D.G. Kaye's Blog, page 87

The Life of a Good Book

  Life of a Good Book   Books sweep us away into our imaginations and transport us to an instant mini vacation, lifting our imaginations to places we never dreamed of ever going to, or sometimes, never knowing these places even existed.   We walk in the shoes of authors old and new, profound or entertaining. Stories lifting our spirits or breaking our hearts, stories to enlighten or to persuade, stories of darkness and others of hope. Whether we crave a good mystery, thriller, comedy or memoir, the story sets the tone for how it will leave the reader feeling. We as readers when in engrossed in a good book, are made to feel anything from happy, sad, shocked, wondering or scared to death and everything in between when a story takes over all our emotions. We’re absorbed in the feelings of the characters – immersing ourselves as though we walk in their shoes. When empathy or sympathy is felt by the reader, the author has succeeded in storyline and richly developed characters. When we’re brought to laughing in hysterics, crying our hearts out, or simply taking a pause to linger a moment over a lyrical phrase or perhaps dashing for the light switch from instilled fear by a well written horror story, the writer has done their job well. When the reader engages with the feelings of the characters in a book, the author has hit their target. A good book never leaves us. Whether it be a powerful character, an engrossing plot line or a poignant message woven in the words, the author has accomplished their mission to engross, engage, enlighten, inform or entertain. This is the author’s greatest satisfaction when they know they’ve left an imprint in the reader’s imagination or heart and that they’ve been satisfied by a good book.

Streets Ahead Street Team Promotion: Words We Carry, by D.G Kaye | Stevie Turner

Thanks to Stevie Turner, who leads our Streets Ahead Authors Promoting Authors group, for sharing my book this week – Words We Carry.     Streets Ahead Street Team Promotion: Words We Carry, by D.G Kaye     As part of this week’s Streets Ahead Street Team promotion, I’m sharing D.G Kaye’s book ‘Words We Carry:  Essays of Obsession and Self Esteem’:   Available at all the Amazons   Words from the author: “I have been a great critic of myself for most of my life, and I was darned good at it, deflating my own ego without the help of anyone else.” What do our shopping habits, high-heeled shoes, and big hair have to do with how we perceive ourselves? Do the slights we endured when we were young affect how we choose our relationships now? D.G. takes us on a journey, unlocking the hurts of the past by identifying situations that hindered her own self-esteem. Her anecdotes and confessions demonstrate how the hurtful events in our lives linger and set the tone for how we value our own self-worth. Words We Carry is a raw, personal accounting of how the author overcame the demons of low self-esteem with the determination to learn to love herself.   You can read Reviews Here.   Note: Authors are welcome to join us at our Streets Ahead Team on Mewe, where every week an author’s book of choice is featured and promoted on social media by all other authors in the group.   Original Source: Streets Ahead Street Team Promotion: Words We Carry, by D.G Kaye | Stevie Turner

