What Amazon says

A blackmail letter arrives at an inopportune moment, and the recipient’s name is blurred out. Who is the ruthless missive meant for?

In the powerful sequel to Watching Glass Shatter, Olivia is the first to read the nasty threat. When the mysterious letter falls into the wrong hands, her sons try to figure out who’s seeking revenge on them.

Across the span of eight hours, members of the Glass family contemplate whether to confess their hidden secrets, or find a way to bury them forever. Some didn’t learn an important lesson last time, and as each hour ticks by, the family has to come to terms with what happened in the previous months.

Their lives are about to shatter into pieces once again, and this time the stakes are even higher.

My review

Hiding Cracked Glass is the second book in the Perceptions of Glass series. I have read the first book and while you can read and enjoy this book as a standalone novel, having the background to the characters and the deaths of Ben, the patriarchal figure, and Ethan, the youngest and most loving and loved brother of the five Glass sons, is helpful.

Olivia returns home after a trip to Italy with her sister, Diana. Her plans are to continue to disengage from the family home which is now occupied by her son, Matthew, his wife and four daughters. Matthew and his family have settled in and even employed a housekeeper, who is hugely unsuitable in Olivia’s opinion. Pilar is far to attractive and also inexperienced for the position. Will Olivia be proved correct?

Diana has recently separated from her husband of many years and met an attractive man on holiday, which is, in Olivia’s view, a good thing for her. Diana’s divorce has not, however, as yet been agreed to by George who is being exceptionally greedy and wants half of her inheritance from Ben’s estate.

Olivia and Diana plan to move in together and have great plans for the future, but first Olivia must celebrate her birthday with her family. Her four surviving sons will all gather for the evening; Caleb, his husband, Jake, and their new baby, Teddy and his wife, Sarah, whose baby’s birth is imminent, Zach, who has recently won custody of his daughter from his drug addict ex-girlfriend, and Matthew, who is still recovering from drug addiction and the loss of his job due to corporate theft.

A letter arrives during the course of the afternoon of the birthday but the addressee is obscured. Olivia receives the letter and plans to keep it to herself, believing its blackmailing message is for her, but the letter is accidentally read out with the birthday messages and every member of the Glass family believes it is addressed to them. Who is the foul message really for?

Olivia is just as cold and self absorbed in this book as she was previously. The loss of her husband and son did result in her taking an inventory of her life and those of her sons and reaching out to try to reunite and heal her broken family, but this hasn’t changed her innate nature. Olivia is not a person who is loving and giving, everything she does is considered and planned. She is wracked with guilt about her perceived failings as a mother, but she struggles to move on and truly right the wrongs of the past.

Diana is a lovely woman who made an unfortunate marriage. It is lovely seeing Diana coming into her own in this book and the ultimate outcome of her negative engagements with her husband are very satisfying. Diana is the person who the Glass boys turn to for comfort and support, especially Teddy.

Teddy is my favourite of the Glass sons. He is the oldest of five sons and his father was a successful, self made man. I have met men like this during my corporate working life and I always feel empathy for the burden such men carry. They feel driven to step up and perform and to at a minimum follow in their father’s illustrious footsteps. Teddy has spent his whole life proving to the world that he is worthy to be his father’s heir and is able to carry the mantle of leadership. Although Teddy faces some new traumas in this book, he is able to make peace with his life and I am hoping to see him move on to better and more positive things in a future book.

Zach is attracted to his dead brother’s wife, Emma. This is an impossible situation and the author handles this in the only real possible way. Zach is pulling his life together and is a good dad to his lovely daughter. Zach is also a great character and I look forward to reading more about him in the future.

Caleb finds his new role as a father a bit of a struggle and is distracted by the allure of sexy men who offer a glimpse of his old, pre-baby life. Caleb needs to thrash out what he really wants from life and who is important to him.

Matthew is my least favourite character as I find him spoiled and selfish. He seeks to blame others for the hash he’s made of his life and doesn’t want to face up to his mistakes. I felt sorry for his wife who has four young children to raise and also needs to offer endless support to her husband and keep him on the straight and narrow. Matt does improve over the course of the book and also start to realise that no-one is entitled to anything in life that they haven’t proved themselves worthy of having. It will be interesting to see if Matt can keep on the straight and narrow as this series progresses.

