The Alternative By Suzanne Burke- My Review

June 24, 2018June 23, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 80 Comments

I originally posted a review for the Alternative on Amazon. Yes, I bought the book, read it and gave a five-star review. For some reason yet to be explained, Amazon removed my review. So I feel no obligation not to publish the same review here on my blog. So here it is.

My Five Star Review

Suzanne Burke has a masterful way of telling a story. She is very direct in laying out the plot in such a way as to convince the reader that the ending will naturally follow the sequence that has been presented. The beauty of the way Ms. Burke crafts her tale is when the finish comes it packs the wallop of a couple of horse’s hooves.

The collection of stories in The Alternative is no exception to this phenomenon. One cannot even be assured that any one of the stories will follow a prescribed path to a conclusion. That is the beauty of Ms. Burke’s work. The reader is delighted and surprised every step of the way.

There is delightful darkness to Ms. Burke’s storytelling. Having read other work by her, I have to believe she finds the dark infinitely more interesting than the light. I can say one thing. Once you read a Suzanne Burke novel or short story, you’ll become a fan.

This collection of stories is well told and have a sophistication not generally found in the short story style. Anyone of these stories carries the depth of plot and complexity that would be typically be found in a full-length novel. I would recommend this collection of short stories to anyone who likes a well-developed plot and the demonstration of an exceptional level of writing craft.

Author Bio

Suzanne Burke resides with her daughter and grandson in a small country town located hundreds-of miles to the west of her previous home in Sydney Australia.

Suzanne had long wanted to write, life interrupted and she didn’t begin her journey into the world of writing until she was in her early fifties.

Suzanne has written her memoirs under the author name of Stacey Danson, both her non-fiction books have ranked in the top 100 paid in Kindle on Amazon. “Empty Chairs” and “Faint Echoes of Laughter” continue to earn wonderful reviews.

Suzanne writes her powerful Thrillers “Acts Beyond Redemption” and “Acts of Betrayal” and her Paranormal anthology “Mind-Shaft” as S. Burke.

Connect with Suzanne

Views of the Neighborhood – Check on the Birding Center

June 24, 2018June 23, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 53 Comments

I decided to go by the Leonabell Turnbull Birding Center to see how much progress has been made on the Hurricane Harvey reconstruction. Join me as we walk about

The Farley boat has been replanted

The plant labels are back. This is a Firecracker plant.

A new information sign with leaflet containers.

This is a sign detailing the recovery plan. It also asks for patience.

I retook this photo since it amazes me how much vegetation was taken by the storm. Those three mothballed oil rigs were not visible before the Hurricane.

The Port Aransas Garden Club has adopted a site at the center.

There is always some idiot who sticks their head in the Alligator sign.

I had hoped to see a lot of birds listed. But we do know Big Bird Little Bird, a coot, a pelican, Kristi, James, and Jane were spotted. I can’t read the frown face

Unfortunately, the access to the birding center is still not repaired.

The alligator’s swamp is still filled with debris (He is fine and living in another part of the reserve)

The Cattails are beautiful.

Reminders not to feed the wildlife anything including yourself. Sorry that the center is still under construction but it looks a lot better than it did. I’ll come back when the walkways are finished.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Bug”

June 23, 2018June 22, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 25 Comments

It is Stream of Conscious Saturday time again and this weeks prompt is “bug.” Linda Hill says we can use it any way we want. (that’s a relief. I hate to be shoved into using a word in a way I don’t want.” If you would like to have a go at this fun visit Linda Hill’s blog and read how. Here is the link.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 23/18

“Ixnay on the alktay.”

“Okay, so what weird thing do we have going today?”

“Read my lips.”

“I can’t understand a thing you are saying with those chapped lips.”

“For heaven’s sake. I think our place has a bug in it.”

“A bug? No biggie. Get some Raid.”

“Not that kind of bug you idiot. A listening device bug.”

“I see we’ve been reading too many spy novels.”

“I’m serious. I think someone is listening.”

“Okay genius. If so you have tipped them off that you know they are listening.”

“I tried to give you a sign.”

“Pig Latin is not a sign.”

“I mean with my lips.”

“You looked like you were passing gas. Your lips didn’t tell me a thing.”

“So now what do we do?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m going to confess to tearing off the mattress tags.”

“Come on. Be serious.”

“I think it’s time for you to be serious. What makes you think someone is listening.”

