National Breast Cancer Awareness Month~~October

 

On the Wings of Pink Angels by Dawn Colclasure

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

 "You have cancer." These are words people dread hearing. But when worse comes to worst, push comes to shove, something wonderful happens. More people come together for support and encouragement. More people participate in "Race for the Cure" events, and more people discover an inner strength within themselves that they never knew they had before. On the Wings of Pink Angels offers a gentle hand through this difficult time, sharing stories that inspire hope, strength, gratitude and courage during a time when someone must fight for his or her life against breast cancer.

Word Count: 32000
Pages to Print: 133  

Buy it at: Smashwords (all formats) ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Amazon 

Also available at many online vendors worldwide. 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

 

Dawn Colclasure

Dawn Colclasure is a writer who lives in Oregon. Her articles, essays, poems and short stories have appeared in several newspapers, anthologies, magazines and E-zines. She is the author and co-author of over two dozen books, among them Burning the Midnight Oil: How We Survive as Writing Parents; 365 Tips for Writers: Inspiration, Writing Prompts and Beat the Block Tips to Turbo Charge Your Creativity; Love is Like a Rainbow: Poems of Love and Devotion; On the Wings of Pink Angels: Triumph, Struggle and Courage Against Breast Cancer; A Ghost on Every Corner; The Yellow Rose and her latest novels, Faded Reflection and Imprint.

WEBSITE ~ TWITTER ~ FACEBOOK ~ BLOG

EXCERPT:

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month was founded in 1985 by a variety of health and medical organizations promoting the message of breast cancer awareness.

You can visit the site here: http://www.nbcam.org/

And here is the Wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Breast_Cancer_Awareness_Month

Since its inception, businesses and charities across the globe have stepped up to do their part in the fight against breast cancer. Major corporations such as ValPak, Walmart and Lands End have participated in NBCAM in some form or another. They have distributed flyers and informational documents about breast cancer among employees and customers, created support groups to help those with breast cancer and created an in-house breast cancer screening program. Even the government has done its part in participating in NBCAM, by including a message about breast cancer on government employee pay stubs during the month of October.

Over the years, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been a month of challenges, inspiration, support—as well as controversy. A local breast imaging center in Eugene, Oregon started a “Make Time for the Girls” campaign during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 2010. The idea of calling breasts “the girls” was met with a public outcry, spurring many residents to complain to their local newspaper about such insensitivity. Still, the campaign persevered. Another year when NBCAM rolled around, many people on Facebook shared a status update saying, “Let’s find a cure for ALL cancers, not just breast cancer.” The purpose of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is to promote awareness and support for anyone fighting for their life against breast cancer. Yes, we do want an end to ALL cancers one day, but let us remember that this special month was not created to slight the other cancers, or even to dismiss the struggles of those afflicted with other cancers. Let us march forward with our pink ribbons spreading the message that the fight against breast cancer, and indeed all cancers worldwide, must continue to go strong.
 

Beating Time At Its Own Game: Life Begins With Cancer

by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

The day after my biopsy, my husband and I drove to Las Vegas on a business trip, never thinking about possibilities. We stopped at the state line for a ride on the giant Ferris wheel. We shelled giant prawns for lunch at the Stardust buffet. We slid quarters into a slot machine—the old fashioned kind I like with spinning cherries that will surely triple my money and spill the winnings into a silver trough.

That was not a bad approach at the time. There is no reason to assume the worst, to project abject possibilities that may never come to pass onto the present. Denial is sometimes very useful. On the other hand, it often keeps one from examining one’s own behavior, one’s own motivations. I share this anecdote because it illustrates how thoroughly denial had become entrenched in my life.

I was raised in times that were not easy for women. Most of the barriers I faced were ones that couldn’t be seen nor acknowledged because I didn’t know they were there. They crept up silently on padded feet and, if I sensed them at all, I chose not to turn and face them.

This faculty for denial was intact and very healthy when I was diagnosed with cancer. By 3 p.m. that day, the picture was not so jolly. We had to return home so I could begin autogenous blood donations. The risk of AIDS in the blood supply was still high; my doctor believed that we should have my own blood on hand in case it was needed.

My first reaction was true to pattern. I reassured myself that everything was going to be just fine, that I wasn’t nervous, that cancer was not a terrifying word. Unfortunately, my doctor had not sounded especially positive when he demanded that we set a surgery date in that moment, over the phone.

