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The Keene Toadstool Hosts Joseph Carrabis presenting & autographing his book Search Saturday, April 20th at 2 pm

The good folks at the Keene, NH, Toadstool Bookshop invited me to do a book signing on Saturday, April 20th at 2 pm.

After the signing, we’re all going to head over to the coffee shop and talk about writing, being an author, and where stories come from.

I plan on having fun and hope you’re join me.

 
About Search
“The only rules that bind us are those we place on ourselves.”

Such is the great revelation which The Shaman’s Gio “John Chance” Fortuna discovers during one of the most tumultuous periods of his life. In college and having spent most of his life avoiding his grandfather’s trainings, he finds himself called to remember and practice his grandfather’s ancient ways to save children from human monsters. But every step into The Old Ways drives a wedge between Gio and Jess, the woman he loves and wants to spend his life with. Originally relishing the idea of her own personal Superman, she grows increasingly fearful each time Gio manifests an ability beyond her comprehension. And when both he and Jess realize he can use his grandfather’s teachings to force Jess’ to spend her life with him without her knowing he’s done so? Even though doing so violates everything he’s ever been taught? Gio realizes being able to do anything doesn’t mean he can do everything, and that the strongest bonds on us are those we place on ourselves.

About me
You can find out more than you need to know at my About page.

The Lady Dines

Sometimes I realize I’m here to observe.

Authors…good authors…do little more than observe and document.

Note I don’t claim anything about writing.

Writing? No. Documenting? Yes.

Good authors…the best authors…are retellers of tales they’ve witnessed perhaps too often.

So often they make a lasting impression.

Although I know some lasting impressions only need to occur once to be etched in memory.

Such impressions are etched due to high emotional content.

That emotional content can take many forms: wonder, joy, pain, sorrow, grief, love, …

And sometimes that emotional content takes the form of appreciating what’s around you and realizing, “Yes, this is a good thing.”

 

Unraveling Mystery, Metaphysics, and Romance – Snippet 1 “What made you write this book?”

I recently had the good fortune to be interviewed by Betsy Wurzel, host of Chatting with Betsy, and you’ll be shocked to learn we talked about Unraveling Mystery, Metaphysics, and Romance.

Okay, we pretty much talked about my latest novel, Search, with some brief forays into my other works.

Today’s snippet deals with how Search came about (it was an outgrowth of The Shaman

Enjoy!

 
#ChattingwithBetsy
#PWTR

The Alibi (A John Chance Mystery) – Chapter 43 Section V Mega Chapter 2 (part 4)

The Alibi – Chapter 43 Section V Mega Chapter 2 (part 4)

 
Ed opened his eyes at the smell of coffee. Morelli stood over him, steaming cup in hand. “You take it extra cream, right?”

Ed sat up and looked around. “How did I get home?”

“This is your bedroom, right? Any idea what happened to you? Me? Us?”

“You had a heart attack. I told you to cut out all those Italian cold cuts and to stop smoking, didn’t I?”

“You’re not stuttering. Am I talking with Ed or Gio?”

Ed threw off the covers and looked down at his rumpled clothing.

“Didn’t want to get too personal. You were on the ground. You spoke Italian again. All I got was Fortuna. Did Gio do something to you? He’s changed a lot since I knew him if he hurts people for no reason. Is that what happened?”

“How come you didn’t take me to Anna Jacques or Lowell General?”

Morelli pulled back slightly and looked at the floor. “I…no idea. Something said not to.”

“Did you get us here?”

Morelli snapped his head as if shaking off loose thoughts. “Yeah. I guess I did.”

“You’re okay now? No pain?”

“I’m fine. You? And this is Gio’s doing, right?”

“He made a…” Vox hesitated. His eyes darted around as if the correct word was hiding in the room somewhere. “A suggestion?” He closed his eyes and nodded as if supremely satisfied with the answer. “Yes. He made a suggestion.”

Morelli followed Ed’s eyes as if expecting Gio Fortuna to come out of hiding.

Gio took a sip of the offered coffee. “God, you always make it this strong?”

Morelli took back the cup and sniffed. “Whoa. Guess I did. Yeah, I must’ve. I remember now. I added an extra scoop of coffee. It mean something?”

“Maestro Fortuna likes it that way.”

“Is he here? Now?”

Ed stood. “He is here. Not here, exactly. He stopped by to…help. He also needed help. One of his teachers suggested someone.”

“He has teachers? There are people out there who can do more than him?”

“Several, according to him.”

“Christ, is this Dante’s Inferno in reverse?”

Vox absently took the cup and emptied it in two long swallows.

“I thought you didn’t like it that strong.”

Vox looked away and a slight smile creased his face. He nodded. It seemed more like a slow motion wag as Morelli watched.

“Is Gio with you right now? Are you and he…I forgot the term. Sharing?”

Vox’s face quavered, shifted, for a moment young, for a moment old, for a moment clean shaven, for a moment bearded, for a moment crew cut blond, for a moment balding salt & pepper. He spoke with two voices, one Ed’s own and the other almost forgotten. “Borrowing, Tony. It’s called Borrowing.” The quavering face nodded towards the shed holding Morelli’s listening device. “You’re needed in your shed, Tony.”

Previous entries in The Alibi (A John Chance Mystery)

LinkedIn asked me to answer “What do you do if your confidence in the workplace is lacking?”

I, of course, provided a detailed answer rather than something abrupt, glib (my opinion), and which left the reader with no explanations or solution paths.

Hence I’m posting this here. Hope it helps.

What do you do if your confidence in the workplace is lacking?

What do you do if your confidence in the workplace is lacking? Lacking confidence in something you want or are led to do can make you feel like a victim and that’s not a happy place to be.

First thing I’d suggest is getting away from the workplace; take a sick day, mental health day, PTO, vacation day, do some thing and/or go some place where work isn’t in your face. This can be in your living room, kitchen, bedroom, den, balcony, at the beach, in a field, your backyard, in your garden, your porch, the woods, he mountains, at the mall, wherever.

Second thing: Calm yourself. Lacking confidence in anything you wish to excel at can be a soul killer and the soul killing often manifests as anxiety, misplaced anger, irritation, making negatives where none exist, and so on.

Third thing: Decide if it’s a genuine lack of ability on your part or a lack of recognition on management’s and peers’ parts.

Third thing sub A: Do you lack confidence because you’re genuinely unsure of what you’re doing, how to do your work, or what’s required of you? Ask yourself if you have the proper training for your job or need some training. Definitely let management know, ask peers to help you do something, sign up for a course at a local tech school or college. Basically seek help and guidance. Should a genuine request for help and guidance go unanswered, mocked, derided, or ignored, GET A NEW JOB ASAP! You’re in an unhealthy work environment and one way or another your work will affect all other aspects of your life negatively. Save yourself and those people and things you care about by taking care of yourself and finding a new job or new place to work.

Third thing sub B: Do you lack confidence because you’re not being recognized by management? Are you getting regular reviews? Regular reviews are required for good management-employee relations. Mention needing a review to your supervisor. They ignore the request? Ask to be transferred or find another job.

Third thing sub C: Do you lack confidence because your peers are unkind or harassing you? That’s an HR problem. Speak to your HR team and/or your Union rep. Again, no satisfaction? Time to move on.

I’ve written more on soul killing at Beware of Soul Killers and more about emotionally, physical, spiritual, and mental health in That Th!nk You Do

Note this doesn’t touch on lacking confidence in personal relationships. Let me know it there’s interest and I’ll write something about that, as well.

The Alibi Previous Chapters