Sherrie Miranda's Blog, page 156
January 21, 2016
A Lost Soul Drifting through Life, Being Whatever Her Controller Wanted Her To Be
3.0 out of 5 stars
By Sherrie Miranda
This review is for: Do With Me What You Will (Hardcover)
Although JCO is one of my favorite authors, this book took me, literally, years to finish. As a couple reviewers said, it is the story of Elena Howe coming to an understanding of who she is. But Elena HOWE comes later in the novel. If my memory serves me correctly, Elena is kidnapped by her father and kept like his secret treasure. Years later, she gets away from him, only to have her mother tell her what to do and how to be.
That is how she becomes Mrs. Howe. In the middle of the novel, Elena is nowhere to be seen. How does a novel have pages of writing (and I’m talking about approx. 100 pages) without the protagonists? I must admit I skipped through some of these pages only to find out later that we were getting to know Elena’s future lover, the man who, at the end she leaves her husband for. But does she actually find him? Not according to what I read.
So, I found the book very hard to follow and I set it down several times for that reason. We spent most of our time in Elena’s head and Elena had no idea what she thought or who she was. She was basically a lost soul who, according to a couple reviewers, finally figured out who she was at the end. I am not convinced of that.
January 20, 2016
I had a review in the Sept. issue of InD’tale!
Secrets and Lies in El Salvador: Shelly’s Journey, by Sherrie Miranda
Genre: Historical
In “Secrets and Lies in El Salvador: Shelly’s Journey,” a young woman seeking solace from personal tragedy travels to El Salvador on behalf of a ministry to take photos of its citizenry. Shelly is warmly welcomed by her host family, the Gonzales, soon becoming a part of their close-knit but secret-keeping family. As she takes pictures of each member, they reveal those secrets and draw her deeper into their world, the struggle of the Salvadoran people, and their personal struggles related to generations of secrets that have molded their lives to its current state.
This is a firsthand journey into perilous El Salvador in the early 1980s, when the country is torn by a war between a rich landholder-controlled government and the guerillas that are fighting for the everyday people who are systematically abused, disenfranchised, and often killed. Shelly has a family relationship to a poet who was a national hero, and as she spends time in the country, she evolves to feel a deep bond to its people and anguish for their sufferings. The narrative is emotive and involving, drawing the reader into what Shelly sees and feels. While the reader is spared gratuitous descriptions, there are moments and happenings that a sensitive reader will find disturbing, and the continual assault of horrors is wearying. This story will make readers feel the anguish and righteous anger at the plight of Salvadorans, as it opens readers’ eyes to the situation in El Salvador in the latter part of the 20th Century.
Danielle Hill
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
Cool wind with apology
I love this poem. For me, this is about the prequel novel “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans” that I want to write, that I have started, but have not been working on, except for an occasional note here & there. I wonder if one day I will be taken in by the memory of you, New Orleans, the memory of your scent, your allure, your inability to reconcile with yourself. I hope that day will come soon.
Thank you, Pleasant Street, for this beautiful poem! ;-)
Peace with love & justice,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/P11Ch5chkAc?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent
When the winds shift
next day after a storm
a cool wind (with apology)
I can smell you from over the water
Please take me home
keep my feet on solid ground
There is no guarantee
that the dirt won’t shift
and all this we built might crumble to bits
but I am finding it hard to trust the breeze
flighty and self-centered
You make a fool of me
my dignity lost in the air
debris caught up and flying about
with your smell
the woods and rain that you live in
feeding my thoughts each day
waiting for them to propagate
watching for the moment
when seed becomes brain-child
when the scent of you and the juniper
are impossible to resist
linked to dverse
mountain climbing
This poem sounds like something my husband might write to me IF HE WROTE POEMS.
Thank you, Pleasant Street for sharing this poem! ;-)
Peace,love & mystery to all,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/P11Ch5chkAc?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent
your landscape
is curious
its rugged terrain
the way the ground
shivers when I step lightly
I climb, grabbing hold
of bumps and notches
the hilly places curve ’round
anywhere amiable to
my touch, mine to grasp
deep inside
finding a cave
a warm cavern
neatly lined and mossy
a scent of green tea and pine
and like home I am welcomed
January 19, 2016
Dusk (Tanka)
Love is beautiful at any age. My husband & I have young people wanting to be around us cuz they can feel the love we have for each other. That love is more beautiful than a 19 yr. old model any day of the week!
Peace & unconditional, forever love to all,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/P11Ch5chkAc?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent
Look into my eyes
then slip under my covers
hold me in your arms
Dream with me what days could be
if love was all we needed.
-Clarence Holm
Hee
Patrick Stewart can say anything he wants to me! Even our students loved him when he came to “Imagine Day” at Venice High School! ;-)
Peace, love & talk to me,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too. Go to YouTube to see it. Same title as novel.
Adventures and Musings of an Arch Druidess
Yes
This is a really cool poster. A friend once told me I had a beautiful aura. And I said “You can see my aura?” No, she said she just meant I had a nice aura about me.
Wish I knew what she meant. ;-)
Peace, love & lovely auras,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too. You can watch it on YouTube under the same title as my novel.
Adventures and Musings of an Arch Druidess
Writing – The Easy Way To Lose Weight
Oh, how I wish this were true! I guess he means cuz you will go hungry a lot. Some of us are lucky enough to have other income! (I am very grateful to my supportive husband!) So WE don’t go hungry! ;-)
Peace, love & food for all,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too. You can watch it on YouTube under the same title as the novel! ;-)
One thing is for sure, if you decided to enter the literary world to make your mark and grow rich, you’re deluding yourselves.
And now for the brutal reality!!!
Random Funnies…
I absolutely love that first funny! (The one below this.) I saw it before on FB, but unlike Chris, I am too lazy to copy & paste pics to my PC, then my blog. The other problem is I forget what I am doing in the middle, then I end up doing something else. Then I realize I am still a daydreamer just like when I was 21! ;-)
Thanks, Chris the Reading Ape, for another day of joyous laughter!
Peace, love & laughter is all we need,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too. You can find it on YouTube under the same title as the novel! ;-)
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
Guest Post – Questions you should never ask your husband
I am quite good at NOT asking questions that will hurt my hubby’s feelings. It’s the comments I make in the heat of the moment that I wish I could take back.
My husband mends my broken heart EVERY TIME! Shouldn’t that be enough?!
I believe it should be and I will apologize every time I expect more. Or blame him for things that are not his fault.
He is the best guy in the world FOR ME! ;-)
Peace, love & the sense to choose your battles carefully,
Sherrie
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/P11Ch5chkAc?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
Nope, just avoid this one. There is no tone, inflection, or body language that you can wrap this one in. Simply asking the question is a complete no confidence vote. Standing by with a first aid kit or a fire extinguisher just reinforces the no confidence vote with props for dramatic effect. Smile sweetly and pour praise over him, because the last words he ever hears should not be, “do you know what you’re doing?”
“Does this make me look fat?”
Literally volumes have been written about this question and how to respond to it. There may well be an active 12 step meeting for people recovering from this question. You shouldn’t ask this question for two reasons, first you’re messing with your own mind, and second, his only form of self defense is going to require him to mess with your mind, too…
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