways, it reminded me of Umberto Eco’s In the Name of the Rose. I think the book will appeal to people whose roots lie in these various disciplines, but I freely admit that much of the physics and math lost me, and there were parts where I turned the pages to get back to the story line. At least I understand Shrodinger’s cat and the Heisenberg Principle! The protagonist is a young woman, Susan Corporell, who works for the UN in Africa, fighting a losing battle with local government to provide donated food to starving populations. She sees one of the first manifestations of the phenomenon and it is she who finds a physicist and mathematician, David Altaforce, with the drive and supreme intelligence to try to determine the cause of the “disappearances.” The great mystery is not only who is behind them, but how it’s being done, and the solution will boggle you. The plot is wonderful, with lots of twists and turns, and the characters are colorful and three dimensional. Herzog is a truly gifted writer, and this book will appeal to readers who are looking for a dense, intelligent story packed with musings and observations on far more than just the story line. About the author: Robert Herzog was an entrepreneur in the worlds of energy, environment, digital media, the internet and health care for over thirty years, while keeping alive his writing hopes. He’s had stories and poems published in Solstice Literary Magazine, Toasted Cheese, Downstate Story Magazine, Straylight Literary Arts Magazine, and South Jersey Underground, and made an award-winning short film, “Flights.” He was a physics major until he read Nietzsche, a political philosopher who became an entrepreneur engaged with the great issues of his time, from energy and the environment to technology and health care, and this translates into his first book. He has also climbed another height, Mt. Kilimanjaro. This book is the culmination of decades of dreams. You can find the author at:    http://www.robertmherzog.com/ and http://thezog.com/ on twitter @HerzogIND and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertmherzogauthor/?fref=nf 0 0

We arrived home yesterday afternoon, just in advance of some mighty thunderstorms that rolled through all last night. While we were gone, other storms took down a huge loblolly pine which fell across our driveway. We had to arrange for its removal to an area out of the way from Maine. We had a grand time, eating lobster and more lobster, whole body clams, scallops, mussels, Atlantic halibut and more lobster. Oh, and those delicious little wild Maine blueberries in scones, waffles, pie and crisp. We had to bring back some jam. The views in the evenings while dining were wonderful.                 While I was there I popped into an antique shop and discovered a Staffordshire ware plate that spoke to me because it depicts the courtship of Priscilla Mullins by John Alden (both origine Mayflower passengers) as immortalized by Longfellow. WWL imagined a triangular courtship with Myles Standish asking Alden to speak for him to gain Priscilla’s hand. All fabricated of course – there is no record of this happening – but it makes for a good story. I enlarged the back photo so you could see the plate had been for Smith’s store in Plymouth (I wonder how it got to Maine?) in 1957. Smith’s was an upper end gift store my family used to patronize for wedding gifts and oogling, but  it’s been closed for probably 30 years. My book signings went well – sold out the first and most of the third books in Boothbay and Camden – and I plan to return to Damariscotta in October for their Pumpkin Fest to sell more of Death by Pumpkin, since one of the festival events inspired the book. I visited the Boothbay Brewery for an incredible lobster roll and slaw made from vegetables (including kale) grown on the brewery’s farm and sampled their beers. The brewery might be featured in my next book – it even has a friendly ghost. All in all an pretty fun time, but then I always have a good time in Maine.   0 0

I’m on vacation, as you all know, but couldn’t miss re-posting this from Terry Tyler. As the author of a just published new book, I support this most whole-heartedly. ******* On Monday 25th July, book blogger Rosie Amber wrote this post encouraging readers and writers alike to post a short review on Amazon for any book they’ve read and enjoyed. The idea is that, from August 1st, everyone who reads this uses their Amazon account to post just one review on one book that they’ve read (but feel free to carry on if you get in the swing!).  You don’t even have to have read it recently, it can be any book you’ve read, any time.  The book does not have to have been purchased from Amazon, though if it is you get the ‘Verified Purchase’ tag on it; however, if you download all your books via Kindle Unlimited, as many do these days, they don’t show the VP tag, anyway. Remember, this isn’t the Times Literary Supplement, it’s Amazon, where ordinary people go to choose their next £1.99 Kindle book.  No one expects you to write a thousand word, in-depth critique; I don’t know about you, but I’m more likely to read one short paragraph or a couple of lines saying what an average reader thought of a book, than a long-winded essay about the pros and cons of the various literary techniques used.  Yes, those are welcome too (!), but no more so than a few words saying “I loved this book, I was up reading it until 3am”, or “I loved Jim and Vivien and the dialogue was so realistic”, or whatever! Why should you write a review? They help book buyers make decisions.  Don’t you read the reviews on Trip Advisor before deciding on a hotel, or any site from which you might buy an item for practical use?  Book reviews are no different. If the book is by a self-published author, or published by an independent press, the writers have to do all their promotion and marketing themselves ~ reviews from the reading public is their one free helping hand. The amount of reviews on Amazon helps a book’s visibility (allegedly).  If you love a writer’s work and want others to do so, too, this is the best possible way of making this happen. It’s your good deed for the day, and will only take five minutes! Off we go, then!  A few more pointers: If you need any help with writing your review, do click on Rosie’s post, above. A review can be as short as one word.  The shortest one I have is just two 🙂 You don’t have to put your name to the review, as your Amazon ‘handle’ can be anything you like. No writer expects all their reviews to be 5* and say the book is the best thing ever written; there is a star rating guide on Rosie’s post. Would you like to tell the Twittersphere about your review?  If so, tweet the link to it with the hashtag #AugustReviews ~ and thank you!  I will do one blog post a week featuring these links: The #AugustReviews Hall of Fame (thank you, Barb!). If you have a blog and would like to spread the word about #AugustReviews, please feel free to copy and paste this blog post, provide the link to it, re-blog it, or whatever ~ many thanks, and I hope you will join in to make this idea a success 🙂 THANK YOU! 0 0