BOOK REVIEW - ROSALIND SMITH-NAZILLI: FOURTEEN Flashes of Fiction

FOURTEEN flashes of fiction by Rosalind Smith-Nazilli

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


(Author’s note – The best part of being a writer is becoming part of a community of extremely talented individuals who share the same passion as you do… writing, but more than just writing… telling a story.  'Writer’ may be what we tell people we are, but in reality… we are story-tellers; a profession as old and honourable as time itself.  One such person, whom it is my honor to call friend, is Rosalind Smith-Nazilli.  Rosalind recently published a collection of some of her brilliant flash fiction, and I had the opportunity to read it and offer a few remarks.  Thank you, Rosalind.  vmls)

~~**~~

Gut punches... not a very lady-like expression, but that is exactly what I think of when I read FOURTEEN... Rosalind Smith-Nazilli's brilliant collection of flash fiction... fourteen jabs to the mid-section.

FOURTEEN starts with a sad little tale of woe – The Collector – that ends on a much brighter note than it began.  Rosalind deftly shows that noir isn’t all dark… the occasional ray of hope can shine through.

Of course, for Sally, a bit of luck doesn’t hurt either!

~~**~~

Punch is a gritty little piece of flash with a ‘punch’ at the end that took my breath.  Nicely done, Rosalind… nicely done, indeed!

The last line in No Intervention chilled me to the core and raises the question… ‘What will we do the next time we encounter a similar situation?’

Problem Solved is a rather pragmatic look at problem solving… I quite enjoyed this one!

The ending in Overnighter gave me one of those ‘oh my god!’ moments.  Well written, Rosalind!

I love the beginning of The Five Year Plan… “It started with a kiss.  Didn’t it always?”  A bit cynical, but there is a note of truth to it.  Never underestimate a mother’s love.

I love the ‘voice’ in Dispatched… another of my favorites in this collection.

A former punter receives ‘correction’ in A Lesson For Freddie.

‘Not in my backyard’ is carried a bit far in Friends, when three young woman ‘mark their territory’.

The Girl With The Flame Coloured Hair is a taut little bit that left me wanting more.

In this little flash of noir, Sam is about to find out what real Retribution is!

Satisfaction reminds one of the dangers of short-changing a ‘working girl’.

Downloading Disaster… I love the double meaning in the title… is a collaboration between Rosalind and Graham Smith, a writer of some repute I am told.  This story is my first exposure to Graham’s writing… the lad shows promise. *wink*

Downloading Disaster gives a dystopian look at a future which bears an echo to the past… a dark part of man’s history on this fragile earth that one hopes will never be repeated. 

It is also a cautionary tale against…. oh, but wait… that would be giving it away.  We can’t have that, can we?

~~**~~

Rosalind does an excellent job here… bringing us several ‘cautionary tales’… warnings of the consequences when we succumb to our darker urges, and when we are made victims of another’s.  A sharp mind with a keen understanding of noir, it is my privilege to know Rosalind.   She has encouraged me much in my own writing.

Probably my favorite in this collection is Remember Yesterday.  A poignant, moving story of love, sacrifice, and loss; Remember Yesterday is written with the compassion of someone who has experienced both in their life.  Re-reading it now, I am brought to tears… again.  There is a line in the story, near the end…

“The not knowing is what gave us hope, and the will to carry on, believing.”

Thank you, Rosalind, for a more than satisfying serving of flash fiction.

“More, please!”

~*~

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

18 February 2012

Cannon Beach, Oregon

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BOOK REVIEW - NICOLE BAART: FAR FROM HERE

Far From Here by Nicole Baart

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Reviewer’s note – I am an independent writer.  I am also a freelance reviewer for Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.  What this basically means is that I am on an email list, and the publisher notifies me of new releases.  If I see a book that I like, they will send me a copy. In other words, I choose the book that I wish to read and I write a review and post it on my websites.  My reviews are based solely on the merits of the book, and I receive no remuneration from the publisher or author, other than a copy of the book, in exchange for posting a review on my blogs.  I also post my reviews on GoodReads.  The following is my review of Nicole Baart’s Far From Here.  Thank you – vmls)

~~**~~

Nicole Baart has written an inspiring story of hope and human frailty, weaving a rich tapestry with the finely crafted, beautiful prose we have come to expect from this immensely talented writer, and the all too realistically drawn characters that can only come from someone with the unique and compassionate understanding of the human condition that Nicole has.   If we at times are made to feel a bit uncomfortable at something one of her characters says or does, it is only a tribute to Nicole’s incredible skill as both writer and storyteller.

