Top Ten Tuesday: Book I Liked with Asexual character.

 

I like a book with a hermaphrodite character. 

The book is available at Amazon only in paperback. I read if after his book Aztec. I discovered that Gary Jennings has a way of writing a scene that if etched by acid onto your memory. Every book I've read of his has done this.

Raptor is set during the time of Theodoric the Great (Dietrich in Gothic) who overthrew the last Roman emperor, Romulus Agustulus, and dates the fall of the Western Empire and the beginning of the dark ages around 465AD.

Raptor is a hermaphrodite and is capable of passing as either woman or man, even sexually. Throughout the book he one or the other sometimes both. He becomes an assassin. 

One scene burned into my memory is at the beginning where he's an orphan at a monastery and the monk in charge of the kitchen where Raptor is sent to work thinks he's a girl and uses him as such. It isn't until later Raptor knows he's both as he/she was raised as a girl.

As an assassin he's given the job of killing one of Theodoric's rivals in Ravenna. Most of the time he is in male dress and only as a woman when stealth is needed.

 He dresses as a prostitute and uses a thin wire under his dress to push up what breasts he has. Once with the rival he straightens the wire and kills him with it, then leaves and is gone before the body is discovered. There are other assassinations and battles, but this one was the most memorable.

 One thing Gary Jennings does is research and describe the historical setting in great detail. This made it especially interesting as it's such a black hole of history and is very enlightening in an entertaining way.

It is the only book I've read with this type of character. There are very few novels written in this time period. Tony Roberts has a couple of Casca books in the time period, that I've read since.

Friday Book Review: Pioneer Go Home

 This is going down memory lane.

It was Labor Day weekend, 1961. My grandparents owned a cabin in Beulah, CO. We lived in Pueblo the cabin was only forty miles west. We drove up on Friday night and planned to go fishing at Lake Isabel for two days before heading back.

Saturday morning Mom got up and tried to start a fire in the wood burning stove. She got smoke in the cabin. Dad got up and asked her what she's doing. She told him to look outside. He opened the door to six inches of snow. He got the stove working and we were trapped in the cabin.

We brought up plenty of food, that wasn't a problem, the problem was behind the cabin was an outhouse. It was coooollllldddd getting there and back.

The cabin was wall to wall National Geographics and books. Grandpa liked to relax at the cabin by reading.

Dad chose this book: Pioneer Go Home, by Richard Powell. We all cuddled up to the stove, my brother, Mom, Dad and me. Dad started reading and after an hour, Mom took over, and then Dad, so on and so forth.

It's about a misfit family in an old jalopy that drove onto a new turnpike in Florida. They run out of gas and camp out on the beach. Government of officials come by and order them to leave. Grandpa in the story has taken some stray children, the oldest is just out of the army on disability, a teen-age girl and twin brothers ten years old. 

The thing about Grandpa is he won't take orders, especially from the government. He claims squatter's rights.

The plot doesn't convey how funny the writer makes this out. The boys are always up to mischief, the girl has a crush on the ex-soldier son, and he only sees her a still a child.

Grandpa completely flabbergasted the government officials, and they leave to plot how to get rid of them.

By afternoon and about 3/4s of the way through we ran out of wood. While it was still light, we gave up and headed home. Once out of the mountains the road cleared up. Mom kept reading on the drive and we finished that night.

It is a pleasant read and I still remember most of it.

Flash forward to 1970. After the 10:00 o'clock news they showed movies. It was an Elvis movie Follow That Dream. The first ten minutes and we all said, "Pioneer Go Home."

The book is a lot funnier.

WC Books That Pleasantly Surprised Me

 

Books that pleasantly surprised me.

I had seen this book at Hastings a few times and wondered about it, but I was into Sci-fi at the time. First year teaching and I was doing summer school hoping to land a full-time position. The room I was teaching in had a bookcase of SSR books. APS set aside 15 minutes every day for Sustained Silent Reading. While the students were silently reading, I found this book in the SSR bookcase. I really enjoyed it. There are now 55 and counting of Casca books. Barry Sadler died, and other writers picked up the Casca series. Over half of them by Tony Roberts and he churns out one or two a year. The first 22 books are available in audio format, I listen to them all the time. When teaching 7th grade, I found there was little boys of that age wanted to read. I got a bunch of the books at used bookstores and they ate them up.

After reading a number of Tony Roberts Casca books, in his author's page he also has a fantasy series. 

After LOTR I tried Lord Fowls Bane by Santa Fe author Stephen R. Donaldson, Shanara and other sword and sorcery stories. They didn't quite grab my attention. 

I tried, Dark Blade a fantasy quest series and have been hooked on everyone since. He can't come out with them fast enough.

I was reading an anthology from the Science Fiction book club, and there was a short story about Dragon riders. When the book which the short story begins came out, I liked it and got the first three books combined from Sci fi book club. 

I read them to my wife when we were first married and she loved them, so have my children and grandchildren. I got a classroom set of Dragon Flight and had my 7th grade literature students read them.

 I read the Thorn Birds and watched the mini-series. 

