#brother-love-a-crossroad — Public Fediverse posts

Whatnot Wednesday: Where, What, When We LISTEN #CFFC

Wednesday, August 9, 2026

Welcome, all.  September is finally here, but it still feels like August… and July… and June… and half of May.  Here, that’s how long it’s been since we had a break from the ultra-hot days.

Daphne:  Yummy Human, are you complaining about the hot weather again?  Cut it out.  I’m not going to listen to it.  You’re interrupting my bath.

Ahem…  As I was about to say, the Scoobies are helping with another installment of Dan Antion‘s “Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge” (CFFC).   Dan asked the multi-part question, Where, What, and When do you LISTEN?  For our response, the Scoobies and I are going to limit this listening to audiobooks. 

Where?

Daphne:  Yummy Human listens to audiobooks at the kitchen table when takes her lunch break.  She likes to listen while she eats.  With audiobooks, she doesn’t have to juggle food and turn pages like with a regular book.

Velma:  I like to have a bite while Yummy’s listening too. CHOMP! 

But she re-listens to books at night when she’s trying to go to sleep, or back to sleep, or back-back-back to sleep.  I know she’s almost finished with book-5 “Gator Bait.”  But sometimes during the night she plays book-1, “Louisiana Longshot.”

Ouch, Velma!  But you’re right, Scoobies.  My C-PTSD makes it difficult for me to watch, read, or listen to new stories, because I have so many triggers. I get a lot of anxiety just trying to start a new story.  So I re-enjoy things that are the watching/listening equivalent of comfort food.  A couple of my go-to listens during the night are Nathan Lowell’s “The Wizard’s Butler,” and “Stop Panic Attacks” (sleep hypnosis) by Joel Thielke.

What

Daphne:  Yummy Human says she likes “cozy” books, but I think some cozies are fantasy and other kinds, not just mysteries.  I wish she’d re-listen to book-2 of Nathan Lowell’s fantasy series.  I really liked “The Wizard’s Cat.”  Or any of “The Cat Who” series by Lilian Jackson Braun.

All of those are worth a re-listen, Scoobies.  A lot of experts are saying that having stories read to you builds a stronger vocabulary, improves listening comprehension, and reduces stress.  It also helps develop empathy and emotional intelligence. 

Mental and Cognitive Growth

• Boosts active listening skills and focus.
• Expands word knowledge beyond everyday speech.
• Strengthens brain areas linked to visual imagery and memory.
• Makes complex plots and ideas easier to understand.

Emotional and Social Well-Being

• Lowers stress and promotes relaxation.
• Builds empathy by showing how characters feel and react.
• Creates a safe space to explore difficult feelings.
• Deepens personal connections and trust between the listener and the reader.

Velma:  Okay, Yummy.  I’m snuggled down and ready to listen to a story.  But you’d better hurry up and start playing it, because I have a yen to chomp your toe.

Thanks for visiting.   Friendly comments are welcome.  Hugs.

♣ ♣ ♣

Naturally, the obligatory shameless self-promotion must be included.

Brother Love – a Crossroad

Strange things abound in a small 1950s town.  It’s a cozy, magic realism story, filled with mystery and music.

Universal Purchase Links

Kindle:  relinks.me/B07V25SXFR

Paperback:  relinks.me/107952309X

♣ ♣ ♣

This blog is entirely human-written.  Furthermore, the author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training AI technologies to generate text.  No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author, or used with permission, or from free sources.

Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved.

Whatnot Wednesday: Where, What, When We Read #CFFC

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Welcome, all.  The Scoobies are lazy on this hot August day, but I told them there was a nap-time story in it for them if they helped with this installment of Dan Antion‘s “Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge” (CFFC).   Dan asked the multi-part question, Where, What, and When do you read?

Where?

Velma:  I know the answer to that one.  Yummy Human reads in bed or sitting at her desk.  But she reads at her Kindle too.  I’m calling that a WHERE.   

Hey, Yummy… don’t you think it’s time you got a new Kindle cover?  That one’s looking a little… well-loved.  Why do you keep it?  Is it like a favorite mouse toy that smells just right from having a couple of years’ worth of slobbers on it?  Anyway, I sure do like to scrub my cheek on it when you’re reading.  I’m trying to add to the aroma.

