The opening chapters immediately grabbed my attention. The story is initially set at the Corn Exchange in Manchester UK, a gastronomic and entertainment hub, where a mass shooting takes place. Amber Jennings witnesses the horror unfold as two men converge from her past; one on a killing spree and the other a hero. What lead to this massacre, what is their connection?
Amber excels with her own secrets and subterfuge and aside from friends Jameel and Naz there is another man in her life, her unsuspecting husband Steve. I wondered what past role Amber played in this event as a city reels in shock and the press howl for answers from a mystery woman.
As the story unfolds, I found out the background of Amber’s relationships prior to marriage and how these past events dramatically impacted the current situation. The shock and confusion surrounding her is intense, and the continual battle inside her own head is well done as she persistently questions everything and everyone. There are teenage flashbacks, her family, wealthy homes and past friends.
FAVOURITE QUOTE “Rational thought is a beautiful thing, but at heart we’re all instinctively superstitious.”
Shooting at Strangers – Graham Wright 2024
When Amber, a mother of two children, finds her marriage faltering she has clandestine meetings with MI5, encounters a ruthless journalist, and meets with the Imam in a local Mosque as she tries to stabilise her life and resolve her seemingly unwitting part in the mass tragedy.
A timely look behind the headlines, this book will interest crime readers who enjoy a sense of place and good characters with a psychological twist. Indirectly I learned a bit about Manchester, its parks and gardens, not forgetting the Corn Exchange building and its shattering role in the story.
Author Graham Wright thinks deeply about human nature and our foibles and fears. He has written a companion poem titled ‘The Gun’ which echoes the narrative from a different viewpoint – read here.
Book available HERE! With thanks to Graham who offered me the chance to read a draft manuscript prior to publication. He says ‘I hope you like the cover design.’ Yes, I do like it.
Graham Wright is an author of two previous fiction novels and writes under the general description of literary fiction. His writing is about people and ideas. His aim is to write in a style that is relatively easy to understand, but at the same time creative, imaginative and engaging – literary but not pretentious. Graham works hard to create plots that will leave readers wanting to know what will happen next, but he’s particularly interested in communicating what his characters are thinking and how they’re feeling, in communicating their emotions and the motivation for their actions, rather than simply describing a series of events.
Graham Wright’s first novel, Single Point Perspective, is set in and around the city of Manchester, where he lived and worked for more than fifteen years. His second novel, Moojara, is set in and around the world, but mostly centres on Perth, Western Australia. Both are works of dramatic literary fiction – imaginative, serious and thoughtful, but with a sense of humour. Graham is currently living in north Shropshire UK, where he’s busy working on a fourth novel.
Product details for readers who like stats: ‘Shooting at Stranger’ author Graham Wright ASIN : B0CZ16QWND Publisher : Strelitzia (24 March, 2024) Publication date : 24 March, 2024 Language : English File size : 3567 KB Text-to-Speech : Enabled Screen Reader : Supported Enhanced typesetting : Enabled X-Ray : Not Enabled Word Wise : Enabled Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe Print length : 345 pages
SINCE MY VERY FIRST BLOG POST ‘My Name is Lucy Barton’ by Elizabeth Strout book review 6th July 2017, posted at 6:01pm, I have currently written 580 post—as at 26th March 2024—over a wide range of topics, mainly illustrated with my own photographs, and I’ve seen many changes. I even have my own personal favourite blog posts.
In 2024 it’s interesting that the Seven-Year Itch has struck. I appear to have hit a malaise where not enough grabs my interest to write about it. However, although I may feel like slowing down, I will continue to be a voracious reader and write regular reviews here and on Goodreads.
Also, I stress that blogging is an excellent form of written and visual expression and I urge anyone to give it a go! Just do it at your own pace, don’t even follow an agenda. Too many self-imposed rules and deadlines add pressure which goes against naturally allowing yourself the freedom of expression.
Of course, your hobby or favourite subject can take pride of place but it doesn’t have to control a daily blog output unless you thrive on uniformity, regularity, consistency—sounds like hard work to me 😀
Preaching to the converted here but I stress that there are many WordPress templates and layouts to choose from, just give yourself a bit of time to become familiar with the settings and capabilities and soon your decision will make itself clear. I gradually discovered my own writing style and headings, and I use them for comfortable working conditions. My only gripe is the inability to change the designated default font/spacing of draft copies. Each template has its own settings. Although things have become a bit more flexible, I am not a fan of block editor; what I draft-type is not what I get layout-wise.
