Guest Post – Jan Sikes and Linda Broday Book Launch – A Bold Bargain and Cade’s Quest

August 27, 2025August 26, 2025 ~ John W. Howell ~ 84 Comments

I am very pleased to welcome Jan Sikes and Linda Broday to Fiction Favorites. They are launching their exciting books at the same time and are here to tell us about them. So, Jan and Linda the post is yours.

We are deeply grateful to you, John, for allowing us to take over your wonderful blog site today!

When we decided to launch our new books together on the same day, Linda and I wanted to make it something special. It feels like we are making publishing history, and perhaps we are.

For this blog tour, we’ve chosen questions and answers designed to give the readers a deeper look into who we are, our background, and how we ended up where we are today, launching books together.

Question: How is it that both of you sisters became writers? Did your parents encourage writing or is it in the genes?

Jan: It’s interesting that neither of our parents were educated. Our dad only went to the third grade, and Mom the seventh. When they married, Daddy could not read nor write. Mom taught him, and one of his favorite things to do every day was read the newspaper from front to back. He especially liked the funnies. Another quirky thing about him was that he loved to make up limericks. As far as I know, no one ever wrote them down, but they always made us giggle. So, is it in the genes? I have no idea.

Linda: John, our mother was such an avid reader. Once we finished with a library book, she would read it. As Jan said, our parents received very little education, and Daddy was illiterate when he and Mom married. But Daddy would sit and think for a little bit, then out would come this funny limerick. One was, “Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat.” He had a bunch but that’s all I can remember at the moment. Mom really encouraged us, and she always said that the sky was the limit and to be all we could be. But, she really got upset with us for reading in bed with the flashlight when we were supposed to be asleep. We got a scolding. It was that way on any given night.

Question: Besides reading, what in your growing-up years had the most influence on how you write today?

Jan: As we’ve mentioned before, we grew up without a TV. So, we had to entertain ourselves, and one thing we loved to do and could spend hours getting lost in, was playing with paper dolls. We designed settings, clothing, gave our characters names, and then created drama storylines for them. It was a great exercise in using our imaginations. We like to think that helped us later on with writing.

Linda: We were always making up stories, as Jan said. In addition to paper dolls, we loved to line the kitchen chairs up in the hallway and pretend it was a train. One year I remember one of us getting a toy cash register so we played store a lot, taking turns being the checker. Also, because we had to attend church so much, we sometimes played that, making up sermons and songs. Kids today don’t get a lot of chances to use their imaginations, which is crucial for a writer. Looking back, I can only remember a handful of times when we got crossways. There weren’t many. Jan has always been my best friend.

Question: What other authors are you friends with and how have they helped you become a better writer?

Jan: I have met so many amazing authors through the years, and lots of them helped influence and shape me in the craft of writing. I love attending book festivals to chat with other authors in person. Some who I can honestly say influenced me, encouraged me, and helped me become a better writer are you, John (yes, you, sir), Mae Clair, Parris Afton Bond, D.L. Finn, Staci Troilo, Beem Weeks, Wendy Scott, D. Wallace Peach, and Joy York. That’s just a few. There are so many! Starting this writing journey after my husband’s passing opened up an entirely new world for me.

Linda: I became friends with Jodi Thomas in 1993, and our friendship has deepened over the years. I recently celebrated the release of her Ransom Canyon series on Netflix. We visit back and forth and have attended so many writing conferences together. And there are so many other writers that I share a close relationship. I Zoom most every Friday with author Dee Burks up in Amarillo, and we go over whatever section I send her. I need that kind of sharing of ideas that always sparks creativity.

Question: Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Jan: I do read my reviews. I learn from them. If a reviewer mentions something in the book that didn’t make sense to them, or could have been better, I take that to heart. When Harmony Kent read my first book and left an honest review, it helped me immensely. She mentioned head-hopping. Until that moment, I’d never heard of it and didn’t know what it was. But that single statement in the review sent me on a learning expedition, and I revised the book because of it. So, I definitely can learn from honest reviews. I ignore bad reviews that hold no merit.

Linda: I read some, but not a whole lot unless I know the person. I once got a horrible review from a reader in Australia who told me the book would’ve been good except for the romance part that ruined it. I just laughed. She knew it was a romance when she bought it. I have no time for craziness like that. One time, I had two readers get into an argument on a book review site. That was uncomfortable. This is such a crazy business.

