Spotlight on Linda S. Prather and Bits of Other...Stuff... Feelin' like Ramblin'... Open Memoir

You Know Folks, me and Joe are a lot alike... His favorite phrase has brought many fond memories for me, since we're about the same age and background...Not, like you know who... Anyway, I can remember when, in conversations, people in my area would say things like... "Folks in this area are mostly farmers."... or "You folks, come to visit us soon!" It was a different era... Those were times when hugging somebody when we see them, as philia friends, we thought nothing about it...and welcomed their embrace... And we touched an arm or a shoulder as we interacted, letting them know we liked and cared for them...

As an aside, have you ever thought to use a word in your writing, then wondered if there was a song to go along... Almost always, I've been able to find something and so enjoy YouTube's expansive music library of all genres...

Anyway, I had a good night's sleep, thanks to the guidance of my doctor, Dr. B. I needed a little of this and a little of that...but just enough that I wouldn't sleep all day, which I had been doing... Thankfully, I'm so susceptible to medicines that Tylenol-like generic pain pills can relieve most of my pain...and I know that I'd never be able to become addicted by meds like many have unfortunately done. I remember, one of the pain meds I was given after my brain surgery, really affected me...and I didn't realize it...until later. Dr. B and I talked about it and I stopped immediately even though I had some still available... 

Carl Brookins, whose latest book is Sins of Edom, recently commented on Facebook that he noticed that we had a lot of mutual friends...Of course we do...we are all book lovers and there is a great community of writers and readers who merge together into dozens of groups and then talk and share. I've found that many of my connections built up over years...thousands and thousands...normally have the same life views as well... I find that very cool and reassuring!

But back to reality...I'm now not only snowed in, but unable to go in or out of my home... Living in a cabin in the woods is normally wonderful, but I have a little stream crossing the entrance of my property which required a bridge in which a hole has developed. Soooo, that means no more deliveries by Walmart or anybody else until spring, maybe, who knows? My loving family, even with Covid, came in and taped off my driveway and put a garbage can into the hole (so you know that size is dangerous), threw my mail in on the floor and told me not to touch it for several days...and went on home... We talked with the door between us, talking loud, saying I love you... God Blesses us with those you need through loving philia relationships...

So why am I being specific about the different types of love? Well, I'm being told, along with the rest of the world, that Joe Biden...blah, blah...blah. Give me a break! I quickly shared that women are now going up to hug him...as I would...because we know what kind of man he is... You know, like any woman normally knows the intentions of a man, especially those who would share locker room humor (words not mine, but from another guy) that he could grab...well, you know what...so we know that the two men are quite, quite different, don't we?

So, once in a while, I worry about how America has become so...changed. Sexualized, I call it...Worse, Violence is rampant...so why do I continue to love mystery, suspense and thrillers, oftentimes with violence as a basic component of the plot... I just do...and if you're like me, I hope, it's because we always want to root for the good guy winning over the bad guy! 

Still, personally, I think it has gone too far on public television and, especially, in gaming where you never know what that video really is going to contain... I'm not even a parent, but I worry just how bad it is for children and teenagers...the target of many criminals and worse...sexual predators... More than ever before, it bugs me that my president is being criticized for...hugging...!!! The thing about today's girls and women, they have no guidance in the different types of love, given to us as humans: agape, philia and eros... Each are different, but our young people little from today's world  to realize that a touch on the shoulder or a hug is simply showing philia love...the love of a friend who cares about you. It has NO relationship to eros love... normally between spouses... Today it has gone so far beyond the norm that there are even words for criminals... pedophiles, rapists, human traffickers... I know one thing, I have no problem identifying what and when these people are involved with me... Only the words justice, vengeance, come to mind... 

In Dishonorable Death by Linda Prather, you'll see some quotes in my review about claiming that any individual has both good and evil within us... Sometimes, like the main characters in her most recent book, we actually learn what the limitations are for ourselves...and work to deal with that awareness... Today, people get upset and become violent on planes, putting many, many people in danger...or they attack an elderly Chinese man or woman on the street...just because... Has self-control been lost by humanity? I don't think so...most people are good, we know it by their actions...and we must realize that there is  just a very small percentage of humanity who have lost all knowledge of, maybe even, the loss of their soul... 

Biden talks about taking back--bringing back the soul of the Nation. I can understand fully why he said it and made it part of his program...the soul has been covered by the powerful, shoved down by predators who care nothing about anybody else but themselves... We need to dig deep and find our souls and fill them with Truth. God is Truth... I strive to be truthful... and find, for many reasons, I cannot even tolerate untruths at this point in my life...