Hiding Cracked Glass is a compelling family drama with a strong central story line and many interesting threads that all weave together in the end to form a detailed and fascinating story. 

Purchase Hiding Cracked Glass by James J. Cudney

Amazon US

My good blogging friend, Rebecca Budd, shares some lovely posts about famous paintings on her blog Chasing Art. You can read her latest article here: https://chasingart.com/2021/03/12/fridaypainting-alfred-henry-maurer-model-with-a-japanese-fan/

I had a brief chat with Rebecca in the comments on her blog, about her choices in artworks and she mentioned that she has been sharing a lot of portraits lately. I said that I am a fan of landscapes but they need to include a human element by either featuring houses, cars, boats or people. I don’t like landscapes the only feature nature. I also like painting that have warm tones and steer clear of dark paintings that feature mainly blues and greens.

I thought I would share a few of my favourite local paintings. These were done by lessor known African artists and I haven’t been able to track them down again or find any website or other way of finding more of their work.

These three are by Adolph who is a South African artist. Adolph paints typical scenes from squatter camps and rural South Africa.

I love these pictures.

These next two paintings were done by a Zimbabwean artist living in South Africa. They both depict typical rural African scenes.

I love these pictures too.

What kind of paintings do you enjoy?

What Amazon says

Alicia Collinson poses a surprising question to her dinner guests:

“Do you think lying is endemic in society today?”

They all have different answers based on their experiences, but what was the purpose of Alicia’s question?

She was separated from her twin brother, Tom, when they were eight. Tom graduated into a life of violence, while Alice found a life of fortune and wealth in her partner, Mary.

But when Mary unexpectedly passes away, a new person enters Alice’s life – someone who seems to know every detail about her.

Soon, her past and present lives collide with life-changing consequences.

My review

This book is an interesting and complex story about twins, Tom and Alice Collins, who enter the foster care system at a young age and are raised separately. The book starts with Alicia Collinson, aka Alice Collins, and her sophisticated boyfriend hosting two friends for a dinner party. Unknow to the dinner participants, the ghost of her brother Tom, known as Bobby Brown among his peer group, is also in attendance. It is obvious from the start that Alicia is a woman of good financial circumstances who mingles with the elite of London’s society. It also becomes evident quite early on, that Tom’s life has followed a very divergent path and he was a member of the mafia-styled criminal class.

The book follows the paths of the twins and how they come to end up in their different circumstances and lifestyles. Alicia is a well-know and talented photographer who owns her own home in London and has plenty of money. Tom has money, albeit ill gotten, but he dies the death of a criminal.

Tom is a conflicting character as he is a man involved in high class prostitution and other shady and illegal dealings. Despite being a seasoned criminal, his narration of the story reveals a different side to his character. One that questions the life he lived and celebrates the good fortune and success achieved by his sister.

Alice or Alicia has the great good luck to become the protegee of a wealthy single woman with no children who effectively adopts her and sets her on the road to success in her chosen field of photography. Unknown to the naïve Alicia, her benefactor isn’t everything she appears to be and some of the people she socialises with are infamous for their continuous promiscuous behaviour with the same, or the opposite, sex. In a contrast to her brother, Tom, who is in the centre of the debaucherous lifestyles led by the wealthy upper classes of London, Alicia hovers around the edges, not realising what is right in front of her.

The author has an in-depth knowledge of the illicit behaviour of the British upper class and paints a detailed picture of how greed, selfishness and a complete disregard for the values and ethics of society lead to the downfall of people.

This book will make you question what success is all about and whether it leads to contentment as the stories of the many characters unfold. This is thought provoking tale as despite the huge difference in the siblings financial and social positions, both of them end up with money but neither of them have good reliable partners or simply and happy lives.

Purchase The Story That Had No Beginning

Amazon US

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

I’m doing Thursday Doors on a Thursday which is a sign that my work life is a little more balanced this week. I saw my doctor this afternoon so that my blood pressure and heart rate could be checked. They were both normal. He wasn’t impressed when I told him I’d worked the past 8 weekends. In fact, he said I needed to get a life. He is right.

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).

Warwick Castle is a medieval castled that was originally a wooden fort built by William the Conqueror during 1068 and was rebuilt as a stone castle during the 12th century.

