D.G. Kaye's Blog, page 76

December 11, 2019

Share Your Christmas Short Story (or Poem). | Stevie Turner

What’s in Your Stocking?     One magical Christmas, a simple woolen sock dangled from a hook. Unlike other Christmases of past, The contents have changed as the years progress. Once stuffed with chocolates, candies and miniature plastic dolls and toys. As the years advanced, to perfume, makeup, and a costume bauble or two. But as more years passed, the contents had changed yet again. No longer tangible gifts and trinkets – we’re passed that now.  It was time to discard commercialism and remember basics and what matters most.   Now the stocking hangs weightless, but it’s far from empty. The fireplace crackles below a simple Christmas stocking, threaded to a bough. Holding now some of the most important things that somehow disappeared into the ‘take life for granted box’ of the past. Filled now with hopes, dreams and prayers, Stuffed with wishes for kindness, love, good health, goodwill toward all mankind, and peace for the world.  For these are the things that matter most and first of all.   We’re invited to share a Christmas story or poem over at Stevie Turner’s blog. Pop over and join in. This was my story entry.   Source: Share Your Christmas Short Story (or Poem). | Stevie Turner    
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Published on December 11, 2019 22:09

December 10, 2019

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – The Travel Column with D.G. Kaye – Three Winter Sun Destinations – Kauai, Hawaii, Malta and Martinique | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Today I’m sharing my travel column segment over at Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord blog magazine. In this holiday edition, we’re going to visit 3 lovely and warm places for a great winter escape – Hawaii, Malta, and Martinique.   Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – The Travel Column with D.G. Kaye – Three Winter Sun Destinations – Kauai, Hawaii, Malta and Martinique   For any of us in the colder and wetter climates, a respite somewhere sunny is top of of most of our wish lists. Today three wonderful destinations where you will enjoy warm weather and an even warmer welcome from your hosts. I have selected islands where you can relax and even if it is for just two weeks, boost your tan and well-being before the real winter kicks in. However, for those of you who crave the excitement and adventure of snow covered mountains and ski slopes, in my next post in two weeks, I will be sharing three top locations accessible to those in North America and Europe.     The first destination is Hawaii and the island of Kauai.   About the Island courtesy of The official island website Kauai is Hawaii’s fourth largest island and is sometimes called the “Garden Island,” which is an entirely accurate description. The oldest and northernmost island in the Hawaiian chain is draped in emerald valleys, sharp mountain spires and jagged cliffs aged by time and the elements. Centuries of growth have formed tropical rainforests, forking rivers and cascading waterfalls! Some parts of Kauai are only accessible by sea or air, revealing views beyond your imagination. More than just dramatic beauty, the island is home to a variety of outdoor activities. You can kayak the Wailua River, snorkel on Poipu Beach, hike the trails of Kokee State Park, or go ziplining above Kauai’s lush valleys. But, it is the island’s laid-back atmosphere and rich culture found in its small towns that make it truly timeless. Explore the regions of Kauai and make your escape to discover the undeniable allure of the island.   Temperatures in November/December/January are between 25 C and 27 C.. with an average of 23C… so very pleasant. Flight times From UK: 15 hours, longer if changing planes in US. From Toronto: 10 hours From Vancouver: 6 hours From New York: 10.5 hours From Los Angeles – 5.5 hours Exchange rate as of December 1st – Sterling £1 would give you $1.29 Where to stay: Hawaii Guide Kauai Accommodation Things to do: Tours and activities     Now a European destination, which by all accounts is becoming very popular with North Americans and Canadians via Travel Daily News   The Island of Malta – Mediterranean   The Hon. Konrad Mizzi, Minister of Tourism for Malta, noted that the US was one of the fastest growing tourism markets for Malta, recording a dramatic increase of 31.9% from 2017 to 2018, with a total of 47,170 Americans visitors. The increase from Canada in 2018 was 6.6% (15,015 Canadians) bringing the total arrivals in 2018 from North America (US & Canada) to a record breaking 62,185. This sunny archipelago in the Mediterranean recorded an overall 2.6 million visitors (+14.3% between 2017 and 2018), bringing a record number of tourists to Malta from around the World.   About Malta courtesy of Visit Malta Megaliths, medieval dungeons and Calypso’s Cave – The Maltese Islands are positively mythic. The narrow meandering streets of their towns and villages lead to the main square, which is invariably dominated by the huge baroque church. As the countryside is dotted with medieval towers, wayside chapels and the oldest known human structures in the world, the Islands have rightly been described as an open-air museum. Please continue reading at the Smorgasbord   Source: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – The Travel Column with D.G. Kaye – Three Winter Sun Destinations – Kauai, Hawaii, Malta and Martinique | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine
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Published on December 10, 2019 06:59

