Thursday, November 30, 2017

Night Sorrows Introduces Rebekah McCabe as Main Character in New Series

I very much enjoyed this book, but it took extra time to read it. When I got the ebook without the cover, I immediately went on alert...

With over 50 years in writing reading and editing in one form or another, the last decade or so with books, I have found that some type of formatting issues can be very disruptive...

Night Sorrows is a complex, multi-faceted story and the author has worked hard to keep all sub-plots in the reader's mind... That's where the ebook issues occurred... Ebooks allow a lot of flexibility for the reader, but at the same time, it often affects the original typed story...In this book, Craig had inconsistent results for change of scene - I might say this is the worst problem faced by creators of ebooks and oftentimes fails... Instead of belaboring the reading problems, I just want to recommend that a writer use an actual break, such as ###, to show scene change. Since there is no consistency in a page, there is no way to effectively use space lines... The problem results in jarring mind jerks as scenes change without knowing and an entirely different topic and set of characters begin... I might add that too many scene changes in a row can also be disruptive.. 

Readers may decide whether this is important to them; the book would have been given a 5 by me, if not for the reading problems that occurred...

Night Sorrows:
A Rebekah McCabe Mystery


By Bill Craig



“I heard a noise and I turned, then my head felt like it exploded.  I saw stars and then everything went black.  I don’t know how long I was out, but when I came to, I felt helpless.  It was hard to make my body function.  I saw blood on the wall.  I wondered if it was mine at first, but then I finally realized that it wasn’t.  It couldn’t be.  Because, while it felt like my brains might be leaking out, they couldn’t be splattered down the wall for me to be alive,” Rebekah McCabe said. 
“You don’t like feeling helpless, do you?” Alexus Prince asked. “No, I don’t.” 
“So, feeling helpless . . . what did that make you feel like?” “Like I was a goddamn failure at the only job I ever truly loved,” McCabe replied. 
“Your work is very important to you?” 
“It is.  It defines me.” 
“Have you ever considered doing anything else?” 
“Not really, no.  I like what I do.” 
“Even when you fail?” 
“I never said I failed.  I caught the bad guy in the end.” 
“But your client was still dead.  You were hired to keep her alive.”
 “I brought her killer to justice.  I count that as a win,”
 McCabe sighed. 
“Interesting.  I see our time is about up.  I want you to think about this and tell me what you might have done differently, given the chance,” Alexus Prince told her. 
“There was nothing to do differently.  I caught the bad guy.  That was my job.” 
“It was, but that became your job only after your client was killed.” 
“It did.  I don’t let things like that stop me from doing what I was hired to do.  Caroline England hired me to find out who wanted to kill her.  I did that, and then I made sure that the son of a bitch was prosecuted.” 
McCabe looked over at Alexus Prince.  The psychiatrist was shorter and smaller boned than her, with thick black hair that seemed to hint at a Greek heritage.  Her brown eyes were large behind her designer glasses, her face impassive, as she looked back at McCabe.  Her make-up was minimal, her natural beauty didn’t require much enhancements.  She was wearing a pair of silk grey linen slacks with a maroon silk dress shirt.  Her nails were stylishly polished in a two-tone shade of pale blue and white.  
“I want to help you, Rebekah, but I can’t if you are going to fight me every step of the way.  Work with me instead of against me and maybe we can get the nightmares to stop,” Alexus told her. “Okay, I’ll try.  Coming to see you isn’t easy for me.  I’m not used to talking about my feelings with a stranger, even though we are friends.” 
“Is there someone you are comfortable talking with?” 
“Yes.  My Pap, back in Texas.” 
“Then give him a call, Rebekah.  See what advice he has to offer.  It might even help,” Dr. Prince said. 
“I’ll think about it.  Same time next week?” Rebekah asked. 
“I’ll make sure that you’re scheduled.” 
“Thank you, Doc.  I’ll see you then,” McCabe replied, standing and walking towards the door. 
“This will get easier, Rebekah,” Dr. Prince called after her. 
“I hope so,” McCabe sighed, before stepping through the door and closing it behind her.  McCabe looked at her watch.  She needed to get to the office and hopefully, she would get a new case to take her mind off what had happened to her in Caroline England’s apartment last month. Rebekah McCabe was sipping from her Starbuck’s cup of coffee when the door to her office opened and a very elegantly appointed, yet casually attired woman walked in.  She was a middle-aged woman, with blonde highlights in her hair and professionally styled makeup.  She wore expensive designer jeans, an expensive designer tee-shirt, and expensive Adidas sneakers.  She was very well put together.  Her eyes were a worried blue and her mouth was a tight red lipstick line across her face. 
“Can I help you? Bekah asked. “My daughter is missing.  I need you to find her,” the woman said, flatly. 
“Okay.  What is your name?” McCabe asked.  McCabe was a tall long- haired redhead with jade green eyes.  
“Jeanette Larson,” the woman said.  Bekah wrote it down. “What’s your daughter’s name?” 
“Courtney Larson.” 
“How old is she?” 
“She’s sixteen.  She looks older, something of an early bloomer, like I was.  Beautiful brown hair and brown eyes.  She’s about five-foot-five-inches tall, maybe a hundred and twenty pounds,” Jeanette sighed. 
“What was she wearing the last time you saw her?” 
“Blue jeans with rips in the legs, you know like the kids wear these days, and a pink tee shirt.  She has on BCBG flip flops and had her purse with her, a Dolce & Gabbana.  It is made of jean material, too, with sequins on it” Jeanette explained.  It was clear the woman just expected Rebekah to know the names of the attire that her daughter was wearing.  But, that didn’t put off Bekah.   
“Do you know why she left?” McCabe asked, raising her eyes at the coveted designer names worn by a teenage girl.   
“We had a fight.  I don’t like her boyfriend.  He is a f****** abusive jackass.” 
“Except Courtney doesn’t see it that way?” 
“No, she doesn’t.  She thinks that she loves him.” 
“You think she ran off with him?” 
