Jaye Marie's Blog, page 8

Bits and Pieces…

I am still having trouble trying to find where I was before the bottom fell out of my world. I am making all kinds of progress in general, but not when it comes to writing, blogging and marketing,

I try, but all I get are fragments. Bits and pieces of all the stuff I used to be good at.

I have to concentrate on each of these bits and try to rebuild it into something I recognise.

So far, I am succeeding, although it is slow going.

A far cry from the competent multitasker that I once was. Maybe I will be again, but maybe time is not on my side.

Some things defy all my efforts to dredge them up. Although I suspect some of the sites have changed how they operate, which is a different ball game.

Speaking of ball games, I am halfway through my latest Detective Snow story. The thought of revising and then publishing it gives me chills, as I don’t have a clue where to start.

There must be a lot of relearning to be done there…

Best Wishes!

I am still having trouble trying to find where I was befo...

I am still having trouble trying to find where I was before the bottom fell out of my world. I am making all kinds of progress in general, but not when it comes to writing, blogging and marketing,

I try, but all I get are fragments. Bits and pieces of all the stuff I used to be good at.

I have to concentrate on each of these bits and try to rebuild it into something I recognise.

So far, I am succeeding, although it is slow going.

A far cry from the competent multitasker that I once was. Maybe I will be again, but maybe time is not on my side.

Some things defy all my efforts to dredge them up. Although I suspect some of the sites have changed how they operate, which is a different ball game.

Speaking of ball games, I am halfway through my latest Detective Snow story. The thought of revising and then publishing it gives me chills, as I don’t have a clue where to start.

There must be a lot of relearning to be done there…

Best Wishes!

Silent Sunday…

Myrtle, one of my favourites…

Happy Ist of June!

Review for The Forever House by Linda Acaster #Women Sleuths #Bone Chilling

A chilling discovery. A sense of foreboding. They say I’m obsessing. I’m not.

Resisting family pressure to sell the too-big house Carrie and her late husband began to renovate, she is determined to carry through their shared project to prove she can manage alone.

And she can, until a discovery beneath old wallpaper chills her to the bone.

As her need to know more becomes all-consuming, Carrie’s family fears she’s tipping into irretrievable obsession. Can she be dissuaded, or must she take that final step?

How far is too far to right a wrong?

‘…deeply moving…’

‘…an enthralling read.’

About the author

Linda Acaster

Welcome to my Amazon page! I’m an English multi-genre novelist and short-story writer, living on the misty Yorkshire coast, knee-deep in history and surrounded by ghosts.

From mediaeval and Native American historicals, to chiller novella ‘The Paintings’ and a collection of short speculative fiction, a sense of place and time figures large in my work. The best example of this is the Fantasy Suspense ‘Torc of Moonlight’ trilogy. Ever thrown a coin into a “wishing well”?

Take a peek at my website http://www.lindaacaster.com for research and writing information, or join my New Releases & Promotions newsletter to get occasional info direct to your Inbox.

Thanks for reading this. I hope you’ll consider some of my work, and enjoy the books as much as others have.

Our Review

How many of us have uncovered drawings underneath the wallpaper when we decorate our homes? I know I have, but these are usually measurements, or how many rolls of wallpaper I will need—helpful messages from previous tenants.

I once found a cheeky message from some bright spark, saying ‘Give up, I know you wish you hadn’t started!’

But never anything serious. Nothing like the disturbing marks Carrie found in The Forever House.

How many people would have ignored it all and papered over them again?

Like Carrie, the words and drawings stayed in my mind, the truth begging to be discovered.

I found the attention to detail in this story incredibly thorough, and I loved the way the author shared all the jobs Carrie did around the house.

Beautifully and thoughtfully written, this story was well thought out. Emotions aside, I really enjoyed reading this book…

Diamonds for Breakfast…

I was lying on the couch early this morning, watching the giant gum tree through my window.  I hadn’t been awake long and was waiting for my first cup of tea.

The big tree was strangely still that morning, with no wind to stir the branches. It was enjoying the early morning sunshine, after the amount of rain we had for most of the night.

As I stared at the tree, I became aware of strange sparkles, some larger than others, among the leaves. As I stared at one in particular, it grew larger,  gleamed like a star and then vanished.