December 7, 2019

Sunday Book Review – When Breath Becomes Air by Dr. Paul Kalanithi

My Sunday Book Review is for When Breath Becomes Air – A story of courage about the life of Dr. Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon in his prime, just finishing his medical residency when he’s faced with the fatal blow of an almost certain death sentence when diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. Nonfiction.       Blurb: At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir. Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both. #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living? NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • People • NPR • The Washington Post • Slate • Harper’s Bazaar • Time Out New York • Publishers Weekly • BookPage Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir   My 4 Star Review: This is the memoir of Dr. Paul Kalanithi who takes us along his journey as he recants and examines his life leading up to his becoming a neurosurgeon and neuro-scientist. Less than a year left to finishing his 10-year surgical residency, he is given the fatal diagnosis of Stage IV lung cancer, and this is when his originally intent memoir on his studies and how his path in life led him to wanting him to become a neurosurgeon, became a different story – more about his determination to continue his studies and being a surgeon, now focused on the life-altering decisions he had to make and the disease taking away parts of him as the story progresses. We follow Dr. Paul’s remainder of his life throughout his treatments, philosophies and decisions until his last ‘breath of air’, which if not had been cut short, I’m convinced he may have become one of the world reknowned neurosurgeons of our time, had the Big ‘C’ not rocked his world and everything he worked hard to reach hitting at the pinnacle of his career. This is the story about a man, a doctor, who became ‘the patient’ who knew despite the possible miracles that could happen that his diagnosis meant the clock was now ticking on his life, and shares his story with us about what he’d do for the remainder of his time while hope still floated, but common sense lurked inside him as he stoically accepted his demise. We learn a bit about his world, his work, his marriage and the decision to have a child despite the edict. We’re taken into his world of medicine, life and death decisions he made, and his journey of hope until his ultimate death. Dr. Paul prepared his whole life to become a neurosurgeon, but always with a passion for literature and an undeniable desire to also become a writer – something he’d planned on doing in later decades in his life after he would finish being a surgeon. But future plans now became the present with possible limited time to fit in a lifetime of desires. Writing and children became a topic to be dealt with in the now, no longer the future. Dr. Paul continued to write this book throughout his treatments and illness to leave something behind – his life story as his legacy. He died before it was finished, and his wife Lucy wrote the epilogue. His determination to keep writing though, was relentless as was his vigor to live – “Even if I’m dying, until I actually die, I’m still living.” With so many questions and decisions to be made, Dr. Paul shared his confliction in life as he had only another year to go to finish his surgical residency.  He wondered if he should continue to live life through optimism for a cure or continue his work, start a family and prepare for certain death. I’d classify this book as part memoir as I felt the initial intent was to journal his life to becoming a doctor, which then turned to more of a soul-searching with reflections and platitudes and a need to perhaps ‘hurry it along’ as his illness progressed. And to be honest, I thought his wife’s epilogue was the most beautiful part of the book. As a compassionate human being myself, I was moved by the story and the miraculous man Dr. Paul. But as a writer myself, I felt the pace and a bit of a directional change midway through the book as well as important gaps – mainly emotion, which I couldn’t get a feel for from this doctor. I felt a bit distanced as I read the book, not all consumed because despite the horrific death sentence and Dr. Paul’s lifetime of work, I felt he didn’t reveal enough of himself or emotions to invite me in to his character, hence, the 4 stars.  
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Published on December 07, 2019 22:00

December 6, 2019

Colleen Chesebro’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge #Haiku #Haibun – Leftovers

This week’s Poetry Challenge at Colleen Chesebro’s blog is a free-write. I’ve chosen to write a Haibun coupled with a Haiku.   Colleen’s 2019 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 156, #Poet’sChoice     The insecurities we grow inside are not imagined, rather manufactured by those who use intentional malice to belittle us. These slights and insults play an integral part in slicing a self-esteem and leaving one feeling insignificant.   Leftovers   Last choice for team picks, Last minute invitations, Last words that linger.   Please visit Colleen’s Challenge and join in the fun!    
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Published on December 06, 2019 22:00

