Author Zone

Bring Your Books 4 – Author Zone

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This week in Author’s zone

Watching the Daisies: Life Lessons on the Importance of Slow by [Gallagher, Brigid P]

Check it out Available on Amazon

A Bit About Brigid

Brigid P. Gallagher aspired to become a doctor but God had other plans! She spent thirteen years in the life assurance industry, including Actuarial and Life Underwriting departments, before following her heart and training as a Natural Medicines therapist. Brigid trained in colour and crystal healing, aromatherapy, reflexology, nutritional medicine, flower essences, electro-crystal healing, radionics, and E.F.T or Emotional Freedom Technique. She practiced and taught Natural Medicines for 20 years, teaching at Stirling University’s Open Studies and Summer Schools from 1993 to 1999, setting up the Scottish School of Holistic Healing plus a therapy center and shop in Stirling, Scotland. In 1999, she relocated to Donegal, Ireland the home of her ancestors. Four years later, she succumbed to a mystery illness which was eventually diagnosed as fibromyalgia and possibly rheumatoid arthritis. Stopping the world for 2 years, forced Brigid to reassess her life, and thus she began retraining in Organic Horticulture. She taught this subject in schools part-time until early 2016. Her garden was featured in the Donegal Garden Trail in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Brigid continues her lifelong passion for gardening, singing and writing in her new life of SLOW.

Word From Others

Brigid does a great job in capturing her journey of health challenges…
Brigid does a great job in capturing her journey of health challenges and bringing spirituality to life to help a person move through difficult times.
Divya Parekh
Author of “The Entrepreneur’s Garden: The Nine essential relationships to Cultivate Your Wildly Successful Business”

A wonderful, insightful book!
A wonderful book! I forced myself to put it down a couple of times because I didn’t want to stop traveling vicariously with the author. Gallagher has written a memoir that takes to many beautiful countries but also on her journey of family loss, health and commitment to learning. Her gifts as a healer and gardener add to the beauty of the book.
Alexis Rose
Author of “Untangled: A Story of Resilience, Courage, and Triumph”

Check it out on Amazon

Annette has so many book titles under her belt and in her words below:

A Bit About Annette

I was born writing! At least this is how it seems. I had the good fortune to be published while a sophomore in high school so continuing the journey by publishing books has been a natural course of events.
I have chosen to release my annual haiku collection in time to celebrate National Poetry Month, in April. A Haiku Perspective 2017 is filled with smiles, laughter, wisdom and creativity, all cleverly disguised as haiku poetry. Enjoy!
My book, GO YOU some encouragement when you need it, is a pep-talk in a book! Each page gives you a quick way to start your day, help you through a moment or even provide someone else words that can inspire them to a better life. We can all use a cheerleader when one isn’t available, this book fits the bill!!

Most of the books I have published here are centered in poetry, Haiku poetry to be exact. Much of the feedback I receive about the haiku poetry is that people can really understand the messages and they appreciate that the poems are short and sweet!

Angel Messages – a wing and a prayer is my first book about Angels. Filled with photos, prayers, poems and prose of and about Angels, this book will delight any Angel lover in your life. Check out the reviews, people are drawn to the inherent inspirational nature of this book and as result is fast becoming their favorite. You can have it right away using the Kindle option or order a paperback copy (or two) and carry it with you wherever you go.

I mentioned that many of my books are filled with my poetry and several of them combine that with my love of taking pictures. Books that feature poetry and photos include Perspective, it’s all about replacing one thought with another, PhoKu, visual perspective haiku and BooKu, Halloween haiku. Perspective has a wide variety of pages that can feature prose, poetry and nature photographs, while PhoKu is filled with the photographs I have taken in nature with Haiku poetry added to them, hence the title: PhoKu. BooKu is a “behind the scenes look at how Halloween decorations feel about their jobs. All three of these books are available in print and Kindle formats.

A Haiku Perspective 2015, and A Haiku Perspective 2016 are haiku poetry books. When I first experimented with the haiku writing format, I have no idea I would enjoy it as much as I do. These days, I am writing haiku daily and finding myself thinking in 17 syllables. You can find these books in both print and Kindle formats
There are several other books planned for release this year alone, So please, check back frequently to see what I have published and share what YOU are doing! Cheers!!

A Word From Others

What a Beautiful book. Written by a very talented gifted author. I am so happy she finally put a book together of her Angel Messages that she sends out every day. Of all the books Annette has written this by far is my favorite. I don’t think I can say enough about this book or how proud of Annette I am for putting it together. All of her books are a labor of love and worth having. They are also great for giving as gifts.
Kylie
Inspirational messages are always a hit with me. In a world where you could be anything, be inspirational. That’s what Annette Rochelle Aben has done with this book. Open your heart and allow yourself to be inspired too!
I absolutely loved this book! very touching and loved it from the front page to the back and  I would highly recommend this book if you needed your spirit lifted!!!  I loveAnnette’s books! She is a wonderful writer author!
Mary Irvine
A writers’ journey can be a lonely and arduous trip and the success of a writer is the collective effort of all those who surround him/her. You are welcome to promote your book on Author Zone. To learn more check this.
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So April is Done and I’m No Fool; I Hope?

