Roberta Writes – Book review: Letting Go: The Defiant Sisters Duet Book 1 by Jacquie Biggar #bookreview #readingcommunity

What Amazon says

A coming-of-age novel about the pain of misconceptions and learning from them.

When life gives you lemons…


Izzy

Mom is barely in the grave and the prodigal child is here to pick the bones clean.

I don’t want her here. My sister’s defection is a wound that won’t heal, and her return simply rubs at the scabs covering my heart.

I’ve managed just fine without her. She can go back to her fancy college and forget about us- that’s what she does best anyway.

If only I didn’t need her help. Or miss her so much.

Renee

The day my dad committed suicide I ran. I’ve been running ever since.

Going home is supposed to be the answer. Instead, it makes me question every thoughtless decision I’ve made.

My sister hates me. My little brother barely knows me. And Simon… is engaged.

None of it matters- or so I tell myself. I’m here to make amends and face a past haunted by regret.

As long as I can convince myself to stay.

Letting Go is a young adult romance dealing with tragedy, restitution, and love in all its aspects. The story relates to sensitive topics that may be triggering for some readers.

My review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

Renee Thomas escaped her dysfunctional family after the suicide of her father on the same evening as the betrayal of her long time boyfriend, Simon. Unable to cope, she just upped and left, with no regard for the effect on younger sister, Izzy, who bore the brunt of the subsequent collapse of the Thomas family. Renee has done well and earned herself a Master of science in Physical Therapy with a minor in physiotherapy. She has made peace with her past and has plans to open her own physiotherapy clinic when she learns of the death of her mother. Renee is compelled to return home and try and help her younger sister and brother overcome their loss and move forward.

Life has a way of surprising us, and Renee comes across her ex-boyfriend, the minute she enters town. He has moved on, training as a paramedic and getting engaged. In her distraction over seeing Simon, she doesn’t notice an elderly lady jay-walking across the street and accidentally knocks her down. The elderly lady turns out to be Simon’s grandmother.

Renee soon finds herself the object of Izzy’s anger and condemnation and the caregiver of Simon’s grandmother while she recovers. Worst of all, Renee discovers she still has feelings for Simon.

Izzy’s job is under threat, and her younger brother might be taken from her by the state, and this brings out the worst in Izzy. For me, Izzy was a most interesting character. She stepped up after the death of her father and disappearance of her sister, and cared for her mother, who became seriously ill, and her younger brother. Renee’s disappearing act was a bitter pill for Izzy who has subsequently built up walls of indifference to protect her damaged heart. Underneath her anger and resentment, Izzy is a caring and loving woman who has made the best of the cards she was dealt in life. I liked Izzy very much and kept hoping she would get an opportunity to uplift herself and have a bit of freedom from the responsibility and drudgery she’d assumed prior and subsequent to her mother’s death.

Renee needs to manage her feelings and interactions with Simon, help his grandmother, and deal with Izzy’s rejection. Renee was a little immature at the start of the book and didn’t seem to really understand the impact her impetuous flight had on her brother and sister. She did have some guilt and a need to make good on the situation, but she wasn’t able to prevent conflict with Izzy through understanding. As the story progresses, Renee acknowledges the errors of her past, although I didn’t think she should have stayed as she had really achieved in her personal capacity in the intervening period, she could have offered her siblings some support, even from a distance. Renee’s character experiences a lot of growth over the course of the story.

This book is exciting and compelling as Renee sets about trying to take her share of the responsibility of raising her brother and helping her sister, as well as and unravelling her feelings about Simon. Renee must also confront the demons from her past that initiated her flight on that fateful night.

Purchase Letting Go: The Defiant Sisters Duet

Amazon US

Jacquie Biggar Amazon Author Page

Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors: some interesting doors at the University of the Witwatersrand #olivesandplates #Wits

Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2022/12/01/barns-and-news/

Last week I went to Olives and Plates Wits Cub and Conference Centre to celebrate the promotions of a few colleagues. Wits (University of the Witwatersrand) is the university my son attends and is also where my husband studied.

