WEP - Café Terrace Shantytown

Café Terrace Shantytown

          “You remember, don’t you? That week in Paris?” James asked as he put a cup of hot cocoa to his wife’s lips. “Take a sip, it’ll warm your insides. Just like that hot toddy that evening in Paris.”

          Jeana smiled. “That’s so good, did you slip some brandy in it?” She winked then sighed. “How could I forget about our honeymoon? We were so young, so in love. Foolish really, but despite our missteps in life, I’ll never regret one day, not a one!”

          “You’d wanted to have a drink at an outdoor terrace, just like in the Van Gogh painting, The Café Terrace. Then you just had to have the print. It cost almost as much as one night at the hotel,” James said as he held his wife close in their handmade haven, a cardboard box. 

          It was the deluxe model. Its former occupant had been the latest in cold food storage. The Viking Professional 5 Series 48-Inch 29.05 Cu. Ft. Built-In Side-By-Side Stainless Steel Refrigerator/Freezer. 

          The Stewarts have always had the best. He’d worked in retail all his life, and she’d taken time off to care for their young but put her time in as a clerk in an accounting office.

          But now that fancy house was gone. Their twenty-year-old car had finally given out, and while social security came in monthly, it had been whittled down to a little more than an allowance that allowed the Stewarts a few morsels of food and kept Jeana supplied with medication. Universal health care, the promised solution never happened, and Medicare had gone bankrupt years earlier. Every hospitalization whittled away at their savings then took their house and belongings. All they had left were each other, a few blankets and cherished mementos, and the cardboard box they now called home.

          Under the bridge near a slow-moving river, they shared the area with twenty other individuals. Each family had a cardboard box covered with a plastic tarp. A makeshift outhouse had been created for everyone’s use, and for the most part, neighbor supported neighbor.

          Jeana scoffed. “Ever the penny pincher, but that print has graced each of our homes, even this one.” Her eyes wandered to the print of the Café Terrace, salvaged from their house before foreclosure. “I can still hear the bells, see the Eiffel Tower, and taste the eclairs and wine.” Jeana giggled. “I think it’s the first time I ever got drunk.”

          “All it took was one glass.” James laughed.

          “That never changed, but I’ve always felt safe with you.” She blinked away tears. “The fun we had James, such wonderful memories.” Jeana looked into the tired eyes of her spouse. “We had a good life, didn’t we?”

          “The best Jeana, the absolute best.” James kissed the top of her head and resituated the blanket around her frail body.

          “How cold is it going to get tonight?” she asked.

          “They’re saying well below freezing. We need to move outside with the others at sunset, near the fire. If we stay here, we’ll die in our sleep.”

          “Not the worst way to go. Don’t you just fall asleep?” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

          “What are you thinking?”

          “Just that I’m tired. So very, very tired.”

          James sighed. “I know, sweetheart. I know. You rest, I’ll keep you warm. In my arms, you’ll always find warmth.”

…..

         After the ground thawed, a hole was dug. James and Jeana Stewart, still in their cardboard haven, were buried on the outskirts of the cardboard shantytown.

587 words / FCA

Yolanda Renée © 2020

Read more WEP entries HERE!

You Beneath Your Skin by Damyanti Biswas

Welcome author Damyanti Biswas!

Damyanti Biswas lives in Singapore, and supports Delhi's underprivileged women and children, volunteering with organizations who work for this cause. Her short stories have been published in magazines in the US, UK, and Asia, and she helps edit the Forge Literary Magazine. She was recently awarded The Fay Khoo Award in Penang, Malaysia. You can find her on her blog and twitter. 

Her debut crime novel You Beneath Your Skin is an Amazon bestseller, all author proceeds of which will support the education and empowerment of women at Project WHY and Stop Acid Attacks.

Despite her busy schedule she agreed 

to share a little about herself and her writing:

1          1 .    What was your hardest scene to write?

     Without giving the story of You Beneath Your Skin, it was the scene of confrontation between Anjali and Jatin. There were so many loops to close, physical and emotional, and I needed to do that in an organic, completely spontaneous fashion. I rewrote that scene so many times I’ve lost count.