My husband was also up to the task. “We won’t work today. We’ll just take off, have some fun and drive back tonight.” We were two peas in a pod. We’d both try anything other than just saying, “Gee, I’m scared.”

I almost went along with that plan. Instead, I used the time on the open road to meditate. In that time, I realized—sort of knew at a cellular level—that I had to do more than donate blood to myself and that cancer doesn’t just happen.

 

 

Newest GSP Release, September 30, 2020

September 30, 2020 by Gypsy Shadow Publishing | Edit

The Prodigal by Violetta Antcliff

About the book:

Poppy Berisford has everything going for her: a loving family, more pocket money than the average teenager and much more than her fair share of good looks. So why does she give it all up to go on the run with a boy who has nothing to offer her but toil, sweat and tears? A boy who hasn’t even started to shave and like Poppy is under the impression money grows on trees.

Is this a story of true love between two teenagers, or just a case of juveniles playing at being grown ups, willing to get their fingers burnt? Only time will tell.

Word Count: 10600
Buy at: Smashwords (all formats) ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Amazon
Price: $3.99

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

It was coming up to midnight when Poppy crept out of the house; both her parents were fast asleep in bed. She knew this because when she tiptoed past their bedroom door, she’d heard her father snoring.

Kyle had texted her earlier to say he would be waiting for her at the street corner. He reminded her to bring whatever money she could scrape together, at such short notice, with her.

Being extra cautious, not wanting to wake anybody, Poppy switched off the burglar alarm before opening the front door, then closed it quietly behind her and slipped the key through the letterbox.

As promised, Kyle was stood there waiting for her. He greeted her with, “Did you remember to bring the money with you?”

Poppy tapped her handbag “Yes, it’s all in here,” she said.

“How much?”

“Thirty pounds. Every penny I’ve got. How much have you brought?”

“Fifty—the money I’d saved for the school trip to France. Won’t be going now will it?” he said with a shrug of the shoulders.

“So what’s the plan, or haven’t you come up with one yet?”

“Of course I have. First we make our way to the railway station. It’s a bit of a walk I know, but we’ve got plenty of time.”

“And then what?” Poppy wanted all the details.

“We make our way to Skegness, find someplace to stay and then I’ll get a job. Shouldn’t be any problem this time of the year.”

“Finding someplace to stay could be expensive, and don’t forget we’ve got to eat.” Poppy was being practical, which was unusual for her.

“When I said we would find a place to stay, I was thinking of a caravan, not a big posh family one, just a two birth.”

“And what will I be doing while you are out at work all day?”

“You could get yourself a job as a waitress, you look older than sixteen so you should have no problems.”

“I won’t be sixteen for another three weeks and working as a waitress in some greasy spoon café—” Poppy threw her arms in the air. “Well, there goes my plan for training as a brain surgeon, doesn’t it?”

Kyle laughed. He was one year older than Poppy, although at times he seemed much younger. “And there goes mine as an airline pilot,” he said. “Come on, let’s get a move on or we’ll miss the train.”

The train was on time and they had no trouble finding a seat because at that time of night it was half empty.

Dawn was breaking when they pulled in at the station in Skegness. Poppy, who had slept for most of the journey, was now wide awake and alert, ready for whatever the day ahead held for them.

“Well, we’ve arrived, so what do we do now? Most of the shops will be closed this time of the day,” she reminded.

“There’ll be a shop open somewhere, where we can get a bite to eat,” returned Kyle optimistically.

He was right; more than a couple were already open and ready for business on the seafront. “Look we’re spoilt for choice,” he said choosing one advertising All Day Breakfasts.

The food was good and reasonably priced. The owner of the café, a rotund man, who looked to be in his late sixties, walked over to their table when they had finished eating and stood arms folded, looking down at them.

“You kids here on holiday?” he asked, “or just on a day trip?”

“Working holiday,” said Kyle jumping in before Poppy had time to say anything.

“Where are you staying?” Was his next question.

“Haven’t decided yet,” returned Kyle. “Was thinking of finding a caravan camping site, asking if they had any two-berth vans to let for the season.”

The older man stood, stroking his chin and thinking. “And you say you are looking for work?
Kyle nodded.

“Well, I think I might be able to help you. I have a two-berth caravan parked out back, and if this young lady,” he nodded toward Poppy, “isn’t afraid of a bit of hard work, I would let you have it rent free.”

Poppy was all ears. “What sort of hard work?” she asked.