December 5, 2019

Q and A with D.G. Kaye Featuring Jane Risdon – Undercover: Crime Shorts

So happy to be featuring author Jane Risdon here today for a little Q and A. Jane is a wonderful author, formerly in the music biz, but always writing it seems. Jane has newly released her book Undercover: Crime Shorts. Have a read below as we get to know more about her and her fascinating life.     About Jane: Jane Risdon has spent most of her life working in the International Music Business rubbing shoulders with the powerful and famous, especially in Hollywood. Married to a musician and later working alongside him managing singers, musicians, songwriters, and record producers, she’s also facilitated the placement of music on successful television series and movie soundtracks. Her experiences have provided her with a unique insight into the business and her writing often hasa music related theme. She is published by Headline Accent. With long-term friend, award-winning, best-selling author, Christina Jones – one time fan-club secretary for Jane’s husband’s band – Jane has co-authored Only One Woman (Headline Accent) which is set in the UK music scene of 1968/69 and is published in paperback and eBook. Recently Jane completed a collection of her first short crime stories – Undercover: Crime Shorts -published in both eBook and Paperback (Plaisted Publishing House Ltd). Jane is working on the sequel to Only One Woman as well as a series of crime novels – Ms Birdsong Investigates – featuring former MI5 Officer Lavinia Birdsong – which she plans to complete in 2020. Her experience of working at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in her pre-music days has given her plenty of material for her crime/thrillers. Jane writes for online and print magazines and has contributed to 16 anthologies. She also writes a blog and often hosts guest authors. She is also a regular guest on blogs and on internet radio shows broadcasting with a global reach, including UK, USA and Australia.Her books are available in Waterstones and all good book stores as well as via various digital platforms.   Latest Book My most recent publication is ‘Undercover: Crime Shorts’ – a collection of short crime stories designed to be read when time is tight and a full-length novel isn’t convenient. Each story is different and designed to be read in one sitting. I explore motives for murder and devise unusual, yet everyday methods of despatch for my victims. I like to add red-herrings, twists and turns, to puzzle and grip the reader so that it is not until the very end of each story that everything is revealed. The excerpt from ‘Ms Birdsong Investigates’ is called Undercover for reasons which become apparent as the story unfolds. I hope it intrigues and grips my reader so that when Ms Birdsong is published it will be met with excitement and anticipation. I try to write what I like reading. My favourite authors are all crime or espionage writers and I aspire – one day – to become a fraction as good as they are at telling a gripping tale. Kathy Reichs is a favourite, and it is because of her attention to detail and the way she paints her scenes, I was encouraged to study Forensic Science, Criminal Justice, and basic Archaeology, so that I could write with accurate and current knowledge of how to work a crime scene through to identification of a victim and to the criminal investigation and eventual court case. I don’t write police procedurals, but I feel that I have the background information I need to make my writing believable and as error-free as it can be.     Blurb: Under one cover for the first time a collection of Crime Shorts from Jane Risdon featuring previously unpublished stories which will have you on the edge of your seat. There is an extract from Jane’s forthcoming novel (series) Ms Birdsong Investigates Murder at Ampney Parva: Operation Matryoshka – with the title of Undercover – for those who’ve been awaiting this series about a former MI5 Intelligence Office, Lavinia Birdsong. There’s something for everyone who enjoys a good yarn and more twists and turns than Spaghetti Junction. Author and former detective Roger A Price says: Undercover: Crime Shorts is the ideal companion for the crime fiction fan’s daily commute. You’ll run out of journey before you run out of book with this cleverly crafted mix of crime fiction short stories. Beware as you might miss your stop! Reader Gloria Clulow says: As with all your stories I find them intriguing and unpredictable, leaving me wanting more; I don’t want them to end. Margot Kinberg, Associate Professor and author says of Undercover: What a gripping story, so well written. You’ve packed so much ‘punch’ into it, loved it. I really felt the rising tension and suspicion! You’ve captured the suspense of it beautifully and it is such a great set-up with good characters. Reader Tina Jaray says of Undercover: Wow, I could hardly breathe while I read this. Glad it was short or I would’ve joined the corpse! Author Dave Michael Prosser says of Murder by Christmas: What a fantastic story. I was glued to the screen and stopped work which means another late night (thanks). Author Jeff Lee says of The Honey Trap: Great story. You completely blind-sided me with your twist at the end. I didn’t see that one coming. Loved it. Jane is an awesome writer and an author of exceptional talent. Author Stacy Margaret Allan says of Undercover: Wow, Jane, this is one of the best stories I have ever read. It doesn’t matter that it is so short, I was right there with her and this blew me away. You are such a good writer!   