Sandra Cox's Blog, page 187

A Parody

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Leviathan(A Parody)A Tale of Good Versus Evilby M.Cox
The day was young and brightAs I rode forth on my faithful white steed,Along the Broad east-west roadSeeking to learn the news of the realm. It was then I received an urgent messageWhich turned the day to perilous nightAnd my strong heart to frozen stone.Verily, I turned my gallant stead aboutAnd, with great haste returned to my keep.
There I found my Lady quivering with fear:“A great evil is upon us,” she cried.“It shatter the peace and threatensTo rain destruction upon us!” She beckoned me to the rear of our fortressWhere I spied at last the evil that had brought Her to such despair.
Once more the master of the darkness hadTurned his countenance upon us in the Form of a great black serpent.  Thus he intended to invade Our hearth and turn our lives to mayhem.  He, as yet, had not Made his full presence known to us as he layHalf hidden in a secure place unapproachable By any form of defensive maneuver on my part.
I returned to my chambers to plot what strategies I may employ to bring the great beast to confrontationWhen my thoughts were shattered by my Lady’s cries,“He arises, he arises,” cried she.  Thus, I hurried backTo find the cruel serpent fully out and intent upon the attack.In haste I armed myself with a great and noble sword procuredFor me by my Lady.  I then donned sturdy gauntlets and, thus armed,I strode forth intent on defeating this horror and surrender my lifeIf such was the cost of defending my lady and my keep.
I spied the great black beast before me attempting to gain entrance While keeping himself free from my assault.  Yet he was not fully positionedAnd a full third of him was still exposed.  Thus I grasped him in my willing hands,And so the great struggle began.  Pull as I might, at first he held fast, But soon my strength of will overcame his power to resist me.I pulled him forth, and mighty was the struggle as he twistedAnd strained against my force.  His hideous jaws sprang open, And had I not anticipated his maneuver, might have found a homeIn my flesh, yet did I forthwith position one fist behind his mighty jawsAnd thus I subdued him to my will.  “Slay him not kind Sir” Cried my tender-hearted lady, “for he is but a servant of the dark lordAnd cannot, himself, be held fully accountable.  Rather take him fromOur presence and cast him out in the wilds where he may trouble us no more.”
I bowed to my Lady’s wishes and secured a tight hold on my squirmingFoe and carried him forth from our lands.  His great anger turned toSubmission as he release a foul stench upon me.  Yet, steadfastly did I remove him far from our lands to a great wilderness where I drew uponAll my strength to hurl him far from my sight and into the unknown.I returned to my keep to a great celebration and kindly didMy Lady praise my deeds and courage.  Later, I resolved that On the morrow I would travel forth to the Kingdom of Lowes.There I may procure a warding talisman and make safe myLands and keep.  Thus ended yet one more battle On the field of good and evil..  ~*~
 Yes, I found a snake on the awning of the house and totally freaked.




 

IWSG Wednesday

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Groupday. Members post about their  doubts and fears, discuss struggles and triumphs, and offer words of encouragement to others who are struggling. This month starts the IWSG question. Here's July's:What's the best thing someone has ever said about your writing?Review of SILVERHILLS 'I love this book. I never read books this long but I couldn't put it down. I hope someone makes a great movie out of this.' Anonymous, Barnes and NobleBest compliment ever:) This is another short post, but I got nothin'. 

I loved this book. I never read books this long but I couldn't put it down. I hope someone makes a great movie out of this.


I loved this book. I never read books this long but I couldn't put it down. I hope someone makes a great movie out of this.
I loved this book. I never read books this long but I couldn't put it down. I hope someone makes a great movie out of this.

Cardinal Babies. Chickens?

Cardinal Babies Daddy keeping an eye out
One of the neighbor's chickensAnd....I think there's mockingbird babies on the other side of the fence the way I was getting yelled at yesterday.