No spoilers here… I promise (well, maybe just a tiny bit.).  Far From Here is more than just a book of roughly 340 pages… it is an experience one cannot fully appreciate through the eyes or words of another.   I do not use the phrase ‘must-read’ lightly, but never has it been more apt than with Far From Here.  Nicole Baart’s latest novel will take you on a journey of joy, pain, happiness and sorrow… a journey of discovery… of revelation… that will leave you healed and renewed… with new hope and promise.

Okay, maybe I will ‘spoil’ it a little… this story is going to make you cry, so grab a big box of Kleenex!

~~**~~

What do you do when your whole world turns on one person, and one day that person is gone?

What do you do when your happy little, perfect world is tilted on its axis… and the life that you knew shatters into a thousand pieces… and you watch helplessly as all those pieces slide away.

Far From Here is a story of love and loss… the journey between the two and the journey through the aftermath… a search for truth… for redemption… a search for ‘self’, not the person we thought we were or the person [we let] someone else define us as.

Redemption is a journey for which the only road map is our heart. It is not always an easy journey, navigating around and through the scars and fissures the life lost has left behind.  And as Danica will come to realize… you can’t find redemption in an ‘echo’ of the past.

But… I’m getting ahead of the story…

~~**~~

Danica Reese meets the ‘boy of her dreams’, the one who makes her soul take flight, when she is sixteen.   Etsell Greene is a young man with an imperfect, through no fault of his own, past… not unlike Danica’s in some respects.  But, broken families don’t always leave broken children… just imperfect children.  Ell and Dani aren’t perfect, but in each other they come as close as two people can.  Or, so Danica comes to believe.

The two seem oddly suited for each other, given Ell’s deep love for flying and Dani’s almost pathological hatred of flying.  But… as some of us know all too well… the heart wants what the heart wants, and it won’t be denied.

Danica and Etsell are married three years later and for the next seven years build a life for themselves, settling into the ‘routine’ of married life. It’s not a perfect life, but love smoothes over the little bumps and detours.

Love is also at times, painfully blind.

One of those ‘bumps’ the two must work through is Ell’s decision to go to Alaska for a period of weeks to help out a pilot friend.  The decision is a unilateral one, but not the first one in their relationship, and the two find a way to work through it.

Little do either realize that their little ‘Xanadu’ is about to be turned inside out.

Ell’s last flight turns into one of ‘no return’ and Danica’s life suddenly stalls, falling into a tailspin.

Over the next several weeks, Dani is forced to re-examine her marriage and try to come to terms with the almost unbearable questions her husband’s disappearance has raised.  And when she learns that Ell was not alone on that last flight, Dani’s carefully crafted life is revealed to be little more than a house of sand, and the ‘wind’ of Ell’s disappearance scatters it… possibly irrevocably.

Out of the wreckage and all the emotions that come with loss – the loss of trust, fidelity, companionship, self - Danica slowly begins to rebuild her life, and in doing so reconnects with her mother and sisters, gaining new insight into herself and her family.  Nicole narrates this in an incredibly profound and moving telling… the resilience of mother and daughters… sisters… the love that was always there and is now made stronger through their shared adversities.

One evening, with [almost] all of the women in Danica’s life gathered around her, a knock comes at the front door…

Who is at the door? Do they bring news… good or bad, it doesn’t matter… do they bring new hope, or only fresh pain?

~~**~~

You’re going to hate me, but I am stopping here.   As I mentioned earlier, Far From Here is a ‘must-read’.   Go buy the book, borrow it from a friend… write me and I will loan you my copy…

But… read this book!

Far From Here is about more than just the relationship between two people… much, much more.

I will close with this…

I met my [now] wife, Christina, on my 21st birthday… five and a half years ago.  When we first met, my life was in tatters… I had no expectation of celebrating a 22nd birthday.   But Tina didn’t see it that way. She was the gravity that pulled the torn pieces of my life back together and made me whole again.

Will Danica find her gravity?



Thank you.

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
11 February 2012
Cannon Beach, Oregon
veronicathepajamathief@hotmail.com


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TAG CLOUDS - Reposted From The Archives of Lastblogger.Com

http://lastblogger.com/archives/417

A short excerpt from the article -

"Tag clouds are pretty awesome. If you’re using Wordpress, you can use the same strategy for tagging and tag clouds as I did. But if you’re on a service like Blogger it can be a bit more complicated since you don’t have access to your blog installation. Fortunately, I came across these instructions for creating a tag cloud for Blogger."