It took me a while to figure this out. I was mesmerised, to be honest. The sparkles didn’t last but were replaced by others. What was going on?

I tried to photograph them, but my phone didn’t catch them!

When the penny dropped, I was so pleased to have witnessed this natural phenomenon.

There must have been raindrops on most of the leaves from the overnight rain. Most would travel to other leaves, increasing the size of the raindrops. When large and heavy enough, they would fall.

The sunlight was causing them to sparkle.

This must happen every time it rains, but I had never been lucky enough to see it before now…

I thought I would share this magical moment with you, and wish you a wonderful weekend!

Review for Close to Home by Alex Craigie #Family Life Fiction

“The book is brilliant. It reads like a memoir and grips like great fiction should – beautiful characterization”
Viga Boland – Author – No Tears For My Father

Talented pianist Megan Youngblood has it all – fame, fortune and Gideon.

But Gideon isn’t good enough for Megan’s ambitious, manipulative mother, whose meddling has devastating repercussions for Megan and for those close to her.

Now, trapped inside her own body, she is unable to communicate her needs or fears as she faces institutional neglect in an inadequate care home.

And she faces Annie. Sadistic Annie who has reason to hate her. Damaged Annie who shouldn’t work with vulnerable people.

Just how far will Annie go?

‘Someone Close To Home’ is a story of love, malice and deadly menace.

About the author

Alex Craigie

Alex Craigie is the pen name of Trish Power.

Trish was ten when her first play was performed at school. It was in rhyming couplets and written in pencil in a book with imperial weights and measures printed on the back. There were two princes in it – one was called Rupert and the other was changed to Sam because she couldn’t find enough rhymes for Randolph.

When her children were young, she wrote short stories for magazines before returning to the teaching job that she loved.

Trish has had seven books published under the pen name of Alex Craigie. Three books cross genre boundaries and feature elements of romance, thriller and suspense against a backdrop of social issues. Someone Close to Home highlights the problems affecting care homes, Acts of Convenience has issues concerning the health service at its heart, and The Bubble Reputation reflects her fears about social media and the damage it can do. Another book. Means to Deceive, is a psychological thriller set in Pembrokeshire in Wales.

Someone Close to Home has won a Chill with a Book award and a Chill with the Book of the Month award. In 2019 it was one of the top ten bestsellers in its category on Amazon.

The Bubble Reputation won a Chill With a Book Premier Readers’ Award in 2023.

She is currently writing a series of books called The Rat in the Python about growing up as a Baby Boomer. The title comes from the term for the bulge in the population statistics caused by us post-war babies.

Review for Close to Home…

I always enjoy reading Trish’s stories, but I had no idea that I was in for such a gripping and riveting read!

I loved the way Trish melded the past with the present, throughout the story. This made it all the more tense.

As it happened, this story was quite apt, for I am confined to one room, for health reasons, and I am staring endlessly out of my window. This made a lot of what I read, all the more real.

I did worry that Megan’s life wouldn’t get any worse, and then it did. Most of which was unbelievably cruel and Trish showed us just how real it could get.

A thoroughly well written and believable story. The characters were so real, they all but jumped off the pages!

Did she fall…

Or was she pushed?

This has always been a question for me, and I would love to know the answer.

At 6 feet tall, I know I can’t do delicate. I have always been the proverbial bull in the china shop. But whenever I fall down, why don’t I end up in a heap where I fall?

Why do I always end up yards away?

It always feels as though I have been shoved. In fact, I sometimes know I have been shoved. I can almost feel the hands on my back.

Yesterday was a case in point. My legs crumpled just as I reached the step leading into the kitchen. So where did I land? Yards away in the middle of the kitchen floor.

And that time I stood up from the couch in my office. My legs went and I ended up yards away, wrapped around the legs of the office chair!

Am I being pushed? Is a vengeful spirit getting its own back?

I’m sure I wouldn’t hurt myself half as much, if I gently slid down into a dignified heap.

In case you were wondering why I keep falling down, it’s because I have a severely impacted nerve in my spine, which is making my legs weak.

