Author: Marcia Meara

Wednesday Weirdness: The Ghosts of Time, Part 1

/ Marcia Meara / 4 Comments

A must-read post over at Mae Clair’s blog today! Time, clocks, mysterious happenings, and possible ghosts all wrapped up in one great post. Check it and and pass it along, if you can, thanks! And thanks, Mae, for giving me a shiver or too and some great ideas for writing about “timely” events! 🙂 Super post!

Mae Clair's avatarFrom the Pen of Mae Clair

pathway between large, gnarled trees with words "on the path of Wednesday Weirdness" superimposed over image

We’ve often heard the expression “time stopped.” But can it really? As much as I love time travel speculating about traversing centuries, time flows in a single direction–forward. Despite cold facts and scientific data, generations of writers, philosophers, artists and musicians remain bewitched by the abstract elements of time.

Spiraling image of a clock face with big bold numbers reducing in sizeConsider me one. In the past, I’ve done several blog posts about what I call “betwixt moments,” but I’ve never shared where my fascination with time originated. I can easily trace it back to my father who had a passion for antiques, especially old clocks. I grew up in a house filled with them. I have memories of a large white captain’s clock, several squat mantle clocks, and a pointed steeple clock that would have been at home in a Sherlock Holmes novel. But the star of my dad’s collection was a grandfather’s clock he found at a garage sale. Built…

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Dark Running

/ Marcia Meara / 3 Comments

Check out this post by P. H. Solomon on Story Empire today. Talk about a fantastic idea for a scary scene in your next book! You’ll love this one, and I’m sure you’ll remember to share it far and wide, too. Thanks, and thanks to P. H. for giving me some great ideas! Super post! 🙂

P. H. Solomon's avatarStory Empire

Good morning Story Empire readers. P. H. Solomon here with you today sharing about a recent experience, running in the dark. With the short days at this time of year, I usually end up running in the dark or just after. On one of these recent runs, I observed the things about my surroundings in the darkness that set off my imagination.

Don’t get me wrong, I was not running completely in the dark. I wore a headlamp that’s rather bright and there were a few lights to see by on the semi-desolate road on which I ran. Normally, I choose to run in a nearby subdivision where there’s more light on my running route. But this particular evening, I chose to run my regular daytime route on a little used side road that can be very dark in some places. Along the way, it struck me how many houses…

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#ShareAReviewDay Tuesday – Through the Nethergate by Roberta Eaton Cheadle

/ Marcia Meara / 45 Comments

This afternoon, please help me welcome Roberta Eaton Cheadle (or Robbie, as many of us know her) to The Write Stuff. She’s sharing a great review of her YA Paranormal book, Through the Nethergate, and I know you’ll love the sound of this one. Please remember to share far and wide, if possible. We’ll do the same for you when it’s your turn. 🙂 Thanks!

REVIEW:

Jacqui Murray
5.0 out of 5 stars Ghosts, violent death, and one girl’s efforts to make things right
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2019

In Roberta Cheadle’s YA paranormal thriller, Through the Nethergate, Margaret moves into the Inn owned by her grandfather after the untimely death of her parents. There, she quickly finds that she has the ability to communicate with the ghosts that are rumored to inhabit the old building. They are a varied group, all of whom met violent unjust deaths that left them…

“…trapped in the Overworld between the White Light of eternal salvation and the Nethergate of eternal damnation.””

They are kept in this eternal existence against their will and beg Margaret to help them. Reluctantly, Margaret agrees which starts her war with the ethereal red-eyed vicious dog who doesn’t want to release his slaves.

As the story unfolds, Cheadle shares the well-researched stories of how each of these ghosts died, putting us into a time when life was not precious, where people starved or froze and no one care. I was horrified, engaged, and ultimately rooting for Margaret’s success, despite the high toll it took on herself and her grandfather.  Recommended for readers of YA who enjoy the macabre and heroines who fight injustice.

