Saturday, January 31, 2015

Rock Hard Review at Bike Book Reviews

WARNING:  The links contained within this post will take you to sites with content for mature readers only.  However, this post is suitable for a PG audience. 

akk-rs-rockhard3I received a wonderful review for my book Rock Hard (Rock Stars 1)  at Bike Book Reviews.
I really haven’t had much experience reading menage romance, and especially not m/m/m/m, but I really liked this book! It was hot, it was gritty, but most of all it was heartfelt and passionate!” ~ Bec
To read more of this review visit:  Rock Hard Don’t Miss It
Thank you, Bec, for taking the time to review my book.

****

Blurb:
[Siren Allure ManLove: Erotic Alternative Multiple Partner Romance, M/M/M/M/M, intersex hero, cross-dressing, consensual BDSM elements, sex toys, HEA for M/M/M/M]
Adam Cole, David (Deuce) Cole, L.T. Jamison, and Jamie Cain, members of an ’80s-style glam band, Rock Hard, are struggling with Deuce’s alcohol addiction. The substance abuse is not only threatening the band’s success, but the marriages that he shares with each man.  The closeness and sense of family that the band has experienced with Deuce has now turned into dysfunctional chaos.
So when band physician, Dr. Zane Foster, discusses an agreement with the group, front man Adam Cole cannot refuse. After all, it has to be out of love that Adam would agree to such a deal. Not only is Deuce struggling with his own secrets, drinking most days to the point of intoxication, but Adam reveals a hidden attraction that only adds to the tension building within the band.
Rock Hard explores intimacy, unconditional love, and trust in the face of emotional heartbreak.
A Siren Erotic Romance

****

Rock Stars Series:
To purchase the books in the Rock Stars series visit the links below:
Rock Hard (Rock Stars 1):  BookStrand | Kindle | Nook | Kobo | Google
Sex, Love, and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Rock Stars 2):  BookStrand | Kindle | Nook | Kobo|Google
Flirting with Heaven (Rock Stars 3):  BookStrand
The books in the Rock Stars series are MMMMM erotic romances with content for mature readers only.

I enjoy hearing from all of my readers, and look forward to your e-mails.  Remember Love is Love…Period.
Andrew Signature


Andrew Jericho Author Small (143x180)

Andrew Jericho is a ManLove erotic romance author for Siren-BookStrand Publishing  and LGBTQ rights activist.  All of his work can be found at:  Andrew Jericho.  For questions or comments please e-mail him at: authorandrewjericho@gmail.com.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Wednesday's Words for January 28,, 2015

I don’t understand it. I’m the one who lives above the 49th parallel, for crying out loud! I’m the one who’s supposed to be up to my assets in snow and frigid temps. I’m the one who’s supposed to be house bound due to record snowfalls. Not all my friends in the US Southern States!

And yet, it is indeed my friends south of the border who seem to be suffering the last couple of years with way too much snow and far too many days of cold temperatures. When I see Texas and Virginia and Georgia digging out, I know there has to be something terribly wrong in the world.

If I were egocentric, I’d feel guilty about this weather situation. Let me explain why. To do so, I have to start at the beginning.

I’m Canadian and we have a currency called the Canadian dollar. Very similar to the currency south of the border that is called the American dollar, structure-wise. We had pennies, (no more), and we have nickels, dimes and quarters. Four quarters is one dollar here, just like down there.

And about, oh, six months after my first book came out—somewhere between my first quarterly royalty payment and my second, (back in 2007) the Canadian dollar did something it hadn’t done since Prime Minister Trudeau let it float—not, in fact, since I was a child. It gained strength and value against the U. S. dollar. And with each successive royalty payment (that I received in US dollars) the exchange rate got, for my purposes, worse, and worse, and worse.

Everyone I knew joked that they were saving big time, turning their Canadian dollars to US dollars for travel, thanks to me. I agreed with them. It was just exactly how my luck usually went to have the exchange rate reverse just when I started to be paid in U. S. funds.

