Roberta Writes – Blog Book Tour: Fringes, Heartstrings and Lyrics by Jan Sikes
Thank you, Robbie, for allowing me to take over your blog and talk about my new book, Fringes, Heartstrings, and Lyrics.
Once I had the title for this collection, I knew the Lyrics section would need to be poems. As I thought about that, I wanted to include more than my own work. So, I spent hours combing through a folder of my late husband’s writings from the 1960s looking for things to share. I found much more than I had room for. Then, my fourteen-year-old-granddaughter began reading some of her poems to me as I drove her to dance classes, and I was compelled to include some of those as well.
Here is a teaser from each of us. I hope you enjoy!
I Am You – You Are Me by Jan Sikes
I don’t know how it came to be
That we, in spirit love were joined
Somewhere out in eternity
Then split apart like a germinating seed
And placed on earth, each other to seek
Angels Are Perfect by Rick Sikes
The snow falls, and I am plagued with loneliness
As much as any man can possess
But my mind strays to bright summer days
When I knew your fond caress
Society by Sidney Klein
Welcome to society
We hope you enjoy your stay
You can do anything you want
As long as you do it our way
Book Blurb
At the edge of the world, and the center of the heart, you’ll find stories that linger.
Fringes explores dystopian futures where survival is uncertain and hope is fragile. In A Foreign World, The Forgotten, and Yearning for Paradise, humanity is pushed to its limits.
Heartstrings turns toward the warmth of love, resilience, and second chances. Stories such as A Promise Broken – A Promise Kept, She Dances with a Memory, and When Love Isn’t Enough remind us that the human spirit endures.
Lyrics captures life in poetry—moments of longing, faith, and reflection in pieces like Comes the Dawn, Society, and The Blind Man in the Night.
From chilling possibilities to comforting truths, Fringes, Heartstrings & Lyrics is a genre-blending collection of short fiction and poetry that will make you think, feel, and return again and again.
PURCHASE LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Fringes-Heartstrings-Lyrics-Jan-Sikes-ebook/dp/B0GRWQC3SH/
About Jan Sikes
Jan Sikes is a multi-award-winning author, who writes compelling and creative stories from the heart.
She openly admits that she never set out in life to be an author, although she’s been an avid reader all her life. But she had a story to tell—Not just any story, but a true story to rival any fiction creation. She brought the powerful true story to life through fictitious characters in an intricately woven tale that encompasses four books, accompanying music CDs, and a book of poetry and art.
And now, this author can’t put down the pen. She continues to write fiction in a variety of genres and has published many award-winning short stories and novels. She is an active blogger, a member of the Story Empire group, loves to support indie artists (both literary and musical) and is the grandmother of five beautiful souls. Find out more at http://www.jansikes.com
Find Jan Sikes
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJanSikesBooks
https://bsky.app/profile/jksikes-author.bsky.social
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jan-sikes
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CS9K8DK (Author Page)
Roberta Writes – Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge and Tanka Tuesday
Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge
Esther’s challenge word this week is Vision. I am continuing my Paris series of poems and posts. You can join in Esther’s challenge here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/04/08/writing-prompts-110/
Medici Fountain in Jardin du Luxembourg
It looms above me
a vision in sandstone,
bronze, and marble
the Medici Fountain
heard before it’s seen
water gushing down wide stairs
into a long tree-shaded basin
in white marble
the sea nymph, Galatea,
and the mortal, Acis
make love
while from behind
the jealous cyclops, Polyphemus
represented in bronze
sneaks upon them
a dead bull across his back
Is Acis’ death a tragedy?
Or is his transformation
into a river spirit
perfect immortalisation?
I wonder
my thoughts flowing
alongside the representations of
the River Rhone and River Seine
observed by Faunus and Diana
My photographs of Medici Fountain and closeups of the sculptures are in the slideshow below.
My Youtube video of the Medici Fountain.
Fountaine de Leda (at the back)
Fontaine de Leda
hidden fountain
depicting in stone
the seduction of Aetolian princess, Leda
by sky and thunder god, Zeus
in the form of a swan
Leda holds the bird
on her knees while
water flows from its bronze beak
the pair, encircled by roses
are shot by an arrow
from Cupid, lurking in the corner
The Fountaine de Leda is at the back of the Medici Fountain and a lot of people miss it. I saw it because I walked around the back of the Medici Fountain to get photographs on the other side.
