Ricardian Story in ‘Scary’ Anthology!

A link to our anthology Box Under The Bed from https://murreyandblue.wordpress.com blog.

murreyandblue

I wrote a short story a couple of years ago, one of the first ‘Ricardian’ works I had ever written. So, when a best-selling Amazon author, Dan Alatorre (whose blog I follow), announced he wanted to make an anthology of stories from a variety of authors, all on a ‘scary’ theme, I remembered this story and thought it might fit the bill.  It was pretty rough, so I updated and edited it a bit, improving it a lot, having learned so much in the time since I first wrote it.  And, to my delight, Dan accepted it.

The anthology, called ‘The Box Under the Bed’, is a compilation of over twenty short stories from at least twenty authors from various countries and the stories are from various genres – a great pick ‘n’ mix with something for everyone!  It is to be released on October 1^st (just in time…

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Media Training for Authors – Preparing for an interview on camera….

Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life

In the last few years I have been very lucky to interview some fascinating people on camera. Mainly live shows that as profile interviews have lasted 30 minutes or so. These included: – astronauts from NASA – a former First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy – Doctor Allison Cronin of the Monkey World rescue centre – Charles Tobias, President of Pusser’s Rum. Also successful authors and those writers just beginning their careers.

Some had been media trained for their particular job, but for many it was their first experience of being live in front of a camera.

Today there are a number of options available for online interviews that are filmed with YouTube and other platforms offering access to millions of viewers.

I do suggest that you get a couple of radio interview under your belt first as it will boost your confidence before facing a camera. I went…

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Saturday Short Story – No Pain, No Gain

A great start to what is going to be a fantastic story with a warning?

Author Don Massenzio

This week’s story comes from my own struggle to maintain my weight and get fit. Everyone is wearing Fit Bits, Apple Watches or other devices that track their steps, heart rate, and give gentle reminders to move. Apple has announced a next generation device that can actually track blood sugar levels.

I started thinking, what if a device became available that took things one step further. That’s where I started this story. It’s going to be a two-parter, so please enjoy the first part of No Pain, No Gain

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No Pain, No Gain

Joyce couldn’t wait to get her stylish new personal fitness device. She had saved up for the latest Buff Cuff. It was not cheap, but the girls in the office all had them. Most had received them as gifts from their boyfriends or husbands. Joyce didn’t have either of these, so she had to buy one for…

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Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Author Update – Judith Barrow, Charles E. Yallowitz and Sandra J. Jackson

Smorgasbord - Variety is the spice of life

Welcome to the first of the Cafe and Bookstore updates this week and there are new releases and fantastic reviews to share. The first author is Judith Barrow whose latest release A Hundred Tiny Threads has received another wonderful review.

About A Hundred Tiny Threads

It’s 1911 and Winifred Duffy is a determined young woman eager for new experiences, for a life beyond the grocer’s shop counter ruled over by her domineering mother.

The scars of Bill Howarth’s troubled childhood linger. The only light in his life comes from a chance encounter with Winifred, the girl he determines to make his wife.

Meeting her friend Honora’s silver-tongued brother turns Winifred’s heart upside down. But Honora and Conal disappear, after a suffrage rally turns into a riot, and abandoned Winifred has nowhere to turn but home.

The Great War intervenes, sending Bill abroad to be hardened in a furnace of carnage…

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Guest author: Marilyn Armstrong – Visions

Sue Vincent's Daily Echo

Over the years, I envied Christians. They always seem of all the things which for me are nothing but doubts.

On August 30th, 2004, sometime between midnight and dawn, I had a vision in that peculiar space between sleeping and waking. I was very near death. The skin all across my abdomen had turned septic. Antibiotics were not working. Even the emergency debridement from the plastic surgery swat team had not fixed it. I knew I was dying. I could feel myself slipping away. I expected death to be more dramatic and certainly more frightening. I was less afraid than sad. I felt I had not done whatever it was I was supposed to do this time around the wheel.

Then came the vision. Unlike a dream, it has stayed clear as crystal. Never has it become faded or confused.

I was a little bird, a sparrow. I was broken…

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Odd Jobs and Characters with Sally Cronin

Robbie's inspiration

Michael and I are delighted to have Sally Cronin from Smorgasbord visiting us today. Sally is going to tell us all about another one of her fascinating jobs, this time in the school housekeeping and caterer field.

School Housekeeper/Caterer – Feeding the 5, 000 or so it seemed

My thanks to Robbie for kindly inviting me to guest post with this series of my sometimes quirky jobs over the years. Not only did they provide me with a living but also brought some wonderful characters into my world who now populate the fictional ones I create.

After a few unsuccessful attempts to keep our marriage together, my first husband and I finally split up. All our furniture and belongings were in storage, as our accommodation at the pub we ran was fully equipped. I headed off with two suitcases into a B&B for a few weeks and took some temporary…

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Thistledown – Midsummer Bedlam 10

Teagan's Books

Friday, September 15, 2017

Welcome back to the faery world of Thistledown!

Writing Process

The writing of this episode was frequently interrupted.  That can make it even harder for creativity to flow, to fly by the seat of my pantser pants.  Then I reminded myself that there were still faery characters waiting in the wings, marking time until their parts in the story are found by my flying pants.  Actually, that didn’t make it any easier.  However, I finally finished the chapter.

About This Episode

It’s been fun to imagine slightly off-kilter versions of the characters in this serial, what I called the “scary faeries,” from the colorless world of Bedlam Thunder’s visions.  You’ll meet another of those today.  Without further ado, let’s fly off to Thistledown.

Thistledown

Midsummer Bedlam 10

Neon Brand, Unsplash

Fire andFurry

Beautiful birdsong made music throughout the branches of the primeval evergreen tree.  My…

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