Uncategorized

This is the fourth book of five in No Woman Is an Island: Inspiring and Empowering International Women, a collection of novels written by different authors and edited by Jean Gill. I agreed to review this as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team, for which I received a copy in return for a fair and honest review. The Chalky Sea is a story of the physical, mental and romantic tribulations of people from different backgrounds and countries brought together by the disruptions of war. Clare Flynn has set her novel in England during WW II and tells it from two viewpoints, one English, one Canadian. I doing so, she paints a very realistic picture of the vagaries and horror of that war. Englishwoman Glen Collinwood lives in Eastbourne on the eastern coast of England and is enduring a farewell to her husband, who is heading off to an unknown job in the Army during WW II. Despite the fact she knows she may never see him again, her good-bye is muted, almost sterile, which is an early hint to her character. Two weeks later, her sleepy little town is attacked by German bombers, who will return several times over the next two years. Jim Armstrong is a wheat farmer in Ontario, uncertain whether he should volunteer for the army. But when he learns his fiancée is having an affair with his younger brother, he leaves the farm and two weeks later, is on a ship bound for England with other enlistees. As the war progresses, Gwen is called upon to intercept and translate German radio broadcasts, the job which Jim, who is billeted in her house, will take over. The presence of the soldiers, as well as of a young mother with two children who loses her home in a bombing attack, causes Gwen to re-evaluate her distant and unemotional relationships – not only with her husband but also with the other people in her life. A romance with Jim brings her shortcomings into clarity. The author brings in some interesting facts – the Canadian army volunteers find themselves stuck in England, enduring unending and prolonged training before they are ever considered ready for combat, and the German bombed non-critical targets to demoralize the British. This, along with the expected disruptions caused by the war, wartime romances between young soldiers and local girls, unexpected pregnancies, rationing, and death notices underscore the common theme is how war changes people in basic ways, sometime for better and sometimes for worse. Gwen’s gradual metamorphosis is at the heart of this premise. There were a few parts of the plot that didn’t ring true: Jim’s best friend falling instantaneously in love with one of the ‘common’ women and marrying her at once, Jim’s relationship with a woman he doesn’t understand and doesn’t seem to like, followed by his intense relationship with Gwen, which ends with no lasting emotion. The ending was abrupt, but happy, for one of these characters, while the future of the other was left hanging at a crucial juncture. I would have liked to see the former drawn out more and the latter resolved. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this historical romance. The characters were for the most part believable and the settings rendered with such realism that the reader is sucked into the story. The author has done her research, and the tension and deprivations the war brought to England are palpable. This is the first book in the author’s Canadians series, and I plan to read the other two books in that series: The Alien Corn and The Frozen River. About the author (Amazon) Historical novelist Clare Flynn is a former global marketing director and business owner. She now lives in Eastbourne on the south coast of England and most of her time these days is spent writing her novels. She is the author of twelve novels and a short story collection. Her books deal with displacement – her characters are wrenched away from their comfortable existences and forced to face new challenges – often in outposts of an empire that largely disappeared after WW2. Clare’s novels often feature places she knows well and she does extensive research to build the period and geographic flavor of her books. Fluent in Italian, she loves spending time in Italy. In her spare time she likes to quilt, paint and travel as often and as widely as possible. She is an active member of the Historical Novel Society, the Romantic Novelists Association, The Society of Authors, and the Alliance of Independent Authors. You can find Clare Flynn On twitter: @Clarefly On her book site:  www.clareflynn.co.uk. On Face book: https://www.facebook.com/clarefly You can find The Chalky Sea in the anthology or as a standalone book on Amazon: 0 0

