Returning Time… #Poetry
#Secrets
The Secret of Flying
I had an idea the other day, but didn’t make a note of it at the time. I think it was a good idea and remember thinking, “Wow, that would be good to write about,” but nothing else. And it doesn’t matter how long I take to try and retrieve it; it won’t come back.
The other problem I have, and this can be just as annoying, are all the cryptic sentences I do managed to jot down. Looking back at them, it’s almost as though an idiot wrote them and I have no clue what I meant to say.
My desk is awash with all the things I find useful, post-it notes, notepads and scraps of paper, and on all these things, I have undoubtedly scrawled something that was to be brilliant, memorable or interesting. Trouble is, I look at what I have written and it means absolutely nothing to me.
I suspect that more often than not, what I have jotted down is the most important detail that would lift our careers out of the depths of anonymity. You know what I mean, that little known secret that will make people notice you and want to read all of your books.
We all want to find that, don’t we?
Well, for all I know I might have done that, just couldn’t understand a word of what I scribbled down.
Before I stuck a hesitant toe into the World Wide Web, I had no idea how hard it would be, thinking it must be easy to become involved, to blog, to establish a presence. After all, there were so many interesting people out there all making it look so effortless.
How wrong I was to assume that all you had to do was switch on your PC and away you go! Nothing could have been further from the truth.
I started our blog for the sole purpose of promoting Anita’s books. I am, and always have been, her editor and general dogsbody as she will not touch a keyboard on pain of death and I’m sure there are a lot of writers like that out there.
I have always loved the process of transforming a pile of handwritten notes into what I think is a masterpiece. Back in the day, we have posted off many a manuscript to countless agents and publishers, only for them to be returned in various conditions. Once a copy of one of our books came back in tatters with coffee cup rings all over it!
We have had some very encouraging rejections letters (if that’s not an oxymoron!) which is why I am still trying to get these books to fly.
What I didn’t know, back then, was that you have to be something of a writer to do this in the first place, as you won’t keep coming up with even half decent posts if you cannot string more than a few interesting words together.
I have gradually learnt the discipline of writing, learnt that I write best first thing in the morning and am fast learning the necessity of writing legible, more detailed notes.
I am sure there are so many things still to learn, and one of them just has to be the secret of flying…
© Jaye Marie 2021
Fragile: Secrets and Betrayal in the Stunning Break-out #Psychological Thriller from Sarah Hilary @sarah_hilary
Everything she touches breaks . . .
Nell Ballard is a runaway. A former foster child with a dark secret she is desperately trying to keep, all Nell wants is to find a place she can belong.
So when a job comes up at Starling Villas, home to the enigmatic Robin Wilder, she seizes the opportunity with both hands.
But her new lodgings may not be the safe haven that she was hoping for. Her employer lives by a set of rigid rules and she soon sees he is hiding secrets of his own.
But is Nell’s arrival at the Villas really the coincidence it seems? After all, she knows more than most how fragile people can be – and how easily they can be to break . . .
About the Author
Sarah Hilary’s debut novel, Someone Else’s Skin, won the 2015 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and was a World Book Night selection. The Observer’s Book of the Month (‘superbly disturbing’) and a Richard and Judy Book Club bestseller, it has been published worldwide. No Other Darkness, the second in the series, was shortlisted for a Barry Award in the U.S. Her D.I. Marnie Rome series continues with Tastes Like Fear, Quieter Than Killing, Come and Find Me, and Never Be Broken. Fragile is her first standalone novel.
My Thoughts
Reading this book, I saw the gothic shades of Rebecca that another reader mentioned and felt a connection in my heart to Jane Eyre, a beautifully illustrated book I loved, even though it gave me nightmares when I was a child.
I was fostered and it wasn’t always pleasant, so reading parts of Fragile brought back so many poignant memories, permanent reminders of the fragility of human life.
They shouldn’t have mentioned Rebecca, for all the time I was reading I expected to find traces of the old-fashioned romance that would soften the menace. There was menace all right, but it was sneaky, masquerading as something completely different.
As I gradually became immersed in this story, I identified with Nell, having been in similar circumstances. I remembered feeling lonely, invisible, and as helpless as she did, constantly wondering when life would turn in my favour.
Will Nell’s story have a happy ending, or will the raw, emotional memories persist, poisoning everything they touch?
Secrets… #FamilyDrama #FamilyLifeFiction
SOME SECRETS WILL KILL YOU…
and some are about someone who is already dead.
A mother must find the truth before the secrets destroy her family…
Excerpt from ‘Secrets’
She took a long hard look at herself in the mirror. Do any of us really know who we are, she asked herself. Are we the product of many lifetimes, like coloured plasticine all rolled together? All mixed up and confused, struggling with thoughts and feelings that might not belong to the here and now?
Maggie felt extremely sad but didn’t know why, there were tears in her eyes for no specific reason she could think of. It was a personal sadness, nothing to do with what Jack had done. Her life was pretty good, yet the feeling was there. She wondered if it could be an old sadness from another time that affected her, her mind not really thinking or remembering what it was.
When she thought about it, there had been many such days when she’d play a romantic record and the words would mean more than they should, perpetuating the sadness, the feeling of something lost. Did she have a secret, something bad that she had done, just waiting to be discovered?
