Welcome back to my monthly curated author/blogger tips to keep writers informed. In this edition, Deborah Jay has a warning for us about Facebook, Jacqui Murray shares a Tech Tip – how to ‘undelete’, Anne R. Allen discusses Head-Hopping, and Hugh Roberts with more Blogging Tips.
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Deborah Jay shares a Facebook warning
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Jacquie Murray shares a Tech Tip with us to ‘Undelete’
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Anne R. Allen on How to Avoid Head-Hopping for Writers
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Hugh Roberts on Engagement with Bloggers
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©DGKaye2024
Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m reviewing Jacquie Biggar’s (book 1 in the Defiant Sisters) – Letting Go. A story about family loss and two sisters who share different opinions about handling what they’ve experienced.
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Blurb:
A coming-of-age novel about the pain of misconceptions and learning from them.
When life gives you lemons…
Izzy
Mom is barely in the grave and the prodigal child is here to pick the bones clean.
I don’t want her here. My sister’s defection is a wound that won’t heal, and her return simply rubs at the scabs covering my heart.
I’ve managed just fine without her. She can go back to her fancy college and forget about us- that’s what she does best anyway.
If only I didn’t need her help. Or miss her so much.
Renee
The day my dad committed suicide I ran. I’ve been running ever since.
Going home is supposed to be the answer. Instead, it makes me question every thoughtless decision I’ve made.
My sister hates me. My little brother barely knows me. And Simon… is engaged.
None of it matters- or so I tell myself. I’m here to make amends and face a past haunted by regret.
As long as I can convince myself to stay.
Letting Go is a new adult romance dealing with tragedy, restitution, and love in all its aspects. The story relates to sensitive topics that may be triggering for some readers.
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My 5 Star Review:
Grief, hurt, and family. Everyone is affected differently by death. And when the father of this family took his own life, daughter Renee flees the home after witnessing it, leaving behind her sister Izzy and younger brother Ben and their mother. But after the mother dies from cancer, (where the book begins), Renee returns to the unwelcoming arms of her sister Izzy who was left to take care of her brother Ben twelve years of age, and their mother. Renee had fled, and Izzy carried the load. We’ll also learn of Renee’s heart throb Simon, now a paramedic Renee left behind too – unsettled love.
Renee returns for her mother’s funeral and upon her return is faced with confronting all those she left behind, still carrying the torch for Simon too. But Simon is now engaged to Lacey and when Renee comes back to town there is a small accident that happens between Simon’s grandmother and Renee – bringing the two ill-fated lovers back into each other’s orbit – and those unsettled feelings between them bubble up.
It’s evident the two lovers still had feelings for each other, and in this story, the tension between the two is electrifying. Izzy holds a lot of resentment toward her sister Renee for abandoning her in their dire family time. But Renee begins to see the damage she has caused in abandoning her now small family and decides it’s time to move herself and her physiotherapy practice back to her home town to help her sister and raise her brother Benjamin. But Izzy can’t let go of the hurt, and we’ll have to read book 2 to find out how this plays out, and what will become of Simon and Renee.
The story is written from the POVs of Izzy, Renee, and Simon in first person. Each character takes us into their own thoughts, wounds, and aspirations. This book is written as a new age adult genre, which explores many growing up adult situations that the younger gen are faced with – feelings, life decisions, romance, hurt, grief, and love.
©DGKaye2024
Welcome back to the aftermath post of my recent birthday party. It was fun and fabulous and I was in awe at just how far my friend Dorothy went to arrange the beautiful party. From the invites, to her keeping tabs on who is coming and who’s not, setting up the party table and area, full-on decorations, music, food, drink, and good friends. What more could one ask for?
How it began. It began Friday with me at my Body Balance class, gabbing with some of my buddies before class began. Dorothy was off work that day, but she surprised me by coming to gym with her mom and busting in on my class, shouting Happy Birthday, as she pinned the Birthday girl ribbon on me and warned me to be wearing to the party too, lol. I may have been a touched embarrassed as there was a class of twenty-five cheering me from behind the camera. 🙂
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The Party
My friend Mahvash was supposed to pick me up and drive us to the party, except her car was in for service. Yet again. No worries, my friend Ely lives right near us both and picked us both up. When I arrived, most of the women were already there, thanks to the construction everywhere, a five minute drive took almost a half an hour. There were gift bags on a side table, shouts of Happy Birthday from my friends (and my beautiful niece who attended), and a long dining table filled with balloons, a table runner and crayons for writing messages of good cheer on, my own birthday chair, and of course some colorful beverages.
