Author: Michelle

Writing | Shadow of a Demon (or a Friend)
blog · original work · writing

Writing | Shadow of a Demon (or a Friend)

MichelleLeave a comment

For the longest time, Emmaline thought that the shadow she saw on the edges of her vision was a trick of the light.

As a child, it had been a demon that dogged her every step, something to be prayed away by her family and church.  Then, during her teenage years, when life seemed to be at its absolute lowest, it was entirely gone from her.

As she grew older, it returned, leaping from a green exit sign to the dull metal of a guard rail while she drove down the interstate.  Emmaline barely gave it a second thought, believing that it was just a bird landing to rest it’s wings.

But when the shadow sat upon her desk, leaned over her shoulder, and whispered into her ear she knew it was no figment.  And she knew that it would no longer tolerate being ignored.

“It will hurt only for a moment and then your eyes will be opened.”  The shadow spoke into her ear, breath barely moving the hair curled there.

Emmaline wondered briefly what it meant before a sickeningly thin arm reached forward, hand curling around her jaw and turning her face towards the speaker.

The black of the shadow’s eyes seemed somehow even more deep than the darkest night and she found that she could not look away. As the sharp agony of knowing swept over her, Emmaline knew her life would never be the same again.

©2020 S Hostetter

“Guard Rail” by huminiak is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Blackout Tuesday
blog

Blackout Tuesday

MichelleLeave a comment

I’m not participating in “Blackout Tuesday” and here’s why…

Simply put, I don’t believe in posting a picture or making a ‘statement’ on social media.

Period.

If you look at my Facebook history, you won’t see cover photos or frames from any event except for one. That one was a 9/11 remembrance frame that I used in 2019 as a reminder to myself of a time when the United States of America was, for one unforgettable moment in my life, actually united.

What I do believe in, is taking action to enact changes where I see need for improvement. And you know how I do that?

I vote.

And before I vote, I research.

I look into the history of each person on the ballot, not just their current ‘talking points.’ I go back and see what they supported in the past and if they are actually practicing what they preach.

So, no, I will not be participating in Blackout Tuesday or any other such event.

What I will do is vote for the people that I believe can help make my city, my state, and my country a better place for all it’s citizens.

If you’d like to discuss this, or other topics, I’d be more than happy to do so in the comments section of this post. All that I ask is that people keep things civil. We don’t have to agree with each other to be kind to one another.

“Old Glory” by Matt Elsberry is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

blog · college life · ireland · study abroad · travel

Travel | Ireland: Day 7

MichelleLeave a comment

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Visiting the Rock of Cashel was the most entertaining tip due to the following story that a local girl told me…

As Sarah tells the tale, a boy her age was banned from the Rock. At the age of seven, he had climbed the Rock (a pastime of local children) so many times and heard the tour guides so much that he’d memorized the tour! He was banned for giving tours to visitors and has not been allowed back on the Rock since. 🙂

When we came down from the Rock, we visited a lovely (and eclectic) little store where I was able to purchase an Irish-made sweater.

Before we left Cashel, we stopped in at Rossa’s Pottery. The owner and the store’s namesake, Rossa, was lovely and took the time to look up and explain the meaning of a Celtic song for us.

Dúlamán is a song about the various types of seaweed found along Ireland’s coasts. The Irish have longed used this resource for medicinal purposes as well as for relaxation. Dúlamán takes all that the Irish feel for seaweed and beautifully creates a sort of poetic love song…

Dúlamán na binne buí, dúlamán Gaelach
Dúlamán na farraige, b’fhearr a bhí in Éirinn

Tá ceann buí óir ar an dúlamán gaelach
Tá dhá chluais mhaol ar an dúlamán maorach

Bróga breaca dubha ar an dúlamán gaelach
Tá bearéad agus triús ar an dúlamán maorach

“Submerged seaweed canopy” by Julius A. Ellrich is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Seaweed from the yellow cliff, Irish seaweed
Seaweed from the ocean, the best in all of Ireland

There is a yellow gold head on the Gaelic seaweed
There are two blunt ears on the stately seaweed

The Irish seaweed has beautiful black shoes
The stately seaweed has a beret and trousers

Very cool!

my professor
blog · book review · review

Book Review | Trusted Bond by Mary Calmes

MichelleLeave a comment

Jin Rayne is having trouble adjusting to the new life he’s supposed to love. Instead of adapting to being the mate of tribe leader Logan Church, Jin can’t get past the fact that his lover was straight before they met. He’s discovered the joy in belonging to Logan but fears his new life could disappear at a moment’s notice, despite Logan’s insistence that they are forever, end of story.

Jin wants to trust Logan, but that desire will be put to the test both by a rival tribe leader and by a startling revelation about Jin’s existence. At stake is Jin’s life and his place in the tribe. If he’s going to survive to see Logan again, he’ll have to release his fear and freely accept the bond, for only then can he truly trust.

This book made me smile and I’m really glad that I gave it a chance after the fiasco that was the audio book version of Change of Heart (book one of the series).  You can read my review of Change of Heart HERE.

One of my favorite things about Trusted Bond is the politics of the panther shifter society and how the shapeshifters deal with those who break the law.  The world is well thought out and Mary Calmes has done a wonderful job of filling that world with characters that you want to know more of and a story that I literally could not put down!