“Strange things happening.”

“Like what?”

“Well, I was in that fast food place and ordered a hamburger.”

“Yes?”

“You know how much I love french fries. I even said to you before I left the house that I wish I could have some fries.”

“Yeah, I remember. You want to lose some weight, so you are not having any.”

“Well, that’s just it. When I placed my order, the server said, “Do you want fries with that?”

“So?”

“How did the server know I wanted the fries unless whoever is listening called ahead and told.”

“I think you need to lay down.”

“And supersize. How did the server know to ask? It keeps going on and on. When I couldn’t find the rye bread at the supermarket how did the checker know to ask if I found everything okay?” How does the gas pump know to ask “debit or credit?”

“I’m going to call the doctor in a minute if you don’t stop.”

“You better heed these warnings. As for me, I’m going to stop talking in the house. Do you hear that Mr. CIA? No more talking.”

“My prayers have been answered.”

“What’s that?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

Friday John Ku – AKA – TGIF

June 22, 2018June 21, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 59 Comments

Another week rolled by and the promise of a weekend to come. Today is the end of the blog tours for The Contract. Gwen and I have enjoyed interacting with all the tour hosts and all you fine folks who visited and commented. I want to once again thank everyone who volunteered their precious time to post information about the book. Also thanks to everyone who visited the twenty-six posts. I hope you found the hosts interesting enough to come back for more visits. After all, this line-up was the creme de la creme of the blogging community.

So how did The Contract do?

We were recognized by Amazon as the number one new release in several categories. In addition, we were recognized by Amazon as a hot new release internationally and in the US. We also managed to achieve a number one kindle position in the US and Australia. So, all in all, I say we had a pretty good run. We are currently sitting at number five in Kindle.

There are some that would like to tell you that blog tours don’t do much for sales. I think we have shown that the myth is just that, a myth. So here is one last thank you for all your hard work to each and everyone who made these results possible. Today’s John Ku is all about gratitude.

It is you we thank,

For the good fortune, we share . . .

Your wings held us up.

Thursday – A Little Personal – The Rains Came

June 21, 2018June 20, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 79 Comments

Twiggy is off today. She is recovering from her spay surgery. She is fine just confined to the house. Lucy and Baily, on the other hand, have free rein.

As most of you know, I live on a barrier island of the South Coast of Texas. This year we have been suffering from a drought. Our rainfall is in a deficit condition. So we finally got some rain and today’s story is about two miscreant doggies.

Here is a photo of the pond behind our house. The water level is about twelve inches too low. This photo was taken on June 12th. That grey thing is a culvert pipe for the drains on the street.

As you can see with the rain, we had yesterday the pond is more than full.

Now on to Lucy and Bailey

“Bailey. What are you doing in that water?”

“I’d like to say the breaststroke, but it’s not deep enough.”

“For heaven’s sake Bailey the Boss is going to kill you.”

“It sure is fun, Lucy.”

“I think you ought to come out of there quick.”

“Um, just a few minutes.”

“Is that a frog, Bailey?”

“I’m not sure. Might even be a trout.”

“Move over. Let me look.”

“My goodness. Your white coat sure takes on the muddy hue, Lucy.”

“You are right. I have to go find some clean grass and clean up.”

“I would wait. I double dog guarantee Pops will be giving us a bath.”

“Looks like you are taking one now.”

“The beauty of a dark coat is the mud doesn’t show much, Lucy.”

“Of course when one is covered in mud.”

“You are in so much trouble, Bailey.”

“I think I have had enough.”

“You leaving?”

“Wait for me, Bailey.”

Yes, Bailey and Lucy did get baths, and yes they did have a good time.

“Thanks, Boss.”

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Kreative Kue #179 by Keith Channing

June 19, 2018June 18, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 47 Comments

In Keith’s words. “Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before 6pm next Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here – pingbacks don’t often work.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your own blog or web site, next Monday.”

The Photo.

“Okay, so how far have we moved?”

“Today?”

“Very funny.”

“I’m serious.”

“Yes, if you must joke, today.”

“Twelve feet.”

“Twelve feet? You must be kidding. I’m sure we have come further.”

“Further than yesterday’s sixteen feet.”

“This is insane. How can we continue to stay on this road when it is obvious the traffic isn’t going anywhere?”

“Um. Check the barrier in the middle.”

“Huh? Yeah, that does look pretty formidable. How about to the right?”

