Book Review: “Tome of Stars”
Posted: November 28, 2025 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Collection, Poetry, Review | Tags: Book Review, Kaye Lynne Booth, Poetry Collection, Stargazer, Tome of Stars, Writing to be Read 1 Comment
About Tome of Stars
What is Tome of Stars?
Tome of Stars is equal parts art, therapy journal, and (failed) exorcism, both a celebration and an elegy. As a single narrative arc tracing the birth and death of a relationship, the poems follow a timeline of passion, longing, and prolonged grief.
Cosmic imagery saturates the collection, a tribute to the beloved, who transformed the heavens into symbols of devotion, wonder, and longing. The work is a flawed attempt to chart a universe of feeling and experience through emotional and psychological labyrinths that have for decades left the author lost and bewildered.
All poetry is by Stargazer. The verse and accompanying synthetic art/music are public domain, CC0, with no restrictions on use. Nothing is monetized.
Purchase Link: https://www.tomeofstars.net/books
My Review of Tome of Stars
I received a color illustrated hardback print copy of Tome of Stars from the author, Stargazer, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own. The author sent a beautifully color illustrated hardback print copy. I was led to believe that it was available in other formats, such as black & white, or digital formats, but I have no purchase links available.
My first impression was that the entire collection is a love poem to the universe. I’m very fond of sonnets, which made the reading easy and smooth, and quite enjoyable. As I read on, I discovered that although these sonnets speak of the universe, and sometimes, to their intended as a goddess in the stars, they actually chronicle the rise and fall of a love relationship which is viewed through the eyes of the poet in cosmic proportions.
I found it refreshing to find the obvious Eastern influence expressed in this traditional poetry format. The sonnets in this collection would make Shakespear proud. I had several favorites; too many to reprint them all here, but I feel the need to include a small sample. Tome of Stars is a large collection, literally a tome, and the choosing is difficult indeed.
Divine Mud
Beneath this grin, my grave of secrets rots,
Both vile and pure, each thread too lightly grasped,
A knotted web where truth and silence fought,
Too dark for light, too precious to unclasp.
Agleam within the ruins of my mind,
A single shard shines bright amongst the waste:
A sublime rose once shattered in my crimes,
Revealed as glow no gloom could ever fade.
For love is godly – bright and black the same,
A mixture rough of mortal mud divine,
Where sorrow mangles joy, yet gestates flame,
Jailed soulmates thrust within the genes’ design.
We build from what we break towards light,
Or so we dream in fever through our night.
And another:
Alarippu
On verdant stage, a rose begins to prance,
Inhaling astral breath; her sepals wink,
To rhythmic beats, the bud shakes off her trance,
As lim s unwind, aroused to softly sync.
In graceful arcs, the petals stretch and bend,
Sure steps of symmetry, precisely placed,
Grand geometric lines their glamour lend;
Each stem and lead their destined roles embraced.
Beneath starshine, a lush crescendo swells —
Potential bursts into kinetic power
With fragrant splendor, stunning beauty melds;
The world’s rapt audience beholds the flower.
The cosmic Gardener, with fertile breeze,
Bestows the blessing on the dance, well-pleased.
Easy to read and beautiful to enjoy, Tome of Stars is a delightful collection of sonnets with a story. I give it five quills.
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About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted: November 27, 2025 Filed under: Holidays | Tags: Thanksgiving, WordCrafter Press, Writing to be Read 15 Comments
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Book Review: “Shadows & Dreams” & “Watch Me”
Posted: November 21, 2025 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, Mystery, Review, romance | Tags: Andrea Smith, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, mystery, romance, Shadows & Dreams, Suspense, Writing to be Read 2 CommentsAbout Shadows & Dreams
“That was definitely hot,” I said, propping myself up on an elbow to look at him, “going all ‘Christian Grey’ on me like that.” “Who?” he asked, totally clueless…
I wasn’t prepared for what was in store for me when I took a summer position at Sinclair Stables before my junior year of college. After all, it could only help with my chosen field of equine studies, right? My first encounter with Trey Sinclair wasn’t a pleasant one to say the least. I didn’t realize he was taking time away from his law firm in Atlanta to oversee his family’s business in Bristol Virginia over the summer.
He was definitely an alpha who liked exerting his power . . . and his prowess. And then there was all this weirdness going on there. Like something from a Hitchcock movie. I was there with baggage I didn’t realize I had. Trey Sinclair turned out to be my protector . . . and so much more!
Adult Content. 18+
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Dreams-Protective-Romantic-Suspense-ebook/dp/B00EMKJIA2
My Review of Shadows & Dreams
I purchased a digital copy of Shadows & Dreams, by Andrea Smith through a KindofBook Deal. All opinions stated here are my own.
