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Visions: A WordCrafter Anthology – Blog Tour

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle 60 comments

It’s my pleasure to host Day 3 of the new anthology Visions, compiled and edited by Kaye Lynne Booth.

Giveaway

Five digital copies will be given away in a random drawing at the end of the tour. Each stop visited earns an entry. Let me know you were there by leaving a comment.

Blurb

An author’s visions are revealed through their stories. Many authors have strange and unusual stories, indeed. Within these pages, you will find the stories of eighteen different authors, each unique and thought-provoking. These are the fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, and horror stories that will keep you awake long into the night.

What happens when:

An inexplicable monster plagues a town for generations, taking people… and souvenirs?

A post-apocalyptic band of travelers finds their salvation in an archaic machine?

The prey turns out to be the predator for a band of human traffickers?

Someone chooses to be happy in a world where emotions are regulated and controlled?

A village girl is chosen to be the spider queen?

Purchase Link

https://books2read.com/u/49Lk28

My guess today is one contributor, DL Mullan. This is her inspiration behind The Reality Hackers.

The Reality Hackers is one of those once-in-a-lifetime stories that combines complex ideas rather seamlessly. From quantum reality, spirituality, science fact, and genealogy, this short story is not only a good genre but much of the narrative is based on fact as well as personal experience. There is plenty of reality in The Reality Hackers that has far-reaching implications in our daily lives.

As part of my Legacy Universe on Undawnted, I incorporate my family’s genealogy into my creative writings. John and Elleanor Chisum were real people and my ancestors from the 1700s. Gillespie and Isham (pronounced: EYE-som) are family surnames as well. I enjoy immortalizing my pedigree in my stories because I like how this aspect grounds the spiritual and fantasy elements of the material world.

Personal experience along with science and military facts also helps to keep this story established in the realm of possibility. For example, the explosion and implosion described at the beginning of the story are a real-life scene that I had witnessed in the Sonoran Desert on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona circa 2005. From what has been explained to me by a private government contractor, this device is next generation military technology. Another researcher confirmed that the phrase: Special Access Project is real. These projects are under Black Operations Budgets and managed by private military and industry contractors. There is little Congressional or Presidential oversight of these programs, which makes them unconstitutional and therefore illegal to fund and operate, yet many exist under these conditions.

Organic consciousness appears in this genre tale through the Intelligence Community’s released support documentation. The Central Intelligence Agency, along with the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences, experimented with human consciousness known as the “Analysis and Assessment of Gateway Process.” The Hall of Records is really the Akashic Records, which many in the spiritual community have discovered through various meditative techniques, and corresponds to the government’s own controlled studies. The Looking Glass is a real technology hidden by the government and military that uses quantum mechanics, consciousness, and the dynamic universe model’s principles of electromagnetism that fuses intentions, imagination, and the human brain to create, maintain, and influence reality. The Looking Glass is a black cube that only a few people have ever seen and in 2012 stopped working, according to a private government contractor who once held it. As a consequence, we are living in a convergence of realities due to the overuse and abuse of consciousness processes and that predictive technology.

There is more to these hidden mechanisms than is observed by the average person. For instance, the Gateway Process is technical psychological jargon for quantum reality. A quantum computer is a device that every human owns. The brain we possess is that subatomic manipulator. In The Reality Hackers, the characters learn that if you believe in a concept, that a person’s intentions and imagination can make that notion real. Except the quantum assertions discussed as fiction, are indeed based on scientific fact. You can change your stars, as the movies say, and manifest your destiny through your conscious thoughts and living imagination. Trust the science. Actually, trust yourself.

The Reality Hackers is so much more than a good short story; it’s a guide to living your best intentions. With a firm foundation in the material world through genealogy, military programs, intelligence experiments, and spiritual principles, this narrative is a timeless tale of enduring love, good winning over evil, and the power of the human mind. In decades to come, our ideas about life may change, but The Reality Hackers’ lessons in believing, intending, and imagining a positive future through the use of our personal quantum computers will remain science fact.

Dawn has created a page on her site dedicated to her story. Please visit her at:

http://www.undawnted.com/p/the-reality-hackers.html

Bio

A writer at heart, Undawnted’s own creative spark, DL Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Over the years, Ms. Mullan has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. As an independent publisher, she produces her own book cover designs as well as maintains her own websites. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet. This year, DL Mullan has begun sharing her knowledge via A Novelist Idea Newsletter. If you too want to become a Fearless Phile, then subscribe to her newsletter at www.undawnted.com.

