Today’s Pictures: 21 Dec 20 Winter Solstice

A small stream snakes through the fallen leaves in the forest. Share this post widely on social media and it will let those who are stuck indoors, due to Covid 19, enjoy it. It’ll also reach more people and, hopefully, show them the wonderful place our world is. With luck, between us, we’ll restore some …

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Today’s Pictures: 12 Dec 20

For those who want warmth at this time of the year, here's a shot of the Lassithi Plateau in Crete. Taken July 2008 I walk daily in the Forest of Dean, which is on my doorstep. It’s a place my wife and I love. For both of us it’s a space of spiritual uplift, always …

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Childish Ways, by Fran Gabaldoni: #BookReview.

194 pagesFiction An interesting and relatively unusual approach to the novel, this story uses the format of first-person narrative from the point of view of a young boy, alternating with the emotionally charged diary entries the same person makes as the father of a young girl suffering from leukaemia. The contrast between the carefree and …

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The Beauty of the #Book Review

Sometimes a reader truly ‘gets’ our work. Even less rarely, that reader takes the trouble to express their admiration and understanding of the piece by posting a review. This common situation is even more true of authors, like me, who tackle controversial themes in their books. Since April of this year, I’ve been posting daily …

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2120 (The Galaxy Series Book 4), by Aithal: #BookReview.

141 pagesFirst Contact Science Fiction/Action and Adventure Fiction Having read book 3 in this series (Divided States of America), I was open to read and review this fourth book when invited by the author. The story is the continuation of a time-travelling group, involving another world in a distant galaxy and the interaction of the …

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Kos in a Time of Covid 19: Finale. #Cats of Kos.

This little stray appeared to be living under a parked car! This is the last piece about our recent stay on Kos. Just a light-hearted post especially for the many cat-lovers around the world. This one lived among the ruins in the Western Archaeological site. No idea who the young woman is, but the cat …

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The Book Review Companion, by David Wogahn: #BookReview.

212 pagesPublishing and Books/Writing Reference/Writing Skills Reference. Subtitled ‘An Author’s Guide to Getting and Using Book Reviews’, this is manual designed to do what the title suggests. Unfortunately, in common with a number of other books offering similar advice, it has little new to say about fiction, concentrating mainly on nonfiction. This isn’t a fault …

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Kos in a Time of Covid 19: 10th Day.

Monday was our last day in Kos; we were due to fly home on Tuesday morning. So, we went in search of those places we hadn’t yet found. First on our list was the Casa Romana, a Roman house dating from the 2nd century, built on the ruins of an earlier Hellenistic house. The building …

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A #Romantic Short Story for You.

In hope of giving you some entertainment in these peculiar times, here’s a short story. It’s a gentle romance, with a touch of humour, from a collection of such stories I published some time ago. A Perfect Solution Under the heat of a Mediterranean sun it seemed ludicrous to care about his worries back home. …

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Kos in a Time of Covid 19: 9th Day.

View from the road leading to the Asklepion Sunday was our 32nd wedding anniversary, so, naturally, we set out on a long trek up a hill. We’d decided early in the stay that we’d visit the Asklepion. It’s the most popular destination for tourists on the island, so we expected it would be quite busy. …

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Today’s Pictures: 5 Nov 20

Today is Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes Day) here in England. It’s an odd tradition marking the brutal execution of a man who attempted, with a dozen others, to blow up the Houses of Parliament. His reasons were largely religious, in that his particular sect of believers, the Roman Catholics, were being persecuted by the then …

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National Cake Day in Ruritania, by Mark P. Henderson: #BookReview.

362 pagesSatire Fiction/General Humorous Fiction/Humour Humour is so personal. What makes one person laugh can make another frown or fail to respond at all. I’ve no wish to put readers off, but this book, included in the ‘humour’ genre, didn’t tickle my laughter muscles, I’m afraid. That doesn’t mean it will fail to stimulate yours. …

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Today’s Pictures: 3 Nov 20

7 kilometres walked this morning (about 4 and a half miles) and we met just one other couple and saw 3 others at a distance. From Thursday of this week, the forest will be open only to local people, as England goes into a month-long lockdown. So our walks will remain local and we’ll meet …

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Grenade Rain Dance, by Calibna J. Kerr (Junk Talk Poet): #BookReview.

Poetry is such a varied medium that a reader approaches any work with cautious curiosity. What will this piece say, will it be formal, contemporary, or simply chopped prose? The very fact that Calibna prefers his Junk Talk Poet handle may well put off a number of potential readers due to the propensity to pre-judge. …

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Kos in a Time of Covid 19: 8th Day.

This post should have appeared yesterday. Unfortunately, my PC was temporarily disabled by a Windows 10 update. It had to be remotely invaded before it could be persuaded to comply with my wishes. Out of action for the whole day. But back now. Saturday sent us on another walk into the town to see more …

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