Thank you to talented poet and editor of MasticadoresUSA, Barbara Leonhard, for sharing my Nature Chaos artwork, Jailhouse Burning Butterflies, and my poem, Hot Sun, on MasticadoresUSA.
Category: Uncategorized
Roberta Writes – Repost: And the Grave Awaits Blog Tour, What are Sirens? on Entertaining Stories #sirens #shortstories #readingcommunity
Thank you to talented fantasy author, C.S. Boyack, for sharing this post about mythical sirens and what they are as part of my And the Grave Awaits blog tour.
Craig has a lovely blog, Entertaining Stories, where he shares all sorts of fun updates about his writing processes and his life. He also has a wonderful selection of fantasy books, many of which I have read and loved.
Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors and a song parody, On Reflection #ThursdayDoors #NorwegianFolkMuseum #poetry
For Thursday Doors this week, I am sharing a few of my photographs from the Norwegian Folk Museum. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2024/07/04/wlfd-carnival/
This post is a first peep into some of the traditional houses featured at this museum. There are 400 buildings on display so this will be the first of a few posts.
Wikipedia says the following about sod roofs:
A sod roof, or turf roof, is a traditional Scandinavian type of green roof covered with sod on top of several layers of birch bark on gently sloping wooden roof boards. Until the late 19th century, it was the most common roof on rural log houses in Norway and large parts of the rest of Scandinavia.
Sod is also a reasonably efficient insulator in a cold climate. The birch bark underneath ensures that the roof will be waterproof.
The term ‘sod roof’ is somewhat misleading, as the active, water-tight element of the roof is birch bark. The main purpose of the sod is to hold the birch bark in place. The roof might just as well have been called a “birch bark roof”, but its grassy outward appearance is the reason for its name in Scandinavian languages: Norwegian and Swedish torvtak, Danish tørvetag, Icelandic torfþak.
You can read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sod_roof
I first learned about sod houses when I read On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was a girl. The Ingalls family live in a sod house after Pa trades their wagon and horses for a house built by a Norwegian, and his crops.
Picture caption: A variety of different traditional Norwegian houses
Picture caption: inside one of the houses
YT video: Inside a traditional Norwegian sod house
On reflection, a song parody
My song parody today is for Kay’s Let’s Go to the Museum painting challenge. This is the prompt picture: Automat, 1927 by Edward Hopper
You can join in the challenge here: https://bookplaces.blog/lets-go-to-the-museum-writing-challenge-2/
The picture brought to mind me sitting alone in the hospital coffee shop waiting for someone who is having surgery to come out of theatre. People often ask me how I manage to cope with all the hospitalisations and illnesses that cross my life path. This song parody is my answer to that question.
On reflection, a song parody of From a Distance
On reflection, our lives go up and down
With rough patches in between
On reflection, loves go right and wrong
And opportunities are not seen
***
On reflection, the road is bumpy
It effects the seeds we sew
We can be mean, or
We can be kind
It depends on how we grow
***
On reflection, we are all captains
Of our own destinies
We can choose to rise, or choose to sink
Stand tall or fall to our knees
***
On reflection, relationships can go astray
And our lives can fall apart
To succumb to grief, or
To succumb to hate
Is a decision we must make
***
Hope shadows us
Hope shadows us
Hope shadows us
On reflection
***
On reflection, relentless fear and pain
Can tear apart our hearts
On reflection, it can teach calm and patience
When anger and self pity departs
***
On reflection, trauma moulds character
Gives us the strength to soldier on
It’s a part of life
And a part of death
It’s part of being human (being human)
***
It’s a part of life
And a part of death
It’s the core of humanity
***
And hope shadows us
Hope shadows us
Hope shadows us
On reflection
***
Oh, hope shadows us
Hope shadows us
Hope shadows us
On reflection
This is the original version of From a Distance by Bette Midler
Roberta Writes – Esther Chilton’s Guest Writer Spot: A Visit to Te Wairoa, The Buried Village and photographs #TheBuriedVillage #TeWairoa
A huge thank you to talented writer and editor, Esther Chilton, for sharing my post about Te Wairoa, The Buried Village in New Zealand. This is the setting from one of the short stories in my new short story collection, And the Grave Awaits. If you are interested in seeing more photographs from this visit, please see the pictures below the link.
Esther offers Editing Services and also has some wonderful non-fiction books about writing and a few fiction books too.
Rotorua is known for bubbling mud pools, shooting geysers and natural hot springs, as well as showcasing Māori culture.
The above photographs are all of shooting geysers at Rotorua.
Pictures from The Buried Village.
Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors on a Saturday: Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo and a poem #ThursdayDoors #Oslo #poetry
You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2024/06/27/day-of-travel-doors/
During my 2 1/2 day visit to Oslo, TC and I visited Vigeland Sculpture Park. I shared pictures of the Tower of Bodies in a previous post. This post will share some of the doors, naturally, as well as the entrance gate and a few more sculptures.
This is my YT video of this lovely fountain:
Defiance (Tanka)
Manmade water flows
Silhouetted by dark cloud
Nature does not weep
Withholds its natural bounty
Defies humankind
More sculptures that I liked.
The Children (Tanka)
Shelter the children
Protect them from treachery
Retain innocence
So easily imploded
By the hands meant to guide them
My YT video of some of these sculptures on the bridge:
Fun fact about me! This is the song I walked down the isle too over 23 years ago:
Roberta Writes – Repost: Sally shares a lovely promo post for my new short story collection, And the Grave Awaits #AndtheGraveAwaits #paranormal #readingcommunity
A huge thank you to the marvellous Sally Cronin of Smorgasbord blog for sharing this wonderful promo post for my new paranormal short story collection, And the Grave Awaits.
