Sunday Book Review – Examining Kitchen Cupboards by Stevie Turner

Source: Sunday Book Review – Examining Kitchen Cupboards by Stevie Turner 

The One Thing A Writer Must Accomplish – Daily Quote

I think a writer must also learn how to write a good story, and unless they take advice from more experienced writers, then the newbie mistakes will never get corrected.

Jo Hawk

I have seen the endless prerequisites required to become a successful author. You must get an agent, submit your work, set up your platform, suck it up as they reject your work, start a newsletter, cultivate your voice, love reading, build your street team, read everything in your category, manage your brand, decide on your genre, learn your craft, daydream, and find your compelling reason for writing. What am I forgetting? Oh yeah, you also need to create something brilliant. The list is long, daunting and impossible to master in a short timeframe.  No wonder people quit.

I’ve made a radical decision. I plan to ignore the mandatory requirements and helpful advice, opting instead to compose stories. There is a saying that states, “when the student is ready the teacher will appear.” I trust the devices and skills will arrive at the point in my journey when I need them. I intend…

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Smorgasbord Health Column – Why do so many people in their 50s suffer from a frozen shoulder? by Sally Cronin

I too had a frozen shoulder in my fifties, although it wasn’t my dominant side. I had a terribly painful cortisone injection directly into the shoulder joint, and this combined with daily shoulder exercises has kept the pain at bay. I can now hold both hands high above my head, but before the injection I could only raise my left arm halfway. Thanks Sally for this useful info, but I would definitely go to great lengths to avoid having that injection again!

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

One of the common health complaints that would be noted on the questionnaire that I asked clients to complete when they came to see me, was chronic shoulder pain. Then when I was 52 years old I developed the same problem in my right shoulder that lasted 18 months and was very difficult to manage. I did go to the doctor who told me that I had obviously strained a muscle and to rest it and take painkillers. Not something I was keen on. So I decided to find out other treatments. I discovered that both man and women were suffering the same pain around the same age. It could not be a coincidence.

Why do so many people in their 50s suffer from a frozen shoulder?

A frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) can occur in adulthood and the simplest explanation is that it is the result of wear and…

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NETGALLEY || REVIEW’S ANNOUNCEMENT.

I’m re-blogging this post by Suzan Khoja. I did use NetGalley once for reviews back in 2017, but for authors I think it’s rather expensive. Does anybody else have any experience of using NetGalley, whether authors or readers?

Magical BookLush

NetGalley is a dreamland. A site where you get one of the best books published or unpublished, where you are free to write an honest review. To say the truth however bitter it sounds. Any person using NetGalley shall know that they give you free books to read and review but you have to request for them and that request might be accepted or might not be accepted but it is one of the best sites for bloggers.

Best sites, that’s not me saying. It’s google saying. Well after looking at some of my friends use ebooks to read, I decided I should try it too.

My last post on messy bookworms talks about technology but it doesn’t say anything about not using them. So I thought before I waste my time on selecting books and then not reviewing them, let me try reading an ebook.

Since a month I…

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#Bookreview – No sex please, I’m menopausal by Stevie Turner

Thanks to Robbie Cheadle for this great review for my humorous novel ‘No Sex Please, I’m Menopausal!’

Roberta Writes

What Amazon says

After going through the menopause Lyn finds that she no longer wants sex. This is unfortunate, as her husband Neil still does. When he discards her after 35 years of marriage like an old worn out shoe, Lyn moves to Cornwall to start a new life. However, new friends are hard to find, and she feels lonely. On the spur of the moment she decides to join an online dating site, ‘MatchULike’, just for companionship. Amongst the peculiar people she meets is Peter; shy, and conscious that his ‘gentleman’s’ operation has rendered him an unattractive prospect in the marriage stakes. Lyn makes a friend of Peter, but when Neil gets to hear about the friendship he realises too late that there is more to a relationship than just sex, and he suddenly starts to appear back on the scene and wants to turn her life upside down…

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Should Schools Encourage Competitiveness?

An interesting blog here regarding competition in schools. I’m of the opinion that children should be rewarded for something done well or for winning a race. No child can be good at everything, and even if children are not good at running (I was hopeless at this as a kid), they might be academic and can win merits for good work. Even if they’re not academic, they can be rewarded for good behaviour. Everybody reacts well to praise.

When I’ve visited my grandchildren’s schools for Sports Day, I do not agree with all children receiving a medal even if they’ve come in last in a race. Winners should be rewarded, and perhaps kids who are not good at running are good at something else they can be given merit for. They have to learn that you cannot always win in life.

