Ghosts: Do Loved Ones Return?
Readers, this is a great post from a writer who shares her story of her family’s experiences of visits from departed family members. Take a moment to read this one, it’s good! From Elizabeth Martinez on Quora at Visits from Beyond
Copyright © 2019 Bookemjano – All rights reserved
To learn more about real ghosts, please see About Ghosts: A Useful Handbook. For some great ghost stories, please see Death Be Not Loud, Rest In Fleece, and Sepia Seepage. To learn about ghosts in modern fiction, please see Infectious Ghosts. And so much more, at: Jan’s Amazon Page
The Reluctant Hotelkeeper: A Memoir
Tagline: A love affair with a beautiful old building.
About The Book:
A rescue mission originally thought of as lasting for a year or two turned into a 35 year lifetime love affair with a beautiful old building.
There were to be battles royal with neighbours not wanting their status quo to be altered, and with the local fire authority who sought to impose draconian new safety measures.
John Searancke came to the role of hotelkeeper almost accidentally, and most definitely with much reluctance. After his parents’ marriage fell apart, he was dragooned in, at the age of 22, to pick up the pieces of their new venture, a barely-trading country house hotel that had, frankly, seen better days. Not only was it posting an annual loss, but the fabric of the building was crumbling and there was no money left to make improvements.
Over the years, and with the steepest of learning curves, the grand old building was renovated and transformed to meet the requirements of the modern discerning traveller. Accolades for the hotel and its restaurant were won; together they became a well-regarded destination for a number of celebrities – and those that deemed themselves to be celebrities but were not. Stories abound featuring idiosyncratic guests, overbearing public bodies, fractured family life and animals of all shapes and sizes. The local fire station next door was demolished one foggy night, people were frightened by flying dogs and snakes in the long grass, and there were, as befits a country house, strange goings on in the night. Many were the guests who checked in who really should not have been seen together.
This is a tribute to all the people behind the scenes who helped to make the hard-won transformation into a great success.
Labels: #Kindle #Nook #Apple #Kobo #humor #Memoir #Nonfiction #hotels #Inns #Travel
READER’S FAVORITE REVIEW: 5 STARS- Mamta Madhavan for Readers’ Favorite
The Reluctant Hotelkeeper by John Searancke is an engaging memoir that takes readers into the life of the author who ended up reluctantly being a hotelkeeper, and how his rescue mission ended up being a love affair with an old building. His parents had bought the place in the countryside to save their crumbling marriage, and the author was pulled into this venture when he was just 22. The role of a hotelkeeper is not as easy as many think because the reality of life in a hotel is very different, and the hours required to make it a success are punishing. The memoir is also a tribute to all the people who worked behind the scenes and helped in making this grand transformation a huge success.
The memoir is straightforward and honest, entertaining and insightful, and the author opens up about the difficulties he faced, and how he managed to keep his faith in long-term planning. There are a lot of interesting stories about eccentric guests, how many guests who checked in should not have been seen together at all, and how it ended up being one of the favored stops for a number of celebrities. The author goes through the entire process, speaking about transforming the hotel methodically and in detail, taking readers along with him and his experiences while getting the old building renovated to cater to the needs of a modern traveler. There is not one boring moment in this memoir and the positive narration and outlook make this memoir an encouraging and motivating read. The author’s story and experiences are enriching, and the ups and downs of his life and the accolades he received for the hotel and its restaurant will encourage many readers out there to become hotelkeepers.
Available Wide in eBook, Paperback
ASIN: B07LB7WLZM
ISBN-10: 1789017572
ISBN-13: 978-1789017571
Non-fiction, Memoir
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LB7WLZM/
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07LB7WLZM/
Amazon Smart Link: smarturl.it/TheRelHotelkeeper
Universal Wide Link: https://books2read.com/b/ReluctantHotelkeeper
Author Web Links:
Website: https://www.johnsearancke.com/
Newsletter sign up: https://mailchi.mp/57550f38f321/joinjohnsearancke
Author Interview: https://www.rukiapublishing.com/an-interview-with-john-searancke.html
FB: https://www.facebook.com/johnsearanckeauthor/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/JohnSearancke
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/john-searancke
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/John-Searancke/e/B00J787XZ6/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7956383.John_Searancke
John Searancke is restaurant reviewer for the Tenerife newspaper Island Connections. Born in 1943 at Derby Royal Infirmary, a war baby, he lived his early life in Ashby-de la-Zouch and was sent away to be educated at Kings Mead Preparatory School, Seaford and afterwards at Rugby School. Later commissioned into the Territorial Army, he has been variously a director of a light engineering company, an hotel and restaurant owner, director and chairman of a marketing consortium, and latterly a partner with his wife in a commercial legal services company. He has enjoyed working in England and Switzerland and has homes in England and northern Tenerife, where he now lives with his wife Sally.