I should have become suspicious last year, about the weather, when the cold crept south. You see, my beloved and I were discussing our winter options for the coming years. He has COPD, and breathing in the frigid temperatures of our traditional Canadian winters is very difficult for him.

An acquaintance of mine, a couple years ago, took two months down in Texas as a personal writing retreat. She told us what she paid for a condo on the gulf coast. It was amazingly reasonable—far less expensive than that other Canadian Snow Bird destination, Florida.

“We can do that,” my beloved said. “We just save half of our vacation money, take fewer trips—why, we could go down to Texas ourselves for two months—January and February!” The weather where we were looking to go averaged in the 70s for those months. And, we’d be on the ocean—something that my husband particularly wanted. His employer of 35 plus years had already agreed to let him have a 2 month leave of absence whenever he wanted it.

As for me—well, I can write from anywhere as long as I have my laptop and the Internet.

“Let’s do it,” he said!

“When? Next year?” I knew we couldn’t really swing it that fast.

“No. I realize we have to plan more. We’ll make it 2016.”

“All right. Let’s do it!”

Those words were spoken in December of 2013.

My beloved and I would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere apologies to the people of the southern United States, especially the residents of Texas for the cold weather they have been enduring for the last two years. If it’s any comfort to y’all, we have been re-examining the premise of our decision, in view of the temperature adjustment you’ve experienced.

But, on the bright side, the exchange rates have finally reversed again, and that’s good for my payday.

Love,
Morgan
http://www.morganashbury.com
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Flirting with Heaven (Rock Stars 3) Release Day!

WARNING:  The links contained within this post will take you to sites with content for mature readers only.  However, this post is suitable for a PG audience. 

aj-rs-flirtingwithheaven3150115_0229The men of Rock Hard are flirting with Heaven, on the brink of paradise.  Can they finally end the hell of their chaotic lifestyle?
My latest book, Flirting with Heaven (Rock Stars 3), has been released today by Siren-Bookstrand Publishing! The book is available for purchase at the following link: Flirting with Heaven (Rock Stars 3).    

Blurb:  
[Ménage and More ManLove: Erotic Alternative Older Hero Ménage Romance, M/M/M/M/M, light bondage, sex toys, HEA]
“We are flirting with Heaven, on the brink of paradise.  I intend to put an end to our hell.” When Dr. Zane Foster shares those words, he is holding all four of the men he loves in his arms. Adam, Rock Hard’s front man, has spent the last two weeks in Zane’s bedroom, recovering from his breakdown at the press conference. He has put the doctor in temporary control of his family. All of them have been calling Zane daddy for weeks.
When Adam decides he wants Zane to make decisions for the band on a permanent basis, the front man struggles with pride. Adam feels his inability to create harmony is the reason Deuce, L.T., and Jamie are pulling away. Jamie is intersex, and discovers he is pregnant. Will the unusual revelation of how the pregnancy occurred, and the discovery of the other biological father, bring Rock Hard closer together, or threaten to divide them permanently?
Note: This book contains double anal penetration.
A Siren Erotic Romance

****

Rock Stars Series:
To purchase other books in the Rock Stars series visit the links below:
Rock Hard (Rock Stars 1):  BookStrand | Kindle | Nook | Kobo | Google
Sex, Love, and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Rock Stars 2):  BookStrand | Kindle |Nook|Kobo|Google
The books in the Rock Stars series are MMMMM erotic romances with content for mature readers only.

I enjoy hearing from all of my readers, and look forward to your e-mails.  Remember Love is Love…Period.
Andrew Signature


Andrew Jericho Author Small (143x180)

Andrew Jericho is a ManLove erotic romance author for Siren-BookStrand Publishing  and LGBTQ rights activist.  All of his work can be found at:  Andrew Jericho.  For questions or comments please e-mail him at:  authorandrewjericho@gmail.com.