Warwick Castle is situated in the town of Warwick on a sandstone bluff at a bond of the River Avon. I visited it with my family in 2018 on our way to Stratford upon Avon (birthplace of William Shakespeare).

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Today, I am delighted to welcome author, Ellie Raine, to Roberta Writes for Day 2 of her Willow of Ashes blog tour with WordCrafter Book Tours.

You can read Day 1 here: https://writingtoberead.com/2021/03/08/welcome-to-the-willow-of-ashes-book-blog-tour/

Q & A with author Ellie Raine

What attracted you to writing fantasy?

I’ve always been into dragons and magic and gallant knights. My family is very strictly sci-fi/Fantasy readers, so I guess I just grew up surrounded by it. The first “long book” I ever finished to completion was The Dragon and the George, and after that it was The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Hogfather, Mort, Reaper Man, Harry Potter, Series of Unfortunate Events, Artemis Fowl… and the list just kept getting bigger.

But truth be told, I never considered being a writer. I guess I did win some kind of writing award in middle school, but I had only entered it because my parents pushed me to actually “finish something” for once, so even though I’d received the highest possible award for it in the whole school, I didn’t really care. I just wasn’t ready to embrace it, I guess. My Language Arts teachers hated me all throughout primary, middle, and high school. I was dyslexic, a slow reader, had an awful memory, and was always the worst of the class. Nothing they did could get me to pay attention for more than two minutes. I didn’t understand metaphors until I was nineteen, and even now, there are so many idioms I had no idea existed–and yet everyone else seems to know about them. My actual positive experience with writing didn’t happen  until my first year of college at the Art Institute of Atlanta.

For some background, I was majorly into manga and video games, and was dead set on being a video game designer. The story for the NecroSeam Chronicles was originally going to be for a game I’d always dreamed of creating. But I’m a sub-par artist, honestly, so my “vision” of the characters and scenery could never quite be captured by my unsteady hands, so when I took a creative writing course for some extra elective credits, I twisted the story a little to fit a “book format” (at the time, I thought it would make it easier on me to throw them in a high school and see what would happen), then wrote one chapter at a time every week for a grade. It was extremely different than what it is today, mostly because I hadn’t taken it seriously at first and just made the simplest setting I could think of so I could focus on my other class projects. I won’t lie, it was horrendously stupid.

But WOW, was it fun. I had never, never, gotten such a rush of energy as I did with writing that way. Art was fun, sure, but I could never get the image in my head out onto the page, not like I could with writing. With writing, I realized I had no limits. I could do anything that came to mind, immediately, in vivid detail, without the extreme pain of standing up for hours on end, hunched over a canvas as my hands cramped up to the point of needing supportive braces, drawing the exact same thing over and over and over again yet ultimately failing to get the image I wanted. I just had so many thoughts crammed into my brain that wanted to get out, but I lacked the skill and motivation to do it with art. After that class, I switched schools and majors, and I haven’t stopped writing since then.

What are the other titles in this series? Tell me a bit about them?

After Willow of Ashes, the other titles are Orbs of Azure, Pearl of Emerald, Phoenix of Scarlet, and Blossom of Gold. 

For the record, each title represents an ancient Relic found in the five kingdoms of Nirus (the world from the series). These Relics play a major role in NecroSeam, and since the story is an overarching epic journey through all the realms (and consequently, the Relics), it just made sense to name each book after them. Essentially, NecroSeam as a whole is all about accepting change. I’m pagan, and the themes of Death found in most mythology (especially Persephone’s representation of change) have always been a point of interest for me, so I wanted to create a story that focused on what they represented, and it ultimately helped me sort through my own mental health journey. You’ll see a lot of themes nodding to various mythologies about Death throughout the series, but alongside this, the further along you read, you’ll start to see other themes from other pantheons that seem familiar, but are twisted to fit the world of Nirus and its various kingdoms. Overall, it’s a fun adventure that hopefully teaches some deep lessons along the way.

Who is your favourite character in this series?

Xavier and Willow, honestly. You really can’t separate them.  The story started with them, and their story ultimately inspired me to pursue the tale in the first place. Without them, there would be no story. A necromancer knight who falls for a warrior-princess of Death, only to have his soul ripped out of his body and sewn into his twin and journeys to find his body and come back to her? I had way too many vivid dreams of those two, they can’t not be my favorite.