The Strawberry Post

Competition has always been something in schools and also in life.  From a young age children are exposed to the idea that it’s good and even healthy to have a little competition in their daily lives.  Schools encourage competition through sports, contests at schools, and pitting kids against each other to see who will get the best exam results or the most stars at the end of the term.  Competitiveness is something that is always encouraged by governments and many people as being good for self-esteem and an important thing to get used to as competition exists in the workplace.  But is it really such a good idea to have competition at schools and what happens if some kids never get to the top of the class?

How competition starts in schools

I grew up in the UK state education system.  I went to an average primary school and an…

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5th Halloween Poem Contest – 2nd Group Of Submitted Poems —

Thanks to Aurora Jean Alexander for publishing my Halloween poem that I submitted for her contest.

Writer's Treasure Chest

Picture courtesy of: http://preventioncdnndg.org/

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Pleaserespect each authors’ and poets’ copyright. The rights remain with the writers. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from each of the poems author’s is strictly prohibited and violates copyright laws in the country you are reading this work in as well as in the country you are trying to re-publish this work in. – Aurora Jean Alexander

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Halloween

by

Donna Matthews

goblins and ghouls shrieking all night
it’s halloween! the witches dance and sing
haunting humanity with terror and fright

vampire bats wake and take flight
tender young necks a delicious thing
goblins and ghouls shrieking all night

gravediggers shovel dirt; sneering with delight
human spare and found parts they fling
haunting humanity with terror and fright

the boogeyman tall, fearsome and might
terror and dread his shadow will bring
goblins and ghouls shrieking all night

zombies moan…

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BODY SHAMING || REAL ISSUES’ QUIP.

An interesting post from Suzan Khoja about body shaming. The older I get I realise it’s up to each individual to decide whether or not they’re happy with their body image, and if not, to do something about it. Nobody should try and control anybody else.

Magical BookLush

Have you heard of this word “body shaming“?Have you seen people go through it?? Do you know what it is? Or how it feels?? If you saw it happening, did you rescue them?? Do you know what it does to them?? Body shaming is such a great thing. It’s awesome, do you know why?

Because it ruins people’s lives. It tears them from the inside. It makes them hate their own body and in the end, breaks them down. If you are an awesome person that I probably think you are because you are giving my post so much time and are reading this right now, let me take you to a journey of body-shaming.

Love you all body-shamers out there. This blog is especially for you.

No welcomes as I said in my last post because welcoming the bitter truth into your life is difficult. So let’s…

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Common Mistakes in Short Story Writing – Guest Post by Jaq D Hawkins…

Jaq D. Hawkins gives some good advice here for short story writers.

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

I’ve recently been on the editorial team for a short story anthology, not for the first time, and have been noticing some common mistakes that can trip up an otherwise good story. If you’ve been submitting to anthologies or thinking about doing so, please take note of some of the recurring pitfalls that can cause editors to reject your submission, or if working with a close-knit group, might cause diplomatic nightmares between editors and writers.

First of all, don’t try to shove too much into the beginning paragraphs of a short story. Detailed description of a character, a ‘laundry list’ of exactly what they’re wearing and a headcount of a group of characters to accompany the protagonist on a quest are all ways to lose a reader before the plot begins to unfold.

Keep in mind that you’re not writing a novel. Even in novel writing, shoehorning too much information…

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World Mental Health Day 2019

I know I’m a bit late, as we’ve had patchy Internet, but I’m re-blogging this for Clive. It’s not too late though to sign up for ‘Time to Change’.

On another note, at the moment I cannot access any of my emails. So please be patient if any of you are waiting for an answer from me. I don’t think I will be able to read any emails until I return home on Tuesday.

Take It Easy

Not that I needed the reminders, but my inbox has been receiving a steady flow of emails about World Mental Health Day (WMHD), which is marked each year on 10 October. This date is recognised by the World Health Organisation and the theme for the year is set by the World Federation for Mental Health. This year’s theme is suicide prevention.

Having had mental health problems myself – mostly depression and anxiety-related – I feel very lucky that I have never once had the remotest hint of a suicidal thought. Others are, sadly, far worse off than I in this respect, and I am pleased that this subject is receiving so much attention. For so long it has been one of those taboo subjects of which we dare not speak, choosing instead to brush it under the figurative carpet.

This week has seen the launch of the Every Mind Matters…

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