“Maybe.  All I really know is that she is gone, and he is her boyfriend.” 
“That’s a lot, in and of itself.”
~~~

In announcing Night Sorrows, Craig declares that it might be his best book yet. I have not previously read anything by this author, but I can confirm that the story is very good... As the book opens, we meet the main character, Rebekah McCabe. She is meeting with her psychiatrist about how she is doing after her last case in which her client had been killed... 

We are also meeting one of Rebekah's new clients--Alexus Prince, her psychiatrist, early in the book, realizes she may have a stalker! And soon seeks help from Rebekah...

But Rebekah has just accepted a doozy of a case. A young girl's mother has come to seek her help in finding her. Her daughter has left home, possibly with a boyfriend. What Rebekah finds out is much worse...Giving away one thing that happens helps illustrate both the complexity and dangerous situation the young girl is in... You see, her boyfriend, owed money, and gave his girlfriend to them as collateral until he could get the money. You guessed it, by that time, Courtney Lawson was much more valuable than what her boyfriend owed him, so he was killed when he tried to free Courtney... A horrible situation suddenly got worse...

Courtney Lawson had already been taken by the entire group that now owned her and they figured she would be worth much more when they turned her out, drugged...

Rebekah used to be a cop, a good cop. We don't know exactly why she left, but there is some trouble between her and her former boss...could it be that he wanted a relationship that was not to be? Rebekah is now dating another officer so is able to gain access to information as needed.  Rebekah is tough and is willing to tackle anything that comes her way. But I liked the fact that she was also undergoing counseling to help her deal with the dangerous life she had chosen... 

We learn that she is from Texas and the rest of the family are Texas Rangers...They have become distant when she chose not to stay with the family legacy. All except Pop, who is a wonderful character that comes to clear his granddaughter's name... You see, her old boss had named her as a person of interest for the killing of the boyfriend, who was murdered soon after she'd met with him... Rebekah immediately goes rogue and moves in with a former retired Texas Ranger, who turns out to be the contact to get Pop on a plane...The two of them working together was one of the highlights of the book!

And while Rebekah and Pop works the missing girl case, her boyfriend cop, Mario provides protection for Alexis Prince, who definitely is being stalked...

Of course, Rebekah has gotten to know people...one of which is the head of the Russian Mafia, who agrees to get information on who might be dealing in Human Trafficking... Bodies start falling and Rebekah is being sought not only by the police but is now known by all those criminals who are involved!

And just when they find where the young girls are being held, one of the men holding her escapes and takes her with him...

The investigation(s) are well written and the action is fairly hot and heavy right from the first. For me, though, it was the personal life situations of Rebekah that pulled everything together and gave it the emotional impact that touches readers and has them looking for more... McCabe is a winning new series character...

I'm hoping the author takes the time to correct the setting separation issue and I'll be happy to increase the ranking to a five-star response... I'm still going to highly recommend it at this time, based on the storyline itself... Do check it out...


GABixlerReviews




I taught myself to read by age 4 and by age 6 I had started writing my own stories. I published my first novel at age 40, so it only took me 34 years to become an overnight success. Now at age 55, I have approximately 55 novels in print. I'm a single father with custody of a very energetic 10 year old son as well as his three older brothers and sisters. I have a large number of grandchildren and 1 great grand child.

I spent many years doing all sorts of jobs and learned something from each of them. Life is a constant journey and learning experience. Every bruise every scar we bear is a testament to what we have endured and forges us into the person that we are. 

All of my characters tend to grow through what they endure, so I have translated some of my experiences into theirs or to imagine theirs. I feel this makes them very relatable to the average reader and makes the reader care about what happens to them. While my mysteries seem to sell the best I still enjoy writing pulp adventure and science fiction and westerns. Look for a new mystery series later this year!

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Mary Lynn Plaisance Turns Gothic Legend into Southern Mystery...




Taking a legend, with a basic definition of what the Boo Hag monster does, Mary Lynn Plaisance provides readers with a short, mystifying mystery surrounding the lives of two young girls who lived alone in Louisiana, after their father left, their mother died, and then, ultimately, their grandmother who had been taking care of them. Celee was 14 when she began to take care of Tootsie who was 4 at the time...


Celee always brought flowers, holy water, and three candles from her church to the healing dome. Magnolias, mums, or whatever flowers were in bloom, she placed in between each candle for ambience. Her mama always told her that the glowing light of a candle would shine up to Heaven, and the Lord could hear her words from the smoke of the flames. Celee felt comfort from those words. She loved burning candles. She stared into the flames and prayed that everything would be peaceful for everyone in the world. Celee loved peace.
While waiting for the lady to come in her boat, she kept fiddling with the flowers, making sure they looked nice...
At 6:00 pm, in the distance she heard a motor boat approaching the healing dome, it was them.
"Welcome to the healing dome. Welcome."
The lady was clearly amazed at the place. The man looked a little skeptical. The young man looked hopeful...
"The iron dome is beautiful. Hi, I'm Elizabeth. This is my husband John. And...this is our son Stephen. He has crippling arthritis. It came to him in one year when he was only 18 and he was crippled like this ever since then. He's only 20, and we prayed so much that you can help him."
"I can help him," she assured Elizabeth...
~~~