Sally’s blog is packed with book promotions, book reviews, music, health advice and all sorts of other articles in the manner of an on-line magazine. Do go over and take a look around. Sally also has some excellent books which you can find here: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/my-books-and-reviews-2024/
Roberta Writes – Reblog: In Touch With Nature, African killer bees, friend or foe #InTouchWithNature #Killerbees
My June In Touch With Nature post features African honeybees, and their relatives Africanized honeybees, also known as African killer bees. Thanks to Kaye Lynne Booth for hosting.
Roberta Writes – Book review: The Bloody Shoe Affair: A Daring and Thrilling Adventure with the Jailer’s Daughter by Joy York #bookreview #readingcommunity
What Amazon says
A daring and thrilling adventure with the jailer’s daughter
In this mystery set in 1968, Christi, a shy and awkward teenager, never expected to get sucked into helping her cousin, Lily, the “double-dare-you” daughter of the county jailer, try to solve the grizzliest murder the town of Roselyn, Mississippi, had ever seen. Then again, Christi had been entangled in her misadventures before. So a whirlwind week of spying, lying, crawling through tunnels and sneaking into the jail should have come as no surprise to Christi.
Lily, a vivacious prankster, loves adventure. It’s not hard to find when you live in a house connected to the jail. Christi, a city girl, is self-conscious and afraid of everything. Still, she’s drawn to the excitement and adventure that Lily always seems to provide. Christi arrives for a visit in time to help her cousin discover what happened the night Lily observed a county deputy drop a pair of women’s bloody shoes from a bag. After a chance meeting with the accused, they learn new information that sheds doubt on his guilt. Seeking justice, Lily sets a plan in motion that takes them on an adventure of risk and surprising twists. They not only discover unexpected truths about the case, but about themselves as well.
My review
I really enjoyed this entertaining and fast paced story about two young cousins, Lily and Christi, who become embroiled in a murder investigation.
Lily is the daughter of the head warden at a large prison. Her home is attached to the prison, and she has interacted with prisoners and the legal system all her short life. Christi is her less confident and more introverted cousin and is visiting because it is the two girls’ grandparents 50th wedding anniversary celebration. The night before Christi’s arrival there is an upheaval at the prison and Lily glimpses some compromising and fascinating evidence in the form of a pair of bloody woman’s shoes. Lily is determined to learn more about these shoes and drags Christi with her along the investigatory path.
This book is a great mystery and is also an excellent read for teenagers with its sub-themes which revolve around issues like trust, family relationships, boyfriends, and respect for authority. I liked that these important concepts were woven into this story in an interesting way that helps set a good example and standard to young readers without being remotely preachy. You hardly realise these subthemes are there and that subtlety makes the writing and storyline of this novel perfect for its intended audience.
In addition, Lily is a strong female character who is determined to follow her instincts. Christi acts as the voice of reason, a sort of Jiminy Cricket (talking cricket from The Adventures of Pinocchio), and tempers Lily’s impulsive strong headedness. Christy grows a lot as a character during the course of this story and learns to be brave and take a stronger stance on issues that concern her.
As an adult, I enjoyed this story, and I would certainly give this book as a gift to young readers.
Purchase The Bloody Shoe Affair: A Daring and Thrilling Adventure with the Jailer’s Daughter by Joy York: https://www.amazon.com/Bloody-Shoe-Affair-thrilling-adventure-ebook/dp/B00TUJTWEC
Joy York Amazon US Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Joy-York/author/B094NX7H8Q
Roberta Writes – d’Verse Travelling by Train and photographs #Knysna #d’Verse #CapeTown
Today, for our Poetics, write a poem sharing with us your train travel experience. It can be the daily metro/tube/subway/local you take to work/study or the inter city train or it can be the cross-country train. Tell us, in any poetic form, why you love or hate commuting by trains. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2024/06/18/poetics-travelling-by-train/
This challenge is hosted by https://paeansunpluggedblog.wordpress.com/2024/06/19/vignettes-of-train-travel/
From Knysna to Cape Town
Clickety clack! Clickety clack!
The wheels go round and round
Moving the train further away from home
Moving the train closer to Cape Town
A blur of green and brown countryside
Seen from the windows of our sleeper carriage
In my stomach, butterflies dance
***
Giggle! Giggle!
The high-pitched sound slides off the walls
Four high spirited girls bounce on the beds;
peek under the pillows; look under the mattresses.
Our first time overnight on a train
Our first time away from home for a week
I suck jelly sweets for motion sickness
***
Lights out! Lights out!
Sister Anne makes the nightly round
Her head looks strange in its wimpleless state
I notice that the back of her long hair is grey
Only the front is dark brown – it’s dyed!
“Hands on top of the bedclothes,” she orders.
Is dyed hair a sin? I wonder
***
Yawn! Yawn!
Droopy eyed from lack of sleep
Thirty girls take seats in the dining car
Thirty steaming plates of porridge are served
With cream and honey. The food is satisfying
Washed down with large cups of sweet tea
“Are we nearly there?” Sally asks
***
Bang! Bang!
Windows slam open; thirty heads pop out
Thirty pairs of hands clap with joy
The distant station draws closer and closer
The platform is buzzing with activity
“We’re there at last,” Sister Agatha sighs.
That must be Table Mountain, I think.
Roberta Writes – Reblog: Colleen Chesebro shares a lovely post about And the Grave Awaits and the YT book trailer #bookrelease #readingcommunity
Thank you to Colleen Chesebro for sharing this lovely post about my new collection of paranormal short stories, And the Grave Awaits. I’ve included the book trailer below.
roberta-writes.com 