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Personal Thoughts, Dear God, Ambitions, Afraid, Dreams, Aspirations

April is over and out, the first quarter done and dusted. As always I reflect on everything and nothing. I am learning that as a human being that all I can truly do each day is to give the best of my best. Yet there are days that my best falls below par and my head hammers at me that I’m not doing enough, but my heart keeps still and asks for harmony.

There are those days when the vagaries of life dictate the pace of my thought and actions even when I don’t want them to be so. Trying to live a purposeful – focused life has many positive fruits but can also come at a cost.

Those ambitions that faithfully dog my step and grasp my heart fail to let go. Instead, their demands to be achieved increase and there many times that I feel strong and know that I can do it all, yet there are many of those shaky moments when I wonder if I am being a fool for aspiring for so much?

I have been doing all that I do afraid, but with faith. Yet, I’m equally worried that I may never get it right but never worried enough to willingly stop trying.

I know without doubts that there are many like me. Those whose ambitions keep their thoughts racing and their hearts thumping in excited prospects, at the same time they are nervous at the thoughts of failing. I’ve failed in many things in my life, but for the life of me, I am never going to give up on my aspirations.

It may seem like a fool’s dream to want to succeed when one feels like they are between the Spring and Autumn of their lives. Someone, please tell me that I am not a fool having a mid-life crisis of wanting dreams that appear too tall to reach.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Uncategorized

My APOLOGIES

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My system is acting up and unfortunately, I’ll have to defer my monthly blog party which was planned for this weekend to a mid-week party next week. I am having someone look at it and that may take all weekend to sort out.

Do accept my apologies. I’ll keep you posted. Thank you

Jacqueline

Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

The Whole Nine Yards – Stream of Consciousness Saturday

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My dad used to say ‘be careful in giving someone a yard, the next thing you know they would want a mile,’ and my mother would say ‘be that yardstick of the best quality and do it better than your best,’ which not surprisingly always seemed to follow house chores that didn’t meet her yardstick of measuring cleanliness.

I never quite knew what that yardstick of hers was except she liked us polishing the floor till it was shiny enough to eat food off it and somehow we always managed to spill our food, then we picked it up, dusted if off and ate it. It’s amazing how strong we were back then and we had no worries about microbes. Now, even with all the advancement in technology and medical sciences, the names of diseases keep growing in numbers.

I like the saying ‘going the whole nine yards,’ though I have always wondered why nine yards and not ten, eleven, twelve or seven yards even. I am the going the whole nine yards kinda girl. I would give it my all till I’ve got nothing more to give – I guess when a person has taken all the nine yards that I can afford to give them I stop cutting them any more slack and fabric lest I find myself naked and in need of yards myself and that’s when I remember my dad’s words about those who would want a mile.

So, are you the whole nine yards type of person or do you hold back some of the yardages as backup 😉

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Yard – SoCS

The Daily Post

Open Prairies

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I have had many adventures far and near, seen beautiful places, met fascinating folk, tried some daring things and eaten grilled bugs for supper. I guess I could reminisce and talk about them for days on end, but I won’t do that today.

Lots of adventures lie ahead of me, a million and more places to see, more people to meet and more things to experience as long as the good Lord permits.

However, the wonderful adventure I am having right now goes a back in time – through the fantastic good old-fashioned book series ‘Love comes softly of Janette Oke’ – to the beautiful 19th century rugged, open country of North America, where trust, faith, love, family, friends, honesty, and hard work were core values sought after and revered.

The current television series ‘When calls the heart,’ is based on her Canadian series novel of the same name.

I am so totally immersed enjoying my read that I could see the wide open prairies and hear the galloping horses and coach in my dreams last night.

Plane, Photograph, Adventure

Travelling is more than seeing of sights. It’s a change that goes on, deep and permanent in the ideas of living – Miriam Beard.

I was born a nomad in my heart. It wanders a lot.  Jacqueline

Tour bus, Travel, Photograph, Adventure

Just Go! When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Water, boats, adventure

One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as An Adventure – William Feather

Friday Fiction in Five Sentences

Enamoured – Friday Fiction in Five Sentences.

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Image result for images of a woman in love with her boss

She had known that she was in trouble right from the first time they met during her interview.

From his firm handshake to the curved smile on his full lips that shouldn’t belong to a man, everyone else in the room seemed to fade out from her sight.