Monday, January 26, 2015

MIDNIGHT FANTASY - The Doms of Sybaris Cove 9


I'm so pleased to announce a new release!! MIDNIGHT FANTASY is book 9 in my The Doms of Sybaris Cove series!!

You can read more about The Doms of Sybaris Cove on my WEBSITE, but for now, here is a brief overview...

Sybaris...

Founded in 720 BC by Achaean and Troezenian settlers, Sybaris amassed great wealth thanks to its fertile land and busy port. Its inhabitants became famous among the Greeks for their hedonism, feasts, and excesses, to the extent that "sybarite" and "sybaritic" have become bywords for opulent luxury and outrageous pleasure seeking.

The Doms of Sybaris Cove...

In the Gulf of Mexico, southwest of Timbalier Island, is a tropical paradise named Sybaris Cove. The original inhabitants of this island were escaped convicts from various Caribbean islands. They came to the island seeking refuge, but instead found greed and jealousy.

William and Robert Raleigh, brothers who made their fortune running rum and engaging in other illegal activities, hid out on the island in 1945. Taking advantage of the infighting among the natives, they began buying up land and laying down roots, promising the people of the island order and peace.

Instead, they were joined by cousins Agapito and Iago Durante, who were just as corrupt as the Raleigh brothers. The island soon became the private plaything of the Raleighs and Durantes, and the natives their servants. But the natives, who had brought with them a blend of voodoo, Santeria, and dark magic, had their own way of dealing with Robert, William, Agapito, Iago, and their sons.

The sons of both families started a mail order business, making and selling floggers, paddles, and other leather fetish toys. Phoebe's Playthings grew into a multi-million dollar corporation that the Raleigh and Durante ancestors now run from the island.

However, the male ancestors of William, Robert, Agapito, and Iago share more than their thriving business and paradise. If they try to leave the island, they die.

Someone put a curse on them, and no one knows where it originated, or how to break it, but they definitely know it's real...


BLURB for MIDNIGHT FANTASY:

[Siren Ménage Everlasting: Erotic Paranormal Consensual BDSM Ménage a Trois Romance, M/F/M, demons, sex toys, HEA]

*Doms Javier Durante and Garrett Raleigh each dated Renata Fontanette before she left for college, but she never planned to return. Her plans changed, and now Renata is back and working at Phoebe’s Playthings. The men are only too happy to pursue her again.

But their first outing with her reveals disturbing news. A Santeria practitioner has come to Sybaris Cove to help lift the curse on the Raleigh and Durante families. But there’s a catch. A descendant of Faith Fontanette, the woman who was sacrificed as a boon when the original curse was cast, must die. Renata is Faith’s only living descendant.

When the moment comes to summon the demons and ask for the curse to be lifted, Javier and Garrett offer an alternative solution. They would rather be cursed for eternity than give up the woman they love.

Will it be good enough to finally end the curse, or have they sealed the fate of both families forever?*




***And don't forget to download the FREE APP from BookStrand so you can read ONE WEEK IN PARADISE, which is also part of The Doms of Sybaris Cove!!***

**ONE WEEK IN PARADISE is a stand-alone and can be read at anytime throughout the series, so don't miss it**

**To download the app and read ONE WEEK IN PARADISE for FREE, click the image below**

Angelic Forecast 2015 ~ #334


The second sphere goes black, obviously disabled. Simultaneously, the blue sphere envelopes the first enemy sphere. With the ball's strength lessened, the battle sphere is struck, but not completely de-energized.

I watch my lion man zoom along another trajectory obviously avoiding two more of the enemy's fighting spheres. Tearing my gaze away, I glance at the other screens covering the entirety of battle.

Oh no! A horde of more dark spheres hurtle toward the space battleground.


'Horde attack!' I mind-yell to Dhuroth.

Sensing he's heard me, I watch him whirl his fighter craft, and streak beyond the battle area yet toward an area of space that would place him behind the 'horde'.

As rapidly as possible, in a barrage of crisscrossing beams, the other fighters break off, following my lion man's lead. Almost humorously, the shafts of destructive light strike a few of the dark globes. But darn the luck, none of them are seriously damaged by their own weaponry.

