Picture caption: Grey heron at dawnPicture caption: Buffalo at dawn at the watering holePicture caption: watering hole at dawnPicture caption: grey heron on the lake at dawnPicture caption: Giraffe mother and baby at dawnPicture caption: A herd of buffalo at dawn
While in Bruxelles, we went on a chocolate tour and this is where I learned about a few of the chocolatiers and distributors of Belgian chocolate. These are a few of my photographs.
Picture caption: Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert Galerie (this is the covered mall in Bruxelles)
The chocolate tour started at the Les Galeries Royales, a covered mall in Bruxelles. It is a very upmarket mall that was originally for the royals and their friends only.
Picture caption: Another photograph of the undercover mall. It is very beautiful. You can see the many doors along the corridorPicture caption: Front window of Leonidas, the first chocolate shop we visitedPicture caption: Front window of Neuhaus which calls itself the inventors (of pralines)Picture caption: This is a doors challenge, so here is the door into NeuhausPicture caption: A chocolate bust of Jean Neuhaus Jnr and an example of Neuhaus chocolatesPicture caption: Window of Mary’s, a chocolatier started by a woman which makes it unusual as it was at a time when women did not own businessesPicture caption: TC going through the door of BS40. This chocolatier is different as it is owned by a Japanese couple and has a distinctly Japanese flavour to its productsPicture caption: This is the door to the Atelier Sainte Catherine. This is the only one of the chocolatiers we visited that makes its chocolate on the premises in a factory at the back. I liked that aspect.
By the time I was eleven years old, I had accumulated a large personal collection of books, ranging from children’s picture books to adult novels. Some of these books were birthday and Christmas gifts accumulated over my short life, others had been purchased at school and church fund raising fetes. I had quickly learned that book stalls at fetes were a fantastic place for me to acquire any book I wanted, regardless of suitability for a young girl. Volunteers barely glanced at my piles of books as they mechanically removed the price tags and totted up the total due. I always had a few bags on hand to stuff them into as quickly as possible. I managed to acquire a few gems like Lace, Princess Daisy, and various Dean R Koontz and Stephen King novels. I remember one book about a ship lost in the Bermuda Triangle that gave me nightmares for weeks.
Friends and my three younger sisters, regularly asked to borrow my books. This seemed like a reasonable request, but I needed to keep track of who borrowed which book. Inspiration hit and I decided to create my own library. I spent several weeks making card sleeves and cards for every book I owned. At that time, it was a few hundred as opposed to the few (three) thousand I now own in a physical form.
The day came when my library was ready, and I invited friends over to borrow books. They filled their names and the date on the beautiful blank cards and took my books away. Sadly, many came back damaged by bending or water stains and some never came back at all. This poor treatment of my most treasured possessions sadly shook my faith in humanity and I closed my library. I have never again loaned out a book that I wanted to keep. If I lend anyone a book it is technically a gift as I don’t want the post reading damaged goods returned to me. This was a life lesson I have never forgotten.
Water stained
Broken and battered
Veterans
Of neglect
And blatant indifference
Life lesson soon learned
Picture caption: This is my original copy of Tom SawyerPicture caption: This book, Tom Sawyer, still has the sleeve and card I made for my library inside it
Picture caption: WordCrafter Book Blog Tour Banner
Welcome to Day 4 of the WordCrafter Shadow Blade Book Blog Tour. We want to thank Robbie Cheadle at Roberta Writes for hosting this stop and helping to support the re-release of this wonderful fantasy adventure. First released through WordFire Press, WordCrafter Press is proud to release this second edition with a free original prequel book from the same Denari Lai series, Baiting the Hook, never before published, in the back matter when you buy the book. And on this stop , we have for you an excerpt from Baiting the Hook, read by the talented Jeff Bowels.
Give Away
If you follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop to let us know you were there or share your thoughts about the book, you can win a free copy of Shadow Blade. We’re giving away three digital copies of the book, and one lucky winner will receive a print copy of the book signed by author Chris Barili. Each stop you comment on earns you an entry into the random drawing, and the winners will be announced on Writing to be Read in the “WordCrafter News” post on July 27.
Tour Schedule
July 20-25, 2025
Monday, July 21: Writing to be Read- Book Trailer
Tuesday, July 22: Robbie’s Inspiration – Guest post
Wednesday July 23: Undawnted – Interview with Chris Barili
Thursday, July 24:Roberta Writes – Reading Excerpt from Baiting the Hook, narrated by Jeff Bowles
Friday, July 25: Writing to be Read – Live appearance by Chris Barili
About Shadow Blade
Picture caption: Book cover of Shadow Blade featuring an ornate blade in a picture frame
Ashai Larish is an assassin from the brutal Denari Lai order. Religious zealots, Denari Lai are kept loyal through an addiction to the same magic that makes them unstoppable. They have become the primary weapon for the nation of Nishi’iti, and in a hundred years, they have never failed.
