Today, I am delighted to welcome talented author and blogging friend, Dan Antion, to Roberta Writes with a post about his latest book, Bridge to Nowhere.

About this series

The Rascal Todd Mysteries are novels and short stories featuring a stubborn young investigative reporter for the Pittsburgh Courier-Reformer. We first met Rachael “Rascal” Todd in the final book of the Dreamer’s Alliance Series when her research into a closed case caused her to become a target herself. With help from her boss, her father, her boyfriend, and on occasion, her cat, Bonkers, Rascal finds answers that the authorities can’t.

About Bridge to Nowhere

Pittsburgh reporter Rachael Todd has a hard deadline — and it’s personal. Her friend is a murder suspect. He knew the victim. He had a strong motive and a weak alibi. Rachael’s certain he is being framed, and she’ll have to live up to her nickname “Rascal” to clear him. Rascal sees a connection to an earlier crime. The clock is ticking as she digs through multiple layers of legal and bureaucratic misdeeds, crimes, and evidence that the police ignored.

Is a crime solved when the criminals are identified, or only after they are brought to justice? This is a mystery born from that question. The story includes many twists and turns, even after the crime is solved. It features characters, including the bad guys, that grow in ways that might surprise you, and well-researched circumstances that will take you from delight to frustration while moving you close to the edge of your seat—sound interesting? If it does, this book is for you.

Purchase Bridge to Nowhere:

Paperback – Bridge to Nowhere – relinks.me/B0D9HN877Y

Kindle – Bridge to Nowhere – relinks.me/B0D9HCLSJP

Extract from Bridge to Nowhere

Gary Willes is a friend of Rachael’s that she met when, on a police ride-along, she was present while he was trying to commit suicide. Gary had been recently laid off, but decided to abandon his career as an accountant and become a teacher. Rachael is interviewing him for an article on how he has turned his life around.

“Gary explained why you’re here, Rachael. I’ll leave the two of you to cover that.”

Gary followed Tanya to the door. He gently closed the door behind her and returned to the front of the room.

“I’d invite you to the library, sorry, ‘media center’ or the teacher’s lounge, but I have some things to share that I’m not eager to explain to anyone else.”

Rachael was a little confused. “About your suicide attempt, or about Jeffrey Kline?”

Gary gave an ah-ha kind of laugh. “About Jeff, but not what you think. Also, not what I hope you will share in your story—at least not yet.”

Now Rachael was totally confused. “Did you know Jeff? Are people asking you about his murder?”

Gary looked around the room, as if someone might have sneaked in through the closed doors. “Rachael, I’m a suspect!”

Rachael’s eyes opened wide. “What? Why would anyone think you would kill him? That’s absurd.”

Gary explained. “Someone sent the police an anonymous tip. They suggested I killed Jeff to force Riverbend to hire me back.”

About Dan Antion

Dan Antion was born and raised in a small suburb outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dan is well known from his popular blog, No Facilities, where he brings humor to a snarky set of characters and shares photos of nature and architecture. After forty-two years in a technology role in business he began a second career as an author.

When he’s not writing, you can find him hiding in his wood shop, or exploring with his camera.

You can find Dan on his blog. This is the link to his latest post: https://nofacilities.com/2024/08/01/isu-memorial-union/

My Thursday Doors pictures are all taken at the Rijksmuseum and feature a few doors and the Rembrandt’s we saw. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2024/08/01/isu-memorial-union/

Thank you to Rebecca Budd for her inspiring post about Rembrandt which you can read here: https://chasingart.com/2024/07/26/rembrandts-self-portrait/

Lastly:

d’Verse: Picking up the pieces

The d’Verse prompt for Tuesday, hosted by Punam, is as follows:

So, for today’s Poetics challenge, I would like you to write about grief (in general or personal). If that is something you don’t want to share, you can write about healing, dealing with loss or the general state of our world that brings grief to you.