The restaurant and campus are beautiful and these are a few pictures.

I don’t know what this building is but it had a curious wall design

I liked this statue

Roberta Writes – Can you guess the book: Quotes from books that include poverty or mistreatment of others as a theme or sub-theme

Dave Astor has a great post this week about books that feature poverty or abuse of others called This Gap Is Not a Clothing Chain. You can read it here: https://daveastoronliterature.com/2022/11/27/this-gap-is-not-a-clothing-chain/. Dave challenged his readers to mention some books that feature this theme and these are mine.

I have been a little tricky with my post though, because all the quotes come from a specific scene or set of related scenes in each of the books below as poverty and abuse are not necessary the primary theme of the novel. Can you guess which books the quotes are from?

Book 1 – English writer – gothic, Bildungsroman, romance novel

“The punishment seemed to me in a high degree ignominious, especially for so great a girl—she looked thirteen or upward…to my surprise, she neither wept nor blushed. Composed, though grave, she stood, the central mark of all eyes…her sight seems turned in, gone down into her heart. She is looking at what she can remember, I believe; not at what is really present. I wonder what sort of girl she is—whether good or naughty.”

“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs. We are, and must be, one and all, burdened by faults in this world; but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies…I hold another creed, which no one ever taught me, and which I seldom mention, but in which I delight, and to which I cling; for it extends hope to all; it makes Eternity a rest—a mighty home, not a terror and an abyss.”

“What my sensations were, no language can describe; but just as they all rose, stifling my breath and constricting my throat, a girl came up and passed me; in passing, she lifted her eyes. What a strange light inspired them!…It was as if a martyr, a hero, had passed a slave or victim, and imparted strength in the transit. I mastered the rising hysteria, lifted up my head, and took a firm stand on the stool.”

Book 2: English writer – dystopian social science fiction novel

“But simultaneously, true to the Principles of doublethink, the Party taught that the proles were natural inferiors who must be kept in subjection, like animals, by the application of a few simple rules.”

“There was a vast amount of criminality in London, a whole world-within-a-world of thieves, bandits, prostitutes, drug-peddlers, and racketeers of every description; but since it all happened among the proles themselves, it was of no importance.”

” ‘The proles are not human beings,’ he said carelessly.”

Book 3: English writer – dystopian novel

“She liked even less what awaited her at the entrance to the pueblo, where their guide had left them while he went inside for instructions. The dirt, to start with, the piles of rubbish, the dust, the dogs, the flies. Her face wrinkled up into a grimace of disgust. She held her handkerchief to her nose. 

“But how can they live like this?” she broke out in a voice of indignant incredulity. (It wasn’t possible.)” 

“In the Beta-Minus geography room John learnt that “a savage reservation is a place which, owing to unfavorable climatic or geological conditions, or poverty of natural resources, has not been worth the expense of civilizing.””

“. . . upwards of five thousand kilometres of fencing at sixty thousand volts.”. . .

“”To touch the fence is instant death,” pronounced the Warden solemnly. “There is no escape from a Savage Reservation.”. . .

“Those, I repeat, who are born in the Reservation are destined to die there.”. . .

Leaning forward, the Warden tapped the table with his forefinger. “You ask me how many people live in the Reservation. And I reply”—triumphantly—“I reply that we do not know. We can only guess.””

Book 4: Australian author – family saga

“It’s not worth getting upset about, Mrs. Dominic. Down in the city they don’t know how the other half lives, and they can afford the luxury of doting on their animals as if they were children. Out here it’s different. You’ll never see man, woman or child in need of help go ignored out here, yet in the city those same people who dote on their pets will completely ignore a cry of help from a human being. ”

“We’re working-class people, which means we don’t get rich or have maids. Be content with what you are and what you have.”

“We all have contempt for whatever there’s too many of. Out here it’s sheep, but in the city it’s people.”