My website ThoughtsBecomeWords.com is not flashy or intellectual but it works for me. Interestingly I chose not to have a date stamp on my posts. Any person can read your blog anytime without being a WordPress blogger so don’t read too much into timings, Likes or Views. I have made friends through blogging. The big thing is to follow other bloggers because that way you can keep your finger on the writing pulse and learn things from around the world, plus they will also follow you.
I have a particular blogger dear to my heart, Paula Bardell-Hedley in Wales, her Book Jotter site is prodigious, packed with world-wide literary information. Paula created Reading Wales ‘Dewithon’ which features Welsh writers every March for the month of March. I have participated over the years and read wonderful Welsh authors.
Nostalgically, I guess I’ve had my day in the sun; and while blogging is more genuine than politics, pics and fakery on social media, the enchantment is fading for me. Inevitably the pressure of life (and general formatting changes) have turned me into a grump. I think I will cruise along now, enjoying the breeze, occasionally stopping to sniff the eucalypt blossom, and not listen to the raucous competition of the world around me. Been there, done that, over it.
Naturally I will keep popping in to post (maybe even a serialised short story I am working on—stay tuned) but for now it’s on with something new! I have my sights set on a photographic journey so perhaps more local Aussie snapshots will emerge. Two more book review posts to add then it’s irregular posting for me—in awhile crocodile!
Kindly note that I will continue ‘Photo Of The Week’ on my Home Page every Saturday—in the meantime happy writing, happy blogging and see ya later alligator!
This month you can read and review any Welsh authors you like for Dewithon! As you can see from my grandmother’s faded favourite teatowel there has been a bit of Welsh influence in our family. Some of these songs have made me very emotional over the years. And many readers will remember singing favourites in their school choir.
I have been recommended Gareth Williams book ‘Valleys of Song: Music and Society in Wales, 1840-1914′ from University of Wales Press. Quote ‘This enthralling social history focuses on such groups as the fighting choirs of Dowlais and Merthyr that raised armies of supporters, electrified massive crowds and aroused fierce passions.’
But I digress, I have participated in past Dewithons and enjoyed reading Welsh authors I had not previously known thanks to Paula Bardell-Headley aka Book Jotter.
This year 2024 I am reading a crime novel ‘The Silent Quarry’ in an eight book series featuring DI Winter Meadows written by Cardiff-born Welsh crime and mystery author Cheryl Rees-Price. 1.THE SILENT QUARRY 2.FROZEN MINDS 3.SUFFER THE CHILDREN 4.A KNOT OF SPARROWS 5.LIES OF MINE 6.RISE TO THE FLY 7.WINTER’S CRY 8.HARBOUR NO SECRETS (standalone ‘BLUE HOLLOW’)
“I do a lot of walking and, fortunately, living in Wales provides plenty of stunning places to inspire my imagination and feed the world of Winter Meadows.” Goodreads quote from Cheryl Rees-Price
Rather than me expounding how wonderful Welsh authors are, and the books I have previously read, I will give you some links (below) to Paula’s website which is jammed-packed with information and insights. Paula is the nicest, most organised and prodigious book-blogger that I have had the pleasure to read.
Remember those hashtags #dewithon24 and #readingwales24. Reading Welsh authors has broadened my reading awareness, as the saying goes ‘Try it, you’ll like it!’
Many homes have a hoarder, a collector of items, souvenirs, mementoes, toys, anything from sentimental to historical objects which gather dust, get donated, or are disposed of when the collector themselves reach the ephemeral stage.
Exhibit One: These skinny Brisbane telephone books are clinging on to past glories when everyone in business or at home reached for the ubiquitous phone book for a million different reasons. (Of course, prior to that, Directory Assistance were actually real women in the exchange answering calls with plugs and cords). The ‘modern’ phone book was a thick, chunky, printed paper volume in every home, every phone booth and on every desk in Australia. Now the same service is extended a billion times more via electronic means, mainly mobile phones. Except now you have to look more closely, assess more astutely, question more thoroughly the validity and genuineness of what you are reading from an often unverified source via an individual screen.
Exhibit Two: I pondered longingly on which of my inherited items would have the most value. Neither seem likely. Who wants old phone books and who polishes cake forks to use on a hand-painted cake server with a handle? This one was made and crafted in England by Royal Winton Grimwades pottery. It has all the right marks on the back to suggest it is genuine but relatively worthless. Royal Winton is an English brand of ceramics made by Grimwades Limited, a Stoke-on-Trent based company founded in 1885. The brand is particularly associated with chintzware and did not survive the unsentimental 1960s ethos of ‘Out with the old and in with the new’.
