One Word Blog Day

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athwart

1.  adverb.  from side to side; crosswise.

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Link Back To The Word Grrls Mothership

LILYCHILDSFEARDOM.BLOGSPOT.COM – LILY’S FRIDAY PREDICTION FOR MAY 17, 2012: INTO THE NIGHT

New flash fiction over at http://lilychildsfeardom.blogspot.com/2012/05/lilys-friday-prediction-end-of-one-era.html

Rules – 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using the following words – impersonate, elegant, shovel.  Deadline is 9pm UK time on Thursday 17^th  May 2012.

INTO THE NIGHT

By Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

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“It won’t do… it simply will not do!  Elizabeth, married off to that pompous ass?  The woman is a hack!”

Slamming the book shut.

First impersonate… then consummate.

Mirror’s fancy… elegant lace and brocaded silk draped over naked body… soon it shall be my words that are read by all!

Into the night.

“Good evening, Miss Austen.”  I step under the porch lamp.  Polite interest on her face turns to puzzlement.

“Why… you look just like…”  Darkness befalls fair Jane.

Under a conspiratorial moon… the shovel my silent partner… organ-less torso to the worms.

Home.

Quill and paper await me.

~finis~

© 2012 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw.  All Rights Reserved

LILYCHILDSFEARDOM.BLOGSPOT.COM – LILY’S FRIDAY PREDICTION FOR MAY 10, 2012: EATING JANE

New flash fiction over at http://lilychildsfeardom.blogspot.com/2012/05/lilys-friday-prediction.html

Rules – 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using the following words – psycho, belt, purgatory.  Deadline is 9pm UKtime on Thursday 10^th  May 2012.

EATING JANE

By Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

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“Psycho?

You dare call me psychopath?

I am not some crazy person with but the thinnest belt of sanity wrapped around them!

The world will know my story… they shall see!

My purgatory… this dripping cell… pen and paper to capture the overflow of words from my brain.

I write as fast as I can… but I fear my words must soon end.

No food or water…  my toes but a distant memory… 

The hunger pangs become unbearable… I have all but finished my right hand.

I pray I can finish my story before… ahhh…  my stomach growls once more…”

  

~finis~

 

 © 2012 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw.  All Rights Reserved.

One Word Blog Day

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message

1.  noun.  the point, moral, or meaning of a gesture, utterance, novel, motion picture, etc.

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Link Back To The Word Grrls Mothership

BOOK REVIEW – CHERYL REID: DIARY OF A MENOPAUSAL WOMAN

Diary of a Menopausal Woman by Cheryl Reid, Toby Williams, Lizzi Easyburn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(REVIEWERS NOTE – Men… if you have a sense of humour, you will LOVE this book!  Don’t let the title put you off… this truly is a ‘must-read’!  Thank you.  vmls)

If ever there was a book that deserved five stars… this one is it!

Menopause… something we women all have to look forward to, right?  Okay, maybe ‘look forward to’ isn’t the right phrase… how about ‘stark terror’?  I mean, I’ve heard stories… I’ve seen the films in school… I’ve seen Aunt Sophie!  Granted I have a few years to go, but still…

After reading Cheryl Reid’s DIARY OF A MENOPAUSAL WOMAN, I am minding less the sound of that clock ticking down to my inevitable passing into that phase of womanhood.

With a sharp wit and keen sense of humour, Cheryl chronicles nine months in the life of… a survivor.  Yes, I think that is a very apt description.  Cheryl is a survivor.  We all must be to make it in this crazy world, right?  You bet your pretty lace knickers I’m right!

Cheryl does an amazing job with DIARY OF A MENOPAUSAL WOMAN… turning adversity into fortune… casting a humourous eye on those everyday things that can sometimes have one running screaming from a room… sometimes in search of a bottle of Stolichnaya – or, is that just me?

Cheryl’s dissertation on the trials and tribulations of everyday living reminds us that, I’m paraphrasing Cheryl here… “While life can sometimes feel like ‘garbage’, if one can laugh when they really feel like crying, life isn’t that bad and we can be rich in ways that money can’t buy.”  It’s all about finding that silver lining… holding your chin up when you’d as soon pull the pillow over your head and stay in bed.

From dealing with the mystery of bottled water for irons… to puppy-kissing and the pitfalls of finding proper homes for Ruby’s offspring… to solving those oft-occurring financial dilemmas that can tax an already stretched-to-the-limit budget… to searching for an answer as to who is behind the chocolate conspiracy… to a devoted son who seems to be fighting his own battle in getting a card and poem to his mother before Mum’s Day is only a distant memory… Cheryl’s spirit and indomitable sense of humour will lift you up and show you that, with the proper frame of mind… you to can take the cares and woes of the world and just say… “Buzz off, world… you’re not trodding over me!”

I am trying really hard not to put any spoilers in here because I want everyone to experience Cheryl’s wit, humour and brilliant story-telling first hand… to be taken off guard, as I was… so that when laughter bubbles up from deep inside them it is with a joy at finding something brand new that brightens their day and brings a smile to their lips!

DIARY OF A MENOPAUSAL WOMAN is brilliantly done… rich with humour and a certain pragmatism that Cheryl turns ‘round into something positive.  But DIARY… also has a bit of suspense.

