Thank you, Linda Hill, for being so obliging as to give a topic like check. Now I can do my music post and say “Check out my music thoughts for this week.”

Check out is an Americanism so if you see my Mama, don’t tell her I used it. Does that give you a hint about what is coming?

Don’t tell Mama is my favourite song from Cabaret. My sister and I thought it was absolutely hilarious when we were girls and I still love it. These are my favourite lyrics:

“Mama
Doesn’t even have an inkling
That I’m working in a nightclub
In a pair of lacy pants
So please sir
If you run into my mama
Don’t reveal my indiscretion
Give a working girl
A chance“

My next choice for the week is the song I have told my sons I want played at my funeral. I was rather hoping Gregory would play it on the piano at said funeral, but it has turned out that he wants to be a computer programmer and not a concert piano so that was the end of that and I’ll have to settle for this original:

My favourite lyrics:

“Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver-white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things“

And now … drum roll … Terence’s pick of the week, a pop up rendition of Fur Elise in the airport.

If you would like to join in Linda’s Steam of Consciousness Saturday and read what other people have done with this prompt, you can join in here: https://lindaghill.com/2020/07/24/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-25-2020/

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/2020/07/23/thursday-doors-july-23-2020/

We visited the UK during the boys August school holiday in 2018. We chose to make Kent our home base as I love the area and I can visit Canterbury Cathedral over and over again. I also really like the sweet shop in Canterbury.

One of the historical places of interest we visited during this particular visit was Charles Darwin’s house. Charles Darwin, in case you’ve forgotten, was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. 

Below are some pictures of doors that I took while visiting this beautiful museum.

What Amazon says

CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY. WORDS HAVE POWER.

A sheet of black filled his vision as hundreds of birds dived at the cottage, pointed beaks thrust forward. From this angle, he couldn’t see many of them striking it, but the few he did see held nothing back as they hammered into the shutter. The scale of the attack was beyond anything he’d seen or heard of. And bloodied casualties littered the ground: skulls shattered, wings broken, innards spilling from them. The fact that so many of them continued with the onslaught in spite of this filled him with even more dread.

Salin has always wanted an adventure and, when the opportunity presents itself, he grabs it with both hands, taking his friends along for the ride – whether they want to or not.

With strange lands come strange creatures that stand between them and their goal. And that goal is the same for someone else, a man who believes the prize is worth every sacrifice – especially when the sacrifices are made by others.

The future is about to change. But who for?

My review

Carrion is the second book I’ve read by Graeme Cumming and is quite a different read to his debut novel, Raven’s Gathering. The book is written from a couple of perspectives, including Carrion, the evil sorcerer, Salin, the son of a retired member of the Order and his group of three friends as well as four members of the Order who are on an important journey.

This book followed a more traditional fantasy story with its central theme of good versus evil and the main protagonist on a quest to save the world from an power hungry and ruthless sorcerer who has learned to use his power in the pursuit of self serving interest rather than for the benefit of mankind as they were intended. There is lots of intrigue with groups of birds who act as spies for the sorcerer as well as some well known and awe inspiring mythical creatures. The story of the journey reminded me of Frodo Baggin’s journey through Mordor in the third Lord of the Rings book. The story is face paced and enjoyable and, although it wasn’t particularly original for me, it is a good read.

The character of Carrion is well described and his back story is provided which gives the reader insight into his past and the circumstances which have resulted in his horribly flawed psychic. The reader is quick to learn to despite and hate Carrion as is intended.

Salin is a bit immature and impatient but he is assisted by more sensible and practical friends and the group is able to progress their quest. Salin’s personality flaws, together with his loyalty and bravery, make him a believable character who the reader quickly becomes attached to. I enjoyed the female character, Willow, who always managed to keep the group focused and on track.

All in this book is an excellent read which will not disappoint lovers of fantasy and thrilling adventures.