Let’s believe Peter Allen‘Everything old is new again’. In the future will everyday items become useful again, reused, recycled, or just sentimentally remembered via old movies, ubiquitous YouTube and books—yes, books will still exist! Chat to your sweet grandmother, verbose grandfather or trusted mature person and listen to their stories before AI fiction rewrites their history.
❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward
Postscript: Our personal memories only go back as far as we have lived. Or not. Depends on your age, health and wellbeing. Write those unique experiences down for the future! GBW.
I guess every blogger at some time or another decides to take a break, whether it is because of lifestyle changes, work pressures or just that nothing seems to jump out and say “Blog me!” My recent lackadaisical approach is due to high tropical heat and incredibly torrential downpours which have played havoc with both inland regions and coastal towns of Queensland, Australia.
Here in subtropical Brisbane we have had massive plant growth (and soggy lawns, water under the house, humidity which is exhausting) and my photograph is proof of Nature’s unequivocal love of water. The lawn (grass really) is up to my knees; overnight the lavender grew out of its pot, and you can see by the rainwater bucket (used on potted indoor plants) keeps replenishing day and night. Instead of high heating bills, this summer the electricity source is working hard on air-con and ceiling fans.
Still, there is always something to do and life does go on, and on, and on, helped or hindered by weather cycles. Perhaps this time next year Brisbane City Council will introduce hand-watering and I will probably be doling out cupful’s of the precious liquid. Water is really survival itself!
Something which has been taking a bit of my attention away from blogging is poetry. A quote from Fishing for Lightning explains why— “In defence of difficulty in poetry I would say this: poetry tries, as best it can, to wrestle with our most complex and ineffable emotions, and in order to do so the poet must forge a language that is equal to the task.”
Soon, I will blog post about a U3A Zoom poetry class I am attending online – due to the heat and rain – and confidently tell you that I am slowly grasping the concept. The book I am studying is titled ‘Fishing for Lightning’ compiled by Sarah Holland-Batt, I won’t divulge the story behind the title, subtitled ‘The Spark of Poetry’. The only poem spark I remember grasping was William Wordsworth’s daffodils in ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ but as an adult I am prepared to give it another go. Stay tuned!
Oh, now just a self-indulgent notation: Due to this year’s phenomenal plant growth, all gardening clean-up services (and lawnmower men) are fully booked. Even a local lad who works on weekends is not returning calls. Some ute-and-whipper-snipper operators are charging grossly inflated prices because it is an industry which is not regulated. This strange turn of events prompted me to request a Green Bin from our city council; it’s like a normal rubbish bin except it’s green and clean and recycles garden waste. Just wait until the weekend!
And finally, a little nudge to all those lazy, off-hand, patronising and sometimes whingey gardener guys who came to quote and never rang back, ignoring my pleas and cash; just you wait until the weather cycle changes and everything turns to drought. Will the work be there? Or will we lawnmower-challenged suburbanites shrug and say “Sorry, the lawn and garden are totally dried out, no need of your services, I can hand-trim the odd blade of grass myself.” (Ah, the power, cue evil laughter 😀)
This Stephen Benét quote struck a cord with me and I wish it would reverberate around the world to governments, politicians, leaders, teachers, legal and law enforcers, armed forces, researchers in medicine and electronics, mass media, writers, local companies, every citizen, parents and caregivers. Just because we can wield great power, building and destroying in equal measure, from bombing cities to decimating rainforests, I believe we should stop and cultivate the wisdom of Consequence. Bigger, stronger is rarely better. Be wise enough to know it can be done but is it necessary for a healthy future? Wisdom to think, assess, and speak clearly. Wisdom to be unafraid to give your opinion, which unfortunately is denied in many countries. Less power, more universal wisdom to make things better not worse. GBW.
Got half an hour? Don’t mind small print? No pretty pictures? Want to read my jaded Thoughts Become Words? This opinion piece has been brewing for several months and what better than my zodiac Year Of The Dragon* to launch a strongly worded blog post.
Recently I was about to enter a website to check on some stuff when the following information popped up. Most of us vaguely realise that our activity on the WWW is monitored. But here (below) is a rather more comprehensive look at what “they” glean from my device. Of course “You can change or withdraw your consent any time from the Cookie Declaration” but by that time it is too late. I have well and truly been identified.
Oddly enough, I always felt safe when I knew my paper documents and personal details were archived in a filing cabinet or locked safe. But we all know both can be stolen, copied, photographed, or open to various forms of physical damage.