There were a couple of times when I wasn’t rocking in my chair with laughter, tears [of joy] running down my cheeks, or passengers on the morning train casting looks at the dark-haired girl who couldn’t stop laughing.

In those moments I was on the edge of my seat, anxious with worry, as Cheryl battled her addiction… with chocolate!  But then… Cheryl would offer such rationalizations – and they make perfect sense to me – as to why, in certain situations, chocolate has no calories, that I was soon literally falling out of my chair with laughter.

Repeat after me, sweetie…

“Hi. I’m Cheryl. I am a chocoholic.”

(chorus of voices…) “Hi, Cheryl!”

Thank you.

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
Silverdale, Washington
Portland, Oregon
30 April 2012
View all my reviews

BOOK REVIEW – J.F. JUZWIK: KING’S BISHOP TAKES KING’S ROOK’S PAWN

King’s Bishop Takes King’s Rook’s Pawn by J.F. Juzwik

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve been a fan of Joyce Juzwik’s writing ever since she introduced me to the online writing community over at Flash Fiction Friday.  Her writing flows very well… it is both clean and nuanced… and she brings depth and a sharp realism to her characters; something that is missing from the characters in some books I have read.  ‘Homo erectus’ is a flawed creature… why should the characters we write and read about be less so?

Joyce’s first novel – King’s Bishop Takes King’s Rooks’ Pawn – takes us inside the mind of a serial killer and the police detective determined to bring a psychopath to justice.  She draws the protagonist- Detective Charlie Dunne – with a caring and compassion that adds great depth to the character… giving him real strength… and real flaws.

Charlie has a keen sense of justice… he also has a troubled past… a past that threatens his latest case.  A serial killer has ‘come to roost’ in the quiet small town Charlie has moved to in the hopes of starting his life over.  The killer has deliberately… but wait, I don’t want to spoil anything here.  You’ll have to read for yourself.

Charlie quickly finds himself battling both the ticking clock of a serial killer’s ‘timetable’ as well as contending with the small-mindedness of a small town city council intent on not letting the ‘good name’ of their fair city become soiled with the publicity of a madman on the loose by bringing in help for Detective Dunne, who struggles with woefully inadequate resources with which to catch the killer.  On top of all of that, Charlie is still battling his own personal demons.

What makes this story all the more intriguing is that Joyce tells it from the differing perspectives of the major characters as well as the victims… allowing us glimpses inside the minds of these people… seeing and feeling their needs, wants, desires… including the sick, twisted fantasies of the killer – a rare glimpse into the pathology of a madman.

There are no red herrings in this story, but Joyce does make the reader work for the story… feeding bits and pieces at a time and making the reader think… to draw their own inferences from the facts presented.  I don’t care much for stories that hand the reader everything on a plate… like the author doesn’t think we are smart enough to figure stuff out. Joyce does not do that.

King’s Bishop is a well-plotted read with just enough sub-plot to keep the story interesting but not so much that the reader becomes lost.  And as the reader will soon see, this sub-plot is integral to the story.  It hasn’t been ‘thrown in’ simply to add pages to the book.

Joyce’s narrative style moves the reader along at a good pace, building the suspense with each chapter… each new revelation… and as the body count climbs, the reader becomes completely caught up in the story… emotions roller-coastering along with the story… until the very end.  An end I confess I had not quite expected and thus was very pleased with.  It ended the way a good thriller should end.

King’s Bishop is noir… a crime drama… it doesn’t have a happy ending, nor should it.  Life isn’t always rainbows and unicorns… bad things happen to good people and sometimes, fighting the good fight doesn’t save you in the end.  Lives are changed… some shattered beyond repair or redemption.

The final scene, as much of Joyce’s writing does, took my breath away with its shocking, brutal finality.  Joyce is a writer who clearly knows her craft and her audience.  I would recommend King’s Bishop Takes King’s Rook’s Pawn to anyone who loves good suspense.

Thank you.

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
Silverdale, Washington
3 May 2012
View all my reviews

LILYCHILDSFEARDOM.BLOGSPOT.COM – LILY’S FRIDAY PREDICTION FOR MAY 3, 2012: UNDER A KILLING MOON

New flash fiction over at http://lilychildsfeardom.blogspot.com/2012/04/lilys-friday-prediction-and-exciting.html

Rules – 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using the following words – backyard, tartan, prowl.  Deadline is 9pm UK time on Thursday 3^rd May 2012.

UNDER A KILLING MOON

By Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

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Staring at the massive wooden door wouldn’t bring Ian back… Moira knew that.  He’d gone up from the cellar over an hour ago… a loud thud… then silence.

A neighbor had rung up Moira… she’d seen someone on the prowl last night… staggering around her backyard… drunk on the moonlight.

A killing moon Eileen had said…

Pushing up the heavy door, Moira peered over the edge… Ian lay crumpled in sanguineous tartan… hellish creature holding his head… a wet, crunching sound.

Mouth glistening with gore… the pale, bloodied zombie hissed…

The door dropped with a crash… Moira began to pray.

~finis~

© 2012 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw.  All Rights Reserved.