I don’t know, Velma.  I just never think about it.  I haven’t had to use any duct tape to hold it together.  So, it must not be too bad then.  You two go ahead with this challenge.  I’m not any good at this one.  Besides, I need to try and fix the air purifier.  The wires came loose on the ionization frame…

Daphne:  Okay Yummy.  We got this!  Leme see…  Yummy listens to audiobooks at the kitchen table, when she— Oh, I can’t say that because that’s jumping ahead to the post for “Where, What, When do you LISTEN.”   

Velma:  Yummy said something about Memory Lane and Dan Antion’s first book, Knuckleheads.  (Buy it here, it’s a purr-fectly great book.)  I guess Memory Lane is another place where she reads.  But that also brings us to…

What?

From Kunckleheads:

“Can you visit the computer center at Pitt for me?”

A small chill went up my spine, and I was sure my expression told Billy I was worried about that. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize my scholarship. He explained it was a simple thing. “They have a Star Trek program. If I knew the name of the program, I could play it from the terminal at school. I could even assemble a fleet and have you join my fleet from your school.”

Velma:  I’m not sure I understand where Memory Lane is either.  You know… Knuckleheads won’t help us go back to sleep though.  It’s exciting.  Where would you go if you could travel just by using your dreams, Daphne? 

Anyhow, Yummy will have to pick a different story for nap-time.  But that Miss Fortune Mystery cozy series she’s been into won’t do either — it’s too funny.  She finished the fourth book, Swamp Team 3 this week.  Tiny the Rottweiler cracked me up.

Daphne:  Yeah, she’s already reading the next book in that series — Gator Bait.  They’re by Jana DeLeon.  Can’t decide which characters are funnier, the little old ladies who used to be spies, or the CIA assassin who’s so out of her element pretending to be a girly-girl.

When?

Daphne:  Yummy Human, did you fix the air purifier thingie?  Oh, you’re not sure the wire thing you fixed is going to work good enough?  I see that you ordered a part for it…  What do you mean no new toys for a while?  That part cost HOW MUCH?  Well, okay.  We’ll make that sacrifice.  Besides, we’d rather play with paper balls and plastic rings anyway.  Hey, don’t forget to give us that ring from the Gatorade bottle — those roll the best. 

So, anyway, I’ve noticed that sometimes, after you come and tell us goodnight, you’re awake for a really long time with a book.  How am I supposed have a good nocturnal prowl if you’re awake?

Daphne:  I think she should count her desk and computer as a WHERE too, because she reads so much when I help her do research for stories.  I’m just not sure of the names of all the books she uses.   She’s been working on a ghost story set in the 1920s.

Velma:  That seems a lot like WHERE and WHAT to me… so does that other picture.  I’m getting confused.  Maybe I need some ‘nip.  Okay… so, the WHEN is when she’s at the computer and mostly not paying attention to us.  Oh well, we’re sleeping then anyway.  And the WHAT is at the computer or the table or in bed…  And the WHERE is the computer and the table and the bed… 

Oh, thank Bastet! I found the ‘nip, and not a minute too soon.

You know, Daphne…  Maybe it’s all the same, WHERE and WHAT and WHEN… all looped together in the same quantum physics plane… Where Time Becomes a Loop.

Daphne:  Velma, I take it that you found the ‘nip.  Sounds like it’s a good batch too.  Yummy, I don’t think we need a nap-time story quite yet…

Velma:  Woo-whoo!  Wahaha hahaha!

Thanks for visiting, what, where, or whenever we are.   Friendly comments are welcome.  Hugs.

♣ ♣ ♣

Naturally, the obligatory shameless self-promotion must be included.

Brother Love – a Crossroad

Strange things abound in a small 1950s town.  It’s a cozy, magic realism story, filled with mystery and music.

Universal Purchase Links

Kindle:  relinks.me/B07V25SXFR

Paperback:  relinks.me/107952309X

Audiobook:  Click here for a four-minute sample.

♣ ♣ ♣

This blog is entirely human-written.  Furthermore, the author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training AI technologies to generate text.  No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author, or used with permission, or from free sources.

Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved.

Whatnot Wednesday for #ThursdayDoors on a Hot August Night

Wednesday, August 13, 2026

Hello, everyone.  Right off the bat, I apologize for getting ahead of Thursday Doors.  It helps me on a few different levels if I stick to my Wednesday/Weekend posting schedule.  Last week, I mentioned that throughout August I’ll be sharing about book Brother Love: A Crossroad.  (Click here for that post because it will tell you more.) I also said that Dan Antion made a lot of great photos to illustrate the blog version of this story.  Those photographs included some doors.  So today I’m taking you on a tour of my fictional 1950s town, Parlement, Mississippi via Dan’s photos.