Anyway, I've been on a Linda Prather reading marathon...One of the new things, available on the latest Kindle, is that it can pick up on what you are reading or buying...and bring up different books by that author. That's Cool and if I haven't read or don't remember buying it, it is programmed to tell that you already bought it! Which I see often since my memory on titles or names is failing these days... perfectly natural according to an expert I heard on Tamron's show... Do you watch Tamron Hall? I don't watch every show, if I have no interest in what is covered. But she had one this week on new books! Loved it! And The View is right after that, so this fan is waiting for her one definite show to watch each day...

Speaking of books, I am thrilled to share that I read and reviewed the first book published by Linda Prather. I was drawn to it not only by the topic but by Linda's name...Prather...a beloved family name to which I was attached by marriage... Don't think I ever asked if she had any relatives in Ohio...but you may have read comments about my uncle who worked at Hoover, inviting all of us to their annual picnic...and how close I was to his daughter, Beverly, who we all called Babe...

Hey, I told you I was in a rambling mood... 

Linda's first book was called The Gifts... https://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2012/06/linda-prathers-debut-novel-surpassed-by.html

Note that Blogger has been totally revised and I'm still learning...so I didn't know how to link from a highlight yet...but at least I could easily find a review from ten years ago...although I lost a pic...sigh...computers are so wonderful, but then they are only as good as the humans behind them...either creators or users...LOL

Now, here's the biggie news! Her latest book is out! I'm normally a slow reader to try to remember and, often, try to solve the problem in any mystery, suspense or thriller book... But...that could not happen with CHECKMATE. 

When I started to read, I couldn't stop from going faster and faster...I had to know what was coming next...and next...and next... I read it in one day...

But I'll tell you more...soon! LOL

What I wanted to share today was Linda's Introduction to her latest book...and talk about it a little...

Dear Readers, I began writing when my kids were in college. My first memorable laughs was when my freshman downloaded a few chapters of a book I was working on and submitted it as his work. He received an A, but I wasn’t very happy with him. Since that time my imagination has taken me on many journeys into criminal minds, the paranormal/psychic world and even a smidgen of romance. Unfortunately the pandemic slowed that progress and Checkmate is my first work in over a year. 

Most authors will tell you the characters can be quite bothersome when they feel they have a story that needs to be written and your fingers aren’t moving on the keyboard. Adam Blackstone quickly became a favorite as did the feisty Samantha Prescott. 

I often wonder what parts of my personality these two play. Living in Lexington, Kentucky I felt it would be totally unrealistic for me not to use the names of streets and areas, although I assure you many of these are used in a fictitious manner and you may not find the building you’re looking for there. As many of my fans are from the UK area, I’ll reference here that when I speak of the UK football team I’m referencing the University of Kentucky. If this is your first book by me, I truly hope you enjoy it. 

If you’re a fan of my previous work, you may find this one slightly different than previous novels and I hope you enjoy the change. As I grow as an author I challenge myself with different characters, different plots and different styles. My dream is to write a crime/thriller/mystery comedy and hopefully I’ll accomplish that this year. An avid reader myself, I’m amazed when simple words on a page can make me laugh out loud. That is true talent and those authors have my greatest admiration. 

May 2022 find you well, safe and make all your dreams come true.

Linda S. Prather, Author

I think I've mentioned that since I've stopped taking requests for reviews that I've been reading a lot of series books, sometimes even those that come in sets with three and more running one right after each other...Now that's what I call a true book reader's heaven...!

It's been 10 years since Linda's first book was published. During those two years, I was constantly reviewing for many authors, so only if I happened to see a notice for Linda's latest, I wasn't keeping up with this favorite author! I decided that had to stop! LOL 

After reading this Introduction, I took a long look at her Amazon page of books published... What I saw was one of the most diversified genre writers I've ever seen! As she said, she challenges herself to go a step...beyond... And I've quickly seen why she has reached the NY Times best seller list when so many other writers haven't! My philia love has grown for Linda as we've spoken on many different topics online, at Facebook, where book lovers go (in my opinion, far beyond what GoodReads offers... Why? because we've built a community and we talk...do you realize that GoodReads has no way to just write a post about...anything even a book you're thinking about! Worst omission ever! 

Linda's work has evolved to the point with Checkmate it was simply not possible for me to try to compare the author of The Gifts, as much as I loved it, with the author of Checkmate... Further, in all my reading, nothing has compared with what she has done in this book. Maybe part of the reason was that my nephew had Asperberger's Syndrome, a form of Autism. Her main male character reminded me of Brandon... who found within our family lots of love--he was never to know that he was not loved, yet, he died by suicide. Brandon became old enough to work, I personally think, like I did, he had begun to suffer from Job Burnout given his continued advancement and increase of responsibilities...but, like me, didn't do anything about it, until, in my case, my body merely stopped...and would not allow me to continue... Maybe I'll talk a little bit more about that some time... on another page...

Until then

God Bless!