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Time Travel

October 18, 2020 by in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley tagged as , , ,

Time Travel – visiting another time, meeting Di Vinci, Mark Twain, or Archimedes sounds fun, on paper.   Yet, I’m not sure I would be happy doing so in real life, especially those pops to the past–flush toilets, Starbucks, blow-dryers and antibiotics would be hard to give up.  But I enjoy the idea in fiction.

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Time Travel in the Beginning

I started out time traveling young, about nine, by reading Madeleine L’Engle’s A WRINKLE IN TIME. How I loved that book. I probably read it five or six times in a row because I was so taken with Meg, a GIRL, who was good at math, so good that she could help other children with their math homework. The time traveling part was just a side benefit.

Soon after I read PORTRAIT OF JENNIE by Robert Nathan, a haunting very short novel about an artist and a little girl who ages oddly.  THE TIME MACHINE by HG Wells followed and gave me nightmares for a weeks –Morlocks! My reading lists were rounded out by PEBBLE IN THE SKY and END OF ETERNITY both by Isaac Asimov.

My Favorite Time Travel Novel

But my very favorite time travel novel is THE MIRROR by Marlys Millhiser. This novel is the story of Brandy and Shay –grandmother and granddaughter, who both look into an antique mirror on the eve of their weddings and switch places.  I’ve never read any of Marlys Millhisner’s other novels, but they look interesting.

Time Travel on the Screen

Time Travel has been a fun plot device in lots of TV shows I’ve enjoyed over the years, from Sam and Darrin traveling to Salem in BEWITCHED, to the many episodes of STAR TREK, DR. WHO, QUANTUM LEAP and of course Mr. Peabody and Sherman’s WABAC machine.

Movies are included in my time traveling adventures.  I love BACK TO THE FUTURE.  I’m laughing just typing the title for BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE.  A writing bubby and I dragged a gaggle of our kids and several of their friends to see this movie.  We sat several rows behind the kids laughing our heads off, while the kids, ranging in age of seven to thirteen, sat there looking blankly from the screen to their clearly nutty mothers.  I also enjoyed THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT.  

My Favorite Time Travel Movie

The time travel movie I’ve enjoyed the most is the made for TV movie, THE GIRL, THE GOLD WATCH & EVERYTHING.

In searching for an image for THE GIRL, THE GOLD WATCH & EVERYTHING, I found out the movie was first a novel by John D. MacDonald.  The same John D. MacDonald who wrote the Travis McGee hard boiled private detective novels.  I was stunned, and now I really want a copy of the novel to read. The reissue copy of this novel includes an introduction by Dean Koontz.

Last but Not Least

I found other gems while looking on the Internet for time traveling tidbits.  Andy’s Anachronisms  is a website completely devoted to time travel in popular media.  I also found Time Travel Institute a website that discusses possible theories behind time travel.

But, I saved the best gem for last.  Susan Squires, who is an excellent writer and really nice person, has a series of time travel romance novels involving a time machine built by Da Vinci.

Do you have a favorite time travel novel, short story, TV show, or movie?

Would you like to travel in time?  

Where would you go?

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Spotlight on Andi Lawrencovna

October 17, 2020 by in category Spotlight tagged as , , , , ,

Just in time for Halloween we have an author spotlight on Andi Lawrencovna and her soon to release anthology, WHO’s THE FAIREST? A Sisters Grimm Anthology. (October 20, 2020 and it is available for preorder, now.)

Andi Lawrencovna lives in a small town in Northeast Ohio where she was born and raised. She writes Fantasy with a twist, un-Happily-Ever-After-ing as many fairy tales as she can. And she’s not averse to looking at the odd nursery rhyme or ten when the mood strikes. Her Never Lands series is currently enamored with an ash covered assassin and a prince who’s not in the highest of towers. From ogres spouting poetry, to princesses toting swords, Andi’s stories aren’t quite like you remember.

For more, visit: www.AndiLawrencovna.com

Andi’s story in WHO’s THE FAIREST? A Sisters Grimm Anthology is called “The Snake’s Leaves” and we’re please to have an excerpt.


THE SNAKE’S LEAVES

ANDI LAWRENCOVNA

The clipper bobbed with the tide against the dock, rocking in the first waves as the storm blew in. Dark clouds churned the sky. Raindrops threatened to fall, but remained heaven bound for a moment more. 

“It’s a bad omen.”

“There are no such things as omens.”