            2.    What makes you run screaming?

I’m not sure—haven’t run screaming yet. But I imagine it would be dark places and things that go bump in the night. Or simply a toddler I’m babysitting having a tantrum. You never know.     

            3.    You’re about to be dropped in a remote spot for a three-week survival test. Where would you go? What three tools would you take?

I don’t think I’d survive very long. I’d probably take a knife, a rope and something to make fire with. As to what I’d achieve with those—anyone’s guess. They just sound like practical things to carry with you in a remote area.

             4.    What behind-the-scenes tidbit in your life would probably surprise your readers the most?

I do not give out too many behind-the-scenes tidbits—but the one thing about my recent writing-life shenanigans that has surprised me recently is my newly-discovered love of butter. For no known reason I’ve found myself scraping butter off the slab we have at home—puts me in a ‘writing mood’ immediately. I am dreading the consequences to my waistline.

             5.    If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?

      It could be Italy. Or Scotland. Or Japan. Of all the places I’ve been fortunate enough to visit, these countries top the list. I’d love to know more about them, and what better way to know about them than to live a year and write a book?

          6.    If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

To not be so hard on me. It took me years to learn kindness to self. That’s the most underrated quality in any writer.

7.    What does literary success look like to you

That I would one day look at something I wrote ten years ago, and go, wow, I wrote that? That’s fabulous!

8.    Tell us about the book you’re working on now.

It is set in Mumbai, amid the backdrop of closing and reopening of dance bars—one of the bar girls is payed huge sums to dress up and pose at a railway station and exit the place within three minutes. She soon discovers that others with the same assignment have gone missing.

***

Read my Review of You Beneath Your Skin   HERE!

***

You Beneath Your Skin 

Trailor

Blurb: Lies. Ambition. Family. 

 It’s a dark, smog-choked New  Delhi winter. Indian American single mother Anjali Morgan juggles her job as a psychiatrist with caring for her autistic teenage son. She is in a long-standing affair with ambitious Police Commissioner Jatin Bhatt  – an irresistible attraction that could destroy both their lives. 

Jatin’s home life is falling apart: his handsome and charming son is not all he appears to be, and his wife has too much on her plate to pay attention to either husband or son. But Jatin refuses to listen to anyone, not even the sister to whom he is deeply attached. 

Across the city, there is a crime spree: slum women found stuffed in trash bags,  faces and bodies disfigured by acid. And as events spiral out of control Anjali is horrifyingly at the center of it all.

In a sordid world of poverty, misogyny, and political corruption, Jatin must make some hard choices. But what he unearths is only the tip of the iceberg. Together with Anjali he must confront old wounds and uncover long-held secrets before it is too late.

NEW SALE PRICE

The price will be 


.99 USD from Feb. 12-14th 

and gradually rise to original price of 2.99 

by 

the 18th.

About the novel: YOU BENEATH YOUR SKIN, 

publisher: Simon & Schuster IN

You Beneath Your Skin is an Amazon-bestselling crime novel about the investigation of an acid attack on a woman from Delhi’s upper class, set against the backdrop of crimes against underprivileged women. They are assaulted, disfigured with acid, and murdered.

It is a  whodunit, but also a whydunit because violent crime unravels those affected: the people, the relationships, the very fabric of society, and we get a glimpse of what lies beneath. That’s why the title, You Beneath Your Skin.

On Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X8WCKH6/

On Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/BENEATH-YOUR-SKIN-DAMYANTI-BISWAS/dp/9386797623

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47634028-you-beneath-your-skin

Reviews:

Beneath the veneer of a crime novel, ‘You Beneath Your Skin’ is a study of problematic relationships

Delving Into Dark Themes Of You Beneath Your Skin, One Wonders What One Would Find

Interview: 'To Be a Woman in This World Is to Cope with Some Form of Violence'

Social media info:

Pls tag me at @damyantig on Twitter and Insta, and on @damyantiwrites on FB

To tag Simon & Schuster

@SimonandSchusterIN : Insta

@SimonSchusterIN : Twitter
@Simon & Schuster IN: Facebook
@projectwhydelhi and @stopacidattacks on Twitter, Instagram, and FB

The hashtag for all social media: #YouBeneathYourSkin

Audience:

Bookclubs, because of the discussion questions: Within the framework of a thriller the novel tackles various social issues: crimes against women and why they occur, the nexus between political corruption, police and big money; the abuse of the underprivileged, be it adults or children, and the scourge of acid attacks.