When Ceelie was a young girl, she had healed a frog while at the Healing Dome. Her mother and grandmother explained that she had been blessed and she had been healing since then. Now at the age of 24, with her birthday the same as Tootsie, who would be 14, she had received a request to help a young man who had crippling arthritis. After Ceelie had healed him, his father, who owned a newspaper, wanted to do a story of what he had done. Ceelie quickly asked him not to--she knew that people would come from far and wide for her to heal them and she had been feeling tired, unable to breathe easily. 

The newspaper owner betrayed her and published the story!

Soon the trouble started, including strangers in town who Ceelie noticed was watching her and many gathered at her home asking for her healing power... It was during this time that Tootsie seem to come to resent her for getting so much recognition. She knew, from her mother, that she had also been blessed, but nobody else had ever been told. So whenever Ceelie went to heal at the Dome, Tootsie went out on her own, and had even met a man...

Plaisance has a real gift in writing about the paranormal and creating southern gothic that pulls readers in. The dialogue is relatively simple as, in many ways, Ceelie still thinks of Tootsie as a child. And much of the story of their lives are shares by Tootsie asking Ceelie to tell her stories about their early life...With their birthdays coming, Tootsie has asked for a hi-fi and Ceelie was able to make a good deal with Trader Paw, a 80-year-old shop keeper and friend. She was able to also buy 4 records. 
Tootsie used her talent to make them a rainbow-colored cake and Ceelie loaded the player... Baby Love, Tootsie's favorite came on and they danced around while the other songs came on... But readers will pick up on questionable statements and start wondering just what is going on. So that, for instance, while they are dancing at the birthday party, a strange record is added, that Ceelie didn't buy... Tootsie had first said that Joe gave it to her...but who was Joe?


http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/boo-hag
As the ending comes, the pace of the book increases as Tootsie disappears, is found by Ceelie, attempted and murder occurs and we discover that the boo hag is present. Even though you may have begun to guess what was happening, parts of the book is scary, especially if you are like me and had never heard of the paranormal creature, the Boo Hag...