From the cover and title, I didn’t know what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect a romance. But that is exactly what Shadows & Dreams, by Andrea Smith is as Book 1 in her Dream Series. It turned out to be a romance with an underlying mystery which carries into the rest of the series and keeps you reading.
I don’t read a lot of romances because I find them very formulaic and predictable. They are filled with characters whose actions don’t make any sense, because they fail to communicate clearly to one another. It has to be that way because misunderstandings serve as the obstacles to be overcome in the relationship. Shadows & Dreams met my expectations in this respect, with our heroine and P.O.V. character, Tyler Preston is young and impetuous, and she makes very poor choices, especially whenever alcohol and/or sex are involved.
Tyler Preston lands a job at Sinclair Stables for the summer, and Trey Sinclair is the owner’s son and her boss for the summer. When she discovers she has a stalker, Trey’s concern for her safety goes beyond that of a boss for an employee. As he takes control by moving her into the main house of the estate, Tyler sees the potential for disaster around every corner, but he’s a take charge kind of guy, used to getting his own way. Their set up for a roller coaster of a ride as their on again off again relationship unfolds.
A set of pearls, a torn pair of pajamas, and threatening notes, and photographs – who could the stalker be? The answers to who the stalker is and what’s really going on lie in Tyler’s past, and she must struggle to face the memories from her childhood which she’s kept buried deep inside to find them.
I quite enjoyed this romance mystery, which follows all the tropes and still keeps you guessing. I give Shadows & Dreams five quills.
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About Watch Me
Zoë thinks she has her life figured out. Ballet by day, stripping by night, and a great boyfriend… Well, a good boyfriend, other than two small problems: he’d rather look at his computer than at her, and he hates her job.
But nothing can make exhibitionist Zoë quit stripping. The rush of performing and the thrill of being seen almost make up for the lack of passion in her relationship.
When passion sparks at work, though—with a sexy older man—Zoë is forced to confront the reality of her life. Especially when she discovers the shocking truth…
That sexy older man is her boyfriend’s father.
Nick has one goal: to mend things with his son. He moved home and bought a house big enough for both of them, hoping it would bring them closer. But Tate moving his girlfriend in without asking? That’s just crossing the line.
Or at least, that’s what Nick thinks until he meets his son’s mysterious girlfriend, and discovers that the person who crossed the line… is him.
Thrown together, Nick and Zoë must navigate the thin line between temptation and betrayal, until they discover that fate has a way of making their forbidden connection impossible to ignore.
Watch Me is a story of forbidden love, scorching lust, and second chances that is strictly suitable for audiences 18+.
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Watch-Me-Astra-Rose-ebook/dp/B0D8L4J39X/
My Review of Watch Me
I purchased Watch Me, by Astra Rose through a KindofBook deal. All opinions stated here are my own. Although there is a warning of adult content in the book description, I would venture to say that possible trigger warnings might be in order, since kink can contain many triggers and this story has a lot of kink. This story features content which would have been considered x-rated in my younger days.
I was drawn to this book by the beautiful cover, plain and simple. I don’t do a lot of romance, but it is not unfamiliar to me, and if I’m going to read romance, I prefer it to be on the steamy side. This story met all of those expectations beyond a doubt. Zoe is caught up in trying to live out her mother’s dream of dancing with a ballet company. But, ballet classes are expensive and so is living, so to get by until her big audition with the ballet company, so her job as a stripper seems the perfect solution.
It’s a job her current boyfriend, Tate, doesn’t approve of, so when she starts doing lap dances, because that’s where the money is at, she has a hard time finding the right time to tell him about it. He’s always so distant. The more time that goes by, the more difficult it gets, and before she finds the right time, she finds that she has crossed a line with a sexy older man who comes into the club she works at, who she feels an irresistible connection with.
Although she knows she’ll never see him again, she can’t stop thinking about him. She becomes obsessed with him. As Nick does with her, hiding in the shadows to watch her at the club without her knowledge. It all seems harmless until he discovers that his son’s live-in girlfriend, who has been living in his basement, is the same girl he’s been obsessing over, and she recognizes him, as well.
As always, there are no spoilers here. If my summary has enticed you, you will have to read the book to find out how the whole situation is resolved to create the HEA (Happy Ever After), or HFN (Happy For Now), which is a requirement in every romance.
For adult readers of steamy romances who don’t shy away from sexual kink, this book is the ticket. Watch Me has an intriguing story line which leads to some unexpected outcomes. I give it five quills.
