Category Archives: Photograph

Sherry’s Shelves 3.12 – 3.18.23 #weeklyupdate

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Hi Everyone. May the luck of the Irish be with ya.

It’s been a laid back week. Lots of reading and I made myself catch up on reviews. I am pretty good at keeping up with them now, though I probably have some overdue ones buried in my email. I will be working on those, but concentrate mostly on keeping current.

We went out to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and met some ex coworkers of Mr Wonderful’s. The food and company was great, seeing I still spend the majority of my time at home. I love it though. I am a bit of a loner and can easily entertain myself.

I plan on being in the pool in the next week or two. I know it will be a wake up call, but I think my body needs a shock, a wake up call, if you will.

Stay safe..

LAST WEEK ON fundinmental

COMING UP ON fundinmental

  • Sherry’s Shelves
  • Review – House Of Jaguar by Mike Bond
  • Giveaway – Flightlog by Susan Humphrey
  • Giveaway – How Did I Get Her by Andrew Fitzgerald
  • Review & Giveaway – Chris Crossed Murder by Lauren Carr
  • Giveaway – Traveling Tootsie by Karen & Kathy Honaker
  • Review – The Girl Who Crossed The Line by Tikiri Herath
  • Giveaway – Timeless: Zane & Fiona by Kaylene Winter
  • Books From The Backlog
  • Giveaway – Queen’s Catacombs by Jordan H Bartlett
  • Giveaway – All Signs Lead To Lucy by Juliann Dove
  • The Sptlight Is On A Bad Bout Of The Yips
  • Tackling The TBR
  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
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Sherry’s Shelves 2.5 – 2.11.23 #weeklyupdate

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Hi Everyone. It’s been a week of cool temperatures, sun and rain. Right now it’s pretty gloomy outside, but that’s okay. Watching golf and will be binging on Lucifer…AGAIN…when Mr Wonderful heads off to do freelance for the Pensacola Ice Flyers.

Stay safe.

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  • Sherry’s Shelves
  • Giveaway – Palm Springs King by Claire Marti
  • Giveaway – Standing Strong by Tina Brandau
  • Giveaway – The Matchmaker’s Royal Mess by Frieda J Downing
  • New Release Review – The Broken Darkness by Theresa Braun
  • Giveaway – The Greenleaf Murders by R J Koreto
  • Review – The Northedge Of Nowhere by Carmen Webster Buxton
  • The Spotlight Is On Fact & Fiction by Justin M Kiska
  • Giveaway – Jonah by Ali Lucia Sky
  • Books From The Backlog
  • Review – Her Final Breath by Carolyn Arnold
  • Giveway – Two Floors Above Grief by Kevin M O’Connor
  • Review – The Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel
  • Giveaway – Wined and Died In New Orleans by Ellen Byron
  • Tackling The TBR
  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
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Artwork & Guest Post for Green Shoots by Ben Westwood @benwestwood #ecologicalthriller

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The beautiful cover caught my eye. The title made me curious. And this line from the blurb finished me off:

Green Shoots is a story of grief and revenge, a gripping crime thriller with an ecological heart.

I reviewed Green Shoots by Ben Westwood on November 16, 2022. Everything about his book spoke to me and I was amazed at Ben Westwood’s ability to pen such a fabulous debut novel. So….I decided to spotlight the artwork and cover that knocked my socks off.

You can see my 5 STAR review HERE.

Amazon / Kindle Unlimited / Goodreads

The artwork has always been central to my novel Green Shoots, not least because the ideas for the cover and the mural came before I had even started writing the book.

I’ve always been obsessed with the color green. It’s my favorite color and I’ve always had a lot of green in my house – from the carpet to blankets and clothing. Of course, it’s the color of nature and the environment, and bathing in green light is supposed to be great for the soul. I always find myself drawn to natural surroundings to feel better.

Calling the book Green Shoots did present some problems though – it doesn’t sound like a thriller. It sounds like a nature book or possibly an economics book – “green shoots of recovery” etc. This is why the central image of blood dripping off green shoots is so important and ended up on the cover. With that image, I feel the story is defined – it’s an eco-thriller, which expresses a love of nature under the shadow of violent crimes. The image itself only appears in the book once – in the video that the killer releases globally, which in effect expresses his manifesto.