At Hastings I found The First Man in Rome by Collene McCullough and was intrigued. It was quite different than her other books. Ancient and Biblical history has always been my forte (history major), Rome in particular. 

I read the glossary first. It was a good thing I read it first. It helped me with all the Latin words, the culture, the society, politics, she even had modern names for the Roman names of cities and provinces, even drawing of the shape of a toga, stola and chiton. I learned more about Rome in that glossary than all my knowledge of Roman history to that time. I would never have been able write Optimus: Praetorian Guard without these books.

The first book got me hooked and luckily Hastings always carried the hard backs that didn't sell well at reduced prices until the last one. It covers from the rise of Marius to Octavian becoming Augustus. I've read the whole series three times.   

Friday Book Review: Where the Crawdads Sing

 Where the Crawdad's Sing

When I first started blogging with Wednesday Challenge and Top Ten Tuesday, I discovered lots of books I normally would not look for or find on Amazon or at a bookstore. Many of them were young adult, and since I'm not teaching teenagers anymore, not something I'm interested in.

A few books had rave reviews from lots of fellow bloggers. This was one of them. I fell in love with the story.

The e-book also had audio for a small price, and I chose to listen instead of reading. It was a good choice. The reader spoke in a stylized North Carolina accent which added depth to the characters simple reading wouldn't provide.

Kya Clark is left alone when her father abandons her to fend for herself in the wetlands of North Carolina. She survives by digging up muscles and selling them to a kindly the Madison's a black couple that run a general store and boat fuel business. She's able to buy food and fuel to survive at eight years of age. Mrs. Madison is there to help her through puberty, and always adds a little something like candy or a dress or shoes when she gets supplies.

The book is broken up between the 1950's and early 60's to the year 1968, where a hometown hero quarterback and owner of the Western Auto is found dead. It weaves the life of Kya growing up and then back to the investigation and finally Kya being arrested for the murder of Chase Andrews.

Kya's encouraged to attend school where she'll get a proper meal, but the first day she is shunned and ridiculed. She never goes back.

 The odds of her surviving are stacked against her. Tate Walker was friends with her older brother, before he left, starts leaving her feathers on a stump by her house, knowing she collected them. He leaves her a note. She tells him she can't read. He begins to teach her to read.

They become close and a romantic relationship starts, but Tate knows he's going off to college and doesn't want to use her and leave.

He encourages her with her drawings and watercolors of the flora and fauna of the wetlands. She reads every book she can find in the library and learns everything about them. Tate is impressed with her work and tells her to send them off to a publisher. She's not too sure about it.

Tate leaves and is gone for years. When she finds developers are getting ready to build hotels nearby, she checks on her land. Finds she needs $800 for back taxes. She sends off her first book and is able to pay her taxes to save her land. Also, able to modernize the cabin.

Chase Andrews observes Kya while he's out in the wetlands and slowly woos Kya. They become close until she learns he's engaged to another and he's only using her. She breaks up with things off.

Chase won't take no for an answer.

The rest of the story is about the number of books she publishes concerning the wetlands. The books start to gather interest in saving the wetlands and slows down the development. She's becoming well known outside of her town, but to the locals she's just the "Marsh Girl."

Tate comes back after college and is working with a biological center not far from her. She throws rocks at him when he first shows up. It takes a bit to get close to her again.

She's arrested for Chase Andrews death and the last of the book deals with her jailing and trial.

Okay, that's what you get if you watch the Netflix's movie. It is very well done, great acting and filming. It leaves the heart of the story out of it.

Reading or listening to the book you know what Kya is thinking and feeling, movies can't do that. It leaves out why her mother, brothers and sisters left her all alone with an abusive father.

When her lone sibling returns, Jodie, who was friends with Tate. In the movie she sees him coming and immediately recognizes him. It was 20 years since she'd seen him.

In the book the reason is when she was younger her father took a hot poker to him as he tried to stop his father from using the hot poker on his mother. He is left with a scar on the side of his face. That's what she recognized, left out in the movie.

At the beginning of the movie, it shows her mother painting still-life's of the land. How Kya grew up drawing and painting with her mother.

When Jody returns, having seen her book in a bookstore and he's stationed in Georgia in the Army. He tells her of how her mother survived with her family, being nearly catatonic for a year. What made her come out of the coma was painting. She died a few years before he found her, her family gave him her paintings. All of them showing the family playing and happy in different stages of growing up.

She puts them up in her cabin. Totally left out in the movie. To me that gutted the story.

Each chapter about halfway the book started with a poem from her favorite poet. All describing the wetlands at dawn, day, sunset and night. Left out. (Spoiler alert, she's the poet using a pen name.)

The question of did she or did she not kill Chase is left to the very last. 

You can fuss about the movie over the book, but I mention this because don't think seeing the movie is enough. READ THIS BOOK with a box of tissue handy.  

Berthold Gambrel is better when he does reviews of covering the theme and philosophy. of the story. What I took away from the story was the obvious that the town outside of the Madisons at the general store who took her under their wing while growing up, she was the "Marsh Girl" and were afraid of her, spread crazy rumors about her and they were the ones she faced on the jury. 