Parents, because of the issues tackled: How do you bring up a good human being in today’s troubled times? If you’re the parent of a special child, what challenges do you face and what sort of support can you expect?

Have you read You Beneath Your Skin? 

Have you posted your review? 

Do you have a question for Damyanti?

CONGRATULATIONS! 

Damyanti Biswas!

Smiling Out Loud by Robert Jacobs

My guest today is Robert Jacobs

Author of Smiling Out Loud

A book of poetry –

Take a poetic journey, from darkness to light. 

There is occasional terror, 

appeals to the heart, and laughs to delight.

You can read my review here.

1.   The hardest scene to write –

Big Hurt, Big Heart is a poem about a schizophrenic and his loneliness.  My brother, 11/2 years younger is schizophrenic.  I tried to capture some of his feelings, his inherent loneliness.  It started as something different.  I feel I can still edit it and rewrite it.  I did not quite get what I was looking for.  Just writing about it now makes me realize how much I missed.  I will probably try again.

2.   What makes you run screaming?

Poetry that only expresses feelings but doesn’t describe the person being written about. Tell me about the person you love (or hate).  We all have feelings.  We all don’t have Rene, or Eileen, or Dennis.

3.   Dropped in a remote spot, survival test, 3 tools.

Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York. 3 tools, my cell phone iPhone 11 Max Pro, a cigarette lighter, a Swiss Army knife.  The idea of a truly remote spot doesn’t appeal to me.

4.   Behind the scenes tidbit. 

In spite of being a good student, I quit going to high school when I was 15 years old. Later went back and finished and went on to college.  I’ve never written about that but I can see doing something in the future.

5.   Living anywhere and writing a book about it.

I’d like to spend the time between London and Paris.

6.   What would I tell my younger self?

Write every week.  Set goals. Get into the habit of writing. Read poetry. Be disciplined in developing a plan to develop writing skills.

7.   What does literary success look like to you?

Having people ask me when my next book will be out and what is it about.  Basically, having a following. It can be relatively small but it needs to be present. Also, having someone, a publisher, perhaps, assist with marketing.

8.   The book I’m working on.

I have enough unpublished poems for a second book. The problem is I want it to be better than the first book. I am a better writer today so I probably would need to rewrite many of them. I am also thinking of a book of short stories. I have started several, finished maybe two. My problem is I have the opposite of writer's block. I have no shortage of ideas. My life is my canvas.

What is "Smiling Out Loud" about?

It is not about depression or pining over a lost love.

It is not about grieving although it is about recovering from loss.
It is not an outpouring of emotional cliches.
It is a celebration of good lives, lives intertwined in love.
It is about finding humor in all aspects of life.
It is about growing up in Brooklyn.
It is about loving a time, a place, a family.
It is about loving the people in your lives.
It is about memories and a fertile imagination.
It is about Smiling Out Loud and laughing out loud.
It is universal because it describes what everyone yearns for.

Robert Jacobs was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. That wonderful experience shaped his personality, helped to form his views, and gave him his sense of humor (or lack thereof). He writes poetry, short stories, started a few novels, written essays and has the opposite of writers’ block. He is an optimist, in spite of some of the dark poetry, and he has been loved his entire life. Some people may think that is a disadvantage for a writer. He thinks it is a wonderful advantage.

         Talk to me so sweetly
         Though I am hard of hearing
         Shouting is okay
                                           That would be endearing

                                            I love to hear your voice
                                            You are my ace of spades
                                            Think how much fun we’ll have
                                            When I find my hearing aids

You can find Robert here:

                                          Facebook

Please note: Robert has been trying to answer your comments but isn't having any luck. He'll try reaching you via email.

Hoosier Dad by Elizabeth Seckman

My guest today is romance author Elizabeth Seckman.

My selection of questions is meant to give a little insight into Elizabeth’s personality as well as her writing. 

