H.M. Holten's Blog, page 2

Winter Scene

Winter Scene

The weather has suddenly turned wintry. Cold and with short snowfalls. That reminded me of another sketch, it would be interesting to work on. It is crude ��� like most sketches. The idea works and that is enough.

Winter Scene Sketch

What fascinates me about digital painting is the many brushes you can use, and the difference you can achieve when working on a rough sketch. The option of zooming in helps to see the details you could easily miss. The hardest part is to match the colours and choose the right brush in the right size for what you want to convey. Of course, the undo button is always welcome and helps adjust every mistake.

The work itself is challenging but also rewarding.

Winter Scene (Repeat)

�� HMH, 2023

Latest Reviews

John Anthony Miller, Honour the Dead

���Honour the dead, rejoice with the living.���

Is somebody going to kill Penelope Jones? Will she succumb to the fear and desperation of feeling haunted by one or more would-be killers?

Penelope���s husband has a checkered present. He is recognised as a war hero.

In the sanatorium on the edge of Lake Como, her psychiatrist Dr Barnes works towards finding her underlying mental trouble. Dr Barnett suffers from PTSD after being wounded at the Somme.

John Anthony Miller sets up his historical thriller as a chess master would set up his board. His characters are realistic and suffering humans, but Penelope is layered and impenetrable, whereas her husband is twisted by the war.

The investigating police detective, Falcone, is intelligent and shows insight, which brings me to a slight mistake that caught my attention.

���Falcone paused, looking up from his notebook. ���What exactly is schizophrenia?��� he struggled to pronounce the word.��� (p. 158).

Any Italian with respect for himself would have no trouble pronouncing schizophrenia. With common words like schizzo (stain) and frenesia (frenzy) he would be able to put two and two together and understand the word, even if the illness were unknown to him. Perhaps one could change the dialogue to fit his ability.

Honour The Dead

Maureen Turner, Purgatory

About Fiends and Friends

Purgatory: A Death Wish Gone Haywire

Such a Pity: Nemesis Comes When You Least Expect it.

Halloween: All Soul���s Eve

Dicker: Dog-Rescue-Dog

Corona: Between Life and Death

The Sprite: Dangerous Nature and or Folklore

The Magpie���s Hoard: A Writer���s Plight, and a Magpie���s

Old Thunder: Big Fish Story

Vera Nuss: A Girl and Her Incongruous Friend

The Storm: Heavenly Phenomenon

The Worst Christmas Ever: The Dangers of Being Fifty, Fat, and Friendly

Sizzling: Philandering Husband

Maureen Truner has created a scintillating collection of short stories that will keep any reader glued to the page. No surprises there, but her plot- and character-shaping is superb ��� and the surprises are abundant when you dive into the text.
Oh yes, there is plenty of opportunity to wonder what one would do if confronted with such extraordinary situations and characters.
Purgatory is a rare treat.

Purgatory

Toya Richardson, Mesmerised: Hybrid Lovers Book 2

Longing for Love for Centuries

Fated lovers have a hard time. That goes for Antoine, who knows that he is waiting. Donna doesn���t, and that makes her vulnerable.

On the surface, this is a simple premise, but Ms Richardson pulls all the stops to show the dangers and difficulties inherent in bringing two souls together.

One thing is a given in Ms Richardson���s books. She knows how to build suspense and drive her readers through the pages at speed. Add to that the paranormal element and some epic battles between good and evil.

Mesmerised

Joy Wood, Secrets and Lies

A Triad of Danger and Deception

Jenna is married to Leo Montgomery and lives with him in the clan���s home, Oak Ridge. She has lost her sparkle but relies on her brother to keep her calm.

Bridget, housekeeper at Oak Ridge for many years, feels entitled to be part of the family.

Lucy, a Jewellery designer, is almost a recluse but has found a few friends in the little town where she lives.

The undisclosed connection between the three women is about to be blown wide open. Add to the mix that the patriarch Avery Montgomery stands out as a man with no sense of remorse, but Bridget also shows that she has learned the family craft.

Joy Wood has constructed a mob-like family that takes no prisoners. Her writing stirs up a cauldron of deceit, crime, and manipulation. The fast-paced thriller opens a vista of privilege and how it can be abused.

