Around Europe with Randall Sawka

Rough Business by Randall Sawka


March brought Nancy and Me to other parts of Europe. For two weeks we hiked
around Malta. The weather was just OK thanks primarily to the heavy winds.
It limited excursions for a few days but did allow me to get a great deal of
writing done. My favourite place was the Starbucks knockoff. Here are Nancy
and me in front of the Lion sign.

The third week of March brought us to Budapest. This is now officially our favourite city in the world. Amazing food, amazing architecture, and very, very walkable. Thought I would show you our luggage for the trip. Actually, Nancy is lugging the luggage. Plenty of time doing laundry, but were able to take 6-7 discount airlines with just carry on bags and saved a lot of money.

Our final overseas stop in Paris (Not Ontario). I call it writing intimidation time. We revisited the Latin quarter where we had coffee at the "Les Duex Magots" the Paris cafe famous as a gathering place of James Joyce, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Ernest Hemingway, among others. I sip espresso while Nancy sits Beneath the Magots (mandarins, Magicians, alchemists)-your choice.

This morning we took a short walk past the Moulin Rouge and in to Montmartre
Cemetery. Here I am beside the resting place of another great, Alexandre Dumas.


The rain is now moving in for a couple days. Please see the sky in the above image. The flight back to Canada leaves in five days. The trip has been wonderful. I recommend it for anybody.

Story-star Confession: Samantha Parks from Secret: In Wolf Lake

Hello everyone: ) Thank you for stopping in to check out Secret: In Wolf Lake story-star, Samantha Parks, a.k.a. Sam. She actually hates too much attention, so I (DK Davis, writer of her story) took on the role of interviewer. Mostly just to get her talking: )

DK Davis – Okay, Sam, time to get started. Tell everyone a little about yourself – you know, like your age and interests, things you love to do.

Sam – I’m fifteen, actually closer to sixteen. *she looks at me and I nod for her to continue* Okay, let’s see, I love fishing, adore my chocolate Labrador, Koko, and enjoy being at Wolf Lake. I’d rather be there than my other option.

DK – Ahhh, yes, let’s talk about the other option…what is it and why the negative vibes regarding it?

Sam – Mom wanted me to travel with her and Matt. Can you imagine being the third wheel on a European honeymoon? I’d hate it. *rolls eyes*

DK – That’s not really why you chose not to go. Give it up, be honest with us.

Sam – Fine. *big sigh* Matt and Dad were best friends. I mean they grew up together, all through school, like brothers. They did everything together. Now he thinks he can move deeper into my life and replace my father!?

DK – But why would he think that? What happened to your father?

Sam – *eyes shine with water* Dad was killed two years ago. Hit by a druggy driving through the school parking lot where my father taught.

DK – So sorry for your loss, Sam. *Sam nods* Let’s talk about something else, like what are your dislikes as a girl in today’s world?

Sam - *smiles* I have a hard time relating to girly-girls. My cousin, Lisa, is one of those. All she thinks about is guys. Seriously. Well, that’s not all she thinks about…I mean she’s always checking her hair, painting her nails, doing her make-up, wearing clothes that…well, seem tight and revealing to me, uncomfortable.

We used to have fun together, a few years ago…before her every thought included a guy. Now…we pretty much can’t stand each other.

DK – So what’s the best thing about Wolf Lake?

Sam – I’ve always loved Wolf Lake. It was where we went for vacation when Dad was alive. I have good memories from there. Plus, there’s something else I discovered at the lake…a secret…something I promised not to talk about until given permission. Now, I have new memories…and honestly, new friendships, the kind that might last forever.

DK – Well that pretty much sews up our time today – thank you, Sam. I really appreciate you coming along, agreeing to the interview, and sharing as much as you have. I know some of it wasn’t easy for you.

Sam – Thanks for asking me here, DK. Even though some of my story still hurts, I want everyone to hear my story, to know the secret locked inside, and to love and resonate with the ending like I do: )

We hope you’ll check out Sam’s story, Secret: In Wolf Lake, a YA Sci-fi Fantasy adventure. For now – Sam would love to answer any questions or comments you’d like to make. Please don’t be shy…because…she’s shy, but agreed to answer questions; )

DK Davis writes YA sci-fi, supernatural, and fantasy with a good dollop of all the relationships woven in between. When she’s not writing, editing, or reading, she’s hiking, RV’ing, fishing, spending time with grandchildren or her favorite muse (her husband) in Southwest Michigan.

You can find her at these links:

Twitter; FB; Website; Books We Love Ltd. Author Page; Amazon Author Page

Enter Books We Love Contest here: http://www.bookswelove.com/books-we-love-contests/

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Wolf-Lake-Book-ebook/dp/B01N7O41FM

Will Someone Pass Me The Nuts?

