NEW BOOKS REVIEWS

BLOG TOUR OF LIKE A GIRL ANTHOLOGY

This week I’m participating in a blog tour celebrating the publication of the Anthology ‘Like a Girl.’

The Anthology is traveling from blog to blog and just arrived from Jeanette O’Hagan‘s and Paula Vince blog.
Paula is an author, blogger, reader, reviewer, mother of three. All this goes under the mantle of ‘stay at home mum’. She also loves walking and cooking when the mood strikes her. Getting stuck into a good book has always been one of the best things ever.

After featuring on my blog the tour will continue on to Lynn Fowler’s blog on the 29th of January.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Fourteen Authors from around the world have contributed their stories to raise money for PLAN Australia. ‘Like a Girl’ is a celebration of the strength and resilience of women, told in a variety of genres and voices, the proceeds of which will help empower girls and women all over the world.

EXCERPT

EDUCATION STARTS AT home

This Story is dedicated to my daughters and their peers

Take nothing for granted but plan, plan, plan.

Why I wouldn’t give my daughter my unpicker.

This morning my daughter asked me for an unpicker. In case you don’t know what an unpicker is I looked up the dictionary definition of the word unpicker. When I typed it in what came up was the word seam ripper, which is another word for a small tool used for unpicking stitches.

I asked my daughter if she had what it took to be in possession of an unpicker and was met by a blank gaze. So I explained to her that it takes an extraordinary amount of resolve, self-restraint, patience, organisation, sense of priority and determination to be the proud owner of an unpicker.

You can only use one unpicker at a time

I explained to her that, once you realise that you are unpickerless it usually takes around two to three months of being in this unpickerless state before the average person takes positive action to resolve it. During that period of two to three months you fret and think about where you possibly could have put it; did someone ‘borrow’ it and not return your unpicker? And you’re left wondering if you have lost this precious tool forever. If you were to visit the haberdashery store in this period of time you are likely to forget whilst you’re in the store that you are in fact unpickerless.

And even if you were to remember whilst in the store that perhaps you don’t own this valuable instrument any longer, this unpickerless state is precarious because none of us is so stingy as not to be willing to spend $2.95 to be in the possession of an unpicker. But few of us are prepared to spend this money if in fact we already have one because, let’s face it, you can only use one unpicker at a time.

Having said that, I remember a brief blissful period where I literally splurged on 4 unpickers. One for each of my daughters, one for my husband (who never used one, this was my spare) and one for me.

Blissful it was but more than blissful it was brief because, due to Murphy’s Law, everyone’s unpicker without ever having been used, ended up within the shortest period of time, either blunt or vamoosed. Which, yes you guessed it, meant that everyone else borrowed my sharp shiny brand new red unpicker whilst all I managed to find were the dud blunt unpickers. Strangely this happened in a household where I am the only occasional seamstress.

Being unpickerless is hazardous

However I am digressing. I explained to my daughter that the period of time it takes to determine that one truly is unpickerless is one of the more hazardous periods of one’s life. This is because I now make do with either a blunt old unpicker, which is likely to dig itself into my fingers during my futile attempts to make it work. Or similarly risky, I will use my sharpest little pair of scissors or knife which comes with its own obvious hazards, jeopardising my willing but not always skilful attempts to make things work.

On average this unpickerless period in my life lasts from between a few weeks up to a number of months.

Clean out of unpickers and seam rippers

If my memory serves me well, once it is well and truly established that I am unpickerless, one of the following scenarios will unfold. I finally manage to make it to the local haberdashery store, which by the way is always out of my regular route. The local haberdashery store usually is a popular place where ladies catch up on all the latest and chances are that it will be a while before it is my turn.

After I humbly ask the lady behind the counter where the ‘unpickers’ are, she will respond, “Do you mean a seam ripper?’’ To which I meekly will nod, yes.

This lovely lady with her shiny black hair at the ‘Sew-For-Fun’ store is likely to disappear behind her counter through the backdoor and not resurface for a minimum of five or ten minutes. She will disappear for the kind of period of time where you know for a fact that she is not looking for a seam ripper but checking Facebook notifications on her mobile phone whilst talking to her boyfriend and downing a cup of coffee or gobbling down a slab of chocolate.

After this, she will return to the counter smiling benignly and tell me that they are “clean out of un-pickers at the moment.” When will the next batch be in?