Fear of the other, racism to a small degree, when the Madison's sat behind her at the trial, the judge stopped the spectators from causing a fuss, by saying the trial was open to all as spectators. Were obvious themes concerning the setting and time period.

Mostly it was about a woman who overcame all odds, and with a desire to explore, learn, create, self-taught other that Tate teaching her how to read.

To a certain extent it reminded me of Harry Potter teaching the other students in Defense of the Dark Arts, when professor Umbrage wouldn't. That those who desire to learn will find a way.

WC 020123 What I Eat on the Average Day

 

Today's challenge: What I eat on the average day.

I try not to eat the same thing every day. I relish diversity.

Breakfast: It could be a bowl of cereal, oatmeal, eggs and bacon, a frozen croissant with ham, egg and cheese warmed in the microwave, with one of a dozen types of herbal and regular flavored tea. Sometimes fresh squeezed orange juice. Favorite teas are Bigelow's Constant Comment and Perfect Mint. Also, Celestial Seasons Sweet and Spicy, or if my blood sugar is high a Glucerna shake.

Lunch: My main meal. A grilled sirloin burger with mashed potatoes, corn or green beans. I try to have a salad, Cosco has a great fresh Kale salad with thin broccoli noodles. 

If we go out, I like Thai, their version of sweet and sour medium spicy, never try Thai Hot! It will strip the paint off your car. The place I like adds a small bowl of onion soup with a few dollops of Thai oil, very tasty. You also get two small egg rolls with a thin sauce with peanut pieces floating on top, a fruit cup with watermelon and pineapple, and a rice pudding. I usually pass on the rice, but sometimes go with brown rice.

There are a number of great Mexican places, we go to the places with moderately hot green chile or red chile. There are Tourista places with mild chile and others for fire eaters. I prefer a burrito with either ground beef or chicken smothered in Green Chile sauce with pinto beans, not a fan of Spanish rice. Twisters, a local fast-food place has Christmas enchiladas, three enchiladas, one carne adovada (pulled pork marinated in red chile), one beef and one chicken, smothered in both red and green chile.

Fast food if I really want to screw up my diet. Blake's is the local hamburger joint. If you've watched Breaking Bad, you've seen the bags from Blakes. Sonic has a good green chile cheeseburger. I can't stand mayonnaise on a burger sometimes forget to tell them to leave it off. Wendy's does have good salads and chili. Arby's has a good Turkey, bacon cheese sandwich on whole wheat. I like their Jalapeno bites with Bronco Berry sauce. 

Evening: We usually snack: An apple, orange, grapes, blueberries, celery stick with flavored cream cheese or peanut butter, sometimes on a vegetable Ritz. Hot dogs with mustard and green chile, Costco has frozen packages of green chile that are ten to the bag, I eat only Hebrew National beef hotdogs. 

I also snack on homemade guacamole. I get avocados, puree them in a blender, add Sadie's Hot salsa (local restaurant salsa they also have a "Not so hot") and a bit of lemon or lime juice. Eat with tortilla chips.

My latest e-book on Amazon:

The Eagle, Earth Mother comes back as an Eagle and reincarnates to help mortals find love and happiness.

 

Friday Book Review: Fireballer

 

Every month if you have Kindle Unlimited, you get to pick a free book. Usually, all the picks are for chicks, or have something to do with WWII. This one was a rare exception. Fireballer by Mark Stevens. Available on Unlimited.

It's about baseball. I have a few gripes with the great American pastime, namely the pitching. There is nothing that irks me more than when a pitcher gets a 0-2 count, he then purposely throws out of the strike zone to get the batter to chase a bad ball. The count goes 3-2 and afraid to throw a good pitch walks the guy, or the batter starts hitting foul balls and it becomes a one-man rain delay. It makes the game boring.

Frank Ryder is a game changer for baseball. He throws nothing but strikes, and nobody can hit off him. He consistently throws 105 to 110mph.

By the time the batter sees the pitch and the brain says swing, it's already in the catcher's mit. One guy hits a home run off him, and when he watches the replay, the guy swung at the pitch before it left his hand. Lucky swing.

This is of great concern to the league. The player's union is worried because most of the members are batters, and this guy is ruining their stats. 

The owners and commissioner are afraid that the upcoming pitchers will get just as good, and the sport will be ruined. Nobody is going to go the game if there's no hitting. The deck is already stacked against them. Name any other sport where failing 7 times out of 1o, and you're a great player?

They want to change the rules so that a pitch over 105 is counted as a ball or move the pitching mound back from 60 feet to 75. 

The Orioles owner, looking at having the first chance at a World Series in decades, wants to make Ryder only pitch three innings a game, but play every other day. He gets them a lead and lets the other pitcher's finish. He plays more often, and they'll win more games this way. Frank wants complete games and says no.

Frank has problems of his own. In little league when he's start unleashing his power, he hits a boy in the head and the boy dies. 