July Fourth

~*~ So we went to see the fireworks Saturday night as we do every fourth of July weekend.   We park about three minutes from our house and afterwards zip home.  This year the city, in its infinite wisdom, decided to block off the roads and herd the cars in a specific direction.  Who'd have thought a town with a population of less than twenty-six thousand could be so congested.  It took us nearly half an hour to get home. You could see headlights for miles.  Bah Humbug.



We saw Tarzan yesterday.  The HH loved it.  I was a bit more ambivalent.  It was good but didn't quite meet my expectations.   I did thoroughly enjoy Samuel Jackson's character. He  did a great job:)

It's Friday and the First of July

The Lost Colony of the Bird World. Beauty and The Beast. And More.

I haven't seen the bluebirds in days so I had the HH check the nest.  It's empty. Either they managed  solo flights while I wasn't looking or it's the lost colony of the bird world.

Heads up on Independence Day Resurgence. This may not be one that you like but  I loved it.  All kinds of action.  I went into it with no expectations and, as often happens, really enjoyed it.

After watching Resurgence, we rented The Finest Hours. The HH thought it was slow in parts, but I enjoyed it. And the fact that it's a true story added to my appreciation.
I'm a Chris Pine fan. I think he's a great actor, whether as cocky Captain Kirk or in this case a humble hero.


This is another movie I can't wait to see.




Good-bye, June.

Wacky Wednesday

How many of us are seeing the same word first?  I saw wealth.

You.I.Us.

With us today is our very own Annalisa Crawford.  I was allowed to ask her one question and this was it: What have you found to be your most successful means of marketing?Ah, now… this is where I fall down, Sandra. Sorry to disappoint you, if you were expecting some good ideas. Marketing is hard, and I still don’t know how to do it properly.
My most successful marketing so far has been coming third in the Costa Short Story Award at the beginning of the year. Because of that, I was featured on my local TV news programme, a couple of local radio stations, my town’s magazine, and I was contacted by a book fair organizer and have two fairs lined up.
Now, I’m not claiming that had anything to do with me—all competition wins are a matter of luck—but if I hadn’t entered, I wouldn’t have even had the chance.
I’m trying my best to build on that level of notice in my local area, and I hope it’ll give me the confidence to go further afield.
My advice to people is just get out there, and talk about yourself. Most of the people I know have only just realised I’m a writer, and I’m on my fourth book! In retrospect, that’s not good. My other tip is to say ‘yes’ to offers, and be open to people who want to help you.~*~
You. I. Us. is a collection of vignettes, small scenes which hint at the story beneath.
Annalisa has taken that idea to another level, because she asked 15 bloggers to ask her one question each, creating small insights into her life and writing.
You. I. Us.Publication date: June 10, 2016
Genre: Short Stories (Single Author)
Amazon // Barnes & Noble // Book Depository // Kobo // iBooks // Nook
In You. I. Us., Annalisa Crawford captures everyday people during  poignant defining moments in their lives: An artist puts his heart into his latest sketch, an elderly couple endures scrutiny by a fellow diner, an ex-student attempts to make amends with a girl she bullied at school, a teenager holds vigil at his friend’s hospital bedside, long distance lovers promise complete devotion, a broken-hearted widow stares into the sea from the edge of a cliff where her husband died, a grieving son contacts the only person he can rely on in a moment of crisis, a group of middle-aged friends inspire each other to live remarkable lives.
Day after day, we make the same choices. But after reading You. I. Us., you’ll ask yourself, “What if we didn’t?”
About the authorAnnalisa Crawford lives in Cornwall UK, with a good supply of moorland and beaches to keep her inspired. She lives with her husband, two sons, a dog and a cat. Annalisa writes dark contemporary, character-driven stories. She has been winning competitions and publishing short stories in small press journals for many years, and is the author of Cat & The Dreamer and Our Beautiful Child.www.annalisacrawford.com
 Annalisa's TV interview

Empty Nesters

The babies have spread their wings and flown...at least a short distance:)
Baby robins:

Baby wren:
And a bird of a different feather.  I won this at MagicLoveCrow, my very own Vampire Crow.
Thanks, Stacy. Love it!

It's The Weekend