PURCHASE LINKS:

CADE’S QUEST: https://www.amazon.com/Cades-Quest-Western-Romance-McIntyres-ebook/dp/B0FD7X4H5D/

A BOLD BARGAIN: https://www.amazon.com/Bold-Bargain-Bargainer-Book-ebook/dp/B0FD7VSY68/

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

WEBSITE: https://www.jansikes.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/authorjansikesbooks

TWITTER: HTTPS://WWW.TWITTER.COM/JANSIKES3

BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/jksikes-author.bsky.social

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jan-Sikes/author/B00CS9K8DK?ccs_id=8185cb63-9ad0-4d7b-85ad-c2d64ce37812

WEBSITE: https://www.lindabroday.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/lindabrodayauthor

BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/lindabroday.bsky.social

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Linda-Broday/author/B001JRXWB2?ccs_id=4a2c44df-2076-43cd-8bf8-f15b530ea92f

A Terrific Review of Detour on the Eternal Road by Robbie Cheadle

August 26, 2025 ~ John W. Howell ~ 19 Comments

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Finger Point Prompt – Offense

August 26, 2025August 26, 2025 ~ John W. Howell ~ 62 Comments

Today I randomly opened Circumstances of Childhood to page 141 and with my eyes closed, pointed at the page. The word closest to my finger is offense. That is our prompt today.

“No offense but do you know what you’re doing?”

“No offense?”

“Well, I’m just wondering. That looks complicated.”

“I’ve been doing this for years. So, to answer your so called ‘no offense’ question. Yes, I know what I’m doing.”

“Okay. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I’m not offended but it seems that youngsters ought to think a little more before talking.”

“You have to admit that from where I’m sitting your actions look a little strange.”

“Strange? How so?”

“For one we are way too high for my comfort.”

“Well you didn’t have to come along.”

“I can say if I knew were were going to end up on the top of the world I would have stayed home.”

“It is a little late for that now.”

“I know and that is what worries me. How are we going to get down to the valley?”

“You’re kidding right?”

“No.”

“We are going to glide down.”

“Glide down?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Look at you. You are scared aren’t you?”

“I’ve never been this high before.”

“You are a condor. What do you mean you have never been this high before? These mountains are your home.”

“My mom never let me .”

“That explains it all. Today you are going to become an adult.”

“By sailing down to the valley.”

“By catching the wind currents and soaring above the mountains and then down to the valley.”

“Does sound fun.”

“Yeah. Just don’t look down. Spread your wings like this and step off. Go ahead. I’m right behind you.”

Top Ten Things Not To Do When Attending a Parent-teacher Conference

August 25, 2025August 24, 2025 ~ John W. Howell ~ 74 Comments

Image from Pixabay

This post was published on April 29, 2014, by Marie Bailey and me. Since school has begun, it is time to prepare for the dreaded parent-teacher conference. Hopefully, this advice will help.

Top Ten Things Not To Do When Attending a Parent-Teacher Conference

10 When attending a parent-teacher conference, do not assume your child is never at fault. If you do, at best, you might be disappointed. At worst, you may find yourself explaining certain behaviors that could only be learned at home.

9 When attending a parent-teacher conference, do not try to explain away your child’s behavior with some made-up medical excuse. If you do, at best, you might be questioned about your own veracity. At worst, you might have to explain to child welfare that a medical exam found no medical reason for the behaviors.

8 When attending a parent-teacher conference, do not try to deny providing unusual help on the term project. If you do, at best, you will appear to be someone who has issues with the truth. At worst, you could be accused of being a severely overprotective parent with recommendations for counseling.

7 When attending a parent-teacher conference, do not try to ingratiate the teacher with abnormal compliments. If you do, at best, you will look like you have something to hide. At worst, the teacher will think you are shallow and assign the same trait to your child.

6 When attending a parent-teacher conference, do not assume the teacher will be impressed with your professional or work title and your forceful personality. If you do, at best, you may be in for a rude awakening. At worst, the teacher will think you are a bully and report you to the principal.

5 When attending a parent-teacher conference, do not do all the talking. If you do, at best, you may miss some important information. At worst, the teacher will think you care more about yourself than your child and end the conference early with none of the issues resolved.

4 When attending a parent-teacher conference, do not bring along friends or relatives as support. If you do, at best, the teacher will feel outnumbered and end the conference early. At worst, the teacher will bring in several witnesses, and pretty soon, the conference will take on the appearance of a trial with you as the defendant.

3 When attending a parent-teacher conference, do not bring gifts. If you do, at best, the teacher will feel uncomfortable in giving you an honest evaluation of your child’s performance. At worst, the teacher will need to call the principal to witness turning down what they consider to be a bribe.

2 When attending a parent-teacher conference, do not call the teacher by their first name. If you do, at best, the teacher will believe you are rude. At worst, the teacher may get the impression that you are unnecessarily challenging the professional relationship, which will not bode well for the rest of the semester for your child.

1 When attending a parent-teacher conference, do not wear your most casual clothes. If you do, at best, the teacher will believe you are not serious about the conference. At worst, you may be unknowingly violating the school dress code and be asked to leave the building.