Roberta Writes – Peacock romance, a poem @poem @peacocks @Africa

I am a great lover of birds and have recently published a fictionalised account of a bird I raised as a girl called The Christmas Bird. It is a micro read of 5 600 words and is aimed at children.

Revisiting my memories of raising a Hoopoe bird, triggered memories of a small part of a peacock romance I witnessed while visiting the Drakensburg in September 2020. That was our first trip away anywhere that year of lockdowns and Covid. I wrote that memory into this 99 syllable poem.

Peacock romance

Dowdy and plain in brown,

she stands and watches,

her prospective mate as he crosses the lawn,

blissfully unaware,

of her thoughtful stare.

He cuts a fine figure,

resplendent in blue,

this despite his splendid tail dragging behind

Glancing up, he spots her,

it’s love at first sight

In a show of interest,

she descends the stairs,

Passion ignited, his tail spreads out fanlike,

Overwhelmed, he takes off,

with her in pursuit.


Image by Teagan

My good blogging friend, Teagan Riordain Geneviene, is also a bird lover. She recently hosted a book fair that featured books that had birds as characters or supporting characters. You can visit Teagan’s lovely post here: https://teagansbooks.com/2022/11/23/birds-of-a-feather-book-fair/

Thursday Doors – Herman Charles Bosman Living Museum Part 1: Batswana huts and the granary (Sefalana) and Michael update #Southafricanliterature #Batswanaculture #sefalana

Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2022/11/24/come-ye-thankful-people/

During our recent trip to Groot Marico, we visited the Herman Charles Bosman Living Museum. There are a number of interesting things to see at this museum, but this post focuses on the replica Batswana huts and the granary (sefalana).

I managed to purchase a delightful book about the Batswana culture in the region called Sefalana: Granary of Batswana Wisdom from Marico by Lucas Ntismako.

This book provides some interesting information about the importance of the sefalana in a homestead. The blurb runs as follows:

“In the lives of Batswana families the sefalana, a specially built clay granary in a homestead, used to be the mainspring of their survival. It represented an entire season’s toil: preparing the soil, planting, weeding, chasing away flocks of birds and eventually harvesting, threshing and grinding. A bad season could mean disaster and it is not without reason that a Setswana proverb warns that ‘famine hides under the granary’. The sefalana is therefore something to be cherished and respected.”

This is a painting I have that shows women working in the fields (these people are Matabele, now Northern Ndebele, not Batswana but the concept is the same):

These are my pictures of the two traditional Batswana huts on display at the museum:

These are my pictures of the sefalana (granary):

This is my YT video of a short reading from Sefalana: Granary of Batswana Wisdom from the Marico which discusses the importance of the granary.

Michael

Michael is doing much better this week. On Tuesday he had the last four stents removed which made him feel a lot better. The doctor was relatively happy with his healing. The left looks great and the right hand side was open although the drainage is narrow and the mucus membranes were swollen and angry on Tuesday. We are now back to steaming, douching, and cortisone three times a day. Michael is also on another antibiotic for a month (the third in 2 months).

Michael wrote a lovely poem. It is a bit dark but that is his writing style:

Dark Origins – Myths and legends of the Khoikhoi (previously Hottentots)

My November Dark Origins post features the Khoikhoi (previously Hottentots) who, together with the San (previously Bushmen) are the first people of South Africa. I have also shared a traditional Khoikhoi myth called The Night Walkers. Thanks for hosting Kaye Lynne Booth.

robertawrites235681907's avatarWriting to be Read

Introduction

At the time when European settlement began, the Khoikhoi were settled in modern day Namibia, the north-eastern Cape and the south-western Cape. The name Khoikhoi means “real people” or “men of men”. The Khoikhoi are closely related to the San (Bushmen) and are sometimes referred to together as Khoisan. There is a theory that the Khoikho and the San were once the same race. The Khoikhoi broke away to raise cattle, build huts and lead a pastoral life while the San remained true to the wilderness and the elements.

