Titled: Lace fan
Artist: Serenity Rose
medium: pencil abstract
I do things like this when I am overwhelmed.
Artsy Fartsy Thursday
Month: July 2025
Wednesday Whispers
Teaser from a new story – This is one I am writing for a charity anthology. I will be posting more on this soon .
Revenge is best served Family style
Cold Played Anthology
Serena Mossgraves
Reddit has nothing on me. I got the best story of Nuclear revenge, and it was just deserts. Though I am still not sure if I believe it myself. It feels like I am living in a dream.
You see I was engaged…To a right bastard. I should have walked away the first time he laid hands on me. Somehow, he convinced me that he was sorry for his actions. I covered the bruises, hoping that he was actually sorry. After all, he was everything I was supposed to want. He was a doctor from a good family. He even had one of those funky pretentious names, Dr Gerald Theodore Ellington the third. His family were community pillars, and rich as they come. The bruises and his drunken nights were just a window to what I would be living with for however long I lived with him. His sister would come over when he was at work, hang out with me and tell me how I deserved better.
At first I was confused. I knew that Gerry and his sister did not get along. She was older than him, and he was older than me. I was barely eighteen, too young to understand the mess I had gotten myself into. Stephanie, Gerry’s sister, was a thirty something sweetie who seemed to take me under her wing. Gerry was five years younger than her and wouldn’t talk about her. She was something of a black sheep in her own family, and if I am honest I didn’t understand why. She was intelligent, soft spoken, and elegant.
Gerry was attractive enough, I guess. The same dark hair and light blue eyes that was on all of his kin was on him. He did not keep it as clean as his brothers and sister. Stephanie had apparently inherited the family home and the other siblings hated it. Their parents had died in a plane crash before I met Gerry. I originally was taken in by his charm. He could be very charming if the situation called for it.
Gerry had a nice place in Old town Alexandria but the family home was in Sterling. It was a palatial estate with a good twenty acres of land. I moved in with Gerry when he proposed
Tuesday Tunes
Lyrics –
[Verse 1]
Gazing through the window at the world outside
Wondering will mother earth survive
Hoping that mankind will stop abusing her sometime
[Verse 2]
After all, there’s only just the two of us
And here we are still fighting for our lives
Watching all of history repeat itself time after time
[Chorus]
I’m just a dreamer
I dream my life away
I’m just a dreamer
Who dreams of better days
[Verse 3]
I watch the sun go down like everyone of us
I’m hoping that the dawn will bring a sign
A better place for those who will come after us this time
[Chorus]
I’m just a dreamer
I dream my life away, oh yeah
I’m just a dreamer
Who dreams of better days
[Bridge]
Your higher power may be God or Jesus Christ
It doesn’t really matter much to me
Without each other’s help there ain’t no hope for us
I’m living in a dream of fantasy, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 4]
If only we could all just find serenity
It would be nice if we could live as one
When will all this anger, hate and bigotry be gone?
[Chorus]
I’m just a dreamer
I dream my life away, today
I’m just a dreamer
Who dreams of better days, okay
I’m just a dreamer
Who’s searching for the way, today
I’m just a dreamer
Dreaming my life away, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah
My 2 cents –
I notice the celebrity deaths…I can’t help it. This one hurts, but I am grateful that he was able to do a goodbye concert. It feels like he went out on his own terms. I realize that everyone’s playing Mama I’m coming home … I understand the reason why , and I love that song but I feel like he had such a good discography that I wanted to share a different one. Ozzy was a legend . I cannot help but pay tribute to that. May he rest well and his memory be a blessing.
Monday Poetry
Sunday Reviews
Only Alexander knows why the barn is haunted—-and by what
When Alexander notices an eerie light coming out of the barn,. He thinks his friend Blossom Culp is trying to spook him. But strange things really are happening there. Slimy footprints appear out of nowhere, and whimpering sounds float down from the hayloft. And when he ventures into the barn in the dark of night, his breath catches in his throat. Suddenly Blossom’s words come back to him: “You can make contact with the Unseen….” Now there’s a girl ghost standing right in front of him, telling him of great danger ahead. But is there time for Alexander to act on her warning?