Reposted from > Writer Beware ® Blogs!: Rights and Copyright

Writer Beware ® Blogs!: Rights and Copyright

An excellent article about author's rights and copyrights by Victoria Strauss over at -

Writer Beware ® Blogs!

100 HORRORS ANTHOLOGY - Tales of Horror in the Blink of an Eye - ON SALE FEBRUARY 20TH, 2012

100 Horrors Anthology is coming out on February 20th.  The anthology will be available for Kindle on Amazon and the trade paperback will go on sale at http://cruentuslibri.wordpress.com/.

Yes... I have a little slice of horror in this anthology... but I would be 'plugging' it anyway... there is a ton of amazing talent here. Some of you (me included) will be sleeping with your night light on! 

Bwaahaahaa!!

BOOK REVIEW – MARILYNN CHADWICK: SOMETIMES HE WHISPERS… SOMETIMES HE ROARS

Sometimes He Whispers Sometimes He Roars by Marilynn Chadwick

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


(Reviewer’s note – I am an independent writer.  I am also a freelance reviewer for Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.  What this basically means is that I am on an email list, and the publisher notifies me of new releases.  If I see a book that I like, they will send me a copy.  In other words, I choose the book that I wish to read and I write a review and post it on my websites.  My reviews are based solely on the merits of the book, and I receive no remuneration from the publisher or author, other than a copy of the book, in exchange for posting a review on my blogs.  I also post my reviews on GoodReads.  The following is my review of Marilynn Chadwick’s ‘Sometimes He Whispers… Sometimes He Roars’.  Thank you – vmls)

~~**~~

A small confession.  When I first read the email synopsis of Marilynn Chadwick’s ‘Sometimes He Whispers… Sometimes He Roars’, I almost passed on the book.  I mean… I didn’t really need another book on ‘how to pray’… I thought I was doing okay there.

Guess what happened?

God whispered to me. (Ouch!)

I read the book.

~~**~~

“I laughed… I cried… I fell in love…” I did all of this and more as I read this truly inspirational book.

~~**~~

The phrase ‘life-changing’ is probably one of the most over-used phrases in the English language, right?  It seems that everything from automobiles, books and movies to cleaning products are ‘life-changing’.  The term has become a cliché.

‘Sometimes He Whispers – Sometimes He Roars’ is as far away from a cliché as the east is from the west.  This is an incredible, amazing, and, yes… life-changing book!  From the opening pages, Marilynn gets right to it.  In the introduction, she gives us, in a nutshell, six steps she followed to develop a deeper, more effective prayer life –

1. Be Alert

2. Be Specific

3. Pray With Authority

4. Agree With Others In Prayer

5. Arm Yourself With Spiritual Strength

6. Answer God’s Call

These steps are described in greater detail in the six parts of her book and the chapters within - a journey in itself, for me.  Marilyn developed them during her ten year journey following the event that changed America, and the world, forever – September 11, 2001.  This book will change your life, forever.

~~**~~

Not counting the Bible, ‘Sometimes He Whispers – Sometimes He Roars’ is without a doubt the most inspiring book I have ever read.  Heart-warming and poignant, Marilynn takes the reader on a journey of discovery as she relates her and her family’s life in a post-9/11 world and what prayer has brought to her life and the lives of others… how she was called to pray for the world and what prayer can bring to the world.

What is ‘prayer’?  Merriam-Webster states that prayer is a noun, meaning –

“... a formula or sequence of words used in or appointed for praying …”

“... the act or practice of praying to God or an object of worship…”

“... a devout petition to God or an object of worship…”

“…supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession…”

Technically, those ‘definitions’ are correct, but… you know what?  And… it took me a long time to figure this out; this is what prayer is –

“… a spiritual communion with God.”

So, what… you mean, like a conversation with God?  Yes, exactly!

Conversation... from the Latin conversari, meaning "to live with, keep company with".

So then...when we pray, we are keeping company with God. How cool is that? Wow… that just gave me a little shiver!

In ‘Sometimes He Whispers – Sometimes He Roars’, Marilynn Chadwick helps us prepare for the most important conversations we will ever have, beginning with the first step – ‘be alert’.  Sounds simple enough…

~~**~~

Does anyone remember that old Neil Diamond song, popularized by The Monkees, - ‘I’m A Believer’?  There is a line from the song that, for a time, pretty much summed up my feelings about prayer…

“…seems the more I gave… the less I got…”

Seems a bit ungrateful, doesn’t it?  After all, God answers all of our prayers, doesn’t he?  It may not be the answer we [thought we] were looking for, and it may not come as quickly as we would like, but… He does answer.

The question then begs… are we listening?