Purchase Carrion by Graeme Cumming

Last week I shared a few of the songs which make me smile, especially right now when my days can get a bit overwhelming as a result of the economic catastrophe caused by C-19. Accountant’s are also front line workers, picking up the pieces, albeit different ones to the medical fraternity.

This week Linda’s theme is links and I have decided to share more links to my favourite songs. You can all blame yourselves for this choice as last week’s post was so well received I felt it was my duty not to disappoint you this week and to provide you with more of the same sort of entertainment [wink!]. I’m even sharing another of Terence’s choices which are always very different from mine.

First up is Bosom Buddies from the Broadway show, Mame. Mame is one of my favourite favourites, a bit like the purple Quality Street. My sister, Catherine and I used to sing this together and have been know to dance the cancan to it in the parking lot outside the theatre.

A few are my favourite lyrics from this song are as follows:

“We’ll always be bosom buddies,
Friends, sisters and pals;
We’ll always be bosom buddies,
If life should reject you,
There’s me to protect you.
If I say that your tongue is vicious,
If I call you uncouth;
It’s simply that who else but a bosom buddy
Will sit down and tell you the truth.

Tho’ now and again I’m aware that my candid opinion may sting,
Tho’ often my frank observation might scald;
I’ve been meaning to tell you for years
You should keep your hair natural like mine.
If I kept my hair natural like yours, I’d be bald.
Do you have a quart of a John? But darling,

We’ll always be dear companions,
My crony, My mate;
We’ll always be harmonizing,
Orphan Annie and Sandy,
Like Amos and Andy.
If I say that your sense of style’s as far as off as your youth;
It’s simply that who else but a bosom buddy
Will tell you the whole stinking truth.”

Next up is one of my favourite songs by Flanders and Swann called Madeira M’Dear.

“She was young, she was pure,
She was new, she was nice,
She was fair, she was sweet seventeen.

He was old, he was vile,
And no stranger to vice,
He was base, he was bad, he was mean.

He had slyly inviegled her up to his flat,
To view his collection of stamps;
And he said as he hastened to put out the cat,
The wine, his cigar, and the lamps:”

I must be honest that I do find all the songs by this duo hilarious and, if you give me enough encouragement in the comments, I may share some more.

And lastly, here is Terence’s contribution for this week:

The pop up concert he chose, is actually pretty amazing, so I hope you watch and enjoy it.

This post was written for Linda Hill’s SoCS prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “link.” Use it as a noun or a verb; use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

If you want to join in the fun, you can do so here: https://lindaghill.com/2020/07/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-18-2020/

Last year, we toured Yorkshire and Scotland and one of the places we visited in the city of York was the famous Clifford Tower. After our visit, I researched its history and wrote an article about it here: https://scvincent.com/2019/11/02/guest-author-roberta-eaton-cheadle-cliffords-tower-york/

I thought I would share a few pictures of its heavy wooden door and narrow windows for this Thursday Doors post which I have been itching to participate in for months but have never gotten around to before.

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/2020/07/16/thursday-doors-july-16-2020/

I found Norm’s blog through Dan Antion’s lovely blog, No Facilities. You can read his Thursday Doors post here: https://nofacilities.com/2020/07/16/the-unique-doors-of-osv-thursdaydoors/

I am desperately trying to get the edits for my new book, A Ghost and His Gold completed by the end of this week. As a result, I haven’t been on-line as much this week and expect that to continue over the next few days. I should be back to normal blogging sometime next week.

What Amazon says

Imagining Violet Married continues Violet’s story as she and her new husband, Frank Welsman, embark on married life at the turn of the 20th century. Like Part One, the story begins with a journey, their voyage from Liverpool to Canada. Then Violet writes to friends and family about the challenges of living with her in-laws, her first pregnancy and the growth of Frank’s career as a concert pianist. During these years, the family spends summers on an island in Muskoka. It’s gentle domestic drama with elements of social and musical history within the context of Toronto’s development as a musical centre in North America

My review

This is the second book in the Imagining Violet series I have read and enjoyed. Imagining Violet Married picks up with Violet marrying her sweetheart, musician Frank Welsman, and moving from England to Toronto where he plans to build his music career. The author describes Violet’s journey across the ocean by ship and the newly married couples arrival in Toronto where they move in with Frank’s parents and his sister, Alice. His older sister, Olive is married and expecting her first child.