The Khoikhoi were nomadic, moving around in search of grazing land for their animals which consisted mainly of goats, cattle and sheep. They also manufactured animal skins into clothing, bags and blankets and used reeds to make sleeping mats and mats to cover their round and mobile homes. The Khoikhoi also made pottery which could be tied to their oxen…

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Roberta Writes – Book reviews: Dog Meat by Priscilla Bettis and The Midnight Rambler by C.S. Boyack

Dog Meat

What Amazon says

Kalb Ward slaughters dogs for the Colony, a closed, dystopian society where resources are tight, free speech is nonexistent, and those in power have eyes and ears everywhere. Ward desperately wants to quit his grisly job, but he knows he’ll be arrested, or worse, if he tries.

In the Colony, a citizen’s future is determined by a placement exam. Score high, and you’re set for life. Score low, and you end up living a nightmare–like Ward.

Li Ling, the love of Ward’s youth, scored high, and she’s a local celebrity now, far out of his reach. Meanwhile, his neighbor’s son is making a series of disastrous decisions as his own exam rapidly approaches.

Can Ward bridge the social divide and win back Li Ling? Can he help the neighbor’s son avoid a future as grim as his own? Can he escape the Colony’s oppressive rule and, if he’s very lucky, bring down the whole horrific system in the process?

You know what they say: Every dog has his day.

And Ward’s day is coming.

My review

This book is not for the faint of heart. It delves deeply into the cruelty of the dog meat industry and some of the descriptions are very disturbing. If you have a strong stomach, this books is worth the read.

Kalb Ward lives in a post-revolutionary dystopian society where all citizens are assessed through an examination at the age of 11 and assigned their future path in society. Ward was ill when he took the test and didn’t perform well, as a result his assigned path was that of a manual labourer. Despite the best efforts of his parents, they are not able to change this outcome and Ward has gone on to become a dog slaughterer for a restaurant. His job is very distasteful and distressing to him and the only way he can get through the killing of the dogs, which must involve extreme torture in order to season the meat, is by dissociating from his body. His ability to dissociate give the reader the first indication of Ward’s strength of mind and determination. Ward is desperate to find a way out of his awful life, even if it means going to jail which is called re-education by the ruling party.

Ward was an interesting character who reminded me a bit of Winston in 1984. In fact, the dystopian world inhabited by Ward also has a slightly ‘1984’ feel in that it has a version of a Big Brother ensuring that all citizens toe the party line and no infractions or transgressions of the societal laws are tolerated.

As the story unfurls, the reader learns that Ward’s father was an intelligent and successful man who was murdered by revolutionaries and his mother is also a woman of superior intellect. The frustration felt by Ward in his job that is not only dead-end, but also very cruel, is understandable given his obvious inherited intellect, and kind heart. His rising up against the restrictions imposed on him is not at all surprising, but there are a few interesting aspects to Ward’s character that are exposed through revelations of his past and present behaviours over the course of this intense novella.

I am always fascinated by the attitude, determination, and fortitude that people can exhibit in the most adverse of circumstances. The author has tapped into the intriguing aspect of human behaviour with the creation of Ward.

Purchase Dog Meat by Priscilla Bettis

Amazon US

Priscilla Bettis’ Amazon Page

The Midnight Rambler by C.S. Boyack

What Amazon says

Something evil is after the hat. The ageless enemies have battled many times, but this time Lizzie is wearing the hat. She’s also up against a ticking clock, in that if she can’t find the maker of her new friend’s medicine he will die.

The Rambler has kidnapped the only witch capable of making Ray’s medicine in an attempt to make the hat sloppy in his efforts. He’s also flooded the streets with deadly minions to impede any progress our heroes might make.

As if that weren’t enough, Lizzie is facing more of life’s struggles, both financially and mechanically. This all goes down in the middle of a huge flood event that she’s ill equipped to handle.

Join Lizzie and the hat as they battle the elements, the paranormal, and a being of pure evil. Lizzie might be battling some personal demons along the way as she and Ray grow closer.

