Friday Fictioneers: No Regrets

 

 

PHOTO PROMPT © Jean L. Hays

 

 

 

No Regrets

 

They boarded the place up years ago. It’s about to reopen soon. I used to work there. Making the sandwiches up to get money for college. I met a woman in that time, got married, had a bunch of kids. Never went to college. Never had any regrets.

 

It’s been reopened by my son who like me, his father, will never leave this small town. Maybe he’ll marry that young man who still delivers milk for some reason. Have a bunch of kids, hopefully have no regrets. He tells me it’s going to be a stylish café with internet access.

 

My book Black Coat based on a previous Friday Fictioneers prompt is available at:

 

For Friday Fictioneers Writing Prompt. Check out the website at:

https://rochellewisoff.com/

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Friday Fictioneers: The Small Details

 

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

 

 

 

The Small Details

 

Valentine’s Day 2019 …

 

Zak took a break from his home-based art studio to set up a romantic meal for his new husband Brad. He put the finishing touches on the roses. It was all about the small details …

Brad’s key turned in the lock. Zak smiled to him warmly. It was all about the small details. He gave Brad a kiss …

Truth was Zak was as straight as a dye. A rich man can do wonders for an artist. One touch of that deadly glitter and he would be free to join his girlfriend Nat before midnight.

 

 

My book Black Coat based on a previous Friday Fictioneers prompt is available at:

For Friday Fictioneers Writing Prompt. Check out the website at:

https://rochellewisoff.com/

The Runaway Jury By John Grisham Review!

 

 

The Runaway Jury (1996) by John Grisham is a great mystery with many intriguing layers to both the plot and the various characters involved. It was Grisham’s seventh novel.

 

The story follows the jury in a trail Wood v. Pynex about whether to hold tobacco companies accountable for the illness and death caused to people who use their products. Set in Biloxi, Mississippi the trail is a massive trail which draws much media attention and corruption is abounding both inside the jury and outside to influence the vital verdict. Money is a huge factor for the tobacco companies and Rankin Fitch is tasked with swaying the jury in the tobacco companies’ favour by any means. But he has two opponents ready and willing to take him on: juror Nicholas Easter, real name Jeff Kerr, and a secret woman who is his girlfriend and partner in business Marlee, real name Gabrielle Brant. Wendall Rohr has filed a suit on behalf of Celeste Wood who lost her husband to lung cancer against tobacco company Pynex. For the defense is Durwood Cable.

 

There is a great variety of characters in this story that all add to the plot in their own ways alongside the main characters. All the jurors have their own backstories which ensure their paths in the trail and we really get to know their manners. They are a great mixture and are very true to life including those who follow and those who don’t. A very compellingly told story that deals with many important issues like the power of the addiction cigarettes has and the lack of ethics in the tobacco industry, discrimination and the past coming back to haunt. This book shows many sides of life from compassion to ruthlessness. There actually isn’t too many characters in this book who aren’t deeply flawed in some way or other so that adds to the drama. You never know what is going to happen next.

 

A fantastic read.

 

To purchase The Runaway Jury by John Grisham go to:

 

And for more about John Grisham and his work go to:

http://www.jgrisham.com/

The Stranger By Harlan Coben Review!

 

The Stranger (2015) by Harlan Coben is an engrossing read that holds your attention throughout.

 

The book’s protagonist is Adam Price. He is married to Corinne and together they have two sons. But then the stranger arrives and informs him that his wife lied about being pregnant a few years back. When he brings it up with Corinne, she goes missing and much of the book centres on his search to find her. As he searches, more and more layers begin to unfold. The background for the family is very well-written and really makes you as a reader root for them. A very suspenseful read with many twists and turns in pure Coben style and as always with Coben, the ending is not obvious.

 

The concept/plot of this book is incredibly intriguing. A stranger comes along revealing secrets that he has figured out through the internet. When people thought their secrets were safe through the net, they really weren’t. There is a great commentary on how our lives are never really anonymous even when we might think they are. So there was a great plot Coben thought out with many intriguing avenues the story might go down. This book covers a few different stories but each are connected to this mysterious stranger who pops up out of nowhere as the bearer of bad news.

 

Much of the plot asks the question of whether honesty is always the best policy. And whether it is anyone’s right to reveal the secrets of others. The story also deals with the consequences of secrets being opened up and the heartbreak they can cause to people. How maybe there is a good reason why some secrets should probably remain hidden. What Coben does with this starting point is brilliant as the story progresses. He shows how the opening up of the can of worms can often lead to further secrets from those with much to protect or spurred on by greed.

 

A really good book with much mystery and the mundane of life mixed together in a wonderful crime cocktail.