I AM NOT WRITING THIS TO INSTIL FEAR OR ANGER, I SIMPLY WONDER IF OUR DETAILS WILL EVER TRULY BE SAFE, NOT FROM THE GATHERER BUT THE ILLEGAL HARVESTER?
The modern cyber criminal, whose grubby hands only touch a keyboard, can easily steal a person’s savings and ruin lives within seconds. Do not trust unsolicited links, odd emails, text messages, requests for your details, funds transfer or anything that immediately makes you query where it came from. Go with your prehistoric gut instinct and throw that metaphorical spear, i.e. click Delete and empty your rubbish bin. It may stop the rampaging beast.
So, how many people comprehensively read the Terms and Conditions?
HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT PROMPTED MY THOUGHTS:
QUOTE “We and our 800 partners process your personal data, e.g. your IP-number, using technology such as Cookies to store and access information on your device in order to serve personalised ads and content, ads and content measurement, audience insights and product development. You have a choice in who uses your data and for what purposes.” (As if…)
“If you allow, we would also like to:
1. Collect information about your geographical location which can be accurate to within several metres.” (Good grief!)
2. “Identify your device by actively scanning it for specific characteristics.” (Fingerprinting)
3. “Find out more about how your personal data is processed and set your preferences in the details section.” (More personal input)
4. “You can change or withdraw your consent at any time from the Cookie Declaration.” (Yep, withdraw your consent, no mention of stored details)
“We use Cookies and similar technology like Cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes essential functionality, performance and for (mainly unwanted) advertising purposes.” Question: Why, in their arrogance, are they so confident they can improve my experience?
In reality, I guess it is already too late to stop my details circumnavigating the world “for advertising purposes”. Similar to the flawed decision to allow Vaping into Australia, “Oh dear we are in a dilemma now, what can be done to fix it? Let’s throw more money at it and see what happens.” Probably nothing, just more young lives ruined by lung-corroding chemicals before the Government approves the next pleasurable yet ultimately destructive addiction.
If computer technicians, programmers, web designers, A.I. (colloquially known as Artificial Interference) and geeks-who-tinker are reading this blog post, I can sense your derision from here. And I don’t care because I am older than you and have experienced a lot more bad decisions in the world.
Ultimately human nature rules as in “Yeah, I like that,” or “Nah, I don’t like that” and the market is fickle thus you are trying to make it very appealing, very engrossing, so that you get paid for all your keyboard work. Are your fingers insured?
Therefore, my question is “Do I splather* myself around the globe?” Or do I clamp down on my details, put a tightly fitting lid on search engines, phishing, and those ubiquitous Cookies? Probably wouldn’t get much access, nor much done, because I wouldn’t be compatible or recognised, etc, which neatly supersedes the use of one’s own initiative.
Internet technology takes time to develop and test new stuff and (don’t tell them) it can be pretty hit and miss. Entertainment seems to be safe to use, after you have signed up, signed in, ticked the boxes, unticked the Not-applicable ones, fast scrolled down countless Clauses and Regulations, ticked the Declaration which state your details are safely stored, etc, etc, finally arriving at Preferences knowing they will ignore your settings anyway—every time you log in! Even WordPress has been known to drop a few blog functions.
SIDE-TRACK Don’t get me started on Goodreads, and have you read the juicy gossip about Amazon? Wired – “Scammy AI-Generated Book Rewrites Are Flooding Amazon” Kate Knibbs reports: “Authors keep finding what appear to be AI-generated imitations and summaries of their books on Amazon. There’s little they can do to rein in the rip-offs.” Real books on a real shelf in a real library– I am such a Luddite*
And what is it with this Unsubscribe Button? Apparently it is consumer law that an Unsubscribe Button should appear on emails/notices/newsletters/businesses to stop regularly unwanted stuff (spam) in your inbox. However, it sometimes takes weeks for the Unsubscribe notice to take effect. Oh, don’t tell me someone has to physically click to delete your data…
ALWAYS MORE CAN BE QUESTIONED AND QUERIED. IF AND WHEN I DECIDE, NOT WHEN I GET AN EMAIL, NOT WHEN I GET AN ALERT, NOT WHEN THE INTERNET TELLS ME IT’S FANTASTIC EVERYONE IS SAVING MONEY DOING IT, AND NEVER ME ON SOCIALS WHEN SUPPOSEDLY EVERYONE IS DOING IT, ESPECIALLY NOT THEN. GBW 2024.
Life cannot be lived backwards, but it will never revert now anyway. The downturn in skilled tradespeople is proof of that. Not enough keen young apprentices for physical job training. Sure medical research and sciences have taken a huge leap forward, but can humans live as truly independent thinkers when an artificial intelligence shares the same room?