My review

Who would suspect that Lizzie’s trendy variety of hats are actually her accomplice as she travels about fighting monsters and putting wrong things right. Not only is The Hat able to transform into interesting and fashionable hats, but he is also an accomplished hero whose role as the right-hand ‘man’ to Lizzie’s ancestors goes back decades, and an excellent musician. In between monster fighting escapades, Lizzie and The Hat play in a band.

In this novella, an evil scarecrow, The Midnight Rambler, with the ability to animate vegetables and turn them into biting attackers, returns to life full of determination to find and destroy his age-old nemesis, The Hat. The Midnight Rambler is well aware of the connection between Lizzie’s family and The Hat and kidnaps a friend of Lizzie’s, the Professor, to bring the pair to him.

Unfortunately, the Professor is the only person who can make the medicine that keeps Ray, his Frankenstein-constructed human son, alive. Lizzie meets up with Ray and quickly becomes bedazzled by his kind heart and unusual good looks. A romance develops between the two and Lizzie will do anything to find the Professor and save Ray. This results in Lizzie and The Hat taking bigger chances than usual to draw The Midnight Rambler out into the open. The trio use a variety of strategies, including listening to the Night Bump Radio and trying to get people to call in sightings of pumpkin-headed zombies, to track down their enemy and find the professor.

This is a light hearted and fun filled thriller with a lot of humour and snarkiness thrown in. Ray is a delightful character and Lizzie and The Hat are their usual highly entertaining selves. A great edition to this imaginative series.

Purchase The Hat by C.S. Boyack

Amazon US

C.S. Boyack’s Amazon Page

Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors: A trip to the hospital, a poem and a micro read #hospital #microread #poem

Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2022/11/17/pleasant-update/

This has been another surreal week. On Tuesday, exactly four weeks after the previous repeat surgery on Michael’s sinuses, he underwent another procedure. The surgery last year failed because he is getting significant post operative cartilage overgrowth and scar tissue build ups. This has the effect of completely blocking the artificial drainage openings that the surgery created. This results in complete surgical failure over time.

Last year, when Michael had surgery, he was given very high doses of cortisone to try to break the autoimmune overgrowth response. He was also on an antibiotic for three months until January this year. This treatment worked until July when he had the first sinus infection in six months. He had sinus infections in August and late September. The antibiotic treatment for the most recent infection failed dismally and that is why we had to go the surgery route. Cortisone is no longer an option for Michael as the last lot caused high blood pressure issues.

Within four days of the operation, the doctor was already seeing scar tissue formation on the right hand side. We went onto an aggressive home treatment programme of steaming over boiling water and then douching with a saline solution before using cortisone nasules in both nostrils and an antibacterial nasal cream. Michael also had a second course of strong antibiotics. We did this for two weeks, but on Sunday, 6 November, the doctor admitted defeat. The right hand drainage had closed up completely and there was nothing he could do about it outside of surgery. Further surgery was booked for this week Tuesday and the plan was to reopen the drainage, clear out the infection that has formed behind the barrier, and then insert a stent to keep it open which it healed. The procedures should have taken about 1 hour.

The operation took 3-hours which was rather disconcerting because we didn’t know why it was taking so long until afterwards. during the week and two days from Sunday, 6 November, the left hand drainage had also started to close up with scar tissue and there was some infection in the left sinus as well. The doctor reopened both sides, removed all the scar tissue and infection, and inserted 6 stents, 3 on each side. Two were sponges soaked in cortisone and covered in plastic which were inserted into the sinus cavity to reduce inflammation and hold the area open. These ones came out today. It was a bit shocking watching them being pulled out. A bit like a Stephen King horror movie watching these egg-shaped wads coming out of his nose. Like giving birth to a small reptile eggs – shudder! I read to much paranormal!

The other 4 stents stay in until Tuesday next week and then the homecare programme starts again. Whew! Anyhow, the doctor was pleased with how everything looked today so that is a big plus.