Secrets and Lies

Brenda Guiton, Beneath the Poison Tree

Anger, A Passionate Predator

Dawn, wife and mother, serves as a symbol of the harm one unhinged person can inflict. She is the central character in Beneath the Poison Tree.

Around her gather her family, oblivious to her wiles. Her brother-in-law, who relies on her help. Her husband, who works away from home. Her children, who have lost their jobs. Her sister, who fades away, and some female friends, who appear out of the blue. Add to that Jasper the cat.

Ms Guiton uses William Blake’s poem, A Poison Tree, as her inspiration for this harrowing thriller that takes the reader deep into human psychology, red in tooth and claw. Her writing is crisp and to the point. A terrifying study of narcissism turned into psychopathy.

Beneath the Poison Tree

Anne K Wheelan and Liz Cain, Rotten to the Core

The Feelings and Regrets of an Evil Queen

The question one must ask is this: is the evil queen, Raina, indeed evil? Maybe she���s merely trauma-bonded and na��ve. She has inherited a mirror from her grandmother. Will it help her or undo her?

Her mother treats her as a second-class person, evoking Cinderella recollections. Her father loves her in his own way, albeit without making an impact on his wife. 

Enter Damien, who knows just how to play on her naivety. Has he a connection to the vampires that threaten the kingdom?

Still, Raina marries Lucas, the King, just as the fairytale format demands. Of course, that���s just the beginning.

A retelling of Snow White, it works surprisingly well, even with all the vampires thrown in. Rotten to the Core is magical in more than one way.

Rotten to the Core

Cynthia Hamilton, A High Price to Pay

Is Combining Event Planning with PI Work a Good Idea?

Madeleine Dawkins has her work cut out for her, planning a celebrity birthday, but it gets complicated when jewels disappear, and people get murdered.

Rick Yeoman gets out of prison on parole.

That causes Madeleine sleepless nights. He might be out to harm her in revenge, as she helped put him away.

She and her partner, Mike, must hurry to sort out the complicated mess, as the Feds don���t take her fears seriously.

Ms Hamilton knows how to present complicated threats and vicious adversaries in this highspeed mystery. Her writing is impeccable, and her plotting skills second to none. It is an added bonus that her characters are lifelike and believable. An immersive and twisted tale of human shenanigans.

A High Price to Pay

Kathryn Gauci, In the Shadow of the Pyr��n��es

In the Shadow of World War II

Armand, schoolteacher and involved in rescuing Spanish refugees, doesn���t think twice when the stream of escapees from the Nazi terror needs help.

Colette, his wife lives in terror.

Their daughter, Justine, works from Toulouse to help rescue Jews and Escaped soldiers.

In the Shadows of the Pyr��n��es is a full-bodied narrative of a difficult period in France, which was divided between two zones and overrun by Nazis and their victims.

Kathryn Gauci always shows impeccable research in her books, and this is no exception. Told with respect and understanding, she rolls out a wide panorama. Not only the rough nature but also the villagers living in this environment come to life, as do the people who need help. Especially H��l��ne, a beautiful Jewess, springs to mind as a complex person.

A rollercoaster of emotions, danger, and a clandestine love affair, In the Shadows of the Pyr��n��es, ticks all the boxes.

In the Shadow of the Pyr��n��es

�� HMH, 2023

Blue Night

Blue Night

Black, the trees stretch, dazed,

Dreaming of moonlit adventure and sweet breezes

The moon looks down. Serene.

*

No nightbirds sing Siren strains

Silence fills the air with untold wonder

And leaves the night blank

*

Blue mist embraces the sky

Damping emotions, it stills the aching heart

My mind bleeds purple thoughts

Bleeding Heart

��HMH, 2023

Blue Night

Blue Night

To me, the moon is endlessly fascinating, and I���ve taken an excess of moon photos. Looking through them a few days ago, I came across one that was, from a photographic point of view, blurred and unsuccessful. I took it with my phone, late at night. It had potential though, as I liked the colours, and thought it was atmospheric.

The Photo

It was an easy decision to try working on it as a digital painting. To be honest, I���m pleased with the result.

Blue Night (repeat)

�� HMH, 2023

An Absurd World?

