The Art of Traditional Witchcraft: A Foreword & Introduction #thecrookedpath #kelden

The Sanguine Woods

(Llewellyn Books 2020)

——

What Is Traditional Witchcraft?

Here you stand before a dirt path that stretches and winds far into the distance. On either side of you sit two low stone walls, both time-worn and covered in green moss. All around them grow abundant sprays of foxglove, datura, and belladonna. You notice a forked staff leaning against one of the walls and a large cast-iron cauldron resting on the ground near the other. As the waxing crescent moon breaks through the clouds, you hear the sudden howling of a coyote from somewhere far away. You take in a deep breath, readying yourself for the long journey you are about to begin. You know that it will be challenging and require hard work, but you can already feel your inner power awakening to the beckoning call of what lies ahead. Intuitively grabbing ahold of the staff, you take one last…

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#Review #4stars #KeepersofKing Billy Summers, Stephen King

Didi Oviatt -Author

MY REVIEW 4 stars:

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, not quite as much as I’d have liked to, but quite a bit nonetheless! I felt like it was missing something… like that big outrageously impractical bang that makes King such a literary King. I also felt like it was too long. I actually wrote that very same note in the very last review I completed – about how much longer that book was than it needed to be. I totally know how much I’m repeating myself, but seriously, it’s been a loooooooong bookish week lol. That said, lets talk about all the things I enjoyed about this book, shall we? Although overall it was so long and had a lot more content than it needed, the pace as a whole was nice. I felt like a lot of the time it had sort of a contemporary feel. Lot’s…

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Why Would Anyone Ever Vote for a Republican?

On The Fence Voters

From time to time, I like to pose a question to those out there who vote, at least those who do so fairly reliably every two years: Why in the hell would you ever vote for a Republican?

Because, quite frankly, the evidence is overwhelming that the GOP, as it is presently constituted, represents a clear and present danger to the American people. Do you think that sounds a little harsh? Too bad. I write and speak as someone who’s seen enough of this party to know we’re in deep trouble if they’re ever able to get power back. How much more evidence do we need?

Voting for a Republican president these days will get you the possibility of more crackpots and extremists who will sit on the Supreme Court for years into the future. Look no further than the current iteration of radical judges occupying that body, brought to…

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Beginning of 2022 Self-Promotion Party!

charles french words reading and writing

I thought it would be interesting to do a book promotion party by giving not only the name of your book and what it is about but also the opening paragraph.

I offer the following from Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society Book 1 by Charles F. French:

“Lucius Antony Caius exalted in his good fortune. He was in complete control of his destiny, of his place in the world. Not for him was the belief in the three sisters of fate–they would not measure and cut his string of life. Caius, also known as Maledicus, as he was called because of his odd lisping voice coupled with the grating sound of sandpaper grinding on coarse wood and with his personality, believed he controlled the world. And his evil persona caused others to fear him. He didn’t look like the image of a strong Roman–he was short and fat, with little…

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To Be Read – Short Story

Myths of the Mirror

Deepikabanu can’t get her homework done because her ereader-Angel is laying on the pressure. I hope you enjoy her story.

“Baby wake up !!!!, You still have piles of work ….” Said my Angeland I blinked my eyes after going into a deep dive of my thoughtocean .

Then I replied to my ANGEL,” Please wait , I still have stacks of homework” by affected tears

She then said to me ,” ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING called you earlier and she told that she missed you so much . She also felt sad that you didn’t reply reading her SONNETS FROM PORTUGUESE . She also felt bad that you didn’t visit her again later”.

(To continue reading Deepikabanu’s story, click .)

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Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors: Outeniqua Transport Museum Part 2, The White Train

Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2022/01/13/from-a-small-seed/

The Outeniqua Transport Museum in George, Western Cape, houses two coaches of the White Train, one of which was used by the British Royal family when they toured South Africa 1947.

Here’s what Wikipedia says about the first coach:

“White Coach 49

Type = Private
Name =
Total built = 1
Built by = Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co. in England
Number = 49 (Old no126)
Date in service = 1947

It was specifically ordered for use on…

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Longan Soup: It’s Love!

koolkosherkitchen

Once upon the time, there was a princess who suffered from misandry – fear and hatred of men. She had a good reason for it, too. Let’s hear it from her:

That was an inimitable duet of Eva Marton and Placido Domingo at the Metropolitan Opera.

Princess Turandot was originally written by Carlo Gozzi as Russian, then she seemed to have relocated to Persia (her name means ‘Daughter of Turan,’ which was a part of Persian Empire at some point), and finally landed in Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera as Chinese. She was still the same character, a great beauty with a heart of ice, bent on revenge. Any suitor, smitten by her beauty, had to solve three riddles offered by the cruel maiden, or lose his head. As you would imagine, Beautiful People, to move the story along, there was no shortage of suitors to keep the executioner busy.

Enter…

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The Invasion, a poem

Robbie's inspiration

Diana from Myths of the Mirror blog has a writing challenge underway. You can find it here: https://mythsofthemirror.com/2022/01/09/writing-challenge-the-teetering-tbr-pile/.

Poets and writers are challenged to write a poem or story about their TBR. I have used poetic license and written a poem about how my TBR came into existence.