Learning to live with Frank’s parents and adapting to the more conservative social life of the wealthy in Toronto at the end of the 19th century takes a bit of time for Violet, but she does start to become involved in the music world and meet a few people. She realises she is pregnant quite soon after their arrival in Canada and I found it interesting to read about the rather strange life of an expectant mother from the privileged class at that time. Violet gives birth to a healthy son, Teddy, and she and Frank soon decide to move into their own home.

This series is reminiscent for me of the Little House series of books for children by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It tells the story of the life of Violet during the late Victorian era and vividly depicts life at the time when the conventions of society ruled and a married woman had to comply with them in all aspects of her life from entertaining on behalf of her husband to not appearing in public during her pregnancy. The book touches on the involvement of England and Canada in the Second Anglo Boer War and I was surprised at how supportive the wealthy class was of the English monarchy in Canada. The tribulations of life are also detailed included two of Violet’s four children contracting diphtheria and becoming very ill. Ill health was common at the time and there were few medical aids for illness and poor health.

I enjoyed the character of Violet and her growth as she evolves from a young newly married woman to a mother of four children and the wife of a prominent musician in the city. I also enjoyed meeting her in-laws, including Frank’s sister, Alice, who is a lovely young lady and quite supportive of Violet during the early days of arrival in Canada.

This is a slow and languid read that shares lots of intriguing detail about life during this period and I would recommend it to people who enjoy historical fiction along the lines of a fictionalised memoir.

Purchase Imagining Violet Married

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “song.” First, find a picture–the closest one to you. Your prompt is the title and/or the lyrics of the first song that comes to mind when you look at the picture. Have fun!”

This week, Linda’s stream of consciousness challenge played right into my hands because I wanted to write a post about songs that make me laugh by tickling my wicked sense of humour in some way or another. I also wanted to share my husband’s favourite song which he asked me to do. I didn’t want to – I told him to create his own blog but he looked so sad I capitulated.

I am going to cheat and not look at a picture, I’m just going to share my favourite lines for these songs that make me giggle.

Anyone who knows me will be aware that I am highly competitive, especially with my husband who is a very clever man [he keeps me on my toes]. I found this song, Anything you can do I can do better – Annie Get Your Gun – Betty Hutton and Howard Keel, a few weeks ago and thought the lyrics were hilarious and captured how I am amazingly well. Even some of my expressions when I’m on a competitive streak are very similar to Betty’s in this video.

“Anything you can be I can be greater
Sooner or later I’m greater than you”

This song “Why Can’t a Woman Be More Like a Man” also makes me laugh and laugh. It so beautifully demonstrates exactly why I can never ask my husband to do anything to help me [It will always be wrong – haha]. I always tell people that when I married Terence I got all his hair and all his words. When my three sisters and I get together, we talk so much and so loudly [especially as the bottles of wine start to empty] that our menfolk all slink away after about 30 minutes to sit in the lounge and quietly recover while watching rugby or cricket. They are quite unable to take the noise and raucous laughter. PS If you are a fanatical women’s libber, you may not find this as amusing as I do.

“Would you be slighted if I didn’t speak for hours?

COLONEL PICKERING:
Of course not.

PROFESSOR HIGGINS:
Would you be livid if I had a drink or two?

COLONEL PICKERING:
Nonsense.

PROFESSOR HIGGINS:
Would you be wounded if I never sent you flowers?

COLONEL PICKERING:
Never.

PROFESSOR HIGGINS:
Well, why can’t a woman be like you?”

