Shore Leave
September 30, 2026 by Dianna Sinovic in category Columns, Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic, Writing tagged as fishing, short fiction, terminal illness
Mist hovered over the lake like a shroud. Hope stood at the point, past the flagpole and orange mums ringing its base. Nothing moved on the dark water. Too early for even the trawling fishermen. No one to witness.
Fall was brushing the trees on the opposite shore with touches of bronze and copper, but the brilliance was lost on her. Her mother had three months left, gone by the end of the year. She shivered.
How will I survive without her? Or, more accurately, she thought, why? What was there to live for? Giles had never wanted kids, so they’d had none. Last she heard, he was in Florida, with his second wife—and three children.
“You look too forlorn for such a stunning start of the day.”
With a yelp of surprise, Hope turned to locate the voice. On a camp chair hugging the water sat a woman whose face and salty hair put her into her seventies. She had a fishing line in the water, a travel mug in one hand. It was her gaze that anchored Hope in place.
“You don’t have to do it, you know.” The woman sipped her mug and continued to watch Hope. “There are alternatives. Always are.”
Hope raised her chin. How dare the stranger interfere. “Mind your own business.”
But the woman’s words fizzed in her head, distracting her. She forced herself to face the lake again. To be done with it.
“Dear, grief comes to all of us at some point. We open our hearts to love—and thus to its inevitable loss.” The woman sighed. “I’m Claire. I don’t mean to make light of your situation.”
A vee of Canada geese crossed overhead, settling onto the lake surface with a jumble of honks. Come, the lake called to Hope.
She closed her eyes, the wetness of tears spilling onto her cheeks. “It’s so hard,” she said.
“I didn’t say it was easy.” Claire spoke softly, gently, as though a whisper in Hope’s ear. “But you are strong enough to bear it, I think.”
Hope shifted, expecting Claire to have moved to her side, but no, she was still seated at the lakeshore. “You don’t know me.” She passed the back of her hand over her eyes to dry them. “I’m a coward. I can’t even take one step into the lake.”
The fishing line tugged once and then raced out along the water’s surface. With a swift grab, Claire picked up the rod and worked the line, her attention no longer on Hope. But Hope was also now focused on the interplay between the fish and the fisher.
“Probably smallmouth,” Claire said. “It’s a fighter.”
And so was Claire. The woman might be half a head shorter than Hope and twice as old, but there was power in her arms and shoulders. The minutes ticked past, and Hope moved nearer to Claire, as though pulled by another reel.
“Do you need help?” Hope said. How absurd was that? She didn’t fish, didn’t eat fish. “Not that I know what to do.”
“You can just watch … or not watch,” Claire said. “It’s catch-and-release. I’ll have the fellow free again very soon.” She spun in the line until the fish was at the water’s edge. With a quick grasp, she removed the hook and let the bass slide back into the lake. “Done.”
It was now full morning. The mist on the water had dispersed, and the sun turned the lake surface into glinting diamonds. Claire stored her fishing gear, collapsed her chair and swung it over her shoulder. She turned her fierce gaze back to Hope.
“How about you, dear?” she said. “You’re done here, too? No use lingering when the rest of the day beckons.”
Just as Claire had freed the bass, Hope no longer felt the lure of the lake water. She stood straighter and stepped away from the shore. I can do this. Her mother still needed her, even if the remaining time was short.
Dianna’s Books
Ghastly Ghouls and Haunted Houses
September 28, 2026 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field, Writing tagged as ghost stories, Halloween, historical romance, Holiday story collections
I’m Back with another Quarter Days Post
It’s only the end of September, but pumpkins are everywhere in stores. Just in time for carving Jack o’ Lanterns, or for folks who don’t celebrate the scary season, in time for that harvest table display.
I’ll be celebrating Halloween with a ghostly new release: The Duke, the Diamond, and the Ghastly Ghoul.