Just as it takes more than perfect eyesight to ‘see clearly’, it takes more than perfectly functioning ears to ‘hear’ His voice.  It takes an open heart… it takes faith.

We renew our mind… and our faith… by staying in the Word; reading… believing… having faith… in His word. One of the little ‘challenges’ (that’s probably not really the right word) Marilynn offers up is the ’21 days of John’.

Marilynn reminds us of His promise and shares with the reader ‘tools’ she has developed that will… to borrow a phrase… ‘take your prayer life to new levels’; levels unimagined before.  Tools with which, we will “learn to hear the voice of God.”

The best way to hear the voice of God, and… no, it’s not rocket science… but sometimes we need a reminder, is to read His words.  Marilynn offers the reader an incredibly effective tool - the 21 Day Experiment… “… a way to discover how God’s word can add power to your prayers – and your life.”  With that as its stated purpose, there is only one Book in the entire Bible that is a perfect ‘fit’… the Book of John, with exactly 21 chapters.  Read a chapter a day… bring His words into your heart and into your mind… see what a difference it makes.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Thank you, Marilynn, for this amazing tool.

“Yeah, okay… but, there is just so much to pray for…” you say? “Where do I start?”  Another confession… I have said the same thing… more times than I want to admit.  It’s not a perfect world… we’re not a perfect people… it can all be so over-whelming, I know.  But, that’s okay because Marilyn is going to give us some tools to take the ‘whelm’ out of prayer.

Do you like lists?  You’ll love this one. A simple tool Marilyn talks about is ‘The List’ – a list of daily ‘themes’ to pray over. I love how she assigns a day of the week for each theme –

Mondays: Pray For God To Prohibit Evil

Tuesdays: Pray For God’s Provision

Wednesdays: Pray For God’s Miracle-Working Power

Thursdays: Pray For God’s Problem-Solving Wisdom

Fridays: Pray For God’s Presence

Saturdays: Pray For God’s Purpose

Sundays: Praise God For His Goodness

Marilynn shows how this will help bring structure and specificity to our prayers.  And, when we couple this tool with the next one…

Another wonderful tool… especially to those of us who love lists… is the Chubby Book.  In Chapter Four, Marilynn introduces us to ‘The Chubby Book Method’.  In previous chapters, she talks about ‘staying alert and ready for prayer throughout the day’… ‘listening and watching’.  Marilyn goes on to discuss ‘being specific’… finding ‘watchwords’ in the Bible to help focus our prayers and see the answers.  Marilyn brings all these pieces together in what she calls her ‘Chubby Book’.  People and places to pray for… specific needs… types of prayer (the ‘theme’ list noted above)… these all go in your Chubby Book.

But, what exactly is the ‘Chubby Book”, Veronica?  Is it an electronic device… an app for my iPhone… what?

Just as prayer is most effective when it is simple and specific, so is the Chubby Book.  It is a set of 50 ruled 3x5 index cards, spiral bound, which costs about $5 at most grocery, variety, and office supply stores – pretty ‘low tech’, huh?  It doesn’t require recharging, you don’t have to pay extra for a ‘maintenance plan’ as a hedge against product durability, and it works as well in bright sunlight as it does in a dimly lit room.

The Chubby Book is a great way to develop a prayer habit, and to make your prayer list portable… you can take it with you anywhere (almost… you will want to avoid wet environments with it).

Marilynn also talks about PODs (prayers on demand) and prayer partners – adding power and authority in your prayers.  Remember Matthew 18:19-20? “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.  For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” – NASB.

More than just a collection of ‘prayer tools’ and a ‘guide’ on how to use them, ‘Sometimes He Whispers… Sometimes He Roars’ is an inspiring, heartwarming and moving chronicle of what prayer has done for and in Marilynn and her family’s life and those she has prayed for.

More than just a book, this is an incredible resource that I will turn to again and again. I believe this is an important book for anyone, no matter how strong your prayer life is now… or, how strong your faith is now.

Marilynn… thank you for the amazing gift you have ‘given’ me.  I am already seeing changes in my prayer life as I gain new insights in the power and promise of prayer.

I would leave you, gentle reader, with one final thought…

Strength in faith strengthens your prayer… strength in prayer strengthens your faith.

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Chehalis, Washington

25 January 2012

 

© 2012 - Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creative commons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons,444 Castro Street, Suite 900,Mountain View,California,94041,USA.

View all my reviews

I WONDER...

I wonder…

A young woman sits at the table across from me at the Food Court.  She seems lost in a moment, and has a smile on her face that can only be described as blissful.