FOR ME, DECLARING LUDDISM IS NOT A NAIVE EMOTION BUT A GENUINE STANCE ON TECHNOLOGY AND OUR ALL-ENCOMPASSING RELIANCE ON IT INSTEAD OF SEEKING THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF REAL HUMAN ADVICE FIRST.
Maybe keep looking back over your shoulder at old skills because a thinking life is fading fast. Perhaps internet safety controllers have vacated the building and a rag-tag crew is left patching the patches. (Nothing personal, guys, your brainpower got you this far). As for the rest of us, keep safe, keep deleting, query everything. Most of all, don’t let internet searches give you the wrong information, go to genuine websites in your own country. Of course, it is fun reading and writing blog (weblog abbreviation) posts and every device has a settings/close/shutdown button.
Finished scrolling? “But I like scrolling” says Person. “Of course you do. It’s designed that way.” Put down the electronic device, push away that keyboard. Grab a real book or pencil and paper to sit quietly for awhile. Challenge: Can you manage being an independent human being for half an hour?
Thought so…Gretchen pensive face emoji 😔
❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2024
*YEAR OF THE DRAGONLunar New Year begins on 10 February 2024. This marks the start of the Year of the Wood Dragon. *SPLATHER (noun): 1. : ungainly 2. : rambling. Sends a long splathering telegram. UK author J. B. Priestley(1894–1984) *LUDDITE (noun) Definition: 1. A person who is opposed to the introduction of new working methods, especially new machines. 2. Jathan Sadowski The Conversation Review“I’m a Luddite. You should be one too.” 9 August 2021.
Award-winning author Laura Jean McKay writes on another level of unusual. Clever, jolting and altogether quite unique.
A certain maturity is needed to feel the strength and hypnotic power of the ‘Gunflower’ short stories. It’s not what’s written which holds the key. It’s the unsettling subtext and intertextuality which means there is more here than meets the reader’s eye.
These short stories transcend the written words so that my own reminiscences began to colour the pages. I squirmed, I laughed, I cried and most of all I realised where the author was coming from with each character or creature, for better or worse.
Grouped under three headings Birth / Life / Death, don’t let the idyllic pastoral bookcover fool you. Written with a keen eye, read ‘Last Days of Summer’ or ‘What We Do’ and try not to shiver with guilt. Some tales are one page length, memorably short and punchy. Perhaps the longest story is ‘Gunflower’ a powerful premise on abortion.
There is loss as well as survivor moments. As I read I remembered a person I knew just like one of the deli characters Joni in ‘Smoko’ but then grasped that I didn’t know the real person at all until the character showed me their inner tenacity. As did all the women in these stories; Felicity and Barb are particularly liberated in ‘Ranging’ 😉
This book may not appeal to the mass market and I bet readers will have different opinions on what ‘Site’ is all about. First Fleet? Booklovers often have a conservative bent when it comes to the patriarchy and also communicating with pets and animals. We tend to shy away like skittish horses at difficult chapters, but I think the subjects earned their hard-won place.
Brace yourself, this is a wild ride and McKay’s novel ‘The Animals In That Country’ seems restrained in comparison. I do wonder if short story collections are the ones which never flourish into fully fledged books. But, hey, these are thought-provoking gems and many Australian authors never get this far.
Keep it different, Laura, keep shaking it up.
❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward
Laura Jean McKay is the author of Gunflower, and The Animals in That Country (Scribe) was winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award, The Victorian Prize for Literature, the ABIA Small Publishers Adult Book of the Year and co-winner of the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel 2021. The Animals in That Country has been shortlisted for The Kitschies, The Stella Prize, The Readings Prize and the ASL Gold Medal and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.
OLD SCOTTISH NURSERY RHYME. MY PARENTS QUOTED THIS POEM TO ME WHEN I WAS A CHILD BUT IT DID NOT HELP ME SLEEP…
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs, in his nightgown;
Rapping at the window, crying through the lock,
“Are the children in their beds?
It’s past eight o’clock.”
Penned by Glaswegian poet William Miller, it originally appeared as a fiveverse rhyme written in the Glasgow UK vernacular in 1842.
Perhaps you know it. Over the years the wording and ending has varied, for example the original poem is longer and specified ten o’clock. See Quora for information:
Here’s the beginning of the extended version – “Wee Willie Winkie rins through the toon, Up stairs and doon stairs in his nicht-goon, Tirling at the window, cryin’ at the lock, Are the weans in their bed, for it’s now ten o’clock?”
Thoughts Become Words 