Did I achieve my goal?

Her latest book Hoosier Dad was a great read.

You can read my review here.

1              1.    What was your hardest scene to write?

            Sex scenes are always hard, no pun intended. It needs to be romantic with a bit of heat,      but it’s so easy to cross the line and make it vulgar or even worse, hilariously bad. 

            2. What makes you run screaming?

            Mean people. And snakes. And basements after dark. 

            3. You’re about to be dropped in a remote spot for a three-week survival test. Where would you go? What three tools would you take?

            Drop me at the beach with a keg of rum, matches, and a friend. It worked for Captain  Jack Sparrow. It will work for me.

            4. What behind-the-scenes tidbit in your life would probably surprise your readers the most?

            My son said people are always shocked to learn that I’m NOT very well organized. But seriously, I don’t think that’s too big a secret. My readers probably realize that I miss most deadlines and have a tendency to push release dates later over and over. 

            5. If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose? 

            The Outer Banks of North Carolina. It’s my happy place. Several of my books take place there. My way of being there vicariously. 

            6. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

            

             Start sooner. At best, you’ll live to be 107, and you have a lot of work to do! 

            7. What does literary success look like to you?

           

               Money would be nice, but having lots of loyal readers would be better. Some of my readers have been with me since book one and feel more like friends than fans. 

           

             8. Tell us about the book you’re working on now. 

 

            I just finished “About Us.” It should be available by Valentine’s Day. The heroine, Hayden, is done with her abusive marriage. But trying to divorce an abusive guy with a       gun and a badge can be dangerous. She seeks the help of a friend, Cam, not knowing Cam has always loved her. Hayden isn’t out to further complicate her life with another relationship, but if it happens? Well, maybe it was meant to be.

More about Hoosier Dad

Sarah Andrews is one smart cookie. She’s a top-notch attorney, educated at Stanford, and freshly fired from one of the best legal firms in Indiana. As she approaches her thirtieth birthday, she decides she needs a quiet, safe place to regroup. She decides to go home to Dodd, Indiana. 

But Dodd, Indiana, is far from safe once she comes face-to-face with Richland Conrad Cooper. Rich was teen-girl kryptonite—athletic, charming…persuasive—and Sarah wasn’t immune. She fell hard, but it turned out to be nothing more than the first of her love tries and fails. 

She has learned—if a guy steals your heart, breaking his is quid pro quo.

Only when Rich is served with a custody challenge of his two daughters does Sarah call a truce. Working together, Rich can’t help but totally fall for her. She’s cold and rude, forcefully pointing out their differences and his flaws every chance she gets. But the heart wants what the heart wants, so Rich tries even harder to convince her she isn’t meant for any other guy, but him.

*******

Elizabeth spends her time daydreaming (she calls this writing) and excavating the day's necessary clothes from piles of dirty laundry. She lives in a small town on the Ohio River in West Virginia but often dreams of owning a beach house...or at least having a magically clean house. But with four boys, well five if you count their father, this may well just be fantasy.

Oh, and she goes to football games...lots and lots of football games.

So, living in a house of men...doing man things all the time...What girl wouldn't want to escape to a fantasy world of romance, true love, and clean houses?

 www.eseckman.blogspot.com

www.elizabethseckman.com

Amazon Author Page

 Keep writing Elizabeth - Your books are a real treat!

Thank you, for participating in my new venture.

*****

12 years ago I started out blogging by opening a Blog Talk Radio Program. I had a blast interviewing authors of all genres and met many wonderful folks that I still call friend. But BTRadio soon started charging for all their services. It became too expensive. So I took up regular blogging but ideas for a dedicated blog never materalized. So I'm going back to my old standby. I choose a book, read, review, and then post an interview blog with that author. It's really the most fun.

So look for another author next Monday, and every Monday after that, except when the WEP post is due. I will then post for them.

If you want to be part of my 'interview fun' let me know. I'd love to read your latest!

Welcome 2020

This is your opportunity!

Yolanda Renée © January 1, 2020

“Strength shows not only in the ability to persist, but the ability to start over."

F. Scott Fitzgerald