Now that we’ve gotten to know a little more about Jane, let’s head to some more personal questions:    Is there a particular time period in your life that has influenced your writing most? I’ve thought about this recently, strangely enough. Every period of my life has influenced my writing and in different ways. My childhood was spent as part of an Army family constantly moving overseas (Singapore, Germany, for example) and, for me, changing schools and never getting to make any friends for long has impacted me greatly I think. I was a lonely child who had responsibility for an ever increasing number of younger siblings and I retreated into my imagination for company and entertainment. I read a great deal – mostly crime and espionage authors – and scribbled short stories in red 6d (oldmoney) notebooks, laying the foundations for eventually becoming a writer it seems. Solitude is our constant companion as writers, out of necessity; it is just the blank screen or sheet of paper and us, ultimately. I think this period made me adventurous with a lust for travel and excitement. When we arrived in Germany in 1957 we were part of a Missile regiment and were met with riots and hostility, even though we were there to protect the Germans from the Russians. It fired my imagination I’m sure. In the late 1960s we moved back to Germany. The time I spent there influenced me so much I used it the novel, ‘Only One Woman,’ which I’ve written with the successful and best-selling author, Christina Jones. The novel uses some of my experiences and those of Christina’s – heavily fictionalised obviously. Just before I left for Germany I met my (now) husband who is a musician, and that feeling of leaving someone I loved behind – possibly for years – helped me write about the grief and loneliness, as well as longing, which my main character Renza felt living apart from the love of her life in the novel. Christina was fan-club secretary for my husband’s band and so she knew what we went through. She and I both have an extensive knowledge of life in the Sixties music scene and it has proven priceless. We wrote ‘Only One Woman’ from our knowledge and own experiences. As I mentioned earlier I read crime and espionage novels voraciously, and I’ve always wanted to write in both genres. My experiences working at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Whitehall, in the early 1970s, really set my imagination on fire. My department handled everything to do with staff overseas in our Embassies and it was the height of the Cold War and the IRA activities on mainland Britain. The UK kicked almost 100 Russian spies out of England and they reciprocated by doing the same to our Embassy staff. The Ambassador to Montevideo (Uruguay), Geoffrey Jackson, was kidnapped in 1970 by Tupamaros guerrillas during my first months at the FCO, and we workedflat out as negotiations were on-going to get him freed, which was exciting. He was freed in 1971. We were hauled several times daily from our offices due to IRA bomb scares, and made to stand on the pavement outside our building which was the Old Scotland Yard building on the Victoria embankment in those days, and there were lots of events happening all around the world involving our diplomats and spies. All this fuelled my thirst for anything to do with espionage. My husband and I eventually went into the other side of the international music business working with recording artists, musicians, singer-songwriters, and record producers. We facilitated the placement of music on soundtracks for movies and television series in Hollywood and Bollywood and around the world. Our experiences have found their way into my writing. I’ve written crime stories set in the world of music and movies. The movers and shakers in Hollywood and beyond have proven a fantastic source of material. You only need to read about the shenanigans of some of the household names at the top of the music and movie business to know where my inspiration has its roots. I wish I could say one period of my life has influenced my writing the most but I can’t really pick any particular time. Everything has melded my writing. It is the sum of all parts and with each story I write another memory finds its way into the plot and characters, sub-consciously at times, and deliberately quite often. D.G. – Wow, what an eclectic life you’ve led Jane!    Which author friends of yours inspire you by being supportive to your writing? This is an easy one to answer. I’ve mentioned her already, Christina Jones. Christina is a friend in real life and we’ve known each other 51 years. When I met her she was a short story writer – since the age of 14 when she was first published – and a rock/pop journalist working for teen magazines such as Jackie, and various women’s magazines. She’d met my husband’s band at one of their gigs back in 1968 and their manager asked her to be their fan-club secretary. We became friends and she knew I wanted to write. We both determined very early on in our friendship that we would one-day write together. Since I didn’t write romance and she didn’t write crime it was hard to think how we’d ever manage it. It wasn’t until many years later when her career had really taken off and she was an award-winning and best-selling author, I dared let her read anything I’d written. I cringed with fear when I sent her my first offerings. I’d been writing a series of stories which I’d given various titles and which weren’t (strangely) crime stories. I’d been writing about life in a small village and the characters who encountered each other every week at the local bus-stop, who were all in their old age and who’d gone to school and grown up together. I called these, ‘God’s Waiting Room.’ Another set of stories is called, ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary,’ and there is ‘Granny Takes a Trip,’ and also, ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ Still on my computer I might add. I really must do something with them. I call them ‘observational humour.’ Christina told me she laughed until she...
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Published on December 05, 2019 22:07