These are a few of the doors from the hospital ward:

This is the view of Sandton from the ward window. It was at sunset and you can see the sunlight reflection off the glass fronted buildings.

A poem – Dragonfly strike

I haven’t been able to write any poetry since Michael first got sick again six weeks ago. Today, I managed to break through the barricade. Okay, its about a dragonfly eating a butterfly but still, progress is progress [smile].

Blissfully unaware

the butterfly lands

pale wings fluttering, she sucks from the flower

multifaceted eyes

watch with interest

***

Appetite satisfied

butterfly takes off

a whoosh of transparent wings; it disappears

the oblivious prey

of the dragonfly

***

An aggressive hunter

it resumes the search

for any unwary insect, pest or not

agility and speed

ensuring success

A new children’s book – Micro read

I have been experimenting with formatting my children’s books to improve the digital formats. I am not at all happy with the ebooks from Lulu.com and would prefer to publish any ebooks I create through Kindle Direct Publishing. This micro-read, The Christmas Bird, is my first attempt at this form of publishing. The story is 5,600 words long and is also available for free through Kindle Direct.

I am pleased with how it turned out. If you’d like to take a look and are subscribed to Kindle Direct, you can do so here: https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Bird-Robbie-Cheadle-ebook/dp/B0BMMB2H75. You can also purchase it for $1.14 which is the cheapest I can get on Amazon. This is an old fashioned Christmas story so no cell phones or fast paced action, but I am fond of it. It is semi autobiographic.

My highly creative friend, Teagan Riordain Geneviene, created the cover. Teagan has a wonderful new book, A Peril in Ectoplasm, Just Once More available and you can read more about it here: https://teagansbooks.com/2022/11/16/wednesday-writing-two-bookreviews-from-dan-antion-at-no-facilities/

Roberta Writes – Book Review: The Widow’s Son by Daniel Kemp #bookreview #thriller #readingcommunity

What Amazon says

Three months before the invasion of Iraq, a member of a Masonic fraternity known as the Rosicrucians escapes from a British Intelligence holding station.

Orchestrated by the head of the Russian Federal Security Service, this event is somehow linked to a the highly classified CIA file only known as Gladio B. Tasked to destroy an unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, the chairman of the British Joint Intelligence Committee plans to bring the criminals to justice.

But he is running low on both time and allies, as mass annihilation threatens the whole planet. Who are the mysterious eight families that seem to be behind the mysterious events, and what do they have to do with the ancient 33rd degree level of understanding, only known by the mysterious Rosicrucian brotherhood?

My review

Patrick West has been on convalescence leave following a bomb blast in an Irish pub that left him suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A strange summons to the offices of the British Joint Intelligence Committee leads to his appointment as it’s head. His predecessor, Geoffrey, takes him to an isolated farm where he is introduced to Henry Mayler, a political prisoner who is of Armenian-German ancestors and is a member of a secret society called the Rosicrucians. The meeting with Henry, the presence of a Russian double agent in the UK, and unusual happenings in places of British Intelligence special interest soon point towards Patrick’s having become involved in, and being expected to take over, a potential disaster on a world wide basis which has already been put in motion.

Patrick is out of his depth and he knows it but he takes control of the circumstances by obtaining the help and advice of a retired mentor, Fraser Urquhart, with a historical connection to Henry Maylor through his previous position in British Intelligence, and his well-informed executive assistant. Patrick sets out to unravel the dangerous political game he has become embroiled in and bring the criminal master-minds to justice. Aside for the usual dangers and problems, the criminals Patrick is after are eight of the most powerful and richest people on Earth.

I enjoyed the character of Patrick very much. He is genuine and dedicated to discovering the truth and protecting the UK’s political interests. I liked that he was patriotic and determined. He also has a lot of guts and is not intimidated by people in more senior positions than his own. Patrick is challenged by the memories from past assignments where colleagues and love interests have been killed, but he starts learning to control his condition as the story progresses. His development as a leader is admirable and interesting.