“The wife’s been looking for some extra help for over the lunch time period, it gets very busy at the height of the season,” he said. “A few of hours a day, let’s say from eleven thirty to two thirty in exchange for living rent free in my old van. What do you say?” He held his hand out, and Poppy took it.

About the Author:

Violetta Antcliff

Violetta Antcliff has been a member of the Nottingham Writers’ Club for the best part of twenty years. A winner of numerous short story competitions, her work was area short listed in Waterstone’s Wow Factor story competition. Took first prize in Nottingham County Council short story competition with a story called “Irish Mouse Tales,” which was published by Gypsy Shadow Publishing as an eBook in July of 2012. “A Shot in the Dark” is Violetta’s 37th eBook with Gypsy Shadow since 2009 and follows “The Left Hander,” “A Silent Scream,” “The Rough Sleeper,” “The Odd Claims of Lizzy Croft,” “A Shot in the Dark,” and the latest installment in the Jason Foster Series, “Jason’s Teen Years.” She has had her poetry and short stories read on local radio.

Find her on FACEBOOK

Newest Release, September 15, 2020

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Kari and Fai, wandering teenage sorcerers and lovers whose spells occasionally work, just want to relax in the city of Jayen—only it's vanished. Things just get weirder when they learn from a child goddess that the city's been catapulted thousands of years into the future, and they need to follow it with her to avert disaster.

But the future is more terrifying than they expect—a dystopian technological nightmare, where a crack in reality is keeping two versions of the city trapped. To save Jayen (and maybe the world) Kari and Fai must venture into the Crack and confront the mysterious Dweller within.

Word Count: 26500

Also Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other vendors worldwide!

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR:     

Nyki Blatchley is a British author, poet and copywriter who lives just outside London. Alongside a varied career that's involved selling books to royalty, care for disabled people and posing for artists, he's had about seventy stories published by, among others, Penumbra, Daily Science Fiction and The Thirteenth Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories. His novel At An Uncertain Hour was published by StoneGarden, and he's had novellas out from Musa Publishing and Fox & Raven.

Nyki is an administrator for the online fantasy writers’ group Fantasy-writers.org. He's also had numerous poems published and has performed poetry and music at various venues around London. This included frequent appearances at the legendary coffee-house Bunjies, which in the 60s hosted artists such as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and David Bowie.

WEBSITE: http://www.nykiblatchley.co.uk
BLOG: https://nyki-blatchley.blogspot.com
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/NykiBlatchley
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/nyki.blatchley

EXCERPT: 

I

“So,” demanded Karaghr, gazing around the unbroken jungle, “where exactly is this city?”

Failiu raised her eyebrows at him, jerking her head suggestively at their guide. Her face looked torn between anger and tears, and he reached out a comforting hand to her. She’d been looking forward to reaching the city of Jayen and its comforts even more than he had.

Da-Zheng, the guide who’d brought them all the way up the river, stood staring around. Had the man brought them to the middle of nowhere deliberately, for some nefarious purpose? It seemed unlikely, from what Kari had seen during the journey of the stolid, reliable man, but he put his hand on his knife-hilt, just in case.

“I don’t understand it.” Da-Zheng turned to them, his pale face even more blanched than usual. “This is the place. Jayen should be here.”

“But it’s not, is it?” snapped Fai. “You’ve brought us the wrong way.”

“No.” The Thaal guide shook his head, his eyes stunned. “It’s all as it should be. The bend in the river. The ridge we crossed two hours back. Anyway, we followed the road.”

That was true. The paved road was clear enough that Kari had wondered occasionally why they needed a guide, although Da-Zheng had been valuable in steering them through the customs of remote villages.

“Could it be a different road?” he suggested. There must be a simple explanation.

“I know the road to Jayen. There isn’t a route in these parts I don’t know.” From anyone else, the retort might have been angry, but Da-Zheng seemed to have no temper to lose. He made a broad gesture to indicate trees, undergrowth, the riverbank a few hundred paces away, the three of them standing in the steamy heat still rising from the last downpour. From a distance came an animal cry that Kari didn’t recognise. “Here,” the guide insisted in his slow voice. “This should be the south gate.”

Kari pulled Fai closer to himself, taking comfort by giving it. “So what are you saying? That an entire city has vanished, and the ground taken back by the jungle since you were last here? Just how long ago was that?”

“Last summer.” Da-Zheng was wandering around the immediate vicinity now, as if the buildings might be hidden behind one of the trees. “It was a thriving city last summer, and I’ve heard no news of disaster. In any case, what about that merchant? He’d been in Jayen, hadn’t he?”