“The hills.”

“Drat. We’re trapped like rats. What kind of vacation is this anyway?”

“I think rats have a better chance. I would say it is a survival kind of vacation. We are out of water.”

“How can we be out of water? We packed enough for three days.”

“We’ve been sitting here for four.”

“We have? Where have I been?”

“A real good question. How’s that book coming along?”

“I guess I have been a little preoccupied.”

“I would call it ‘deep trance’ rather than preoccupied.”

“Well, there is a plot point I have been trying to work out.”

“That point where the man and woman are trapped in a cave and can’t get out.”

“That’s the one.”

“Art imitating life I think.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Did you work it out?”

“Yes. It seems they found an old flare gun and fired it through a vent in the ceiling of the cave and were rescued by the Coast Guard.”

“Oh, that is ingenious. Isn’t there a Coast Guard station near here?”

“Let me look on my phone. Oh yes, there’s one about three miles from here.”

“Do we have a flare gun?”

“Gosh no. Wait. Are you thinking of the cave rescue.”

“Could be. Open the sunroof. Maybe I can yell loud enough for help.”

“We are not in a cave.”

“Could have fooled me.”

Top Ten Things Not to Do While Reading a Book

June 18, 2018June 17, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 72 Comments

The inspiration for this list came to me while traveling. I was watching several people reading books and doing other things. It struck me that there are several things that one should not do while reading a book. I hope you enjoy this list.

10 If you are reading a book, do not drive a car. If you do, at best you may lose your place when you drop the book to avoid an accident. At worst, you may lose the book when you end upside down in a culvert. (Didn’t see that curve while you were wrapped up in the murder scene huh, Esau?)

9 If you are reading a book, do not walk in heavy pedestrian traffic. If you do, at best you’ll avoid getting knocked down. At worse, you will run into Tiny the WWF champ as he is leaving his tactile psychosis support group. (Hard to believe someone has such a problem with being touched. I don’t think offering Tiny the book will offset his reaction, Efrain. Maybe running is a better choice.)

8 If you are reading a book, do not sip hot coffee without taking your eyes off the book. If you do, at best you’ll only spill a drop. At worst, you might miss your mouth and feel the joy of 180-degree liquid on your chest. ( Lucky for you your lap was under the table, Eloi.)

7 If you are reading a book, do not step onto an elevator. If you do, at best there is room for you. At worst, the elevator is packed with members of the NFL bargaining unit members, and they just lost a bargaining point to the owners. (Kind of shocking they wouldn’t make room for a dweeb with a book, Ealdun. Lucky for you your foot didn’t get stuck in the door.)

6 If you are reading a book, do not eat pasta marinara. If you do, at best your book is on Kindle, and the screen is cleanable. At worst, you are reading the first edition of War and Peace which you borrowed from the Library of Congress. (Looks like destroying a national treasure carries a significant penalty, Eban. Maybe A fishing trip to Canada is in order.)

5 If you are reading a book, do not operate machinery. If you do, at best the mechanism doesn’t have spinning blades. At worst, your machine is designed to chop a twelve-ton block of steel into one-inch pieces. (You might want to put that book down, Ebo. It looks like the feeding phase inadvertently has your shirt tangled with the twelve-ton block of steel.)

4 If you are reading a book, do not continue your free fall while skydiving. If you do, at best the exciting part will end in time for the ripcord pull. At worst, you are at the part in the book where the detective is about to expose the identity of the murderer. (Only two more pages and you’ll know, Edoardo. Too bad the ground is there in one.)

3 If you are reading a book, do not take the black five diamond downhill ski course. If you do, at best a ski patrol member will be close. At worst, your fall and roll was the beginning of the giant snowball that crashed into the lodge through the huge dining room floor to ceiling window. (Lucky you survived, Eero. Now the hotel management would like to know if you want to put the $50,000 window on your room tab.)

2 If you are reading a book, do not shoot the curl of a gigantic wave off the coast of Hawaii. If you do, at best your wipeout will be well offshore. At worst, you will ride the wave entirely distracted until you land on the shore. (Just how hard did you hit the sand, Egon? We sure hope you can get out of that ten-foot deep crater. Give Egan a hand for that unorthodox landing, folks)

1 If you are reading a book, do not continue to compete in the world airplane aerobatics competition. If you do, at best you might miss a loop. At worst, you may lose your orientation and think up is down and down is up. (Time to put the book down, Ekon. If you are quick, you just may pull out of this dive before dropping below the horizon. It is very hard below that horizon.)

