This excerpt from XAGHRA’S REVENGE illustrates the actual movement of the rowers on galleys in the 16th century. Contrary to what you might see in movies of galley slaves rowing while always sitting down, they stood for part of the cycle. It makes sense. For one thing there was less friction on the benches so their posteriors didn’t get so raw, sore. Also they use gravity better. It has to be remembered too that the oars, while heavy, were finely balanced on the divots so not as heavy to row, especially when there were three men per oar.This section from Chapter 35 is just before our captured Gozo farmer makes a bid to escape over the side.The drummer started the usual rhythm.Push down, stan...

Warning: These are addictive.Original link

Jiles’ story telling almost sparse yet vivid, her world building so strong she had me searching maps to locate and trace the travels of Britt, the Kiowa, the Comanche.The harrowing experiences of the captives, the harsh life of the Indians heartbreaking and mesmerizing with this masterpiece. The bumbling efforts of the government and sometimes well-intentioned religious groups often making relations between whites and Indians so much worse.I had read and loved Jiles’ “News of the World” and leapt at the chance to read another of her books. I’m so glad I did.Blurb:From Paulette Jiles, author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestsellers Enemy Women and Stormy Weather, comes a stirrin...

The munchkin had to have a baby tooth pulled. This is what the dentist gave her.  Wikipedia:El Ratoncito Pérez or Ratón Pérez (literally translated into English as Perez mouse or Perez the Mouse) is a figure popular in Spanish and Hispanic American cultures, similar to the tooth fairy, originating in Madrid in 1894 when Luis Coloma was contracted to write a story for Alfonso XIII, who had just lost his tooth at the age of 8.Coloma’s story follows Ratoncito Pérez who lived with his family in a box of cookies in Madrid, but frequently ran away from home through the pipes of the city, and into the bedrooms of children who had lost their teeth. The story details how Ratoncito Pérez cunningly mis...

 I like historical fiction especially when the novel is about a little known individual. In “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter” we meet Grace Darling, who helps to rescue the survivors of a shipwreck and bring them the lighthouse. Her courageous actions turn her life upside down. But more profound are the connections she makes to people she would otherwise have never met. It is their descendents who bring Grace Darling back to our attention 100 years later.A wonderful read!BLURB1838: Northumberland, England. Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands has been Grace Darling’s home for all of her twenty-two years. When she and her father rescue shipwreck survivors in a furious storm, Grace becom...

I have vague memories of hearing about the Spanish Civil War and Hemmingway, but it wasn’t until I read Domingo’s Angel by Jenny Twist, that I had some understanding of what really happened.In Twist’s novel, a tall, thin, pale English girl wanders into a remote Spanish mountain village, meets a young villager and stays. This is not just their love story. It is the story of the personalities and dynamics of a small community and of the worsening conditions under Franco’s rule.The Fountains of Silence brings even greater understanding of the harsh conditions and tyranny of Franco’s regime. Ostensibly this is a YA or NA novel, bit it doesn’t feel that way as you read. Daniel comes to Madrid wit...

After spending 1500 years, taking turns in hibernation on their spaceship, SUPPOSE WE, the four humans crashland on Kepler-20h. Sadly, the natives are so far ahead of Earth in technology and evolution, they ignore the humans, who need help. This excerpt is in a strange forested region.“Em, are you having trouble with your hammock?”He could see her white teeth in a smile as she came closer, followed by a scent of lemon. “I am, it doesn’t have you in it.”He frowned. “You wish us to swap?”“No, you clot. Move over.”Gaston felt more than saw the side of the hammock dipping precariously as if it were a boat bent on capsizing. “Excuse moi? Ah, I see. I didn’t realise you…me…mais, what about the oth...

This fish can safely eat plastic.   Color!Time for lunch.More color!Original link

#6wordstorychallenge #sixwordstory #writing #scifi #fantasy #mystery #adventure #romance #thriller #worldbuildingToday’s challenge is “Mistake” “Garlic, quick! You didn’t pack it?”I look forward to your responses. Cheers, J. I. RogersOriginal link

#6wordstorychallenge #sixwordstory #writing #scifi #fantasy #mystery #adventure #romance #thriller #worldbuildingToday’s challenge is “Faerie Market” “A night spent; a lifetime lost”This is the first of the 2020 season. I look forward to your responses. Cheers, J. I. RogersOriginal link

 Simply put, Robert Sawyer is brilliant and his novels are always intriguing and informative. In “Factoring Humanity” Sawyer juxtaposes our world with its family and life stresses with that of an alien race that sends signals to Earth. When Heather finally breaks the code of the messages, we, along with her husband and daughter, are taken along for an amazing ride.Blurb:In 2007, a signal is detected coming from the Alpha Centauri system. Mysterious, unintelligible data streams in for ten years. Heather Davis a professor in the University of Toronto psychology department, has devoted her career to deciphering the message. Her estranged husband, Kyle, is working on the development of artificia...