His parents' home school him and don't let him play baseball afraid of the town's reaction. They move to Denver from Georgia, and let the two boys, Frank has a twin brother, go to public school, but not play ball.

While watching in the stands behind center field Frank catches a home run ball and throws it back to the catcher on a rope.

The coach talks the parents into letting him play again. He becomes a phenom, goes on to college, improves his game, gets national notoriety and drafted first pick by the Orioles.

In three months, he's won every game rarely allowing the other team to score.

While he's pitching, he sees the ghost of the boy he killed and has to put him out of his mind. After games the reporters keep wanting to psychoanalyze him by bringing up the dead boy. He refuses to answer their questions leading to a feeding frenzy over it.

Then comes the day, the best batter on the team is hit on the wrist and is out for the season. When the other team's best batter comes to bat there's the unspoken rule of retaliation. 

Pressure is put on him to hit the other batter. He refuses. On the mound everyone is expecting him to retaliate. He plans on throwing a regular ball, but at the moment of release his arm doesn't respond. He hits the batter in the ribs at 109mph. The man drops like a stone and doesn't move.

 The dugouts erupt, he's protected by his teammates, but as he truthfully tells everyone that he didn't intend to hit the guy, no one believes him, because that's what they always say afterwards.

He's suspended for three games, the batter has three broken ribs is out for the season, and may never play again, but no internal organs were injured.

Ryder goes mental. His pitches start going wild. They get experts and psychologists to work with him, but he can't pitch with control. The suspension helps them hide the "yips," but they can't let him pitch and let the world know he has them. They fake a blister injury to the media as a reason for him not to play in the all-star game. They don't buy it.

Frank has to learn how to get control again and get his head right.

This is the best book about baseball I've ever read or any of the movies about it I've ever seen. 

There are lots of references to past players and situations giving the reader context.

It's a part of baseball that is never talked about or shown. The human aspect and trying to navigate all the politics, the grind of a 160-game season half of them on the road. How to maintain a relationship with all the stress and women throwing themselves at him. Trying to remain sane in all the madness.

Through it all you find the dehumanizing of the players, and the fight to remain human. 

A Long Story

 My first published book was Optimus: Praetorian Guard. I started it in 1995 and published it in 2006. I used Publish America and in four years spent 500 dollars buying copies and selling very few. I mostly gave them away as gifts to family and friends. You have no idea how many friends you find wanting a free book!

In 2010 I retired. My wife had a friend where she worked whose husband was an attorney, but also the pastor of a home church, we joined the church. He was in the hospital, and we went to visit him. I gave him a copy of Optimus and he wrote a review on Amazon; at that time, they didn't verify purchase. While he was recovering, I gave him a printed copy of Vander's Magic Carpet. I have a trial in the story. I was teaching Street Law, an elective. 

The first day I was retired, he called me and offered me a job. It was a complicated tort. He told me he's good at presenting the evidence but is weak on communicating the story to a jury. He asked me to help in on this. I was retired for exactly one day.

He gave me an office and boxes and boxes of pleadings, depositions, other stuff. I spent a month organizing and reading all the materials. He asked me how I liked working in a law office.

I told him, "I'm doing all the paperwork, where are the students? This was the part of teaching I hated. I need students to balance it."

The case settled the day before going to court. I worked on a couple of other cases, but when he didn't need me, I was back to being retired.

He is a one-man shop, and I needed some place to write. My house was full with son, girlfriend and two kids.

He agreed to let me use an office if I did a few errands for him. Notarizing documents, taking pleadings to the courthouse, covering the office when he went on vacation, keeping the place clean.

He even paid me for time and mileage. Most of the time I was on my own to write. All of my other books I've written to date were done in his office.

He was having health problems. He had two shoulder surgeries, and two hip replacements. I covered the office while he was recovering and acted as an aide, helping him in and out of the car, getting the walker dropping him off at the courthouse, parking the car and helping him with the boxes of documents, that kind of stuff. 

I broke my hand in 2016 and my daughter took over the legal assistant and notarizing duties. Pleadings are done electronically now so running down to the courthouse isn't as often as it was at first.

Covid hit and he started working out of his home as he had to have meetings by zoom. Daughter was out of a job.

I found out that he was back in his office and called him up in December of 2021. He was glad to have me back, but not to work for him. He cut down to only being in the office Tuesdays and Thursdays. Doing mostly wills and small cases. 

That let me have MW&F. I checked the mail letting him know what was in or not, kept the place clean and had quiet time to write. I wrote I Maury: Life and Times of a Rebel during this time.

Since that time, I've been struggling to come up with something else to write about. It's a twenty-mile drive to the office and the same back and was getting difficult to justify the expense while twiddling my thumbs. Monday, I cleaned out the office and am now working at home. I also have a library not far that I can go to if it gets too noisy around the house. It's now wife and daughter as son is on his own. 

Twelve years since I went to work for the attorney, with eight novels, an anthology of short stories and a novella. It was good while it lasted, and if I come up with something else, I might go back. If he's still lawyering. We've had a great working relationship and he's a fantastic friend, even if he did vote for Trump.

