Thursday Doors is 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 Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). You can join in here: https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2020/10/08/thursday-doors-october-8-2020/
My aunt and cousin both lived in Faversham in Kent, UK, until about two years ago. Whenever we went to the UK, we based ourselves in Faversham so we got to know this quaint English town quite well. These are pictures from April 2016 taken at Standard Quay.
PS I know its Friday and not Thursday but I ran out of time to post yesterday.
Entrance to the pub where we had ciderEntrance to a shop on the QuayDoor to one of the house boatsMy mother, the boys and Terence in front of a house boat
Nonnie and her team at 4 Wills Publications have created an amazing Youtube video for this book which you can see here:
About Nonnie Jules
Hi, I’m Nonnie Jules – President & Founder of RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB {RRBC} and RAVE WRITERS – INT’L SOCIETY OF AUTHORS {RWISA}. As a writer who values the (polished) written word, it is my mission to help my fellow authors understand that their reputation as a writer should be treated as a rare treasure and that the only way to be taken seriously in this business, is to ensure that your writing (no matter the forum) is impeccably written and well-edited. If not, you’re just another “Joe” with a pen who was the first to raise his hand when Amazon asked: “Hey, any old Joe out there wanna publish a book? Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be good and there’s absolutely no hard work involved.”
FYI: If you don’t care what you put out into the world, you’re just a laughing stock in the literary community … and your name is “Joe.”
It is an irony that I read this book the week after I finished reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald with its two central themes of the wealthy in American not being accountable for their actions and how the America dream of equality for all and an ability for people who have ability and who work hard to attain social status regardless of their backgrounds.
This short story, No Pedigree, explores these same two themes but in a modern setting rather than Fitzgerald’s setting of the 1920’s. I could help thinking, as I read this book, how tragic it is that 100 years later these same themes of prejudice, abuse and unfairness are still prevalent in some parts our society.
Baylee Pierre is a young girl of extraordinary beauty and sound intellectual ability who ends up attending a high school in a wealthy area populated by privileged youngsters and their families. Baylee is different from her peer group in that she is the child of a black native American mother and a white father and also, her mother is the housekeeper of a one of the wealthy residents of the school’s feeder area who allows Baylee’s mother to use her home address to register her daughter at the local school. Baylee’s mother thinks she is doing the best for her daughter by giving her this educational opportunity, but her spoiled rich school school associates don’t give her an opportunity to become part of their world and Baylee is ostracised in the most cruel way right from the start.
There is one girl, Carson Beckett, who is different and who becomes best friends with Baylee. Carson puts herself out on a limb to support Baylee against the majority. I enjoyed this touch in the book because it made it even more real and possible, as there is good out there and it was nice to have it recognised and this bit of positiveness gives the story some good balance.
Baylee is subjected to the most horrific treatment any person could suffer and due to her mother’s limited finances, she is not initially able to seek the justice the situation clearly warrants.
To bring my thoughts back around to my initial comments about The Great Gatsby, this book ends on a positive note with a clear indication, through the change in Baylee’s circumstances depicted in the book, that there has been some progress and movement towards the American dream being more attainable for all. There are good people out there who aren’t filled with prejudice and who embrace difference and enable progression for all.
Jessie expects he’ll be forever cleaning up after the cowpokes of the Bad Hoss Saloon. That’s until the day a drifter strides through the doors, and blows away a blood-sucking demon, along with Jessie’s belief in an everyday world. Jessie is captivated by the enigmatic Grace, with her pearl-handled revolvers, and wolf companion. He throws in his normal life and follows her across the Wild West, as she hunts down and slays the evil creatures that roam the frontier.
Along the way, they seek the aid of a Native American warrior, cross paths with a Cajun Queen, and encounter a small-town tycoon with a deadly hunger for gold. Animosity and distrust plague Grace and Jessie, and their strange group of allies, but they must put their differences behind them if they’re to have any hope of finding and defeating the frontier’s true evil, the Darksome Gunman.
The Armageddon Showdown is a dark-fantasy, weird western series of epic proportions, focusing on the age-old battle between good and evil, though in the Wild West, it’s not always clear just who is good and who is evil.