This is the third book in No Woman Is an Island: Inspiring and Empowering International Women, a collection of five novels written by different authors and edited by Jean Gill. I agreed to review this as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team, for which I received a copy in return for a fair and honest review. The Chase was a pace and tone shift from the previous two books in the collection. I did not know this author before reading it but found that her writing captivated me more than the story. There are some authors I read for the joy of the written word, Pat Conroy being one of them, and I have added Lorna Fergusson to the list. Lorna Fergusson has woven a dark, emotional tale set in the beautiful Dordogne region of France. Once again, a house plays a vital role. Le Sanglier is a very old house buried deep in the woods of the Dordogne, a site layered with history as revealed by the author, stories within the story. I particularly liked this aspect of the book and its relationship to the ending. Without consulting his wife, the boorish, domineering and self-centered Gerald Feldwick buys a centuries-old house with an unpleasant past named Le Sanglier, during a trip to the region. I’m not sure at what time the story is set –1990s? – but it appears a number of British are moving there for retirement or vacation. He springs it on his wife, Annette, known as Netty (although she dislikes that name), telling her he sees it as a way of moving on from a tragedy in their life, the death of their young son. The young child was snatched from under Annette’s nose while she was talking to a friend, and Gerald blames her when his body is later found. Gerald believes that restoring Le Sanglier to some of its former glory will make Annette emerge from the fog of the tragedy and draw them closer together. In fact, it does the opposite. Annette is a flawed character, despite the tragedy. She is complex and highly self-absorbed and has, at best, a shaky relationship with Gerald, whom she doesn’t really love. She is uncomfortable in her relations with both of her grown children – her daughter because she is like her father and her son, who is gay. She shows no interest in her grandchildren and refuses to take the reins of her own life and prefers to blame others. I found her totally unsympathetic.  In fact, I didn’t much like any of the characters populating Annette’s world in France, although they were very wonderfully drawn – in particular, a retired professor named Rutherford Appleby (Fred), who lives nearby and has a sexual fetish and whom Gerald regards as an old fossil; the blue-blooded and black sheep Peter Rettlesham-Carey, a rude and heavy-drinking ex-pat, in whom Gerald finds a macho pal; and Claudine Bellenger, a French aristocrat who owns Bel Arbre, a palatial house and estate that is a museum to her dead husband. I found her to be the most compelling, perhaps because she was the least flawed. The story arc – Annette’s interactions with her neighbors, her unraveling marriage, the refurbishment of the house, her discovery of its history – proceeds at a glacial pace, and I must admit there were so many details of places in the Dordogne region, which the author clearly knows well and I don’t, that I was occasionally lost.  I kept hoping for some resolutions to Annette’s challenging relationships, but even in the end, they didn’t arrive. I cannot say I was engrossed by this novel, but oh! the writing. The author’s power of description of place and emotions was stunningly beautiful and although I was not drawn to the story, I read on, entranced by the author’s written word. It’s a tribute to the author that she could sustain my interest in reading this, despite the pacing and a protagonist I didn’t really like.  I will definitely read another offering from her. About the author (Amazon): Born and raised in Scotland, Lorna Fergusson moved to Oxford where she runs Fictionfire Literary Consultancy. She has taught creative writing for more than twenty years, including at the University of Winchester’s Writers’ Festival and on various programs for Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education. Her novel, The Chase, was originally published by Bloomsbury: on the rights reverting, she published it under her own imprint, Fictionfire Press. She has won an Ian St James short story award, been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, longlisted for the Fish Short Story Prize, and her children’s novel Hinterland reached the shortlist of four for Pan Macmillan’s Write Now Prize. She was a finalist in the Historical Novel Society’s short story competition in 2012, before winning in 2014 with her story ‘Salt’, initially published in Distant Echoes by Corazon Press and now republished in An Oxford Vengeance. Longlisted for the 2020 Mogford Prize for Food and Drink Writing and she was runner-up for the 2021 award. This is British author Lorna Fergusson’s first novel, although she has contributed several award-winning short stories to two books published as collections. You can find Lorna Fergusson On twitter: @lornafergusson On her book site: https://www.lornafergusson.com/ And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LornaFergussonAuthor You can find The Chase on Amazon, either in the anthology or as a stand-alone novel. 0 0

