N.O.A. Rawle: Through the Eyes of a Stranger

*TRIGGER WARNING*  Discussion of exhumation, death, bodies and skeletons. Feel free to skip this post.  Dead and buried , laid to rest , phrases that in English imply the end, death, the matter is over and done with. Our very language tells us that death is the end of (the) matter and we have no need to revisit it. In Greece that is not the case.  The day dawned cool and cloudy with the odd shower, a portent of the coming winter and a very fitting atmosphere for my first task of the day. Today was a dear aunt's exhumation. Yes, you read that right, she was being dug up. Due to the lack of suitable ground (not too rocky, not prone too flooding, on the outskirts of town, but not too far out) graveyards are hot property in Greece. Here, your final resting place is actually just a port of call, (unless you're willing to pay luxury house prices that is). In Greece, graves are hollow pits, lined with cement blocks, somewhat reminiscent of a garage, and like cars are parked in and tak

I've been living abroad - in Greece - half my lifetime come this October! In that time I haven't really talked about where I live or what it's like being a stranger, learning Greek or getting used to a different routine so I thought I'd post occasionally, on what I've come to love, live and learn here. The atmosphere here in Trikala has started to feel autumnal early this year, due to a plethora of thunder storms so strong that storm warnings were even issued and mobiles started buzzing all over the city. (Mine, having English as its prefered language, reads out the Greek as phonetic gobbledegook in an overtly strong American accent. This obviously diminishes the urgency or severity of any warning...) So with the drop in temperatures to a cool 22 degrees centigrade (at the time of writing) I'm in full-on autumn mode and thought I'd share five things that I enjoy at this time of year.  1. Autumn Leaves No list would be complete without enjoying the autu

As it's that time when one reviews the year, I thought it was about time I got my act together. If you have visited here recently, it might seem that I have been dormant for two whole years and you'll most likely have scooted off to more prolific writers/bloggers. My statistics have dropped, both in blogging and writing. That was a conscious choice. My health was suffering (too many sleepless nights creeping up on me) and I needed to devote myself to family and paying work (which I've had to literally double the hours of, what with wage cuts and crazy taxing.) So here are the last two years in review (an easily condensed version)! Stemming from my steampunk interests I've been sewing a whole bunch of things, all shamefully unfinished, apart from a Victorian style choker and a cute hat. The former is made out of a remnant of lace scooped up from the floor of a local seamstress and the latter was a gift from a friend which, if I am honest, I would never have worn a

At some point in time you may have mused on the romantic idea behind pirates, adventure on the high seas, stolen loot and buried treasure. Rie Sheridan Rose takes those romantic notions one step further in her fantasy novel Mutiny on the Moonbeam, published by Mocha Memoirs Press. When Branwyn St. Clair stands up to her step father and stows away aboard the Moonbeam, she doesn't realise that it will lead her to to a life of adventure and pirating. Johnny Pate, the only human on the elven crew tries to keep her safe, but there are forces working behind the scenes that bring them together in ways which even they can't imagine. Throughout her blog tour , Rie Sheridan Rose has elaborated on the characters and their inspiration and motivation. I didn't read any of it until I got to the end of the book and to writing this review - it's like watching the film before reading the book - for me that just won't do! The characters pull you in and drag you helter-skel

Ahoy m' hearties! It is my honour that Rie Sheridan Rose, author, poet, lyricist and editor has decided to kick off her blog tour for her latest Fantasy Romance novel, 'Mutiny on the Moonbeam', right here on Through the Eyes of a Stranger. I've been lucky enough to have been granted a sneak preview and I can tell you the book's a fantastic read (but more on that in the coming week), so without further ado, let me hand over the reins! Why Do We Love Pirates? Long before Jack Sparrow took to the High Seas, readers (and viewers) have had a love affair with pirates. From Disney fare like “Blackbeard’s Ghost” to the swash-and-buckle of Errol Flynn, something about these buccaneers has captured the imagination. It’s not like real-life pirates were anything to romanticize. They robbed many a ship, killed more than their share of sailors, and probably lived a fairly filthy existence if we are honest about it. Still, they have wormed their way into the h

So here's a ramble of the kind I don't do so often. I set 2019 as a purge year - no don't go thinking I've been running riot on the streets dressed in carnival costumes while I gleefully find ways of slaughtering everyone who so much as piqued my anger. I've been clearing out the physical cr*p in my life. I'm no fan of the KonMari method, but any fool can see that when your house is cluttered so is your life! My house is full of four generations of such clutter, not all of which I can dispose of. So, that means I've been clearing out stuff from my own past mostly, or at least re-ordering it. This in turn has lead me to contemplate everything I've done thus far, as well as all the places I've been and the people I've met. And I've been thinking about getting old - I'm at that stage and it's been in my mind more than ever. Now if you don't know me personally you probably won't know I'm the youngest in my family. My oldest s