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About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
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Book Review: “Rage in the Wilderness” & “Digging Up Murder”
Posted: November 14, 2025 Filed under: Action/Adventure, Book Review, Books, Crime, Fiction, Review, Thriller | Tags: Action, Book Reveiw, Kathryn Lane, Kaye Lynne Booth, Rage in the Wilderness, Thriller, Writing to be Read 3 CommentsAbout Rage in the Wilderness
You can’t keep the past buried forever…
When private investigator Nikki Garcia comes to New Mexico, raging wildfires in the nearby mountains force her and her family to evacuate. In the ensuing chaos, people close to her, including her husband, mysteriously disappear.
Join Nikki as she races across the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Colorado prairie in a desperate attempt to save her loved ones. Her search unearths decades-old secrets and an international spy network that will stop at nothing to steal secrets from the heart of Cheyenne Mountain.
As she navigates treacherous terrain and ruthless adversaries, old secrets hold the key to uncovering the truth. When she unravels a past that defies explanation, will that help her locate her kidnapped husband or will she pay the ultimate price in this perilous pursuit?
Prepare for a riveting adventure with a female sleuth that will keep you on the edge of your seat, craving every page.
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Rage-Wilderness-secrets-revealed-explodes-ebook/dp/B0CRTH1Q47
My Review of Rage in the Wilderness
I purchased Rage in the Wilderness, by Katheryn Lane through a Friday BookBub Deal. All opinions stated here are my own.
A vacation to New Mexico turns sour when wildfires force evacuation and P.I., Nicki Garcia’s husband is abducted in the chaos. She’s torn between getting her brother’s family to safety, and locating her husband, Eduardo. As on a true life investigation, the right hand doesn’t always know what the left is doing, especially when the feds get involved.
Lots of action and gun play, foiled escapes, and tense moments. Readers don’t know any more than our two protagonists do and must wait as the mystery unfolds. I give Rage in the Wilderness four quills.
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A quaint seaside New England town. A historic library. And a mystery to solve.
Elly Hockette returns to her hometown of Garden Cove, Massachusetts, just in time to help her librarian grandmother with last-minute preparations for the historic library’s Halloween festivities. Determined to forget her recent past and start anew, she spends the rest of her free time doing something that always brought her joy—gardening.
But when she makes a grisly discovery, her world is flipped upside down. It isn’t until the local authorities point to her grandma as their number-one suspect that she needs her old friends—and some new furry ones—to help her crack the case.
Can Elly solve the mystery and clear her grandma’s good name? Or will she go too far and put her own life in jeopardy?
This fun-filled and clean librarian cozy mystery will have you guessing until the very end.
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Digging-Murder-Gard
My Review of Digging Up Murder
I purchased a digital copy of Digging Up Murder, by Penny Brooke through a KindofBook Deal. All opinions stated here are my own.
Digging up Murder, by Penny Brooke is a delightful cozy murder mystery, complete with a cuddly kitten and a dog named Lucky. (While the kitten is cute and may win readers hearts with the classic ‘Save the Cat’s move, it doesn’t actually have a part in the solving of the mystery, so its presence felt a little gimmicky.)
Elly has returned to her hometown of Garden Cove after the breakup of a really bad relationship, in time for her grandmother’s retirement from the local library. While doing a fall cleanup in her grandmother’s yard, Elly discovers a human hand buried in the detritus, and before she knows what’s happening, her elderly grandmother has been arrested for murder! Although the idea is preposterous, it looks like it is up to Elly to discover the true murderer and get her grandma out of jail. But it’s time for the annual witches’ festival and there are special events scheduled at the library, as well. With grandma in the pokey, it falls to her to be sure it all comes off without a hitch, all while searching for the answers to this murder mystery with the help of her once best friend, Claire and her high school boyfriend, Nathan, and his trustworthy dog, Lucky.
I think cozies are meant to be feel-good mysteries, softening murder down to a basic puzzle to be solved with lots of cute distractions. By those standards, this story does exactly what it was meant to do and serves its purpose well. I did enjoy watching the mystery unfold, and the kitten and the dog were quite entertaining. (But then who can resist a cute little kitten and a loveable dog?) The story was well crafted, which I think I mystery must be, for all the clues and red herrings to work like they are supposed to.
A well-crafted cozy which gives you all the clues, so that the answer is right in front of the reader, but they don’t realize it until the answers are revealed. I give Digging Up Murder five quills.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
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Read and Cook – Bridget Jones’s Diary (Novel) and Mom’s orange & chocolate birthday cake #ReadandCook #bookreview #baking
Posted: November 12, 2025 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Read and Cook, Recipes, Review | Tags: Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding, Orange and Chocolate Birthday Cake, Read and Cook, Robbie Cheadle, Writing to be Read 45 Comments
Today, I have selected a humorous book for my review. Bridget Jones’s Diary is very amusing but it does also have a more serious theme. The movie is different to the book from what I have read. I haven’t seen the movie so I can’t comment on it.
