Miss Polly had a dolly, but instead of a real dolly, it was her daughter, Nina, that she protected from everyone and everything. Instead of being allowed to play with other children and get dirty, she was paraded around to show off how beautiful she was. Then she finally gets to talk to a boy,…
Tag: Stephen Helmes
Fiction Writing, Halloween Articles, Holidays, Writing, Writing Prompts and Exercises
Halloween Idioms and Words
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• •Author Interviews, Guest Posts
Martha Kennedy Guest Post/Interview – The Protestant Reformation and Freedom of Religion
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• •Did the Protestant Reformation improve the quality of the lives of wives? Or did it make it worse? When the Anabaptist Swiss immigrated to the U.S. during the 17th and 18th centuries, what three faiths did they bring with them? Why did the Anabaptists believe that the powers of church and state should remain separate?…
Book Reviews, Fiction Writing, Historical Fiction, New Words Learned, Words
The Brothers Path – a Review
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• •The Protestant Reformation was not a time of peace. Travel back to the years 1524 and 1531 to a village in Switzerland near Zürich. This tumultuous time of change makes its presence known firsthand to the Schneebeli household in 1524 when the latest baby arrives two months early and leaves this world only a few…
Book Reviews, Dark Fiction, Fiction Writing, Horror, Mystery, Suspense/Thrillers
Itsy Bitsy Spider: Emma Frost #1 – a Review
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• •Fiction Writing, Writing Prompts and Exercises
The Black Death and Ring Around the Rosie
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• •Nursery rhymes are written for little children, so they should be sweet and innocent, right? Little children should not have experienced the horrors and reality of life yet, and these rhymes made to entertain them should not talk about them either. But not all nursery rhymes have innocent meanings. “Ring Around the Rosie” is one…
Book Reviews, Fantasy, Humor, Mystery
My Grandfather’s Pants – a Review
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• •Author Interviews, Publishing, Writing
K. Hollan Van Zandt Interview – The Great Library, Slave Trafficking, and the Emerald Tablet
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• •What was the inspiration for this book? How long did it take the author to research all the colorful history woven into the story? Who was her favorite character? What are the author’s thoughts on self-publishing? What was your inspiration for this book? Many slender threads begin with romance and synchronicity, and so I started…
Book Reviews, Fiction Writing, Historical Fiction, New Words Learned, Romance, Suspense/Thrillers, Words
Written in the Ashes – a Review
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• •Fiction Writing, Halloween Articles, Writing Prompts and Exercises
Danvers State Hospital & Waverly Hills Sanatorium
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• •Have you ever thought about using a mental hospital in your story? The reasons people were admitted to these institutions suggest many different story ideas. The cruel and inhuman way many of them were treated can also fill one’s head full of ideas about the patients, those who “cared” for them, and those who had…