As I mentioned earlier, I’m glad I gave this book a chance.  It was both entertaining and enjoyable to read more about Jin and Logan’s relationship and to watch as Jin finally, FINALLY, figured out that he’s it for Logan and that’s that.  Although some of the situations that Jin finds himself dealing with seemed a tad unbelievable, I can see how they were used in the grand scheme of things to get Jin where he needed to be.  Let’s be honest, it’s fiction and sometimes fiction is unbelievable.

It was great to see Jin’s growth as a person in this book!  He really comes into his own and absolutely does not stand for anyone trying to hurt his mate or his family, protecting them at any cost.

If I had one complaint, it would be the excessive use of titles, terms, and places that are used throughout the story.  It can be hard to follow at times, but there is a glossary right in the front of the book and as I really am beginning to enjoy this series it wasn’t too much of a hardship for me to check on a word/title when I wasn’t sure what it meant.

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable read… I read it in less than a day, after all.

Series: Change of Heart series, book 2
Format: eBook
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Source: Tennessee READS
Rating: ★★★★☆
Links: Amazon || Goodreads

June TBR
blog

June TBR

Michelle2 Comments

Where did May go?

It feels like March and April lasted forever and then I blinked at it was June!

I’m really, really looking forward to getting my hands on The Dawn of the Future because Final Fantasy XV was the game that got me back into playing video games AND for which I purchased a PS4, lol.

The other two titles on this TBR were suggested to me, but they sound good so I’m pretty sure I’m going to enjoy them as well. What are you planning to read?

Light novel:

Final Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future by Jun Eishima

To oppose the gods or yield to fate?

That is the question confronting each of the characters in The Dawn of the Future.

Ardyn, having saved countless lives from the Starscourge, means to become the Founder King of Lucis and instead is cast into tragic exile.

On the day the Empire falls, as the imperial capital collapses around them, Commodore Aranea is entrusted with the life of a singular young girl.

The Oracle Lunafreya, upon awakening from the slumber of death, discovers that her body has undergone an extraordinary transformation.

And after gazing upon the eternal, Noctis, the True King, finally comes to terms with his destiny. Herein lie the stories of the dawning of a new world in Final Fantasy XV.

Goodreads | Amazon

Comic book:

Star Wars: Obi-Wan & Anakin by Charles Soule

Before their military heroism in the Clone Wars, before their tragic battle on Mustafar and many decades before their final confrontation on the Death Star, they were Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his young Padawan, Anakin Skywalker.

Now join them a few years into Anakin’s, “chosen one” training. Teacher and student have grown closer over time, but it’s been a difficult road. And things aren’t about to get any easier. In fact, when they’re called to a remote planet for assistance, the pair may be pushed to their breaking point.

As they find themselves stranded on a strange world of primitive technology and deadly natives, will they be able to save themselves?

When war breaks out around them, master and apprentice will find themselves on opposite sides!

Goodreads | Amazon

Non-fiction:

My Knitting Book by Frances Lambert

The examples of knitting, contained in the following pages, have been selected with the greatest care, -many are original, -and the whole are so arranged as to render them comprehensible even to a novice in the art.

Knitting being so often sought, as an evening amusement, both by the aged and by invalids, a large and distinct type has been adopted, -as affording an additional facility. The writer feels confident in the recommendation of “My Knitting Book,” and humbly hopes it may meet with the same liberal reception that has been accorded to her “Hand-Book of Needlework.”

The numerous piracies that have been committed on her last mentioned work, have been one inducement to publish this little volume; and from the low price at which it is fixed, nothing, but a very extended circulation, can ensure her from loss. Some few of the examples have been selected from the chapter on knitting, in the “Hand-Book.”

Goodreads | Amazon

blog · challenges

Top Ten Tuesday

Michelle1 Comment

Top Ten Tuesday for May 26: Opening Lines (Best, favorite, funny, unique, shocking, gripping, lines that grabbed you immediately, etc.)

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

The great fish moved silently through the night water.

Jaws, Peter Benchley

From where I sit, the story of Arthur Less is not so bad.

Less, Andrew Sean Greer

It was a pleasure to burn.

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling

There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 (KJV)

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka

Marley was dead: to begin with.

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
blog · book review · review

Book Review | Buzz by E. Davies

MichelleLeave a comment

I was suggested The Riley Brothers series by E. Davies by someone who knows I’m a sucker for hockey stories. Surprisingly, the entire 40-hour series was on sale on Audible for just 1 credit! It sounded like a steal and the series had some good reviews, so I went ahead and spent the credit.

Kind of wish I hadn’t.

There isn’t anything particularly wrong with the story or even the narration of it… it just didn’t work for me.

Up and coming hockey player, Cam Riley (one of the brothers), has to give up his dream of joining the big leagues when a medical condition causes him to pass out whenever his heart rate is too high for extended periods of time. He heads home where he meets art director, Noah Clark, and sparks fly.

Even as their relationship grows, Cam chooses not to tell Noah the entire truth about his condition and that he’d been a professional hockey player. But his condition doesn’t let him keep those secrets for long and the truth comes out.

There isn’t much conflict between the two, even with all of the lying, and they resolve things easily. Cam gets his surgery, recovers, and they live happily-ever-after.

Oh, and Noah’s uncle is a beekeeper. Cam ends up working for him, which is where the title Buzz comes from… I thought that was cute.

Like I said earlier, it’s not a bad story, just not for me.

Series: The Riley Brothers, book 1
Format: Audible audio book
Publisher: Audible
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Links: Amazon || Goodreads