December 4, 2019

Writer’s Tips: A Great Edition to Maximize Readership for Authors and Bloggers

This edition of Writer’s Tips offer some great links for writers and authors – How to use Amazon search words for best visibility, the importance of using Goodreads for authors, The Kindlepreneur with a generator machine to drum up ideas and book titles, and did you know that just by commenting on other blogs your name gets pushed up in SEO on Google? Check them out!   Bookmarketing Tools – using https://www.profitguru.com/ to find profitable book title data on Amazon to help maximize your book’s visibility. Source: Digital Pubbing – Guest Post: 5 Steps to Finding Profitable Book Topics on Amazon   Great article from P.H. Solomon writing for the Story Empire blog on why Goodreads is a great place for authors to grow readership. The Audience Resource You’re Avoiding – Goodreads   Dave Chesson, the Kindleprenur, has a great share machine! Everything you need to know about how the generator works. https://kindlepreneur.com/first-line-... Now, give that generator a whirl by trying it out! Generator is complete with writing ideas, first lines, character and plot generators and more!   Looking for more visibility on Google searches to get your name and perhaps books a boost in search engines? Read up on Anne R. Allen’s invaluable post on why comments are so essential on our blogs, and how just by commenting, you gain visibility! Commenting on Blogs: The Easy Way for New Writers to Build Platform    
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Published on December 04, 2019 22:00

December 3, 2019

Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Christmas Book Fair – New Collection – #Verse #Short Stories – Life’s Rich Tapestry : Woven in Words by Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

I’m reblogging Sally Cronin’s new announcement to the world about the birth of her newest book – Life’s Rich Tapestry – Woven in words. A true smorgasbord of stories about life told in various styles of prose, poetry, microfiction, and more. I for one can’t wait to see what Sally is up to now that she’s been championing some fantastic poetry this past year in particular taking part in Colleen Chesebro’s Weekly Poetry Challenge. And for those of you who don’t yet know Sally and her generous offerings to feature authors and bloggers and books at her Smorgasbord Invitation, you should hop over and take a sample of today’s offerings of books, information, entertainment, and magazine features.   Now for Sally’s announcement   Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Christmas Book Fair – New Collection – #Verse #Short Stories – Life’s Rich Tapestry : Woven in Words by Sally Cronin     Delighted to share the news of my own new release today. Life’s Rich Tapestry : Woven in Words is a collection of verse, micro fiction and speculative short stories.     About Life’s Rich Tapestry Life’s Rich Tapestry is a collection of verse, microfiction and short stories that explore many aspects of our human nature and the wonders of the natural world. Reflections on our earliest beginnings and what is yet to come, with characters as diverse as a French speaking elephant and a cyborg warrior. Finding the right number of syllables for a Haiku, Tanka, Etheree or Cinquain focuses the mind; as does 99 word microfiction, bringing a different level of intensity to storytelling. You will find stories about the past, the present and the future told in 17 syllables to 2,000 words, all celebrating life. This book is also recognition of the value to a writer, of being part of a generous and inspiring blogging community, where writing challenges encourage us to explore new styles and genres.   A selection of my other books – and you can find recent reviews: My books and reviews 2019/2020     Visit all Sally’s books on Amazon   If you’re interested in having your books featured at Sally’s Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore, please visit the original post where Sally gives instruction on how to be featured.   Source: Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Christmas Book Fair – New Collection – #Verse #Short Stories – Life’s Rich Tapestry : Woven in Words by Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine    
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Published on December 03, 2019 22:00