I tell you, the Flying Nun has nothing on me…

Patience is a funny thing…

Patience is a funny thing. And not just the card game…

Never ending for some things, yet remarkably short for others. I am known for my patience and will often hang on long after most people have given up. But I am beginning to discover what happens when it runs out.

My recovery at the moment couldn’t be any slower if it tried, and I have tried to be patient, but it looks like my patience is getting a bit threadbare.

And, if it’s not as if I can send someone down the road to get some more, is it?

It’s probably the boredom that is using it all up. I didn’t think I would get bored, mainly because I am living in my office and there are jobs to do everywhere in here.

I have this other problem, though. I haven’t mentioned it before, because I hoped it would disappear. Something weird has happened to my memory. Yawning great holes have appeared, and I can’t remember how to do practically everything. All those things I have been doing every day for the last 15 years are beyond my reach now. (a side effect from the medication, apparently)

I keep trying to prod my memory, hoping for a miracle, but I must relearn anything I want to do.

So, add all that together and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that my patience has been shot down in flames…

Brilliant news from my Bonsai!

My sister came racing back indoors after watering my bonsai. I was amazed, for she never gets that excited about my babies.

‘The hawthorn has flowers!’ she pronounced. I struggled to the window, hoping to see for myself. And there it was, a touch of pink on the very last tree on the shelf. Number one son did no more, he went out there and photographed it, so I could have a good look.

Bearing in mind that I have had this tree for at least eight years and it has never bloomed, you can imagine my joy at seeing four flower clusters!

That’s my day sorted…

My Latest Review… BEELITZ-HEILSTÄTTEN: Where Ghosts Never Die

What if rediscovering your birthplace unearthed a secret so powerful it could rewrite history—and your own identity?

A Russian-American writer obsessed with her birthplace – a ghostly derelict German military hospital near Berlin
Her Austrian husband, who pines for the father he never met
A passionate young doctor destined for darkness
A demonic figure who changed the course of history
Interrogation reports stolen from the Soviet secret police
What mysterious force connects them all?

This genre-bending time-slip narrative bridges 2018 to the haunting eras of WWI and WWII, interweaving together the ghosts of history and a shocking secret that threatens the present.

The story will appeal to fans of Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden and Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale.

About the author

Marina Osipova

Marina Osipova was born in East Germany into a military family and grew up in Russia, where she graduated from the Moscow State Institute of History and Archives. When she was five, she decided she wanted to speak German and, years later, she earned a diploma as a German language translator from the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Languages. In Russia, she worked first in a scientific-technical institute as a translator, then in a Government Ministry in the office of international relations, later for some Austrian firms. For many years, she lived in New York, working in a law firm, and then in Austria for several years. In the spring of 2022, after spending ten months in Russia, some unfortunate world events brought her back to the United States.

A long-standing member of the Historical Novel Society, she is dedicated to writing historical fiction, especially related to WWII. Her books garnered numerous literary awards, including a 1st Place WINNER of the 2021 Hemingway Book Awards novel competition for 20th Century Wartime Fiction (a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards). At some point or another, all her books hit the Amazon Top 100 lists in Historical Russian Fiction and Historical German Fiction and How Dare the Birds Sing even #1 or #2 in War Fiction in Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Her readers praise her books for “emotional realism,” for “taking on a subject that few authors have touched,” for “writing with heart and compassion while not holding back from hard cold realities of war,” for “giving an authentic and in-depth look at a culture that tends to baffle westerners.”

To learn more about Marina Osipova and her captivating books, visit her website at marina-osipova.com.

You can find her also on

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marina.osipova.14/

My Review

 This book was recommended to me, but the cover was so intriguing, I probably would have read it anyway. 

The way Marina Osipova writes grabbed me from the very first sentence. The urgency, the compelling need to read, had me rushing through the book like lightning desperate to know where we were going and what we would find when we got there.

This is one of those books that you just can’t put down, not for a coffee break or a call of nature, well maybe that one!

Around the middle of this story, it became very dark, almost sinister. It had me looking around the room for shadows.

When a deep breath of evil joined this darkness, I wanted to put this book down, but I couldn’t. I finished reading this book with my fists clenched, my nails digging into my palms.

I honestly can’t say I enjoyed this book, but I am glad I read it…