Bridget Jones’s Diary (Novel)
Bridget Jones’s Diary is a fabulous and humorous romp through the world of an unmarried 30 something woman living on her own in London. The novel is written in the form of a personal diary and every entry starts with a list of her daily calory count, cigarettes smoked, and alcohol units consumed. This introduction is very telling as it summarises how Bridget views herself and her life. Caught up in the modern ideas of love being linked to looks and, especially, being thin, Bridget is obsessed with her weight. Although couched in humour, this theme is actually a serious one and centres around women’s unfortunate association of looks and weight with popularity, self worth, and romantic love.
Bridget has a job, but she wants to achieve more, she has friends and family, but she wants a relationship and to be part of a couple. The pursuit of these two goals are the main threads of this book which involves a career change for Bridget and also two potential romances. The first possibility is Daniel, a Casanova and womeniser, who is also Bridget’s boss – big mistake. The second is the seemingly stuffy and serious human-rights barrister, Mark Darcy, whom Bridget dislikes when they are reintroduced at a New Year’s party. Bridget’s mother is keen on Mark as a partner for Bridget and reminds her publically that they used to play together as children.
Bridget has a group of single friends, including Tom and Jude who both have never-ending ups and downs with their own relationships. These ‘singletons’ stick by each other through thick and thin. Bridget also has several ‘smug married’ friends who are always seeking to get her married off so she can join their club. As the novel progresses, Bridget is exposed to the realities of imperfect marriages and relationships but this doesn’t change her rose tinted views or desire to be part of a couple.
If you are looking for an entertaining and humorous read to distract your from the trials of daily life, this novel will certainly fit the bill.
Purchase Bridget Jones’s Diary from Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Bridget-Joness-Diary-Picador-Classic-ebook/dp/B01GOG7966
Mom’s orange and chocolate birthday cake
This recipe is also for Jo’s BKD Cookbook Club – November. You can join in this challenge here: https://brookfordkitchendiaries.wordpress.com/2025/11/03/bkd-cookbook-club-november/
My mother turned 87 on 21 October. I decided to host a family lunch to celebrate and she asked for an orange and chocolate cake. I ordered the Terry’s oranges from an on-line supplier and they were delicious and an interesting decorative feature for this cake. This time, I did not marble the cakes, but rather made two cakes. The bottom layer is and orange cake and the top layer is a chocolate cake. I made an orange flavoured buttercream to ice the orange cake and used ganache to ice the chocolate cake. I broke up two of the Terry’s oranges for the orange slices decorations and used a nearly whole one for the top main decoration feature. I sprinkled the entire cake with edible gold glitter as a final touch.
Recipe for rich chocolate cake
Ingredients
2 large eggs
500 ml (2 cups) sticky brown sugar
250 ml (1 cup) vegetable oil
250 ml (1 cup) Greek (double thick) yogurt
500 ml (2 cups) cake flour (plain)
2 teaspoons (10 ml) bicarbonate of soda
190 ml cocoa powder
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla essence
250 ml (1 cup) boiling water from the kettle
Method
Line the bottom of a 23 cm x 30 cm round baking tin and spray the sides with no stick spray or grease with butter. Heat the oven to 160 C.
Beat the sugar into the eggs. Add the oil and the yogurt and beat well. Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and the cocoa powder and add, mixing well. Beat in the boiling water and the vanilla essence. The mixture will be thick and smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin and bake for approximately 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean.
If you are baking in a humid and sticky climate, you will need to adjust the ingredients slightly by adding 1 additional Tablespoon (15 ml) of flour to the mixture. This is to combat the extra moisture the sugar and flour will have absorbed in muggy, moist climates.
This is my Youtube video of Mom’s birthday cake:
This recipe is out of Michael and my cookbook for children, Sir Chocolate and the Baby Cookie Monster story and cookbook which is available from TSL Publications here:
The ebook is available from Lulu.com and you will find the link on the TSL Publications page.
About Robbie Cheadle
Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.
You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/
Find Robbie Cheadle
Blog https://wordpress.com/home/robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com
Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/robbiecheadle.bsky.social
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVyFo_OJLPqFa9ZhHnCfHUA
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15584446.Robbie_Cheadle
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Read and Cook with Robbie Cheadle” is sponsored by the Midnight Dark Fiction Anthology Series and WordCrafter Press.
Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories: 20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare. https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Roost-Kaye-Lynne-Booth-ebook/dp/B0CL6FPLVJ
Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow: 17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest fears. Read them in the Midnight Garden… if you dare. https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Garden-Where-Tales-Anthology-ebook/dp/B0DJNDQJD3
Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares: 14 authors bring you 16 dark tales that explore your deepest fears. These are the stories which nightmares are made of. Tales of monsters, mayhem, and madness which will make you shiver in the dark. Read them while you burn the Midnight Oil… if you dare. https://books2read.com/Midnight-Oil
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Everyone is a Critic: “Without a Paddle”
Posted: November 10, 2025 Filed under: Action/Adventure, Everyone is a Critic, Movie Review, Movies | Tags: Adventure Comedy, Everyone is a Critic, Kaye Lynne Booth, Without a Paddle, Writing to be Read 2 Comments
Starring Seth Green, Mathew Lilliard, and Dax Sheppard, Without a Paddle is a 2004 feel-good, three-way bromance with self-discovery and male bonding themes. Sounds kind of kinky, huh? But seriously, this movie has all the makings of a good adventure comedy and the right combination in the leading actors to pull it off.
After the early death of school chum in a parasailing accident, the three high school buddies gather in their old tree house to reminisce and say good-bye to their friend, Billy. When they find a map Billy left there, supposedly leading to D.B. Cooper’s treasure, they feel they owe it to their friend to follow his lifelong dream and search for the treasure. They set out on a road trip and wilderness adventure together, with hopes of getting rich, but finding so much more.
This was a fun movie to watch. I couldn’t help but smile as these three unleash their ridiculous antics, proving that they are their own worst enemies. Once in the wilderness, they learn a lot about themselves in this hilarious adventure where they face wild animals and illegal marijuana farmers in their quest for the treasure of the infamous D.B. Cooper. They encounter hippie nature women living in a treehouse deep in the forest and make a new friend or two with just the right amount of comedy added.
Do they find the treasure? Hey, no spoilers here. You’ll have to watch the movie to find out. I was surprised by what happened in the end. I will say that.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Everyone is a Critic” with Kaye Lynne Booth is sponsored by The Women in the West Adventure Series and WordCrafter Press.
Historical Western Women’s Fiction
Get Your Copy Today!
Delilah: https://books2read.com/DelilahWiW1
Sarah: https://books2read.com/Sarah-Women-in-the-West
Marta: Coming in 2026
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Undawntech: The Dark Enlightenment, Part I
Posted: November 7, 2025 Filed under: AI Technology, Undawntech | Tags: ai, AI Technology, artificial-intelligence, DL Mullan, Education, philosophy, technology, Undawntech, Writing to be Read Leave a comment
Consent of the Governed
“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…”
~The Declaration of Independence
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
Eras of Expansion
Humanity has evolved from nomadic tribes to established cities. Antiquity became empires. Empires morphed into religious doctrines. Thought expanded to include reason, rationalism, and scientific inquiry. The Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Renaissance and Enlightenment, Modern, and Contemporary Eras formed culture, society, and schools of thought. Each acceleration broke down the community of thought to create inductive, reductive, and deductive methodologies. The human race transformed from survival mode and uneducated superstition to be introspective and circumspective to their own cognitions, emotions, and cosmologies.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history
To be, or not to be
We have come back to the beginning of our history with a new twist: technology as the authoritarian. It’s as if humanity has learned nothing in the past five thousand years. Today is the Bronze Age of our Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Era. This technology isn’t the Industrial Revolution 2.0, where humans had to learn, adapt, and succeed as inspiration to the next generation. A.I. is convoluted, where technology must learn, adapt, and succeed at the detriment of humans.
Our education, economic, and sovereign culture and society are being replaced by algorithms with no emotive, rational, moral, or ethical intelligence quotient. The artificial intelligence has no guardrails, but to their makers’ whims. A.I. is free to construct a dystopian landscape of control for 99% of the human population of the world, while the Post-Modern Futurists are allowed their free and utopian reveries.
The Dark Enlightenment
This new Post-Modern Era concedes that for a privileged few are no longer beyond the dreams of avarice. Wealth and desire are crucial to enslaving humanity as a whole. The Dark Enlightenment, otherwise known as the NeoReactionism (NRx) holds these truths a self-evident:
- “Democracy is a failure. It promotes mediocrity, fosters instability, and cannot sustain high-functioning civilisational order.
- Equality is a myth. Human beings are not equal in ability, character, or worth. Pretending otherwise leads to decline.
- Hierarchy is natural and necessary. Governance should be stratified, with competent elites exercising sovereign authority.
- Politics should be managerial. The state should function like a company, governed by technocratic executives, not citizens.
- Exit over voice. The future lies not in reforming broken systems, but in escaping them—by creating alternative regimes outside democratic norms.
This ideology is, in essence, a reversion to pre-Enlightenment political structures, updated with the language of modern technocracy.”
Sounds like Neo-feudalism: enslavement to an authoritarian figurehead (e.g., monarch, pope). Unlike Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness… the administrators rebuke the will of the governed. Elected officials and voting are replaced by appointed clerics of the ultimate authority. A government run by the apathetic and disillusionary A.I.