“Out of their ashes, green shoots will grow” – these words were a sort of mantra and again they came to me before even writing the book. As I was writing the first couple of chapters, I knew that I wanted the killer to leave that message at the crime scenes. But as I was writing, I realized it would be far more interesting to have a visual representation of the words rather than leaving them simply written. That’s how the idea of the mural came about. I liked the idea that the words came from somewhere else, repeated by the killer rather than actually coined by him. When I repeated the sentence to myself, I clearly visualized ashes and death on the left and rebirth on the right. I then pictured a mural with the detail of this image.

It’s described in chapter 3 of the book: “On the left is a scene of scorched earth, blackened tree stumps, skulls and bones, merging into thick forest on the right with toucans, monkeys and indigenous children. The graffiti written in white in the soil below reads: ‘De sus cenizas crecerán brotes verdes’. My Spanish is good enough to know it means: ‘Out of their ashes, green shoots will grow.’ ”

The mural first appears as a photograph in the first crime scene, but appears later in the book as an actual mural in South America. Its appearance is never fully explained and that was deliberate – I have always admired subversive pop-up artists such as Banksy and I had that idea in mind.

When the book was finished, I knew there was still some creative work to do. I wanted someone to actually paint the mural – not on a wall but as a painting. I have no painting talent at all so I found an artist – my friend Anna Walker, who lives local to me in Sussex, England. Over a couple of months she moved from sketches to completing the painting. It now hangs on my wall. It’s big – over a meter wide and dominates by living room.

The words and their accompanying images very much define the book. It is a book about hope coming from despair – both personally for John and for the world at large.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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Sherry’s Shelves 12.4 – 12.10.22

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Hi Everyone. Christmas is rapidly approaching and I am not ready for the year to be over. Time seems to faster and faster every year. We went to the beach to take photographs for our Christmas card.

We always have to stop by for a photo op at the spaceship house. Look closely in the window and you will see a pirate flag. It matches our shirts. LOL

Have a great week.

LAST WEEK ON fundinmental

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  • Sherry’s Shelves
  • Giveaway – The Billionaire’s Arrangement by Amelie S Duncan
  • Giveaway – All Our Secrets by Michelle Gross
  • Review – Baby Talk III by Mike Wells
  • Goveawau – A Knock On The Door by Roberta K Fernandez
  • Giveaway – Armadas In The Mist by Christian Klaver
  • Review – Every Which Fae by Amber Garr
  • The Spotlight Is On The Nick Of Time by Deedee Cummings
  • Giveaway – Sin City Wolf by January Bain
  • The Spotlight Is On The Young Federalists by Abigail Readlinger
  • Tackling The TBR
  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
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Sherry’s Shelves 10.2 – 10.8.22

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Hi Everyone. Hope you are doing well and enjoying the weekend. I am watching my MICHIGAN play football. Looks like the officials are having trouble. GO BLUE!

We went to Biloxi for Crusin’ The Coast. I love watching all the cool cars and the FLAME OUTS.

Stay safe.

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  • Sherry’s Shelves
  • Music Monday
  • Books From The Backlog
  • Tackling The TBR
  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
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  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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Sherry’s Shelves – 9.4 – 9.10.22

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Hi Everyone. I had a good week. We did some yardwork and I am happy the way it turned out. We’ll get a few more bags at our next hardware store stop. I plan on going further to the left, but, for now, my goal was getting rid of the prickly vines and plants around the faucet and electrical outlet.

It took us three days and some pool time to do the yardwork. It’s still pretty hot and we don’t overwork ourselves any more. That is one of the benefits of being retired. We have all day every day…But things are so much harder to do. Thank goodness for an easy cool down.

We made a trip to the beach for the Blue Angels practice.

All these days outside have set my allergies off, so today will be all about football.

Stay safe.

LAST WEEK ON fundinmental

COMING UP ON fundinmental

  • Sherry’s Shelves
  • Giveaway – The Mermaid and the Unicorns by L T Getty
  • Giveaway – Cutter Kuaui Sea Adventure Series by Edward Hochsmann
  • Review – The Butcher and the Wren by Alaina Urquhart
  • Giveaway – The Acre Series by G J Kemp
  • Giveaway – Waiting In The Wings by Tiffany Haas
  • Giveaway – Sanctuary by C L Tolbert
  • Tackling The TBR
  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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Sherry’s Shelves 8.30 – 9.3.22

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Hi Everyone. I had some great reading and three 5 star reviews to share this past week. I am so lucky to have these authors on my must read list.

