Thought Wheel

Ann Chiappetta

Braided Love 5 Star Book Review

| Filed under Fiction novel writing Relationships reviews

Book Review

Braided Love

Author Jo Elizabeth Pinto © 2023

Genre: Contemporary/YA fiction

Available in print and eBook formats from Amazon/Kindel/D2D and other eBook sellers

 

By Ann Chiappetta

 

From the book jacket

 

Summer on the ranch seems safe and predictable for Brenda. All she has on her mind are trips into town with Nick Haynes and the horsehair rope she’s braiding so she can start training her Morgan colt, Tenacity. Then Cathy arrives from the city with a troubled past and an uncertain future. As Cathy adjusts to life in the country, both girls begin to figure out what family bonds really mean to them in a world that isn’t as simple as it appears.

 

Jo Elizabeth Pinto is the kind of writer who knows her craft. Her stories and characters grab you and don’t let go. You will be thinking about this story months after reading it.

 

I am fortunate to have interviewed Jo; her soft-spoken voice and humble attitude are charming qualities but it is her passion about telling a good story and showing readers what it means to be human I find most intriguing.

 

Jo writes characters who aren’t perfect. Most are broken and scarred yet jo E. Pinto weaves in hope and healing.

 

Let’s not forget about the conflicts presented in this family story.

 

Brenda and Cathy’s instant dislike of one another might seem typical girl drama but when one goes deeper into the story, the onion is peeled and the reader is drawn into situations and emotions much deeper than superficial girl stuff. The adults presented in this book are also facing conflict and I found the author’s skills in introducing them into the story masterful. The family’s constellation of surviving pain is balanced by love. Romantic love, filial love. Binding friendships are woven into this wonderful, memorable story of keeping what is important and cherished within a family and among friends.

 

I would recommend this book to young adults and general readers and anyone interested in family-related subjects involving adoption and foster care and children with disabilities.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars

 

 

 

The Way of the Cat 😼

| Filed under nonfiction pets and people

The Way of the Cat

How to assemble an end table.

Person one places box on bed.

Person one must push cat off box to open it.

Person one calls person two, the husband, to begin assembling table consisting of a few wood pieces and a few metal upright pieces.

Cat begins chewing plastic bag, person one gathers bags and shoves them inside the shipping box.

Cat begins rubbing, purring and stepping on instructions.

Person two, the husband, tells cat to “Go away,”.

Cat ignores person two and rubs on person one, who is watching person two try to figure out the instructions seemingly written by an alien humanoid species not from this planet.

Cat continues rubbing and being adorable.

Person two, the husband, is becoming frustrated, time for person one to exit the room

Person one entices the cat into office whereupon person one fills kitty crunchies and calls for cat.

Cat appears and begins eating.

Person two, the husband is now fully committed to the table assembly.

Person one is shaking her head, petting the cat who is eating from the dish on the desk, mumbling to herself, saying “I am such a slave,”.

black long haaired kitten, Luna, relaxing on my laptop.

It’s Just a Prick of a Finger, Please sign here 🏡

| Filed under nonfiction writing

It’s Just a Prick of a Finger, Please sign here

 

Ann Chiappetta, M.S.

 

 

It was going to happen, not sure when; we waited for paperwork, online access, more of both until we wanted to scream why did our thirty years of labor and dedication and social security credits seem like it did not matter?

 

We invested in our future, our property, our nest egg. It did not crack. We held it up, a gilded goose egg birthed with sweat equity. It was a proud moment, being assured we would be able to trade it for a more temperate and quieter climate. We filled the dumpsters with the past, packed our bags with hope, stepped to the curb and trusted the vehicle barreling down the street would stop; we flagged it down, climbed aboard. We flashed our senior passes, panting and massaging our aging and preapproved home buyer mortgage application.  Portable document formats and printers held us hostage. Sign, initial, drip your blood here, swab your cheek and attest to your identity. OMG, will the world disintegrate after we retire to our residence of final destination?

 

We made it, the golden egg house proof the dream is still achievable. As long as we have food to grow, personal care products and filtered water, we will fade away together, holding hands, serving up reduced sodium meals. We will add chopped micro herbs into the container garden grown vegetables and locally sourced animal flesh. Wine will do . The twilight years, to us, means the years we will enjoy sitting together on the patio of our dreams and absorb the natural and sometimes discordant symphony of  the American Dream.

The picture shows a single-story house with a well-maintained lawn in the foreground. The house has a metal roof with solar panels installed on it. There is a large American flag on a flagpole in the front yard. The house has a combination of brick and siding on the exterior. There is a small patio area with a bench and a potted plant near the entrance. In the background, there are tall trees with green leaves, and the sky is partly cloudy with patches of blue.

 

Imperfections Blog Tour Stops 📔

| Filed under blogging Fiction novel writing

Imperfections

Blog  tour dates and links

Thanks to Goddess fishPromotions  and Marianne Judy and all the bloggers mentioned here and, of course all the people who posted comments and reviews.

 

 

 

 

 

Westveil Publishing

Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read

Hope. Dreams. Life… Love

Long and Short Reviews

Literary Gold

Fabulous and Brunette

Books+Coffee=Happiness

The Pen and Muse Book Reviews

 

The Avid Reader

 

Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews

 

The Faerie Review

 

Our Town Book Reviews

A Wonderful World of Words

 

Gina Rae Mitchell

 

Sandra’s Book Club

 

 

tour banner

 

 

Backyard Denizen 🐍

| Filed under blogging pets and people

During a hot span of days a few weeks ago Jerry  found a large black snake sunning itself on a rock on the side of our house. At the time, he couldn’t get a good photo but  based on his description I figured it was a black snake or some kind of rat snake, very common around here. He reassured himself it wasn’t venomous by identifying it with an app on his phone and it kept to itself.  We didn’t want to disturb it knowing it would keep down the rodent population and it was denning in a place where there wasn’t foot traffic, separated from us by the back fence, so the dog was not going to harass it, either.