You can join in the challenge here: https://dversepoets.com/2024/07/30/poetics-picking-up-the-pieces/

I am sharing two poems. Both are about honourable people I have known and admired.

Some People

Some people mark this imperfect world

Just by being, make it a better place

Encouraging, selfless, and enthusiastic

They’re a buffer against the rat race

***

Some people evolve into human hubs

Knowing everyone – friends with all

Able to link you up with a kind soul

To help you stand proud and tall

***

Some people have enormous hearts

That seem to beat outside their bodies

Touching everything around them

Supporting us through frequent follies

***

Some people mould our hearts and spirits

Forging new thought patterns that inspire

Following in such worthwhile footsteps

Becomes our ambition and desire

***

God calls some people back to Him

Before we are ready, or want them to go

As we pick ourselves up and go on – alone

Their guidance in our actions will show

The Leader

The Leader

stood out

A tropical island

during the good times

Sharing happiness

Ensuring all

shared in the spoils

Inspiring confidence

through his justice

Creating trust

through his fairness

Building unity

through his tolerance

***

The Leader

stood tall

A safe port

during a storm

Providing confidence

through his strength

Creating trust

through his honesty

Building unity

through his determination

***

The Leader

was cut down

An enormous oak

felled in its prime

Despite the blows

he tried to protect

his people

Inspiring confidence

through his calm

Creating trust

through his belief

Building unity

through his planning

***

The Leader

became a memory

To be reflected on

from time to time

His people

remembered him

and took courage

Growing confident

due to his legacy

Maintaining

trustworthiness

due to his integrity

Uniting as one

due to his fellowship

I was introduced to Joni Caggiano’s beautiful and powerful poetry through Barbara Harris Leonhard from Masticadores USA and Michelle Ayon Navajas from Hotel by Masticadores.

If you follow this link, you will find another powerful review of this book on Masticadores USA: https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/2024/07/20/a-book-review-of-joni-karen-caggianos-one-petal-at-a-time-by-selma-martin/

If you follow this link, you will find a compelling poem by Joni Caggiano on Hotel by Masticadores: https://hotelmasticadoreshouse.wordpress.com/2024/07/15/stranger-by-joni-caggiano/

Both Barbara and Michelle work incredibly hard to promote poets and poetry. You can find out about their submission process for publication on their respective sites.

What Amazon says

One Petal at a Time is A Journey of Healing and Resilience

In “One Petal at a Time,” Joni Caggiano invites readers into the raw and poignant landscape of her journey as an Adult Child of Alcoholics. From a childhood fraught with unpredictability and fear, Joni’s story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of hope in the face of adversity.

Growing up in an environment marked by mental and physical abuse, Joni learned early on to navigate the treacherous waters of uncertainty. With dangers lurking around every corner, she turned to humor as a survival tactic, using laughter as a shield against the darkness that threatened to engulf her.

But beneath the facade of laughter lies a soul burdened by fear and self-doubt. Trapped in a cycle of dogmatism and low self-esteem, Joni struggles to find her footing in a world that seems intent on tearing her down.

As she grapples with the demons of her past, Joni learns to embrace vulnerability as a path to healing. Through introspection and self-discovery, she untangles the knots of her trauma, one petal at a time.

“One Petal at a Time” is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of self-love. Readers are reminded, through Joni’s journey, that healing is possible, even in the darkest of times, and that every step forward is a victory worth celebrating.

Endorsed by Claudia Black, PhD – Pioneer in the study of dysfunctional family systems shaped by alcohol and addictive disorders.

Expressed with such raw emotion and honesty, this is an incredibly powerful book for any reader, but if you grew up in a family impacted by substance addiction, you will identify with the pain in childhood and the joy that comes with the author’s healing and recovery.