Views of the Neighborhood – Lakeway City Hall Art Exhibit by Larry Bishop

August 24, 2025August 23, 2025 ~ John W. Howell ~ 68 Comments

Let’s get rolling

Here’s a shot of the gallery. Notice the works are framed. My cloe-ups have excluded the frames since there is a significant glare problem with them.

About the artist.

Norway Rapids

Yaupon Creek

Serene Storm

Jackson

St. Croix Driveway

Hamilton Greenbelt.

South Garden.

620 @ Dawn

Morning Green Light.

Tantallon.

Iceland Harbor.

Brnggs Canel

Rainy Parking Lot.

Yupon Creek.

Rock[port Palm.

Hawbill Turtle.

Mahogany Road.

Bayside Getaway.

Coldwater Creek.

South Garden Skyline.

Manager’s Quarters St. Croix

Well, there you have it. Time now for food and entertainment. I hope you have a beautiful week.

/div>

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News

August 22, 2025August 20, 2025 ~ John W. Howell ~ 56 Comments

Today’s Good News story comes from Yahoo News. Thanks to Noelle Granger for sending it to me.

Companies announce game-changing plan to harvest drinking water from the ocean floor — here’s how it works

by Yei Ling Ma

Three companies are leveraging modern technology to reshape the future of commercial desalination, making the process cleaner, smarter, and more cost-effective, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Safe drinking water helps prevent the transmission of preventable diseases like “cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio,” per the World Health Organization. Yet, more than four billion people in 135 low- and middle-income countries worldwide lack that, according to a 2024 study published in the journal Science.

Access to fresh drinking water is shrinking as global water usage increases, driven by industries like agriculture and new technology like artificial intelligence.

Desalination appears to be the most logical solution since 97% of the Earth’s water is found in the ocean.

However, traditional commercial desalination methods like thermal desalination and reverse osmosis are highly energy-intensive and expensive.

Seawater reverse osmosis requires significant energy to pressurize water that passes through a semi-permeable membrane. This membrane filters out salt and impurities, allowing only water molecules to pass through. This process creates a concentrated brine byproduct that can harm aquatic life when deposited back into the ocean.

Thermal desalination leverages heat energy to remove salt from the water. The process involves heating the water to produce steam, which naturally separates from the salt and minerals, and turns back into fresh water when the steam has cooled. Thermal desalination also requires a lot of energy to heat water at scale.

Dirty fossil fuels power these methods, and they remain expensive compared to alternative methods of harvesting freshwater.

Flocean, Waterise, and OceanWell are three water desalination companies that are thinking outside the box.

Instead of wasting energy to pressurize the water to pass through filter membranes, could the desalination process harness the ocean’s natural water pressure to do the same thing?

By using deep-sea technology, including deep-sea robots and undersea power cables, and submerging the filter membrane to a depth of at least 400 meters, or 1312 feet, the water pressure at that depth will naturally flow through the desalination membrane. According to The Wall Street Journal, this deep-water desalination process can save up to 40% on energy usage.

In addition to the benefits of working at that depth, the harmful brine byproduct the process creates can be dispersed quickly back into the ocean, minimizing harm to aquatic life.

Flocean and Waterise have established their pilot desalination plants off the coast of Norway, and OceanWell has built its plant at a reservoir in California’s Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, per the Wall Street Journal.

These companies are seeking government contracts that will help further develop and make more accessible this cleaner, desalination process.

Currently, Flocean is supplying ultra-pure water to a local Norwegian company to make premium-craft cocktail ice. The company also has a contract with Mongstad, an oil refinery facility, to produce approximately 264,000 gallons of desalinated water per day, expected to be launched by the second half of 2026.

Waterise has entered a contract with Jordan Phosphates Mines, a mining company based in Jordan, agreeing to supply 6.6 million gallons of desalinated water per day from the Gulf of Aqaba, south of Jordan.

Most commenters seemed intrigued and hopeful about this new desalination process. However, others questioned the logistics behind the process.

“But they still need to pump that fresh water from the depths to wherever it’s going on land so it’s hard to see where significant energy savings comes from,” one commenter pointed out.

The good news in this story is that companies are exploring various alternatives to traditional desalination techniques. Today’s JohnKu discusses various approaches to problem-solving. I hope you have a peaceful weekend.

Conformity can,

Hamper the quest for knowledge. . .

Knowledge solves problems.

Thursday – A little Personal – Twiggy and Tempeste on Watch

August 21, 2025August 19, 2025 ~ John W. Howell ~ 96 Comments

“So why the long face, Twiggy?”

“Brother. You know I have a droop.”

“Well, yeah, but I thought you looked worried.”