WC Something I'm proud of Doing

 

Today's challenge: Something I'm proud of doing. 

What I think I've accomplished so far:

1. Finding a lifelong soul mate and we've been together 43 years.

2. A son, a daughter and three grandchildren.

3. Educator for 27 years, taught 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th grade English, world history, U.S. history, New Mexico history, psychology, sociology, street law, government, and economics.

4. Author of novels: Optimus: Praetorian Guard, Stephanus, Vanders Magic Carpet, Human Sacrifices, Three Medieval Battles: Crecy, Poitiers, Flodden; Fan Plan: Meteor Strike, Fan Plan: Preparation, Fan Plan: Countdown, I Maury: Life and Times of a Rebel.

5. Short Stories: Stories of Love and Lust, The Eagle.

6. That I am still of sound mind (wife might not agree), healthy, and have many more stories to write for the rest of my life.

Friday Book Review:

 Fellow blogger with Berthold Gambrel.

Audrey has a number of books expanding on H. P. Lovecraft's character Herbert West.

I read the first three books in the series, it was interesting, but I'm not a real big fan of horror or dark suspense.

She Who Comes Forth, is a standalone novel. It's set in Egypt of the 1920's. A woman archeologist uncovers objects with powers, and she starts having dreams and encounters an ancient Phairoh, wanting to come back to life.

It has great detail on the period, the problems at this time for a woman doing a man's job and her becoming obsessed with the Phairoh. It has an exciting ending.

The Sequel is She Who Returns. Incorporates Herbet West into the story.

WC 011823 New Things I've Tried Recently

 

New Things I've Tried Recently,

Hmmmm, okay here goes.

1. Freestyle blood sugar monitoring censors. I got eight boxes with two censors in them without cost in July. Sixteen weeks later when I went to refill the Rx, they were $439, I entered the Twighlight zone of Medicare called the donut hole. I went back to test strips.

2. I've ordered a watch that says it tests blood sugar and other body functions. It was $150. It hasn't arrived yet, hope it's not an internet scam, but if it doesn't come soon, I'll report it to my credit card company.

3. Switched from android to iPhone. Got the watch too, before I ordered the watch above. It has taken some time to work out the differences, but I'm not fighting with Android Auto on my car anymore. Main reason for switching is that apps work better on the iPhone.

4. Planning on a trip to Charlottesville, VA, in October. Fontaine Maury family reunion. I joined their fb group page when I heard about this and have so far sold two e-books of I Maury. Wife's looking forward to meeting family members she's never met.

5. I'm planning to write a non-fiction book. I'm tackling the problem of simple math in theology. Like the three days of Christ on the cross. Duh, Friday night to Sunday morning is not three days. How old was Christ when he was crucified? A few plaguing quandaries like that.

6. I've started a weekly book review every Friday on this blog. First was last Friday.

Friday Book Review

I've decided to start a weekly book review. It's not easy deciding which book each week I've read over the last year and going into this one to share, but I'll choose and deliver.

 This week is an anthology of short stories. Hank Bruce takes one of John Denver's songs and uses it as the inspiration for the story.

These are stories that touch your heart.

I like the way Hank segues each of his stories by relating it to a John Denver song. 

Both men and those they associated with felt deeply about making this planet livable past their lifetime. The stories range from refugees of genocide in Africa, to Native Americans in New Mexico and Arizona, to a street person in Philidelphia, all in need and there is someone who sacrifices their time, talents and money to help them. The valuable uses of the Maringa tree for those dying of starvation and unclean water, those dying from uranium poisoning off abandoned mines, and many more. Not just an enjoyable read, but an uplifting and life changing book.

Available at Amazon as e-book on Unlimited or $2.99. 

Wednesday Challenge 010123

 

Happy New Year!

My goals for this year.

1. Stay healthy: keep working out, get back to a healthy diet after splurging during the holidays. 

2, Keep reading and writing. I'm currently in the final stages of editing a novella: The Eagle. It's a blasphemous fantasy about the goddess Isis, who has left the earth, but comes back as an eagle to join with the human race again creating a faith of love and happiness to help heal our planet from the ravages of Seth who is destroying everything by those seeking greed and power. Emphasis here on blasphemy.

3. Planning a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia in September. The Fontaine Maury Society is holding a family reunion. I've joined their fb page and have already sold two e-books of I Maury.

4. Just finished reading all the posts for WC so far. Glad we have more posting with some new posters as well.

Merry Christmas and any other holiday you celebrate this time of year.

 A few years ago,I took pictures of all my Christmas ties:

Final WC for 2022

 

This year's final WC. What crafty things do you do?

I used to do plastic canvass. I made the edges to my desk Calander, paper tray, note holder, paperclip holder, pen holder and tissue paper holder, in school colors.

Did them all over again when I moved to different schools.

It gave me something to do with my hands while watching TV.

I also made folders for note pads and letter pads. Many of those that I made I gave away as Secret Santa gifts.

Wife and daughter still do this and go to craft groups at church and library to this day. You would not believe the treasure trove of yarn our house. Plastic canvass is not easy to come by. Hobby Lobby is about the only place that has it in stock.