Join Grace Dyer and her band of miscreants as they battle demons and demi-gods, in the frontier’s deadliest conflict…the Armageddon Showdown.
My review
The only other book I’ve read that would seem to fit into this genre is The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. His books did come to my mind, once or twice, while I read about this strange and frightening Western-based world created by Ms Bakkers.
Jessie is a young and innocent boy of seventeen when Grace Dryer, a bounty hunter with a penchant for hunting dark and evil creatures, walks into the saloon where he is working as a clean-up boy. His employer is unpleasant and selfish and so when Jessie makes a decision to help Grace and one of the prostitutes, who turns out to be an evil creature, is killed, he steals a horse and follows her into the wilderness to escape his current life.
Jessie quickly gets introduced to Grace’s unusual thoughts on accountability which basically boil down to a belief that creatures that act in a certain way due to instinct are not evil. They are merely behaving as they were effectively programmed to do by their creator. In Grace’s initial estimation, it is a choice to kill and act in a malicious and heinous manner that makes a creature or person evil. These initial introductions by the author to her interpretation of good versus evil continue and develop throughout the book as Ms Bakker’s leads the reader towards the religious based climax of this book.
The characterisation of Jessie was interesting and the author was clever as she portrayed his loss of innocence and the change in his character as previously unexperienced emotions such as jealously crept into his mind and heart. Some of Jessie’s decisions and actions were initially unexpected but it all comes together nicely by the end of the book.
Grace is a conflicted character and the reader vacillates between seeing her goodness and some of her poorer decisions and darker actions. The unfolding of her backstory in this book is well done and shed’s light on some of her characteristics and behaviours. Grace develops trust in Jessie which was rather an interesting plot twist.
On the whole, this is a well written and clever story and I cannot fault the editing in any way. People who enjoy weird creatures and horror will love this story but it is not for the squeamish as there are some scenes that are detailed and harsh on a reader’s stomach.
Purchase Guns of Perdition
About Jessica Bakkers
I am a creative writer with over twenty years of writing experience. I am a speculative fiction writer, and have written in the genres of fantasy-romance and paranormal-romance, however my genre of choice when it comes to writing for myself is dark fantasy where I can allow myself to fully explore the anti-hero characters that pepper my stories. I dabble at poetry and have written professionally for clients locally and internationally.
My debut novel, Guns of Perdition, The Armageddon Showdown Book 1, is a dark fantasy stroll through a weird wild west setting, pitting bad heroes against worse villains.
My major love affair is with the written word; specifically creative writing. I allow myself to indulge and rendezvous with this secret lover whenever time allows… and then we make beautiful poetry together!
GIVEAWAY: (3 winners) (1) e-book copy of “NIGHTMARELAND”, (1) e-book copy of “THROUGH THE NETHERGATE”, and (1) $25 Amazon gift card.
About Joy Lo-Bamijoko
Joy Nwosu was born in Enugu, Anambra State of south-eastern Nigeria. Her parents were Charles Belonwu and Deborah Nwosu. She is the fifth in rank of the seven children of her parents. Joy was born into a music family.
Joy, now retired, was a music teacher, trained in Santa Cecilia, Rome, and obtained her Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Michigan, USA.
She has written and published extensively on national and international scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Her short story I Come from Utopia was published in African Voices, Spring/Summer, 2007, pg. 18, and her first English novel; Mirror of Our Lives: Voices of Four Igbo Women was published in 2011, and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Contest in 2012. She has also two books published in the Italian language.
Joy is a trained musician, and taught music for 35 years. She writes, performs, and record folk songs. Her new book: The Legend of the Walking Dead: Igbo Mythologies, which has just been released, is a journey into the mysteries of life and death of the Igbos of Nigeria. She loves reading romances and mystery stories.