Sunday Book Review – In The Midst of Winter – Isabel Allende

My Sunday Book Review on Isabel Allende’s In The Midst of Winter is a little differently rated than most of the books I share on my reviews because I could only give it 3 1/2 stars. At over 350 pages, I kept waiting for something exciting to happen but I found the plot fell flat and was scattered and disappointing – too much character backstory and not enough plot.       Blurb: New York Times and worldwide bestselling author Isabel Allende returns with a sweeping novel that journeys from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil.  An instant New York Times bestseller, In the Midst of Winter is about three very different people who are brought together in a mesmerizing story that offers “a timely message about immigration and the meaning of home” (People). During the biggest Brooklyn snowstorm in living memory, Richard Bowmaster, a lonely university professor in his sixties, hits the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, and what at first seems an inconvenience takes a more serious turn when Evelyn comes to his house, seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant, Lucia Maraz, a fellow academic from Chile, for her advice. As these three lives intertwine, each will discover truths about how they have been shaped by the tragedies they witnessed, and Richard and Lucia will find unexpected, long overdue love. Allende returns here to themes that have propelled some of her finest work: political injustice, the art of survival, and the essential nature of—and our need for—love.   My 3 1/2 Star Review: As a fan of Allende’s writing, I found this book a bit disappointing. I also found the blurb to be a bit misleading. Yes, the story goes into the past of each of the three main characters to demonstrate what they experienced in their lives, helping to shape their characters, but I found their backstories could have been stories for a book in themselves and didn’t quite mesh with the actual story going on involving these characters. It’s by far not a ‘sweeping novel’. Where the blurb speaks of political injustice, that pertains more to Evelyn’s and Lucia’s lives in the past before coming to America, but those facts aren’t what the story is about, just about what shapes their characters. I think the story juts off course throughout the book. The story begins with Lucia an academic colleague of Richard’s who is originally from Chile and rents a basement apartment from Richard while he lives upstairs. Richard comes off as a lonely, grumpy guy who at first isn’t very friendly toward Lucia until he gets into a car accident on a blizzardy day, banging into Evelyn, an undocumented young woman from Guatamala who worked as a nanny for a mobster, his wife Cheryl and their handicapped child. Evelyn felt compelled to run to the store despite the storm to get diapers for the young boy, while Cheryl slept and the husband was out of town, so she took the mobster’s car for the short run then Richard banged into her. And this is where the intended story plot was to grow from when they discovered a dead body in the trunk. The story continues on with Richard asking Lucia for help to take in Evelyn because she was too scared to go back home. This book didn’t turn into a murder mystery investigation as it suggested it should, rather a mission to get rid of the body and help Evelyn in doing so, and in doing so we’re taken into the history of each character, back and forth into the present. The romance that finally happened near the end of the book between Lucia and Richard felt awkward, and the ending left no impact. This wasn’t Allende’s finest work by far, IMHO.

Writer’s Tips – Great Resources for #Bloggers and #Authors

For this edition of Writer’s Tips, I came across some informative reads for more free images, an interesting concept – newsletter swap, tips and tools for bloggers, themes for your blog that actually work with Gutenberg, getting paid for writing, and some great additional links for writers. I hope you find them useful.     More sites with free images shared by The BookDesigner Source: 72 Free Image Sources for Authors – The Book Designer     Nicholas Rossis shares about newsletter swaps are very trendy right now, especially among authors of similar genres. This is because they have three big advantages over traditional promos:   BookLuver Newsletter Swap       42 FREE themes that play nice with the new Gutenberg editor by Hugh Roberts 42 Free WordPress Themes That Work Best With The Gutenberg Editor       Doris Heilmann has an extensive list of links where you can get paid for your writing https://www.savvybookwriters.com/lucr...     Staci Troilo has a wonderful post this week out on writer’s inspiration and some fabulous links for writers Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links         Everything from web hosting, to plugins and themes, Natalie Ducey Smith has a smorgasbord of goodies in this post for bloggers. Essential tips, tools, and resources for bloggers and website owners! ♥   ©DGKayewriter.com        

Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives – #PotLuck – Are We Lost in #Social Oblivion? by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

We sometimes forget what nuggets of wisdom we’ve posted in the past as the years go by we continue to write and post and don’t always think about some of the past gems we’ve written. Well, Sally Cronin decided to run a series where she welcomed bloggers to give her the go ahead to dig through our posts and cherry-pick some of our gems collecting dust and giving them new light at her Potluck series at the Smorgasbord. Today I’m sharing one of my older posts on Social Media, which Sally has chosen to share on her blog.   Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives – #PotLuck – Are We Lost in #Social Oblivion? by D.G. Kaye     Welcome to the series of Posts from Your Archives, where bloggers put their trust in me. In this series, I dive into a blogger’s archives and select four posts to share here to my audience.   If you would like to know how it works here is the original post: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpre...   Here is the fourth of the posts I have selected from the archives of D.G. Kaye, Debby Gies who is a regular contributor to the blog with her travel column and also as a guest comedian…Debby has some terrific posts on blogging and social media… and here is one that I think we can all relate to.   Are We Lost in #Social Oblivion? by D.G. Kaye   Today I’m going to share my thoughts here on the madness of social media, and book promoting, and our constant battle to keep up with everything social media to stay afloat with our presence. I’m speaking for myself, but I know my thoughts are shared by many a writer. As writers, we all develop our routines, and although every one of us has our own methods of tackling our ‘to do’ lists, if we’re writing books, much of what we do will involve ways to market our books using social media. With the explosion of new authors and books in the past few years, there are waves of cries to ‘buy my book’ in order to be heard through a sea of social media blasts. I sometimes feel as though I’m drowning in that sea. But I don’t wish to become one of the ‘hard sell’ authors, and I don’t even spend nearly enough time or dollars doing the amount of marketing I’m urged to do through all the social outlets I follow and with all the subscriptions I read from newsletters telling me about another method to push my books. Sure I read many articles to stay abreast. I’ll bookmark pertinent information and save it to Evernote for the time I’m ready to tackle it. But with all I read, I still can’t bring myself to become an aggressive marketer. I have my daily routine planned the night before with my list of things to accomplish, and that keeps my plate full as it is. As much as I want to try a million new ideas out, there are only so many hours in a day. So I prioritize with my book writing days and my blog post days. I’ve learned what social media sites I gravitate to most. I’ve built friendships and followers who I can chat with, share with, or just have a simple ‘thank you’ for sharing rapport with for dedicated sharers. I read many blogs, and like and comment where I feel like contributing, and if I enjoyed a post, I’ll share it to my social sites. This routine I have was never a strategy to gain followers, but somehow it had led me to gathering readers and making some wonderful friends along the way. This is who I am, and I don’t wish to conform to being one of those hounds shouting hashtags to ‘buy my book’. And what may have prompted me to write this you may be thinking? Continue reading at Sally’s blog . . .     Source: Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives – #PotLuck – Are We Lost in #Social Oblivion? by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine   ©DGKayewriter.com    

