Saturday, February 25, 2012

Granite Rose - A Book Review

Last year, give or take a few months, I reviewed the book "Baer Truth" by a cyber pal of mine Linda McMaken. It was a present day cowboy romance that I gave a hearty thumbs up to. Now Linda has given us another romance, this one set far from present day Wyoming, all the way back to the Roman empire. Being a romance is the only similar fact the two books have in common. In "Baer Truth" Linda let her sense of humor shine through, pitting her rocker heroine, Abby, against the ranch life in Wyoming and the cowboys that work there, I laughed out loud several times while reading it. "Granite Rose" is filled with action from the opening sentence till the final scene. There is war, slaves, deceit, and everything else that goes with power and the lust for it. Even though all this, two people, two very different people from very different backgrounds fall in love. "Granite Rose" tells their struggle, from hate to love, and the road it took to get them there.

I'm not saying this because Linda is a long time friend, but this book is very well written. The characters were well researched, the locale was spot on, the action realistic. I don't say this often, but it was one of those books you hated to end, I wanted to know more about what happened to the characters and how their lives turned out. Book two maybe Linda?

So I give it the Amazon rating of 5 stars, I think you would too. If you'd like to read chapter one, here is a link to it from her website, http://www.linda-mcmaken.com/chapter-one---granite-rose.html . Enjoy and drop her a note of encouragement at her blog Makenwords, http://www.makenwords.blogspot.com/.

Signing off as Linda does,
"May all the Write Words by Yours,"

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Pulled From The Archive

... The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour. Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night ...
Thoreau's Walden


I awake and reach to hold her but she's not there, risen already to start her day. The hebetude slowly clears and I realize it is another mundane workday. Sleep's murk clears and I hear the taps of rain dancing on my roof. As the smokiness finally clears my mind and I realize that it is the shower I hear. She is preparing for the day, washing the sleep from her eyes and yesterday's challenges from her mind. As my mind goes into early morning erotica, I throw the covers off and jump out of bed to go join her under the warm spray of water. She is startled by my sudden appearance but notices my pointed intentions. My eyes wandered over her soap covered body, glowing from the reflected sunrise streaming through the window. She looks at me and smiles as I join her and turns the shower head towards me and then quickly turns the water to cold. "There you go big boy, we can't be late to work again.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Email Joke

Getting Old Sucks

Several days ago I left a meeting at the lodge. I desperately gave myself a personal TSA pat down. I was looking for my keys. They were not in my pockets. A quick search in the meeting room revealed nothing. Suddenly I realized, I must have left them in the car. Frantically, I headed for the parking lot.

My wife, Kathy, has scolded me many times for leaving the keys in the ignition. My theory is the ignition is the best place not to lose them. Her theory is that the car will be stolen.

As I burst through the doors at the lodge, I came to a terrifying conclusion. Her theory was right. The parking lot was empty.

I immediately called the police. I gave them my location, confessed that I had left my keys in the car, and that it had been stolen.

Then I made the most difficult call of all, "Honey," I stammered … I always call her "Honey" in times like these … "I left my keys in the car and it has been stolen."

There was a period of silence. I thought the call had been dropped, but then I heard Kathy's voice. "Chuck," she barked, "I dropped you off!"

Now it was my time to be silent. Embarrassed, I said, "Well, come and get me."

Kathy retorted, "I will … as soon as I convince this policeman I have not stolen your car? "