Learn. Grow. Master… with Undawnted.

Tour Schedule

Monday – October 17 – Guest Post – Billie Holladay Skelley & Intro. & Winning Story Interview with Roberta Eaton Cheadle – Writing to be Read

Tuesday – October 18 – Guest Post – Michaele Jordan – Patty’s World

Wednesday – October 19 – Guest Post – D.L. Mullan – The Showers of Blessings

Thursday – October 20 – Guest Post – C.R. Johanssen – Robbie’s Inspiration

Friday – October 21 – Guest Post – Patty L. Fletcher & Review – Zigler’s News

Saturday – October 22 – Guest Post – Jeff Bowles – Writing to be Read & Interview w/ Kaye Lynne Booth on SaraWesleyMcBride.com

Sunday – October 23 – Guest Post – Stephanie Kraner – Roberta Writes

Monday – October 24 – Guest Post – Joseph Carabis – Writing to be Read & Review – Undawnted

New Release – Once Upon an Ever After, an Anthology

Posted on August 23, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle 40 comments

I’m delighted to introduce this new release – Once Upon an Ever After. This unique and imaginative collection of eleven thought provoking fantasy stories will delight readers who enjoy stories of wishes gone awry.

Digital Giveaway

For a chance to win a free digital copy of Once Upon an Ever After, just leave a comment to show you were here. Follow the tour and comment at each stop for more chances to win. There are three copies given away in a random drawing.

Olivia Merchiston is a contributing author in this collection. She is here to share with us about her inspiration.

The inspiration for ‘Flipped’ came from several places. Firstly, the hygge feeling you get from sitting in your favourite chair, cup of tea in hand, rain battering the window, reading a cozy mystery novel. That feeling was one I wanted to recreate in my story, and one that I try to create moments of in all my work. I drew on what I know creates that feeling for me – the weather in the Scottish Highlands, the darkness in an old, crooked house during a storm, and the warmth I find in old furniture, well-loved possessions, and even a little bit of clutter or chaos in a room.

The second inspiration was my love of fantasy romance, specifically shifter romances and anything with strong magic systems. But these stories are often heavy, and that didn’t sit well with my desire to create a cozy tale. I opted for the light-hearted, comedic value of my characters in the hopes of bringing a smile to my readers’ faces. In creating Willow and Hazel, I found a natural romance budding, and it took on a life of its own. They wanted to show me there was an attraction between them, and I wanted to make my story a typical fairy tale – fabulistic in purpose, but still with a focus on the positive and happy. Bringing those two elements together led me to the story published in Once Upon An Ever After, which I am so proud of.

Fairy tales are often dark, just like fantasy, and while I love that aspect of them, I wanted my story to bring a little levity to my reader. I wanted Fawn to be silly, completely oblivious, unable to read a room, and I think I conveyed that in her. The relationship between the three of them is simultaneously completely absurd, and warm and endearing. I wanted my readers to fall in love with Fawn, even if she is the antithesis of Hazel and could be very destructive.

Hazel herself brings the moral of my story, as I wanted to ensure there was a lesson in it, even just a simple one – the people who truly love you will not care what you look like. As a woman in her thirties who understands how Hazel feels about aging, I also wanted my story to get the reader thinking about why and how women are so focused on youth and appearance. If one reader relates to Hazel and her endeavours, then I’ve done what I set out to do.

‘Flipped’ is my first published work, and I couldn’t be prouder of it. I hope anyone reading it finds something of value, even if it’s just a smile and a chuckle at how silly it seems. But for anyone looking further under the surface, I hope you realise how universal such concerns are, and that it could always be worse than the odd wrinkle – you could be stuck with the anti-you leaping out of your mirror!

Olivia Merchiston is a writer, procrastinator, and freelancer. She lives on a tiny Scottish island with her very patient partner and very spoiled cat. When she isn’t writing or working, she enjoys photography, videography, knitting, and reading. A firm believer that there’s a little magic in every life, Olivia is spending her thirties finding hers.

More on the book

Blurb

What happens when…

A woman desires to carry on her family’s legacy, uncovering a long-buried curse?

A not so perfect witch casts a spell to defy age and preserve her relationship with her handsome shapeshifting familiar?