Here’s a bit about that house in the words of Birdie Devovo, the heroine:

My house sat in a triangle between ways at a crossroads.  There was a street in front and another road in back.  There were also any number of old trails that intersected there.  Old superstitions about the crossroads abounded.  My mother had been able to get the house because no one else would have it.  I kept it because I had nowhere else would have it.

Oh, that screen door is part of a suspenseful scene…

Doug Armstrong’s voice sounded as spooked as I felt.  The big man’s voice had the slightest quiver.  His fist banged on the screen doorframe again. I extricated myself from my hiding spot under the kitchen table before Armstrong broke the poor excuse for door.

Like most small southern towns, there were churches.  They’re mentioned in the story, but the one that comes into the plot is the traveling tent revival:

Earlier that day, sitting in my little house at the crossroads, I listened to the sharp crack of a bat hitting a baseball from the ballgame that had started up in the field next to the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  People cheered their teams and made happy sounds. From the other side of the tracks, I heard the bell of the First Methodist Church up in the town.  When the breeze was right, I could hear the Wurlitzer organ as the choir practiced. Folks were excited about that organ.  I preferred the sound of their old piano.

The two churches were on either side of the town.  The crossroads lay between the two.  Nobody from either of them ever came to the house at the crossroads.  Neither group wanted anything to do with Birdie Devovo.

This abandoned diner didn’t make it into the story, but there would have been a diner somewhere in Parlement.  Anyway, it’s a cool photo, so it gets a moment of fame today.

Women in big cities might have started wearing slim cigarette or capri pants out in public, but that hadn’t become acceptable in Parliament, Mississippi.  I already attracted enough frowns and gossip, just from my mother’s reputation, so I didn’t wear those out in public.  I tried to banish the thoughts as I put on a yellow gingham, shirt-dress.  It had a little bow at the neck from the same check fabric.  Then I tied on my blue denim Keds.  New white laces kept the wear and tear from being as noticeable.  Nobody would know the soles were worn slick.  When I drove my old Nash Rambler wagon into Parliament, I turned onto Fourth Street where the Post Office was.

In rural towns of that era, the local Post Office could be a hub of information.  Birdie came across something quite puzzling there. 

Birdie is a nickname for the heroine, but there actually is a bird, and he’s one of the most important characters.  His name is Jinx.  He’s a talking magpie.  Some parts of the story are told from his point of view.

Jinx sat on the perch in his birdcage.  The cage door was open as always.  He shifted foot-to-foot as Birdie came into the kitchen carrying a laundry basket and a small container of blueberries.

“How-deee!” Jinx chirped his Minnie Pearl impression.

There’s a door on that birdcage somewhere… Birdie Devovo usually leaves it open — Jinx comes and goes as he pleases.  That’s how he finds so much trouble in a sleepy little town like Parlement.

♣ ♣ ♣

Hello, Jinx, but this post is finished now.  That’s it for this tour of Birdie Devovo’s world in fictional town of Parlement.  Thanks for coming along.  Friendly comments are welcome.  However, a note to newcomers — just remember that this is a sanctuary, so we don’t discuss religion, politics, or things that are polarizing.  Everyone needs to feel welcome.  Hugs on the wing!

♣ ♣ ♣

Naturally, the obligatory shameless self-promotion must be included.  Brother Love: A Crossroad continues to be at a special sale price throughout the month of August.  

Brother Love – a Crossroad

Strange things abound in 1950s Parliament, Mississippi.  Jinx the magpie can fill you in on the details.

Universal Purchase Links

E-Book:  relinks.me/B07V25SXFR

Paperback:  relinks.me/107952309X

Audiobook:  Click here.

♣ ♣ ♣

This blog is entirely human-written.  Furthermore, the author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training AI technologies to generate text.  No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author, or used with permission, or from free sources.

Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved.

Blue and White #CFFC, & The Story of the Story-1: A Hot August Night

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Welcome, all. The Scoobies (Daphne and Velma) are on hand again to help with Dan Antion‘s color challenge.  This week, Dan said any of the Box of 8 colors with white for “Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge” (CFFC).  The Scoobies picked blue as the color to go with white.  So, we’re on a quest for blue and white things.  This time we aren’t only looking around the house for the color. 

