Anne Sandler from Slow Shutter Speed leads this week's photography challenge with “what’s your photographic groove?” What a great question! At heart, I'm a minimalist ... although if you saw my bedroom/workroom, such a thought would have you laughing your arse off. By minimalist, I mean I don't like having a lot of gear, which is… Continue reading Lens-Artists Challenge #211: What’s your photographic groove?
August’s freebie: Yesterday Road
Yesterday Road is my all-time favorite novel by Kevin Brennan. This week the Kindle version is free. Here’s a snippet of the review I wrote: “Yesterday Road is a humorous, poignant, action-filled, meditative literary novel. To describe it with these adjectives makes me feel like I’m contradicting myself, but I’m not. Brennan has managed to write a novel that is as much a page-turner as a thoughtful exposition on memory.” You can read the whole review at https://1writeway.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/a-traditional-kind-of-book-review-yesterday-road/. But I’d prefer it if you read the novel itself. Click here.
Time for another Summer Reading freebie, and this month it’s my second novel (and first indie), Yesterday Road.
I have a special place in my heart for this book because it brings together three of my favorite characters: Jack Peckham, the octogenarian who just wants to find his way home; Ida Pevely, the diner waitress with a heart of gold who’s called into service to help two wayward innocents; and Joe Easterday, a young man with Down syndrome on the adventure of his life. I really came to love all these guys in the writing of this one.
Here’s the blurb, in case you’ve forgotten:
In this “coming-of-old-age” tale, Jack Peckham finds himself on a journey into his distant past, helped along the way by Joe Easterday, a young man with Down syndrome, and Ida Pevely, a middle-aged waitress with her own mountain of regrets. Jack has…
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The Birthday Card I Will Never Send
August 2 is my sister Shirley's birthday. She would have been 76 today. Here's the birthday card I bought for her a couple of months ago. I think she would have gotten a kick out of it. During the viewing and funeral in early July, many people came up to me and said I looked… Continue reading The Birthday Card I Will Never Send
I’m Running Out of July
I've got only a couple of days before the month of July is over ... to which I say, Good riddance, July! For those of you new to my blog, let me start with the painful acknowledgment of my sister's death late on July 1. For context, I have three siblings and our birth order… Continue reading I’m Running Out of July
I Could Have Been a Better Sister #grief
I could have been a better sister. I was only nine and you were nineteen when you married and left the family home. As you took your vows, I sat in the pew, steeling myself to be quiet, voiceless cries whirling in my head: "Don't go! Don't leave me!" I was only nine and, although… Continue reading I Could Have Been a Better Sister #grief
I’m Not Okay But I’ll Be All Right #grief
I am going to take a hiatus from blogging and writing online. Not that I've been doing much of either lately but why not make it official. Here's the deal: my sister Shirley is dying. The sister with Parkinson's. The sister who has been dodging health curveballs most of her adult life. The only one… Continue reading I’m Not Okay But I’ll Be All Right #grief
River Ghosts by Merril D. Smith #bookreview #poetry
I always feel apprehensive when reviewing poetry, maybe more so than when I'm writing the poetry myself. Some time ago, I took an online writing course, and the instructor mentioned in passing that she liked writing poetry because you didn't need to explain poetry like you would explain a story or an essay. While that… Continue reading River Ghosts by Merril D. Smith #bookreview #poetry
All the Words
Merril posted a random word list this morning. You can read it here: Merril's Random Word List When I saw the list of words, I started putting them together. Of course, adding in a few of my own. I believe I've managed to include all the words in the list. I don't know what you would… Continue reading All the Words
Raji and Wendy’s Great Adventure
An alternative title to this post would be The Great Escape. Be assured this story has a happy ending, although the experience probably shaved a few years off my life. Last Sunday I was minding my own business, sitting in front of my computer checking email, when I heard my husband calling for Raji and… Continue reading Raji and Wendy’s Great Adventure
And I’m Back … More or Less
After nearly three years of no traveling, not even within the not-so-great state of Florida, we finally, FINALLY, took a trip. It wasn't the most exciting trip we could have taken, but it was the most important. We went to my old childhood stomping grounds and visited family. As many of you know, my mom… Continue reading And I’m Back … More or Less