This is the second in a collection of five novels written by different authors and edited by Jean Gill – No Woman Is an Island: Inspiring and Empowering International Women. I agreed to review this as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team, for which I received a copy in return for a fair and honest review. Hidden is a time-shifting book that leaves the reader guessing the outcome to the very end. When the father she never knew dies, Miranda Norton inherits his sixteenth century house – and the art collection within – called Myddleton Mote.  Recently divorced from an overbearing and brutish husband, she finds herself at a crossroads in her life and decides to move on and live in the house. She invites her extended family to join her and together they begin a restoration and modernization to try making a business of house tours and events. When the ex-husband returns to bully her and vandalizes some of the artwork, Miranda discovers a secret held by the house for a hundred years. Celebrated artist Esme Howard lived in Myddleton Mote in 1917. With her fiancé killed in the war, still wanting to be loved and have a child, and with a sense of duty, she advertises in a newspaper: “Lady, fiancé killed, will gladly marry officer totally blinded or otherwise incapacitated by the war.” She meets a suitable responder, Captain Guy Carlyle, an officer whose face and body have been severely damaged in the war, and they decide to marry. Unfortunately, Esme is unaware of the tortured mind of her new husband, who suffers from what would now be called extreme post-traumatic stress syndrome. He daily relives the horrors of war in the trenches with increasing paranoia, screaming nightmares, and deep-seated suspicion of his new wife. Soon Esme realizes there will never be a child, something Guy did not tell her. Esme finds comfort in the company of the local physician and after one night of unexpected passion, finds herself pregnant. As the child grows within her, Guy’s wrath turns on her and she becomes locked by him in her own home. Her response is to paint a series of works, within which she places her cries for help, hoping that one day someone will find them. That person is Miranda. This is a cleverly devised story that captures the reader from the start. The house is not only a setting but also a character unto itself with its incredible atmosphere. Those that inhabit it project true emotions that lend reality to the story. The author deals with Guy’s descent into the madness of his PTSD with unblinking authenticity and pathos. Nevertheless, despite the heavy emotional matter, the author draws all the threads of the story to a satisfying, if sad, ending. About the author (Amazon) Linda Gillard lives in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. She’s the author of nine novels, including STAR GAZING (Piatkus), shortlisted in 2009 for Romantic Novel of the Year and The Robin Jenkins Literary Award for writing that promotes the Scottish landscape. Linda’s fourth novel, HOUSE OF SILENCE became a Kindle bestseller. It was selected by Amazon as one of their Top Ten Best of 2011 in the Indie Author category. In 2019 Amazon’s Lake Union imprint re-published THE TRYSTING TREE as THE MEMORY TREE and it became a #1 Kindle bestseller. You can find the author On Twitter: @lindagillard On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaGillardAuthor On her book site: http://lindagillard.co.uk/ Hidden is available on Amazon as part of the anthology or as a standalone: 0 0

As a member of Rosie’s Book Review team, I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest review. The story: A close-knit group of long-time friends plan a several days’ hiking trip together in the remote and mountainous Tsitsikamma region of South Africa, along its southern border. When one of the group members, Michelle, can’t make the trip because of her duties as a high court judge, she has her daughter Clare go in her place. Clare is an anorexic, which is a poorly guarded secret, and has isolated herself from people because of her disorder. She agrees to go, so she can spend time with her father, Geoffrey, but it is clear from the outset that she feels and wants herself to be apart from the group. Although the story is Clare’s, it is also that of Faye, the middle-aged wife of Derek, who is an emotional batterer. Faye has little belief in herself or her independence after years of marriage to him and feels fearful and helpless. When Clare develops a migraine, she stays behind at the group’s first overnight camp. The rest head off on a long hike, unaware that Derek has not told them that unseasonal rains have been predicted, which could create dangerous floods of the rivers they have to cross. After a few hours of hiking, Faye, feeling guilty about leaving Clare alone and wanting to be away from the ever-badgering husband, decides to head back alone to the first camp. The rains do come and the rivers flood, wreaking havoc with the hiking group, and Clare is seriously injured when she falls from an overlook of a river near the first camp. Faye takes control for both of them, building a shelter when she finds Clare is too badly injured to return to camp, nursing