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There were fourteen of us. A wonderful diverse crowd of women of all ages and ethnicity from ages eighteen to seventy-eight! And I am thrilled to have these beautiful women as friends. There was lotsssssssss of gabbing and laughter. I was especially thrilled that my niece and Ely connected instantly and declared themselves ‘besties’ by the end of the night!
My Stephanie (in the leopard) and my galpal Ely.
Most of the women knew each other from the gym, but some were newly introduced to each other as some of them are gym goers, but don’t participate in classes. My bestie Banan was there too, and sadly, my good friend Alyson didn’t make it that night due to health reasons.
My bestie Banan (Anna) with me and my good friend Mahvash.
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The Dancing
It was hilarious. Suddenly, the DJ played Pitbull’s Fireball, and my instincts had me up on the floor because that is one of the songs we dance to in Zumba. Nina’s Zumba class, and Nina, not only being my instructor has become a friend of mine, so naturally she was at the party, and naturally, she jumped up to dance with me. Lol, we were cracking up while dancing, and Dorothy joined in to the next Zumba song. Naturally, Nina took the lead.
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It was difficult trying to get everyone in photos so I took many in smaller groups. And many took photos and videos.
Nina, me, Zahra and Sharon
Dorothy’s mom Darlene, her daughter Kaitlyn, and my friend Yolande
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Partial group shot
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And of course, the arrival of the cake. And please disregard the huge TV ad for Viagra. Lol.
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When all was said, eaten, danced, and done, it was a fabulous night. All these women now play a big part in my life, and I am so blessed to have them in my tribe.
©DGKaye2024
My Sunday Book Review is for another book I read by John Dolan – The Otford English Dictionary. I enjoy Dolan’s books, as many are written in a dark satire style, and this one is certainly no different. This book is definitely humorous satire, but don’t expect a story (other than the intro), because this is Dolan’s cynical version of the dictionary using a play on word with the title.
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Blurb:
Not to be confused with The Oxford English Dictionary, this is a reference book for the incurably cynical. Containing hundreds of definitions of a corny or inappropriate nature, it is the ideal gift for that person who hankers after the Good Old Days before political correctness, and who thinks a damn good hiding is still the best cure for anxiety.
If you are easily offended, you should probably buy a proper dictionary; though that won’t make you feel any less depressed about the modern world. But, let’s be honest, what could?
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My 5 Star Review:
This book may not be for everyone. But if you enjoy Dolan’s books, acerbic wit, and a satirical play on words, you will chuckle your way through this ‘revised’ version of what we know from an authentic dictionary. Like his blurb suggests, you will not find anything politically correct in this book, but that is the point. But if you enjoy cynical humor and you have a good sense of humor, you will enjoy this book. As Dolan states in his intro – “If you’re looking for a learned work to assist with your wordsmithing, this is not it. If, on the other hand, you like an unseemly chuckle to relieve an otherwise tedious day, then this might be your thing.”
The author also suggests that this book need not be read in any particular order. He refers to the book as “rather like a rancid fondue – is there to be dipped into when you’re really desperate.” Written in British-English spellings, as the author states, in hopes of encouraging his American cousins to get a proper education. Lol. Dolan also adds that his purpose for this book was to amuse, not to offend, and adds that if you do get offended, consider it a bonus. Take this with a grain of salt as there is plenty in the book that may offend, but if you’re a fan of Dolan’s writing and understand his style, there are so many words to chuckle at. And many of the listed words are given new meaning by literal translation.
The definitions in this Otford dictionary are like none other you’d find in your typical dictionary. If you enjoy satire, you are sure to get some laughs from this book.
A few samples to give you a taste of Dolan’s humor:
” Browser: A computer program used to look for information on internet; and which can get you into trouble if you forget to delete your search history.”
“Brothel: A specialized form of hotel where rooms are typically paid for by the hour and include personalized bed-warmers and complimentary STIs.”
“Calligrapher: An individual skilled in the now-redundant art of beautiful writing. See also ‘Dodo’.”
“Canada: Country in North America much favoured by US Army deserters and lovers of frostbite.”
“Christmas: The time of year when the poor are forgotten and weathy toy-and-computer-game manufacturers have huge amounts of money thrown at them to spend on yachts, private planesand prostitutes.”
“Currency: The money of a particular country, of which there is never enough – hence the invention of poverty.”
And one of my favs: “Cesspool: Collective term for a group of politicians.”
I hope I’ve given you some great examples here to demonstrate what you can expect from this entertaining book.
©DGKaye2024
Welcome back to my Life Lessons 101 series. Today I want to talk about the importance of creating boundaries where necessary. No matter the type of relationship we may share with another, whether family, friends, or colleagues, it’s important to create boundaries where/when necessary to protect against the ones who may not have our best interests at heart, or perhaps, those around us who constantly suck the life out of us. Boundaries are necessary for good mental health and self-preservation.