A 5 star Amazon review of Pregnant Future by Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko
Beginning in 1954 in Nigeria, Justina’s world introduces us to customs I was not aware of, and relished throughout the book. Her treatment was deplorable. School boys ambushed her, determined to beat her for being smarter than they were in school. Their hatred for her grew. My heart went out to her as she endured yet other beatings provoked by a manipulating sister. Justina learned survival at an early age. Determined to finish her schooling, she continued only to lose her place in college due to a wealthy students parents buying their child Justina’s spot. Grasping for any education available to her, she tries to take the exam to enter Holy Rosary College, although she is not on the list to even take it. Her strong will and faith grow. She tells the truth against others advice and finally is accepted at the college. Her relationships are leery as friendships proved only to have someone after what Justina could provide them. Used often, she still wanted friends. Travels to other countries proved her friends weren’t true friends to her, Alfi in particular. Men still tried to use her also. Someone was always trying to control her. After her baby died, her maturity reached new heights, and she realised her life was much better by living alone. Yes, I agree with Author Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko: Justina’s mistakes and challenges are lessons for all to learn by, but I also noticed how Justina’s persistence displayed a strong willed person not settling for a future she would not be happy with. The steps she took for a better future are remarkable. I highly recommend this book!
This post made me think about bathroom scenes and whether or not I have used them in my books. I realised that I have used them rather often. Here are a few extracts from my books that are about toilets and bathrooms:
From A Ghost and His Gold – Adult supernatural history COMING SOON!
“Every morning, when the family passes the tents belonging to a group of Bywoners on their way to the latrines, which are nearly half a mile from the main body of the camp, Estelle is obliged to listen to Marta loudly expressing her disgust at having to live in a camp with such dirty people.
“Look at the ground around their tents,” she complains. “It’s soiled with slops and rubbish because they are too lazy to dig a hole near the fence and bury it. They don’t even use the latrines; they just do their business wherever they want to; it is completely unhygienic, and they are putting us all at risk of typhoid and other illnesses.”
In some ways, Estelle doesn’t blame them for not using the latrines which comprise of a mixture of trenches, similar to those used by the army, and a bucket system which was easier for the small children. As she draws near, her gorge rises from the overpowering stench. Ardrina carries the makeshift chamber pot that the occupants of their tent use during their night and empties it into the latrines. It’s the largest cooking pot that Marta had managed to pack, and keep, on the day the Khakis attacked the farm. The pot is always overflowing by the morning and Estelle finds it revolting, but she is grateful she doesn’t have to try and make her way to the latrines during the night or, even worse, find somewhere to squat away from the tents in the open.”
From Through the Nethergate – YA supernatural fantasy
“There was only one toilet in the small rest room. Katharine used it first, followed by Lizzie.
Elizabeth was the last to enter the small cubicle. She was washing her hands at the basin when she heard the voice of Sarah Jukes calling her:
“Help us! Help us, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth looked around, startled. The small space, with its starkly painted white walls and water-stained basin, was empty.
Elizabeth shook her head to clear it and turned the tap on again to rinse the soap off her hands.
“Help us, Elizabeth.” Now the voice of Sarah Newton echoed around the small room, bouncing off the walls. A wave of dread washed over Elizabeth making her shake.
What is wrong in Nabs Wood? Why are the children calling me?
The bright light bulb enshrined in its plain white glass bowl started to expand. Elizabeth watched it grow with astonishment and fear. The light became fuzzy and stretched looking, as if she was seeing it through heavy rain on a dark night.
The other children in Nabs Wood joined in the calling. “Help us, Elizabeth. We need you.”
Their cries boomed inside her head, making her clutch her head in pain. In the centre of the large pool of light, Elizabeth saw Nabs Wood.
The children were standing in a half circle, gazing at her. Their eyes were wild and frightened. Sarah Newton was clutching her face with her small hands, as if she was in a frenzy of fear. They were all calling for her to help them.
She took a step forward into the glowing circle and her eyes widened in horror.”
From While the Bombs Fell – Children’s fiction
“First thing in the morning, Mother emptied the ceramic chamber pots that the family used if they needed to wee during the night.
Next to the cowshed outside, across the dirt yard, stood the family’s toilet, a dark and cold outhouse.
During the winter, Mother lit a paraffin lantern and place it near the pipes to prevent them from freezing during the night. People used newspaper, instead of toilet paper which was unavailable, to clean themselves as best they could.
The chamber pots were usually full to overflowing by the morning and Mother emptied them into a pail and took it across the yard to empty out into the toilet.