the young woman and sleeping by her side to keep her warm. Together, they discover that they share a common emotion – shame – which keeps them trapped in their situations. Despite the differences in their ages, both women, but Faye especially, uncover the reasons for their shame and also find courage through their growing relationship. This is a terrific book, entwining and describing with flashbacks the intricacies of the interpersonal relationships of the group and the lack of personal awareness in both Faye’s and Clare’s lives. Faye’s manipulation by Derek, who is wonderfully created as an overbearing person acting out his insecurities, and Clare’s extreme control of her life through her anorexia, develop through the backstory so the reader comes to understand how they reached this point. Anorexia is by its nature difficult to understand, and the author does a brilliant job explaining Clare’s descent into the illness. The reader can feel the physical challenges facing the members of the hiking group and the stark, isolated and challenging environment in which they find themselves. And one can’t help but cheer as Faye’s newly discovered resilience and resourcefulness helps to support Clare, as she faces increasing weakness and the possible outcome. The story is gripping, tense and well-wrought, in terms of the characters’ complex narratives, the beauty of the South African wilderness, and the constant danger surrounding the hikers. Spoiler: Not all will survive. This book is a powerful celebration of human resiliency, and I highly recommend it. Five stars. About the author: Penny Haw lives in South Africa and began her career by writing articles and columns for newspapers, magazines and websites, such as Business Day, Sunday Times, Financial Mail, Sunday Independent, and The Weekender. Her first book, Nicko, The Tale of a Vervet Monkey on an African Farm, was published to high acclaim in 2017 and is now included in middle-grade school curricula. The Wilderness Between Us is her debut novel of literary fiction and will be published by Koëhler Books on July 31, 2021 and is available on Amazon. The author can be found On twitter: @Penny Haw And online at two sites: https://pennyhaw.com/news  and https://pennyhaw.com 0 0

This past weekend my husband and I were given a wonderful tour of the First Parish Church/Meetinghouse in Plymouth, MA, by Peter Santaw. Although I grew up in Plymouth, I had never visited this place and it was only with the research for my historical novel, The Last Pilgrim, the Story of Mary Allerton Cushman, did this oversight occur to me! During the Pilgrims’ first winter in Plymouth 400 years ago, the colonists worshiped in a small wooden structure at the bottom of First Street, now called Leyden Street, near the harbor. Two years later, the fort constructed on Burial Hill in 1622 – the site of which is just above and behind the current church –served as a place of worship until the Pilgrims built their first church (a simple square structure) on the north side of Town Square in 1648. The beams of the fort were not wasted, however, and were incorporated into the Old Fort House/Harlow House about a half-mile away. As the congregation grew and the 1648 Meetinghouse fell into disrepair, it was replaced in 1683 by the second Meetinghouse. That building was set on common land at the highest point in what was, and still is, Plymouth’s Town Square, placed so it faced Leyden St. and Plymouth Harbor.                       Fort 1622,  First Meetinghouse 1648,  Second Meetinghouse  1683 Plan for Second Meeting House Until 1744 the church and the town were one entity, with the Meetinghouse serving both the religious and civic needs of the town. In 1744, however, the town gave the church the land upon which the second Meetinghouse sat and build a courthouse for civic proceedings, creating a division between church and state. The townspeople build a third church in 1744, to replace the 1683 structure. That church remained in use for nearly one hundred years, until 1831, when the fourth Meetinghouse, a large gothic wooden church, was constructed. The fourth Meetinghouse burned to the ground in 1892, and the congregation made plans for a new meetinghouse, one that became a reality thanks to donors throughout America. The cornerstone was laid in 1896 and the fifth Pilgrim Meetinghouse was completed in 1897 and dedicated on Forefathers’ Day, December 21, 1899. This is the structure we toured. Third Meetinghouse 1744, Fourth Meetinghouse, 1831, Fifth (and current) Meetinghouse 1897 Fifth Meetinghouse, 1908 Fifth Meetinghouse, 2021 The building is now designated as a Meetinghouse rather than a church, as the result of its donation to the town of Plymouth, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior in 2014. Today, 124 years after its completion, it remains the centerpiece of Plymouth’s historic Town Square.                                             ****** As Peter Santaw, our docent, explained, the fifth Pilgrim Meetinghouse was designed during a period when the Arts & Crafts Movement was flourishing in Boston. Designed in the Romanesque Revival style, the Meetinghouse’s 88’ high Norman-inspired tower and flanking faux buttresses symbolically reflect the type of church with which the Pilgrims would have been familiar in England. The exterior reflects the Romanesque Revival style, with an 88-foot-high Norman-inspired tower and flanking faux buttresses reflecting the type of church with which the Pilgrims would have been familiar in England. The church has ten carillon bells and the tower also houses a Paul Revere bell, cast in 1801 and recast after being damaged during the 1892 fire that destroyed the fourth Meetinghouse. In keeping with the Arts and Crafts style, unique stained glass Tiffany windows celebrate the Pilgrim epic and Pilgrim values, which have become the core values of America. Meeting of Pilgrims with Massoit                                    Trial of Oldham and Lyford, Bradford presiding The sanctuary’s center chancel window is called the Signing of the Compact and depicts the signing of the Mayflower compact, the original American instrument of democratic government. The town-meeting concept was established by the Pilgrim Fathers, as was the annual election of officers. It is flanked stained glass windows depicting Civil Liberty and Religious Liberty. In addition, the sanctuary features carved quarter-sawn oak and is one of the finest examples of hammer-beam construction in the United States. The hand carving of the beams and the pulpit is extraordinary! At the present time, the interior of the church needs major repairs. A leaking roof did major damage over the years, during a time when the congregation could not afford to fix it. Not wanting to see the meeting house further decay, they gifted it to the town. A new $2 million dollar roof has been installed and now attention can be paid to the inside. The plaster walls are made with horsehair and must be repaired according to historical guidelines. Unfortunately, humidity degrades this plaster, so air conditioning and dehumidifiers must be installed for any interior repairs to hold up. I hope you enjoyed our tour! 0 0

No Woman is an Island is a collection of five novels written by different authors and edited by Jean Gill. I agreed to review this as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team, for which I received a copy in return for a fair and honest review. These novels span time, beginning in the Middle Ages. Each is a stand-alone written by five internationally recognized authors. The books do have a common theme: the challenges women face, often created by the opposite sex. Some are real physical threats, others are more psychological. Some come from within. The good thing is that each has a satisfying ending, but with twists. And as the title says, they inspire and empower. I enjoyed each one in a different way, like a surprising variety of baked goods from a patisserie to go with cups of warm and steaming coffee. In this blog and another four are the individual reviews. You can find No Woman Is An Island on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Island-Inspiring-Empowering-International-ebook/dp/B094473R67/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=No+Woman+is+an+Island&qid=1627400608&sr=8-1 Four stars out of five ********* Blood Rose Angel, by Liza Perrat Héloïse is a midwife living in the French village of Luci-sur-Vionne in the mid-twelfth century.  Her midwifery and skills at healing with various herbs have gained her the respect of many of the villagers, but there are whisperings that because of these skills and because she was born a bastard, she might be a witch. She is married to a handsome stonemason, Raol, and some of the most vicious gossip comes from a jealous woman who works in the local pub. When Raol returns from Florence, where the Black Plague is rampant, he brings with him a peddler who carries the disease. People in the village begin to die, and, terrified that Héloïse will bring the pestilence into their cottage by treating the victims, Raoul forbids her to help. She disobeys, opening chasm between them. The village devolves into grief, hysteria, and mayhem, abetted by the local priest. They need a scapegoat and Heloise is a perfect target. Héloïse places her faith in the protective powers of an angel talisman, given to her by her mother and said to be made of the bone of a saint. The villagers become more suspicious when she does not become sick, even while caring for those dying of the plague. Is it the talisman or Héloïse’s common sense approach to cleanliness and treating the sick? How can she prove she’s no servant of the devil and save the village? The author’s research has created a stunning tale of a medieval French village, herbal cures, midwifery, and the Black Plague in compelling detail.  