This year, the group of writers I regularly publish collections with decided to forgo Christmas and stretch our muses’ wings with ghost stories. And voila, Moonlight Madness, a Bluestocking Belles Collection is now available to preorder for the October 15th release.
Not one ghost, but two!
In The Duke, the Diamond, and the Ghastly Ghoul, a young duke visits one of his properties, a haunted abbey that his disreputable predecessors steered clear of. He’s determined to prove that ghosts aren’t real and the story of a missing diamond is a hum—until a strange lady appears on his doorstep, and the spirits of Wotton Abbey, a young noblewoman and a monk from the Abbey’s past, awaken seeking to right past wrongs.
I like working with story prompts (like a duke, a diamond and a ghastly ghoul) and these three came to me via a friend’s Facebook game at a release party. You know the type of game: choose an item from a column based on some biographical fact like the first letter of your name, your month of birth, etc. Fun and silly, but when these items came up, I said to myself, I’m going to write that story!
Being that I’m more geared to Hallmark movies than the Halloween movie franchise, my story and the others don’t fall into the horror category. They won’t give you nightmares!
The Stories
Here’s a bit about the entire collection:
Jude Knight – Moonlight Becomes You in which a lady sees, but cannot hear, a ghost who attempts to warn her about a man who will die if she doesn’t find him soon.
Alina K. Field – The Duke, the Diamond, and the Ghastly Ghoul in which a house party at a haunted abbey brings together a duke, a ghost-hunting lady, and two ghosts determined to right old wrongs.
Aileen Fish – Mad about the Marquess in which a lady known for communing with the dead is forced to bring unwanted messages to the marquess next door from his dead father.
Rue Allyn – True Love’s Kiss in which a hunter seeking his kidnapped son in the forest stumbles upon a fairy with a similar mission. Together they may succeed if they stop squabbling.
Caroline Warfield – Not Again, Harry in which a lady takes shelter in a creepy old house only to find haunting, prowlers, strange artifacts, and a man from her past. A wish-granting mouse complicates it all.
Sherry Ewing – Finding My Way To You in which a ghost meets a determined lady who leaps at a chance to alter his past in spite of his efforts to convince her to leave the past where it belongs.
Barbara Monajem – The Haunted Hoyden in which two friendly ghosts help a lady to rescue a handsome, wounded man—who proves to be just what she needs to escape a dastardly plot.
Elizabeth Donne – Always With You in which a man pressed-ganged into service in the Royal Navy promises his wife he will come back to her. Whether it’s in this life or the next remains to be seen.
Here’s the universal preorder link for Moonlight Madness: https://books2read.com/u/4Dwnjr
Authors, do you find writing prompts helpful for generating story ideas? Let us know in the comments!
Happy autumn, everyone. I’ll be back in December for another Quarter Days post.
(Image of ghostly lady is from Depositphotos.com)
0 0 Read moreCatch the Light by Veronica Jorge
September 22, 2026 by Veronica Jorge in category Writing
Art and books are, for me, an exhilarating combination. So, you can imagine my delight when I had the opportunity to see an exhibit of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s lamps and glass windows, marvelously all about the powerful combination of light and color. Reading, The Tiffany Girls by Shelley Noble, a novel about the women who were responsible for much of the design and construction of Tiffany’s glassworks, was icing on the cake.
As an added treat, the museum exhibit included an opportunity to create my own light catcher.
Afterwards, (while eating an actual piece of cake with chocolate icing, and a cup of coffee), I reflected on the importance of light. We seek clarity to dispel confusion. We shed light on a problem to clarify and solve it. We turn on lights in a dark room to chase out fear. Soon many peoples all over the world will be lighting their homes, villages, towns and cities to dispel the darkness of winter, and will celebrate a variety of cultural and religious festivals of light.
The exhibit and the book inspired me to dream bigger, reach higher, and dig deeper within myself to find the kaleidoscope of colors and illuminating power that can help to light up my world.