The Invasion by Robbie Cheadle

A loud aggressive ring

brought me fast to the door

I opened it innocently

not knowing the score

***

A long line of books

stood like soldiers of yore

each flashing it’s title

like a banner of war

***

“We’re looking for sanctuary”

declared Orwell, leader of all

“You’re a lover of books

so we’re paying you a call.”

***

“But I’ve simply no room”

I replied with a gasp

“We’ll make a plan, dear”

And they quickly marched past.

***

Up the corridor they tramped

Into my library, so full

“Wake up and make room”

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From Inside The Bouncing Mind …

Filosofa's Word

I find myself with an excess of angst these days … more than at any other time in my 70 years on this planet.  Yes, much of it is centered around the infamy of Republicans in Congress, but I’m also finding that a relatively large portion of the average Joes in the nation are also angst-inducing.  Some 65 million people are still unvaccinated!  WHO gave them permission to endanger the lives of the rest of us???  I still think we should ship them all off to some island similar to a leper colony until they either die out or decide to do the right thing!  Anyway, here are a few of the issues that are making my poor wee brain bounce around inside my head …

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Winner take all … including the bigotry

I haven’t watched Jeopardy in years because I simply don’t watch television … at all.  I do…

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Growing Bookworms: Books to help children cope with change

Writing to be Read

Welcome to the first post of 2022 in the Growing Bookworms series.

A lot of people and children face change at the beginning of a new calendar year. In the Southern Hemisphere, children change grades and sometimes schools. Parents often change jobs and this can trigger changes to homes, schools, cities, and even countries.

Adults are better equipped to cope with change because they have more experience of life than children. Adults have already transitioned from junior school to high school and then often on to a tertiary education institution. Most adults have looked for, and gained, employment and have moved from their parents home to their own dwelling. Some adults have moved jobs and homes numerous times. As a result of the many life changes most adults have faced, they have learned strategies to help them cope with the anxieties and concerns that arise from major life changes.

Children…

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Roberta Writes – Divine Comedy, Inferno: Canto 14

In order to understand Canto 14, you need to remember the detail of Canto 13 which I wrote about here: https://robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com/2021/12/14/roberta-writes-divine-comedy-inferno-canto-13/

Virgil gathers up the leaves that were torn off the tree damaged during the hunt in Canto 13, and returns them to the shade trapped inside. He then follows Virgin towards the third ring of the seventh circle of Hell.

The two poets come out of the forest into a desert where they see groups of naked shades either wandering about, squatting, or lying on their backs. The prostrate shades are screaming the loudest. These shades were previously blasphemers or those “violent against God” and are condemned to walk, squat, or lie on a plain of burning sand while fire rains down upon them.

Picture caption: https://www.artrenewal.org/artworks/the-inferno-canto-14-line-37-39/gustave-dore/14910

Dante sees a gigantic man lying in the sand ignoring the fire flakes as if they do not hurt him. The man…

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Happy Publication Day!

Grindhouse Press

#085 – The Unseen II by Bryan Smith

Paperback click HERE

Kindle click HERE

Six months after losing everything that once mattered to her, Allison Cook’s life is mired in a grim downward spiral. The otherworldly entity known only as The Visitor still haunts her, still feeds on her emotions and desires, leading her to the brink of madness and despair. In the beginning, the creature’s impossible gifts from other realms made the erosion of her humanity an acceptable sacrifice, but now they’re no longer enough. The all-consuming darkness growing within her becomes too much to bear, and she begins to yearn for a restoration of what was lost.

Unfortunately, the granting of this wish only leads her down even darker and stranger paths from which she may never return.

Deeper than ever into…The Unseen.

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Recipe: Easy Panettone + Pod 15 C Sterling’s Author Marketing + Icy Us

Happiness Between Tails by da-AL

Photo by Ksenia Chernaya on Pexels.com

https://anchor.fm/s/622e2888/podcast/rss

Click H-E-R_E for my new podcast page at AnchorFM. This week’s audio show is the audio version of “Author Reality + Charles Sterling on Marketing and Author Platform,” which you can read the text version of H-E-R-E.

At the Happiness Between Tails podcast page, you’ll also find links to subscribe, hear, and share it via most any platform, from Spotify and Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts and Breaker, to Pocket Casts and RadioPublic and Castbox and Stitcher, plus an RSS feed. The full list of 50+ places is H-E-R-E.

Panettone, or pan dulce as my Argentine mother calls it, is one of my family’s favorite desserts that I make. For anyone who has yet to become acquainted with panettone, it’s the queen of winter holiday fruit breads. Traditionally shaped like a chef’s hat (though mine are more freeform, same…

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Historia de una armadura: Lancelot du Lac (Robert Bresson, 1974)

Top 13 Horror Movies of 2021

Hunter Shea

Happy New Year, Hellions! Somehow, the start of 2022 feels worse than 2021. Now that’s an incredible feat. No matter how dire things seem in the world, at least we have horror movies to watch in the safety of our own homes. One thing 2021 brought us was Tubi stepping up their horror game, flooding the free streaming channel with a bevy of gems and turds and movies almost no one has ever heard of. It gave me hope that even after 50 years of watching horror flicks, there are still plenty out there to be discovered.

For most of last year, I wasn’t sure I would find 13 movies to put on my list. That only made sense, considering the shit show that was 2020 and what it did to the movie industry. Then, I did my usual end of the year binge and the list was complete! A…

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