BLURB:

Margaret, a girl born with second sight, has the unique ability to bring ghosts trapped between Heaven and Hell back to life. When her parents die suddenly, she goes to live with her beloved grandfather, but the cellar of her grandfather’s ancient inn is haunted by an evil spirit of its own. In the town of Bungay, a black dog wanders the streets, enslaving the ghosts of those who have died unnatural deaths. When Margaret arrives, these phantoms congregate at the inn, hoping she can free them from the clutches of Hugh Bigod, the 12th century ghost who has drawn them away from Heaven’s White Light in his canine guise. With the help of her grandfather and the spirits she has befriended, Margaret sets out to defeat Hugh Bigod, only to discover he wants to use her for his own ends – to take over Hell itself.

Buy Through the Nethergate HERE


Author Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Robbie, short for Roberta, is an author with six published children’s picture books in the Sir Chocolate books series for children aged 2 to 9 years old (co-authored with her son, Michael Cheadle), one published middle grade book in the Silly Willy series and one published preteen/young adult fictionalised biography about her mother’s life as a young girl growing up in an English town in Suffolk during World War II called While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with her mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton). All of Robbie’s children’s book are written under Robbie Cheadle and are published by TSL Publications. 

Robbie has recently branched into adult horror and supernatural writing and, in order to clearly differential her children’s books from her adult writing, these will be published under Roberta Eaton Cheadle. Robbie has two short stories in the horror/supernatural genre included in Dark Visions, a collection of 34 short stories by 27 different authors and edited by award winning author, Dan Alatorre. These short stories are published under Robbie Cheadle.

Robbie has also recently published a poetry collection, Open a new door, together with fellow South African poet, Kim Blades.

