This one was spooky! Similar to Wuthering Heights, this one kept me awake at night wondering if the noises outside my window were in fact coming from a vampire. It may sound crazy, but while I was reading this book, it seemed to consume me and my real-world thoughts, and everywhere I looked I saw things that reminded me of the book.
Terrifying!
Filed under 100 book challenge, Uncategorized
I’m so excited to see my good friend and fellow writer publish his book!! Can’t wait to add a copy to my bookshelf. Congratulations Aidan!
I’m incredibly pleased that The Game Bird is finally released!
You can grab it here on Amazon.
A special thanks to the team at Damonza for such a beautiful cover and layout.
The final blurb goes like this:
“…I loved it – The Game Bird is intricately constructed, intelligently written and just a fabulous page-turner.”
An evil is growing. The Realm is under attack. A leviathan has risen from the depths and is destroying the fleets that feed Stormhaven.
Stuck ashore and drowning in debt, Captain James Faulkner resolves to hunt the sea monster and claim the enormous bounty on the beast.
Sophia Blake’s life looks effortless. But she carries a secret, an occult curse that is capable of destroying both her and her nation. Sophia knows her time is running out.
The Tallowman is a slowly decaying melding of demon and man. This monstrous assassin is desperate to capture…
View original post 151 more words
Filed under Uncategorized
My third Austen book (but only my second ‘official count’ for the 100 book challenge) was Persuasion. I didn’t have high hopes, considering I found Pride and Prejudice such a struggle and I was getting very little sleep thanks to my two, albeit adorable, ratbags.
I’d bought Emma, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion from MacLeans and knew I needed to tackle one of them. So of course I chose the latter, being the one with the fewer pages.
Finally an Austen girl I can relate to!
Filed under 100 book challenge, Uncategorized
Image by Jennifer Pendergast
‘What’s at this stupid park, anyway?’
Jay was quiet and moody but Eloise continued to push the point.
‘We could have been in New York by now! And I’m starrrrrrrrving.’
She complained getting out of the car. And for the entire walk up the hill. She kept complaining even when they’d arrived at the massive rusted structure.
Jay pulled a black and white photo from his pocket and she finally fell silent. In the picture the clock sculpture was shiny and new. And grinning proudly by its side was a tall man with dark hair, who was unmistakably Jay’s father.
*********
What books were loved by your 3 year old? See my recent post (and previous year’s versions) where I list my son’s ten favourite books.
Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.
Filed under Friday Fictioneers, Uncategorized
Image by Ted Strutz at http://www.tedstrutz.com
His eyes lit up. ‘Check out that river! Reminds me of where Dad used to take me when I was little. Such good memories…’
He turned to her. ‘What was your childhood like?’
They’d known each other just over twenty-four hours. Should she describe how she’d sit in her room on a chair with her eyes tightly closed and hands over ears praying for her parents to stop fighting, or the cold nights curled in the backseat with her mum and sisters while on the run?
‘It was pretty good,’ she said. ‘But tell me more about those river holidays.’
*********
Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.
Filed under Friday Fictioneers, Uncategorized
Image by Roger Beltot at https://plus.google.com/u/0/107716760208067370787
‘There’s nothing good about the cold. Nothing!’
Eloise scowled at the snow outside.
Jay picked up his jacket. ‘Well, I’m getting dinner.’
‘I’m a beach girl. Hot sand. Hot sun. Sunburn. Soothing Aloe Vera…’
He shrugged. ‘Stay here if you like.’
‘Is that a threat?’
‘I honestly don’t care.’
The chill outside hit them hard as they staggered across the icy road. Large snowflakes fell around them and Jay noticed how some settled softly in Eloise’s hair. Without thinking, he put his arm around her shoulders and held her close. She pushed her face into his warm chest and smiled.
*********
I have exciting news to share that some of you lovely fellow FFs have been asking about. I received a Highly Commended in the Newcastle Herald Short Story competition for my story Bloodstained. Four stories were chosen out of over a hundred entries, so I’m pretty thrilled to be selected. The prize is 10 new books, a weekend pass to the Newcastle Writers Festival (hurrah!) and a Herald subscription. A dear friend from my writers group Diana Threlfo also made it to the Highly Commended list – check out her beautiful short story Unconstrained.
Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.
Filed under Friday Fictioneers, Uncategorized
I had a gift voucher to spend at the local book shop and was excited to buy a few from the 100 book challenge list. The Penguin and Vintage classics were selling for $14 each so I began searching the shelves for familiar titles.
At one stage I had War and Peace in one hand and Of Mice and Men in the other. The former is a whopping 580,000 words and the latter a mere 30,000. Being part of the classics range, they were both $14. It seemed a no-brainer: War and Peace was much more value for money. Just 2.4 cents per 1000 words.
I had my 6 month old daughter in the pram, and she had started to fidget. She wanted out. I put the books down to lift her out of the pram. Baby on hip, I then decided which of the two books I would add to my collection.
Filed under 100 book challenge, Uncategorized
I’d seen the movie a hundred times as a kid, but I don’t know if I’d ever read the book. I think I’d tried a few times (the first few pages seemed very familiar) but never made it all the way through.
Ahhh, but as I’m quickly learning with this 100 book challenge, sometimes one needs to have a bit of maturity behind them to truly appreciate what an author is trying to get across (I discovered this recently when I read To Kill a Mockingbird).
Filed under 100 book challenge, Uncategorized
Image by Dale Rogerson at https://adelectablelife.com
Not one of the photos Jay took with his new camera at Tunnel View turned out.
Eloise flicked through the photos on her phone.
‘Here’s the one I took.’
Jay scoffed at the photo she’d taken from the road. ‘Those crowds of people in your photo ruin it.’
She shrugged. ‘It shows what happened. It’s not pretending to be something it’s not.’
In the photo was Jay. Arms stretched high trying to get a perfect shot of the valley with no one else in it.
And attached securely to the end of his Canon EF 16-35mm was the lens cap.
Follow @jessieansons*********
Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.
Filed under Friday Fictioneers, Uncategorized
Image by CE Ayr at https://ceayr.com/
‘Breathtaking.’
Jay was a statue as he stared at the rust red structure in front of them.
‘Incredible. A hundred times better in real life.’
Eloise shrugged her shoulders. ‘Bit of a let down, I reckon.’
Jay glared at her. ‘A let down?!’
‘One thing, it’s not even-’
Jay interrupted. ‘Gold. Everyone says that.’
Eloise bit her lip. ‘But not just that. It’s… I was expecting arches and pylons and suspension cables. Not this one metal beam across a railway line and a few roads.’
She paused, then asked earnestly, ‘Are you sure this is actually the Golden Gate Bridge?’
Follow @jessieansons*********
Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.
Filed under Friday Fictioneers, Uncategorized
Autism in Nicks words
A (very) average lawyer's musings on the Australian legal profession. With occasional pug pictures.
A great WordPress.com site
A Newcastle writers group
Flash fiction - mostly
Writing about writing
Finding balance after a difficult year
independent, candid and frugal
Blogs about writing and other bits and pieces
Writer. Mother. Editor. Geek. In no particular order.
An encyclopaedia of distant shores - by Aidan Walsh
This is a flash fiction site where you finish the story!
"Cats, Twitter, Coors Light, & Everything In Between"
Poetry, Fiction, & Non-Fiction Writings
The uncensored mind of a Crazy Cat Lady
Growing older is inevitable. Growing up is optional.
Observing the world, taking mental notes and writing fiction
Jessie Ansons 