Interesting for me was that Ceelie had begun to doubt her own blessing and attributed the miracles to The Healing Dome... only to have it totally destroyed as Ceelie tried for a miracle there... Can some people heal, or are inanimate things able to acquire healing power through some cosmic energy surge...In this book which I easily read in a day, there is much to ponder and, if you have an interest in the paranormal, you'll especially enjoy separating out the real paranormal gifts that an individual has been given from the legends that are built up through folk lore... Because, surely, some of the book includes the fantasy from the author's creative mind, right?

Surely there are no such things as boo hags... Surely not!



Nobody has seen the two characters in this film since it stopped...mid story...


When you read novels by Mary Lynn Plaisance, expect to be caught up in suspense, the paranormal, a mystery, or just a little fantasy, but don't think you'll be able to predict what you'll be reading... Check out my review of The Ghost of Mavis for something entirely different from this spooky tale!
This book is thought-provoking, easily takes you into the setting of two young Black girls living on their own, growing up and learning what they can from each other and their neighbors... I enjoyed it greatly, even if it took me quite a while to go to sleep after finishing...


GABixlerReviews



Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Cary Allen Stone Slams Readers With Today's Earth - Vanishing!



For the past century, the earth struggled to accommodate the weight of tens of billions of humans. Concrete and steel cities covered every inch of its surface area without regard for the effect on water table reserves. Without federal watchdogs, toxic chemicals were dumped into the rivers and led to heavy metal poisoning from arsenic, mercury and lead. Laws to protect the environment and population weren’t enforced for the benefit of those desiring financial gain. Humans squandered the earth’s precious resources with over-harvesting and with chemicals that burned the fields. Animals and plants became extinct. Evolved superbugs and bacteria resistant to medicines replaced diseases and viruses. The World Health Organization couldn’t keep up with the plagues. 
The population required seventy percent more food and energy, but there was no technological advance increasing the yield. Energy sources, both fossil fuels, and renewables had been exhausted. Landmasses decimated. Copper, zinc, and platinum were stripped from the earth and depleted in decades. 
Climate change warnings went unheeded until noxious deadly carbon dioxide gas levels raised at an alarming rate in the atmosphere, and sea levels rose placing cities along the eastern seaboard below sea level, while wildfires ravaged half of California. Industrial waste polluted the air and water. The earth fought back with tsunamis, floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and melting icebergs, but in the end lost the war. The planet entered a downward spiral the likes of a barren Mars. 
As the free markets and world economy collapsed, tensions grew. Wars between belligerent nations scarred the earth. Darwinian super-predators terrorized the weak and frail. Humans believed technology would save them and the earth, but with artificial intelligent machines, people became obsolete. Cyber-war attacked and disabled cyber-security. Humanity lost its way, lost anything to believe in, and for some lost the desire to live. Suicide rates spiked, but no one cared because the deaths left more precious space for those who refused to surrender and die. Any hopes and dreams they had for a better life for their children dissolved. A few religions made desperate attempts to ease the suffering but found that ancient doctrines were useless and irrelevant. The preachers were unable to convince the flock to be compassionate and help one another. 
Xenophobia reached epic heights, as did genocide and filicide. World governments were on constant high alert, prepared to launch nuclear warheads that would sanitize the earth. The people, particularly the Doomsday Preppers, had lost faith in the government and institutions choosing instead to protect themselves by storing food and burrowing into underground shelters for when the apocalypse arrived, but who survives a nuclear holocaust? 