Berlin Wall

On the third of October, it was the German reunion day. The day the Berlin Wall fell is still celebrated here. Don���t know if that reunion helped though. There seem to be many crosscurrents between East and West. It doesn���t affect me either way. I���ve no idea why they can���t just be Germans and work together. Otherwise, there was little point in getting back together. Was it a stupid idea to divide the country in the first place? Probably.

Don���t forget, people will fight no matter what. Look at the world today. More unrest every day. More potential wars, apart from the ongoing ones. Will the US get a dictator, or will they descend into a civil war? Will Putin escalate his conquest mania? Nobody knows. Will China or Korea go to war? Is WWIII pending?

Thinking about the world���s history, it isn���t the best time to be alive. The world is aching and creaking at the seams. Maybe it was always like this. More or less. Humans need little reason to go to war, it seems.

Come to think of it, many earn big money on wars. Weapon manufacturers for one. Professional soldiers too. Those that are for hire certainly do. Somebody said that owning anything is theft. Let me think about that. What about countries and their borders? Humans want to move freely and boast about their free will. At the same time, they swear by their countries, unless they need to flee them for some reason.

Food for thought. If you ���own��� a piece of land and put up a fence around it, is that wrong? Maybe it is. When you create borders, set up checkpoints, and use barbed wire you take away people���s freedom You could argue that putting up a fence does the same thing. On a smaller scale.

Paper Money

We aren���t clever enough to invent a money-free world. It seems that sharing doesn���t appeal to that many people. Even siblings have difficulties in that respect. Why is that? Could it have something to do with being separate? We have our bodies and brains and thoughts and ideas. Maybe that���s why we can���t get our heads around sharing. What a thought.

To deal with that, and to make exchange of value simple, we���ve invented money. Pieces of paper with a number on them. Yes, the security measures are high and so is the symbol value. Still, it is just a piece of paper. Sometimes with pretty colours and pictures. Sometimes they���re plain and ugly. Yes, we have coins too, but all of that will be digitalised soon enough. Then we will have apps with numbers on them. I���m rambling. Is this world absurd or what?

War — Inferno

�� HMH, 2023

Little Old Lady

Little Old Lady

She smiles toothlessly sweet

Each day in her favourite seat.

Birdlike bones barely keep her grounded;

Thin and spare, she enjoys life, though bounded

A hat weighs down her age-old tresses.

So, she faces life and her guesses,

Equipped for spinning her yarns and expresses.

*

���My canary was a wit!

Once only, she flew ���gainst the windowpane.

Hit hard by untried design and constraints,

She never repeated that fateful excursion.

She greets every dawn in the safest proportion.���

*

���My guvnor passed, but once we were young;

He was my slip of the tongue,

My purpose, my bung.���

*

The doctor instructed: get out and about

Therefore, she visits her common cahoots,

Telling all strangers to live and let loose.

`

Canary

�� HMH 2023

Autumn Trees

Autumn Trees

This is another digital sketch I haven���t worked on for years. Sometimes you can���t see what is wrong with it, and that was certainly the case this time. It featured a bridge that was out of proportion with the rest of the picture, and I was at my wit���s end to repair it.

Misfoster Bridge

Today, it occurred to me that the simplest solutions are mostly the best. I erased the bloody bridge and concentrated on sorting out the trees and the water. I think it works much better this way. Sketches are my way of learning what can be done and what can���t. Admittedly, the painting app I used was rather unsophisticated. It makes a difference when your tools are working for you instead of against you. I certainly prefer the new version.

Autumn Trees

�� HMH, 2023

Reviews News

*

Jennie Ensor, The Bad Neighbour

Thriller with Elements of Greek Comedy and Tragedy

Bird Woman lives alone. She prefers birds to humans and with good reason.

Ashley lives with her family. They recently moved to Brampton, and she feels insecure about her welcome, especially because of her Muslim husband.

Tara lives next door to Ashley. She moved here some years ago and has established herself as the local do-gooder. She craves attention.

Elsbeth is Tara���s other neighbour. She was a dancer and still has an exercise program. She appears to have some money, but appearances can mislead.

When Covid strikes the inhabitants of this small town face many upheavals. Everybody suffers from isolation claustrophobia. Elsbeth must isolate as she���s over seventy. Ashley has trouble with her family, as they are unused to being together twenty-four hours a day, but there is deeper trouble brewing.

Tara sees an opportunity to become admired and needed.