A time traveler longs to be the savior of knowledge lost?

An incompetent delivery boy becomes an unlikely savior of forgotten artifacts?

A magic mirror yearns for a different question?

A tiny story witch desires to share her stories with the world?

If you liked Gilded Glass, you’ll enjoy Once Upon an Ever After: Modern Myths & Fairy Tales, short stories with thought-provoking themes, captivating characters and diverse cultures, from humorous to horrifying, from the legendary past to possible futures and back to the here and now.

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/mKdWGV

Thank you for stopping by. Please let us know what you think.

“Where Spirits Linger” Book Blog Tour

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle 108 comments

The 2021 WordCrafter Paranormal Anthology, Where Spirits Linger, was released today – September 20, 2021!

Where Spirits Linger Authors with Kaye Lynne Booth, editor

“I hope you will stay with us and follow the tour to each blog stop to learn more about the stories within to picque your interest. Of course, I hope you buy the book, but each comment you make along the way earns an entry into a random drawing for a free digital copy of Where Spirits Linger, so you could be our next lucky winner!” – Kayne Lynne Booth

I’m excited to host the tour on Day 2 featuring Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s piece “Listen to Instructions.”

I’ll let Roberta tell you about the process she went through to write her story. Here’s Roberta:

~ ~ ~

The Location of “Listen to Instructions”

This year the WordCrafter short story challenge required a story built around a specific place. This was a new idea for me as my stories are usually built around an event or a character. Never before had I tried to write a story that focused primarily on the setting.

I went through my file of story ideas and came across a true South African haunting of a farmhouse in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape. The clip about this haunted house was only a few sentences long and involved a man who had stolen a large sum of gold coins. Following his death, the thief returned to haunt the house where he’d stowed the treasure.

This story interested me. I wondered if the ghost regretted stealing the money which led to his being trapped indefinitely in the nether world between life and death. Would the spirit take an opportunity of redemption if it was offered?

I wondered how any person who occupied the farmhouse and found the hidden money would feel about it? Would the finder keep the treasure, or hand it over to the state? How would the ghost react if his hidden horde was discovered?

From these thoughts and questions, my short story, Listen to Instruction, was borne.

About Stellenbosh

Stellenbosch is a university town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The town is surrounded by the vineyards of the Cape Winelands and the nature reserves of Jonkershoek and Simonsberg.

Stellenbosch was established in 1679 by Simon van der Stel, the governor of the Cape. He granted land in the vicinity of Stellenbosch to interested farmers. Stellenbosh officially became a village in 1682 and in 1685 it became the Cape’s second magistracy, with an authority that extended for 25,000 square kilometres. It is the second oldest European town in South Africa.

The farmers build Cape Dutch houses with graceful gables and irrigation furrows for their lovely gardens.

In 1690, some of the French Huguenots settled in Stellenbosch and planted the grapes that turned the town into the centre of the South African wine industry. Stellenbosch became an important educational hub in 1859 when the Dutch Reformed Church opened a seminary. The University of Stellenbosch was established in 1918.

Cape Dutch architecture. Picture credit: https://www.wesgro.co.za/travel/blog/a-stellenbosch-historical-amble

Stellenbosh. Picture credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellenbosch

Thank you, Roberta, for the interesting information. Now, here is my review of the story “Listen to Instructions.”

My Review

I listened to ghost stories with my dad when I was a kid. Once a week we stayed up late because the ghost broadcasting didn’t start until 11:00 p.m. A perfect hour to cuddle up next to someone in case I got scared. I still hear a vibrating voice announcing the Midnight Zone.

If you enjoy ghost stories, you’re into a treat with the new release of Where Spirits Linger, an anthology with Kaye Lynne Booth, Robbie Cheadle, Stevie Turner, Enid Holden, Sharon Kretschmer, and Crysta Planko.

We hear the cliché “RIP” (rest in peace) when someone passed away. Do all the spirits rest when people passed away. Will they have unfinished business to cause them to linger?

In Where Spirits Linger, Roberta Eaton Cheadle writes about the spirit of Simon Pienaar, who didn’t cross over to the other side of the world. He broke into someone’s home one night, killed the owner, and stole his collection of antique Kruger coins. The police arrested Simon Pienaar and charged him with murder, but nobody found the treasure.

