We are deeply grateful to you, Robbie, for so graciously offering to host us on your wonderful blog site today!

When we decided to launch our new books together on the same day, Linda and I wanted to make it something special. It feels like we are making publishing history, and perhaps we are.

For this blog tour, we’ve chosen questions and answers designed to give the readers a deeper look into who we are, our background, and how we ended up where we are today, launching books together.

Question: What was your favorite childhood book and why?

Jan: That’s an easy question to answer. In elementary school, I checked the Grimm’s Book of Fairy Tales out of the library so many times they had to create a new card for it. That’s a true story. I loved getting lost in the world of ‘what if’ and fantasy as it was so vastly different from my reality. As a child, I lived in my head, often not paying attention to what was going on around me, so that book fed the part of me that longed for something magical. Another book I remember reading multiple times when I was a bit older was The Grapes of Wrath. I related to it so much because our parents lived through that difficult time in history, so there was a personal connection. I thought of a funny story about our mom reading the same books that we did. I checked a book out of the library about the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang and read it. It was rather graphic. Then my Mom picked it up to see what I was reading and freaked out. I think I might have gotten into a bit of trouble over that one.

Linda: Oh my gosh, there were so many, and like Jan, fairy tales were top in the beginning. The earliest memory I have is of someone reading to me, and I saw the magic of the words. I think that book was Cinderella. From the time I learned to read, books were an obsession. Jan and I read (and then Mom) every one of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. Dr. Seuss was a favorite, and so were all the Little House on the Prairie stories. In sixth grade, we read The Last of the Mohicans in class, and I still remember that story. Later it was The Count of Monte Cristo, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and all of the classics.

Question: What do you consider the most valuable magazines or blog sites for writers to subscribe to?

Jan: I am a member of the Story Empire blog, and it is my number one go-to for all things regarding writing, publishing and marketing. The expertise, writing tips, and industry knowledge from seasoned writers are top-notch. I also follow Writer’s Digest, Writers in the Storm and Writers Helping Writers. We all have so much we can learn from each other, and these blogs are a great way to expand our knowledge. I highly recommend each.

Linda: Writers Helping Writers is really the only one I’m faithful to, but it’s so good for any writer at any skill level.  

Question:  What are common traps for aspiring writers?

Jan: I can answer this question from experience. I think one of the most common traps for new writers is getting in a hurry to publish without taking the time to make sure their work is actually ready. Editing is a must for all writers, but especially newbies. There are so many aspects to writing and publishing a book. Until you do it, you may think it’s super easy. Write a story and stick it out there. That became a pitfall for many when self-publishing first became an option. Therefore, the market got flooded with poorly written, unedited books and gave self-published writers a bad name. It’s taken years for indie authors to become accepted as legitimate. Patience is key when writing and publishing. It’s important not to skip any of the steps.

Linda: They get in a rush and don’t take the time to do it properly—get it edited (and not by family or friends,) learn the rules, attend writing workshops, and learn the business first. I can’t stress enough how crucial it is to read. And learn, learn, learn.  

Question:  Have you ever considered writing under a pseudonym?

Jan: Because I started my writing journey with a true story, I never considered creating a pseudonym. Once I switched to writing fiction, I tossed around the idea, but didn’t want to have to start back at square one with building a new author platform. It takes a lot of time and work to build a solid author foundation. So, I chose to keep using my real name.

Linda: No, I haven’t. I see the problems other authors have who choose to use a pseudonym and I don’t want that. It’s hard enough as it is. I’ve always used my real name.

Question: What are you working on now, or what can we expect next?

Jan: For the first time in a long time, I don’t have a new story started. But soon I will be requesting my book rights back from the publisher for The White Rune Series, which will mean new book covers and new everything except titles. So, that’s in the back of my mind while I am open to new inspiration.

Linda: Robbie, I just started Book #2 of this McIntyre series. In this story that takes place in 1881, Cade’s sister, Summer, is the main character and I foresee this story to be filled with a lot of action and romance. This series is about trying to find and bring back all the McIntyre siblings who were all separated when their parents were murdered. People in the town sent them all to different places. The three youngest ones are still missing. I’m really loving this series. Thanks for having us.