Maybe my hubby and I get on so well because I often don’t speak to him for hours. Writing and blogging takes up a lot of my time and attention. Hubby doesn’t drink, but I’ve been know to dibble – every day! But only one [wink!] and I know I’ve given him very strict instructions to NEVER, EVER give me flowers. Such a bother having to look after them. I don’t like chocolates either. Actually, I just told him not to buy me anything, I prefer to get my own gifts [giggle!]

Because my husband is such a saint to put up with me and all my projects and obsessions, I’m going to share his favourite song with you. It’s called Baba Yetu and its sung by the Stellenbosch University Choir in South Africa.

If this prompt tickles your fancy as much as it did mine, you can join in here: https://lindaghill.com/2020/07/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-11-2020/

What Amazon says

When my father died in 2005, I assumed my mother would need more support and someone to help with decisions she previously shared with her husband. What I didn’t realise was the role she had in mind for me: a sort of Desmond 2.0. Over the five years until her death, I played the role of apprentice, learning more about her and her relationship with my father than I had gleaned in my previous 50 years. We laughed, we cried and, occasionally we disagreed, and throughout she manipulated me as, I learnt, she had my father. Neither of us minded much; we were both her so willing fools, for she was an extraordinary woman and we both knew we were in the presence of someone very special.

My review

Apprenticed to My Mother is a delightful memoir written by a devoted son and depicts his younger years, growing up under the guidance of his parents, and his later years when the tables turn and his parents rely on him for certain things.

There are lots of things I loved about this book. I enjoyed the author’s description of his mother who is everything I admire: hard working, strong willed, devoted to her family and an excellent cook and baker. I love baking and am always pleased to read about other women who enjoy it too. A lot of family life revolves around food and eating, so a mother that cooks is always nice for children.

I enjoyed the anecdotes to the author’s younger years and some of the mischief he got up to with his brother. They both were very bright boys and quite typical, getting themselves into messes and injuring themselves. I liked that the boys had to help around the family home as I believe that instills good habits in children and the knowledge that you have to work if you want to achieve in life, whether it is planting a garden, building a career or moving house.

The author’s father sounds like a great chap. He was clearly devoted to his wife and sons and there are some delightful poems which he wrote for her and for various family events included in the book. Mr Le Pard senior was a gifted poet and most romantic too.

This book takes the reader on an entertaining journey of life growing up in an English town and a family enjoying, and making the most of, the ordinary things that comprise everyday life. It was interesting to see how the lives of both the parents and the sons changed over the years and how their roles also changed, with the parents becoming more reliant on guidance from the author as they aged. It felt, to me, that this book described the best things about being English and life in England.

I hope that one day when I am elderly, my sons will treat me with as much love and respect as the author demonstrated for his parents and, in particular, his mother to whom he becomes “apprenticed” after the death of his father.

My favourite poem in the book is called A Paratrooper’s Prayer, and these are the last three stanzas:
“And if it be Thy Will, God
Part of Thine Own Great Plan
That my life should stop, then on that last long drop
Oh God, let me die a man!

While I’m waiting to emplane, God
And I’m checking my jumping kit
Thugh I laugh and jeer I’m full of fear
But, God don’t let me quit.

When the kite begins to move, God
And take off time is near
Then my heart grows cold – God, make me bold
And drive away my fear.”

This poem reminds me of my favourite poem, IF by Rudyard Kipling.

I recommend this book to people who enjoy reading memoirs and books about families and their lives as well as delightful poetry.

Purchase Apprenticed to My Mother by Geoff Le Pard

What generic ‘rules’ did you abide by when you started writing that have gone out the window?

This week’s prompt couldn’t have been better timed for me as I received my developmental editing comments last week Monday. I was thrilled that there were far fewer writing style comments that for my previous book and I now feel it has been confirmed that I have improved a great deal at showing instead of telling, fleshing out ideas properly and writing dialogue that flows well.