I have another wonderful post to share with you, A Pictorial Post Of Hummingbirds, Kites And More. CHECK IT OUT HERE.

Stay safe and have a great week.

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  • Sherry’s Shelves
  • Giveaway – The Damned Lovely by Adam Frost
  • Giveaway – Shy Girls Can’t Date Billionaires by Milly Rose
  • Giveway – Pack Of Secrets by Amara Mae
  • Giveaway & Review – Dark Waves by Amanda Uhl
  • Giveaway – Autumn Chaos by Olena Nikitin
  • Giveaway – The Sweetest Game by Cookie O’Gorman
  • Giveaway & Review – Vampires and Villains by Elizabeth Pantley
  • Giveaway – The Cannibal’s Guide To Fasting by Dana Hammer
  • Giveaway – Monica by Delaney Diamond
  • Giveaway – Force Of Nature by Skye Warren & Amelia Wilds
  • Review – Love It – Long Flight Home by Cassandra Cripps
  • Tackling The TBR
  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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Sherry’s Shelves 8.7 – 8.13.22

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Hi Everyone.Mr Wonderful cleaned the patio and ‘greenworks’ cleaner is AMAZING! It would usually take all day just to do the one part that was painted red, but now most of the color has been washed off. I want to do something, but not sure what so it can wait. Also, maybe prices will come down by the next year or so. Trying to do anything is too expensive for me at this time, unless it is a have to.

May be an image of indoor
May be an image of pool

Well done Mr Wonderful!. We have had a lot of rain so everything is super green. I quit putting bug killer on my yard (and the moles love it) for this year and I have never seen so many lizards and frogs. Some nights I even get a serenade by the little buggers. I love it, though. I do put poison on the fire ants, though. They pop up all over the place, especially after the rain, so we spot treat them.

Now, I just need to put the patio back together. Anyone up for a barbecue?

Stay safe and wear a mask..

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COMING UP ON fundinmental

  • Sherry’s Shelves
  • Giveaway – 365 Days Of Gratitude Journal by Marielle S Smith
  • Giveaway – Death At The Manor by Katherine Schellman
  • Giveaway – The Unveiling Of Polly Forrest by Charlotte Whitney
  • Giveaway – Hiding From The Truth by A B Medley
  • Giveaway – Home To Clare Harbor Series by Jacie Middlemann
  • Giveaway & Review – The Wrong Side Of Murder by Lauren Carr
  • Giveaway – The Wreckless Union by Monica Murphy
  • Giveaway – Ruby Red by D L Croisette
  • The Spotlight Is On Earning It by E G Dodd
  • Book Blitz – Loving Artemis by Janet Mason
  • Tackling The TBR
  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!



Sherry’s Shelves 5.1 – 5.7.22

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Hi Everyone. Hope you had a great week. I stuck these bulbs over in the corner and planned on planting them this year, but….

May be an image of flower

We always have our friendly lizards hanging around.

We went to Fort Pickens to watch the Blue Angels.

May be an image of 2 people, people standing and outdoors
May be an image of aircraft and outdoors
May be an image of wading bird, nature and body of water
May be an image of body of water
May be an image of sunglasses, nature and body of water

IA margarita and taco salad for Cinco De Mayo. MMMMMMMMMM.

May be an image of 1 person and drink
May be an image of outdoors and brick wall

Stay safe and wear a mask..

LAST WEEK ON fundinmental

COMING UP ON fundinmental

  • Sherry’s Shelves
  • Giveaway – The Omen of Crows by Cathrina Constantine
  • Giveaway – Kiss of Darkness by Taylor Aston White
  • Superhero Or Villain – Hardcore Kelli by Wrath James White
  • Giveaway & Review – Unorganized Crime by Judy Serrano
  • Giveaway – Eating These Foods Makes Me… by Kalifa Rodriguez
  • Giveaway – Oathbreaker by River Starr
  • Review – Desecrated Essence by C A Rene
  • Review – Don’t Go ‘Beyond The Creek’ by Nico Bell
  • Giveaway – Margaritas, Mayhem & Murder by Mary Cunningham
  • Review – Time Killer by Todd M Thiede
  • Tackling The TBR
  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!