Follow Roberta Eaton Cheadle

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Additional Purchase links

Lulu.com
TSL Publications

#ShareAReviewDay Tuesday – Life’s Rich Tapestry: Woven in Words by Sally Cronin

/ Marcia Meara / 62 Comments

Today, it is my pleasure to welcome someone we all know and love, the very generous and talented Sally Cronin. Sally is sharing a super review of her newest book, Life’s Rich Tapestry: Woven in Words.  I know you’ll enjoy this one and will share it far and wide. Take it away, Sally!

~~~

Thank you so much for this opportunity, Marcia and much appreciated.

REVIEW:

DGKaye  5.0 out of 5 stars A smorgasbord of words and inspiration

Sally Cronin certainly is a master at weaving with words. No matter how many or few, her words will paint a complete story and leave us with a satisfactory optimism or a tug at our heartstrings.

In this author’s newest release of tales to inspire, we’ll find a smorgasbord of forms of writing from various forms of poetry – Haiku, Etherees and Cinquain poetry to condensed micro fiction, where stories are wrapped up complete despite a minimal word count, to short stories on speculative fiction. A wonderful mixed bag of tales covering topics such as: random thoughts, seasons, aging, nature, holidays, fairies, romance, pets, to the human condition and life lessons.

My favorite Flash Fiction story – The Witch’s Handbook Spell #356 – Removal of Inhibitions for ‘The Devilish Mojito’, and her heartwarming short stories like The Ugly Mutt that will keep you engaged as evil doers try to do harm, kept me cheering for Brian. One story in particular had me glued from beginning to end – Great Aunt Georgina. This story begins with a little girl and her family visiting her Grandma. The little girl looked forward to those visits where Grandma would pull out the old photo albums and introduce her to family of the past era. In later years, after Gran is gone the girl now in her twenties learns a never told family secret, discovered by looking through old letters sent to her Gran Elizabeth by her sister Georgina. From the letters we learn about betrayal, grief, karma, and reckoning (no spoilers), and ultimately, forgiveness.

The last half of the book is focused on these short stories. Among them, I also enjoyed the story about Onions that ended a marriage, a magical tale – A Moment of Alignment – about love, loss and a chance to meet up with a lost loved one when the sun and the moon align, and The Enhancement Project- a sci-fi short where Cronin manages to zing in her ‘known for’ sentimental ending.

Sally Cronin has the knack for bringing in emotions to her stories no matter the genre. She wraps up the book beautifully with a fashionable tribute to ‘The Duchess’, a tribute to Cronin’s mother.

A wonderful book with something to satisfy all genre readers. I highly recommend.

BLURB:

Life’s Rich Tapestry is a collection of verse, micro fiction and short stories that explore many aspects of our human nature and the wonders of the natural world. Reflections on our earliest beginnings and what is yet to come, with characters as diverse as a French speaking elephant and a cyborg warrior.

Finding the right number of syllables for a Haiku, Tanka, Etheree or Cinquain focuses the mind; as does 99 word micro fiction, bringing a different level of intensity to storytelling. You will find stories about the past, the present and the future told in 17 syllables to 2,000 words, all celebrating life.

This book is also recognition of the value to a writer, of being part of a generous and inspiring blogging community, where writing challenges encourage us to explore new styles and genres.

Buy Life’s Rich Tapestry HERE:
Amazon UK
 Amazon US


Author Sally Cronin

I have been a storyteller most of my life (my mother called them fibs!). Poetry, song lyrics and short stories were left behind when work and life intruded, but that all changed in 1996.

My first book Size Matters was a health and weight loss book based on my own experiences of losing 70kilo. I have written another twelve books since then on health and also fiction including three collections of short stories. My latest collection is Life’s Rich Tapestry : Woven in Words.. verse, micro fiction and short stories.

I am an indie author and proud to be one. My greatest pleasure comes from those readers who enjoy my take on health, characters and twisted endings… and of course come back for more.

As a writer I know how important it is to have help in marketing books.. as important as my own promotion is, I believe it is important to support others. I offer a number of FREE promotional opportunities on my blog and linked to my social media. If you are an author who would like to be promoted to a new audience of dedicated readers, please contact me via my blog. All it will cost you is a few minutes of your time. Look forward to hearing from you.

You can connect to me on the following sites.

Amazon US 
Amazon UK
Blog
Twitter 
Facebook 
LinkedIn 
Pinterest 

Cover Reveal for Grinders by C. S. Boyack

/ Marcia Meara / 58 Comments

I’m happy to welcome C. S. Boyack here today with a cover reveal of his newest work, Grinders. Craig has some interesting info to share on the book, as well. This intriguing set up will surely inspire you guys to share this post far and wide! Thanks! Now, take it away, Craig!

~~~

I’m here to reveal my newest cover and talk a bit about Grinders. This time, I’m tackling a cyberpunk world. It’s one of those worlds where the Internet and being connected too much controls our lives.

One of the things I like about science fiction is the ability to project current events into the future. I call this, “Poking things with a stick.”

I poked a lot of things in this book, but most of them are in passing. Some of them show up in advertisements, which are invasive in this world. Others might just be a news blurb. There are times when I dive a bit deeper, and not everything is negative. Here is a small list of things that show up in the story:

  • Global warming
  • Plastic pollution
  • Helicopter moms
  • Cyber shut-ins
  • The energy crisis
  • New ways for package thieves to operate
  • Police who can’t carry guns until they are five-year veterans
  • Homeowner associations

There are a lot more, and most of them are pretty subtle. Cyberpunk is not known for deep plots, but I wanted one anyway.

Grinders is set about a hundred years in the future, in San Francisco. The main characters are cops assigned to the Grinder Squad. This is the duty nobody wants, and you almost have to screw up to get this assignment.

Grinders exist today, but I ramped them up for this story. These are people who surgically modify themselves, or each other, in basement surgeries, beauty salons, and tattoo parlors. Real world examples are those who implant chips under their skin to allow themselves to unlock doors or start cars without a key. There has even been one who injected dye into his eyeballs in an attempt to see in the dark. In that example, it actually worked but the results were temporary.