Claudia Black Ph.D., author of It Will Never Happen to Me, and Unspoken Legacy

My review

This collection of emotional poems documents the poet’s journey from a childhood with two alcoholic parents and filled with abuse, to personal fulfilment. It is a staged journey from pain, confusion, and the destruction of innocence to acceptance and the achievement of happiness. This is not an easy read, as the poems are raw and very vivid so it took me a month to read and digest it. The book is divided into three sections, each dealing with different stages in the poet’s life, and each section is introduced with an essay giving colour to the poems that lie ahead.

This is an extract form the introduction to Part 1 about the poet’s childhood:

“I am the watcher of monsters slumbering with lit cigarettes, abandoning hot iron, stove, and oven. Emotionally exhausting, my allegiance is, with great care, to keep the two imitators unscathed. My fledgling face holds a lingering crimson path, where tears fall incessantly carving my saga.”

My favourite three poems in part one are Cleansing, Southern Rising, and Silent Cry.

“phantom of shame circles
disgrace like fireflies
without flames”
From Cleansing

Part 2 is about the teenage and young woman years. A short extract from the introduction entitled Seedling is as follows:

“Love felt like a wonderment, and my shield melting like chocolate in my youthful mouth in front of your gazing eyes.”

My favourite poems from part 2 are Counting Clouds, Forced Submission, and Blood Orange.

“beautiful oranges surrounding me
blood drips from internal wounds
shuddering in the shadow of dusk
dying bit by bit without any trust”

Part 3 is introduced with an essay entitled Blooming and this is the final paragraph:

“When I succumb, dear husband, please do not shed a tear for me! I will be that child I never got to be, dancing, and rejoicing without even the knowledge of sadness. I came from a seed, I grew into a seedling and God shined on my bloom and His Breath took me Home.”

My favourite poems from Part 3 are Open Casket, Bedtime, and Sunflower, A New Page.

“I am a sunflower, golden, proud, and tall
dancing playfully towards the bright sun
no longer living in the land of the small”

A beautiful book of poems that I highly recommend.

Purchase One Petal at a Time from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CYR9VJQP

About the poet

Joni Karen Caggiano is an internationally published author, poet, and photographer. She is a 2022 Pushcart Nominee for her poem, “Old News is Not Old News,” published by “The Short of It Publishing.” She was privileged to write the Forward for the Best Seller, “I Am In Itself Poetry In The Dark,” by the five-time Amazon Best Selling Author Michelle Ayon Navajas. On SpillWords Press NYC, Joni won Publication of the Month in November 2022 and Co-Winner of Socialite of the Year 2023. Joni was a Co-Author of both # 1 Amazon Bestselling books, Hidden In Childhood and Wounds I Healed. She is also in five additional Poetry Anthologies. Her first book of poetry, “One Petal at a Time,” will be released by Prolific Pulse Press, LLC in 2024, featuring Valencian artist Francisco Bravo Cabrera. Joni is also proud to be included in the upcoming Poetry Anthology, “A Safe and Brave Space,” published by, “Garden of Neuro Publishing, to be released in the Spring of 2024. She is currently a writer for Hotel Masticadores. Joni formerly contributed four combined pieces a month for one year to Masticadores India and Masticadores USA.

You can learn more about Joni on her website here: https://the-inner-child.com/

Thank you to talented author, Beem Weeks, for hosting a post about the creation of the book cover for my short story collection, And the Grave Awaits. You can find Beem’s books here: https://beemweeks.wordpress.com/buy-here/

Greetings to one and all. Today, I am introducing you to author Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s new release, And the Grave Awaits. Take it away, Robbie!

Picture caption: My artwork for the cover of And the Grave Awaits in charcoal and coloured pencil

It is not easy creating a cover for a collection of diverse short stories. The cover needs to give the reader a sense of what the stories, as a collective, are about so it needs to reflect the common thread. It also needs to make a strong statement about the genre of the short stories so as not to mislead potential readers.