Fraser Urquhart was my favourite character. A retired senior member of British Intelligence, he is Patrick’s mentor and voice of reason in the unfolding chaos. Fraser knows a lot about Rosicrucians, the Russian double agent, Henry Maylor, and the group of eight, but he doesn’t quite know enough to put the intricate puzzle together. Frazer is a strange mix of Scottish gentleman, conniving conman, womaniser, and patriot to the UK. He has many failings, but is forthrightness, determination and adaptability make him a fascinating character.

There is a mild romance twisting through the story as a sub-plot. I enjoyed that and appreciated the slight softening of Patrick’s usury attitude towards females as the romance unfolded. It made him more relatable and put the reader firmly in his court.

This book will enthrall lovers of spy novels and thrillers.

Purchase The Widow’s Son by Daniel Kemp

Creativia: https://www.creativia.org/daniel-kemp-mystery-thriller-author.html

Amazon US

Daniel Kemp’s Amazon Author page

About Daniel Kemp

Daniel Kemp’s introduction to the world of espionage and mystery happened at an early age when his father was employed by the War Office in Whitehall, London, at the end of WWII. However, it wasn’t until after his father died that he showed any interest in anything other than himself!

On leaving academia he took on many roles in his working life: a London police officer, mini-cab business owner, pub tenant and licensed London taxi driver, but never did he plan to become a writer. Nevertheless, after a road traffic accident left him suffering from PTSD and effectively—out of paid work for four years, he wrote and self-published his first novel —The Desolate Garden. Within three months of publication, that book was under a paid option to become a $30 million film. The option lasted for five years until distribution became an insurmountable problem for the production company.

All seven of his novels are now published by Creativia with the seventh—The Widow’s Son, completing a three book series alongside: What Happened In Vienna, Jack? and Once I Was A Soldier. Under the Creativia publishing banner, The Desolate Garden went on to become a bestselling novel in World and Russian Literature in 2017. The following year, in May 2018, his book What Happened In Vienna, Jack? was a number one bestseller on four separate Amazon sites: America, UK, Canada, and Australia. 

Although it’s true to say that he mainly concentrates on what he knows most about; murders laced by the mystery involving spies, his diverse experience of life shows in the short stories he writes, namely: Why? A Complicated Love, and the intriguing story titled The Story That Had No Beginning.

He is the recipient of rave reviews from a prestigious Manhattan publication and described as—the new Graham Green—by a highly placed employee of Waterstones Books, for whom he did a countrywide tour of book signing events. He has also appeared on ‘live’ television in the UK publicising that first novel of his.

He continues to write novels, poetry and the occasional quote; this one is taken from the beginning of Once I Was A Soldier

There is no morality to be found in evil. But to recognise that which is truly evil one must forget the rules of morality.

You can contact Mr. Kemp via twitter..https://twitter.com/danielkemp6

Via FaceBook… https://www.facebook.com/dannyandpatkemp

You can also see all of his books here on Creativia… https://www.creativia.org/daniel-kemp-mystery-thriller-author.html

Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors: Remembrance Day, War Vehicles #remembranceday #shortstory #warvehicles

Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2022/11/10/more-from-granby/

Today is Remembrance Day and so I’ve decided to share a few of the pictures from my visit to the South African War Museum and the Duxford Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire, UK.

South African War Museum

All these war machines have doors. You can see the door nicely in the last picture of a tank.

Duxford Imperial War Museum

Recording of my short story, The Warning

The Warning features in Wings & Fire anthology edited by Dan Alatorre and is about the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886 which destroyed the famous Pink and White Terraces in New Zealand.

A few of my blogging friends have expressed interest in this short story so I made this recording which also includes some of my own photographs from our trip to this area in 2016 and some paintings of the Pink and White Terraces and the eruption by Charles Blomfield.

I apologies for my pronunciation of the local names. I tried to pick up the pronunciation but promptly forgot when I had to say the word.