BOOK REVIEW - KHALIL GIBRAN: THE PROPHET

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Prophet is an impartation of wisdom that is timeless. Khalil Gibran brings to us the other side of questions we ask every day... questions about life... love... fear... truth... honor... purpose.



"Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love. And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself."

This is just one of my favorite passages in The Prophet. It speaks of so much more than just love.

Beautifully written and thought-provoking, The Prophet begs to be taken in small measures... little bits at a time... allowing ourselves time for introspection... to look inside us at the person we are. Time for reflection on the purpose of our lives.

The Prophet is a wonderful companion to keep close to us as we experience this wonderful journey called life.



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BOOK REVIEW – HENRY MILLER: THE OBELISK TRILOGY

The Obelisk Trilogy: Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Black Spring by Henry Miller

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I wouldn't go so far as to call Henry Miller a genius, and I think he sacrificed a great deal... what could have been classics are simply mediocre.

He does seem to obsess about women... understandable though, considering his contempt for them.

I may or may not come back to 'the tropics'... we shall see. I would like to think that there is something at least a little redeeming in his work... time will tell.



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LOST CHILDREN: A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY IS NOW AVAILABLE IN TRADE PAPERBACK

 I love the e-book… primarily for its convenience, but my love affair with the bound and printed word transcends even 21^st century technology and I will never completely give up the traditional book… be it hardback, soft cover or paperback.  For those who are like-minded, Lost Children: A Charity Anthology can now be ordered in the form of nature’s most renewable resource… paper.

The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology contains stories by 30 different authors, of which I am humbled and honored to be included among, which sprung from the brain child of Thomas Pluck, Fiona Johnson and Ron Earl Phillips over at Flash Fiction Friday.  Having raised a tidy sum for children’s charities in an online flash fiction writing challenge earlier this year, the trio decided to take things a step further… thus the Lost Children Charity Anthology e-book was born, followed now by the print version.  You can read a bit of the history of this project over at The Lost Children: A Charity Ebook Anthology, including stories about the authors and their personal experiences.  The goal of everyone connected with this project, is to bring public awareness to the plight of lost, abused and neglected children and to raise money for PROTECT: The National Coalition to Protect Children and Children 1st of Scotland.

This is a great book … for a great price… and written for a great cause!  If you are looking for a compelling read, for yourself or as a gift (that’s right… Christmas is looming over us like the rock wall at Six Flags!), you can order the anthology online at Amazon or Createspace for the modest sum of $9.99, of which 40% goes directly to PROTECT and Children 1^st. 

The anthology is also available digitally at Amazon (Kindle), Barnes and Noble (NOOK), iTunes (ibook for iPad/iTouch) and Smashwords.  The e-book is only $2.99, of which every penny goes to charity.

Thank you,

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

LOST CHILDREN: A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY

I join my colleagues in a very heartfelt thank you to Thomas Pluck, Fiona Johnson and Ron Earl Phillips for their tireless efforts in seeing The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology to its fruition.

I would be remiss if I did not make a special thank you to artist and photographer extraordinaire Danielle Tunstall for her generous permission to use one of her photographs on the cover of the e-book as well as The Lost Children Anthology websites, and to Sarah Bennett Pluck for her incredible work producing the cover for this anthology.

~~**~~

"Some children are lost before they have even started living. Some children are a throw-away commodity like a burger box that’s left to blow down the street in the wind and rain." - Fiona Johnson

This is how it started.

A prompt on Flash Fiction Friday - A Community Writing Project.  Guest moderator, author Fiona Johnson, asked us to write a story about lost children.  Our inspiration was the heart-wrenching photograph by Danielle Tunstall shown below.

Thomas Pluck offered to donate $5 for each story submitted to PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children.  Fiona in turn pledged to donate $5 to Children 1st, a children’s charity in Scotland.  Together , $600 was raised for the two charities, thanks to the generous and creative writing communities of Flash Fiction Friday, Fictionaut; as well as the crime fiction community on Twitter.

43 entries were submitted.  The flash fiction challenge was such a success that Thomas, Fiona and Ron decided to take it further... they would publish an anthology, with 100% of the e-book proceeds going to the two charities PROTECT and Children 1st.  Ron, Fiona and Thomas chose 30 of the best stories for the anthology.

50% of the e-book proceeds will go to Children 1st, which is a children’s charity based in Scotland.  The other 50% of the e-book proceeds will go to PROTECT:  The National Association to Protect Children.  PROTECT is based in the United States.

More information about PROTECT and Children 1st can be found at their respective websites..

Lost Children: A Charity Anthology is available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Smashwords, Apple iBookstore, and Barnes & Noble.  Please help us support these charities and help a child.  With Christmas just around the corner, this anthology will make a wonderful gift for family and friends.  Links for Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords are to the right, under the anthology's cover image.

The e-book anthology is available in the following formats:
$2.99 for Kindle, Kindle Cloud Reader and Kindle for Phone and Desktop at Amazon
$2.99 for Adobe PDF, epub format, mobi format, Kobo, Sony e-reader and readable online at Smashwords
$2.99 for Nook in the Barnes & Noble store (also available via Smashwords, if you use Calibre e-book manager)
$2.99 at the Apple iBookstore

Thomas has lately been burning the candle far into the night to prepare a print edition, which will soon be available through Amazon and Createspace.  This should be ready in time to give as a Christmas gift, for either yourself or friends and family.