I wonder… what makes her so happy?  One of her purchases, perhaps?  I see on her table, bags from Bath & Body Works, Ann Taylor, and that oh-so-familiar pink-striped bag that doesn’t even need the store’s name printed on it.  I know, whenever I have one of those little bags in my hand, I have a BIG smile on my face!

Or, did you get some new aromatherapy candles at Bath & Body Works, and can’t wait to get home and relax in a nice, hot bubble bath with your new candles?  I’m tempted to ask her if she has tried the Black Currant Vanilla, my personal favorite, but I don’t want to interrupt her reverie.

I wonder…

A perfect summer day!  Two young children at the zoo - twins I think to myself, racing ahead of their mother, across the green expanse of the Concert Lawn toward the elephant exhibit.  The sound of their laughter and the shrieks of joy, tell a story.

I wonder… did they enjoy the polar bears as much as I do?  Of all the animals at the zoo, the polar bears are my favorite!  Did they look at the polar bear’s feet and wonder at the strength and grace in those huge paws? Were their eyes filled with awe as they watched the polar bears diving for fish; those enormous mammals swimming with the grace of a fish?

I wonder… did they marvel in wonder at the bright, beautiful colors of the Lorikeets in the aviary?  Did they want to reach out and touch those colored feathers?  Were their little button noses wrinkled in disgust at the smells of the monkey cage one moment, and then in the next, laughing with glee at the antics of its inhabitants?

I wonder…

Fall has come once again to the City of Roses.  Tina and I are sitting on a bench along the Eastside Esplanade, taking in the autumn colors amidst the cityscape.  An elderly couple approaches, holding hands and walking with a familiar stride that bespeaks of their years together.  Their faces radiate love and happiness.

I wonder… what is your secret?  How long have you been married… twenty years?  30?  40?  More?  Did you discover long ago, something that I have yet to learn?  Do your hearts still sing every time you gaze into one another’s eyes?  Do you wake up every morning to the thought “… I love this person lying next to me even more today than I did yesterday”?

I wonder… when you see young couples like me and Tina, do you yearn to be young again?  Or, has the journey that brought the two of you to where you are today, been so wonderfully, marvelously incredible, that you wouldn’t trade it for anything?  Does it all really come down to these three words – Live… Laugh… Love?  Is that your secret?

I wonder…

An old man - one of this city’s all-too-many homeless - sits huddled on the sidewalk, dressed in tattered clothing that can’t possibly keep out winter’s chill, hopelessness and dejection carved into his face.  A hand held out… in hope?

I wonder… what are his circumstances?  What brought him here… to the streets?  Did he used to be a successful computer engineer, whose company merged with another and out-sourced their work, putting him out of a job?  Did some big, heartless bank take away his home with one hand, and with the other, take a billion-dollar bailout from the government?  Or, does he have a drug or alcohol problem that, over the years, took away his job, his dignity, his family, his life?  And society, in its head-long rush to over-achieve and accumulate, cast him aside, tossed away like an empty Starbuck’s cup?

I stop in front of the man and reach in my purse for something to give him.  He looks up at me and as our eyes meet, I realize that he is not that old… in his 40’s maybe.  I had first taken him to be much older, judging from his appearance.

I wonder… how long has he been out on these streets?  How does he still have hope for his fellow man, even while they have given up on him?

Pulling the glove from my hand, I pick some bills from my wallet, offering them to him.  As he reaches across the gap between us to accept them, I have a sudden urge to touch his hand, to offer more than just money, to offer a little human contact.  All day long people veer around him, anxious to avoid any contact.

I wonder… is it just romantic conceit on my part to think that a brief touch is going to bridge that gap, that it will make up, in some small measure, for society’s shunning him?  Will that touch keep him warm at night?

 As the man takes the money from my hand, I press my fingers against the dry flesh of his hand and offer up a small smile.  He tries to smile back, but I think he has forgotten how.  In a cracked voice, he speaks… “Thank you.”  Two words… filled with gratitude and sincerity.  I realize he is not just thanking me for the money, and I am overcome.  A huge lump has suddenly filled my throat and I am unable to speak.  I can only nod and give a little smile, my eyes welling with tears.

I wonder… at the capacity of the human heart.  Here is a person who has literally nothing, and yet, with two simple words, has given me something I will keep and remember always.  A moment in time, where another person has touched my heart… and given me hope.

I wonder...

Veronica Marie-Lewis-Shaw

Silverdale, Washington

Portland, Oregon

 

© 2010 - Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

May not be reprinted without written permission.  Inquiries should be directed to veronicathepajamathief@hotmail.com

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons,444 Castro Street, Suite 900,Mountain View,California,94041,USA.