Sheila Deeth's Blog, page 38

Would You Rather Write Short Or Long?

Today I'm delighted to welcome award-winning author and filmmaker Stephen Zimmer to my blog, as his wonderfully seasonal Hellscapes II tours the internet. Steven is the author of the Fires of Eden series, Rising Dawn Saga, and Heart of the Lion which I read and thoroughly enjoyed earlier this year (click for my review), but he's also master of Hellscapes short fiction too. So, if you've ever wanted to try your hand at writing to a different length, this post from him must surely be a &nb...

After the Fall

FallingThe gaze of a mother to child at her breastFalling the infant that’s learning to walkCalling and crying and learning to talkShifting and sighing, a mother’s gaze fallsTo the child, to the child who has left.
FallingThe leaf that was green growing red on the treeFalling the season of warm into coldCalling and sighing the birds are grown oldAll migrating, the leaf oh so gently now fallsNot so late, not too late to be free.
FallingIn bad ways, in troubles, in pain and in loss.Falling from g...

Who Illustrated That?

My review-list led me to a cool collection of kids' books this week. Though I hadn't expected it, they were all illustrated. So I wrote my reviews, each with that nice easy title "This book by this author" and suddenly realized "This book by this author illustrated by this artist" would be more accurate. I guess as a kid, I rather liked words more than pictures - perhaps that's because so many picture books were just black and white. I remember part of my delight in moving up to the "grown-up...

Sometimes I just don't want to "Help myself"

"Mom, will you help me with my homework?"
"In a minute. Try helping yourself a bit first."
Mom continues to cook dinner. Child turns pages back to read the instructions.

"Mom, may I have more potatoes?"
"Of course. Here. Help yourself."
Mom offers the ladle and child piles more food onto plate. Some falls on the floor.

"Mom, I didn't mean it. I couldn't help it." Guilty looks.
"You'll have to learn to help it," Mom replies.

And, "Mom, why won't God change me into a good little girl?"
"God helps those...

Novels for All Seasons?

One novel of the future, one that crosses the future with the present day, and one that's firmly set in the present and the past--these were my reading joys of the last week, and I loved all three of them. So, working my way forward through time, here are brief reviews of three must-reads. Find some coffee and enjoy.

Forgiving Mariela Camacho by A. J. Sidransky follows on from the author's earlier novel, Forgiving Maximo Rothmann (click on the link for my review). It's a wonderful standalone n...

What is the Immigrant Experience?

Today I'm delighted to welcome author A.J. Sidransky back to my blog. Some time ago I read and enjoyed his novel, Forgiving Maximo Rothmann (click for my review). As an immigrant myself, I found the uncertainties and sense of un-belonging in this novel truly resonated. Add a wonderful storyline with evocative dialog and descriptions and a wealth of amazing historical, geographic and social detail, and you'll see why readers of any background can be transported to a different world-view and ex...

Ever Gone On Tour With The Undead?

Today I'm delighted to welcome author Peter Welmerick back to my blog as he tours the internet with his undead friends and a wonderfully post-apocalyptic Hunt for the Fallen (second in the Transport series). Welcome Peter! And have fun, dear readers, as Peter tells us about...




HAVING FUN WITH THE UNDEAD
When I first starting writing my TRANSPORT Military adventure series, I wasn’t quite thinking I’d have the shambling Undead wandering about in the background, foreground or side to side. TRANSPO...

Who's on First?

I seem to be reading lots of books written in first person this week. Each tells of a time, place, or way of life that I don't know. But how the author tells the reader what's going on is different in each. I read somewhere that there are different kinds of first-person writing, so I'll see if I can figure it out as I work through these reviews. Find yourself a coffee, and enjoy.

The The Jamie Quinn Mysteries by Barbara Venkataraman are narrated by the eponymous Jamie Quinn. She's a family law...

Do We Live In Dark Times?

Last year, part of my research for writing children's Bible stories based on Acts was to undertake a study of Acts with a group of friends. Of course, Acts took place in ancient history - dark ages, dark times perhaps, and surely a world much different from ours.

We looked at history, geography, social issues, non-Biblical resources and, of course, various books of the Bible. It seemed those were indeed dark times - days of wars, riots, political unrest and intrigue, refugee crises, death and...

Is it a strange tale or a mystery?

We're working on our next Writers' Mill Journal - volume 4, 2015 coming soon! But click on the image to learn aboutVolume 3. It's a collection of writings from our local writers' community, and any sales benefit our local library so...if you like what you see from the link, please buy copies for all your friends!

Like all "random" anthologies, our journal contains entries in multiple genres, from poetry for kids to scary horror stories for uncles and aunts (well, maybe not too scary - it's sti...