SAMPLE
The Reluctant Hotelkeeper
Meanwhile, for my part, I recalled the tale of how one morning, on the way to the new kitchen, and walking through what remained of the old original hotel kitchen, I thought that I had been transported into another lifetime, a cross between Dante’s Inferno and a Victorian Christmas. I had stopped dead in my tracks.
There at the far end of the room was an unrecognisable person covered almost entirely in feathers. Any feathers not attached to that person were swilling around the room like a cloud, all but obscuring the far doorway, before landing softly to form a light covering on the floor tiles, much as I imagine the interior of a duvet to be.
On closer inspection, the mystery person turned out to be my mother! What had got into her mind I do not know, but she had, unbeknownst to anyone else, decided that her contribution to that particular Christmas was going to be the plucking of all of the pheasants that had just been delivered. Swooping on the box of birds and snatching them away from the hapless potboy, she maneuvered herself into a spare space, which happened to be adjacent to the top of a chest freezer. Clearly, tidiness was not going to be her watchword during this process. Feathers were pulled out, legs and heads were chopped off with gay abandon, and finally, the right hand was plunged into the bloody interior, emerging clutching a large handful of intestines, slimy heaps of which adorned the top of the freezer. Cleaning up after her was a bit of a trial, but I was glad that she had made the effort. I suppose that she could identify that with long bygone times and tasks that she had undertaken all those years ago.
Also by John Searancke
Dog Days In The Fortunate Islands: A new life in hidden Tenerife
https://books2read.com/b/DogDays
Prunes for Breakfast: One Man’s War: Based on a True Story
https://books2read.com/b/Prunes
ALL BOOKS ARE ON SALE FROM MARCH 31, 2019 THROUGH APRIL 2, 2019 for 99¢/99£ please be sure to announce the sale at the top of your posts.
Link to my blog post:
https://rukiapublishingbookblogger.blogspot.com/2019/03/huge-book-sale-entertaining-and.html
Ten simple rules to avoid negative effects of social media
“Distracted from distraction by distraction.”
~ T. S. Eliot
Social media has become the link, the link that links us all in an ever expanding virtual community. A community much wider, bigger and beyond anyone’s control.
It will make you feel popular one moment and deserted the next. It can leave you feeling quite lost if you don’t bring along your only defense-a sense of humour.
“Yet the best determining factor of how comfortable we are with ourselves, is our ability to laugh at ourselves.”
~Wes Adamson
A lot of people are of the opinion that social media tends to make people feel low and depressed. That makes sense; looking at the selective best moments of friends, seemingly living better lives will do that to anyone.
Social media has some serious issues and it’s negative effects can’t be ignored. But we can’t avoid it’s use completely.
We’re…
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$1.99 Sale Sammy: Hero
Amazon has it right today! Sale price for this new release is only $1.99! Early reviews below:
New from Mary L Schmidt, ‘Sammy Hero At Age Five‘ tells her son’s story of his fight with cancer, as in Mary’s ‘When Angels Fly’, but this time from Sammy’s point of view. Available to order now!!
“Kids can get hungry sometimes while on chemo,” says five-year-old Sammy, having a good day despite the malignant tumor invading his brain. Based on true events from the 1980s, Sammy’s story is imagined by his mother and brother as if the young boy might tell it himself. The result is gripping. Told in two parts, Sammy’s account first invites us into the everyday middle-American lives of a mom and her two boys. Sammy is a sweet, goodhearted kid, even as he faces the most difficult challenges in Part 2: “Cancer Arrived.” Here Sammy talks us through hospital trips and procedures, the hardest parts as well as moments of simple joy. It is not always possible to survive such a grim diagnosis, so Sammy and his family must embrace the smaller victories from one day to the next. Finally, our young hero is given one last opportunity to find his own unique path toward triumph. Listen closely as Sammy tells us all what matters most.
Reviews:
Reviewed By Lucinda E Clarke for Readers’ Favorite
“The story of Sammy: Hero at Age Five told by his mother, M Schmidt, and his brother, Gene D Donley, recounts the first years of his life from his earliest days until his sad death from cancer before he reached his sixth birthday. We learn of the early days, filled with love and happiness, his close friendship with his older brother, and the family friends who supported them. They had recently moved to a new town and his mother had met and was dating a nice man. Everyday life was normal, until Sammy began to get sick – again and again. The doctors did not diagnose his condition in the early stages and some tragic mistakes were made. Through all this, Sammy describes the toys, outings and events he enjoyed, the dressing up for Thanksgiving, his new bicycle, his favourite movies, followed by yet more visits to the hospital. Sammy shows us his world from the perspective of a small, five-year-old boy who shows so much courage through all the treatments he endured for long, painful months. There are moments of pure joy when he was released from hospital to spend a few days at home, before returning for more sessions of chemotherapy and radiation. It is no spoiler to say that sadly he passed away to go, as he tells us, to live with Jesus – the cover depicts him as an angel.