Being around negativity can become quite a contagious thing. And as much as we’re all subjected to it at some times in our lives, we must learn how to be assertive and create those boundaries when necessary to avoid getting caught up in a tailspin of other people’s dramatics, gossip, or plain, sucking out of our energies. I speak with great experience on the subject.
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Dodging the Clouds
Negativity is like a huge umbrella that has the power to swoop us in unwittingly. As I’ve written about in other articles, energy is a real thing and plays a big part in the vibes we give off to others. We all give off our vibes and energies into the atmosphere, and if we’re in close proximity to someone negative, we can feel the draining vibe it leaves with us. These vibes can come off from a complete stranger as well as from the people we know. Negativity comes in all varieties. Negativity could even come from a constant naysayer in our circles, or from an acquaintance, friend, or family. There are several terms for these types of people who leave us feeling ill at ease when around them. But the bottom line is that they suck our energies and make us feel quite uncomfortable when around them.
We can avoid these people easily if they are not in our usual circles. We can just remove ourselves from their presence. But other times, like when it comes to family, or even some friends, or maybe a colleague, it can be difficult to navigate around these people and their frequent storms. If these people are constantly bringing us down with their moods, demands, or temperaments, it may be time to re-evaluate the relationship we have with them and decide how much we’re willing to put up with from these people and set some boundaries.
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If someone is always angry, accusing, conniving, inconsiderate, or downright rude, we must take a look at our own self and evaluate whether or not we are going to continue to tolerate the mental abuse, and make a change. Either way, it isn’t easy, but often when it becomes a decision about keeping our own sanity, cords must be severed for self-preservation. I have much experience with this procedure of creating boundaries in my own life. And in all situations, they sadly, involved family.
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Knowing Limitations and Creating Boundaries
When my own family became too much for me to endure, I was faced with making such decisions. For much of my life, my mother was the antagonist in my life. But because she was ‘a mother’, I always respected her, took her rantings daily, and I never raised my voice to her. It took all the discipline in the world not to tell her what I really thought, but I didn’t want to hurt her. It didn’t matter that she hurt me so very much through life, I am not a tit for tat person. But through the years – and decades, the proverbial last straw finally hit the camel’s back one day where fifty years of taking her garbage came to a head. The last dagger had finally hit me, and courage was summoned. I’d taken enough abuse. When I received her last harmful barrage of word bullets, the separation was immediate and forever. And there was no going back because there was nowhere to go to but back on the hamster wheel.
Yes. It took me fifty years until I summoned the courage to stand up to her toxic words; but I did it. . . please continue reading at Sally’s Smorgasbord.
Source: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Life Lessons 101 – Boundaries by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine
©DGKaye2024
Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m reviewing Marjorie Mallon’s new release – Shh, Purely Poetry: Sensual, Love, and Relationship Poem. Something different from Marje, poetry about love and desires.
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Blurb:
A compilation of sensual, love and relationship poems. Quirky, unusual and evocative.
Shh, Purely Poetry is a collection of poetic pieces about love, sensuality and relationships with sections entitled: love as fuel, (food and coffee love,) the summer and winter of love, strangers in love, quirky aspects and nature as sensuality.
Inspired in part by daily prompt poems written for the 365poetrypromptchallenge, observations of places, people and my travels.
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My 5 Star Review:
Mallon has created this volume of poems inspired by daily writing prompts and her observations and interpretations of the people and places she’s seen in her travels. She uses various poetic styles to showcase her thoughts in prose and poetry, including free-verse poetry for her longer pieces, which resonate with me most.
The sections are broken down into appropriate categories of poems. Many of the poems in the first section are written with food and drink as subject matter, with underlying tones of sensuality. Some of the poems also touch on holiday themes, love and discovery, love and loss, strangers, forgiveness, war, and nature. Much of the poetry is evoked with intimate and imaginative stirring of sensual images and others being quirky tales – as well as some with explicit sexual connotations. And an interesting spin I found with some of Mallon’s poems, that some were written from the male perspective.
I quite enjoyed this interesting twist on poetry story-telling, something very different than Mallon’s previous poetry. Here is a sampling:
Silhouettes
She is fair and I am dark.
Slight and I am robust.
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We fill out together.
Completing our silhouettes.
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As we explore each other.
Strangers a moment ago.
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Now lost, unable to fade away.
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Because we kissed the deepness
of each other’s shadows and stayed.
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If you enjoy poetry that tantalizes and stimulates, you will no doubts enjoy Mallon’s poetry.
©DGKaye2024
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