Reigner turned his head and stared at his prince. 

Despite the response, Euridone’s voice held concern, and his face was stern with concentration and consideration. 

Though the ship might not set sail during the midst of the storm, it would set sail eventually.

The waters whispered of hate and roiling death. 

Rey did not think the voices beneath the waves referred solely to the tempest.

He might not have believed in omens before, but he wasn’t fool enough to ignore them when they stared him in the face. He opened his mouth to argue with his master—

“We should find our berth and get settled in. She’ll be along soon enough, and I’d rather be stowed away than have to deal with her.”

A call to action, and yet Rey remained still at Euri’s side, the backs of their hands touching where they stood together, neither of them wanting to move forward to whatever fate awaited them. 

“I hate the sea.”

“It hates us too.” He replied and shifted the pack on his shoulder. A raise of his hand, the quick flick of his fingers forward, and the servants that lined up at their backs with the prince’s trunks moved towards the ship, and Euri followed their lead, Rey bringing up the rear. 

The wind wailed as they walked the gangplank to the clipper’s deck.

Ware. Ware. You will die here.

Rey turned his face to the storm as the first drops of rain fell. “I’ve died before. I’m not afraid of my end.”

For only a moment, the wind stilled, listening to his words.

It screamed at his impudence when he smiled into its gale. 

Three Months Ago

Prince Euridone Adavignlor, Hero of the Battle of Blackmore, Lord of the Southern Settlements, husband to the Princess Abrialla, wedded Heir to the Kingdom of Spinick, stood in the hallway outside the birthing suite and paced the cold stone floor. 

His wife’s labor had slowed to a crawl somewhere in the tenth hour of the trial. 

The healer said it was normal for a first birth to take time, and perhaps it was, but that was over a day ago when the pains first started, and now, at nearly forty hours, even Euri knew that something was wrong.

He was born a farmer’s son with nothing to his name but the clothes on his back and the dirt caked to his skin. Hock and hoof, field and plow, working the land and toiling beneath the sun, that was where he came from. He was a good farmer. A good and dutiful son.

And when the war came, and the king called all eligible men to battle, he traded pitchfork for pike and learned to wield a sword in place of the culling scythe. 

He was a good soldier. 

When his captain died, and he was chosen to replace the man, Euri discovered he was good at leading too.

He won the war with his tactics for King Ashwarth.

He should have died at Blackmore, but he’d somehow returned to the land of the living where the king took an interest in the man named champion. 

A good soldier. A good leader. A good prince.

Words Euri never expected, nor wanted, to hear, especially when they were followed by a wedding decree, and the burden of what marrying the princess would entail. 

For all his life, all he’d ever wanted was to escape his farm.

Now all he longed for was a chance to return to the quiet fields and the mooing of cattle and the mucking out of horse stalls. 

He wanted to take his child away from the castle walls and show the babe the beauty of a simple life that Euri always took for granted with the man who he’d come to depend on more than his next breath.

A man who was not Euri’s spouse but her bastard brother. 

Rey was more honorable than all the nobles put together in the palace halls. 

And he was the only one Euri wanted, and that his vows demanded he never claim. 

Not that Abrialla honored her marriage to Euridone. 

For all the prince knew, the babe fighting to be born was not even his, some other of his wife’s lovers having whelped the child on the princess. 

He should be angry at the knowledge, at the implication.

All he could feel was relief.

A small, childish, plaintive part of him prayed that if the babe proved to be another’s, he would be allowed to break his oath and be free of the witch. 

The more rational part of his mind knew the unlikeliness of the same. 

It wasn’t Abrialla who wanted Euri as a prince. 

No matter that the king gave his daughter every other wish she desired, Euri was Ashwarth’s demand for the kingdom, and there was no escaping a king. 

Abrialla would destroy the kingdom Euri fought a war to save. 

Ashwarth chose a farm-boy to lead his country instead of his own spawn to keep the land safe. 

And now, here Euri stood, outside his wife’s room, waiting for the birth of the child that would tie him eternally to the nation he called his own. 

Knots tangled in his stomach. 

Because the child was late in coming, and country or not, rule or not, the infant was innocent of his mother’s indiscretions or his father’s peasant desires. The babe deserved a chance at life, but Euri knew how frail new life could be.

The door to the princess’ suite opened. 

A tired nursemaid stepped out of the brightly lit room into the dim hall where the prince waited. 

“It is a boy, your highness.”

Euri nodded. 

He’d known. 