The true story of Sammy is a heart-breaking tale of courage, acceptance and an unshakable belief in a better life, free from pain, after death. While the facts of Sammy’s cruel illness are taken from journals and notes recorded during his treatments and hospital stays, what grips the reader is the roller-coaster feelings and the awe experienced by the reader of this child’s short life. There are both funny and sad moments, his understanding of how hard his mother fought to get him the best – sometimes at odds with the diagnosis and medicines prescribed by the doctors. His love-able personality shines through on every page and he has left a legacy of a life well lived that is an example to us all. The last few lines in the book are a complete shock. But I’m not giving anything away in this review. I am proud to award it 5 stars.”
“Written from the point of view of a five year old little boy… both funny and sad are moments that all children fighting cancer, their siblings, and their parents should read. The antics of Sam and his big brother, Gene, are funny and scary at times, but they are real—real-life events and situations. A must read!”
“All children who suffer from cancer and their families could benefit from, and relate to, this short story. Highly recommended and five stars all the way.”
“His love-able personality shines through on every page and he has left a legacy of a life well lived that is an example to us all.”
“…a story of Sam’s incredible bravery and faith in the face of a devastating situation.”
“..point of view of a five-year-old boy …main focus …is to relay the love he has for his family and how grateful he was to spend every minute he could with them.”
“…I couldn’t stop reading.”
“This story was written in such a way that it really feels like there is a five-year-old boy telling it to you, which makes it all the more heartbreaking.”
“…will keep you captivated right along with Sammy as he unfolds his story about a
horrific battle with cancer.”
“Sammy was a feisty little thing with a huge heart and desire to achieve his goals, and his relationship with Jesus was incredible for someone so little.”
“I highly recommend this book to families facing such trials. I know they would gather courage and inspiration along with an appreciation of life on earth and what awaits them in heaven with Jesus by reading Sammy’s story.”
“Sammy: Hero at Age Five is definitely an emotional roller coaster!”
“The photographs included throughout complete this five star read.”
“He was a hero since his conception.”
“Sammy: Hero at Age Five had me hooked from page one, and I found myself trying
to put my own person into the shoes of a five year old boy who became a hero.”
AWARDS:
2019 Readers Favorite Five Star Book Award
Sammy: Hero At Age Five Book Trailer
#memoir #mglit #Christian #childhoodcancer #ian1 #ASMSG #IARTG #CoPromos #hairloss #childloss
Audible VS. Google Play Books – by Anastasia…
on Read and Survive Blog:
I’ve become a huge fan of audiobooks and decided to compare two audiobook providers: Audible and Google Play Books and in particular, audiobooks (as they also offer ebooks).
I have been using Audible for over a year now and have loved it a lot. However, I was listening to Night by Elie Wiesel and could not find Dawn or Day on Audible which made me check for it on other sites.
I found it on Google Play Books and decided to compare there two.
Here’s what I’ve liked and not liked:
Continue reading HERE
Formatting your paragraphs #amwriting
When we finish writing a short story, we feel the urge to immediately submit it to an anthology, a magazine, or contest. This urge can be overwhelming, but don’t do that just yet.
Set your manuscript aside for a week or so then come back to it and revise it.
Have the “Read Aloud” function of your word processing program read it to you as you go over it and look for editable flaws.
Check for words that spell check won’t find because they are spelled correctly but are wrong, little things such as “They went their for breakfast.”
Next, we want to format it for submission, which is a process with several steps, all of which are important. It is a bit too long for one post, so I am dividing it into digestible chunks and will finish this series next week.
First, you must look for extra…
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Using the KISS Method in Your Writing
I remember 9th grade English. This was the year where my high school began to concentrate on expanding the vocabulary of students. I remember the vocabulary workbooks where we had to focus on the spelling, definitions and usage of words.
We were encouraged to use these newly learned words in our daily conversation and, especially, in our writings.
I learned words like:
Dotard – A person, especially an old person, exhibiting a decline in mental faculties; a weak-minded or foolish old person. (I’m sensitive to this one these days).
Lugubrious – mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner.
Prestidigitation – sleight of hand; legerdemain. (Don’t you love it when two other rarely used words are part of the definition of a rarely used word?)
So, why am I going down memory lane to my high school studies? I learned and retained a lot of these…
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Something to Think About – The R’s of Live – Survival in a Modern World – Rejection – A fact of Life by Sally Cronin
Launch Day!!
When Angels Fly 