First, I have my own response to the challenge.  I’ve re-released my book, Brother Love: A Crossroad, so we’re looking for blue and white there too.  That’s why you see Dan’s photo of a vintage radio at the top of the screen.  The first version of Brother Love appeared several years ago as one of my Three Things style serials.  Dan Antion took the role of photographer extraordinaire to illustrate the blog version.  I really appreciated Dan’s enthusiasm in looking for subjects and photographing them. A couple of times he even brought his brother into the adventure.  Ah… fun memories!  So, I’m including some of those pictures.

I think of it as my August book, because it opens on a hot august night.  Does that remind you of a song?  There are old songs throughout that story, but a somewhat later song from Neil Diamond was the springboard for my imagination in writing it — Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show.  Although it combined with a second source of inspiration…

That was the legend of the people making a deal with the devil at the crossroads. That’s what a lot of people said about Robert Johnson, an extraordinary musician from the early days of blues.  In my weirdly wired mind, that legend combined with Neil Diamond’s song, resulting in a mystical character of undefined nature and origin.  We find him at a traveling tent revival.  He is called Brother Love.

 So, my response to this challenge includes a page in the book that mentions blue and white.

Brother Love has an ensemble of quirky, outsider-type characters.   It’s set in a tiny 1950s southern town.  The narrator is Birdie (Albertina) Devovo.  She also lives in a house at a crossroads — something about which the locals are superstitious.  In the scene in the photo above, she is about to put on her blue and white polkadot dress.

Birdie is on her way to show support for her friend, another outsider and a disgraced preacher, Doug Armstrong.  He’s been given a second chance through being asked to preach one of the sermons at a tent revival. It takes courage for Birdie to go, because the townspeople are unfriendly to her, and the churchgoers are particularly bad about their “whispers.”  But don’t misunderstand the story. 

Despite those Christianity connections, Brother Love is not a religious story.  That’s only the setting.  Kind of like Neil Diamond’s song is not a religious hymn.   The book is a genre mashup.  It’s more like magic realism, but there’s also a mystery surrounding a little girl in a white dress named Tammy.

Below, in 1971 Neil Diamond describes his inspiration for writing that song.

There’s more info and purchase links about Brother Love: A Crossroad at the end of this post, along with the updated book cover.

I also have a “story of the story” about the characters Doug Armstrong and Tammy, but this is getting long, so I’ll save that for next week.

Now the Scoobies are ready to take charge of this post with their blue and white finds.

Daphne:   Hey, Velma.  Whatcha watching on television?  Wait a minute… that’s not our TV.  The magic of computers must have sent it here.  Anyhow, did you just turn your back on Yummy Human?  I see that she’s sock-patting you to get your attention.

Velma:  Yes she is, Daphne.  And I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of turning to look at that camera.  Hey, Yummy — don’t you know that “You’re nobody until a cat has turned its back on you”?  Oh, and by the way, this time I found the first thing in our color quest — Yummy’s blue and white socks.

Daphne:   No, you didn’t.  I found that blue and white TV screen.

Daphne:   Hmmm… What else is blue and white…  Oh, I know.  Yummy Human has been working on that dragon post for this weekend.  Two of those oracle cards are blue and white.

Velma:  So those are dragons?  Cool.  I was afraid they were chupacabras. 

Daphne:  Are chupacabras blue and white?  No idea, but two of our fish toys are blue and white. Oh, and we have blue rings and white rings.  Okay. My work is done.  What’s the nap that comes after the after breakfast nap?

Velma:  That would be the pre-lunch nap.  It’s followed by the after-lunch nap, and then the pre-dinner nap and…  I’m sleepy just thinking about it.   Yummy Human, we give the post back to you.

Nice work, Scoobies.  Everyone, thanks for visiting.   Friendly comments are welcome.  Hugs.

♣ ♣ ♣

Naturally, the obligatory shameless self-promotion must be included.

Brother Love – a Crossroad

Strange things abound in 1950s Parliament, Mississippi.  Jinx the magpie can fill you in on the details.

Universal Purchase Links

E-book:  relinks.me/B07V25SXFR

Note:  If you buy (or even if you have previously bought) the e-book the audio-book is only $1.99.

Audio book:  Click here

Paperback:  relinks.me/107952309X

♣ ♣ ♣

This blog is entirely human-written.  Furthermore, the author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training AI technologies to generate text.  No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author, or used with permission, or from free sources.

Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved.

Whatnot Wednesday: The Scoobies and Color Pairs #CFFC

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Welcome, all. The Scoobies are here again, bringing their particular brand of fun to help you over the midweek hump.  Dan Antion gave us a challenge to use pairs from the old “Crayola Crayons Box of 8,” for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge (CFFC).  Always a mystery-solving duo, the Scoobies and spent the day looking around the house for clues to find things that paired hues from those eight colors.

Now, I have to hand this post over to the Scoobies.

Daphne:  Look!  I found yellow and blue together in our old rug.

Velma:   Yeah, but there’s also magenta, and chartreuse, and every other color.  It has more than a pair.  Does that matter?  Besides… How did you get that rug out, Daphne?  I thought Yummy Human took it away.   

Daphne:  Ahh, Grasshopper.  Have faith in your sensi.  It’s the magic of the computer, Velma.  And I’m calling this part of the rug “yellow and blue.”  I found the first pair of colors.  So there.

Velma:   (SNORTS)  You aren’t my sensi and you dog-on sure aren’t the boss of me.  I always get the upper paw with you.  But that said, okay… I’ll give it to you.      Hang on.  Where are you going now?  The kitchen?  You haven’t already found another color pair have you?  That’s not fair!

Daphne:  I found red and yellow.  Oh, I love this rug…

Velma:  Once again, there are other colors besides yellow mixed with the red…

Velma:  Alright then… If you’re going to play it fast and loose, I just found black and blue in the bench cover.  And going for doubles, I found pink and yellow in it too.

Daphne:  Pink isn’t one of the eight colors.  Follow instructions, and listen to your sensi.   Oh-oh… I think I might have made her mad… 

Daphne:  Whaaah!  I give you my cat-fu kick. 

Velma:  Oh phleeeze Daphne.  You know you’re no match for me.  Hai-yah!

What’s going on in there, Scoobies?

Daphne:   Uh…  nothing, Yummy!  Hey, I just found blue and orange.

Velma:  There’s only one color there, Daphne.  There’s no orange, just a blue cloth. You’re really bending rules.  

Daphne:  We’re orange, silly.   Hey, where’re you going?  To the ceiling?  Are you still hissed-off?

Velma:  Bettcha can’t get up here!  I found light green and light brown.

Daphne:  I found red and green, and it’s delicious.  Ummm… basil.

Velma:  That’s a matter of taste.  Wait, we haven’t found anything paired with purple yet.  If we want to get bonus points from Uncle Dan for finding all the pairs, then our quest isn’t finished yet.   Yummy Human?  Have you got a purple and yellow scarf?  A purple and blue dish? Green and purple socks, maybe?  We need something with purple.

No, Velma… give me a second to do some Night Cafe magic…   … Here ya go.  A purr-fect purple and green.

Velma:  Excellent, Yummy.  Yes, we’re the queens of the castle!  I love the green gown you gave me.

Daphne:  Oooh that’s a purr-fect shade of purple.  … but I think I should wear the green.  It goes better with my eyes.

Velma:  We both have exactly the same color of eyes, Daphne.  Hey, Yummy Human — did we find enough color pairs to get the bonus points?

Scoobies, I honestly don’t know.  I’ve completely lost track.  I’m not even certain that we got the pairs concept right.  Now, don’t look sad.  The bonus points are just fun, you can’t do anything with them.  Tell you what — I’ll give you bonus treats.  Yes, I thought you’d like that.  Scoobies, you did great work. 

Thanks for visiting, everyone.   Friendly comments are welcome.  Hugs.

♦ ♣ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♦

Naturally, the obligatory shameless self-promotion must be included.

Brother Love – a Crossroad

Strange things abound in 1950s Parliament, Mississippi.  Jinx the magpie can fill you in on the details.

Universal Purchase Links

Kindle:  relinks.me/B07V25SXFR

Paperback:  relinks.me/107952309X

♦ ♣ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♦

This blog is entirely human-written.  Furthermore, the author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training AI technologies to generate text.  No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author, or used with permission, or from free sources.

Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved.