Old Souls by D.G. Kaye – The Sisters of the Fey

Today I’m sharing my post I wrote for the Sisters of the Fey blog. A collective blog where 6 of us contribute to on topics of all things knowing and mystical. This article will help you assess yourself to know if you are an ‘Old Soul’.   Old Souls by D.G. Kaye   Today I’m going to talk about ‘Old Souls’. We hear that term from time to time, usually referred to people who hold the depths of ‘all knowing’ and wisdom at a young age – feeling older and wiser beyond actual years. This isn’t to be misconstrued with ‘chronological age’ as old soul refers more to the experience we’ve gathered through our accrued years of knowledge through past lives.   Those with a higher level of soul are those who have reached the level of many journeys throughout their lifetimes. It is said that memories don’t come with us in each new life, but the knowledge of life experiences grow with us through each journey. It is also said that just by looking in someone’s eyes you can see their wisdom. This doesn’t mean that person is necessarily highly intelligent, but rather has a high level of ‘spiritual’ intelligence.   So how do you know if you are someone you know is an old soul?   We all know that when it’s time to leave this earth, we take nothing physical with us. But what about knowledge and lessons learned? We are all spiritual beings, and through our soul’s repeated lifetime experiences, we accrue knowledge and experience that we do take with us into our next lives. Our soul’s experience and development across lifetimes and what we’ve learned from them is what determines our soul age.  So, I would suspect that depending on how many other lives we’ve lived determines how old our souls are, but there are exceptions, depending on the levels we’ve accomplished. Old souls have certainly garnered lots of life experience and lessons, which adds to the soul age. They have a deep understanding of the world both human and spiritual. But being an old soul is not solely determined by how many lifetime’s we’ve lived, but, through those lifetimes, how much our souls have progressed through those life experiences.   Determining a Soul’s Age   It is said there are 5 earthly soul ages – baby, child, young, mature, and old soul. Each of these 5 stages has 7 levels. All spirits move through these levels with each new incarnation. One can have lived in many incarnations and a person can have lived more reincarnations than levels. After a person reaches all levels as an old soul, a new cycle begins on the astral plane where the spirit continues to learn without having yet another reincarnation. Having learned lots of life experience through a soul’s journey, old souls garner the ability to see beyond words with their inner wisdom where their values and perspectives are influenced by acquired knowledge. Old souls become the teachers who guide the younger and less experienced souls with divine love and teaching. People who have an inner sense of knowing can sense the power of an old soul.   How do you know if you’re an old soul?   You are a kind person because you exude the kindness through the universe. You don’t gravitate to unkind people and do your best to stay away. You are known as a calming force. You’ve been around plenty of times to know that everything has a way of working out in the universe. You aren’t big on drama and know there’s a solution for every obstacle so don’t waste time dwelling on problems. Please visit our Fey blog to continue reading.       Source: Old Souls by D.G. Kaye – The Sisters of the Fey
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Published on December 03, 2019 02:00