That was true, and Kari cursed himself silently for forgetting it. The merchant they’d passed on the road five days ago was effusive about the prices he’d got for his goods in the city’s many markets and the rare commodities from the north that would make him even more when he returned to the coast.

That was Jayen’s importance, as a meeting-point for the road and river trade that came from both north and south of the great forests dividing the Thaal kingdoms in half. In spite of its remoteness, trade made it a rich and luxurious city, everyone said.

Fai trembled, and she was as pale as her dusky Errishi complexion would allow, but she let Kari help her shuck her pack before collapsing to sit on it. He joined her, holding her hand. A speckled snake, longer than he was tall, slithered along a branch high above, but took no notice. It was of a type Da-Zheng said wouldn’t attack humans unless it felt threatened.

It had seemed such a good idea to go on a trek through the jungle to find the city of Jayen. The Lost City, Failiu insisted on calling it, though it was nothing of the kind, and the trek was a stroll along a good road. Still, finding lost cities was what you did when you were teenage outlaw sorcerers, and that’s what they’d been since they were kicked out of the temple in Errish for studying forbidden volumes. It was an adventure.

Da-Zheng still wandered about, looking stunned. “It doesn’t make sense,” he muttered.

“All right.” Kari felt he should be positive for Fai’s sake. “Could you be mistaken? I mean, the jungle’s confusing. I know you know it, and there’s the road, but is it possible… I don’t know, there’s another bend in the river and another ridge just like the ones you know? Or… something?”

The guide looked at them blankly. He was an emotionless, middle-aged man who hadn’t seemed flustered by anything that had happened on the journey—not even when his young charges had wandered away for an exuberant lovemaking session and got lost—which made his attitude now more frightening.

“No. No, there’s no chance I’m wrong. This is where Jayen should be.”

GSP's Book of the Day December 9

Winter Queen by Aubrie Dionne

#gypsyshadow #fantasy #shortstory

The Snow Queen has haunted the northern lands for generations using the temptation of a fabled paradise to lure men to their deaths. Can Barrow Tiln, a local farmer’s son melt her heart and set her free, or will she freeze his body and steal his soul?

Word Count: 3989

Pages to Print: 19

Price: $2.99

http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Queen-Seasons-Fantasy-ebook/dp/B0044KMP46
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/winter-queen-aubrie-dionne/1102735776
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/4514
http://www.gypsyshadow.com/Aubrie.html#Winter

 

Can a local farmer's son melt the Snow Queen's heart and set her free to love again? Winter Queen, a short story by Aubrie Dionne. Available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, other fine eBook vendors and Gypsy Shadow Publishing at:
http://www.gypsyshadow.com/Aubrie.html#Winter

GSP's Book of the Day October 8

The Cat Lottery by John Des Fosses

#gypsyshadow #youngadult #fantasy

Camille has exhausted the last of her nine lives. Under strict cat law, she must depart this earth for the eternal tenth life. Pioline and Poulet, her eight-week-old kittens, are left behind. Willed by Camille’s departed spirit, Boots, her aging brother, finds the kittens under the deck of John and Sandi’s house. They are wired with fear and spirits so lost they might never be found.

Boots, a life long stray, confesses he is ill suited for the caring of kittens. He must devise a plan to convince the humans to take the kittens into their home. A more daunting task is to convince the kittens they should become house cats. Sandi becomes an unwitting partner in his plan. John becomes an unwitting foil. Learn the laws that govern a cat's life and how they deal with death, fear, joy, humor and love.

Word Count: 33000

Pages to Print: 121

Price: $4.99 (Also available in print!)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Cat-Lottery-ebook/dp/B008R19PBY
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-cat-lottery-john-des-fosses/1112313495
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/209910
http://www.gypsyshadow.com/JohnDesFosses.html#CatLot

Cats have ten lives. Discover the laws that govern their being and how they deal with death, fear, joy, humor and love. The Cat Lottery by John Des Fosses. Available from Amazon, other fine eBook vendors and Gypsy Shadow Publishing at:
http://www.gypsyshadow.com/JohnDesFosses.html#CatLot

Book of the Day September 10

Bagonoun's Wonderful Songbird by John B. Rosenman

An old man and a young girl are unlikely lovers, but what happens when a magical bird starts to sing? Bagonoun's Wonderful Songbird is an improbable love story that takes place on the island Nauru in the South Pacific. Sometimes miracles come true.

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