Jake bought the 19th-century house owned by Simon Pienaar despite rumors and gossips about the haunted house and all the stories behind it. He got a bargain on an auction, planned to renovate it over time, and wanted to live there while he did so.

He soon found out the restless spirit haunted him by asking for help. He ignored the chilling voice that invaded his dreams night after night but finally asked what the ghost wanted him to do. It was Simon Pienaar’s spirit asking him to do something with the antique Kruger coins he had stolen. He gave instructions to Jake to help him take care of his unfinished business.

How hard could that be to help a ghost put the closure in his business? It’s not as easy as it seems, especially for following Simon’s specific instructions. Roberta will let you know Jake shouldn’t have messed around with Simon.

Roberta’s “Listen to Instructions” is entertaining, so are the rest of the ghost stories. Highly recommended for an evening reading. I received a free ARC to do an honest review.

Ratings: Amazon Goodreads

Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s books

A Ghost and His Gold

After Tom and Michelle Cleveland move into their recently built, modern townhouse, their housewarming party is disrupted when a drunken game with an Ouija board goes wrong and summonses a sinister poltergeist, Estelle, who died in 1904.

Estelle makes her presence known in a series of terrifying events, culminating in her attacking Tom in his sleep with a knife. But Estelle isn’t alone. Who are the shadows lurking in the background – one in an old-fashioned slouch hat and the other, a soldier, carrying a rifle?

After discovering their house has been built on the site of one of the original farms in Irene, Michelle becomes convinced that the answer to her horrifying visions lies in the past. She must unravel the stories of the three phantoms’ lives, and the circumstances surrounding their untimely deaths during the Second Anglo Boer War, in order to understand how they are tied together and why they are trapped in the world of ghosts between life and death. As the reasons behind Estelle’s malevolent behavior towards Tom unfold, Michelle’s marriage comes under severe pressure and both their lives are threatened.

Through the Nethergate

Margaret, a girl born with second sight, has the unique ability to bring ghosts trapped between Heaven and Hell back to life. When her parents die suddenly, she goes to live with her beloved grandfather, but the cellar of her grandfather’s ancient inn is haunted by an evil spirit of its own.

In the town of Bungay, a black dog wanders the streets, enslaving the ghosts of those who have died unnatural deaths. When Margaret arrives, these phantoms congregate at the inn, hoping she can free them from the clutches of Hugh Bigod, the 12th century ghost who has drawn them away from Heaven’s White Light in his canine guise.

With the help of her grandfather and the spirits she has befriended, Margaret sets out to defeat Hugh Bigod, only to discover he wants to use her for his own ends – to take over Hell itself.

Purchase Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s books

TSL Books (paperback)

https://tslbooks.uk/product-tag/roberta-eaton-cheadle/

Lulu.com (ebook):

A Ghost and His Gold https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/robert-eaton-cheadle/a-ghost-and-his-gold/ebook/product-d858km.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Through the Nethergate https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/roberta-eaton-cheadle/through-the-nethergate/ebook/product-1qkz92jq.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5

Roberta Eaton Cheadle Author Biography

Roberta Eaton Cheadle is a South African writer and poet specializing in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.

Roberta has short stories and poems in several anthologies and has 2 published novels, Through the Nethergate, a historical supernatural fantasy, and A Ghost and His Gold, a historical paranormal novel set in South Africa.

Roberta has 9 children’s books published under the name Robbie Cheadle.

Roberta was educated at the University of South Africa where she achieved a Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1996 and a Honours Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1997. She was admitted as a member of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2000.

Roberta has worked in corporate finance from 2001 until the present date and has written 7 publications relating to investing in Africa. She has won several awards over her 20-year career in the category of Transactional Support Services.

Follow Roberta Eaton Cheadle at:

Website https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/

Blog https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19631306.Roberta_Eaton_Cheadle

Twitter https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5

Thank you for your visit and reading!

Have a Wonderful Week!

Poetry Treasure Blog Tour – Featuring Colleen Chesebro

Posted on May 29, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle 69 comments

It’s my pleasure to feature Poetry Treasure on my blog today. Poetry Treasures is an anthology of poems by a number of talented poets. During the blog tour, each of the poets is introduced.

The editors of Poetry Treasure have a treat for you:

Follow the tour and leave a comment at each stop for a chance to win one of three digital copies of Poetry Treasures to be given away. (Winners will be randomly selected following the end of the tour.)