November 30, 2019

Sunday Book Review – The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman

My Sunday Book Review is for Alice Hoffman’s soul-grabbing book – The World That We Knew. I was drawn to this book while surfing on my Canadian bookstore site- Chapters-Indigo. While searching for another book, I couldn’t overlook the ‘recommended by Heather’ books, who is the CEO of the book chain and has yet to steer me wrong with one of her picks. This is a book I struggled to put down every time I had to, and it played on my mind until I could get back to reading. A haunting yet beautiful page-turning story of magical/realism, and of love and death, power and evil, persecution and freedom, and all the heart-tugging components in between. I can safely say that it’s my most favorite book of the year!     Blurb: In Berlin, at the time when the world changed, Hanni Kohn knows she must send her twelve-year-old daughter away to save her from the Nazi regime. She finds her way to a renowned rabbi, but it’s his daughter, Ettie, who offers hope of salvation when she creates a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect Lea. Once Ava is brought to life, she and Lea and Ettie become eternally entwined, their paths fated to cross, their fortunes linked. Lea and Ava travel from Paris, where Lea meets her soulmate, to a convent in western France known for its silver roses; from a school in a mountaintop village where three thousand Jews were saved. Meanwhile, Ettie is in hiding, waiting to become the fighter she’s destined to be. What does it mean to lose your mother? How much can one person sacrifice for love? In a world where evil can be found at every turn, we meet remarkable characters that take us on a stunning journey of loss and resistance, the fantastical and the mortal, in a place where all roads lead past the Angel of Death and love is never ending.   This instant New York Times bestseller and longlist recipient for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal takes place in 1941, during humanity’s darkest hour, and follows three unforgettable young women who must act with courage and love to survive. “[A] hymn to the power of resistance, perseverance, and enduring love in dark times…gravely beautiful…Hoffman the storyteller continues to dazzle.” —THE NEW YORK TIMES “Oh, what a book this is! Hoffman’s exploration of the world of good and evil, and the constant contest between them, is unflinching; and the humanity she brings to us—it is a glorious experience.” —ELIZABETH STROUT, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Olive Kitteridge “Alice Hoffman’s new novel will break your heart, and then stitch it back together piece by piece. It’s my new favorite Hoffman book.” —JODI PICOULT, New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light   My 5 Star Plus Review: A haunting journey of survival through darkness, in search of the light. This is a story that begins in a place in one of the most horrific times of our modern era, l941 Berlin, Nazi Germany, focusing on courage and compassion, interspersed with nature’s beauty and love from both – those who demonstrated their compassion for the persecuted Jews and for the Jews themselves who had so little to survive on, yet still remained something of themselves to give to those worse off than themselves. By 1941, Hanni Kohn’s doctor husband had already been killed on the street in front of their home. Hanni has only one daughter Lea, and she will do whatever it takes to save her daughter. Hanni knows the struggle to survive will only get worse in Berlin with the Jews having already lost all their human rights, curfews in place, Jews not allowed in public places, and deportation roundups becoming all too common. She knows she cannot flee with her daughter because she won’t leave her bed-ridden mother alone to die, so she comes up with an idea. Some of Hanni’s most daring missions thus far had been her night time foraging for scraps of food to make what was dubbed ‘hardship soup’ with whatever she could dig up that still remained growing in the ground for that soup. Now Hanni’s idea was to go to the Rabbi’s hidden home with the only jewels she had left hidden in a suitcase lining under her bed with an offering, hoping the Rabbi could buy off a protector who could take her daughter Lea to safety – or where she thought it was still safe – Paris, to stay with her distant cousin’s – the Levi’s home. The Rabbi’s wife practically shoos Hanni away as dawn was breaking to avoid anyone suspecting anything, when all the while the Rabbi’s ‘gifted’ teenager daughter Ettie overhears their conversation. Ettie too knows she wants to flee, despite her family’s decision to remain in Berlin. Ettie, through spending much of her life eavesdropping on the sacred ceremonies and prayers her Rabbi father has led in secret for years in the basement where the religious men came to pray with the Rabbi daily, decides it’s time to use her own power to help both Hanni’s desire and her own – to escape Berlin. Ettie’s rabbinical knowledge of Jewish folklore and mysticism through her gift from God and her father’s teachings, ignites the idea she shares with Hanni- to construct a ‘golem’ – A figure built from clay and water from the nearby river, in the form of a human woman with strength beyond any human and a sense of all knowing. This golem would be Lea’s protector until Lea reached safety, then ultimately, the golem was to be destroyed after the mission, because if the golem survived too long, she would become too powerful. Ettie would join Lea and ‘Ava’ the newly built golem, on their escape, taking with her, her younger sister Marta to help save her too. Ava is all knowing. She knows all thoughts and intentions and with the strength of any unmatched human, can hear and see angels, and speaks to nature. Ettie had mentioned that the golem wasn’t human so would harbor no emotions, her only mission was to keep Lea safe – but this story will prove that wrong. Ava could also see the black angel of death and instinctively knew when he had taken another life of someone she knew. “There’s nothing to go back to,” Ava remarked to herself when she heard the words in her head, “It was a dark dream. It was nothing like the world that we knew. Stones, murder, lice, greed, horror, birds falling from the sky, the grave you made for others, the grave you made for yourself . . .Keep her safe.” These were the words Ava heard in the moment Hanni arose in the World to Come. When the day came that all forged documents were ready for travel, Lea and Ava were to meet up with Ettie and her sister Marta to board the night train to Paris. Little did they know that Paris was fast becoming no longer safe. And once they arrived in France we’ll meet new characters who play integral parts to this story. The story will have us both cheering and aching for these heroic and complex characters with different desires, yet all sharing the same goal -survival. This story isn’t necessarily focused on the prisoners of war in concentration camps, but of the human spirit and efforts to survive facing those atrocities by those who’d do anything in their power to keep from becoming one of the deported, and their plight to survive through hiding, resisting and mysticism, all while remembering with an ache living in their hearts for those they left behind and ultimately, those left to parish. This is a story that will stay with you long after you’ve read it, and the kind of book I will most definitely be reading again. I am now a huge Hoffman fan! Kleenex nearby #recommended.        
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Published on November 30, 2019 22:00

