Sheila's Guests and Reviews

 It's been a crazy year, and it's been almost a year since I broke my wrist and stopped being able to write or type. I could still read, of course, but holding a book in my hand and turning pages was... a pain. So... a crazy year. Anyway, somewhat earlier this year I received an intriguing book through the post. The title, Sgt. Ford's Widow, and the cover image, dark clouds, a man on a horse, and almost a face looking out, certainly caught my interest. And the story, once I started reading, kept me truly enthralled. It's a curious blend of history, culture, mystery, and romance. Sgt. Ford was stationed in Vietnam. The widow was a married woman with a husband, a life, a home. And the war turned both their lives around. Now widowed, the woman has been rescued from abuse by both sides and brought back to Wyoming's very different land. She keeps house  for her rescuer because... what else could she do? Though soon it's clear, she can "do" very much more th...

Billed as a Hellscapes novel, Stephen Zimmer’s Days of Darkness portrays the gradual descent of a slightly futuristic earth-scape into something of growing horror. First comes the darkness, and a protagonist busy trying to keep things going as normal because, well, what else would you do? The protagonist is relatively wealthy, successful, and not the sort of character to care too much about those he deems beneath him. Yet the author makes the reader care, desperately, about him and about everyone else, with pages turning frantically as the world falls apart. Surely there must be a way out of this—isn’t that what we always think? And surely there must be some redemption for a character who isn’t quite as bad as his neighbors… who might become good, somehow… surely… Days of Darkness is an un-put-down-able read, vividly imagined, thought-provoking even, and truly haunting in scope. Echoes of Steven King. Echoes of the book of Revelation. Echoes of nightmares for sure. And the ending is to...

I love the light - anyone who knows me will know that. But I love to read about "the dark", so when I invited celebrated author Stephen Zimmer to my blog, there was one burning question I had to ask: Why do we Read and Write about the Dark. Here's his answer, and welcome to the blog tour for his new Hellscapes novel, Days of Darkness. (Watch this space for my review, coming soon!) Why Write and Read About the Dark? By Stephen Zimmer   The question of whether or not to write and read about the Dark boils down to a few stark realities, in my view. Life isn’t fair, far from it, and there is a harsh, merciless side to it that everyone, sooner or later, experiences.  Death looms at the end of life’s road, intractable, and genuine evil not only exists, but, I would argue, is pervasive. What encompasses the Dark is an unavoidable part of every living being’s life experience, in terms of this mortal, and often difficult, world.  It is not something that goes away if we refuse to ...

  A while ago I read and reviewed Sy Garte's The Works of His Hands :  https://www.amazon.com/Works-His-Hands-Scientists-Journey/dp/0825446074/  I loved it. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3155866467 Faith and science are both a big deal to me of course. Growing up Catholic in England, I was barely aware of any suggestion that they might not be in perfect harmony with each other. After all, weren't the first Western scientists Christians, believing the world consistent enough to be worth investigating because the God they believed in was consistent? Then I came to the US. Suddenly friends in church were asking how anyone could be Christian if they "believed in" evolution. What's to believe in? It's the world God made, revealed in the science that studies what God made. Luckily I was able (I know not how) to convince them that I am a Christian. Meanwhile I also have to convince scientist friends that I'm a scientist - math degree from Cambridge Univer...