When a nuclear weapon explodes above ground the radiation is carried by the Jetstream and circles the entire globe for centuries. It accounts for the increase in cancers and birth defects. The initial mushroom cloud is only a part of the destruction. The radiation lingers to cause slow, painful deaths for the world’s population. Philosophers and artists accepted humanity was a failed species. Scientists recalled Carl Sagan’s warning, “Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” Many chose extinction while a few refused to believe it was the end of humanity and rushed to find solutions. It took years to prove whether their theories were plausible. 
A chosen group found viable solutions using the current technology. The answer, they concluded, was no longer to repair Mother Earth, but rather to leave Earth and find a new home to plant the seeds of humanity, and begin again. 
The story of SEEDS begins here.
~~~

Seeds: The Journey Begin

By Cary Allen Stone


Do not be deceived by the brief description for this book...This is not a daydream, conceived by swinging on the back porch, looking up into the sky... This book, in my opinion, is as near today's reality than some may ever realize--until it is too late...

Stone has used his love for reading all things science to create a novel that comes at the best possible time for such a story.You will be reading about things that has been done to Mother Earth, and ignored, for the most part. Climate change looms large for those problems, while the human factor reflects today's news headlines and nuclear fighting is dangerously causing alarm...

Introducing a set of men and women scientists who were extremely concerned about what has happened, they have come together to form a new group, SEEDS. Yes, they had financial backing, but it was not to try to do anything about salvaging earth--they all felt it was too late. What they planned was to build a ship and colonize a far planet. Given that Russia and China had already been looking at Mars, they turned toward Titan, a moon circling Saturn... It had been under investigation for years and found to be a possible future planet that could be inhabited...The book begins with the work already started for preparing for space travel. The work was exciting and when others  learned and saw what was happening at SEEDS, they soon wanted to join. Readers will move into details of all of the various things that were required to not only build the ship (think ark for taking both people and all life forms), but all planning for construction and fabrication of materials once there were being researched, tested, and improved accordingly. The tedium of the details is counterbalanced by a set of fascinating characters, all experts in their own fields and selected for what contributions they would bring to the project and after leaving earth.

Beyond the doors of SEEDS, the news stations broadcast the deteriorating state of nations. It sent chills up and down spines and made for an increase in the use of psychotropic medications. Many parents thought about where they’d find a safe place for their families. The children still played, but they were cognizant of Mommy and Daddy’s change in mood. 
In the States, politics were unnerving. Congress was a name they called a group of old white men who were expert at doing nothing. The Supreme Court sat in their lifelong tenures with nothing to review since no one passed laws anymore. The President appeared to be more unhinged every day. He hated the media, which he claimed created fake news, wrote an avalanche of Executive Orders about nothing and only listened to and believed the reports of the fringe and conspiracy theorists. He continued to hold rallies, post-election, with his ardent supporters. Psychiatrists alarmed the public with claims the President was clinically insane. Historians said the President was a fascist and as soon as he found a reason, he would take full control of the government by declaring a state of emergency. 
In the frame of the television camera, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History sat on a chair across from a news anchor and gave his take on the state of the country and the world. He lamented the country’s rejection of science and that it would lead to the end of the nation’s democracy. 
In the scientific world, astrophysicists inside and outside SEEDS discussed the theory of inflation, not the monetary kind, but the fact the universe somehow had sped up its expansion. Why had it done so? Was dark energy the cause? Astrophysicists loved to discuss the abstract. They had no reason for it save our universe might exist within a black hole, which only traveled in one direction. The theory aligned Einstein’s general relativity and gravity with quantum mechanics. It upended the Big Bang theory. Regardless, it meant the universe was moving farther away from Earth. The board adjusted their timeline once again.
~~~