Indeed, this reader is as weighed down with misery as much as Héloïse, as the story progressed from bad to worse. The author pulls you into it with her usual flair for description and emotion. Another wonderful, historically fact-based and compelling novel from Liza Perrat. About the author (Amazon) Liza Perrat grew up in Australia, where she worked as a general nurse and midwife for fifteen years. When she met her French husband on a Bangkok bus, she moved to France, where she has been living with her family for twenty years. She works part-time as a French-English medical translator, and as a novelist. Since completing a creative writing course ten years ago, several of her short stories have won awards, notably, the Writers Bureau annual competition of 2004. Her stories have been published widely in anthologies and small press magazines. Her articles on French culture and tradition have been published in international magazines such as France Magazine, France Today and The Good Life France. I highly recommend her other books: The Silent Kookaburra, The Swooping Magpie.  Wolfsangel, and Spirit of Lost Angels among them. Liza Perrat can be found: On twitter: @LizaPerrat On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Liza-Perrat-232382930192297/ On her website: www.lizaperrat.com Blood Rose Angel can be found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015XW42JO/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i3 0 0

Hubs and I traveled to Maine recently for an author luncheon in Eastport, where I was the featured author, and for a vacation with my grandson and his parents. We stayed in our favorite place, Boothbay Harbor. The author luncheon was held in a hall next to the Eastport Methodist Church, which is why the backdrop looks like I should be preaching. It was an off-the-cuff talk about The Rhe Brewster Mystery series and my historical fiction novel, The Last Pilgrim.  The attendance was good, according to the organizer of the event, but I think they just wanted to get out and about as Maine just opened up! We had rented a small cottage in Boothbay Harbor and enjoyed eating seafood for the entire week. Not as much lobster as we wished, however, because the lobster prices are sky high. But we ate them almost every day anyway, whole steamed or lobster rolls. And what would a trip to Maine be without going to Damariscotta for oysters? The other highlight of the trip, aside from my grandson’s antics, was a visit to an alpaca farm. Who knew they raised alpacas in Maine?  They had two types of alpacas at the farm:  huacaya – their coat is short, dense, and crimpy, ‘teddy bear like’ and they are shorn yearly; and the suri, which have a silky coat with no crimp and ‘pencil like’ locks, and they are shorn every two years. You can tell them apart because the huacaya have what looks like pom-poms on their heads while the suri have bangs. Both types have soft, padded feet, and a three-compartment stomach like a typical ruminate. They also have no horns, claws or incisors, so they are less likely to hurt their owners! Their life span is about 20 years and they are adaptable to any climate.  They are also pretty neat animals, since they all only pee in one place in the yard or field. The alpacas are also very friendly. I was ‘kissed’ several times by one of them – a very whiskery kiss!  This is the one that kissed me. You can see where she was shorn in May. Alpacas are known for their fleeces. Alpaca fiber is incredibly soft, breathable and versatile. Each animal produces approximately five to fifteen pounds of fleece yearly. Depending upon its weight, quality, and cleanliness, an alpaca fleece can command $150 – $400.  The owners of the farm we visit send their fleece to a company that washes and spins it into yarn. That fiber is then spun into yarn, which they sell at the farm. Of course, as a knitter, I had to buy some. The yarn is the natural color of the alpaca and if you run out, there’s no problem matching the color since you can just call and give them the name of the alpaca whose yarn you want. No color matching, it’s always the same! My grandson was rather nonplussed with the alpaca but did enjoy an animal closer to him in size – a chicken! 0 0

Another strong (female) author who was way ahead of her time! 0 0

The pouring rain from Tropical Storm Claudette has kept me at my computer and I am facing the fact I have been remiss in recognizing a slew of new followers. So here is a first installment. With gratitude for their follows!  There are some blogs in here that I know will interest some of you!  