In a flurry of flight that looks like marbles rearranging themselves, the enemy spheres attempt to reverse direction. Simultaneously, Dhuroth's squadron forms an attack wedge. 

TO BE CONTINUED...
~~~~~~


ANGELIC FORECAST ~

Now, a Three Ring CIRCUS-CIRCUS of Events Takes Over the World Stage... as never before, here it comes...

This, because the last gargantuan gasp of the dark-side power structure begins. And their loss of power mutates them into psychopathically mindless monsters.

Beware and prepare for a whirlwind of worldwide insanity.

On the AWAKENING front, Look To the Skies, the UFOs Rise Before the Many Eyes of the World, and the People Arise

For, the time has come. During the year 2015, *DISCLOSURE* will occur in wave after wave of sightings and direct contract. This, despite the ongoing vicious denials spoon-fed to the public by the establishment-controlled media.

Although many in the population will remain blissfully blind to this ongoing otherworldly 'disclosure', enough in the population will experience and know *we are not alone and have another been alone*.

This alone transforms the world consciousness to a higher and wiser frequency. 
HEADLINE-SNIPPET: "French Nuclear Director Says UFO Was Over His Plant
In the fall of 2014, it was reported that there were anywhere from 13 to 18 incidents of French nuclear power plants being targets of surveillance or suspicious hovering by UFOs." — Mysterious Universe

On the magickal, mystical front, this week the 'Mages of Ages Lost' slice and dice more of the 'construct' that currently blinds humanity to the true reality of the world. In a counterattack, the Viper elite magicians spread the blinding fog of their nefarious deceptions using the magic of advanced technology.

On the personal front, this week is about organizing your thoughts about the immediate future, and which direction[s] to choose that serve your best interest. Simply tune into your inner genius, and give a listen. 

Also, those of you who are trailblazing new ideas and inventions will be in the Divine spotlight at this cosmic spinpoint. For, your path is critical to the coming times.

Further, on the practical side, this will be a great week to shop for the necessities of life -- that is, the products you use most often. Look for the good deals, and stock up while, when, and where you can.

On the paranormal front, Bigfoot Continues To Come Out of the Forest Closet

BLURB: "Bigfoot Encounters ...Dave Schrader  was joined for the entire show by Christine D. Parker, who claims to live in a neighborhood across from an old, creepy forest where Bigfoot and the unknown lurk. Her family has purportedly been tormented by the creatures and according to a Bigfoot investigator they contacted, "They aren’t going anywhere."
"I have always believed in Bigfoot because I just can't imagine people seeing it all the time and it not being a true creature," Parker said..." ~coasttocoastam.com/show/2015/01/23~

On the monsters front, BLURB: "Forest Predator~Sat 01-24
...Dave Schrader welcomed paranormal researcher Stephen Young, who discussed a strange and highly unusual predator that is living in the woods and forests all across the world and is able to overpower someone in an instant. ~coasttocoastam.com/show/2015/01/24~

HEADLINE: "United monsters of America ~ Infographic reveals the strange beasts that have captured the nation's imagination. " ~dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2923920/United-monsters-America-Infographic-reveals-strange-beasts-captured-nation-s-imagination.html~

On the Mars front, HEADLINE-SNIPPET: "Life on Mars: 'Spaceman' spotted repairing Mars Curiosity rover ~ UFO experts have sensationally claimed that this photo, which they say shows a human engineer working on the Mars Curiosity Rover, could be proof of life on the Red Planet.
~metro.co.uk/2015/01/23/life-on-mars-spaceman-spotted-repairing-mars-curiosity-rover-5033759~

On the past life front, HEADLINE-SNIPPET: "Boy Gives Detailed, Verified Information About Past Life
Psychologist Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson has highlighted a case in which a boy named Nazih Al-Danaf gave many correct details about his purported past-life incarnation." — Epoch Times

On the land changes front, Land Rising Across the Planet ... ongoing Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Superstorms ... here come more fireballs ... then the sun lashes out. Again.

HEADLINE-SNIPPET: "Newly awakened Hunga Ha'apai volcano creates large new Tongan island
The volcano off an uninhabited island has finally been viewed up close, with volcanologists saying it has created a substantial new island since it began erupting last month." — AFP

HEADLINE: "Volcanic Heat Flow And Sublimation Are Melting Mount Kilimanjaro Glaciers...Not Global Warming"
~climatechangedispatch.com/volcanic-heat-flow-and-sublimation-are-melting-mount-kilimanjaro-glaciers-not-global-warming.html~

On the BOOM front, Linda Moulton Howe of ~Earthfiles.com~ reports. BLURB: "Quakes, Booms and Pole Shift ~ Friday January 23, 2015 ~ Earth's magnetic pole is shifting much faster than predicted. Could this be the reason for unusual earthquake clusters and unexplained booms? ...
... Earthquakes are being recorded in eastern Connecticut for the first time in 300 years, in an area far from any fracking activity. Unexplained booms are taking place in many areas of the US. The magnetic field is in an unexpected state of flux. So, what's happening and what should we expect? ~unknowncountry.com/dreamland/latest~

On the asteroid front, HEADLINE-SNIPPET: "Big asteroid to fly by Earth Monday
The asteroid called 2004 BL86 will come about 745,000 miles from Earth, or about three times as far away as the moon." — CNN


THIS FORECAST IS CONTINUED AT *TITLE MAGIC* ~titlemagic.blogspot.com~

Angelic blessings from Volcano & Sedona
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 


Warning!!! The global elite [New World Order] does not want *you* to read this book. See ~ Powerful Dreams at my Kougar Kisses blog.

WHEN A GOOD ANGEL FALLS