I couldn't think of one thing that Stone had not included in his planning for the relocation of the human race to a moon many millions of miles away... He has brilliantly combined scientific research, especially space travel and problems here on earth, together with characters with expertise they are willing to share for the good of mankind, if only they were allowed to do so. Using today's world reality instead of a projected future adds a totally convincing story that could not feel more real!


They heard the last member of their crew. There had not been enough room for him on the last shuttle...He reported that nothing and nobody was left on earth, before he, too, died...

The remainder of the book shares the trip to Titan... I'm typing and wish I could say this is a must-read... but we will soon all be gone on earth... Only those who make the trip will have a new beginning... God Be With Those few humans who remain...


GABixlerReviews...





Friday, November 24, 2017

Speaking Your Truth: An Excerpt from Writing for Bliss by Diana Raab, PhD






In today's world, the speaking or writing the truth has become more of an important quality than ever before...

In Diana Raab's book, Writing for Bliss, her Seven-Step Plan for Telling your Story and Transforming your life, she includes Speaking Your Truth as one step!

With the publisher's permission, I am sharing some excerpts of what Dr. Raab writes... I believe she has much for us to consider as claims of fake news, lies, and blaming is oftentimes used more in communicating, than what is actually true...

Speaking your truth is not only healthy but also psychologically quite liberating. Releasing your stress by writing your thoughts is one way of speaking your truth. By speaking the truth, you are not writing to be right, you are writing to be "real." You are also thinking about what is important to you, what your values are, what inspires and drives you, and what gives your life purpose. Your truth is your truth and no one else's. In general, it is easier to be truthful than to avoid the subjects that might be more painful for you to write about. In the end, the rewards for speaking and writing the truth will be great...


Writing with your emotional truth is about writing from your heart, rather than entirely from your mind. The emotional truth of a story is the truth of how you feel about the story. Each person has their own emotional truth. Your emotional truth might be different altogether from that of another person, even if that person lived through the same kind of experience you did...When you write your story...make sure to write what you want to write, rather than what you think others want to hear...



The truth is that when you find your authentic voice in writing you will know it, and you will also be on your way to finding your bliss. You will know it because the writing just feels right, and your words flow rather easily. You can always tell when someone is writing in their authentic voice because what they are saying rings true... Writing your emotional truth means being honest about your feelings. It is about allowing your inner voice to take charge. In other words, you are writing from your heart, not your head...




"We learned about honesty and integrity -- that the truth matters ... that you don't take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules ... and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square." 
- Michelle Obama, former First Lady







Diana Raab, PhD is a memoirist, poet, blogger, thought -provoker, speaker & survivor. She often speaks on writing for bliss and transformation. 

Diana has been writing from an early age. As a child of two working parents, she spent a lot of time crafting letters and keeping a daily journal. She's believer in the healing and transformative nature of writing and journaling and facilitates workshops in this area.

She’s the award-winning author of eight books, and the author of over 500 articles and poems. Her latest poetry collection is called, LUST.

Raab is the author of two memoirs, Regina's Closet: Finding My Grandmother's Secret Journal and Healing With Words. She has four poetry collections-- the most recent, called, "Lust."

Diana is on the board of a number of organizations, including Poets & Writers. She's a trustee at Antioch University Santa Barbara, and The University of California Santa Barbara.

Thursday, November 23, 2017

A Thanksgiving Greeting From Diana Raab, Author of Writing for Bliss!




NOVEMBER 2017

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


"Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for."
~Zig Ziglar 

Dear Friends, 



As many of my readers know, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Not only do we have a lot to be grateful for, but I love it because for the most part it doesn't have materialistic connections. What can be so bad about a holiday that focuses on good food and being surrounded by loved ones?

One way to document or acknowledge our gratitude is by engaging in gratitude journaling. Begin by writing a gratitude list, and then pick one or two topics to describe in more detail. Those who regularly keep gratitude journals choose to write either early in the morning or before retiring for the day. A dear writing colleague of mine kept her gratitude journal on her bedside table, and each night she made a list of five things she was grateful for. This exercise can inspire us to look for positive events during the day. It also helps  take the focus off the negative. After a while, this attitude can spill  over into everything else you do.

I am very grateful for your readership and giving me your time. Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!


EXCERPT FROM WRITING FOR BLISS:


Gratitude is about feeling love and appreciation for the self and others. As poet Pablo Neruda says, "You can pick all the flowers, but you can't stop the spring." Many of us take our lives for granted and do not express gratitude often enough. In addition to keeping a gratitude journal, it is important to permeate each day with gratitude and marvel at the life we are living. This is one of the many reasons that Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. More often than not, I think gratitude should be a built-in part of our everyday life and journey. Expressing it is like keeping a tuning fork alive and vibrating the joy throughout the universe.... 

Gratitude encompasses love and appreciation. It is important that we all feel and express and cultivate gratitude in our lives. Gratitude is a key component for living a spiritual life. We never know what circumstances will confront us, but we do know that every day we are presented with the miracles of life. There are many reasons why it is important for you to feel gratitude and express it when you are able. Expressing gratitude is important for your happiness. A sense of appreciation makes other people like you because you will appear to be less self-centered. 

Creatively yours,
Gratitude prompts from
WRITING FOR BLISS 
  • List 10 things you're grateful for. 
  • Choose one thing on your list, and write for ten minutes about that topic. 
  • Write about how you express gratitude to others.
  • Write a thank-you letter to someone who changed your life.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Continued Success by Author Warren Adler Prompts Reading of The War of the Roses







Warren Adler
'The War of the Roses' Continues Its Successful International Tour as Both
a Stage Play and Musical
Following its Flemish tour as a hit musical, the Italian rendition of 'The War of the Roses' as a stage play has opened to rave reviews in Milan's Teatro Manzoni...
I'm happy to announce that 'The War of the Roses' stage play is thriving internationally - a deal to roll out the musical in 17 foreign language territories in Europe, Asia and South America was recently signed and while 'The War of the Roses' Italian stage play is currently running in Milan, it will also premiere in Rome.