Have fun! &&&&&&&&&& Josbees at https://oddbitsaboutbooks.wordpress.com, who writes about graphic novels and books by Anton Checkov, Anthony Trollope, Arthur C. Clark and other well-known authors. This woman is an omnivore when to comes to reading and has insightful things to say about their books. Catalyst Food at https://catalystfood.wordpress.com. This is a foodie blog and the photos made me salivate. Take a gander! Sophia Lorena Benjamin at https://sophialorenabenjamin.wordpress.com. The author is an award winning poet and invited you to a daily dose of God’s touch in a minute… Patricia Furstenberg at http://alluringcreations.co.za. Pat is writer of contemporary books and novels where history meets fiction and a dog: page-turner Silent Heroes, bestseller Joyful Trouble, beloved children’s literature The Cheetah and the Dog, poetry and haiku – Jock of the Bushveld, Christmas Haiku – and short stories inspired by the history of Romania. Marvin Praise – sorry, only a gravatar Dee Min at https://createdbydeesign.com  Dee wrote “This is therefore a brave and intentional space for creative self-expression inspired by my relationship with God. I am motivated to write from observing some of what I believe God created-by-design—nature, family, love, relationship.” She writes haiku and recently posted pictures of her spectacular garden, which almost rivals the4 bigger one of my fellow blogger, Geoff Le Pard. Franklin Fardin at https://usplaza.wordpress.com/. He is an affiliate marketer of Amazon. I am also a content writer of ladies fashion. Now it is my part-time profession. He has some pretty nice stuff on his blog, for all you clothes shoppers. Wassim Kotob at Ravenful/Designed by Creativity( https://ravenful.com.) This is an online source for trending articles. I read one entitled How Successful People Spend the First Hour of Their Day. Articles cover Business, Health, Travel, Tech, Motivational, Style and Entertainment. Really interesting! Mylcha Tirambulo at https://pnoydreamdesignfoundation.wordpress.com/ This is a blog about spectacular modern and not-so-modern house design. You should visit it! Spectacular photos! Sharon Kehl Califano at http://infjphd.org/ She blogs gorgeous photos wherever she travels or lives. Her latest is one on doors – wonderful! Dua, Wazifa, Ilm, and Taweez at http://infjphd.org/ have a blog with advice about love, marriage, and getting your love back! Zehrakoltd  at https://zehrakoltd.wordpress.com This is a brand new blog with excellent photographs. She writes about markets, immunizations, healthy diets and fathers – based in Thailand. This young woman is talented! lnn61@yahoo.com Athira at her blog Crosswalk (https://crozwalk.wordpress.com) This gal is a poet, for all of you who like blogs devoted to poetry. You will enjoy reading her creativity. Alfresh at https://home.blog   This blog is designed to connect Appalachian Mountains high school students with global leaders in design and technology using remote collaboration technologies., Corpus Christi Outreach Ministries at https://ccoutreachministries.wordpress.com/ This blog belongs to a retired firefighter who came to South TX by way of the Navy. He started a jail ministry in Kingsville- then a church in 1987. He broadcasts on three radio stations, mainly KCTA radio for about 20 years. He self-funds as a retired firefighter and does not take support from outside. In 1992 he started a street outreach and worked with the homeless in our area of C.C. and men struggling with addiction. Chef Verse at https://chefverse.wordpress.com  OMG, you need to see this blog – the food is incredible and easy to make. I have a couple of chefs in my followers and it’s always a salivating pleasure to see what they are creating. Sandeep Dhawan at https://insightful.co.in. Commander Sandeep Dhawan  is a veteran of the Indian Army and he blogs about geopolitics in his part of the world – very interesting and insightful. C.B. Powell at https://cbpowellwrites.com  She is a writer of science-fiction, fantasy epics, and other speculative fiction works, and a performing guitarist in the South West of England, who has posted blogs on dialogue, exposition, world-building, etc. She also has links to two of her novella, Heritage and Blank. Peter Whitaker at https://petercwhitaker.wordpress.comApart from writing and travelling he also enjoys art. He has done a bit of painting and drawing and more recently digital image manipulation. He is responsible for every image on his website, all of his my book covers, and the social media adverts. You can check out his covers and books (Sorrow Song Trilogy – historical fiction – and several other books of fantasy, a thriller, etc) on his blog. Sara Gethin at https://saragethin.com Sara Gethin grew up in Wales and worked as a primary school teacher. Not Thomas, her debut novel for adults, was shortlisted for the 2017 Guardian’s Not the Booker prize, the 2018 Waverton Good Read Award, and was optioned for television. Her second book, Emmet and Me, came out in May of this year. Her writing has been shortlisted for the Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award and she has written four children’s books under the name Wendy White, and the first of these won the Tir na-nOg Award in 2014.  Someone to definitely check out! 0 0

This weekend is our celebration of Memorial Day, and given the past year, we are eager for cookouts, picnics, swimming, and lots of fun with other people. But this is also the time we remember all those who fought for our country – men and women, living and dead, all races, colors, and creeds. So take a little time to give a prayer of thanks. And heartfelt thanks to those families whose loved ones did not come home. We share your pain. Here is my favorite rendition of the iconic Lee Greenwood song, God Bless the USA. 0 0