This heady mix brings some people together, but it also stirs up hatred and envy.

What strikes me about The Bad Neighbour is that we have the satire of early Greek comedy and the ordinary people of the later plays. Also, the unity of action and space that constitutes Greek Tragedy plays a role, although the timeline stretches over more than twenty-four hours. Add to that the catharsis the main characters go through each in their way.

As always, Jennie Ensor wields her pen with wit and decisiveness.

Bad Neighbour

*

Tonya Penrose, Venetian Rhapsody

Romantic Exploration of Venezia, Spain, and Fate

Sophia Martin has spent a year in Venice, working on her dissertation. Her life is planned in detail, and she will soon return to Boston. Then she meets a stranger that awakens strange questions and visions.

Eduardo Diaz comes from a large olive grove in Spain, which he must take over from his father, who is about to retire. Eduardo has been standing in for Milo Greco at the business academy. Seeing Sophia at an outdoor caf�� awakens unwanted feelings.

Ginny is Sophia���s professor and friend. She is married to Milo, Eduardo���s friend.

Venice provides the backdrop for a meet-cute romance that could change Sophia���s and Eduardo���s lives.

Dina, the baker Lucia, and the ���Angel��� Work hard to nudge them in the right direction.

Tonya Penrose knows how to write a romance. She also brings interest to her stories through mysterious elements that point to a deeper significance, a human longing for fulfilment, and our innate vulnerability. Needless to say, her characters are likeable, although, maybe unfounded, fears make them prevaricate and jeopardise their opportunities. Will Sophia and Eduardo come together? I won���t answer that question. To find out ��� you know what to do.

Venetian Rhapsody

*

Robert Fear, Summer of ���77

Beaches, Bars, and Boogie-Nights in Ibiza

With ���Summer of ���77��� Robert Fear recalls a period when charter flights and package holidays were still a novelty. Greenpeace was active, and he gives the reader a small insight into the impact tourism had on the environment.

Also, this was a period when people believed in free sex and had little compunction about booze and drugs. Hippies and beatniks had a field day, and many followed their lead.

Fred (Robert Fear���s nickname) has left a steady job to travel and explore the world. His experiences in different seasonal jobs are varied, but he finds new ways to enjoy life. Charming and good-looking, he has no trouble scoring with the women, and he takes the reader through his experiences with lightness and humour.

The narrative includes letters from friends and family. Reading those made me ponder the fact that letter writers don���t always show great talent for writing. Still, their letters bring variation and depth to the patchwork of stories and memories.

���Summer of ���77��� was an entertaining read, but it also touched on the political situation in Spain after Franco. That rounded off the memoir. All in all, Robert Fear made you think about the choices people make.

Summer of 77

*

Jeanette Taylor Ford, Cold Murder

Best Served Cold, A Chilling Revenge Mystery

Somebody has taken the biblical words to heart: Life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Most importantly, life for life.

The people living at Gladiola Close enjoy a close-knit society.

On the coldest night of the year, one man from their midst gets murdered.

DS Della Downs and DC Ben Curran have their work cut out for them to solve this case.

Ms Ford writes ominously about how long it might take to get retribution, even if it means breaking the law. Her characters jump off the page, and the plot is intricate. Cold Murder makes a huge impression, and I���m certain I���ll return to this author.

Cold Murder

*

Diane M Dickson, Twist of Truth

Is Seeking Revenge a Solution?

Simon has been away for years when he returns to his Yorkshire roots. He doesn���t expect to be welcome.

Gloria, a widow, has inherited the bed and breakfast, she created with her late husband. She feels secure and happy in her small world.

On the surface, everything is straightforward, but it won���t stay that way.

Ms Dickson has other ideas, and, in Twist of Truth, develops them into a nightmare for everybody linked to the twisted past.

Nobody is safe from the past, and this is the theme of the first instalment of the Yorkshire crime mystery series.

Raw and sometimes violent, Twist of Truth provides stark insights into human nature. The characters act as if fate, combined with determination, forces their hands and brings on a psychological nightmare.

Twist of Truth

*

Jan Romes, Meg

Romance and Cake Walks Hand in Hand

Meg has little confidence in men after some dating experiences from hell. Lately, she also fears she might lose her job.

Riley has a coffee shop that serves coffee, sweets, and dating ��� if you���re so inclined. He lost his wife five years ago and thinks his dating life is over.