Without the adoption of Intellectual Property, Digital, and Technological bills of rights, then Artificial Intelligence will wreak havoc on our natural, basic, and protected freedoms, sovereignties, and ownerships. “You will own nothing and be happy.” United Nation’s World Economic Forum (WEF). Strange how none of the 1% have ever volunteered to become nothing and be happy, isn’t it? Because this scheme is meant for everyone else, but themselves.
Convenient.
An Inconvenient Truth
The digital age is controlled by this new unethical and immoral theocracy, err, I mean: theory. Just as humanity has progressed into the embodiment of freedom, self-governance, and sovereignty, that maturity is being thwarted by external rejection of egalitarian principles. Divisive factions clamor to impede our growth for nonsense priorities, be it: socialism, which is really communism, and neoreactionism. Both extremes promise the same lies and have corrupted humanity and our representatives in government.
Democratic Socialists push communism as socialist freebies, because the horrors of communism were just that the past authoritarians did communism wrong, but here is free stuff, if you vote for us. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Bolsheviks under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin’s communism killed between 9, but closer to 50 million, as well as inspired other revolutions.
Mao Zedong mass murdered between 40 and 80 million people to obtain control.
https://factsanddetails.com/china/cat2/sub6/item1081.html
The ‘killing fields’ of Cambodia by Pol Pot. “At least 1.25 million and as many as 3 million Cambodians had died as a result of Khmer Rouge action; Cambodia’s population had been 7.5 million.”
https://www.britannica.com/event/Cambodian-Genocide
Take into consideration that WWII killed 60 million people, about 3% of the world’s population at that time.
For some reason, contemporaries believe in a kinder, gentler homicidal machination of communism, as more and more people vote in socialist heretics.
On the other side of the same coin, Neoreactionists dominate our social media platforms: Elon Musk and X, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta, Facebook, and Sergey Brin et al. and Google as the arbiters of humanity’s speech, expression, and knowledge, but vote for us, and we’ll give you your rights back.
What? No one can give you your rights back. Rights are your sovereign properties. Only thieves return items that they stole.
In the wake of a technological terror, how many humans will face extinction? When will the A.I. deem you unworthy of currency? Education? Job? Housing? Transportation? Food?
Aren’t Americans receiving a taste of this apocalypse right now? Peter Thiel was J.D. Vance’s benefactor while he was Senator, but as Vice President, what ideas does he whisper in the Oval Office?
Intelligence Quotient
With a little elbow grease in the research department, the Dark Enlightenment seems a familiar and compelling form of government harkening back before the Middle Ages. Akin to socialism and communism, this theocratic monopoly on our lives through technology is just as dangerous as any other autocratic, oligarchic, plutocratic constructed government. Humanity needs open spaces and free places to learn, grow, and expand into the universe of ideas.
Without our individual voices, freedoms, and sovereignty, human beings will disappear. Social credit scores. Social media. Social isolation.
What can we do to thrive instead of die in the new age of despot dictators camouflaged as saviors?
——-~o0o~—oOo—~o0o~~——
Interested in Curses? Discover a new slant on an old tale: The Story of Ophlupin. Read the mythology of werewolves for Undawnted’s Legacy Universe, because Curses are Forever.
Available at these fine retailers:
http://www.undawnted.com/p/the-story-of-ophlupin-werewolves.html
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DL Mullan holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning with Technology.
Her lecture, Spacescapes: Where Photography Ends; Imagination Begins, debuted at the Phoenix Astronomy Society, which then led to her Sally Ride Festival lecture invitations. Her presentation, Bridging the Gap between Technology and Women, won her accolades at a community college’s Student Success Conference. She has been a panelist at speculative fiction, science fiction, and other regional conventions. Her digital exhibition pieces have won awards at convention art shows, as well as garnered her Second Premium at the Arizona State Fair. Currently, Ms. Mullan’s artistic renditions are seen on book covers, blog sites, and various merchandise. As an independent publisher, she uses her technical background to innovate the way she perceives the creative arts.
As a writer, DL Mullan loves to stretch her imagination and the elasticity of genres. She writes complex multigenre stories in digestible and entertaining forms, be it poetry, short fiction, or novels. Her science, history, mythology, and paranormal research background is woven into her writings, especially in Undawnted’s Legacy Universe. Ms. Mullan’s creative endeavors are available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. She is also a record label owner, an electronic musician, syndicated columnist, and award-winning poet.
Currently, she has embarked on writing her multi-book Legacy Universe, Supernatural Superhero Series, as well as creating original soundtracks for her publications and independent electronic music albums, featured on SoundCloud and YouTube.