Is this what they call love Linda wondered to herself as the months went by and every single thought of hers had him in the centre?

She wasn’t even sure that he actually saw her beyond being a competent assistant at his beck and call.

She didn’t know how long she could continue working closely by his side each day without revealing her feelings.

Jacqueline

Echos Of My Neighbourhood

Camel Craziness: Al Marmoom Heritage – Echoes of My Neighbourhood

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I’ve not seen such number of Camels gathered in one place all my life. Certain things are better witnessed to appreciate them and the Dromedary (Arabian) Camel racing at the just concluded Al Marmoom Heritage Festival is one of those things.

The Festival celebrates a most valued beast of burden (in these parts) with more than a week of thrilling camel races and cultural exhibitions.

We managed to attend on one of the days and the excitement of spectators was simply contagious. Nothing prepared me for the prospect of seeing fleets and fleets of gangly dromedaries in full flight carrying their robotic jockeys on their humps while their robot handlers/trainers raced along beside them in their 4 x 4 SUV’s.

The camels’ hail from all across the Middle East. They are the stars of the show and they compete in various heats during the day, over a 12-day period. Believe me, it’s an exhilarating one-of-a-kind camel-crazy jamboree!

I even got a generous offer of 50 camels as dowry for my old hands from an interesting fellow with tobacco stained teeth. Quite an experience 😉

Have you visited charming Bamberg? Lady Lee sure knows how to take a trip. You can take a vicarious trip online with her 🙂

I would like to offer the free use of any of my photographs that interest you.

Should at any time you wish to use my images, please feel free to give me a nudge and I’ll email it to you free from any image credit attributions. 

Writers Quote Challenge

Writers Quote Challenge Prompt

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Quote, Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha, Doing My Own Thing, Life, Poetry

I stopped waiting for you to bring me sweet words. I wrote my own! Jacqueline

I sat in silence
waited in futility
hoped hopelessly
that you would bring me words
that would make a difference.

I held my breath
expectantly, I perspired
hanging on
to the few words you had to offer
you starved me. You kept me hungry.

I got tired
of the hunger
I wanted more words
I stopped waiting in vain
I gathered my own words and moved on.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

 

invitation-shel-silverstein

Jacqueline at http://www.Acookingpotandtwistedtales.com

Joan at http://www.familyparentingandbeyoned.wordpress.com

Oneta at http://www.onetahayes.com

We are continuing the same format here and that is: there are no rules to follow. Either make up your own sayings or use a quote from a famous author that you find gives you inspiration.

Each Thursday, we will post the prompt and all you have to do is participate!

On your own blog post do a pingback to this post and make sure to “like” or “comment” on everyone else’s post. A pingback is when you embed (or copy) the URL of my weekly prompt into your own blog post.

Make sure to check our weekly prompt to see if your entry is there. You can copy URL of your blog post and include it in the comments section of my original weekly prompt if that works better for you.

Copy the badge above and include it in your own post. Tag your post on your own blog as “The Writer’s Quote Challenge,” so we can find the posts in the reader.

Unfortunately, due to the exigencies of time, Bernadette has taken a break from Writer’s quote so, we are still welcoming co-hosts.  Come and join in the fun.

 

Art

Castle On The Hill – Ed Sheeran

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I am hooked on this song by Ed Sheeran. It makes me feel all sorts of things.

It hits me in the solar plexus with powerful nostalgia, bittersweet memories wash over me each time I listen to this awesome song.

I’m singing along loudly, tearing up over little reasons I can’t place my fingers on. It’s playing right now in the background as I quickly type this.

I thought his Shape of you is fabulous (it’s still fabulous), but this one right here is a heartbreaker and breathtaking.

Personal

2 Years! Time Sure Flies When You Are Having Fun…

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Image result for images of thankful

Woah! It’s two years since I started my blogging journey. I was only reminded last night when WordPress sent me a note that my site’s subscription is due for renewal.

Hmm! I had no idea when I started this affair with blogging that I would fall deeply in love with it and stick to it with such tenacity.

I honestly can’t begin to say in specifics how much this affair has made me grow. When I started, I had no iota of an idea what I was getting into – I still remember saying to myself, if the water gets too hot in here, I’ll simply climb out of the tub.

I am enjoying the choppy waters of the blogosphere and I am grateful with all my heart that I answered this call. It infuses me with such satisfaction, most especially friends that I’ve made in this space.

It’s been a wonderful experience and I thank all of you who have been here with me. You are all raising me up to be better than I was yesterday and today.

I truly wish I could have face time with a lot of people that I’ve met here. We would hug like old friends, sit, laugh, share a cocktail and many stories.

I’ll be hosting my monthly blog party this weekend, join me and celebrate.

Jacqueline