Yeah I just copied the blurb. I looked through my blog at the reviews I have done…and realized last week was a duplicate. I need to do a standard to make this easier. There is too many books I can put here. So I guess I should start with books that I end up reading over and over again for the comfort. This is one of those. I have to have this as an e-book because I have worn out several copies of the paperback. The writing is good, but that is not what draws me in. I honestly saw myself in Blossom. The bumbling, not quite socially proper young girl who seems to make the story worth reading. There is more to her story. You can find other volumes if you look.
I have a eclectic taste in books as well as music. The reviews are likely to be for everything from Spicy romance to scary Horror. Young adult and so much more. So, the warning is here – I will be reviewing books that you might want to use caution in reading, and those appropriate for all. Use discretion when reading what I do. 😉
Creativity options
So The first thing I will talk about is Covers.
Obviously I use Canva. I also use the feature that Barnes and Nobles has. I upload the front and rear cover and get the spine from them. The cover option in Canva is slightly too small. The dimensions of the cover need to be 1600×2268 and the base size is 1400x…
The temptation to use the templates should be avoided. Everyone sees those. I made the mistake of using the template with no modification once. There were at least 50 other books with the same cover. If you see a cover in the templates that you love…modify it and make it suit your book more. The rear cover should not be busy. You want your blurb to be visible.
Amazon has templates that give you a pdf cover. You merely add your image. The easiest way is to use Libre Draw and remove the text and lines. These will flag as unembedded fonts if you don’t. Then save it directly as a PDF. This is what you want for the feature at Barnes and nobles. They ask you for the title, the author name, and the text color and spine color. They have a limited font selection but it is a good one.
If you are good with art programs(such as adobe or gimp) you can do the spine yourself. I just don’t know how to get the text to lay right on my own, so I use the tool.
The idea seems to be floating around that you have to match your cover to the genre. There is some cases where I would argue that you should personalize the cover to match the book. If you do, then it should fit the genre.
Now I am of the belief that doing the creation process does not have to be expensive. That being said, I do have the pro version of Canva. It costs me $13 a month to have my pick of the photos. Could I do it on the free version? Yes but I enjoy the options. Otherwise I will be recommending freeware or software that is not costly.
Friday Share
So you found a new book?
Or maybe you just published one?
Did you find a new webcomic that you like?
Or a song you think everyone should hear?
No need for explanation…Just Share it.
You find a good deal that you think we should all see? Just share!
Or hey even a joke you think too fun not to share, Just share it.
Post links in the comments.
Occasionally I will too.
Artsy Fartsy Thursday
Titled: Wind in Flight
Artist: Serenity Rose
medium: Digital Landscape
Programs Used: Krita
So I decided that I needed some new brushes in Krita to play with. This was my test art. I like how it turned out.
Wednesday Whispers
Tuesday Tunes
Lyrics –
Who’s sorry now?
Who’s sorry now?
Whose heart is achin’ for breakin’ each vow?
Who’s sad and blue? Who’s cryin’ too?
Just like I cried over you
Right to the end
Just like a friend
I tried to warn you somehow
You had your way
Now you must pay
I’m glad that you’re sorry now
Right to the end
Just like a friend
I tried to warn you somehow
You had your way
Now you must pay
I’m glad that you’re sorry now
My 2 cents –
I notice the celebrity deaths…I can’t help it. I remember listening to Connie Francis as a teen. (One of my Aunts really liked the 50’s rock.) I come by my eclectic music tastes naturally. She wasn’t one of the ones that I listened to relentlessly but I did like a few of the songs. I cannot help but pay tribute to that. May she rest well and her memory be a blessing.
Pattimouse 