Month: May 2015

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Book Review – The Unholy, by Paul DeBlassie III

9780865349599-Perfect w modern.indd

The Unholy

By Paul DeBlassie III

Publisher: Sunstone Press (October, 2013)
Category: New Age Fiction/Metaphysical Thriller, Paranormal Thriller
Available in: Print & ebook,  203 Pages

Rating 3 stars

The Unholy is centered on a young woman named Claire. At the tender age of five, Claire is orphaned after her mother’s mysterious and violent death. Claire remembers vividly the details of that night in the Aztlan desert. Now twenty five, the age her mother was when she died, Claire becomes mired an ages long war between “Good” and “Evil”. The forces of “Evil”, represented by the corrupt Archbishop, hide behind their religious piety to mask their demonic dealings. Time is running out on the Archbishop’s promises, however. Claire has to face her heritage and tortured memories of the night her mother died.

Paul takes us on a romp through the mysticism of the native southwest as Claire struggles with her legacy as a medicine woman. Along the way he gives us a glimpse of the dangers of corruption in the guise of religious fervor. The twists at the end come rapid fire.

At first, I struggled with this book. I am not entirely sure why except to say that I was bogged down in some repetition and the usage of native terminology. Even for those unfamiliar with the terms this may prove only a minor problem as Paul repeatedly translates the words immediately after using them. Once the tension got rolling towards the end of the first quarter of the book, I was hooked on finding out what will happen to Claire. Following her internal struggles and external hardships, especially her conflicted personal interactions, kept me turning the page. I feel a little cheated by the ending, which I will not spoil for the next reader. While it tied up the loose ends, it did so at an alarming speed that left me wanting more detail.

Technical Review: I noticed few typographical errors but some of the sentences are very wordy. I found myself more than once pausing in the middle of near paragraph length sentences. The majority of these looked like they could have been split up to provide quick jabs of information instead of a big roundhouse kick.

For these reasons I give The Unholy 3 stars. A worthy read if you like mysticism and are not offended by the portrayal of corruption in big religion.

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11 Quirky Truths About Being A Writer
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11 Quirky Truths About Being A Writer

Certainly reminds me of myself, a lot.

101 Books

After a decade or so of doing this writing thing, I’ve decided that writers are a unique lot. We’re kind of weird, wouldn’t you agree?

Recently I noticed some of my own quirks and thought I’d write them down.

But, certainly, these can’t just be truths about me, right? Certainly, you guys who write deal with the same stuff, right? I’m not the only one, am I?

You tell me if you’ve noticed the same things:

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Poem – Baseball Season is here…

Baseball Season Is Here…

Pass the peanuts
Baseball has begun
Keep swinging those bats
You can hit a home run

Excitement is in the air
Baseball season is here
Love all the ballpark fare
Don’t drop it when you cheer

Crack of the bat
Slap of the glove
Lower your hat
Sun glares from above

On the field it’s burning hot
Those in the stands are sweating too
But we have to see what our team’s got
Cheering them right on through

When the game does finally end
Whether in victory or defeat
Tomorrow we will do it all again
A new opponent to meet

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Baseball has begun…

So this week, baseball season started for my son. He is 10 and considered one of the “older kids” on his 10U team. We took him to some lessons earlier in the year to get ready for this season. His swing is greatly improved and he is actually catching and throwing better than I have ever seen him. I am so proud of him. Last night at practice (the second practice of the season), the coach had him working on his pitching. He could use some work there. Pitching wasn’t something we had been terribly concerned with. The only sad thing is that we have just eight kids on the team. So if someone fails to show up to a game it is an automatic forfeit. I think the games that I am off of my day job for I am going to offer to drive any kids that need rides. We cannot afford to have a season like last year where kids weren’t showing up because the parents didn’t feel like driving to some of the games.

I don’t understand why you would sign your kid up for something and then not follow through with it. The lessons we are teaching our children when we do those things are not good. This is a world where if you don’t put forth 110% effort, you are likely to be left behind. I worry about the kids whose parents let them skip out on practices or games just because they “Don’t feel like it”.

I am unable to attend the Monday practices because of my day job. I intend to be at every practice or game that I can attend. Last night I was able to work on batting stance and swinging with almost all of the kids from the team. We then worked on catching both pop fly balls and grounders. Having watched some of these kids play on T-Ball the previous years, or even on the 10U team last year has been a pleasure. Some of them have greatly improved from last year. I am looking forward to this season.

To go with this have came a great article my wife found.

http://momastery.com/blog/2014/03/10/how-to-watch-your-kids-game-without-being-a-jerk/

And a picture from one of the other sports moms that I really like.

Childsuccess

I just want to state that I in no way own the link or the image. If I can find whomever I should credit for the image, I will certainly update this post with that information.

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Poem – Watching a Flag

Watching a Flag

The breeze blows on a symbol of pride
It’s stripes ripple and roll
The stars display that deep inside
Our hearts can beat as one
Nothing like the flag of our land
On a pole or in a child’s hand
Waving in a parade
Our forefathers sought freedom
But have we lost our way?
We kill each other with abandon
The hate seems here to stay
If only we could learn
Respect is a thing to earn
By giving it in return
Instead our cities burn
Results of a shattered heart
But this is where we have to start
To heal the broken
As it was spoken
By leaders of old
With hearts of gold
The flag still flaps in the breeze
Reminding us lying between the seas
We are a nation of and for all

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Poem – Little Bird, Park Bench

Little Bird, Park Bench

Little bird park bench
Enjoying a warm spring day
I bid you Welcome

Glad to see you back
Glad to hear your song
What winter did lack
For spring we all long

Now it’s here to stay
Little bird hopping about
Keep the cold at bay

A song so pure and sweet
Wrapped in the warmer day
To me it is such a treat
Little bird, don’t fly away

Like time you are fleeting
So fill the air with your tweeting
Then off you go to some other place
Where other ears your song can grace