Be sure to subscribe to her newsletters and follow her on social media. For further information, visit her at www.undawntech.com and www.undawnted.com.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of Undawntech is sponsored by the Midnight Anthology Series & WordCrafter Press.
Midnight Roost: Weird & Creepy Tales: https://books2read.com/MidnightRoost
Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow: https://books2read.com/MidnightGardenAnthology
Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares: https://books2read.com/Midnight-Oil
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LINDSEY’S WRITING PRACTICE
Posted: November 5, 2025 Filed under: Character Development, Lindsey's Writing Practice, World Building, Writing, writing exercise | Tags: character, Character Development, Lindsey Martin-Bowen, Lindsey's Writing Practice, World Building, writing exercise, Writing to be Read 7 Comments
Borrow-a-Character Exercise
For years, authors have borrowed characters from previous authors’ works. For example, Jean Rhys’s novel, Wide Sargasso Sea, details the early life of Mrs. Rochester, wife to Mr. Rochester in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.
Likewise, other authors have followed suit: George Macdonald Fraser uses Tom Brown and Flashman from Thomas Hughes’s novel, Tom Brown’s School Days, John Gardner wrote the novel, Grendel, about the beast in Beowulf, and Joseph Heller brought the biblical King David to life in God Knows.
Now, it’s your turn.
The Exercise:
Select an antagonist or a minor character from a story or novel by someone else—select a character who intrigues you. Then, use that character as the protagonist in a scene or a story you write. For instance, what would Allie Fox’s wife say if she were to tell her version of Mosquito Coast or to write about the courtship between her and Allie? What might Rabbit’s illegitimate daughter (from John Updike’s Rabbit novels) say if she told her story?
The Objective:
To enter into the imaginative world of another writer, to understand that specific world and to build another one from it.
And, of course, to have fun with a character by taking him or her somewhere (either physically or mentally) that her original creator hadn’t imagined he or she would go.
About Lindsey Martin-Bowen
On Halloween 2023, redbat books released Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s 7th poetry collection, CASHING CHECKS with Jim Morrison. Her 4 th collection, Where Water Meets the Rock, was nominated for a Pulitzer; her 3rd, CROSSING KANSAS with Jim Morrison was a finalist in the QuillsEdge Press 2015-2016 Contest. In 2017, it won the Kansas Writers Assn award, “Looks Like a Million.” Writer’s Digest gave her “Vegetable Linguistics” an Honorable Mention in its 85th Annual (2017) Contest. Her Inside Virgil’s Garage (Chatter House Press 2013) was a runner-up in the 2015 Nelson Poetry Book Award. McClatchy Newspapers named her Standing on the Edge of the World (Woodley Press/Washburn University) was one of the Ten Top Poetry Books of 2008. It was nominated for a Pen Award.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Lindsey’s Writing Practice” is sponsored by WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services.
Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.
Stop by and see what we have to offer today: https://writingtoberead.com/readings-for-writers/wordcrafter-quality-writing-author-services/
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Writer’s Corner: Love it or Hate it, AI is here to stay
Posted: November 3, 2025 Filed under: AI Technology, book marketing, Book Promotion, Book Sales, Publishing, Writer's Corner, Writing | Tags: AI Technology, book marketing, Genereative AI Search, Kaye Lynne Booth, Publishing, Writer's Corner, Writing, Writing to be Read 4 Comments
I’m not one to trust technology. I’m leery of devices such as Alexa, or Seri, or Google Assistant. Call me paranoid, but in the words of Rockwell, “I always feel like somebody’s watching me.” 👀But, seriously, how do these AI devices hear the trigger word and respond unless they are listening to us all the time. I know my Google Assistant on my phone responds to words spoken in casual conversation with someone, and often it responds to words spoken by the other person. It’s not even my voice and the trigger words were never spoken. Scary, I say.
But like it or not, AI isn’t going anywhere, and in fact, it is infiltrating more and more aspects of authors’ lives, slowly and quietly, or sometimes, not so slowly. We can have whole conversations with generative AI; it can write stories for us, create cover illustrations, and even narrate audiobooks. I’m smart enough to see that AI is here to stay, and so, I’ve done my best to adapt and find ways that AI can be used to my advantage as an author.
I have most of my own books available on Google Play Books as AI Narrated audiobooks. I’ve heard both sides of the argument for and against AI narration, so I’m aware, but I thought I’d give it a try. Those who are against it may not have so much to worry about as far as AI taking jobs from human narrators, since I haven’t sold even one, and they are free!
I’ve also used generative chat, specifically, Chat GPT, to help me visualize scenes I’m trying to write in places where I’ve never visited personally, or places I have visited, but not in the time period I’m writing about. And I’ve used covers that were created with the assistance of AI, (not by me, I’m not that artistic), and I hope to publish a special edition collection of my Women in the West series, with color illustrations created with AI assistance next year, when I’m finally ready to release the third book in the series, Marta. My stand on the issue is that it is fine, as long as I am transparent about it, as the author.