She lay on the bed waiting for Jack and wondered if the strange world she’d been thrown into was more real than her mind would let her believe. It was hard to keep on denying it, what with Jack’s behaviour and poor Danny, tormented by this invisible force that seemed to have the power to inflict real pain and suffering. It was useless to even think about running from something you couldn’t see. She was remembering a passage from the Bible, when she heard Jack say good night to Danny. That the Good Lord sends no more than a body can bear…
She wondered if that was true, that maybe the worst was over…
Amazon Review
“A strong and powerful story, very well told“
Blue Shadow ~ Acrostic #Poem
Shifting Sands… #Poetry
From ancient lands
Shifting sands hidden secrets
To highland woodlands, running deer
Wild freedom
Reflections drifting, full of life
Secrets held by two in mind
Pale shadow, wild red hair dancing
Days of true pleasure
Abandoned now to birds in flight
Secrets carried where there is no light…
© anita dawes 2020
#Silent Sunday…
#TuesdayBookBlog ~ Secrets… #DarkFamilyMystery
SOME SECRETS WILL KILL YOU…
and some are about someone who is already dead.
A mother must find the truth before the secrets destroy her family…
Secrets, a haunting family drama, about deeply buried guilt and all the secrets and suspicions that invade and control our lives.
Many children have an invisible friend, and sometimes they can be a necessary part of a child’s life for many reasons.
But when this ‘friend’ starts to cause more than just mischief, it is time for his mother to investigate further.
Maggie Swan loves her little boy Danny, but his new playmate was becoming something of a problem. It was almost as though something was wrong and he was trying to fix it.
Her husband Jack, was no help at all, dismissing her ideas as rubbish. But was he merely trying to hide a guilty secret? One that Danny’s new friend knew all about?
Amazon Review:
I’ve been thinking about this review for a few days. I finished Secrets a short while ago and I’ve been trying decide how to express what I felt about it, but now my heading really says it all. This is a strong and powerful story, very well told. The characters are well-drawn and empathic; you have to like and sympathise with them fully, and the main plot, being that of a child who has an invisible but somewhat malicious ‘friend’, is very compelling. If you enjoy and read a lot of paranormal suspense, then you will really love this book. It isn’t my usual choice but I still found myself ‘turning the pages’ on my Kindle till I reached the end. In fact, it is very good!
I won’t say too much about the story as I don’t want to spoil the suspense and excitement for the reader, so this review is quite short. However, I think Anita Dawes has tapped into subjects that are very topical today and it’s well worth reading this book to see what can happen when we bury secrets for too long.
Excerpt of Secrets…
Deep in thought, Maggie started to play with her breakfast and it was Jack’s turn to watch fondly as she doodled with the egg yolk, spreading strange and bizarre patterns across the plate. The early morning sunlight streamed through the kitchen window bathing the breakfast scene in a cosy glow. She looked like a child sitting there in a pretty cotton housecoat, pale honey-coloured hair falling around her shoulders like a halo. She had something on her mind, he was sure. Knowing he didn’t really have the time and hoping she’d say it was nothing, he said, ‘What’s up, love, did you have another bad night with Danny?’
She slowly looked up at him from the mess on her plate, and he could tell by the way her usually bright blue eyes had darkened to the colour of the sea that he wasn’t about to hear anything like what he wanted to hear.
Looking back down at her plate, she said, ‘I’m very worried about him, Jack. These terrible nightmares are getting him down; and now this thing about an imaginary friend, I don’t like it, something’s wrong.’
Jumping straight in, hoping to get it over with quickly so he could get out of the house, he said, ‘You know what the doctor told us, he’ll grow out of it soon enough. It will only make things worse if we try and make Danny let go before he’s ready.’
‘Yes, I know what he said,’ an edge creeping into her voice, ‘but he’s not God. You don’t have to take everything he says as gospel. I don’t happen to think this thing with Toby is the same as a comfy blanket or a favourite teddy a child drags around with him. Can’t you see how he’s changed?
‘… he’s destructive, rude and downright messy. Don’t you think dragging half the garden into the kitchen last week was going a bit too far? You saw his face when I tried to tell him off, he wasn’t the least bit sorry. Judging from the skid marks all over the place it was plain to see he’d had a whale of a time, and what did he say when I asked him why he’d done it? … because Toby wanted him to.
‘… Jack, can’t you see we have to make him understand this Toby is only in his mind and he’s too old to play these pretend games?’
He took a deep breath, painfully aware the time was getting on. ‘Maggie, he’s only seven. You’re making too much of it. The doctor said to give him time and not to bully him into giving up Toby. It might make his nightmares worse.’
She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, he reminded her again that she had agreed the gentle approach was best.
‘Plus, you haven’t given that idea of yours idea a chance. Having Cathy take Danny to school with Michael may work. He’ll soon see that having a real friend is lots more fun. Have you asked him again about joining the cubs?’
She snorted. ‘I did, and his answer was the same as before. Toby doesn’t want him to.’
‘Give him time, Maggie, he’ll come around.’
Maggie seemed to have run out of wind for the time being, so he took his empty plate over to the sink and left it on the draining board. Straightening his tie as he turned to her again, he said, ‘I’m sorry I don’t have time to talk this morning. I have four books waiting a final decision and what with the deadline and our new budget, I think I’ll have to reject two of them, you know how I hate sending out rejection letters. It doesn’t make for a nice day, especially when a book is worth publishing. If you’re that worried about Danny, we’ll talk about it tonight.’
Maggie frowned and gave him the kind of look that said, sure we will. Jack had seen it many times and responded in a way she had grown used to over the years. He pulled her into his arms, squeezed her gently, saying, ‘I promise we’ll talk about it later.’
Then he kissed her goodbye, grabbed his briefcase and left.
Anita Dawes and Jaye Marie 