Veronica Jorge
See you next time on October 22nd!
Books Reviewed by Veronica
Remembering…9/11 by Jina Bacarr
September 11, 2026 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as 9/11, courage
where were you?
we all remember where we were that day, how we heard the news, the disbelief shattering our world, then the unbelievable media coverage no one could look away from…
i was still groggy from staying up into the wee hours to send off a book proposal to a publisher in San Francisco by email… unheard of in those days. Nobody took email queries but this publisher did.
what’s strange is that if i had waited to ‘give it a second look’ the next day, that day being September 11, 2001, i never would have sent it. it just wouldn’t have felt ‘right’.
what’s also strange is i was involved around that time in putting on a play i wrote for a church group in Malibu. Our theatre group was my rock of faith and compassion and hope during those days. it got me through that difficult time… going to rehearsals, rewriting, working with the producer, director and the actors… a solid group of talented people i will always cherish knowing.
the play festival opened in November 2001, a highlight of my life.
even though our hearts were broken, we did what we had to… to keep the light shining… and bring hope and courage to everyone we could with our stories and plays.
in case you’re wondering, my nonfiction book proposal was accepted and the book was published.
and finally, i decided to forgeo capital letters for this post… it seemed right somehow to keep it low key… out of respect. we all still feel the pain of that day, but knowing we’re stronger because we did carry on.
Jina
Jina Bacarr finished her edits finally for her upcoming Paris WW2 novel ‘Flight of the Stolen Children‘ and her editor said they were ‘marvellous’. giving thanks…
Fireside Theater
August 30, 2026 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic, Writing tagged as firepit, romantic breakup, short fiction, writing
The flames danced in the fire pit, inviting Dulci to relax, but the drift of smoke rising into the night sky only darkened her mood. Cora, who knew her like any best friend should, was trying to help. But some things just hurt too bad.
“Tell me again what he did,” Cora prompted. “Aimee hasn’t heard.” She held up her glass of pinot noir as if inspecting it for the details Dulci was about to share.
Aimee, the third member of their friend trio, sat across the fire. For once, she was silent, staring at her own glass.
Dulci shifted in her seat. “I didn’t see it coming.”
“Obviously,” Cora said, but kindly. “You and Rad were the ideal we all looked up to. Two people ecstatically in love, forever.” She swirled her wine. “Paul and I were envious. Not that we’re drifting apart or anything. You made it look easy.”
“Six years,” Dulci said, staring at the flames. “And the bastard couldn’t even tell me to my face.” The smoke shifted abruptly toward her, bringing instant tears. “Just a text.” I’ve met someone else. As if their past happiness meant nothing. “I love him.” She sniffed, her head spinning from the alcohol. “I want him back, but I don’t know how to make that happen.”
“You won’t.” Aimee’s words stung like a slap. She added immediately, “I mean, once a guy’s decided to end it, he’s done with you. There’s no use trying to win him back.”
Cora leaned toward Dulci. “I know you’re suffering, but Aimee’s right.”
Aimee, single again after two sizzling marriages that ended in meltdowns.
“Would you even want him back, given how he fucking dumped you?”
Point taken. Revenge, then. Rad trussed up while Dulci flailed him with a whip. Rad in chains kept in a dungeon only she knew about. Rad aflame in the fire pit, begging her for mercy.
She smiled. “Thanks. Somehow I just need to move on. Easier said than done, though.”
Her phone buzzed. Rad?
Hey, babe. Ready to roll?
What was this? Her jerk of an ex’s attempt at gallows humor?
Almost immediately, Aimee’s phone buzzed. She looked up at Dulci, her panicked gaze registering the truth for Dulci. The message hadn’t been meant for her.
“You?” she said, rising from her chair. “You’re the one?”
Cora grabbed Dulci in a firm embrace to stop her from sprinting around the pit. Their dropped wine glasses shattered on the stones around the fire, and Aimee vanished into the darkness beyond them.
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