I’m delighted to be joined… at least, I think I’m delighted to be joined today by Marie St Clair, who comes straight from the pages of… well, I’ll let her tell you that herself.
Over to you, Marie.
My name is Marie St Clair. I’m a psychiatrist at a prominent British hospital. I have received many professional honours, as well as an O.B.E. from the Queen. My ascent to the heights of my profession was not made easier because I’m a woman. Men, even in this day and age, even in the medical profession, don’t take kindly to the intrusion of the ‘weaker sex’ into their domain. One would think doctors, especially psychiatrists, who are intelligent, educated and supposedly secure in their masculinity, would not fear a woman. But men were and still are intimidated by my beauty. I was strikingly beautiful when a young woman and even now that I’ve reached a certain age, men, even those considerably younger than myself, still find me very attractive.
But recently my husband of twenty-five years, the only man I have ever loved, told me I was a harridan and ran off with a woman two or three years older than myself – which came as a great shock and even led to some lapses in my professional judgement. I never thought it possible that my husband, whom I loved and cared for all these years, would walk out on me. If she had been young and pretty I’d have forgiven him, allowing for his hormones and a mid-life crisis – letting his testosterone make his life-changing decisions.
Although my practice was varied and I have helped many people with many different types of problems, from early in my professional life, marriage and the intricacies of the relationship between a woman and a man never ceased to intrigue. Now I knew what kept me faithful to my husband. I loved him, he loved me. We were intellectually compatible, having the same cultural background – the perfect couple. In addition to this the sex was always incredible – our mutual touching sparked an unbelievable passion. I will not divulge details but our love-making could have been the inspiration for many an erotic film – we did not know or care for inhibition, while every act was by mutual consent – we would not have had it any other way.
But so many of my patients were mismatched! How they ever decided that they were compatible and destined to live together ‘until death us do part’ was a mystery. I observed that when the wife, for I only dealt with married heterosexual couples, was dominant, the marriage was more easily repaired. Divorce inevitably resulted when the husband, to coin a phrase, ‘had a mind of his own’.
So after years of research, empirical but nevertheless well-founded, I developed this theory. It is not necessary to be right to be happy. Happiness will result from allowing your mate to be happy, even if submitting to her every whim is required. Why do I say her? Because marriages where the wife was the dominatrix, seemed to be more blissful. I did not have the statistics to prove this theory – as I said my observations were empirical – so I needed proof.
I looked around for the perfect couple to do a pilot study, which, or so I thought, I’d found in Patricia and Rodney Hart. The results of this study are to be found in Just for Fun an eclectic anthology of short stories and essays written by Henry Tobias, available as an e-book from your favourite e-book retailer and in print from CreateSpace. The title Just for Fun is an appropriate one because I thought my experiment would provide fun, joy and eternal bliss to all marriages.
Just for Fun is an eclectic anthology of short stories and essays written over a period of several years by Henry Tobias for his writing group. It was never his intention to publish, but as his stories were well received and with self-publishing, thanks to modern technology, being as stress free as it is today, he decided that the relative small outlay was worthwhile. This outlay came from securing rights for some of the pictures used to illustrate his stories like, the Andy Capp cartoon, and the reproductions of the painting by Van Gogh and Rembrandt van Rijn. Once the e-book had been published and distributed on Smashwords, the next obvious step was print. There are many small publishers who are willing to publish print-on-demand books today, but Henry chose the do-it-yourself route offered by Amazon’s CreateSpace, for two reasons. The first was the challenge of getting to grips with the technology, not easy for a baby-boomer. The second reason was being able to say ‘I did it myself’. Furthermore, I had been told about D-I-Y websites for cover design of e-books. I discovered Canva, a company apparently located in Australia. I find the site easy and fun to use and when I do have problems I get a prompt reply. I don’t get any financial benefit for mentioning Smashwords, Amazon’s CreateSpace or Canva.
Henry Tobias was born in London, England and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he trained as a pharmacist. As a young boy he was a member of Zionist Youth Movements – one of the factors which influenced his decision to live in Israel. The other influence was The Holocaust – the murder of some SIX MILLION Jews by the Nazis and their accomplices, which included citizens of many of the nations across Europe. He has a deep love of reading, especially history, particularly of World War II, The Holocaust including The Kindertransport and Jewish history throughout the ages. Some of his favourite authors are Richard Overy, Bernard Lewis and John Toland. Now retired, he writes and edits. He lives near Jerusalem with Jill, his wife of 44 years. He has three adult children and so far one beautiful granddaughter. He has published one anthology of eclectic short stories and essays, Just for Fun, and is currently working on his second book, an historical novel of World War II, provisionally titled Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother, which he hopes to publish before the end of 2016.
Links
Just for Fun can be found on Smashwords, Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Oyster and Flipkart.
Henry Tobias can be found on his blog.
D.r. Brauner is a writer, editor and photographer. He was born in England, raised in America and holds an MLitt in English Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh. He wrote and photographed for The Jerusalem Post for fifteen years. During the last twenty-five years, he has edited academic papers and books and was the language editor of Yad Vashem Studies Holocaust journal from 2007 to 2014. From the early 1990s to this day, he has mentored a Creative Writing Circle in Jerusalem that has produced hundreds of memoirs, essays, short stories and novels, not a few of which have been published. Wherever David is, he is living in another world of images and books, kites and bikes, hopes and dreams. In this world life is all the better for having met his wife Ruth and finding their sweet dog Daisy.
We celebrate the Winter Solstice or Yule so as my gift to you readers I would like to present – for the two days of 22nd and 23rd December only…..Both books in the Alchemy series at 99p or cents each for an e-book. Come on, less than a cup of coffee? Lasts longer and keeps you awake better!
Book 1 ALCHEMY A world without war? Professor Sawhele Fielding stumbles across an invention that would change the world; something so monumental, it could spell the end of environmental disaster and conflict. With the help of her father, a shadowy figure in the world of international banking, she begins to set into motion the biggest upheaval the planet has seen. But in a changed world, dark forces are threatening the fragile peace. Where modern technology is proving useless, old magic from a bygone era might just save the day. Adrian Oliver, expert in ancient religions is skeptical until faced with incontrovertible proof that ancient evil is abroad once again. How could a Utopian dream of free fuel and peaceful co-existence turn into a nightmare? Iamo, a priest of the Mother Goddess and Riga, a Black Shaman assassin captain, are thrown together – reluctantly at first – to face a threat that nobody could have imagined before “The Changes”.
Book 2 SHAMAN’S DRUM England in the near future. Mainstream religions have been outlawed, and the old gods rule again. Iamo has been a priest of the Great Mother and is sworn to celibacy, but his love for Riga, a Black Shaman, a magical assassin, caused him to break his vows. After being imprisoned apart from each other for three years, Iamo accepts an offer to earn them both a pardon and the possibility of marriage. If they survive. Iamo and Riga must discover why demons are breaking through from the other side. Which of the cults are renegades who allow the demons through? Who can they trust? Combining their powers, they face the ordeal with the help of a band of eclectic pagans, spirit creatures, Riga’s Black Shaman brothers, an undercover Christian granny, and three unusually energetic Goths. It’s a tough assignment, but the hope of a life together keeps them fighting.
I just want to say WOW, is it December already? That means National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has ended. Congratulations to some of the Crooked Cat Publishing authors who took part in it and finished. Miriam, that’s you! 
I hope you, Emily and Robyn are doing well. I’m so sad to be missing Christmas with you all but the ranch is amazing. I can’t believe I’ll be working here next summer, and being able to spend these two weeks here right now is… well, let me tell you everything.
the ride we saw a man running behind a burro. I thought he was trying to catch his loose animal but Eli said that was his friend Howard, and that he does something called burro racing where he runs behind the burro in full-length marathons. I’m definitely going to find out more about that next summer – can you imagine running behind an equine instead of ON one??
Teresa Cutler-Broyles is an author, traveler, and adventure guide, and has been writing since she was eight years old; her first published piece was an article about her one-eyed horse in Western Horseman Magazine. Currently she lives in New Mexico with two goofy dogs and her husband, and divides her time between there and Italy where she teaches in the summer. When she’s not teaching or writing, she’s probably researching something historical and architectural, or off on another adventure. Story ideas happen to her when she travels; what better reason to get off the couch!
Renate Edler loves to visit her grandmother in the house on Schellberg Street. She often meets up with her friend Hani Gödde who lives nearby. This year, though, it is not to be. Renate finds out a terrible secret about her family. She has to leave behind her home and her friends and become somebody she never thought she could be. The house on Schellberg Street needs to stay strong.
Gill James writes for children and young adults. She is also a prolific writer of short fiction and flash fiction. As well as being published by several companies, she is a publisher / editor working with Bridge House, Chapeltown and The Red Telephone. She works at the University of Salford as lecturer in English and Creative Writing.
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Seven for a Secret is a romantic tale told through two time periods, the year 2000 and the 1920s. Set in Chicago, each era follows its own love story, with the past and present interrelating through mystical means. Lon is the hero of the Jazz Age story, in which he meets a young socialite, Eva, who is betrothed to someone else. The two become fast friends and confidantes, however, sharing a connection they’ve never enjoyed before in their stifling upper-class milieu.
Rumer Haven is probably the most social recluse you could ever meet. When she’s not babbling her fool head off among friends and family, she’s pacified with a good story that she’s reading, writing, or revising – or binge-watching something on Netflix. A former teacher hailing from Chicago, she presently lives in London with her husband and probably a ghost or two. Rumer has always had a penchant for the past and paranormal, which inspires her writing to explore dimensions of time, love, and the soul. She debuted in 2014 with Seven for a Secret, and her next novel, What the Clocks Know, is due for release by Crooked Cat Publishing in early 2016.
Yes, I’m happy to be able to say I wrote 50,000 words during November. I also met some lovely writers and enjoyed writing not only at home but also at cafés, in a large hall and on a boat!
November was also a month of many stabbing attacks and other terrorist attacks, and unfortunately this latest wave isn’t over yet. Despite the news, we continued to go out and meet each other. It’s not that we’re not afraid; just a sense that life has to go on regardless.
Discovery is Only the Beginning
Yvonne Marjot was born in England, grew up in New Zealand, and now lives on the Isle of Mull in western Scotland. She has a Masters in Botany from Victoria University of Wellington, and a keen interest in the interface between the natural and human worlds. She has always made up stories and poems, and once won a case of port in a poetry competition (New Zealand Listener, May 1996). In 2012 she won the Britwriters Award for poetry, and her first volume of poetry, The Knitted Curiosity Cabinet, was published by Indigo Dreams Publishing.
Miriam Drori, Author 