Wednesday, September 21, 2011

More value in living flesh and in silver and gold.

My mother knew what people were saying about her in the autumn of her life, she was to some a ‘religious fanatic’ because she attended daily Mass at St. Patrick’s church in Oldham, and then she said the Rosary.  So how do I know?  Simple, she told me.

Her devotion to the Mass and the Blessed Virgin Mary was well known and perhaps she pricked the consciences of a few who didn’t even bother with attending church on Sunday.  She certainly had her faults and for one thing she was a McKenna and that’s dangerous enough for anyone who backs a McKenna into a corner.  I learned later by looking up the clan on the Internet that there’s a probability the McKenna clan is descended from ‘The O’Neil’ the High King of Ireland and they are essentially a clan of Celtic Warriors.  That explained a lot because among the Celts women were also Warriors and in my family the women can be volatile.

I should also mention that after missing him during his Dublin visit, my mother received Holy Communion from this guy during his visit to Manchester.  She also sat with the VIPs during the Mass.





I learned from a local doctor that while he and another man from St. Michael’s church were with my mother collecting signatures for a pro-life petition a group of pro-abortionist women approached, one wearing a sticker on her coat reading, “Kill, kill, kill!”  That was enough to annoy the Celtic Warrior in my mother, she rushed the pro-abortionist ripped the sticker from her coat and tried to ram it down the woman’s throat while screaming, “Eat your words, eat your words!”  The pro-abortionists bolted!

I was living at home in those days and both I and my brother Kevin were giving my mother money for the shopping etc.  Before the end of the week she would complain that she had no money, so Kevin and I agreed that he would give her something on Monday and I would give her something on Wednesday.  For a while it seemed to work, nevertheless, she was often short of money which seemed to slip through her fingers.

I was leaving St. Patrick’s church after her funeral Mass when I was approached by an elderly gentleman who said that he knew my mother from daily Mass and the Rosary which she often led.  He went on to say that one day he was talking to her and happened to mention that he didn’t know how he was going to pay his heating bill.  My mother asked him how much he needed and after he told her she gave him the money he needed.

My mother had taught me by her example to give living flesh more value than silver or gold, whether it is the unborn child or those in the autumn of their lives.  It’s a valuable lesson and one I hope I have learned well.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Karin's EBooks

Seven Doors of Time is an ebook of seven short stories. Smashwords offers a 30% free download, but this is only 30% of the entire ebook.  For the full ebook it will cost just $4.99 that's not a bad price for seven short stories and a book of some 158,349 words.
Good Old Uncle Norman, the second of Karin's ebooks is a work of some 6,890 words that has a pricetag of just $2.99.  Again this is value for money and well worth looking at. Smashwords has a free 20% download, but this is just a 20% and not the full tale.  It's a good tale with a good and somewhat funny end that those downloading the free sample will miss.
Always Have Always Will is a love story of 15,379 words and again is priced at just $2.99 and Smashwords offers a free download of 20% which gives only part of the story.  For the full story it will be necessary to purchase the ebook as is the case with the above ebooks.  This is how Smashwords works - offering a sample of an ebook to potential customers.  At least you know what you're getting - and that's the idea.

Smashwords lists the formats in which you can buy the book, or alternitavely view a sample if a sample is available in a particular format.  The above ebooks, for instance, are available in all formats which makes it easy to either buy or view a sample (if available).  Finally, you can purchase an ebook using a Credit Card, Debit Card or Paypal for the price listed.
I hope those of you who purchase the ebooks will enjoy reading them.