My story involves the downside of these modifications, why they’re illegal, and most of them are a bit more extreme than the real world versions. For example, you’ll meet Brandi, who has moth-like antennae implanted into her forehead. They aren’t just cute, they allow her to taste virtually everything. She’s almost like a bloodhound, only using the sense of taste.

Grinder Squad rarely ever does anything, but the new girl on the squad, Jimi, wants to bust a grind shop in the worst way. She feels like it could be her ticket off this crap detail and on to better duty.

One of my silly goals was to release the book in time for Chinese New Year. I’m not going to make it. I still need to finish my final pass, send it to the formatter, and get my promotional posters. It’s going to need a blurb, too.

I targeted this date because in the story, it’s the Year of the Rat. An important part of the story takes place at San Francisco’s annual parade. There are even a couple of rats in the story that play a pivotal role. Aside from that, I was born in the Year of the Rat.

Readers won’t actually care about my silly target date, and it’s more important to give everything the final polish. What I did get in time was cover art. So Gong Hei Fot Choi, everyone, and enjoy the cover. The story will be available before you know it, and I’ll announce that on my blog.

 

You Can Reach C. S. Boyack at the Links Below

 

#FirstLineFriday Submissions Are Now Closed! Here’s the Answer to Our Quiz

/ Marcia Meara / 21 Comments

 

Sorry I’m late closing submissions—not that there were any—but I had an appointment and just got home. Sad to say, we had no winners this week, but as you all know by now, that’s not the main reason I love this quiz. I just enjoy reading these excellent opening lines and thinking about how to do a better job with my own.

Hope you enjoyed this very interesting line this week, even if it was totally unfamiliar to you. But now, it’s time to find out the answer.

 “Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.” is the intriguing opening line of Anne Tyler’s 2001 novel, Back When We Were Grown Ups, written in memory of her husband, who died in 1997.

The book was made into a movie in 2004, starring Blythe Danner, Faye Dunaway, Peter Fonda, and Jack Palance.

Here’s what Amazon has to say about the book:

“Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered that she had turned into the wrong person.” So Anne Tyler opens this irresistible new novel.

The woman is Rebecca Davitch, a fifty-three-year-old grandmother. Is she an impostor in her own life? she asks herself. Is it indeed her own life? Or is it someone else’s?

On the surface, Beck, as she is known to the Davitch clan, is outgoing, joyous, a natural celebrator. Giving parties is, after all, her vocation—something she slipped into even before finishing college, when Joe Davitch spotted her at an engagement party in his family’s crumbling nineteenth-century Baltimore row house, where giving parties was the family business. What caught his fancy was that she seemed to be having such a wonderful time. Soon this large-spirited older man, a divorcé with three little girls, swept her into his orbit, and before she knew it she was embracing his extended family plus a child of their own, and hosting endless parties in the ornate, high-ceilinged rooms of The Open Arms.

Now, some thirty years later, after presiding over a disastrous family picnic, Rebecca is caught un-awares by the question of who she really is. How she answers it—how she tries to recover her girlhood self, that dignified grownup she had once been—is the story told in this beguiling, funny, and deeply moving novel.

As always with Anne Tyler’s novels, once we enter her world it is hard to leave. But in Back When We Were Grownups she so sharpens our perceptions and awakens so many untapped feelings that we come away not only refreshed and delighted, but also infinitely wiser.

You can buy Back When We Were Grown Ups HERE

Thanks for playing this week, everybody, and next week, I’ll try to choose an easier first line. See you then!

#News #AlertTheMedia #FirstLineFriday Quiz is Now Open Longer!

/ Marcia Meara / Leave a comment

This just in from management (me): I’ve been thinking about extending #FirstLineFriday’s deadline for submissions, and today’s post is tricky enough that I think I’ll go ahead and do so. From this point on, the quiz will run until 4:00pm EST or until I receive five correct answers. That way, some of you who aren’t able to check it out until a bit later will have more of a chance to play, unless I’ve already gotten all five winners. (That doesn’t happen often.) 