And the Grave Awaits includes a variety of short stories which all fall under the broad umbrella of paranormal, but which vary greatly in their themes and subject matters. For example, The War Babies and All that Glitters is not Gold are both stories about women working in factories to help the war effort during World War 1. Justice is Never Served, Death is About Choices, and We’ll be Waiting are all based on true events, while Missed Signs and The Last of the Lavender serve as warnings about the dangers to human health that lurk in nature. The Christmas Pie is based on the meaning behind an old nursery rhyme while The Bite and Glass Mountain are supernatural fantasy. The common thread with all these stories is that they all result in an unnatural death … or a grave. Thus, the motivation behind the title, And the Grave Awaits.

Continue reading here: https://beemweeks.wordpress.com/2024/07/16/and-the-grave-awaits-by-roberta-eaton-cheadle-newrelease/

A review of And the Grave Awaits by Thomas Wikman

Thank you to Thomas Wikman for this amazing review of And the Grave Awaits which you can read here: https://leonbergerlife.com/2024/07/26/we-all-die-what-are-our-lives/

Thomas has a lovely book about his Leonberger dog which you can purchase from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thomas-Wikman/author/B0B813Q3PP

Thomas also has a fascinating blog where he shares all sorts of interesting information about scientific mysteries, as well as information about Leonberger dogs, jokes, and book reviews: https://leonbergerlife.com/

A review of And the Grave Awaits by Sally Cronin

Sally is a blogging and writing powerhouse and I am very grateful for her amazing review of And the Grave Awaits which you can read here: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2024/07/27/smorgasbord-book-reviews-shortstories-paranormal-and-the-grave-awaits-by-roberta-eaton-cheadle/

Sally has a wonderful array of fiction and non-fiction books which you can peruse here: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/my-books-and-reviews-2024/

Sally’s blog is a magazine styled experience and covers topics including cooking, health, book reviews and book promotions, jokes, and many other topics of interest. You can find Sally’s blog here: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/

Last week Sunday, I attended a watercolour painting workshop with son #2. I painted a red bicycle with a basket full of flowers.

This painting reminded me of the two years of my childhood I spent in George in the Western Cape. I had so much freedom and they were fabulous days. When I saw Esther’s writing prompt of Best Days, I wrote these two poetry prose pieces. You can join in Esther’s prompt here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2024/07/24/writing-prompts-24/

The Red BMX (Tanka Prose)

When I was a tween, I wanted a red bicycle. Not just any bicycle. I wanted a red BMX bicycle. BMXs were hugely popular at the time and the boys who rode them participated in all sorts of exciting events at the BMX racetrack on the outskirts of the town where we lived. One of my classmates, Craig, had a BMX and he did all sorts of brave tricks on it. I admired Craig who was thirteen and seemed very much older and more sophisticated than eleven-year-old me. I was the youngest in my class by more than a year. I was accepted into school early because I could read and had started writing. In the small and sleepy town of George in the Western Cape, most of the children started school a year late. This was the reason for the two-year age gap between me and many of my peer group.

My father agreed to purchase me a bicycle. When he brought it home, it wasn’t a red BMX. It was a silver ladies bicycle imported from France. It had a basket on the front. I never expressed my disappointment and in time, I grew to love this bicycle. The basket turned out to be useful as I could fit seven books into it when I visited the local library.

Ladies bicycle

Provided independence

Basket full of books

Four plus three equaled seven

Sister’s card put to good use

Lucky Fall (shadorma prose)

When I was a tween and my sister, Catherine, was a little girl, we used to cycle to school. I was a rather reckless girl, and I would go as fast as possible down the slopping, main road that passed the busy Afrikaans school. At the bottom, I would stop and wait for my little sister to catch up.

One day, I was cycling like a maniac down the road with my school satchel on my back. I hadn’t notice that my shoelace had come undone, and it caught in the gears of my fancy French ladies bicycle. Crash! Over went the bicycle. I was flung out into the road right in front of a car.

Screech! The car jammed on breaks and stopped just in front of me. The driver, a mother who had just dropped off her children at the school, was livid. She shouted at me in Afrikaans. I jumped up, remounted my bicycle, and tore off down the hill away from the angry woman.