~~~ Where angels fear to tread, 2012 Earth ~~~

World weary and worn out, the incarnated angel, Sedona, who believes she is merely human, has three choices after her old van breaks down.

Let the Nazerazzi squad of the North American Union capture her and force her into a FEMA concentration camp.

Walk out into the Arizona night desert, let the wildlife have a good meal with the hope her death will be quick.

Or does she dare trust the mysterious stranger suddenly before her?

Handsome as sin and all in black, he emerges out of the darkness.

Sedona wonders if the stranger on a superspeed motorcycle is her savior from the brutal endtimes.

Or, is he a roving cult member of the New World Order, hunting his next blood sacrifice?

***

It’s only a few days before Winter Solstice, December 21, 2012 ~ The end of the Mayan Calendar.

Sent from heaven to help Sedona save humanity, Zerr Dann knows the Divine is playing its last card on Earth.

He also knows Sedona is about to find out Christmas miracles still exist.

[Angelic Fantasy Erotic Romance]
~~~~~~

~~~ EBOOK & IN PRINT ~~~ a former #1 on Siren-BookStrand’s bestseller list

Author Discovery by BookStrand author, Lindsay Townsend.
~~~

~ HAVE A MAGICKAL WEEK ~

Kisses from Savanna Kougar...

~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~

Siren-BookStrand Author of ~

All Shades of Blue Paradise
[World of the Blue Pearl Moon, Book 1]

When a Good Angel Falls ~ In Print
[Winter Solstice 2012, Book 1]

Murder by Hair Spray in Gardenia, New Atlantis ~ In Print
[New Atlantis Trilogy, Book 1]

Her Insatiable Dark Heroes ~ In Print
[Chrontropolis, Book 1]

Stallion of Ash and Flame ~ In Print

Branded by the Texans ~ IN PRINT ~ A Siren-BookStrand Bestseller!
[Three Star Republic]

Kandy Apple and Her Hellhounds ~  What happens when two of Hades’ most mission-accomplished Hellhounds find just the right witch for Halloween? ~ Ebook and In Print.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Flirting with Heaven (Rock Stars 3) Blog Tour

WARNING:  The links contained within this post will take you to sites with content for mature readers only.  However, this post is suitable for a PG audience. 

aj-rs-flirtingwithheaven3150115_0229Flirting with Heaven (Rock Stars 3) Blog Tour begins January 27th. The title, a MMMMM contemporary erotic romance, releases on January 27th from Siren-BookStrand Publishing.  View the tour schedule below, which runs through January 31st.  Thank you to all my fellow authors and friends who made this possible.

Blurb:  
[Ménage and More ManLove: Erotic Alternative Older Hero Ménage Romance, M/M/M/M/M, light bondage, sex toys, HEA]
“We are flirting with Heaven, on the brink of paradise.  I intend to put an end to our hell.” When Dr. Zane Foster shares those words, he is holding all four of the men he loves in his arms. Adam, Rock Hard’s front man, has spent the last two weeks in Zane’s bedroom, recovering from his breakdown at the press conference. He has put the doctor in temporary control of his family. All of them have been calling Zane daddy for weeks.
When Adam decides he wants Zane to make decisions for the band on a permanent basis, the front man struggles with pride. Adam feels his inability to create harmony is the reason Deuce, L.T., and Jamie are pulling away. Jamie is intersex, and discovers he is pregnant. Will the unusual revelation of how the pregnancy occurred, and the discovery of the other biological father, bring Rock Hard closer together, or threaten to divide them permanently?
Note: This book contains double anal penetration.