“No. Everything is fine. Thought I would gaze out for a while.”

“What’s out there?”

“A couple of deer mooching carrots off Mom.”

“I like the term mooching. You know I would be upset with them if I liked carrots.”

“I know what you mean. I hope they never develop a taste for kibble.”

” Looks like they have had enough and are exiting to the right.”

“You are very observant today. You even got the direction right.”

Seems a little lonely when they go.”

“I agree. I know I called them moochers, but it is nice to see them in the morning.

“Hey, look at that. Some wise guy is driving down the street.”

“Yeah. He’s not allowed to do that without a bark.”

“How do we get down from here?”

“Just follow my lead. Don’t get ahead of me.”

“Okay, I’m right behind you.”

“Just point your nose down the stairs and let it rip.”

“Wow. That wasn’t as hard as I thought.”

“The rule is nose before butt.”

“I got it. By the way. Did Mom paint this room? It looks yellow.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Nope, it’s just the lamp reflection off the white walls. There is probably a filter for that, but you know Dad.

Thursday – A Little Personal – Twiggy and Tempeste Have a Discussion

August 14, 2025August 12, 2025 ~ John W. Howell ~ 74 Comments

“Hey, Tempest. What are you doing?”

“You know I was just getting ready to attack cheeseburger.”

“You seem to have a pretty good grasp on the concept of attack.”

“It’s the only way to handle cheeseburger.”

“So what do you intend to do with cheeseburger?”

“I thought maybe we could play tuggy with it.”

“Tuggy is real hard with cheeseburger. Cowie might be better sinceit is bigger.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask how are you feeling today?”

“Well I have been better but all in all I feel pretty good.”

“You went to the Neurologist. What did he say?”

“Well he agrees with my regular doctor that I have bacterial meningitis. He also concurs that I have fluid in my ear canal which will require an operation to fix.

“Oh dear. That doesn’t sound good.”

“No it’s okay. Once done the threat of reinfection will be gone. Also my head tilt should go away.

“Are you scared?”

“No, I have had a surgery on my leg before. and it was fine.”

“That’s good. You know I liked your idea of the cow.”

“Get it and we can play.”

“When does the surgery happen?”

“The doctors all have to get together and agree on the course of treatment. Then we will consult with a surgeon and set a day.”

“A lot of waiting.”

“I will be continuing my antibiotic and prednisone in the meantime so nothing gets worse.”

“You seem calm about this.”

“Yeah, I don’t have a choice.”

“Maybe I’ll worry a little for you.”

A reminder that I will be on a blog break from tomorrow until next Thursday. Totally off the grid

Guest Post – Andrew Joyce and His New Book – Wicked – The men of Wicked Tuna.

August 13, 2025August 10, 2025 ~ John W. Howell ~ 69 Comments

I am very pleased to welcome Andrew Joyce to Fiction Favorites. He has a new book and it look like it is going to be a good one.

Here’s the blurb.

The town of Gloucester—America’s first fishing village—has a rich history of “men who go down to the sea in ships.” From that tradition, from that fearless and audacious heritage, came forth a breed of men who are the embodiment of the Gloucester fishermen.

The highly rated television show, Wicked Tuna, captivated the world with the exploits of the men who spend their lives hunting the giant bluefin tuna. In Wicked: The Men of Wicked Tuna, author Andrew Joyce delves into their lives—before, during, and after the show’s end.

For those who were thrilled by the never-ending excitement of Wicked Tuna, this book is for you.

Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FLQN9CNL

A little about Andrew

Andrew Joyce left home at seventeen to hitchhike throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico. He wouldn’t return from his journey until years later when he decided to become a writer. Joyce has written seven books and 143 short stories. One of which won the Writing Spirit Award for best short story of 2011. His first novel, “Redemption: The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer,” was awarded the Editors’ Choice Award for Best Western of 2013. A subsequent novel, “Yellow Hair,” received the Book of the Year award from Just Reviews and Best Historical Fiction of 2016 from Colleen’s Book Reviews.

Joyce now lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Finger Point Prompt – Language

August 12, 2025August 11, 2025 ~ John W. Howell ~ 65 Comments

Today, I randomly opened Eternal Road – The last stop to page 233. With eyes closed, I pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger is “language.” That is our prompt

“That is not the kind of language we use, young man.”

“Sorry, Mum, but I’m very frustrated.”

“Over what?”

“Well, you know how Pa sent me out to hunt for dinner.”

“He said it was about time you learned to contribute to the family.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

“So, what is so frustrating?”

“Pa makes everything look so easy.”

“And?”

“I found out that hunting is more complex than it looks.”

“I think anyone could have told you that.”

“Well, long story short, I didn’t get any dinner.”