November 29, 2019

Just Another Rant – The Pant Rant

Today’s post is another call for fairness for consumers. As someone who is a very organized and expertised shopper, I want to say something here to online businesses who oversell their stock, just like the airlines do with over-selling seats. Wouldn’t it seem simple that when ordering an item from an online store and your order is confirmed that you should expect the delivery of your product? Ya, so did I. Wouldn’t it seem simple that when there are ‘x’ amount of items in stock that as each person orders one, the number available would go down by one in their system? Ya, that’s what I thought. But apparently, that’s not how they do things at TSC, our Canadian home shopping network. Let me preface this by saying, I practically have a mortgage with this company. I’ve ordered from them for over 20 years, and although I’ve had my share of discrepancies with them over the years, this one just bites! Over 3 weeks ago, one of my favorite clothing lines came on TSC. I’d found the perfect evening legging to complete an outfit I intended to wear last weekend.But I still never received them. I’d sent 4 intermittent emails to customer support inquiring as to where the hell my pants were – to no avail. Because, as usual, NO REPLY. When I went into my account to check on the status of the order, beside the item number was the word ‘backordered’. Backordered? WTF? As a seasoned shopper on that channel, I know full well the items that go first on airings. The pants I’d ordered were a popular item. I ordered those damned pants on the very first airing to lock in my order – OR SO I THOUGHT. I placed my order, along with some other items, a few days later I received the other items – no pants! The receipt said ‘pants to follow’. This does happen occasionally that they will send a partial order and follow up a few days later with the balance. But no, not this time. I placed my order and immediately got notification, ‘thank you for shopping TSC your order has been placed.’ After a week had passed and no pants, I got suspicious. After checking my account order status and seeing backordered, I sent customer support an email. In fact over the course of another week I’d sent them 4 emails but AS USUAL they never replied. Yesterday I started to get really concerned because I was counting on those pants to go with a jacket I’d purchased to wear to next weekend’s family Christmas party. Since I had no email reply, I went onto their Facebook page and messaged through there with my inquiry. The response was about as helpful as anything I’d received so far. So, I knew it was time to place a call. After the usual 100 button pushing and waiting on hold for half an hour I finally spoke with a rep to ask where the hell my pants were. Yes, I admit, I wasn’t feeling very friendly. I received the typical ‘Oh, so sorry, the pants are sold out’. I lost it. And that’s when my rant began. I asked her how a giant company like Rogers who owns half of Canada it seems, including our home shopping channel, doesn’t have an ordering system that serves the consumer. How on earth could my pants be sold out when I ordered in first airing and the pants remained on other airings as available for 2 days that followed? The hosts on that show display an ‘items left’ when they feature an item. On day 2 there were still ‘items left’ but somehow my friggin pants are SOLD OUT! The rep kept coming up with lame excuses amid her apologies, telling me that they were probably sold out before the airing. LOL I replied, are you kidding me, those pants were available for 2 days because I kept checking myself as I saw them as I was eyeing some other items. “You oversold the item, just like the airlines do with seats!” I replied in a huff. How can such a big company run a business like this where people order an item and it’s not counted as sold automatically? How can a giant corporation like Rogers who owns them, have such a lame shipping system? She continued on trying to pacify me, apologizing that the item was no longer available and no more would be coming in stock. I was livid, and asked to speak to a supervisor. She told me there was no point because there were no items left and the item shouldn’t be showing in my cart. Oh really, and wouldn’t it have been nice IF I WAS INFORMED IT WAS OUT OF STOCK? More apologies, again for not receiving an email! I told her I want to speak to a supervisor because I want to let them know that you can’t treat consumers like this. Eventually, I spoke to the higher up who again apologized profusely and tried  to tell me the same excuses the rep did. I set the record straight with her, letting her know this isn’t how to do business, their support is terrible, and stop telling me bullshit stories about stock. She retorted by telling me they send emails out when something is out of stock. I reminded her, just one more incompetent thing on them because I NEVER RECEIVED ANY EMAILS, other than when MY ORDER WAS CONFIRMED! I’m a seasoned shopper there, I know how it all works.”You guys failed to deliver my product ordered first airing and those stragglers a day or two later who ordered received their pants and I didn’t.” I told her again how bad their stock strategy was and as a courtesy to the public I will be writing an article about this. That was when I got offered a credit on my account. But that was not enough to stop me from sharing this rant! I am soooooooooo tired of big corporations. I’m tired of taking whatever is dished out from companies because our hands are tied and there’s nothing we can do when business isn’t done properly. No, my complaint didn’t magically make them come up with my pants, but I had hoped to instill some sort message to upper management that may miraculously be passed on to the powers that be. Yes, I got a credit, big deal, that didn’t give me my pants and that doesn’t justify theirshit business policy and sorely lacking customer service. Just sayin’. I know I’m not going to change the world single-handedly. But by speaking up, we have to let these companies know when they’re in the wrong. If nobody speaks up, nothing will ever change! Have any of you been chumped by bogus protocol with online ordering?      
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Published on November 29, 2019 22:00