Delightful in so many ways. I loved the story for its elegant portrayal of Lillian’s life, its revelation of the city she loved (New York), its delightful turn of phrase, (eg “The bulb of every shepherd’s-crook lamppost has been cracked by some meticulous hoodlum.” and its wisdom (eg “The point of living in the world is to stay interested.”).This book proved to hold more than I expected. Kudos to Rooney for her adroit story telling.BLURB:“In my reckless and undiscouraged youth,” Lillian Boxfish writes, “I worked in a walnut-paneled office thirteen floors above West Thirty-Fifth Street…”She took 1930s New York by storm, working her way up writing copy for R.H. Macy’s to become the highest pai...

Decadal writing2003 first short of the decade was called 2020 Vision published in the Chester Writers anthology2003-05 ESCAPING REALITY http://hyperurl.co/nyjaiv  Only as an ebook now2005-08 EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEE http://hyperurl.co/du4s3h2009 HOT AIR http://hyperurl.co/di4y0h 2009-12 ARIA LEFT LUGGAGE http://smarturl.it/1fexhs2013 ARIA RETURNING LEFT LUGGAGE http://hyperurl.co/tgtid62014 ARIA ABANDON LUGGAGE http://hyperurl.co/26trxv2014-17 XAGHRA’S REVENGE http://myBook.to/Xaghra2018 INCREMENTAL http://mybook.to/Incremental a collection of 25 surreal shorts2019 SUPPOSE WE, https://mybook.to/SupposeWe2019 FALLING UP https://mybook.to/FallingUPPlus over 80 short stories published in such jou...

May 2020 be good to all of us!http://www.darlenejonesauthor.com  Original link

Artwork by my granddaughter. She drew 23 of these for her classmates and her teacher.Best wishes for the season to all. Original link

#6wordstorychallenge #sixwordstory #writing #scifi #fantasy #mystery #adventure #romance #thriller #worldbuildingToday’s challenge is “Duel” “Eight… Nine…” phone rings. “Hi, mom.”I look forward to your responses. Cheers, J. I. RogersOriginal link

He’s still a long way from the beach where he’ll appeal to the tourists to buy his goods. How many hats do you think he’ll sell today?http://www.darlenejonesauthor.com Original link

#6wordstorychallenge #sixwordstory #writing #scifi #fantasy #mystery #adventure #romance #thriller #worldbuildingToday’s challenge is “Timing” Flash. “Boom.” Storm concealed the gunshot.I look forward to your responses. Cheers, J. I. RogersOriginal link

The first novella in the Flying Crooked series was SUPPOSE WE. Commissioned by LL-Publications (the publisher of the ARIA science fiction trilogy) to bring back the passion in space exploration. In Suppose We a ship crashlands on a faraway planet, but the natives are so far ahead of Earth that they ignore the hapless humans in need of help. The human crew follow the native Keps to their habitats only to find strangeness beyond their experience. If you read Suppose We and you thought it as original as writers such as Jaine Fenn did, then just wait until you read Falling Up. Well, the title tells you, doesn’t it?Why is Em flying up as in the cover picture? An anomaly, obvs, but what kind and w...

Absolutely WonderfulIn 1953, twelve-year-old Natalie spies on her neighbours recording their lives for future historians. Theoretically, not much should be going on. WWII is over, people have gone on with their boring daily lives in small town Alberta. Or have they?Turns out the legacy of war lingers with sorrow for those killed, with unseen wounds in those who returned. The war may have changed lives, but prejudice and superiority remain.As Natalie’s spy glass hones in on citizens’ lives — good deeds and bad — are exposed much to the readers’ delight.Kudos to Milholland for this wonderful story which is much more than YA.BLURBSO MANY SECRETSAn engaging, coming-of-age story set in a small Al...