Sunday Book Review – The Hat by C.S. Boyack

My Sunday Book Review for C.S. Boyack’s – The Hat. This little book was a fun escape read, and although not in my usual genre of reading, I found it quite delightful.       Blurb: Lizzie St. Laurent is dealing with many of the struggles of young life. She lost her grandmother, and her living arrangements. Her new roommate abandoned her, and she’s working multiple jobs just to keep her head above water. She inherits an old hat from her grandmother’s estate, but it belonged to her grandfather. This is no ordinary hat, but a being from an alternate dimension. One with special powers. Lizzie and the hat don’t exactly hit it off right away, but when her best friend’s newborn is kidnapped by a ring of baby traffickers, Lizzie turns to the hat for help. This leads her deep into her family history and a world she’s never known. Lizzie gives up everything to rescue the babies. She loses her jobs, and may wind up in jail before it’s over. Along the way, she and the hat may have a new way of making ends meet. Humorous and fun, The Hat is novella length. Wonderful escapism for an afternoon.   My 5 Star Review: This book is not in my usual reading genre, but nonetheless, a delight to read. The Hat is a whimsical tale of a dynamic team – Lizzie, a 21 year old girl with troubles it seems at every corner, who manages to team up with the talking hat. Lizzie manages to scoop a box off the moving truck taking away what’s left of her recently passed grandmother’s estate. Completely unaware what’s in the box, Lizzie strikes a real gem when she discovers in that box is a hat, but not just any hat. As Lizzie and the talking hat get acquainted, finally becoming friends, the hat teaches her more about her family background, and ultimately becomes her cohort in her quest to save the kidnapped babies she learns about after her friend’s baby is kidnapped. The story progresses through the quest to solve the crime, all the while experiencing magical situations and escapes when she puts on the hat and it empowers her with its magical properties, even being able to transport her to safety when the goings get rough. A fun escape with lots of laughs and a perfect short read and entertaining read for a rainy afternoon.   ©DGKayewriter.com      

#WATWB – We are the World Blogfest – Recycling with School Participation

For this month’s #WATWB – We are the World Blogfest contribution where writers share good deeds that are going on around the world to help make the world a better place, I came across this wonderful recycling program by Subaru paired with Terracycle.   Subaru works with Terracycle and invites people to bring all their plastic cups, lids, straws, candy wrappers, etc., to one of their locations participating in the recycling program. Once brought to the program, items are separated and recycled and turned into useful items such as park benches, picnic tables and playground items for children then donated to over 540 Subaru partnered companies and participating local retailers.   Visit the post to see how the program works HERE   How to join a Terracycle Free program  HERE   https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brig...   Each last Friday of every month, writers can hop on this WATWB adventure and share an interesting post helping to spread some of the good things being done in our world. If you’d like to join, please visit THIS LINK to add your post.   This month’s host of the WATWB are:   Shilpa Garg, Dan Antion, Mary Giese, Simon Falk , Damyanti Biswas.   ©DGKayewriter.com  