Since I started writing novels and short stories my time is not taken up with reading, writing, editing, and publishing.

A month ago, our church had a festival and let members set up a table to sell arts and crafts. I sold one I Maury book. Wife and daughter sold the most of anyone there that day.

Daughter is now into crocheting and just got someone to show her to use my mother's sewing machine she inherited. This is why I have to do my writing either at the office or the library. They've evicted me from writing at home.

WC Best Fictional Siblings

 

Today's Challenge is best fictional siblings.

I came up with Sherlock's brother, but it seems in fiction siblings are usually a burden or bother or enemy. Bobby and J.R. Ewing come to mind in Dallas.

Today I've decided to toot my own horn. The Fan Plan Trilogy.

In book one, Meteor Strike I have an oil corporation planning to save civilization as the computers predict the Yellowstone super volcano will explode in 50 to a hundred years. It encompasses from 1900.

They set up the Drake/Eastman Foundation for family members to contribute 10% of their profits as trust fund to build up sufficient principle for the next generation to have the money to implement their Fan Plan 

Sylvia Drake is the daughter of Trans World Oil's founder and marries Henry Eastman. They have a son named Patrick. Henry is to be heir apparent to Lyman Drake, but he's drafted and in OTC is injured in a judo exercise leaving him unable to further father children.

Lyman convinces Sylia and Henry to divorce so his daughter can remarry and have more children. She marries the Randal O'Neil, and they have four children: Randal Jr., Sarah and Brenda (twins) and Oliver Owen (Trip).

Sylvia is not content to stay home, have babies and host tea parties, she insists on becoming Patrick's executive secretary and slowly takes over the running of TGO earning the nickname, Dragon Lady. This sets up the second book Patrick and the O'Neil's grow into adults and start taking responsibility in the family business.

Book Two is Countdown. Patrick gets married and is placed as CEO of Trans Global North America, taking off some of the burden on Henry who can devote more time overseas.

Randal is slated to take over for his father as CFO of TWO, Sarah and Brenda are groomed to take over for her mother as possible candidates for running the corporation.

Oliver Owen (Tip) is groomed to take over as head of the Scientific Secret Police. It was determined that after ten years of volcanic winter and trying to restore civilization it would be done through reason and science not superstition, the SSP would be necessary to nip fanatical religious leaders wanting to blame sin and technology and starting a holy war.

Randal Jr. after graduation from Rice starts taking over the financial reigns of TGO and fathering five children. 

Sarah marries and mothers two daughters. Brenda marries and has one daughter.

Henry Eastman has surgery to repair the damage that has kept him from fathering any more children and has a son, named Milton. His brother Patrick has children older than his half-brother.

 Book Three, Countdown introduces the grandchildren of Sylvia Drake Eastman O'Neil.

Lyman, Henry, Randal and Sylvia have passed on and the newly named Trans Global Energy is now in the hands of the children and grandchildren. It's also getting closer to the time when Yellowstone can erupt, the question is "What if it doesn't happen?'

I leave this book off at Trump's election. I'm in the planning stages of a fourth book incorporating many of the advances of solar, wind, hydrogen, wave and other alternative forms of energy coming out today. Europe is going through a revolution since Russia invaded Ukraine in converting to different forms of energy away from fossil fuels. There's currently another revolution in urban gardening, underground gardening to fight climate change. This can be added to the Fan Plan.

WC 113022 Morning Rituals

 

Today's challenge is what are my morning rituals?

The beauty of being semi-retired is that I don't have to wake up to a clock and rush to be at work on a certain time.

I drive to my friend's office on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays. I live by the high school where I taught for ten years and if I want to get down the street in front of the school, I have to leave at 7:00am or 7:45 to avoid the school rush. If I had trouble sleeping and was up during the night, I might sleep to 8 and leave then. I spend from three to four hours in the office researching, writing, editing and sometimes looking for a topic to write on.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, if my wife doesn't have something planned for us, I go to the gym at 9, work out for an hour alternating between using an arm machine, treadmill and sit down elliptical, thirty minutes each, or swim in the pool, walking the length for 800 meters. Then I drive across the street and write in the library. It has a nice room with five tables with electrical plug-ins for my laptop and where I do most of my editing. 

Now for my rituals after I wake up and before I leave.

When I get up there's my medical routine. Take one pill, check my blood sugar, take shower (every other day), get dressed, put in hearing aids, put on glasses, check to see if Fitbit is charged, check my sleeping score. After thirty minutes take rest of pills, drink some water, eat breakfast.

Breakfast depends on my blood sugar, if it's low I can indulge in a green Chile cheese bagel and cream cheese. If its high I drink a glucose shake. If normal I have scrambled eggs, bacon, and regardless of my blood sugar I choose between twelve different types of tea for my only flavored beverage for the day, no sugar or sweetener. Water from then on. 

Go on with the rest of my day.

All of this is subject to change on my or wife's whim.

Sundays are for church, having a nice dinner at a number of favorite eating places, and watching the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos.