All along he’d known that she would bear a son that Euri would call his own. 

He held himself still, one hand braced at the windowpane behind him, not sure if it was to hold him back from forging the room and looking at the child fresh from the womb, or if it was to keep him standing, that the birth was done, and the child was here. He was well and truly bound up in the fight for rule now with an heir of his own, blood or not. 

Euri’s valet stepped forward to draw the maid’s attention when he could not. 

“How is the prince’s lady wife?”

Rey stood with his hands clasped behind his back, anxiety showing in every line of his body. There was no love lost between princess and manservant. Where Euri might not abandon a bastard child, the king had no such proclivities when Rey was born and cast aside. 

It was a mercy, in Euri’s mind.

If Rey was raised a prince, or a lord, or anyone of importance, they would never have met upon the battlefield. That Reigner was just a man, same as Euri, made all the difference. 

Rey kept his eyes on the maid, and Euri tore his from the valet to watch a tear slide down the woman’s face.

“It was a hard birth. The healer,” her hand trembled when she raised it to her cheek. “He has asked the prince be admitted to speak his farewells.”


Read the rest of THE SNAKE’S LEAVES in WHO’S THE FAIREST? A Sisters Grimm Anthology


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Hemingway and Me: AI Editing

October 15, 2020 by in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as , , , , ,

Last month I was excited to share that I signed with Wolfpack Publishing, an online publisher. I never thought I would do that (check September to see why I did). This month, I’m having another never-say-never moment. I purchased an Artificial Intelligence editing program called Hemingway.

Why I shelled out $20 for Hemingway

A friend recommended the program. It was inexpensive. I am always looking for ways to improve my writing.

What is Hemingway?

It is an intelligent assistant for the writer who wants to improve their style. Hemingway cannot replace an excellent editor. In the early stages,  guidance on foundational work is essential. No computer program can analyze characterization, plotting, inconsistencies, theme etc. the way a human can. It will not check for grammar or spelling.

What I like about Hemingway.

Hemingway made me think. The app ‘believes’ that simple is better. The program color codes perceived style problems in the manuscript. Purple indicates  hard to read sentences, yellow very hard to read, blue is adverbs, and green is passive voice. The app also highlights phrases that have simpler alternatives.

More often than not, I heeded Hemingway’s advice. Yes, some of my sentences were convoluted. Yes, there were other ways describe action without a word that ended in LY. There were also times I didn’t change a sentence. Yes, that passive voice was necessary. Thank you, Hemingway.

What are the drawbacks of Hemingway?

Blogs, articles, and short pieces might find Hemingway more helpful than the novelist. I uploaded chapter by chapter so I wasn’t overwhelmed. It was tedious, but I’m glad I did it.

It is difficult to figure out how to transfer the edited work. I finally used the export as a word doc function. I did have to reformat each chapter. Not a problem, just an extra step.

Hemingway does not check spelling and grammatical errors. It would be a nice addition to the program.

Do I recommend Hemingway?

Yes. It is well worth $20. This program made me stop, think, revise, and it gives me reasons why I should pay attention. Because I will have a cleaner manuscript, it will save my real life editor time and  therefore save me money on the back end. For traditionally published authors, your editor will be very pleased with the smooth submission.

Bottom Line for Hemingway

I recommend that all writers add Hemingway to their tool box. It is a small investment for a big return on how you look at your writing.

P.S. Yes, I did edit this piece in Hemingway. Here is the link.


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Alina K. Field October Featured Author

October 14, 2020 by in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as , ,

Alina K. Field

October Featured Author


Award winning author Alina K. Field earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German literature, but her true passion is the much happier world of romance fiction. Though her roots are in the Midwestern U.S., after six very, very, very cold years in Chicago, she moved to Southern California and hasn’t looked back. She shares a midcentury home with her husband, her spunky, blonde, rescued terrier, and the blue-eyed cat who conned his way in for dinner one day and decided the food was too good to leave.

She is the author of several Regency romances, including the 2014 Book Buyer’s Best winner, Rosalyn’s Ring. She is hard at work on her next series of Regency romances, but loves to hear from readers!