Views of the Neighborhood – Charlies Pasture

June 17, 2018June 16, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 66 Comments

We have always like to visit Charlies Pasture nature preserve. The last time we were here the Hurricane damage prevented us from entering. There are still no cars allowed but we took a walk past the gate to see how the park fared in the hurricane.

Here is the locked main gate.

You can see the hurricane-damaged sea wall. Those are mothballed drilling rigs in the background

A view of the seawall and the road. Quite a lot of damage.

Another view to give you some perspective.

While we were walking a family of dolphins came up to the seawall. This is the male. It was quite exciting to see them so close to the shore.

I asked how he was doing and he didn’t answer.

He’s starting his dive.

There are a mother and baby in the background as well as the male who is in the foreground

This is the mother and baby. The baby is a half a stroke ahead of the mother.

To give you an idea of the storm power this sea wall used to run all the way across that body of water

A shot showing the breach.

One last shot of papa. Notice the pelican stays pretty close. The dolphin stirs up the fish population, and the pelican is standing by to catch a hapless fish fleeing.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Reservation”

June 16, 2018June 15, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 40 Comments

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time Again. This week’s prompt is ‘reservation.” Linda Hill says we can use it any way we want. (I love the smell of freedom.) If you would like to join our merry band visit Linda’s blog and read how. Here is the link.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 16/18

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Who you talking to?”

“I’m on hold. I’m sort of ranting to the wind.”

“There’s no wind in the house.”

“Don’t start on me. I’m on this stupid call to make a reservation, and I’m on hold.”

“That’s pretty normal isn’t it?”

“You would think that if a restaurant requires reservations, they would have enough people to handle the calls.”

“You probably got the guy who washes the dishes at this hour.”

“What do you mean? Three o’clock is after lunch and before dinner. There should be nothing to do but answer the frickin phone.”

“Getting a little worked up I see.”

“Oh shut up. Wait the line stopped that stupid music. Oh yes, thank you for taking my call. I would like to make a reservation for Saturday night. Uh…This Saturday night. Yes, I will hold.”

“The old route you to the end of the line hold.”

“Stop. He said another call was coming in and would I mind holding.”

“Of course another call. A big rich guy who will take the last Saturday night reservation.”

“Yes, hello. That’s okay I don’t mind holding.”

“What was that?”

“He put me on hold again. Another call.”

“Good grief. Do yourself a favor and hang up.”
“No way. This is the best new restaurant in town. I’m not giving up.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Oh hi. Yes, I’m still here. Sure.”

“On hold again right?”

“He mumbled something about the kitchen. I think this is the owner.”

“Well, la de da. You are being snubbed by the owner no less.”

“Yes, that’s correct. This Saturday. Why are you laughing? No kidding. Okay, put me down for then. That is Sammy at two one zero, five five five, one two one two. Thank you. Goodbye.”

“What was that all about.”

“Nothing.”

“Come on. What time do we eat?”

“Seven o’clock. Best seat in the house.”

“Wow, I’m impressed. I heard it takes a year to get a reservation.”

“Ours is in twenty-twenty. Excuse me I have to go and mark the calendar.”

Guest Visit with DL Finn – The Contract

June 15, 2018 ~ John W. Howell ~ 2 Comments

Today Gwen and I are visiting D.L. Finn. She is hosting us to help introduce The Contract. D.L. has a saying that pretty much describes her philosophy of life. It is, “Embrace your inner child”

She has written so many excellent works that you must visit to check them out. Here is the link to today’s post.

https://dlfinnauthor.com/2018/06/15/book-release-the-contract-between-heaven-and-earth-rrbc/

About D.L.

D.L. Finn is an independent California local, who encourages everyone to embrace their inner child. She was born and raised in the foggy Bay Area, but in 1990 relocated with her husband, kids, dogs and cats to the Sierra foothills in Nevada City, CA. She immersed herself in reading all types of books, but especially loved romance, horror and fantasy. She always treasured creating her own reality on paper. Finally, being surrounded by towering pines, oaks and cedars, her creativity was cradled until it bloomed. Her creations vary from children’s books, young adult fantasy, adult paranormal romance to an autobiography with poetry. She continues on her adventure with an open invitation to her readers to join her.

Thank you, so much D.L.