A Prayer For My Mountain

 

The mountain on the cover is an extinct volcano in west central New Mexico. In the 1960's and 70's tons of uranium was mined from here. It sits between the Navaho (Dine) reservation and the Laguna and Acoma Pueblos.

Men from the reservation and pueblos took jobs mining the yellow ore and within ten years were dying of various cancers. The mines shut down as demand for uranium declined, but the damage to the mountain and lives of all those who live around it never went away. 

By 2010 the mine owners wanted to restart mining operations. This short story is about the fight to stop reopening the mines.

Hank Bruce is a good friend. I've reviewed a number of his books and have enjoyed all he's written. This one touched my soul.

I spent the summer of 1973 working with FBC Grants which is a town at the foot of Mount Taylor on I-40 between Albuquerque and Gallup. The little town was booming. Trailers and RV's were parked everywhere, it was estimated that in ten years it would become as big as Albuquerque.

In that next ten years the town went bust and many who I met and worshiped with were dead, all dying of cancer. In the houses that the company built for the workers and their families they used uranium dust in the concrete of the floors.

I learned that from this book.

The prayer in the title is about a man who is diagnosed with cancer at the VA Hospital in Albuquerque. He returns to his home in Laguna Pueblo to live out his last few months. A medicine man gives him a prayer staff tells him he has to go to the sacred mountain, a different name in their language, and ask forgiveness for the damage he caused.

An Anglo family moves into an abandoned schoolhouse between Laguna and Grants, the husband suffered a heart attack and they lost everything. He, wife and young children must rebuild their lives. 

A medicine woman comes and welcomes them, she takes the husband around their property and teaches him how to pick seeds out of the pinecones what we call Pinon Nuts. She explains to the wife the different plants, if they are edible, medicinal qualities.

A family living not far from them also comes to welcome and share food from their garden. They have children the same age who become friends.

The medicine woman tells them that they are needed to save the mountain, as only they can convince the government to stop reopening the mines.

The man dying from cancer, the Hispanic family and the Anglo family then go up onto the mountain where they visit the scars left behind and pray for the mountain.

It ends with the speech Hank's wife, Tomi Jill Folk, gave in Congress in 2012 where she pleaded for the government to declare Mount Taylor a sacred mountain and stop all mining operations. Congress passed the bill.

WC Favorite Media Platform

 

This week is favorite social media platform and why.

There are two that I use. Blogger and Facebook.

I like blogger best; it is not as restricted as fb. On blogger I have friends like on Wednesday Challenge, and Top Ten Tuesday where we can converse on comments. We can post multiple pictures, tell stories, gripe, share good times and bad times. We can uplift each other in a relaxed atmosphere.

I have good friends like Yogi, Lydia, Audrey, and Berthold that are good for stimulating reads and conversation. I've read many a good book recommended by the challenges and friends. I get to share reviews of the books I've read and talk about my struggles while writing the story I'm on at the time. 

Facebook is limited, but not too restrictive yet, it's getting harder to keep up with the changes and a number of my friends keep getting sent to the doghouse for silly reasons. I haven't yet, but one friend shared a post and got clipped. I've had some shared posts removed and I couldn't even remember what it was.

It also has annoying ads. Take a look at one and a thousand just like it sprouts in seconds.  Groups are nice though, Writers2writers has a group, and we keep up with each other. My college and high school let me keep up with old friends too. My 50 HS reunion was much better as we were all able to communicate through them.

I've never done Twitter, or any of the others. My son wishes his daughter wasn't using one as its costing him a fortune in cosmetics.

The Jewish Revolt Against Rome

 James Mace is the best writer of fictionalized history I've read. He has a broad palate of history and I've enjoyed many of them. The Three books I'm reviewing are of concern to me as they overlap with my writings.

These books are about the Jewish Revolt in AD 67. There are no fictionalized characters, every person in the story was actually there and mentioned in the books written at the time. The historian Josephus is prominent in the story as well as the accounts he wrote.

Book one starts with the procurator of Judea, Gessius Florus trying to stir up a rebellion so he can plunder the area. He succeeds, but after the revolt starts and he doesn't have the manpower to stop it, he flees back to Italy and leaves Rome to clean up his mess.

The governor of Judea then takes a single legion to Jerusalem, and nearly takes it, but he doesn't know how close they've come to undermining a wall and he leaves only to be ambushed in a mountain valley back to Caesaria. No matter how good the legion and its ability to fight, an incompetent commander could get them killed.

Reviewer's note here: Wikipedia doesn't mention this first attempt to put down the rebellion or the defeat of the 12th legion and losing their Eagle. My copy of Josephus is a condensed version and left this out as well. Mace used the complete version.

I wish I'd read these books while I was writing my books in this time period. 

A lone cohort was tasked with defending the closest port to Jerusalem, Ptolemais, 600 men with about 400 auxiliary cavalry is not much compared to the thousands of an army sent out from Jerusalem to capture the town and turn to piracy to hamper Rome's retribution.

This is James Mace at his best, describing both sides and their plans for the battle and then recounting how it unfolds.