SO, today’s quiz will not close until 4:00pm or those answers all come rolling in. Have fun!! 

#FirstLineFriday #GiveawayContest #FreeDownloads

/ Marcia Meara / 19 Comments

I love Fridays, because–#FirstLine Quiz! To me, this is about so much more than just a chance to win a free download. And I hope you all enjoy it for those extra goodies, like a chance to study some of the greatest opening lines in the history of books! Taking a look at some of them is, I believe, a good way to learn what really works for readers, and thus, might help us write better ones, ourselves.

As always, the rules are simple:

  1. Be one of the first five people to email me before the game ends at noon, with the title and authorof the correct book. 
  2. Do not reply here on the blog.Email only: marciameara16@gmail.com
  3. Honor System applies. No Googling, please.
  4. Submissions end at noon, or when I receive 5 correct answers, whichever comes first.
  5. Winners who live in the U.S.may request a free download of any one of my books for themselves, or for someone of their choice. OR, if they’ve read all of the offered books, they may request a free download of my next publication.
  6. Winners who live elsewheremay request a PDF file of the same books, since, sadly, Amazon won’t let me gift you from the site.

And now, without further ado, here’s this week’s clever opening line:

“Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.” 

Remember, email answers only, please. Thanks! And now off I go to await your guesses. 

Guest Posting Over at Harmony Kent Online Today!

/ Marcia Meara / 4 Comments

Just a heads up that I’m a guest on Harmony Kent’s lovely blog today, sharing an excerpt from The Light that’s not been seen anywhere else online. It features Rabbit explaining what he thinks the Brown Mountain Lights are all about, and I hope you’ll check it out. It would be lovely if you could find a minute to share a few places–like everywhere you can think of! 😀 I only visited with four (SUPER!) blogs for my mini-tour, so any and all help in spreading the word would be gratefully accepted. Thanks a million!

The Light by @MarciaMeara

#ShareAReviewDay Tuesday – Order No. 227: From Stalin With Love by Marina Osipova

/ Marcia Meara / 11 Comments

This afternoon, I’d like to welcome back Marina Osipova who is sharing a great review of her book, Order No. 227: From Stalin with Love.  I know you’re going to be intrigued by this one, and I hope you’ll share for and wide. Thanks! 

REVIEW:
pamarella
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow!! I’m speechless.
September 17, 2019
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

How do I write a review?? It is only a tiny book. Well worth reading to gain knowledge and some understanding of Russian ways. It’s a time and place so different than where we live and our way of life. These men having no choice, no
freedoms. Yet the fought with all they had. This group who were in the penal program highly respected the officer over them, the author’s grandfather and they had integrity and were very brave and courageous! A sad story, a true story, yet it gives a feeling of pride to me, for these men and for Marina’s grandfather. He thought himself a coward but in reality he was a kind, caring man, a natural leader, who put others before himself. He was willing to go fight with these men, but wasn’t allowed to.
The sweet woman who shared her home is also remarkable for the times. She cared for the human being not the title and not the country they came from. They were boys who shouldn’t be fighting in her mind. She gave her life to protect and help others unafraid of the consequences she’d face. There is no greater love than laying your life down for another.
A painful, horrible time in history.
Truth being told is always a powerful thing.

BLURB:

Preserving humanness in the face of horror and mind destruction.

Buy Order No. 227: From Stalin with Love HERE


Author Marina Osipova

Marina Osipova was born in East Germany into a military family and grew up in Russia where she graduated from the Moscow State Institute of History and Archives. She also has a diploma as a German language translator from the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Languages. In Russia, she worked first in a scientific-technical institute as a translator then in a Government Ministry in the office of international relations, later for some Austrian firms. For seventeen years, she lived in the United States where she worked in a law firm. Eventually, she found her home in Austria. She is an award-winning author and a member of the Historical Novel Society.

Find Marina on Social Media Here:
GOODREADS
FACEBOOK
Amazon Author Page
CONTACT info:   marosikok@yahoo.com