A Siren Erotic Romance

****

Tour Schedule:  
Bike Book Reviews01/27 – Tue
Frey Ortega01/27 – Tue
ManLove Fantasies Winter Edition01/28 – Wed
Gayle Cranfield01/28 – Wed
Tina Donahue Presents01/28 – Wed
Michelle Roth01/30 – Fri
Gale’s Stanley’s Wake Up Your Wild Side01/31 – Sat


****

Rock Stars Series:
To purchase the books in the Rock Stars series visit the links below:
Rock Hard (Rock Stars 1):  BookStrand | Kindle | Nook | Kobo | Google
Sex, Love, and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Rock Stars 2):  BookStrand | Kindle |Nook|Kobo|Google
Flirting with Heaven (Rock Stars 3):  BookStrand
The books in the Rock Stars series are MMMMM erotic romances with content for mature readers only.

I enjoy hearing from all of my readers, and look forward to your e-mails.  Remember Love is Love…Period.

Andrew Signature


Andrew Jericho Author Small (143x180)
Andrew Jericho is a ManLove erotic romance author for Siren-BookStrand Publishing  and LGBTQ rights activist.  All of his work can be found at:  Andrew Jericho.  For questions or comments please e-mail him at:  authorandrewjericho@gmail.com.

Flirting with Heaven (Rock Stars 3) Trailer

WARNING:  The links contained within this post will take you to sites with content for mature readers only.  However, this post is suitable for a PG audience. 

Watch the new trailer for my upcoming book release, Flirting with Heaven (Rock Stars 3) below. The title is available for pre-order by Siren-BookStrand Publishing!  Release date January 27th! Reserve your copy at the following link:  Flirting with Heaven (Rock Stars 3).


 Blurb:  
aj-rs-flirtingwithheaven3150115_0229[Ménage and More ManLove: Erotic Alternative Older Hero Ménage Romance, M/M/M/M/M, light bondage, sex toys, HEA]
“We are flirting with Heaven, on the brink of paradise.  I intend to put an end to our hell.” When Dr. Zane Foster shares those words, he is holding all four of the men he loves in his arms. Adam, Rock Hard’s front man, has spent the last two weeks in Zane’s bedroom, recovering from his breakdown at the press conference. He has put the doctor in temporary control of his family. All of them have been calling Zane daddy for weeks.
When Adam decides he wants Zane to make decisions for the band on a permanent basis, the front man struggles with pride. Adam feels his inability to create harmony is the reason Deuce, L.T., and Jamie are pulling away. Jamie is intersex, and discovers he is pregnant. Will the unusual revelation of how the pregnancy occurred, and the discovery of the other biological father, bring Rock Hard closer together, or threaten to divide them permanently?
Note: This book contains double anal penetration.
A Siren Erotic Romance

****

Rock Stars Series:
To purchase other books in the Rock Stars series visit the links below:
Rock Hard (Rock Stars 1):  BookStrand | Kindle | Nook | Kobo | Google
Sex, Love, and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Rock Stars 2):  BookStrand | Kindle | Nook|Kobo|Google
The books in the Rock Stars series are MMMMM erotic romances with content for mature readers only.

I enjoy hearing from all of my readers, and look forward to your e-mails.  Remember Love is Love…Period.
Andrew Signature


Andrew Jericho Author Small (143x180)

Andrew Jericho is a ManLove erotic romance author for Siren-BookStrand Publishing  and LGBTQ rights activist.  All of his work can be found at:  Andrew Jericho.  For questions or comments please e-mail him at:  authorandrewjericho@gmail.com.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Wednesday's Words for January 21, 2015