PURCHASE LINKS:

CADE’S QUEST: https://www.amazon.com/Cades-Quest-Western-Romance-McIntyres-ebook/dp/B0FD7X4H5D/

A BOLD BARGAIN: https://www.amazon.com/Bold-Bargain-Bargainer-Book-ebook/dp/B0FD7VSY68/

About the Authors

Linda Broday Social Media

WEBSITE:  https://www.lindabroday.com

FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/lindabrodayauthor

BLUESKY:  https://bsky.app/profile/lindabroday.bsky.social

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Linda-Broday/author/B001JRXWB2?ccs_id=4a2c44df-2076-43cd-8bf8-f15b530ea92f

Jan Sikes Social Media

WEBSITE:  https://www.jansikes.com

FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/authorjansikesbooks

TWITTER:  HTTPS://WWW.TWITTER.COM/JANSIKES3

BLUESKY:  https://bsky.app/profile/jksikes-author.bsky.socialAMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jan-Sikes/author/B00CS9K8DK?ccs_id=8185cb63-9ad0-4d7b-85ad-c2d64ce37812

Kim’s d’Verse quadrille challenge was to write a 44 word poem using the word rumpus. You can view other contributions here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/25/quadrille-230-lets-kick-up-a-rumpus/

Garden Rumpus

A terrific rumpus reached my ears

Was my cat stalking the birds again?

Her inflicting grievous injury my fear

It’s hard natural instincts to contain

A gaggle of hoopoes with long tails

were fighting over bread on the lawn

squawking laughter in loud gales

Mish’s d’Verse prompt on Tuesday was to write a poem about noise. You can read other poet’s contributions here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/26/poetics-its-noisy-in-here/

White Noise

Our interactions with others

are always coloured by

the white noise in our minds

The vain will determinedly state

you are proud of your hair

believing you must see it

as your crowning glory

imposing their own vanity

onto an innocent bystander

Through the eyes of the entitled

everything you have must

have come through your privilege

It could never have been the result

of your blood, sweat, and tears

Acts of kindness and generosity

when viewed by the indifferent

must have an underlying motive

could never be a generous gift

unreciprocated and unencumbered

The white noise in our minds

interferes with our view of the world

tampers with our natural empathy

justifies selfishness and insensitivity

The goodness in our souls is warped

by this on-going internal turbulence

Thursday Doors

For Thursday Doors, I’m sharing a few of my photographs from Westminister Abbey in London. I still have about 100 photographs on my camera which I need to process. These are photographs I took with my iphone and today I’ve focused on my pictures of the entrance.

You can join in Dan’s challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/08/28/pittsburgh-preview/

My review of two very different but equally entertaining books.

Detour on the Eternal Road by John W. Howell

My Review

Detour on the Eternal Road, the third book in this series, is Sam and James’ most challenging adventure yet. Two souls, Billy Ray Chitwood, a national car racing champion, and his guide, Dale Earnhardt, have gone missing on the Eternal Road and Sam and James are tasked with locating them and getting the pair back on track with finding Billy Ray’s eternal home. Naturally, their disappearance was orchestrated by none other than Lucifer on his eternal quest to derail souls and his lesser obsession to befriend Sam and make her his queen.

While this book retains its fascinating historical aspects with a visit to the ‘Wild West’ and Hitler’s bunker during WW2, it also has a new and interesting futuristic angle. Events have been put in motion that will result in WW3 and the destruction of civilization. Howell depicts a dark and devastated post WW3 world reminiscent of Nevil Shute’s On the Beach, and quickly invests the reader in this quest for human survival.

This book delves into human nature and emotions such as anger, love, and disappointment as it plunges the characters into situations involving manipulation, deception, and determination to grasp power and wealth at any cost. The darkness of the plotline and themes are, however, off set by Howell’s sense of humour which provide reprieves and laughs for the reader.

A highly entertaining paranormal adventure with a strong Christian undertone akin to CS Lewis in The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce. Highly recommended.

Purchase Detour on the Eternal Road by John W. Howell from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DT4Q1FBR

The Treacle People: Still Sticky

My Review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

The Treacle People is an entertaining and imaginative read for people of all ages. The treacle mines in Sabden which produce half of Britain’s treacle have run dry and the village people are in dire situation. Where can they find a new source of treacle to save their golden syrup, ginger beer and parkin cake business and keep the people of Britain in traditional treats?

Just as despair settles over the villages, hope arrives in the form of a note in a bottle setting out the location of the Professors treacle tracker as well as instructions to King Habbakuk fabled mines, an enormous source of treacle. The villagers set off on the adventure of a lifetime, facing manipulative and deceptive boggarts and all sorts of dangers including Moby Duck, a Great White Mallard which patrols the Molasso Sea. The ingenious characters and settings will delight children and adults alike.

Written and presented as an audio adventure, the sound effects and cast of characters were excellent. It reminded me of my childhood favourite Sparky audio series including Sparky’s Magic Piano and Sparky and the Talking Train. A delightful new family entertainment that will teach younger children to use their imaginations and to sit and listen instead of being supplied with a visual.

Highly recommended.

Purchase The Treacle People: Still Sticky from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F1NMZYDN

My poem about leadership was written for two prompts this week. Firstly, Reena’s Xploration challenge which you can join in here: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2025/08/14/reenas-xploration-challenge-394/. Reena’s prompt phrase is “the dark side of freedom.”