 

To read The Stranger by Harlan Coben go to:

 

And for more about Harlan Coben and his work go to:

https://www.harlancoben.com/

Poem: Remembering You Dad

My late father would have being 73 today. He sadly passed away in 2008. This poem is my tribute to my Dad, my best friend and my mentor today.

 

Remembering You Dad

 

You would have being 73 today,

10 years departed,

you were too young to leave,

they say the good die young,

in your case,

that’s true.

 

Dad,

I still remember your

encouragement and love,

your gray hair with strands

of black through it,

your original, natural colour,

the smell of your hair products

and your Old Spice,

your South Dublin accent,

your black leather shoes

because one should always

invest in a good pair of shoes.

 

You were always one in a million,

wheeling the pram when many men

of your generation wouldn’t dare to,

before your time,

gentle and kind,

strong and ready

to take anyone on

when needed.

 

Me, Mum and Shar

miss you

and are thinking of you today

and every day.

Friday Fictioneers: Windows

 

PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

 

 

Windows

 

It was the windows overlooking the street for years. A view to the shoppers going by. To those rushing to college or work. To the homeless looking for a dollar for coffee. To the dog walkers. To the lovers walking hand in hand. To the parents wheeling their babies in prams. To those coming home drunk from a night on the town. To those lost in the wilderness of a drug addiction …

 

It was the windows which Perry was situated behind. His mouth gagged. Arm chained to a pipe.

Why am I here? How long have I been here?

 

 

My book Black Coat based on a previous Friday Fictioneers prompt is available at:

 

For Friday Fictioneers Writing Prompt. Check out the website at:

https://rochellewisoff.com/

Friday Fictioneers: Fire

 

 

PHOTO PROMPT © Anshu Bhojnagarwala

 

Fire

 

It was just past 1am. Darren sat by the fire in his back yard. He thought back to the first date he had with his now estranged wife Alice. Rather than take her to a restaurant he had wanted to do something different so he invited her to his back garden where he cooked dinner. They had many meals together here over their five year marriage. Until she met Ethan …

 

Darren placed Ethan’s severed limbs on the fire.

There is still a chance that Alice will take me back now.

He picked up his cell phone and rang Alice.

 

My book Black Coat based on a previous Friday Fictioneers prompt is available at:

 

For Friday Fictioneers Writing Prompt. Check out the website at:

https://rochellewisoff.com/

Poem: Pink, Yellow & Blue

(LGBT History Month has just started and this is my poem for the month.)

 

Pink, Yellow & Blue

 

At some stage or other,

I chose not to hide,

still filled with fear

of the outcome,

could I handle the prejudice?

All that superior complex stuff

that would come my way?

Then my sister reminded me

that I had faced worse

and had survived.

 

All the pink, yellow and blue

I send out into the world

and say join me

whoever you are,

I ain’t scary

and you don’t need to be either.

 

I just felt like I felt,

found a word to explain it,

you know like you

felt what you felt

and found a word to explain it.

So why do you think I’m alien?

If so, you are as much an alien as me,

just being real about it all mate.

 

All the pink, yellow and blue

I send out into the world

and say join me

whoever you are,

I ain’t scary

and you don’t need to be either.

 

I ain’t hard to understand,

a quick Google search is all

that’s required if you care

about people,

would you like people to make you out to be

so complex, so weird, so strange?

Let’s have respect for each other

then let’s be friends,

that sounds nice,

doesn’t it?

Because I don’t want to fight you,

I don’t even want to debate with you

but come at me

and I’ll come at you,

be nice to me

and I’ll be nice to you,

treat me like a human being

and I’ll treat you the same.

 

All the pink, yellow and blue

I send out into the world

and say join me

whoever you are,

I ain’t scary

and you don’t need to be either.

 

 

 

Friday Fictioneers: Unconfused

 

PHOTO PROMPT © Renee Heath

 

 

Unconfused

 

‘Jack is so fit. I swear he was looking at me the other night.’, Beth cooed.

‘But his sister Rosemary was eyeing me the whole time too.’, Anna smiled.

‘Kara, have you figured out which way you swing yet?’, she added.

I sipped my beer.

‘I swing every way mate.’, I smiled.

Don’t you know that by now? It is what pansexual means.

‘Jack and Rosemary are hot. But did you see Ali looking at me?’, I added.

‘But isn’t Ali confused about their gender?’

‘Beth, they are agender.’

I flick on my cell phone, read Ali’s latest text. Lovely!

 

My book Black Coat based on a previous Friday Fictioneers prompt is available at:

 

For Friday Fictioneers Writing Prompt. Check out the website at:

https://rochellewisoff.com/