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – New Sunday Interview Series – Human In Every Sense of the Word – Starting Sunday June 30th 2019. | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Heads up bloggers! Sally Cronin has opened up a new series at Smorgasbord Invitation This challenge begins June 30th, so put your thinking caps on and hop on to the new series – Human in Every Sense of the Word. Sally invites us to write a short story of approximately 300-600 words on one of our senses. Read on for more details:     Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – New Sunday Interview Series – Human In Every Sense of the Word – Starting Sunday June 30th 2019     Welcome to the new series of the Sunday Interview..Human in every sense of the word. As humans there are five main senses that we rely on to navigate through this world.  And there is one that we all possess but do not necessarily use all the time…   Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste, Smell….Sixth Sense. For some people however, one or more of those senses do not function and we can only imagine the challenges this results in. I don’t know about you, but I take my senses for granted, expecting to see my surroundings when I wake up each morning, hear the birds sing, feel the bedclothes as I throw them back, and the carpet beneath my feet. I expect to taste the marmalade on my toast, and smell the coffee I am about to drink. I also rely on my sixth sense, the one that people cannot really define, that somehow keeps me from making an error of judgement. Scientists believe that we have other senses that are also important but that we have lost touch with over our evolution. But for this interview series I would like to focus on the six senses I have mentioned.   I would like you to write from 300 to 600 words about one or more of these senses. We often associate significant events with our senses… the first time we heard a certain piece of music, touched an object or someone that had a profound effect on us, the first sight of a newborn baby or an event unfolding before our eyes, smelling a flower or eating a new food for the first time that was amazing.   You can choose to write about one sense or all of them, including that elusive sixth sense we have clung on to from the early days of man.  What I would like you to share is how the engagement of your chosen senses influenced events in your life, perhaps changed your perspective, made you fall in love, or out of love. Does a certain smell or taste bring back a memory? Did you touch something that resulted in a lifetime phobia? Did your sixth sense kick in time to safe you from danger? Did you see someone across a room and know that they were the person for you? Do you hear a piece of music that brings back memories of someone or an experience in your life? Please use the 300 to 600 words and if you need more that is fine, use what you need to engage us and our senses . . . Continue reading at Sally’s Smorgasbord   Source: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – New Sunday Interview Series – Human In Every Sense of the Word – Starting Sunday June 30th 2019. | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine   ©DGKayewriter.com      