Your covers are very eye catching – Do you have them designed? Do you give much input into their creation

We did have these current covers designed by Fiona Jayde. Our input for them was finding stock images we thought would represent Willow well (she recommended making her the cover focus alone for all the books to make it clear they were part of the same series) and let Fiona do her magic on them. The scythe shown is actually a real prop I made for cosplay, we asked her to put them in the covers and sprinkle some epic magic on the blade. She did a fantastic job, too.

What are your goals as a writer over the next few years?

I have way too many goals to list. I can never keep track of all the ideas I have for various projects, some not even for writing. I just finished making Oracle Cards and additional lore for the NecroSeam Chronicles (I have those up for preorder in the NecroSeam store now), last year I finished a children’s illustration book, I have about 5 stories I hope to write this year (2 short stories, 2 novels, 1 novella) but I have no idea if I’ll finish them by the end of the year. COVID means no daycare or babysitters, which means I’m watching a 2-year-old full time, so every other project is slow going. But I’d rather chip slowly at something than not at all, and I for sure would rather not put my daughter into daycare during a pandemic, so I’ll take what I can get at this point.

As for farther down the road, I’m very excited to dig into a middle grade series I’ve been planning for ages that takes place in the NecroSeam world, but in an earlier time period with a different cast of characters. And I guess I should probably get around to writing a sequel for Nightingale that everyone keeps badgering me about.

How are you planning to achieve these goals?

Slowly. Very, very slowly. The pandemic has done quite a number on my anxiety (and everyone’s overall mental health) and it’s been a struggle to not panic about “finishing everything at the same time immediately”. Anything I do fast is usually not good. Professional quality takes time for me. I’m going to go one project at a time, as long as it takes.

Willow of Ashes – The blurb

A necromancer knight. A warrior-princess of Grim. Two destined souls torn apart by death—and one epic adventure awaiting them both.

As younglings, Xavier and Willow promised to wed once they came of age, but when Xavier’s spirit is ripped out of his body and sewn into his twin brother, everything changes.

It’s been six long years since Xavier became trapped inside his necromancer brother. Every night, Xavier dreams of his traumatic past, remembering the yellow-eyed assassin who dangled him over a cliffside as he fought for his life—and the life of his ashen-haired fiancée. Now, as the twins’ final test for knighthood draws near, Xavier and his brother set out on an unforgettable journey to the surface realm of Everland to find Xavier’s true form, meeting new friends and crossing new lands on an epic quest of adventure.

But when he and his brother are targeted by a demon queen and her undead horde, the twins ally with a mysterious lady Reaper named Lilli in the midst of battle and they work together to fend off the demon threat, but being horribly outnumbered, will it be enough?

And will Xavier’s secret existence be revealed when Lilli tells him his beloved Death Princess has come to the surface to find him?

“One of the most fascinating universes I have ever encountered… rich, mysterious, inviting and frightening at the same time. You will want to visit it again and again.” ~Readers’ Favorite Review

Purchase Willow of Ashes

Hardcover, paperback, ebook

Ellie Raine Amazon page

Audio books

Libro.fm: Libro.fm | Willow of Ashes Audiobook 

Google Play: Willow of Ashes: A New Epic Fantasy by Ellie Raine – Audiobooks on Google Play

About Ellie Raine

Award-winning fantasy author and Amazon best-seller, Ellie Raine, is a voracious BookWyrm when it comes to epic adventures, detailed world-building, and thrilling battles. Since it’s what she loves to read (Brandon Sanderson, Douglas Hulick, and Rachel Aaron especially!) obviously it’s what she loves to write.

She grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, where her family raised her right with a healthy upbringing surrounded by fantasy books, comics, and video games. Her award-winning Adventure Fantasy pentalogy, the NecroSeam Chronicles, was inspired by her favorite fable: the Grim Reaper. It was originally intended to be a video game, but she found the book adaptation to be far more fulfilling and exciting. Her first book in the series, Willow of Ashes, has won multiple awards in 2019, including first place in Fantasy for Writer’s Digest, and another fantasy award for Readers’ Favorite. In 2020, the series finale, Blossom of Gold, was also awarded a silver medal in fantasy for Readers’ Favorite. Her other works include a supernatural detective noir, Nightingale, published with Pro Se Productions in 2018.

Ellie Raine is currently working on several other fantastical projects and only emerges from the depths of her daring tales when she is summoned by her loving king and their darling daughter: the Dragon Princess Felicity.

You can find out more about Ellie Raine and her books at: https://www.EllieRaine.com, and learn more about the NecroSeam Chronicles and its vivid world by visiting https://www.NecroSeam.com

Last week was a busy one with two birthdays in my family and the 2020 DealMaker’s Awards.

On Monday I had my birthday. I worked the whole day until 7.30P.M. I received two lovely bouquets of flowers, one from my mother-in-law and one from my sister. They were both a lovely surprise as I rarely receive flowers. My green fingered mother took care of them for me and they lasted for a whole week. It was lovely having these cheerful arrangement in my office.

My oldest son, Gregory, turned 18 on Wednesday which was quite an overwhelming milestone age for me. He, of course, is thrilled to now be legal for most things and able to get his license to drive a car this year in preparation for his going to University next year.

This is me with Greg in the delivery room 18 years and one week ago:

My team at work was nominated for three awards at the 2020 DealMaker’s Awards which took place on Tuesday evening, 23 February. The event was hosted virtually and I went to collect the awards and do the photograph shoot for the newspaper on Friday morning.

This is my picture of me with the three awards:

Lastly, I received the paperback copies of A Ghost and His Gold which was very exciting.

All in, last week was very eventful and this week is seeming a little dull by comparison. I did manage to do a short reading from a Ghost and His Gold though.

A Ghost and His Gold is available as a paperback here: https://tslbooks.uk/product/a-ghost-a…​ and as a ebook here: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/rober…

Journey 2, Penllyn is the second episode in the Dead of Winter serial. You can read my review of review of Journey 1 Forlorn Peak here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1A6T1JDOEV3H3.

Now, on to my review of Journey 2, Penllyn!

What Amazon says

Journey 2, Penllyn picks up where the first installment, Dead of Winter: Journey 1, Forlorn Peak stopped. The supernatural warning, “Winter is coming!” continues to haunt Emlyn. Her father has heard her utter those words, and he is displeased to say the least. In fact, her family situation in general is becoming more perilous.

My review

Journey 2 of this incredible fantasy is a satisfying 60 pages long and moves the story along at a terrific pace. Emlyn’s visions make an even bigger intrusion into her life and her unhappy home environment becomes even worse due her inability to control her fears while sleeping. She gains some comfort through the discovery of an unexpected and hidden item that previously belonged to her mother and we learn more about her mother’s nature and passions as Emlyn thinks about her and examines her physical memories of her life when it included her mother.

More details are revealed about the restrictive religion that has taken hold in Emlyn’s home town and surrounds and the reader feel Afon, Emlyn’s father’s, anxiety that her strange behaviour could bring tragedy down upon his family and business. He decides to try and take preventive action which leaves the reader conflicted about his real motives and feelings towards his daughter.

This journey is equally beautifully written as Journey one and I enjoyed some of the delightful descriptions.
“The milk zinged against the side of the bucket, making a happy sound” and “She couldn’t recall experiencing heavy clammy air in cool weather. The air was strange, unlike ordinary dampness. It felt … greasy.” are two examples of this author’s fabulous writing.

Who is Queen Ailbine and why did she bother with Emlyn? Who is the woman who has the ability to infiltrate Emlyn’s dreams? This journey ends with a cliffhanger and leaves these questions to be answered in the next installment.

Purchase Dead of Winter: Journey 2, Penllyn

Amazon US

Cover reveal: Dead of Winter: Journey 3, the Fever Field

I am excited to announce that Journey 3, the Fever Field is now available here: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Winter-Journey-Fever-Field-ebook/dp/B08XTNZ9M8

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).

My week was a bit better than the last six, but I had so much catching up to do with doctors and other appointments that I still didn’t make Thursday for this post.

Haworth in Yorkshire, England was home to the famous Bronte sisters. We visited the Bronte Museum in August 2019 and also explored the quaint village of Haworth.

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