My father was a writer. That was something I knew about him as I grew up—not from him, as he was gone. But my mother told me, as did a friend of the family, a man who’d grown up best friends with my dad.

This man was a lawyer. My dad, on the death of his own father when he was a young man of 17 or so, had to leave school and go to work to support his mother. It was the 1930s and that was just what you did. But for all of the rest of his life, this man remained a good friend to my dad, despite the differences in their educations, and vocations.

I recall, when I was about ten or so, seeing a small sample of his writing—just a half page, and I had never been able to recall what it was. As I grew older, I just assumed that nothing of what he’d written remained.

Fourteen years after his death at the age of 46 in 1962, my mother passed away—at the too young age of 57. I was married at the time, with one child. Yet I remember thinking that even though I was a wife and mother, I was also now an orphan.

I raised my kids and worked, and then, just as we were about to become “dinks”—double income with no kids—I had a heart attack. I was 48 at the time, and I survived. Three months later, I began to have angina attacks and it was determined I needed angioplasty. At the last minute, that turned into triple by-pass. I recovered, and was told by my beloved that I was now a “retired” person. Being idle isn’t me, and when I wondered aloud what I would do for the rest of my life, he told me to go after that dream of mine.

And I did.

My first taste of success was winning a short story contest hosted by the Canadian Writer’s Journal. This was a literary publication. I was so excited, of course I had to share the news with my big brother.

And that is when he gave me the most unexpected and precious of gifts: an envelope containing samples of my father’s work. It thrilled me even as it saddened me. My father stopped writing when he left school. He had to work, and I guess he considered it time to “put away childish things”.

These glimpses into my father’s writer’s soul were ink on paper, the paper yellowed with age. I transcribed what I found there, and put it on my computer, in a file I called Legacy, and distributed it to my family.

There were poems, mostly, and one short story. One poem in particular spoke to me—written in 1931, when he was a young man of 16. It was as if he knew that soon he’d join the work-a-day world. It’s called Childhood Play, and I’d like to share it with you:

When the little children play 
Happy beings night and day 
Grown up folks look sadly on 
And think of childhood that has gone. 

 Just a little simple noise 
Animates their very toys 
A little motions fascination 
The rest comes from imagination. 

A piece of string, a little board 
Some coloured glass oh what a hoard! 
“Tis junk” the grown up people say 
Tis treasure to a child at play. 

A ditch with muddy water filled 
Delights a little pilot skilled 
Who, over rapids safely guides 
His little bateaux through the tides. 

And thus in early, joyful life 
When yet each child has met no strife 
Each simple article contains 
Some hidden joy adults distain. 

In childhood beauty reigns supreme 
And innocence the only theme 
Would God our thoughts would so remain 
Tis true that thus we’d miss much pain.

 His poems and story serve as an echo from an earlier time, and provide a connection—not from father to daughter, but from writer to writer.

Love,
Morgan
http://www.morganashbury.com 
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury