10 Comments
Oct 16Liked by Sandra Stephens

Thank you for continuing to share your life adventure. Your writing has an atmospheric that puts a reader in a lighter, positive frame of mind. This is difficult to define and probably impossible to teach. Your writing style is probably the accumulation of life experiences that frame your vision. I will continue to follow Jake, the H, you and the chickens under th jacarandas.

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Oct 16·edited Oct 17Author

I think every writer's voice is probably a soup of how they were raised, who they wish they could be, everything that they are hiding/suppressing, and every book they've ever read, don't you?

Thanks so much for reading!

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Oct 16Liked by Sandra Stephens

I never trusted that Poppin’ Fresh freak. That giggle of his is a sure sign of a homicidal maniac.

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HE EATS CRESCENT ROLLS.

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Oct 17Liked by Sandra Stephens

The cannibalistic monster!

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Oct 16Liked by Sandra Stephens

Footnote 1 made me laugh out loud. Imagine the unsuspecting reader! A horror story unto itself.

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it's even a problem when people *know* you write horror, always waiting for the plot to make that left turn into chaos.

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Oct 17Liked by Sandra Stephens

I'm so glad you will be re-creating the koi pond. When I was 9 years old, I loved going to the Valley of the Temples on Oahu, Hawaii, to see the Japanese shrine and the lake with millions (ok it seemed like that many to me) of koi that scrabbled on top of each other to get their share of the 25-cent food pellets that dribbled from the re-purposed gum dispenser. Mesmerized by the fish in all their colors and patterns, I kept that bright spot nurtured in my soul until many years later when I found a koi master in the mountains of north Georgia, US. Studying and planning, digging the rocky soil, laying the pipes and filtration systems, lining the new creek bed with Tennessee river rock and slate- turning on the water and watching as it spilled over the waterfall for the first time - my koi lazily exploring their new home- calling them to come get their pellets, or frozen peas, or oranges as they scrabbled to be the first in line. Counting them one morning to discover that a stoopid owl (egret, heron, raccoon, or bear) had snatched my Ai Goromo (a rare and expensive breed)- but of course, it left behind my cheaper koi. A sashimi feast for the discriminating palate. When we sold the house, the booklet I created with pictures and drawings on the care and feeding of the koi was more detailed than anything else we told the buyers about the rest of the property. I hope my menagerie is still floating in their fishy dreams.

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Just perfect, and "parabéns pelo progresso na aprendizagem do português."

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OMG, more and more tension about the Yellow Chair. I'm on the edge of my Brown Seat. I loved this installment. I especially liked the man that went to kiss Jake. COngratulations on your growing confidence speaking Portuguese. It's tricky when you need new vocabulary. Paint colours can be SO difficult. Is it Alberto who keeps bringing you the bread that is stuffing your freezer. Have you tried making bread and butter pudding? It's a firm favourite here. xx

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