Visit Alina

In addition to Quarter Days, Alina’s quarterly column’s on A Slice of Orange, you can visit her at:


Books by Alina K. Field

CHRISTMAS KISSES

Buy now!
CHRISTMAS KISSES

STORM & SHELTER

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STORM & SHELTER
FATED HEARTS: A Love After All Retelling of the Scottish Play
MISTLETOE & MAYHEM: A REGENCY HOLIDAY ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY

THE COUNTERFEIT LADY

Buy now!
THE COUNTERFEIT LADY

A LEAP INTO LOVE

Buy now!
A LEAP INTO LOVE
WINTER WISHES: A REGENCY HOLIDAY ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY

HAUNTING MISS FENWICK

Buy now!
HAUNTING MISS FENWICK

MARRYING MR. GIBSON

Buy now!
MARRYING MR. GIBSON

THE GHOST OF DEPFORD HALL

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THE GHOST OF DEPFORD HALL

THE VISCOUNT’S SEDUCTION

Buy now!
THE VISCOUNT’S SEDUCTION

ROSALYN’S RING

Buy now!
ROSALYN’S RING

LILIANA’S LETTER

Buy now!
LILIANA’S LETTER

THE MARQUESS AND THE MIDWIFE

Buy now!
THE MARQUESS AND THE MIDWIFE

ADVENGING THE EARL’S LADY

Buy now!
ADVENGING THE EARL’S LADY

ROMANCING THE PAGES

Buy now!
ROMANCING THE PAGES

THE ROGUE’S LAST SCANDAL

Buy now!
THE ROGUE’S LAST SCANDAL

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What to Write About? by Ralph Hieb

October 13, 2020 by in category From a Cabin in the Woods by Members of Bethlehem Writers Group tagged as , , ,

I’m trying to think of something to write about. So far no luck.


I can write about anything I am familiar with, but that would take the fun out of this particular exercise.


This writing will be on something I am not familiar with, so I’ll go to the internet and see if there is something I’m interested in.


Well after looking at the internet for a bit I got bored and started to see what was happening on Face Book. This is where I spent the next hour or so looking at what my friends were doing. Not much, but I still checked out their pictures and stuff.

What am I doing?

Oh yeah. I’m supposed to be looking for something to write about. I brought up Word and stared at the curser: nothing happened. I write about ghosts and stuff like that, I know something is supposed to happen. I minimized it and checked on my emails. Nothing interesting there.


Again I maximize Word. The curser just sits there doing nothing. I hoped it would do some writing on its own like in all the paranormal shows. But no, my curser only stays at the beginning of a line.


I minimized Word again. And change over to the internet once more. Nothing there either, but I see I have an unfinished game of match the pictures on Miss Fishers Murder Mystery site. It’s something to pass the time while I try to think of what to write about. After another twenty or thirty games.


I maximized Word again, still nothing.

Change the View?


I’ll go to the living room and watch some television. A good game show followed by a car repair show. I guess then another car show, maybe two.
I have an idea. Maybe since it is October I’ll write something about Halloween. Where at the end of it, the vail between the living and the dead thins.


It is said that ghouls and demons along with other creatures of the night escape from their dimension to walk freely amongst the living. There might be a story there, nah.


I do enjoy sitting on my front steps handing out candy to children wearing their costumes of super heroes and arch nemesis. The kids do not realize that the costumes are a disguise, making them safe from the evil.

Where’s My Muse?

I know, throw in some ghosts. I’ll ask Spirit, she’s my muse and hates being called a ghost. If she can’t help me, no one can.

Okay. Now I’m ready to tackle that super short story. Sitting down at the computer again, I maximize Word. But I am greeted by the lonely curser, the only thing on the page. This is getting frustrating. I know that if I wait long enough some ghost or spirit will type a message or at least unintelligible words on the screen. But still no.


I’m getting to the point of helplessness. What can I do to remedy this situation, go back to see what’s on the internet or maybe read a good book for inspiration? It appears that Spirit is not going to help me.


I have run out of ideas. There seems to be only one course to follow. I maximize Word, watch the curser, still staring at me. I folded my arms and stare back at the screen. This is a staring contest I intend to win.


Ralph Hieb grew up in New Jersey. After spending time overseas serving in the military, he returned home to New Jersey. While attending college he met his wife Nancy.

During the time he spent stationed Europe he didn’t miss an opportunity to travel around. Sightseeing and enjoying the culture are things that he still loves to this day.

Both Ralph and Nancy enjoy traveling to places that they have never been to, though sometimes they like to revisit former destinations. They want to visit Australia and New Zealand someday.

Ralph enjoys reading paranormal novels. He decided that he should try and write one. He is currently writing short stories, but a novel is in the future.


Ralph’s Books


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