My editor had a few great suggestions that I am busy writing into my story and also picked up one idea in the book that I hadn’t rounded out as well as I could have. As I read through my book again, after a three week break from it, I have also found a few areas that I felt could be improved on for better flow and understanding by a reader. There is definitely something to be said for leaving your book for a few weeks before you start editing [again for me]. I am now on round 5 of my editing and expect one more round of final grammar, spelling and punctuation checks before I send it to my publisher who will also find some things that need addressing. I’m still on track to publish in October so it’s all good.

I’ll tell you a secret, I was so stoked by some of my editor’s brilliant suggestions that I spent nearly the entire weekend working on my book. I didn’t bake or do fondant art or listen to audio books. I just edited and edited. It takes a long time, even if the changes are not huge, as I re-read the whole book slowly.

There are a few things that I know I do when I write and which I am finding very hard habits to break . When I was at school at the convent, we were taught to write very formally. We were not allowed to use contractions in our writing and starting a sentence with a conjunction was a serious error. One of the things my editor commented on was that I don’t use contractions in my dialogue and that this makes the conversation a bit stilted. She is right, people don’t say I am or I will or you have, they use the contraction I’m, I’ll or You’ve. This does not come naturally to me because of my twelve years of being taught to NEVER, EVER use contractions. I have to sit and literally read though the entire book, consciously changing all of these words. It took a long time so I hope I can remember and do this better going forward.

Another issue for me is starting a sentence with a conjunction like but or because. People do this when they speak, especially when they are children or when they are emotional. I have had to “get over myself” about this point to make my dialogue more natural.

I am sure there are other writing rules I’ve had to unlearn but these are the ones that have cost me the most time, other than having to remove words like very, was and had from my writing in many places. Happily, I seem to have managed to stop overusing these words quite easily.

Do you have any writing rules you regularly break in your novels?

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Crash! The en suite bathroom door slams shut.

Michelle jumps and whips her head in the direction of the noise. She makes out a second shape dimly outlined against the door’s stark white paint. The figure’s khaki uniform, knee-high boots and helmet are clearly visible, as well as the rifle he holds in place over his left shoulder. The front of his tunic is stained an inky black.

It’s a soldier. A dead one. Holy Crap! Her scalp prickles as the hair on her head tries to stand up and fails due to its length and weight.

A movement from the bed briefly attracts her attention. Tom moves restlessly, but, strangely, the slamming of the door has not woken him. She opens her mouth to call out, but no sound issues from her strained throat.

Her eyes dart back to the first shadow. The man in the hat has closed the gap between them; his back is rigid and his posture aggressive. Unlike the soldier, he appears to be unarmed. He stands in front of the dressing table, and she can see her own reflection right through him. It is distorted, like looking through the bottom of a coke bottle. He has no reflection. She closes her eyes and takes a deep and steadying breath. I’m dreaming. The weird events of last night disturbed me and have manifested as a nightmare. What’s happening is not real. There is no such thing as ghosts.

Opening her eyes, she glances quickly towards the bed. Tom sleeps on, his breathing soft and restful. There’s no help coming from him. Irritation at his complacent slumber briefly displaces her fear, crowding it out like the incoming tide.

A soft rustling gives the soldier’s movements away. He has stepped forward and is standing at the edge of the king-sized bed. His weapon is raised and its wooden stock shimmers in the faint light. Michelle can see his face now, its handsome lines marred by bitterness and anger.

A shudder wrenches its way through her body, as her eyes skitter from one apparition to the next, trying to see which one will move next. A strong wind rushes past her as the soldier streaks across the room and collides with his adversary. On impact, both shapes disappear.

This extract from my forthcoming novel, A Ghost and His Gold, is shared for Sue Vincent’s write photo prompt, Dreams. You can join in her: https://scvincent.com/2020/07/02/thursday-photo-prompt-dream-writephoto-2/