I’m flying

Mischievous shoelace

Plays a trick

I wobble

Fall sideways in front of car

Driver jams on breaks

Review of Lion Scream by Dawn Pisturino

Thank you to talented poet, Dawn Pisturino, for her lovely review of my poetry collection Lion Scream. This is the book closest to my heart as it is all about the Sixth’s Mass Extinction and saving our wildlife.

Poetry Book Review: “Lion Scream” by Robbie Cheadle

Dora is the host of this d’Verse prompt. You can read her lovely poem here: https://pilgrimdreams.com/2024/07/23/shadow-riding-in-the-smokies/

Our poetics prompt is simple: horses.

Use horse imagery in any way you like, either as the focus of your poem or in passing. In allusion or metaphor. An ekphrastic. Or just a mention will do.

You can join in this challenge here: https://dversepoets.com/2024/07/23/poetics-running-with-horses/

I’m not a horse (freestyle poem)

I am not a horse

But I am an African equine

My coat is distinctive

With black and white stripes

I also have a shadow stripe

Between my black stripes

Because I’m a plains zebra

I am also distinctly portly

Thanks to the bacteria

That lives in my gut

It helps me digest my food

But also bloats my stomach

I look fat, even during a drought

I live in a harem

With a single male or stallion

And several females called mares

As well as their baby foals

Do not think you can ride me

Or use to me to carry loads

My back has not evolved

To carry a human rider comfortably

I can’t be saddled or carry loads

As my back is structurally weak

Thursday Doors

Last week, I shared some pictures from our Oslo Fjord cruise. This week, I’m sharing the buildings we saw on the numerous islands in the fjord. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2024/07/25/more-from-reiman-gardens/

These are pictures of some of the summer houses on the various islands. They have to be painted yellow, white, red, or blue. Yellow seemed the most popular colour.

This is a video of the houses we saw:

This is another video (apologies, an Italian tourist is talking in the background):

This month, my In Touch With Nature post focuses on oxpecker birds, also called vampire birds, and their relationship with herbivorous animals.

Thanks for hosting, Kaye Lynne Booth.

In Touch With Nature – The role of the Oxpecker bird in nature #oxpeckers #giraffes #rhinos

Thank you to talented author and poet, Elizabeth Gauffreau for hosting me with a post about the Radium Girls. Elizabeth writes thought provoking literary fiction and beautiful poetry. You can find out more about her books on her blog here: https://lizgauffreau.com/author/elizabethgauffreau/

Welcome, Robbie!

I am very pleased to host the multi-genre, multi-talented Roberta Eaton Cheadle today.  She has a brand new collection of short stories, And the Grave Awaits, available for preorder.  One of the stories, “All that Glitters is not Gold,” is based on the true story young women during World War I who thought they were contributing to the war effort, having no idea that they were putting their own lives at risk.  Here is Robbie to give you the historical events that inspired “All that Glitters is not Gold.”

The Radium Girls and the origin of my short story, “All that Glitters is not Gold”

The Radium Girls were female factory workers who were hired to paint watches and military dials with luminous paint during World War One. The watches were primarily used by the American soldiers, called dough boys, in the trenches. They were highly prized because they glowed in the dark.

The paint the women used was made from powdered radium, zinc sulfide (a phosphor), gum arabic, and water. The women, aged between sixteen and their early twenties, were told the paint was harmless. This was in line with the general attitude towards radium at the time. Because it had been used successfully in the treatment of cancer, radium was included in health tonics and cosmetics because ‘it was good for you.” The women were instructed to use their mouths to moisten and point their paint brushes to give them a fine tip for the detailed work.

By Unknown author. – http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/history_of_medicine/manuscripts/us_radium_corporation, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82821901

The women were careless about the paint. The powder got all over their clothes and made them glow in the dark. They used it to paint their fingernails, teeth, and lips. They even used it to paint the bars of cots for their babies.