Lisa’s d’Verse prompt is power with fitted nicely with Reena’s prompt. You can join in the d’Verse challenge here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/12/dverse-poetics-tuesday-power/

Leadership

a great responsibility

Respect essential

to ease tensions

and conflict

Integrity

both in being honest,

having strong moral principles,

and the ability

to uphold territorial integrity

and national sovereignty

Vision

to plan the future

with imagination and wisdom

Negotiation

to resolve points of difference

and craft outcomes

to satisfy various interests

the needs of all stakeholders

Honesty

being free of deceit

and avoiding self interest

Humility

having an accurate opinion

of your abilities and

expressing yourself modestly

with a non-imposing mentality

Authenticity

being able to identify the

reality or truth of a situation

and take ownership for decisions

owning up to your mistakes

Seven qualities of good leadership

There are many more

Strong leaders

can lead their followers

off a cliff; like lemmings

An inability by the masses

to chose good leaders

leads to power abuse,

corruption, and ‘feeding’

flowing downward

from the top

all involved closing ranks

to protect each other

Society spirals downwards

into economic distress,

anger, and discontent

as the dark side of freedom

rips out its soft throat

Thursday Doors

Today I’m starting with the first stop on our tour of Flanders WW1 memorial sites and cemeteries. These photographs are for Dan’s Thursday Doors Challenge. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/08/14/thursday-doors-returns/. My choice of photographs is deliberate as it goes with the theme of power abuse and the dark side of freedom.

Our first stop was Langemark German Military Cemetery. I realised later on the tour that the German cemetery is much plainer that the Allied cemeteries. There were no flowers, just rows of plain markers.

Da Jackson’s d’Verse prompt is to write a quadrille of exactly 44 words using a derivative of the word jabber. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/11/quadrille-229-shall-we-jabber-on/

As my jabberer is a bird, this post is also for Don’t Hold Your Breath blogs bird of the week challenge which you can join here: https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/fire-breasted-flowerpecker-birds-of-the-week-invitation-cxxix/

Noisy Jabberer

Hadedas love to jabber

especially early in the morning

Africa’s ‘alarm clocks’

we love to hate them

They have extraordinary

sensory capabilities

Their long beaks allow

detection of vibrations

within the soil

made by small invertebrates

they can’t see, hear or smell

Time for breakfast

Sunday Stills

Terri’s prompt for this week is autumn peaches and tans. You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2025/08/10/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-tans-and-peaches-of-august/. These photographs are from my March 2024 trip to Pilanesberg National Park.

All the photographs below are of juvenile lions except the last which is a baby kudu.

This is a catch-up post as it’s been a busy week and Michael had his final year dance last night. Parents were invited to a dance cocktail event, so it was a busy day.

My poems are for three challenges. Silver Charms is written for Frank’s d’Verse challenge here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/04/haibun-monday-8-4-25-silver/ and Esther Chilton’s writing challenge for small here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2025/08/06/writing-prompts-77/

False Spring is for Merril’s d’Verse challenge here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/07/mtb-a-revisit-with-the-cherita/

Silver Charms

When I was a girl, charm bracelets were the fashion. Every girl had one and the accumulation of charms for the bracelet was competitive. I was not a girly girl and my ambition at the time was to race BMX bicycles with the boys. I never asked for a charm bracelet. My mother clearly thought I should take more of an interest in the girls’ activities, and she presented me with a silver charm bracelet for my 10th birthday. Insightful woman that she was, my first charm was a small bicycle, perfect in every way. It even had tiny pedals and a bicycle stand. Having always been enchanted with light, the silver bracelet did please me and I did ask for new charms for a few years. The charm that delighted me the most was a small boot – sounds ordinary, but it wasn’t. The boot opened up and inside were the old woman and some of her children. This was my favourite charm. It still is as I still have this charm bracelet after all these years. I don’t have my BMX bicycle, however, so mom was right.

charms sparkle brightly

fantasy catching the sun

young girl’s silver dreams

False Spring

a week of warm weather

***

weavers fooled by false spring

madly start nest building

***

fickle nature changes her mind

bleak ran and grey skies return

my plants safe for a bit longer

CFFC – Morning

These photographs are for Dan’s CFFC post and are of early mornings. My timings have overlapped with my previous morning post but I can live with that. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/08/04/time-of-day-morning-cffc/

The first photograph is of sunrise over Tokyo from our hotel room. This was taken through glass.

The following photographs were all taken at Madikwe when we stayed at Thakadu Bush Camp.

Lastly, I would like to thank Freya Pickard for her wonderful review of Lion Scream. You can read it here: https://purehaiku.wordpress.com/2025/08/06/lion-scream/

Freya is a huge supporter of the poetry community here on WordPress and hosts a biannual haiku challenge which will be opening for submissions soon. Freya also has a marvelous collection of poetry and fantasy books which you can find here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Freya-Pickard/author/B086XFHF9L

Today, I am delighted to introduce you to Dwight Roth and his beautiful artworks. Dwight has also recently made the most marvelous electric guitar. Below he shares the significant steps of his creation process.