Later in the year, during the warmer spring months, the trip across the yard to the outside toilet could be rather hazardous. The cows were turned out to pasture, and this affected their bowels dramatically. At that time of year, sticky greenish cow poo covered the dirt path to the outside toilet, and if you didn’t jump accurately, it could end up a slippery ride! Falling and landing on your bottom in the muck did not bear thinking about.”
Do you use bathrooms and bathroom scenes in your writing?
Thursday Doors is 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 Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).
We spent last weekend at a lovely resort in the Drakensburg mountains in South Africa. My husband was very keen on seeing the mountain from a helicopter. I wasn’t as keen as I tend to get airsick but I went and it was manageable. The views were amazing. This week, I thought I would share pictures of the doors of the helicopter.
Here are a few pictures taken through the windows and doors of the helicopter.
The spines of the dragon – Dragon’s PeakEverything is starting to turn green
In this thoughtful novel set on a sun-baked island, Adrian Hartman, the charismatic director of the Serendipity holiday community, is responsible for ensuring the perfect mindful break, with personal growth and inner peace guaranteed. People return year after year to bare their souls. For some, Adrian IS Serendipity.
But Adrian disappears, and with him goes the serenity of his staff and guests, who are bewildered without their leader. The hostility of the local villagers is beginning to boil over. Is their anger justified or are the visitors, each in a different way, just paranoid?
As romance turns sour and conflict threatens the stability of both communities, everyone has to find their own way to survive. This evocative story explores the decisions of adults who still need to come of age, the effect of well-intentioned tourism on a traditional community, and the real meaning of getting away from it all.
My review
I listened to the audio book of The Infinity Pool narrated by Jack Wynters. I enjoyed the readers voice interpretation of this novel and thought his tones suited the subject matter of the book very well.
The Infinity Pool is beautifully written and compelling and I found this book to be a thoroughly enjoyable read. It is about a vacation camp on a remote island where mainly British people go to recuperate from their stressful jobs and to take various courses aimed at developing them as people.
The camp leader is a charismatic man named Adrian, who is a bit of a womanizer but who is very good at helping other people rediscover the good in their lives and re-energize. As a result, Adrian is popular with the guests, many of whom come specifically to take his courses.
The book starts with Adrian feeling slightly disgruntled with his life and role at the camp and looking for a way to reignite his enthusiasm and vigor. He meets a young local girl and sets out to woo her as he finds her company gives him a new lease on youth.
His relationship with the girl ends and his very modern and cavalier attitude offends the locals who live in a nearby village. It is the last straw in an already strained relationship and a group of young men from the village set out to cause disruption at the camp and among the guests. At times, their actions are outright hostile and even criminal.
This is not a run of the mill mystery, it has a heavy focus on characterization and the development of selected characters in the book as they go through a period/s at the camp and undergo a healing process which allows them to move on from their pasts and change as people.
I enjoyed this story and was happy with the ending except for one small thread which wasn’t tied up for me. Other readers may not think that and it isn’t significant, just a small niggle for me.
This week’s prompt is rather different: Show us a photo (or photos) you took that you’re most proud of. Tell us about it (them).
I love taking pictures of water. There is something very intriguing to me about watching water move; either boiling and raging as rapids or during a storm or rippling in a wind or even still as glass on a windless day. Here are a few of my favourite pictures:
Taken in the garden at Dunvegan Castle in ScotlandTaken during a rain storm on Skye in ScotlandThe dark waters of Loch Ness in ScotlandMacMac Waterfall in Mpumalanga, South AfricaUnderground lake in the Sudwala Caves in Mpumalanga, South AfricaThe Danube in BudapestWaterfall in the Drakensburg, South Africa
Click on the link below to discover which photos other blog-hoppers are proud of.
Rules:
Link your blog to this hop.
Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
Today, I am delighted to welcome author, John W. Howell, to Roberta Writes with his amazing new book. Take it away, John.
Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Robbie, and for helping me launch Eternal Road – The final stop. With all yu have to do with kids and your accounting practice, blogging, and writing terrific books, I’m happy you could take the time to host on the book tour. Speaking of the book, let me describe it. Eternal Road is the story of two people finding their way through the selection process leading to the place where one will spend eternity. Yes, it is true. They both have passed away. James Wainwright just died in an auto accident. Samantha Tourneau died seventeen years before. Sam is James’s guide to help him decide where to spend eternity. This is not your usual thriller or paranormal romance. It is a piece of fiction that is a combination of inspiration, adventure, time travel, sci-fi, a touch of erotica, and a dash of spiritual. In short, it is a lot of things, but hopefully, a story that will make you happy to have read it.