Continue reading here: https://lizgauffreau.com/2024/07/10/spotlight-on-and-the-grave-awaits-by-roberta-eaton-cheadle

Sanaa‘s d’Verse prompt is as follows:

Consider this line from Pablo Neruda’s poem from “The Wide Ocean.”

“Ocean, if you were to give, a measure, a ferment, a fruit
of your gifts and destructions.”

You can join in the challenge here: https://dversepoets.com/2024/07/18/open-link-night-365-with-live-edition/

Oh ocean

Oh ocean

How you sparkle and shine

Enticing

My toes embedded in wet sand

Welcome the soft tickle

Of your gentle waves

Despositing memories

The debris of my childhood

– Sea level rise is a natural consequence of the warming of our planet – 1

Oh ocean

Your surface tinted gold

By a ferocious sun

Your levels are rising

Insidiously creeping

Reclaiming land

Will you take from me

All I hold dear?

1. Quote from Nasa

This is a puente poem. The puente form has three stanzas with the first and third having an equal number of lines and the middle stanza having only one line which acts as a bridge (puente) between the first and third stanza.

The first and third stanzas convey a related but different element or feeling, as though they were two adjacent territories. The number of lines in the first and third stanzas is the writer’s choice as is the choice of whether to write it in free verse or rhyme.

The center line is delineated by a tilde (~) and has ‘double duty’. It functions as the ending for the last line of the first stanza AND as the beginning for the first line of the third stanza. It shares ownership with these two lines and consequently bridges the first and third stanzas.

Thursday Doors: Oslo Fjord Cruise

For Dan’s Thursday Doors this week, I’m sharing some pictures from my Oslo Fjord Cruise. You are getting a break from traditional Norwegian buildings because I thought these pictures better matched the theme of my poem above. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2024/07/18/reiman-gardens/

Picture caption: photographs taken as we cruised around the Oslo harbour. The glass structure is in the harbour and is designed to catch and reflect the light.

Here is my YT short of the harbour mouth. It was windy and lonely.

Thank you to talented poet, Dawn Pisturino for this amazing review of Square Peg in a Round Hole. Michael and I are delighted.

Poetry Book Review: “Square Peg in a Round Hole” by Robbie Cheadle

Melissa from Mom With a Blog, provided a colourful prompt for her d’Verse poetry challenge with a focus on the art of Alma Thomas. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2024/07/16/writing-something-beautiful

Those of you who follow my blog know how much I love colours.

This is the painting I selected:

Colour Palette, song parody

Colours blend, everywhere

All I see are nature’s hues

Vivid red, mixed with yellow and brown

Creating a great masterpiece

***

Oh-oh-oh pigment, tipped into a bowl

Add just a little water

Merge the colours, undefined edge

Watercolour must be gentle

***

Extensive palette, so much choice

A rainbow at my fingertips

Mix, creating something new

Colour is everything

Capture the light (capture the light)

Capture the shine (capture the shine)

***

Flat edged brush, large surface

Gives a rough and streaky look

Narrow tip, brush strokes light

Helps create those fine details

***

Oh-oh-oh, time to mix again

Can I match the texture

Merge the colours, undefined edge

There’s so much potential

***

Extensive palette, so much choice

Everything I need is here

Mix, creating something new

Colour is everything

Capture the light (capture the light)

Capture the shine (capture the shine)

***

I can see the colours

I can see the picture (I can see the picture)

***

Oh-oh-oh colours, how they go together

It’s like magic when they meld

Merge the colours, undefined edge

Watercolour must be gentle

***

Extensive palette, so much choice

A rainbow at my fingertips

Mix, creating something new

Colour is everything

Capture the light (capture the light)

Capture the shine (capture the shine)

Capture the light (capture the light)

Capture the shine

***

Did you guess the song?

Circle in The Sand by Belinda Carlisle

Picture caption: Lone bird on the beach in oil pastels by Robbie Cheadle