Thank you.

P.S

If you would like a little background on my story, LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN, please visit http://networkedblogs.com/p8p99.  I am humbled and and honoured to have my story selected and to be part of this amazing project.  By buying the anthology, you too can help a very worthwhile cause.

BOOK REVIEW - MCDROLL (FIONA JOHNSON): KICK IT AGAIN

Kick It Again by McDroll

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Oh... Beeny's a little shite, isn't he? Lying to his mate like that!

Veronica, Queen Slave of the Mutant Monkeys sounds very interesting indeed... she doesn't come on the DS, does she? Haha!

A STRAIGHT GAME is an absorbing, all-too realistic story of a couple of delinquents. The characters.. . the dialogue... I can almost hear the conversation... the inflection in their voices... you capture perfectly the dialect. It really brings the characters to life. Excellent read!

This is really first rate writing, Fiona! As with all of your stories, I absolutely LOVE A STRAIGHT GAME.

NO MORE CHOICES... a raw, powerful, bleak story... when a mother's love and desperation takes her down to the very bottom of that long, dark path to something she hoped and prayed would never come to pass. there is a dark, tragic sadness in this telling of the human condition. Beautifully written, Fiona.

This one doesn't tug... it rips at my heart! We read stories like this and the lucky ones who haven't had to make the hard choices can only be thankful that they haven't had to. For those of us who have... the anguish and torment here wrings our emotions. This one brings tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat.

Beautifully written, Fiona! That last line... "The pilot light popped. The gas hissed into the darkness." ... that one got to me.

If I write anymore, I might give something away, so I will leave to you, gentle reader, the other three amazing stories in this collection.

~~**~~

Brilliant and breathtaking 'slices' of crime/noir; Fiona Johnson has another winner in KICK IT AGAIN. She sets a bar many reach for, but few attain.  Be sure to check out her previous collection - KICK IT, available on Amazon, and visit Fiona's website at http://imeanttoreadthat.blogspot.com/.  Her writing can also be found in The Lost Children:  A Charity Anthology, on sale at Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes and Nobles; proceeds of which go to children's charities.  Visit THE LOST CHILDREN:  A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY  for more information.

~~finis~~

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The Lost Children Charity Anthology - On Sale Now At Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes and Noble

I join my colleagues in a very heartfelt thank you to Thomas Pluck, Fiona Johnson and Ron Earl Phillips for their tireless efforts in seeing The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology to its fruition.

Two special thank you's - To artist and photographer extraordinaire Danielle Tunstall for her generous permission to use one of her photographs on the cover of the e-book as well as The Lost Children Anthology websites, and to Sarah Bennett Pluck for her incredible work producing the cover for this anthology.

"Some children are lost before they have even started living. Some children are a throw-away commodity like a burger box that’s left to blow down the street in the wind and rain." - Fiona Johnson

This is how it started.

A prompt on Flash Fiction Friday - A Community Writing Project.  Guest moderator, author Fiona Johnson, asked us to write a story about lost children.  Our inspiration was the heart-wrenching photograph by Danielle Tunstall shown below.

Thomas Pluck offered to donate $5 for each story submitted to PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children.  Fiona in turn pledged to donate $5 to Children 1st, a children’s charity in Scotland.  Together , $600 was raised for the two charities, thanks to the generous and creative writing communities of Flash Fiction Friday, Fictionaut; as well as the crime fiction community on Twitter.

43 entries were submitted.  The flash fiction challenge was such a success that Thomas, Fiona and Ron decided to take it further... they would publish an anthology, with 100% of the proceeds going to the two charities PROTECT and Children 1st.

Ron, Fiona and Thomas chose 30 of the best stories to put in a charity anthology, all proceeds of which would go to PROTECT and Children 1st.

50% of the proceeds will go to Children 1st, which is a children’s charity based in Scotland – see http://networkedblogs.com/p0GhX for more information about the charity and how you can help.

The other 50% of the proceeds will go to PROTECT:  The National Association to Protect Children.  PROTECT is based in the United States - see http://networkedblogs.com/p13Gv for more about them and how you can help.

And finally, please see http://networkedblogs.com/p8p99 for a little background on my story, ‘LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN’.  I am humbled and and honoured to have my story selected and to be part of this amazing project.  By buying the anthology, you too can help a very worthwhile cause.

Lost Children: A Charity Anthology is now available for purchase on Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.  Please help us support these charities and help a child.  Thank you.

BOOK REVIEW - KATHY REICHS: SPIDER BONES

Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I did not enjoy Spider Bones as much as some of Kathy's earlier books.  I thought it rather 'busy', and some of the subplot suggested rather heavily of incompetence on the part of certain government agencies.  The chimera 'device' seemed a bit desperate... an attempt to get out of a less than perfectly plotted story?  Not fond of the cliches, either.


I love technical writing and usually have no trouble following Ms Reichs' stories, but I confess... this one; I got 'lost' a couple of times.


Overall, Kathy Reichs has produced a great body of work... I have loved everything before Spider Bones... and will continue to read her.  I would offer a couple of suggestions to her...


Get rid of Ryan... he is played out and tired.


Please do something with Charlie!  Please?


P.S.  If you already have, in books subsequent to Spider Bones, forget I mentioned it.  :)


Kathy Reichs is still one of my favorite writers!


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