Can he help Meg to find love? Can she help him to keep his business and expand it?

Jan Romes writes mouth-watering sweets and complicated human encounters with wit and panache.

���If taste buds could talk, they���d be shouting yes.��� (Page 58)

���You���re better than a Long Island Iced Tea.��� ���At least I won���t give ya headache.��� Kristina laughed and realized the error of yukking it up. ���Oww!��� ���Careful. I���m not cleaning up brain matter if your head does decide to detonate.���   ���Funny.��� Kristina massaged her scalp. ���I���m never drinking again.��� (page 99)

I couldn���t help giving a small sample of the delightful banter Meg and her friends engage in. By the way, while quoting, I spotted one sentence fragment that didn���t make sense. It can be found on page 17. I���m certain that the typo imps have been messing about.

���A long wooden bar with tall pub chairs took up one side of the long room, while small round tables with two chairs each took up the rest of the space. The only thing odd or���   

I���m still wondering what that one odd thing might be. At the same time, it is vital to aver that it doesn���t take away from the droll experience of reading Meg���s experiences. The cast of weird and wonderful characters round off Coffee and Desert in Key West.

Meg

*

Richard Schwindt, Men Lying Dead in a Field

Abuse Can Never Be Condoned

In Magnolia Bluff, anything can happen. An unknown man turns up dead in a field and it emerges he is a psychologist.

Reese Sovern needs to consult Dr Michael Kurelek who lectures at the university and analyses his patients on campus.

He is reluctant to help, as his father secretly has returned from sniper duty in the Ukraine.

Everybody lies.

The gallery of characters is fascinating and Schwindt gives deep insights into their flaws as well as their empathy.

Schwindt writes about abuse. Abuse of power in the widest possible manner. The military, the government, man against man, man against woman, psychologist against client. A poignant but also mischievous dive into aspects of humanity, Men Lying Dead in a Field is an immersive and thought-provoking book.

Men Lying Dead in a Field

*

Rebecca Bryn, The Chain Mistress

Aspects of WWII and Aspects of Love

Emma learns the hard way about her family’s past. She also finds a new cousin, who lives in Frankfurt. On top of that, she must become the new chain mistress.

Hanne is young and in love. Ready to marry and not a single worry about the future.

Life will change dramatically for both young women. Depression and war will bring challenges and pain neither could imagine.

In The Chain Mistress, the last part of The Chainmakers Trilogy, Rebecca Bryn takes a deep look into the Jewish situation during that devastating time. Her writing is as always crisp and detailed. Her impeccable research gives insight into the dangers that even visiting Jews faced in Nazi Germany.

Add to this a tortuous love story that will leave you touched and perhaps surprised.

I only have one issue: Mad Dogs and Englishmen, which was first performed in 1931, wasn���t written by the ���outrageous��� Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). Discreet but also flamboyant actor, singer, composer, and playwright Noel Coward penned this, among many other songs.

���She turned on the radio to distract herself. ���Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun������ Oscar Wilde wasn���t wrong there��� (p.129)

The Chain Mistress

*

��HMH, 2023

October Sky

October Sky

On a sunny day

Bright and breezy

Clouds become wisps,

Unable to cloud the sky.

*

Hopeful,

We think it will bring warmth.

*

Not so.

This kind of blue is

Icy

Withering

Chilling us to the bones

*

It makes us dream,

Though spring won���t

Come

For a command

Begging doesn���t help.

*

Wrap up warm,

And

Prepare for winter.

*

Autumn Leaf

��HMH, 2023

Girl with Picture Hat

Girl With Picture Hat (digital painting)

Some weeks ago, I posted a digital painting of a yellow rose. In a comment to it, I mentioned that I could see a girl in the picture. As it appeared that it wasn���t obvious to anybody but me, I decided to work on enhancing her face.

Yes, she turns away from the viewer and only appears in half profile.

Yellow Rose (digital painting)

The pleasure of working with digital art is that your options are infinite. If you see something in an otherwise respectable painting, it is possible to keep both versions and so create several versions without losing the original. It gives scope for endless variations ��� and plenty of challenges.

It seemed a good idea to add the rose picture to this post ��� to enable comparison.

Girl with Picture Hat (Repeated)

�� HMH, 2023