 

We live near the wooded area  attached to parkland and deer walk down our street, rabbits chase one another to and from the yards, and songbirds are all over, which is sweet and much better than being awakened by sirens, yelling and  semis blasting air horns from the highway at  three a.m.

Back to the snake:   The next couple of weeks it was cooler and rainy and we didn’t see it again …until today. It not only slithered to the other side of the yard near the tool shed but it also left us shedding. We estimate it is between five and seven feet long and  not quite two inches around.   The description and photos are below.

Maybe having the snake will keep the rabbits from the garden.  🤞

The image shows a person holding a long, shed snake skin on a glass patio table.

The setting appears to be a sunny day with shadows cast on the ground.

 

 

The next image is a black snake in the grass in the middle ground of the photo.

 

 

 

Annie Shares News May 2024

| Filed under blogging Poem

Annie Shares News Volume 3 Issue 5 May 2024

Subscribe: anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io

Web: www.annchiappetta.com

Email: anniecms64@gmail.com

Blog: www.thought-wheel.com

🐝 💐 🌸 📙

Hello readers, it’s wonderful to share some items of interest with you. I’ve been juggling the release of my second contemporary novel, Imperfections and the audio book release of my first contemporary novel, Hope For the Tarnished on Audible.com . Since cloning isn’t an acceptable work around my time management skills are being put to the test. 🕰️

 

Beginning May 8, 2024 my blog tour will promoting Imperfections. I’ll be posting the links on Facebook. I’ll be sharing inside information about my book, the characters, the plot points and the writing life. I like to surprise people with little known tidbits, so if you follow me on FB, why not click on the blog where I am posting at the time of the tour and get to know more about me and the indie authors who support independent publishing.

 

My gift to you for subscribing to this blog and my newsletter is an interview I did in March launching Imperfections. The link to the MP3 is

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jalpwnf1ncdm9lp52zrgx/2024-03-21-BBL-Ann-Chiappetta-Audio.mp3?rlkey=c6r7zm08o66jkzvye7pjwqkok&dl=0

 

Since moving to Pennsylvania,  Jerry and I got the birding and gardening bug. We hung up a few bird feeders and a fountain. The diversity of the types of birds who come to feed is remarkable. Plus the deer, turkey, rabbits, squirrels and  a large rat snake provide some excitement, 😉

 

The poem below is a tribute to the songbirds we hear in our yard and neighborhood.

Until next time, happy spring! 🌻

 

Avian Speak

Ann Chiappetta

Wee-see, wee-see, wee-see

Tufted messengers

Spring’s here

black cap flitters

cuck tuk TukTuk

yeep peek chuckle

Perched Passeri

burbles and wing beats

 

cherry blossom promises

Cheer up cheerio chick burr

So pretty so pretty so pretty

Drink your tea

Photo is a close up of two eastern bluebirds side by side on a cherry blossom tree branch.

 

 

 

New on Audible.com

| Filed under Fiction novel writing

Hope for the Tarnished

© 2022 By Ann Chiappetta

You don’t choose who you love, it just happens.

Follow young Abbie Raymond as she traverses concentric rings of tragedy, hope and healing.

Listen now  on Audible.com Narrated by Lilian Yves and Vincent Lee Gracen

https://tinyurl.com/yk3k63uu

Amazon in print Hard and soft cover ` Kindle ` eBook` Smashwords

What Readers are Saying

“It kept my interest and I cared about the characters.  I liked the mixture of problems and people who supported Abbie.  It also had a good blend of drama and rest between troubles …”From Lisa B.

 

It’s excellent. I couldn’t stop reading it.”

 

Link to full review: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1134230

 

From Trish Hubschman

Author of the Tracy Gayle mystery series

 

Add my book to your reading list

Good Reads:

And Smashwords

 

A couple walking on the beach at sunset. They are silhouetted
 by the brilliant colors  reflected on the water.

Remembering Bailey a poem for NPM

| Filed under blindness Guide dogs Poem

Your Name

Ann Chiappetta

 

Bathing my life in slobbery joy you

Accepted me unconditionally

If only love could  sustain you and

Let you live forever

Everyone knows a dog named Bailey

Yellow Labrador guiding  my heart

and memories.

 

For Guiding Eyes Bailey 1BB13 April 2013-March 2024.

 

Yellow lab Bailey lick's Annie's face. She is laughing.Annie and yellow lab Bailey licking her face

dreaming of a Dog

| Filed under blindness Guide dogs Poem

Double Dreams of My dog

Ann Chiappetta

 

I

Dreamt of

My dog’s escape

The door was open

Heartsick I panicked

Searched, begged

fruitlessly

for his

return. I watched

all those I   lost

drive off with Mom

Bailey Bailey Bailey

I called

Silence

But then

Someone called,  urgently

I have

him

My hand

Touches the leather

this collar  familiar but

Not my dog

Could this

Dream

Dog Be

my future partner

or is it merely

a wishful

thought?

Yellow lab Bailey one year old standing at the shor in Maine. Photo taken by his puppy raiser. Bailey died March 16, 2024, he was ten. We miss you buddy.

Yellow lab bailey posed with blue skies and clouds in the background.