It is now available on Amazon in paper and Kindle. The Kindle edition is introductory priced at 99¢ until October 15th
James Wainwright picks up a hitchhiker and discovers two things 1. The woman he picks up is his childhood sweetheart, only Seventeen years older. 2. He is no longer of this world.
James began a road trip alone in his 1956 Oldsmobile. He stops for a hitchhiker only to discover she is his childhood sweetheart, Sam, who disappeared seventeen years before. James learns from Sam falling asleep miles back caused him to perish in a one-car accident. He also comes to understand that Sam was taken and murdered all those years ago, and now she has come back to help him find his eternal home.
The pair visit a number of times and places and are witness to a number of historical events. The rules dictate that they do no harm to the time continuum. Trying to be careful, they inadvertently come to the attention of Lucifer, who would love to have their souls as his subjects. They also find a threat to human survival and desperately need to put in place the fix necessary to save humankind.
The question becomes, will James find his eternal home in grace or lose the battle with Satan for his immortal soul and the future of human life with it? If you like time-travel, adventure, mystery, justice, and the supernatural, this story is for you.
An Excerpt
The sun burns James’s face, and his back hurts from spending too much time lying on it. He tries to move his arm, but a body weighs it down. The realization stuns him into wakefulness. Sam sleeps on his arm. James rolls toward her and touches her face, which radiates warmth. He thanks God that she is still Sam and then looks her over. She lies totally naked from head to foot, and the sight makes him blush. She stirs in a deep sleep. He lays back and, for the first time, notices that he’s not wearing anything either. Something must have happened when they fell into whatever it was that brought them here. Perturbed, James looks around as much as he can without disturbing Sam. Desert surrounds them, with not much else but cacti and a couple of low hills.
“Uhhh, James.”
“Yes, I’m here.”
Sam covers her eyes with her arm. “Where are we?”
“In a desert.”
Sam squints. “How did that happen?”
“I’m not sure, but I have a bit of bad news.”
“Only a bit? That’s not such a problem.”
“We have no clothes.”
Sam sits up quickly and covers her breasts with her arms. “No clothes? Did you look at me while I slept?”
“Only a little.”
“How little?”
“Well, your breasts are beautiful.”
“James.”
“Okay, so I stared.”
“You just laid there leering at me while I was defenseless.”
“No, I—wait a minute. I’m naked too. I didn’t leer either. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Sam stares at him. “Stand up.”
James frowns. “Why?”
“So I can leer at you, and then we’ll be equal.”
James sighs and stands, in full view of his companion. “Will that do it?”
She takes her time looking him up and down. “Yes.”
The corners of her mouth lift in the beginnings of a smile. She orders him to turn around, and he sighs again but complies. “You can sit down again.”
“Satisfied?”
“Yes. You have a lovely body.” Sam chuckles. “I can’t help but think of Adam and Eve right now.”
“I worried sick about you. Do you feel okay?”
“Yes. Come closer and hold me for a minute. That was quite a ride.”
James sits beside her and wraps his arm around her shoulders. Gently, he pulls her toward him. Then he raises his hand to her hair and strokes. “What happened to us?”
“I would say old Lucifer summoned us. Probably, we’re on the outskirts of Las Vegas.”
The Trailer
John’s bio
John is an award-winning author who, after an extensive business career, began writing full time in 2012. His specialty is thriller fiction novels, but John also writes poetry and short stories. He has written five other books that are on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. The paperback versions are also available in the Indie Lector store
John lives in Lakeway, Texas, with his wife and their spoiled rescue pets.
Thursday Doors is 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 Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).
Champagne Castle Hotel is in the Drakensburg is in KwaZulu Natal. The Drakensburg is a range of beautiful mountains with lovely hiking trails. These are photographs of some of the doors.
![NO PEDIGREE: A Really Short Story by [Nonnie Jules]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ofmEbNDcL.jpg)
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