Thank you, Dwight, for this wonderful article.

Welcome Dwight

First of all I would like to thank Robbie for taking the time to honor me with this interview.

Tell us a bit about your art journey – when did you start drawing and painting? Is it a hobby or did you study art and use it in your working life?

I am a self-taught painter. I learned many of my painting skills from watching Bob Ross and other painters on PBS television. I did a hand full of paintings when I first got married, but did not get into painting regularly until I retired in 2012.

What is your favourite medium to work with from a painting point of view?

I started painting with oils, later using acrylics, and now I am experimenting with watercolors. Acrylics seem to work best for me, since they dry fast and I can go back and cover my mistakes or change what I don’t like. I really like watercolors, but they are very unforgiving once color touches the paper.

What are your favourite artworks – include as many as you want with any information about them and a poem if you have one.

My first major painting was done back in the 1970s in oil. It was of my mother’s home farm in central Pennsylvania. As a teenager, I worked there five summers for my uncle.

A year or two after I started painting regularly, a neighbor down the street stopped by and asked me if I would do a mural of Hobbiton Shire on their garage wall. Her husband was a big fan of Lord of the Rings so she wanted to surprise him. It was a big undertaking, but I sketched out what I thought would work and they approved it. Painting on such a big space was great fun!

I love steam trains, and so I have made an attempt to try painting them. This is one I did for an artist evening on the street in Waxhaw, NC. It is of a coal train coming through the mountains. My grandson came by and helped me get started. I have given this one to him.

I usually paint for myself, so I tend to get emotionally attached to many of my paintings. Here are a few that I really like.

Picture caption: My Grandpa Roth’s Farm

Picture caption: My wife, Ruth

Picture caption: Mountain Meadow

Picture caption: Tears of the Moon

Picture caption: The Catch

Picture caption: Ponte Alexander iii bridge in Paris – made from a small black and white found in a desk drawer at Habitat Restore. My blogging friend Lisa (li-jade) bought this one.

Picture caption: Bringing in the Wood

Picture caption: My Harmony Guitar

Picture caption: Piercing the Darkness – my Christmas painting

Picture caption: Blue Moon Rising

Who is your favourite artist and why? Include a picture of one of their works

It is very hard to pick just one artist. I am drawn to the works of Vincent Van Gough and especially the Stary Night painting which we are all familiar with. I also like the Water Lilies of Monet as well. They both have a very impressionistic style that is fascinating to me.  Their understanding of Nature came through in their work.

Tell us a bit about your handcrafts? I am especially interested in the guitar you have created. Please share a little about that project and a photograph or two.

I have always creating things with my hands. Even as a child I enjoyed DIY projects. Just before Covid-19 I became fascinated with Cigar Box Guitars that I saw on You Tube. Having played the guitar for many years, this seemed like something I wanted to try.

I always like trying something different, so I started off trying to make them using hardshell plastic cases that tools came in. I made a Sawzall two-string bass, and then moved on to guitars made with a router box and paint can lid for the resonator. I used DeWalt drill cases, a chair seat from the Restore, and even made a bass from a Satellite dish that I took off my house Roof. I used a little stick-on pick-up from amazon to help me hear the sound better.

These were all pretty crude instruments and played, but were not that great of a sound. A few weeks ago I decided to try making a solid body electric guitar. Using some wide 12-inch bed boards from the Habitat Restore, I was able to cut out one board with my jigsaw that had holes for the preloaded pick up from Amazon.  Then I cut out a second piece exactly the same without the holes and glued the two together.

Using my table saw blade, I was able to carve and shape the body like many electric guitars. With the belt sander I sanded out the rough saw cuts and get it smooth. I made a neck out of the same wood and painted it with rust-oleum spray paint and some left over pearl red from my truck painting. I coated that with a can of 2K eurethane clear. It came out amazingly well.

Being homemade, it is not perfect. I worked on getting the intonation correct and it plays and picks up very well. I am happy with it.

Pictures and sounds of it can be seen on my blog, https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com and on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/rothdwight.

About Dwight Roth

Dwight Roth grew up in Southwestern Pennsylvania. He taught elementary school in Eastern North Carolina before retiring after 29 years. Now he lives with his wife Ruth near Monroe, NC, and spends his time painting and writing. He has self-published several books that are found on Amazon Kindle. He is also published in past Old Mountain Press Anthologies. A book of poems called Ebb and Flow and a children’s book on Alzheimer’s called Grandpa Has Holes in His Head are his latest creations. Ebb and Flow is only available in hard copy from the author at dwru27@aol.com

Find Dwight’s books on Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dwight-Roth/author/B017HW5AHG