Here's what the Italian critics are saying so far...
*translated from Italian
Manzoni Theater, 'Roses War' with Ambra Angiolini and Matteo Cremon
The Warren Adler novel of 1981, which became eight years later also a huge movie success, is also a starred comedy
"...an extraordinary, refined and chaotic comedy at the same time,
comical and cruel, ridiculous and crazy..."
"Adler faces one of the most powerful and extraordinary human
deflagrations: the separation of a man and a woman who shared a great love."
"The real war, perhaps far more bloody, will take place within
us, in perceiving victims and executioners within our unresolved half,
brooding in the bowels of our consciences."

"Adler helps us, with a smile, to face this war with courage and lightness."
THE ROSES WAR IN MILAN

On the stage of the Manzoni Theater is the famous Warren Adler comedy, which was a cinematic success of the late 80s. Protagonists of the show Ambra Angiolini and Matteo Cremon
"From there is a crescendo of wickedness, anger, and mutual
 frustration that lead to a self-destructive ending."
"An apparent, idyllic calm that is uncommonly transformed, almost
without any realization, into a storm. From paradise to hell."
The Roses War. Manzoni Theater, November 9, 2017
"...Warren Adler naturally keeps the storyline and characters of the
novel unaltered and creates, almost without wanting, a work
perhaps more suited to a theatrical drama than a film, where drama and
comedyare permeable at any time more than can be done in a remarkable film."
"Lots of applause even on open stage, with numerous calls at the end,
from a crowd enthusiastic in a theater out of stock in every rank of seats."
"...the great chandelier, an important object of the whole affair,
is rich and brilliant in showing a life that is only apparently apparent
but also capable of causing death."
The Manzoni Theater in Milan bursts The Roses War: the comedy that creates a great love
"In this comedy we are confronted with pure emotions, human nature in
all its cruelty, without veils and in the moment of greater weakness:
the separation of a man and a woman who shared a great love."
"The Roses War, the comedy written by Adler, manages to give us
new readings of ourselves, perhaps with lightness and a slight smile
on the lips, giving us the opportunity to bend to the other, to open ourselves
to the next and to the outside world, where women and men will
understand their limits, embrace them and choose to improve
each day, for themselves and for each other."
Read the Novel That Started It All...
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Do you read book descriptions? After I had read a number of books by author, Warren Adler, and now on his newsletter list, I again learned about his popular book, which later became a movie, The War of the Roses. Not having ever been married, I had no real inclination to read about the divorce of a couple... I should have gone with my gut...

As I consider celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, after finishing the book this morning, I find I do have something to be very thankful for--not ever having been married!

When Adler's creative mind moves into "drive," he puts his all into the book he is writing. In this one, apparently, dark comedy. I have once again confirmed to myself that I have a warped sense of humor, also apparently, because I saw nothing funny about the story even while many others have praised it... Now here's the key, since I wasn't sure of the genre as I started to read it, I thought it was family drama and soon considered it horror.

Readers, I did not like this book. As you consider whether to read it, realize that I am aware of my own prejudices and willingly share them when I come up with a book that I cannot personally recommend. For me, dark comedy is just making light of the real issues that affects some marriages and obviously lead to either enjoying the satire...or your own divorce... 

Still, Adler's story is provocative, compelling, tense and intriguing... How far will this all go? You keep on reading thinking, wanting to intrude into the lives of the characters and...well, start slapping their faces, or heads, likes Gibbs does! I found I would be Ann, who seems to be the only sane one, and even she was obsessively interested in the husband... In fact, when trouble began between the spouses, she was quite willing to seduce and allow her dreams to expand into reality...

But once she realizes what is really happening, she wants out... and tries to deal with it, given the position of governess she had held in the house...

Adler presents a brilliant assessment of today's materialism, power, and position becoming more important, and/or corrupting what may occur in today's marital life. When possessions become more important than another individual's love and relationship, then, yes, a war may begin... I wonder, though, did Adler write it as a warning, even though the movie caricature apparently became more enjoyed than the book itself... Do check out other reviews...this may be just the book you'd like to read...


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