Meet for Lunch

I know the step I have to take,

I know the choice I have to make.

I smile and try to take a bite,

My mouth is dry, my throat is tight.

I take a sip of lukewarm tea,

Look up and see you watching me.

I hoped that we would share a meal

Before I tell you how I feel.

Aware of hurt and furtive looks

I blurt out, ‘your new sandwich sucks.’

Review: Dangerous Liaisons by Barbara Tyree

This is not an awesome book.  It is a frustrating book.  There is an awesome book in there, or possibly two awesome books, but this edition doesn’t quite hit the mark.

The story of FBI Agent Sierra Lancaster and her interactions with the people around her is potentially gripping with plenty of twists and turns.  There are old flames, FBI agents, partners, sort-of-estranged relatives, shoot-outs, deals, busts and a whole swathe of difficult and challenging interactions.  I am a sucker for complex interactions and intricate layers of relationships and this is almost awesome.  I found myself muttering as I read because it isn’t quite there, and it could be.  I would almost be enjoying a sudden revelation, but the foreshadowing hadn’t quite hit the mark.  I would be almost caught up in a character’s development, but it wasn’t quite consistent.  I would be almost hooked on the story but some of the details didn’t strike true.  I finished this book wanting to kick something because I read a nearly good book.

I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending this book.  If a second edition comes out, however, I recommend grabbing it with both hands.  I sort of hope that Ms Tyree makes two separate stories out of it, because there are at least two separately awesome books in there.  I shall definitely be watching out for further work from her, as there are some great stories in there and I want to read the awesome ones. 

Iron Crown

The legendary Iron Crown was now just rusted metal.  He pushed aside the rubbish on the floor and picked it up.  It was still surprisingly heavy.  He turned it over in his hands and even though it was so decayed he could feel the power in it.  It was heavy with more than the physical iron.  Centuries of being the loadstar for every ambitious heart had left their mark.   Had it been worth it?  Had all the scheming and plotting been worth the pain?  Had the brief season of rule been worth rending the world apart. 

He glanced through the gaps in the ruined castle walls.  The sun was getting lower.  He had to leave before night fell and the Dark Ones walked. 

Image by pixel2013

Haunted

Many walk past his statue.  School children sketch it and history teachers wave wildly as they walk its bounds.  His name is in legend.  But for those who have the sight, his ghost huddles at the foot of the bronze, sobbing inconsolably, his hands shielding his head, as he remembers the blood shed in his wake.

The Bells of St Brigit

I thought I would revisit this piece I wrote back in 2014 in response to a writing prompt from Write on Edge.  

The bells of St. Brigit's are calling tonight,

The moonlight is sparkling over the sea,

The stars are shedding their magical light,

And my lover's dead soul is calling to me.

The roses are breathing their passion filled scent,

The soft waves are hissing onto the sand,

The bells chimes are ringing an empty lament,

I feel the blessed touch of my lover's cold hand.

Down the stone staircase and out to the sand,

Across the storm wreckage to the now quiet sea,

My lover steps slowly away from the land,

A final farewell and he's now lost to me.   

Free Books!

There are a lot of free ebooks out there.  Some are legitimate free ebooks which are released on Amazon, Smashwords and similar places to tempt readers into buying other books from the same author.  Others are curiosities.  Perhaps someone wants to share their knowledge of making chainmail or crochet or gas metal arc welding and for whatever reason don't feel it right putting a price on it. 

There are other legitimate sites where the books are free.  You can visit your local library (some lend ebooks as well), or read books that would otherwise have a cost through subscription schemes like Amazon Prime or Scribd.  You can even share books around.  There are a lot of book exchanges, some more official than others.  I found a load listed on Wikipedia here. 

Some free ebooks deal with health matters.  Sometimes those who have struggled down dark paths of addiction, disordered eating or chronic illness want to share their experience and how they made it through.  They can be a valuable resource to people lost in bad places.  Please always check advice from these sources against reputable medical advice.  It's not that all of the books would mislead you, but some are safer than others.  You are precious and worth doing due diligence. 

Then there are places out there that tout that they supply free ebooks, but perhaps aren't the safest places to find a good read.  If you are not familiar with a site, it's worth double checking or skipping altogether.  The last thing anyone needs is to find themselves downloading the latest virus instead of the most recent blockbuster. 

These are all modern books dealing with new fiction or current techniques.  But did you know that there are a lot more books out there that may have passed under your radar?  For example, did you know about 'Internet Sacred Text Archive'?  This is a collection of free texts on folklore, esoteria, religion and mythology.  You can donate or subscribe to read without ads, but if you do neither you can still read such works as 'Four Ancient Books of Wales' which is a translation made in 1868 of some of the older works in the Welsh tradition.  I am sure that fantasy writers of all types would have a gleam in their eye at the thought of dipping into the legends of the saints, the Vikings, the Celts, Alchemy, the Pacific, or even UFOs.

You can also have a rummage around the kindle bookstore on Amazon.  Did you know that there are a lot of free classics on there?  I have no longer have an excuse to avoid Moby Dick - free on Amazon.  I ought to be dipping in to Immanuel Kant, or Dickens, or Kafka - all with editions of their work free on Amazon.  I won't, though.  I'm currently listening to the free Audio book, The Children of Odin.  This channel, like many others on YouTube, has a collection of out of copyright books read by individuals and while some are less than perfect, others rival professional audio books. 

If you are looking for a really good site for free, obscure, out of copyright books, then check out Project Gutenberg.  There are currently over 57,000 free books, including 'Memoires de Garibaldi' by Dumas, Dracula by Bram Stoker (seriously worth reading the original if you haven't already and if you want to pay for an audio version the one with Brian Cox rocks), and Persuasion by Jane Austen.

And after going back to all these great places, I think I may spend some time dipping in to a chapter or two.  I may be gone some time. 

Elfshot at Dawn

They got Jenkins just as dawn broke and the mist was sidling away from the valley.  It was elfshot, straight in the chest above the heart.  We carried him back as he raved, our legs dampened and cooled with the morning dew and the light spilling golden through the mist and down the valley.  Into the farmhouse we took him and put him near the roof with a Bible next to his bed and a rosary over the bedstead.  The priest was slow to come but prayed hard when he came and someone was always watching as Jenkins told us about the sky kingdoms sailing through the skies like swans and cooed at pictures on the walls that only he could see. 

The hen keeper could hear his shouts as she collected her eggs and topped up the water trough.  The cows being milked in the cool dairy with rowan twigs hung above the stalls could hear his cries.  Neither the doctor not the priest could pull the elf shot as Jenkins sang wildly as if under a mackerel sky. 

He died at sunset, not well, and we did not bless the day the Shining Ones, the Fair Folk, the Faerie returned. 

Image from WikiCommons, taken by Patrick Nouhailler and used under the Creative Commons Agreement