Will Someone Pass Me The Nuts?

People have remarked that one of the things they enjoyed from my new novel “Thunderbird’s Wake” is the banter between the two main characters, Carol and Charlie. When I was going through all the edits and had others editing as well. Trust me my editing and grammatical skills leave much to be desired. Hey, I just write the stuff and hopefully leave them laughing. I think that humour can be well used and if you can make someone laugh, it not only brightens their day, but should help sell a book. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, Carol and Charlie. Those scenes were done in one sitting and required virtually no editing. That’s when you know you’re in the writing groove and when you’ve got solid realistic characters. They often take over and begin to write the scenes and dialogue themselves.

Buy at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Frank-Talaber/e/B00UC407R0

From Thunderbird’s Wake

(Charlie has just managed to talk Carol to joining him from her holidays and help solve a case in a penitentiary where Charlie has just got his first job)

“You’ve never worked before?” Carol said as she entered his office. She stared pointedly at the largely blank sheet of paper that was Charlie’s resume. He looked up at her, he had been busy reading from the stack of documents sitting on the desk before him.

“Well, I’m a shaman. You know, live-off-the-land type. Help little animals fight oppression, the lack of nuts and the Freedom of Planting Act.”

“The what?”

“The Freedom of Planting Act. It gives squirrels, chipmunks and even crows and ravens the right to plant fallen nuts wherever they desire.”

Carol shook her head and smiled. “Can’t say I’ve missed this inane banter of yours. But really, never had a real paying job before? How is this possible in our day and age?”

“I’ve had a few small jobs, fishing, selling jack pine mushrooms, got paid in cash. Darn Japanese are crazy, they’ll pay nearly a thousand dollars a pound for the stuff. And they eat sushi, raw fish, yuck.” Charlie wrinkled his nose. “Good to see you too Carol, I knew you were a person of your word.”

Carol scratched at her shoulder where the sunburn hurt the worst. She hated him being right most of the time. “I thought you were a native, eat wild roots, live off the land. Smoke salmon.”

“Yeah, but this is the twenty-first century. We’ve got electricity. Cooked, deep fried, breaded, now we’re talking. Raw! Hell, haven’t you heard of fish lice? They’ll eat you alive from the inside out. That’s it. I can’t read anymore. If I knew I had to read this much, I’d have thought twice about getting hired. “Charlie got up and headed out the door of his office, chucking down the wad of paper before him.

“Hey, where you going?”

“Cafeteria, see if old Sandy will do me up a smoked salmon sandwich. Talking about food gets a guy hungry. Are you coming?”

Carol decided to join him. “You can’t seriously be telling me you rerouted all of the applications so they’d have to accept yours?”

“Okay, so I won’t tell you.” Charlie laughed as he tapped his cane down the hallway.

“How did you tamper with the federal mail? Oh, let me guess.”

“Nephews and uncles.” They said at the same time.

“You’re getting it.”

Carol groaned. He either had great balls to pull off this kind of grandiose lunatic kind of stunt or dumb shit ass luck. Probably mainly the latter, she muttered to herself, remembering the incident earlier in the year with the smuggling out of the deceased shaman’s remains into Stanley Park that Charlie had arranged by another of his ‘nephews’. But she knew this, if he thought the man was murdered, he most likely was. Now they had to find just cause. “Okay take me out to the sweat lodge after we eat.”

And if you enjoy that, maybe my newest video promoting myself and my writing will bring a chuckle to you as well at the link below. Sorry I tried to download it here, but it was many megapixies. Although I didn't know that pixies came in extra large, Learned something new today. Copy and paste and have a chuckle.

https://www.facebook.com/FrankTalaber/videos/1315762901824939/

And just to let everyone know I'll also be attending The Creative Ink Writers Festival at the end of the month. Hope to see some of you there. 

Link below.

http://www.creativeinkfestival.com/

Buy at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Frank-Talaber/e/B00UC407R0

Frank Talaber’s Writing Style? He usually responds with: Mix Dan Millman (Way of The Peaceful Warrior) with Charles De Lint (Moonheart) and throw in a mad scattering of Tom Robbins (Even Cowgirls Get The Blues). PS: He’s better looking than Stephen King (Carrie, The Stand, It, The Shining) and his romantic stuff will have you gasping quicker than Robert James Waller (Bridges Of Madison County).

Or as is often said: You don’t have to be mad to be a writer, but it sure helps.

Writer by soul. Karma the seed. Words born within.

Paper the medium. Pen the muse. Novels the fire.

 

Buy At Amazon

My websites

http://www.bookswelove.net/authors/talaber-frank/

http://twosoulmates.wix.com/frankt-author-blog

http://amazon.com/author/franktalaber

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Frank-Talaber/805296946204873

Twitter: @FrankTalaber