Blurb

A collection of poetry from the poet/author guests of Robbie Cheadle on the “Treasuring Poetry” blog series on Writing to be Read in 2020. Open the book and discover the poetry treasures of Sue Vincent, Geoff Le Pard, Frank Prem, Victoria (Tori) Zigler, Colleen M. Chesebro, K. Morris, Annette Rochelle Aben, Jude Kitya Itakali, and Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Purchase Links

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Poetry-Treasures-Sue-Vincent-ebook/dp/B0933KSJR9

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Poetry-Treasures-Sue-Vincent/dp/B093QLNGC5

Today I am thrilled to introduce poet Colleen Chesebro who is the contributing author. Please help me welcome Colleen and get to know her and her work.

Hello everyone! My name is Colleen Chesebro. I’m a prose metrist, which means I like counting syllables in my poetry. I worked in accounting as a bookkeeper for over twenty years, and that love of counting followed me into my poetry writing.

I wrote the poem, “The Weather Witch,” based off my love for all things magical, but there’s more to this story.

For years now, my husband has teased me, saying I’m a weather witch! We’re retired Air Force, and for many years we’ve traveled around the United States and various other parts of the world.

Every new place we settled in the weather acted strangely. For example, when we lived in Montana, the state was hit with the worst drought in decades. That continued until we left. I’ve heard from friends that the weather has now resumed a more seasonal pattern.

Last year we lived in Arizona. For over one hundred days the temperature in northern Buckeye, AZ soared to over 110-degrees F. The 119-degree F. days were too much for me! Now we live in Michigan… where the temperature has remained cool with a few mornings of frost well into the middle of May! You guessed it. My husband blames me. LOL!

If I was a superhero, I’d control the weather. Everyone needs a little magic in their lives. Think of all the possibilities—you could change the weather to fit your mood. I guess being a weather witch has some advantages.

This was a perfect day from last weekend when we visited with Dustin and Molly, are dear friends who live on the Grand River in Michigan. I want more days like this one! POOF! I guess being a weather witch isn’t so bad after all!

This poem is written as a double inverted nonet, twenty lines with a syllable count per line of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 syllables which looks like an hourglass when centered on the page. I thought it resembled a tornado.

There’s a lot to unpack in this poem. I prefer the idea that we all have natural talents or powers that we can tap into to make the best versions of ourselves. All it takes is finding the good inside and projecting it outward.

“The Weather Witch”

My guiding light was a weather witch.

She taught me to mix the winds and

to call down the lightening.

Yet, I’ve seen her in rain

not utter a spell.

Her power was

natural—

bound by

trust

magic

and with the

understanding

that choice designed with

the use of elements

held no power over them.

Her strength lay with separating

the light from the darkness held within.

Bio:

Colleen M. Chesebro is a Michigan Poet who loves crafting syllabic poetry, flash fiction, and creative fiction and nonfiction. Colleen sponsors a weekly poetry challenge, called Tanka Tuesday, on wordcraftpoetry.com where participants learn how to write traditional and current forms of syllabic poetry.

Along with JulesPaige, Colleen is also a co-editor of “Word Weaving, a Word Craft Journal of Syllabic Verse,” at wordweavingpoetryjournal.com. Submissions open May 15, 2021. The debut issue of this journal will publish in October 2021.

Colleen’s syllabic poetry has appeared in various other online publications. Recently, she created the Double Ennead, a 99-syllable poetry form for Carrot Ranch. Colleen’s poetry has poetry in various anthologies and journals including “Hedgerow-a journal of small poems,” and “Poetry Treasures,” a collection of poetry from the poet/author guests of Robbie Cheadle on the “Treasuring Poetry” blog series on “Writing to be Read” in 2020.

Colleen published “Word Craft: Prose & Poetry, The Art of Crafting Syllabic Poetry,” which illustrates how to write various syllabic poetry forms used in her Tanka Tuesday challenges; and a collection of poetry, flash fiction, and short stories called, “Fairies, Myths & Magic: A Summer Celebration,” dedicated to the Summer Solstice. She contributed a short story called “The Changeling,” in the “Ghostly Rites Anthology 2020,” published by Plaisted Publishing House.

Find Colleen at Word Craft: Prose & Poetry at wordcraftpoetry.com.

Find Colleen’s author blog at colleenchesebro.com.

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