Linda K. Sienkiewicz's Blog, page 40

Realizing River City: a memoir

Being nice is fine unless…

Rare is the person who can look honestly at their life and relationship patterns, and then act on what they see. Many of us stumble through, blaming bad luck or bad men/women. Introspection takes much more courage, and I commend author Melissa Grunow for hers. It’s hard to recognize why things are going sour when we have been taught to give more than we get, and to be compassionate and patient with others — in other words, be nice. This is an important message for p...

Dark Twin combines fantasy and horror

Dark Twin, Coin of Rulve: Book Two is “A richly-imagined tale of the struggle between the persistence of goodness and the corruption of power within the heart of a single youth—an absorbing follow-up to Blood Seed, the first book in the series.” —Debra Doyle.

Science Fiction Fantasy Suspense is not a genre I often read, but I was captivated by this amazing story. This is why:

Twins of an extraordinary nature, separated at birth

Twins of an extraordinary nature, “niyalahn-rista” according to...

Searching for Nannie B., a Memoir

Imagine a woman erased from her family’s history. Imagine her being buried in a small town cemetery with no identifying markers on hergravestone, other than she wassomebody’s wife. What’s more, hername is misspelled. It’s hard to imagine what kind of sin such a woman might have committed to be reduced to so little after death.

Who was she? What was her sin?

Nannie B. Russell is her name, and her sin was to have died in childbirth in 1905; her daughter lived. This littlegirl carried the myste...

What, Why, How: Tiffany McDaniel

What:
The Summer that Melted Everything is about an eighty-four-year-old man named Fielding Bliss, who is looking back on his life during one summer in 1984 when he was thirteen-years-old and his father invited the devil to their small town of Breathed, Ohio. Who answers the invitation ends up being a thirteen-year-old boy in overalls and with bruises. This boy’s arrival coincides with the first day of a hell-hot heat-wave. This is not just a story about the heat, but a story of everything t...

Black Friday Serendipity: ’tis the Season

The lines at Kohls went from the center front registers to the far aisles on either side of the store and all the way to the back. I groaned. It would be an hour-plus wait that most likely includedforced polite conversation with strangers. Was it worth the sale prices plus 15% off and Kohls’ “cash”? What the hell… I had my phone with me, and could easily blow an hour reading news and updates. It would kill me if I returned days later only tofind higher prices or the items I wanted gone.

Woul...

Black Friday Giveaway!

BLACK FRIDAY GIVEAWAY!
An $15 Amazon Gift Card
A signed copy of award-winning novel“In the Context of Love”
A Nancy Drew book wallet

To Enter: Visit my Facebook Page and

1. Tell me your favorite Christmas songon the Black Friday Giveaway post.
2. Like my page so I can message you if you win.

One winner will be chosen at random. Giveaway runs from November 24 to December 1st at midnight EST. Winner will be announced Dec. 2nd. US entries only. Amazon gift card is an actual physical card. The...

Anticipating a holiday family food fight?

In this heated political climate, I don’t want to be in the middle of a family food fight during the holidays. When Ivisit relatives who have a vastly different stance on the election than me, I will need to leave two expectations behind:

That there will be a reconciliation or meeting of the minds. Thatmy views will validated or affirmed.

It ain’t happening.

So don’t even expect it.

Knowing this fact has helped me immensely.

My choices in avoiding an argumentative relative is to skip afami...

What, Why, How: Jean M. Peck

What:

My very first piece of fiction was written in the 5th grade, entitled, “The Ugly Princess: Believe it or Not.” It was inspired by all those fairy tales with beautiful princesses, but I worried about the ones who were not blonde, blue-eyed, and thin. I wanted to go the other way. That was about it for fiction, because I was soon drawn to journalism where I wrote about the kinds of people no one else wanted to write about. I came back to fiction because I wanted to try it out. When I was...

Post-Election Change

After a brutal campaign

This was one of the most disturbing presidential campaigns ever. The consequences for us and the world are profound, and I’m not sure any of us knows what to expect. Uncertainty is frightening.

Yet, I noticed something very different when I took Clementine on a walk through Rochester’s city park on this beautiful, sunny November afternoon. I’m not sure if it was my attitude, or other people’s, but I felt a realsense of community.

Change

I felt it when I stopped to cha...

A woman who reads while she walks

How can anyone read a book while they walk? I’ve seen this womanin the Mount Avon Cemetery before, book held in one hand, eyes fixed on the page, as she windsher way through. She walks briskly, too, never looking up. I wonder if she ever tripped and landed on her face. I’m sure I would.

She reads while she walks An avid reader

I almost hesitated to interrupt her, but shewas all smiles when I asked if I could chat with her. She was reading a huge Stephen King book. Her name is Laura.

Shesaid s...