#Memoir Byte: -Not Far From The Maddening Crowd – The Day I Thought Was My Last

New Year’s Eve, approximately 10 years ago while in Las Vegas, Nevada, we had tickets to partake in a New Year’s celebration with dinner and dancing at a fabulous restaurant in the Planet Hollywood hotel right next door to the Paris Hotel where we were staying. We thought it would be convenient to celebrate the new year close by our hotel because it was conveniently located and didn’t require a cab on one of the craziest traffic nights in Las Vegas to get there. But something we almost gravely over-looked was the much anticipated wait for what seemed liked thousands of people setting themselves up for the planned daredevil stunt of Evel Knievel’s son to cross from one side of the huge Las Vegas Boulevard  to the other on his motorcycle across a tightrope.   Our reservations were for 8pm, so at 7:30pm we began our – what should have been a 10 minute walk from hotel to hotel, but once we got outside we were presented with a dilemma. Once outside, we saw the yellow caution tape and guardrails were all in place. Our hotel and the one we were heading to next door had been blocked off as well as much of Las Vegas Boulevard. No pedestrian could pass through the blockade to walk next door as the crazy stunt show was being prepared for. The Las Vegas strip was blocked off for blocks so that no car traffic would clog the streets where pedestrians usually stand with drinks in hand to take in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve, already packed with spectators. The only way we could get next door was by crossing the multi-laned boulevard, walking down a long few blocks in order to cross back and walk back up to our destination – only the streets were filled with thousands already awaiting the deadly stunt. There was no way anyone could humanly cross through the stampede of people. We stood in amazement surveying the crowded street, wondering how on earth we could plow through what seemed like a giant can of sardines growing tighter by the minutes. From my vantage point it seemed as though people barely had enough room to stand in one spot with barely enough room to keep their two feet both on the ground, holding their drinks high above their heads because there was certainly no room for arms length. Either many people were going to be wearing those drinks or one little shove by anyone would set off a domino effect of everyone falling and then being trampled on. The crowd was rambunctious. My anxiety escalated by the second. We had yet to attempt to cross the road, fearing there was no room to walk through and nobody was letting anyone in their reserved standing space for fear they may get pushed back from their coveted spots. There was literally no room left for another body to squeeze onto the boulevard. Many police were on the scene doing their best to maintain crowd control, constantly blowing whistles and reminding people not to come near the guard rails, which also guarded the police in safety from themselves not being bulldozed over by an overwhelming amount of people. All we wanted to do was get across the street and it was apparent if we were to get to our venue, we had to attempt getting through that crowd. I’m a claustrophobic person, and the sight of what we had to endeavor just to cross almost paralyzed me with fear. Somehow, my impatient husband finally grabbed my arm and linked it tightly and said it was time to plow through. We began our trek. After nearly half an hour of desperately pushing through people while chanting a thousand ‘pardon mes’, we barely managed to cross one lane and we were stuck. This prompted my husband to become exceptionally aggressive using his elbows to attempt to make space for us to pass while pushing and shouting out loud, “We don’t want your spot, we just want to cross the street,” repeatedly. I struggled to keep hold of his arm as I tried to breathe. My 5’2″ stature made me feel as though I were a doll stuck among a sea of giants and as my anxiety elevated I began to hyper- ventilate with visions of dying right there from lack of oxygen. The crowd was getting rowdier and had no compassion for anyone standing in their way. I was sure I was going to die that night in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard. My fear peaked to the max and I knew in that moment we weren’t going to make it, so I screamed. I shouted at the top of my lungs, “Help me, I’m having a heart attack.” This wasn’t far from the truth as I truly felt I was about to have one. I shouted over the crowd so the police could hear me. And just like one of God’s miracles, a policeman blew his whistle and within a few minutes he’d cleared a narrow path with some other police, grabbed me and pulled me and my husband to a safe spot across to the side of the street we were aiming to get to. Oceans of tears spilled down my face in relief as the policeman brought the paramedics over to me. I was so flustered and could barely talk but managed to let them know I had recently had open heart surgery as I pulled open my coat to expose my scar so they didn’t think I was lying about heart issues. This was not a lie as I had the surgery two years prior. Yes I screamed heart attack as it was the only option I saw for us to be saved, and surely if I didn’t, I would have had one anyway. The paramedics wanted to take me to the hospital until I explained what happened and why I was driven to scream for their help. They checked my vitals, gave me a bottle of water and asked me to sit down for a few moments to bring back down my blood pressure. Then they wished me a Happy New Year and let us go. We walked down 2 long blocks before we could safely cross back across the boulevard – without the crowd, and walked to the restaurant, almost an hour late for our reservation. I should have listened to my internal warning alarm and sacrificed our evening plans, but I didn’t and learned the hard way how easily people can die in a crowd. If I hadn’t had the good sense to scream ‘heart attack’, I’m almost certain I would have had one anyway. We were meeting my hub’s daughter and son-in-law at the restaurant. When we finally sat down, they asked, “What took you guys so long.” Have any of you ever been stuck in a mob crowd?   ©DGKayewriter.com    

Sunday Book Review – Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert

My Sunday Book Review this week is for Elizabeth Gilbert’s – Big Magic. In this book, Gilbert takes us into her world of creativity by sharing her journey through becoming a successful writer with all the ups and downs along the way, while inspiring us to continue going after our dreams in any creative field, despite the odds.       Blurb: From the worldwide bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls: the path to the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve dreamed of. Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work,  embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.   My 4 (1/2) Star Review: Gilbert shares her inspirational anecdotes gained from her own life experience, which inspired her to push forward with her passion – writing. Gilbert’s stories empower us to follow our own creative dreams and to look beyond the obstacles we encounter along the way as writers and artists. In this somewhat of a self-help book, although she states her intent of the book wasn’t to write as self-help, but more a book to share her own journey into the world of creativity and where her accrued experiences led her to becoming a successful writer. The author empowers us into believing in our ourselves by encouraging us to go forward with our passions without expectations. This is a light read without instruction, but shared observations from Gilbert’s own writing life. She encourages us to write what we love to write about, not just for market, and shares how she overcame rejection, and how no book will appeal to everyone, and her interesting story about how her now famous book – Eat, Pray, Love got discovered. “Seduce the Big Magic and it will always come back to you – the same way a raven is captivated by a shiny, spinning thing.”   ©DGKayewriter.com