Whatnot Wednesday: The Scoobies & Favorite Yellows #CFFC

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Welcome, all. The Scoobies are on hand, bringing cheer to help you over the midweek hump.  Dan Antion posted so many beautiful examples of yellow for his “Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge” (CFFC) that, with some encouragement from Daphne and Velma, I decided to participate.  The Scoobies and I spent the day looking around the house for our favorite “yellows.”  That’s my favorite yellow above.  That yellow barrel cactus has grown a lot in the past few years.  It was smaller than a soccer ball for years, and then suddenly started growing. Now I guess it’s about 15 inches across.

Now, I have to hand this post over to the Scoobies.

Daphne:   My yellow cactus is better.  It doesn’t have needles — it feels good to scrub on it.  That’s my favorite yellow.

Velma:   That scrubber is old news, Daphne.  We’re supposed to be finding “Yellows” around the house.  What else is there?  Oh wait, remember those tassel earrings that Yummy Human wouldn’t let us play with?  That’s a fun yellow.

Velma:  What about the new slipcovers Yummy put out this spring?  They’re part yellow.  You know the yellow print on them.  See? Right here on the one on the bench.

Daphne:  Good eye, Velma.  The same print’s on a white background on the sofas.  See, I’m pointing at it with my tail.  But I know that is not your favorite yellow.  You should be ashamed… you’re absolutely cray-cray for that fake egg stuff Yummy Human has for breakfast sometimes.  Honestly… what kind of cat would eat “plant based” pretend eggs?

Velma:  But Daphne… they’re sooo good…  I can’t help myself.  Yep, that’s my favorite yellow alright.

Daphne:  Hey, Yummy.  Please tell me you have a favorite yellow besides that cactus.  What? You used to have yellow high-top tennis shoes.  You’ve got to be kidding me.  You’re as nuts as Velma.

Nice work, Scoobies.  I have one more image.  I imagined a yellow utopia city, and wrote my description of it at Night Cafe.  I made several versions.  Here’s one below.

Thanks for visiting.   Friendly comments are welcome.  Hugs.

♣ ♣ ♣

Naturally, the obligatory shameless self-promotion must be included.

Brother Love – a Crossroad

Strange things abound in 1950s Parliament, Mississippi.  Jinx the magpie can fill you in on the details.

Universal Purchase Links

Kindle:  relinks.me/B07V25SXFR

Paperback:  relinks.me/107952309X

♣ ♣ ♣

This blog is entirely human-written.  Furthermore, the author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training AI technologies to generate text.  No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author, or used with permission, or from free sources.

Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved.

Whatnot Wednesday & #TDWC

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Welcome, all.  Dan Antion‘s Thursday Doors Writing Challenge.   To join the fun, pick one of the doors that were submitted as inspiration for the challenge and write.  It doesn’t have to be a story — write anything that door image inspires in you.

The inspiration door I chose for today was submitted by, poet and collage artist, Kerfe.   Today, my story is true.  Kerfe’s collage is a brilliant use off lights and shadows, of bits of doors and windows through which one might — or might not find answers.  It’s also a perfect illustration of the strange way I felt when the following happened.  (Cue the Twilight Zone theme music.)

The Reminder

It entertains me to use my Amazon Echo device to set reminders for myself for all sorts of timing things, like laundry, birthdays, or “to do” tasks that don’t need to be done on a regular basis.  Or even to “move around” since I sometimes spend hours and hours working at the computer.  Once in a while I set a reminder several weeks in advance.  It works out just fine.  Except that… Well, sometimes Echo and I have a language gap.  This morning (as I write this) Echo gave me a strange reminder.

Echo:  Aires kyon ro rahaa hoon.

Please repeat that, Echo…

Echo:  Aires kyon ro rahaa hoon.

Now, if any of my devices, or the television up and says “Klaatu barada nikto” — I’m going to hide under the bed.

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For more strange goings on, meet Birdie Devovo, Doug Armstron, and Jinx the magpie in Brother Love: a Crossroad.  Links to that book are below. 

Friendly comments are welcome.  Thanks for opening this door.  Hugs!

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Brother Love: a Crossroad

Strange things abound in 1950s Parliament, Mississippi.  Jinx the magpie can fill you in on the details.

Universal Purchase Links

Kindle:  relinks.me/B07V25SXFR

Paperback:  relinks.me/107952309X

Also available for $1.99 in virtual voice audiobook.

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This post is part of Dan Antion 6th Annual Thursday Doors Writing Challenge (TDWC). Click the blue link for more information about the challenge and how to showcase your stories.)  Fortunately for me, Dan’s rules for the writing challenge are wonderfully flexible and include any sort of creativity. 

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Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

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