After the Jewish army is not only defeated but routed when they outnumbered the Romans by 10 to 1. Explains how Rome's legion with its discipline and armor and a competent leader could conquer everything within its reach.

While waiting for Nero's response and his reluctance to give Vespasian command of suppressing this revolt, the various radical groups are explained. The Temple headed by the high priest, John of Giscala, a bandit that's raising an army in Galilee. Simon Giora, another bandit raising an army around Jerusalem and Eleazar of the Sicarii, (dagger men).

The high priest is willing to negotiate with Rome, knowing that Rome would destroy the country and enslave the population. He's murdered as a traitor.

The high priest's son takes over and Jerusalem is divided between four factions each trying to kill each other.

In short, the Jews are more willing to kill and fight each other than they are Rome. A dominant theme through all three books.

When Vespasian builds up his forces, he then invades Galilee. The siege of Jotapata is only a foretaste of what taking Jerusalem would be like. It took 47 days and many of his men's lives to take the town. They even used boiling oil, something that meant the invading army would spare no one inside as revenge. Vespasian does something very unexpected, he spares the life of Youseph ben Matthias, the leader of Jotapata that would normally be crucified. Youseph is Latinized to Josephus. He becomes the historian. In Judea he is the great traitor, as he gives the Romans valuable intel on what's happening in Jerusalem and the rest of Judea.

The rest of the Galilee is taken and winter ends the campaigning season.

Word comes that Nero is dead.

The telling of the siege of Jotapata is gruesome enough, but nothing prepares the reader for the horrors of what happens in Jerusalem. Not about what the Romans did to those inside the walls of the city, but what the warring factions within the city did to each other.

Before the Romans resumed the war, two factions fought over the storage facilities of grain. Enough grain to feed a city of over half a million people for two or three years. Eleazar, the head of the Temple faction burns the whole granary to keep John of Giscala from controlling it.

John of Giscala then has Eleazar, murdered in front of the throngs offering sacrifice.

 It goes downhill from there.

Meanwhile Vespasian supports Galba as emperor who replaced Otho, who forced Nero to commit suicide, Vitellius then defeats and kills Galba, and Vespasian decides to march on Rome and become emperor. It's called the year of four emperors.

Vespasian's son Titus is given command of the forces tasked with taking Jerusalem.

Intrigue in Jerusalem, intrigue in Rome and confusion in the legions, as Titus is only 24 and has gone from being in command of a single legion to over 150,000 men.

The siege of Jerusalem is a worse horror story than anything Hollywood puts out around Halloween.

It's estimated that Jerusalem had from half a million or more residing in it. When the city was taken Rome enslaved 97,000. Only the wealthy survived just to become slaves. The rest died mostly from starvation, disease or were murdered for treason and dropped into a valley outside the walls to feed carrion. Battle hardened soldiers lost their lunch when the valley of rotting corpses was discovered. Reading this, pictures of liberated concentration camps after WWII came to mind.

Titus is awarded a triumph; his cousin mops up the Sciarii at Masada. The bandits at Masada are celebrated today for their defiance of committing suicide after the Romans breached the wall. They existed by robbing and killing the villages around them for food.

 Titus is granted a triumph, as he brings back the largest treasure trove up to that time in Rome's history, all taken from the Temple. Some of this is pictured on the Triumphal Arch of Titus in Rome.

The Flavians beome masters of Rome.

My review is a summation of what happens, but these books go into great detail and are written by a true master of storytelling.

Just adding this, Mace has a great book on the Battle of Waterloo.

 

   

Erene With Wolf Medicine

I've known Irene for over ten years. She wrote the textbooks for college Chicana studies and taught sociology for many years.

When we met at Southwest Writers and Writers2writers she was working on a series of books about her aunt and the life she led. Next, she wrote a book about the 7 women whose bodies were found on the West Mesa of Albuquerque. 

Before Covid W2W met at a local library, and we shared what we were working on. Erene, was in the beginning stages. It's her life story. Erene with an accent on the last e, is her name in Spanish.

Sadly, Covid ended our attempt at a writer's group. She posted on fb that her story is published. I didn't hesitate to order a copy on Amazon and read it.

She starts by saying that a wolf howled at the time she was born. Her family were subsistence farmers and ranchers in Northern w Mexico during the 1940's and 50's. Her Grandfather was from Taos Pueblo and in the Native American belief the wolf became her spirit animal. All through the book she relates to how she thinks and behaves the way a wolf pup behaves. 

This was not an easy story to tell on her part as she opens up old wounds in her life. She can have you laughing out loud on one page and crying on the next.

It's not an easy book to read as much of her life was a constant struggle from poverty, family pressure to conform to their culture, the demands of the Catholic Church, her fight to excel in learning, marriage, motherhood, divorce and earning her doctorate to becoming a university professor.

The one passage that best defines Irene, is where she's at a civil right rally for Chicano rights and she was told that she could not fight for women's rights until Chicano rights were recognized. When she got up to speak, she informed the audience that she was both and would fight for both.  Her lone wolf emerged triumphant that day.