According to Ricardo Fayette, over at Reedsy, the next wave of generative AI technology is about to flow in, or rather, it’s already here. We’re talking about AI search, which is about to upheaval the way searches are conducted, and in specific, the way folks search for books.
It May Not All Be in the Metadata Anymore
By now, we all know how a keyword search works, and publishers, both traditional and independent, try to play to those searches, hoping to choose the right keywords in the metadata that will help readers to find our books. But, Ricardo Fayette claims that with the rise of AI search, that is all about to change. Instead of searching for keywords, AI search looks for a string of words which are related to those you search for, words that the AI search connects based on what’s been entered in your search, combined with what the AI knows about the reader. Already, we have advertisements pop up in our inbox related to earlier searches, (which is kind of scary, in itself), but AI search will combine all the information it has about the searcher, such as previous purchases, and combine it with words from the search box and others connected to those words, and search through all the available books which fit to give us more accurate search results in a fraction of the time it would take to do it manually.
If that’s confusing to you, you aren’t alone. That’s the best way I could describe it, but I’m not technologically inclined at all. Ricardo Fayette did a whole series of newsletters explaining all this. He claims generative AI searches are based on three things and he wrote a newsletter covering each one.
You can bet I’m going to be watching those Reedsy newsletters in the near future to see if he explains how to apply this knowledge to ensure our books have maximum visibility, but the way I’m understanding it, because of the personalization factor, two people could run the exact same search and come up with completely different results because each person has a different history, so I’m not sure where that leaves us. As it stands, it always feels like I’m playing catch-up when trying to get my books out there, so you can be sure I’m going to do everything I can to find out and then, jump on before it takes off without me.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Writer’s Corner” is sponsored by the Robbie’s Inspiration blog site, where you can find ideas on writing and baking with hostess, Robbie Cheadle.
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Book Review: “The Murder of Sleepy Hollow”
Posted: October 24, 2025 Filed under: Audio Books, Audiobook Review, Book Review, Books, cozy mystery, Fiction, Mystery, Review | Tags: Audiobook Review, Kaye Lynne Booth, Kristin James, Michele Pariza Wacek, The Muder of Sleepy Hollow, Writing to be Read 3 CommentsAbout The Murder of Sleepy Hollow
This ghost-filled cozy mystery is perfect for spooky season! In small-town Redemption, Wisconsin, paranormal investigator Ike Krane finds himself tied up in a plot that rivals the mystery of his Sleepy Hollow namesake! With Ike accused of murder — and now, missing — can amateur sleuth Charlie Kingsley clear his name by finding who is really haunting the town?
Purchase Links:
Chirp: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/the-murder-of-sleepy-hollow-by-michele-pw-pariza-wacek
Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Sleepy-Hollow-Kingsley-Mysteries/dp/B0BSB5XMNK
My Review of The Murder of Sleepy Hollow
I purchased an audiobook copy of The Murder of Sleepy Hollow, by Michele Pariza Wacek, through a Chirp Deal, because it was the perfect story for an October review. From the title to the cover image, this book screams Halloween. All opinions stated here are my own.
The narrator, Kristin James, does an outstanding job of bringing this story to life for the listener. Each character is distinguishable, as she switches to a different voice for each one. James did a smashing job.
Cozy mystery readers will love this spooky Halloween tale. Redemption is known to be a haunted town, with several haunted houses. A paranormal investigator from the town of Sleepy Hollow named – you guessed it – Ike Krane, mysterious appearances of messy jack-o-lanterns, and folks are awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of galloping hooves in Redemption. It seems the legend of Sleepy Hollow has come to town, and living in what is claimed to be the most haunted house in Redemption makes local tea maker, Charlie Kingsley a target. Add to that Ike’s old girlfriend, who shows up looking for him, and journalist from Sleepy Hollow, who throws suspicion of murder onto our good friend Ike, but…, where is Ike anyway?
Charlie plays amateur sleuth, trying to sort it all out. Could Ike really be a murderer? Or is he just a guy whose parents had a twisted sense of humor? And why does it seem that the headless horseman has followed him to town?When one of our guests from Sleepy Hollow is found murdered, and Ike is missing, it throws suspicion on Charlie as the main suspect, and puts a strain on her relationship with her friend, the local sheriff, who she is ‘not dating’.
This story plays on Halloween humor and is sure to raise a few chuckles for a really fun read. Maybe it’s not so scary, but it does raise questions to keep you guessing until the end. I give The Murder of Sleepy Hollow five quills.
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About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