Let’s assume that I dare ask her when she expects the next batch of unpickers to come in. I probably daren’t, but let’s assume for a moment that I will. This wonderful junior in training will respond with a shrug, telling me that she doesn’t know when the rep will come in next, or she thinks it is Thursday next week but she doesn’t know for sure, and she cannot guarantee when the next batch of unpickers will come in.

This is the best case scenario, if indeed I dared ask her when she would expect the next batch of unpickers to come in. It is more likely that if I did have the nerve to do this, that she would go looking for her supervisor for the next 20 minutes or so whilst I had no other choice than to patiently wait at the counter for her return, and she would tell me that neither she nor the supervisor knew when the new unpickers would arrive.

By now I am thinking that if I were to go through the store called ‘Sew-For-Fun’ I will probably, somehow, somewhere turn up a unpicker but alas, she’s worn me down sufficiently for me to graciously back off and promise to come back in a week or so to see if the next batch has arrived.

Thoughts of melting unpickers

At this point of my story my daughter has lost her appetite for my unpicker, but I am not quite finished yet. I explain to her that indeed it takes a strong person with restraint and fortitude to be the owner of an unpicker. I ask her, if she wonders at all why the store would be clean out of unpickers?

My daughter is now literally walking backwards towards the door, attempting to quietly disappear, but I insist; “Surely you wonder why the store has no unpickers?”

No, she doesn’t. But I do. As a proud owner of an unpicker, I imagine that perhaps a local school needed a whole batch for their sewing class, or a local lady needed a bunch for her charity sewing club.

I explain to my daughter that these thoughts are necessary if one is trying to secure an unpicker for oneself. Because if indeed the local school bought the last batch, we can assume that the rep will return next week with a whole new batch of them. But what if the overseas supplier had run out? Then what? It could be months and months before they would be back in stock. What if the dock workers were on strike and a crate of unpickers are sitting on the dock in the hot sun, desperately wanting, but not able to get to those in need? Would they melt?

‘Do you think about those things?’ I asked my daughter. ‘When you ask me if you can borrow my unpicker, does any of this cross your mind?’

My daughter groans in response. She whispers, ‘Mum, I’m good, I’ll do something else instead.’ But I am not quite finished yet …

More here

MY REVIEW 

It was so much fun to have my submissions accepted for this wonderful Anthology. I have two daughters and two of my submissions were accepted. I thought that was very fitting. One for each of my children.

I wish for this anthology to travel far; touching hearts and opening minds wherever it goes.

Thank you Mirren, for this wonderful initiative which will benefit girls and women worldwide.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

‘Like a Girl Anthology’ features stories and poems by Jeanette O’Hagan, Avril Sabine, V. Hartman Di Santo, Kathryn Hagan, Mary Grace, Coralyn Swift, Christina Aitkin, Mark Taylor, D.L Richardson, Mimi Emmanuel, Erin Yoshikawa, Druscilla Morgan, Michelle John and Mirren Hogan.

AUTHOR OF EXCERPT

Mimi Emmanuel is a mother of two and godmother of one who writes for fun and a better world pulsating with love for the next generations. She owns a global gift store at www.mosaichouse.co and is the founder of www.freescripturecards.com.

You can purchase your copy of ‘Like a Girl’ at Amazon.

BLOG TOUR

The blog tour will continue to Lynn Fowler’s blog next. Lynn is a Christian Writer from Australia who is delighted to be able to share with readers about her writing, and to encourage her readers in their walk with the Lord.

*

ABOUT THIS BLOG – We’re researching the truth of living forever according to GOD’s Holy Word; Sola Scripture. Popular opinion tells us that everyone who ‘believes’ and has ‘faith’ will go to heaven. Is this true? I decided to ask the prophets about the truth of it all. Be one of the first people to  claim your free kindle at my next book launch.

ABOUT THE CONTENT – All content on this website is copyrighted and you can read more about this here. Please also read the disclaimer about my authority and qualifications. Occasionally I partner with people because I like their products and you can read about that here.

ABOUT SCRIPTURE CARDS – If you want to send free Scripture Cards to your friends click here and you want to buy hard copies of Scripture Cards you can click here. To download a copy of my Story of Survival click here.

NEW BOOKS RELEASES, INTERVIEWS AND REVIEWS – As a member of the Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance and as a member of the Christian Indie Authors Reading Group and as the current Administrator of Christian Authors Worldwide, I share new book releases, interviews and reviews with my readers. Stay tuned!