Until now. Ashai must kill Pushtani King Abadas Damar and his daughter/heir, Makari. He infiltrates the king’s inner circle, putting him in the perfect place to strike, with only Captain Bauti of the Royal Guard at all suspicious of Ashai’s intent.
Except Ashai has fallen for Makari and cannot complete the hit. When a second Denari Lai kills the King, Ashai finds himself fighting for Makari’s life instead of taking it. To make matters worse, the order cuts him off from his magic, leaving him weakened and in withdrawal.
Meanwhile, far north in the Pushtani mines that border Nishi’iti, a slave named Pachat learns that his love, a hand slave to Makari, died at the hands of a Denari Lai assassin. His grief ignites a slave rebellion, and Pachat becomes the unwilling leader of the revolt. Urged on by Nishi’iti guerrillas, the rebellion sweeps across the borderlands, threatening to erupt into all-out war. Yet all Pachat wants is to avenge his beloved’s death by killing the assassin, so he walks away from the rebellion to seek when it needs him most.
As Pachat makes off for the capital of Dar Tallus, Ashai is forced to rely on that city’s organized crime gang to hide from the second assassin, and from Bauti’s guards. Despite his best efforts to hide it, Makari discovers Ashai’s true identity, and suddenly, he finds himself without her love, without his faith, and without the Denari Lai. At rock bottom, he doubts he can do anything but cause more damage.
Can Ashai kill the second assassin and win back Makari’s love? Will Pachat gain the revenge he so lustily seeks?
As I mentioned, the WordCrafter edition of Shadow Blade comes with a link in the back matter for a free copy of the prolog book, Baiting the Hook. We have a real treat for you today, with the reading of an excerpt from that story, read by Jeff Bowles.
About Author Chris Barili
Picture caption: Author photograph of Chris Barili
Currently oppressed by his day job, Chris has set sights on retiring after 42 years in the Intelligence Community and writing full-time. Chris Barili writes all kinds of stories, and has published fantasy, science fiction, horror, western, paranormal romance, and most recently crime, with a noir story in the inaugural print edition of Toe Six Magazine. He is author of the self-published, weird western Hell’s Butcher series, and also writes under the pen names B.T. Clearwater (Supernatural romance) and T.C. Barlow (western). Chris is a retired intelligence officer, having served over 45 years between active duty, contractor, and government employee roles. He lives in Colorado with his wife.
This month for my In Touch With Nature post I have considered the poaching of southern white rhinos. This post does not include any graphic details but is more a discussion about the reasons for the rapid decline in the white rhino population and steps being taken to resolve this crisis.
You have a great talent for drawing figurines and portraits. What attracts you to this particular subject matter?
This begins with my background in fashion design. The college course I took was in Design and Technology, not illustration. However, a tiny part of the course was dedicated to fashion illustration.
During my time in film, I utilized drawing to explain to directors what I was up to. The drawings were only okay, but they got the design across.
It was blog pal, Holly (House of Heart), who got me drawing fictitious characters for fun, via gagging around in comments.
It started with Boogapony Holly, a character who did a Go-Go dance in front of street art and graffiti, then became a new age Love Child.
Above: Boogapony as a Love Child by the Golden Gate Bridge.
From there, Holly and I created a Super Hero – Princess Blue Holly. Drawing had become a lot of fun at this point.
Above – First Princess Blue Holly drawing – 2019 and More recently PBH dominates an evil puppet. PBH changes outfits for each “Gowntoon” mission. Then I began drawing Art Gowns on some blog pals, to become part of the stories.
Above: Models Holly (as RR) Shey and Dale
Above Models – Holly, Gigi and Marina
Do you have a particular method you use for drawing figures? Do you start with any particular body part? Do you complete the outline of the entire figure and then add the details?
Yes!
I start with an oval for the head. Then, it’s the gesture. I do a few swooping lines to capture how the body feels as it poses.
If the feeling is cool, then I do a few lines for shoulders, bust, waist, hips and feet.
If I haven’t ruined the feeling of the gesture a this point, I continue with details. If I lose the feel, I usually stop.
You clothe many of your figures in intricate and detailed dresses, some of which are period designs. How do you go about researching clothing from particular period? I have tried to research clothing for both men and women from varying time periods and have found it quite difficult to get good details and pictures.
So, the study of Fashion Design & Technology included “Fashion History”. So, how did they get the clothes to look like that, in any era? Well, that’s where the technology comes in.
Example: The Renaissance – pattern cutting was not a thing, clothes were draped. So, we learn about “how” they made clothes fit. Lacing up a square over a flowy under piece makes something fit. A corset is laced to make you fit it. The idea of a cup to fit a breast did not come about until the early 20th century.
Many types of pleats, gathers, tucks, etc. were use to make clothes drape over/fit body shapes. With the advent of patterns in the 1800’s, came darts to make clothing fit.
Once the newly formed middle class Victorians got their hands on patterns, they used the patterns over and over. That, along with the invention of the sewing machine, gave them time to go wild with embellishments: embroidery, trapunto, ruffles, flounces, beading, dying, appliqué, etc. Sure, all that was around before, but it was for the rich, only.
Above: Rebeca Budd (Art Gowns’ Gowntoons Art Director & Holly as RR, in Victorian outfits.
Also, Victorian times saw the advent of synthetic dyes, creating eras of popular colours going forth. Until then dyes were naturally derived from mollusk shells, beets, onion skins and various other plants and lifeforms.
Point is when you understand all of this, you can look at a painting from any era and know how they constructed that garment, therefore you can draw it. You can also design and draw whatever you want, from any era.
Portraits
Above: Jim Morrison
I start with a photo of the person, and crop off the head to what I want. I print that out on 8 x10 paper. I draw crosshairs through the photo of the face. I do the same on a page of 11 x 14 drawing paper.
I begin where the crosshairs meet. That is usually where an eye, between the eyes or top of the bridge of the nose is, and rough that in. From there I rough in the rest of the eyes, brows, nose, top of head, lips and chin. I tried using a grid, but that never works for me. I lose the feel of the face, the expression. Without feel the portrait does not become the person.
Then it’s a series of refinements.
Above: Gloria Steinem pencil drawing, photographed with & without & a warm filter. Most of my portraits are all lead pencil. I use a full range of leads, smudging sticks, facial tissue and various erasers. I did Janis Joplin with water colour pencils, as her days in pop music were a colourful period.
Below is my first full figure portrait. Tina Turner – Pencil sketch photographed & then edited on basic Mac Photos that comes with the laptop.
Does a particular subject matter call to you when you get an idea or see something you want to draw? I find that certain pictures really attract me as an artist and I really want to draw and paint them. Not all ideas attract me as strongly and I only proceed with the projects that call the loudest.
Definitely, I am inspired by various things. The Art Gowns Models or Boogapony drawings are inspired by ideas Holly and I toss around. IE: What would they wear in Miami? Or if they were movie stars in the 1940’s.
When I saw the Tissot exhibit at the AGO, I was wildly inspired to do faux Tissot style Victorian gowns.
Pop culture figures inspire me. Imagining characters from books inspires me.
Above from left to right: Sam from John W. Howell’s Eternal Road series — Lady Kara from Shehanne Moore’s book His Judas Bride — Estelle from Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s book A Ghost and his Gold — Catling (as a teen & with her tattoos) from D. Wallace Peach’s book Catling’s Bane (the Rose Shield series).
Right now I’m working on some drawings inspired by a series of poems Holly writes called – The Sad Café. This will be the second collection. In this collection I expand into full scene drawing.
Melissa’s d’Verse prompt is to write a poem about sharks. I just happen to have come across sharks twice on my recent travels. Once in the Dubai Mall where Michael and I visited the wonderful aquarium and one the plane when I re-watched Jaws. The movie that put me off swimming alone for ever and ever. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/07/15/ode-to-a-shark/
Jaws, the movie
Out of the corner
of my eye
I saw it
The great shark
stealthily approaching
a spray of blood
dismembered leg floating
down, down, towards the ocean bed
I swung my head
toward Mike’s small screen
He was watching Jaws
Jaws! The movie that scared
a whole generation
the reason I won’t swim at night
not alone, not in a crowd
The movie that traumatised me
and changed my view of the ocean
So, of course, I had to watch it
and now, I am retraumatised
for the rest of my life
Thursday Doors
These are a few pictures of doors from my visit to Dubai. It was only for one day, so we only visited Dubai Mall and the aquarium, which was very nice. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/07/17/shop-doors-part-1
Picture caption: Entrance to the hotel in Dubai City. It was a lovely hotel and well priced compared to Europe.Picture caption: Entrance to the Rocky Shore exhibit in the Dubai Mall aquariumPicture caption: Sea anenomePicture caption: Jelly fish tank
The following three photographs are of the sharks in the tank. Sometimes they attack and eat the other fish. That’s sharks for you.
Picture caption: Jeanneke Pis statue in BrusselsPicture caption: Black Tower in Brussels. I could see this historical landmark from my hotel room.Picture caption: Giant meringues in a shop window.
The next three pictures are all smurfs made of chocolate that featured in the window of Neuhaus Chocolatier in Brussels.
Picture caption: The famous Mannekin Pis in Brussels
I am back from my trip to London and Brussels. It was very busy, and I didn’t do much reading of any kind. I do have lots of pictures to share with you over the next few weeks.
First, my review of Tidalscribe Tales by Janet Gogerty.
Picture caption: cover of Tidalscribe Tales by Janet Gogerty featuring a beach and ocean scene.
What Amazon says
Tales light and dark, bending reality, unexpected endings… Dip into an ABC of stories including four chapters of flash fiction.
My review
A delightful and unusual collection of short stories. The stories are widely varied in their topics, but each has a common thread of the human experience that is nicely captured by the characters who are well developed, despite the length of the stories.
I enjoyed the Englishness of these stories which is reflected in the reactions and dialogue of the characters. The author has captured the essence of the English very well and it was entertaining and relatable for me.
My three favourite of the stories:
A New Family Member – this is the opening story in the collection and is about a man who wants to get a dog for himself and a family. He has specific requirements as to the size and look of the dog as it will be a bit of an ego extension for him. The moral is that you must be careful what you ask for as you just might get it.
Dream Machine – an intriguing tale about a unsatisfied school teacher who dreams of being a famous writer. He believes he has his best ideas while sleeping but can’t remember the details when he wakes up. If only he could write down his dreams as the sleeps. Nothing in life is ever as you expect it to be as is revealed by this fascinating short story.
Trinity Tree – a story about nature’s revenge on a spoiled and selfish man. I was delighted that nature, for once, got the upper hand in this intriguing short story.
A well writing and highly entertaining collection of short stories that will make you think.
This month, I have featured the Southern yellow billed hornbill as my In Touch With Nature featured creature. Such a lovely and interesting bird. Thanks to Kaye Lynne Booth for hosting.
I am having trouble with reblogs. The button doesn’t bring up a link to the post like it used to. Now, that button just creates a blank page on my blog and I have to manually copy and paste the link. It is a nuisance as I can’t reblog nearly as quickly or easily. Is anyone else experiencing this problem?
When I was a young girl of eight years old, my grandparents moved to a farm in what is now the Northwest Province of South Africa. The farmhouse was old and primitive, built from stone and with a gas water heater in an outside room for washing, bathing, and all other activities requiring hot water. The kitchen had an ancient wood-burning oven and a single electric plug for the refrigerator. There was a gas hob for daily cooking.
When my father took us to visit our grandparents for a weekend, my mother was horrified by the conditions. Hayley was a baby of about six months old, and Catherine was four. I remember my mother struggling to get us all washed and ready for bed both nights. She was distressed, but I thought it was great fun. I imagined Catherine and I were Carrie and Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie.
The first morning, Saturday, the neighbouring farmer and his young son came to visit my grandparents. The son was twelve and had a diesel engine quad bike for driving around the farm. He offered to take me for a ride. I was thrilled until my father warned me about the acacia thorns. The area was densely populated with trees that grew long, sharp thorns of between 8 and 10 centimetres in length. He said, these thorns could puncture a quad bike tire and cause it to crash. Quad bikes were, in his opinion, very dangerous. I learned much later in life that his friend’s son had been killed on a quad bike. Despite his dislike of quad bikes, he didn’t say I couldn’t go for the ride. Nope, he just ruined it by scaring me to death about the thorns. “The thorns can go right through the sole of your shoe and lacerate your foot. Acacia sap and thorns contain irritating toxins which trigger a severe inflammatory response in the soft tissues and bones,” he said. I was terrified and his well-meant warning completely spoiled my quad bike adventure. I just wanted to get back to the farmhouse and stay inside where I was safe from thorns.
To this day, I am scared of thorns. If I look at a picture of a thorn or read about a thorn, my eyes start to prick, and I close them protectively. My dad’s words resulted a lifelong fear of thorns. It astonishes me, when I think back, as he was really being overly dramatic. The thorns will do the things he said, but it is rare for a person to injure themselves by stepping on an acacia thorn. They are so long, they are difficult to miss when walking. I am not, however, fearful of quad bikes.
thorn anxiety
led to phobia for life
eyes prickle and burn
Picture caption: A small acacia tree with its long thorns
Picture caption: lilac breasted roller in a treePicture caption: My favourite picture of a vervet monkey in a treePicture caption: Brown snake eagle Picture caption: a kingfisher. I think it’s called a white breasted kingfisher but I’m not sure. Perhaps one of the bird watcher readers could confirm in the comments
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