Tanka Tuesday
My prompt for this week was to use onomatopoeia in a poem. I’ve written a tautogram poem using onomatopoeia using the American cinquain form.
spouting
sound symphony
splishing, splashing, spraying
splattering smooth, shining surface
splendid
You can join in Tanka Tuesday here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/04/07/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-59-onomatopoeia-in-poetry-04-07-2026/
Roberta Writes – Read & Cook with Robbie Cheadle – Skeleton Crew by Stephen King and bolognese sauce recipe
Thanks to Kaye Lynne Booth for hosting this post.
Roberta Writes – d’Verse: Imperatively Yours, Thursday Doors, The Flower Hour & CFFC
Bonjour! I am back from my 6-day race around Paris and surrounds.
D’verse: Imperatively Yours
Dora has asked poets to write a poem using the imperative mood. You can learn more about this here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/04/07/poetics-imperatively-yours/. I have written my poem about Paris.
Paris in Spring
You must love Paris
What’s not to love?
The sun shines brightly
The statues gleam whitely
Spring abounds everywhere
Tulips model the new colours
Bedecking flowerbed ramps
Which style do you like best?
While pansies peep shyly
From behind tulip skirts
Waiting for their moment
To steal the show
Who will win best bonnet?
And in the corner
A vivid splash of yellow
Daffodils bow their own horns
Along the path
Water splashes loudly
Come and admire me
The fountain thunders
White feather boas
Streaming upwards
Silvery drops blowing
On the treacherous wind
Sharp reminder
That Old Man Winter
Is still directing
The production
Jardin Du Luxembourg
The Jardin du Luxembourg was created in 1612 when Marie de’ Medici, the widow of King Henry IV, constructed the Luxembourg Palace as her new residence. This is the number one garden in Paris and is known for its lawns, tree-lined promenades, tennis courts, flowerbeds, model sailboats on its octagonal Grand Bassin. It is also home to the Fontaine de l’Observatoire and Medici Fountain. I’m showcasing the Fontaine de l’Observatoire today.
Click on the slideshow to see the Fontaine de l’Observatoire:
This is one of my Youtube videos of this fountain:
You can see more of my Paris Youtube videos on my channel.
Thursday Doors
The Universite de Paris Institut d’Art Et d’Archeologie is near the Jardin du Luxembourg. I really liked the brick patterning of this building which is why I took these photographs. It reminded me of lego.
These photographs are for Dan’s Thursday Doors Challenge: https://nofacilities.com/2026/04/09/heinz-chapel/
The Flower Hour and CFFC, view as we walk
These photographs are of flowers and statues in the Jardin du Luxembourg. They are for Terri’s The Flower Hours (most of the flowers are tulips) and for Dan’s CFFC as these were taken while we walked. We walked approximately 20,000 steps a day for the 6 days I was in Paris.
You can join in Dan’s CFFC challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/04/06/view-as-we-walk-or-hike-cffc/
You can join in Terri’s Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/04/07/the-flower-hour-25-pop-go-the-poppies/
Roberta Writes – Tanka Tuesday and CFFC
An unexpected opportunity came up for me to travel to Paris to meet my husband. We will spend Easter together in this fascinating city. This will be my last post other than my committed posts for LatinosUSA and Writing to be Read until my return on 8 April. If you celebrate, wishing you a blessed Easter.
Tanka Tuesday
Melissa’s Tanka Tuesday challenge is to write a Hautt. You can learn more about this form here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/03/24/tankatuesday-challenge-no-57-the-hautt-3-24-26/
Alone
we walk our paths
alone, single file
we find
meaning
temporarily
in partnerships
CFFC – View from Public transportation
You can join in Dan’s CFFC challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/03/30/view-from-public-transportation-cffc/
These are some pictures I took while crossing Westminster Bridge in the taxi. It was so hot, all the windows were wide open. The traffic allowed for decent pictures.
This is my favourite photograph from Japan. It was also taken from a taxi. I opened the window much to the driver’s horror – haha!
Roberta Writes – Book review: Strowg: A Bledbrooke Tale by John F Leonard
What Amazon says
Have you ever got fed up with your job? Changing profession is the obvious answer. Of course, that’s somewhat more difficult when it’s one of those lifestyle jobs.
And infinitely more difficult when your employer is Strowg, an age-old creature of the night.
A long time ago, Charles Hennessy struck a bargain with Strowg. This strange and darkly charming figure had a noble bearing, was clearly wealthy and offered something too tempting to resist.
The keys to immortality.
With hindsight, what a wonderful thing that is, the deal was a rather big mistake. The promise has yet to be fulfilled and being Strowg’s factotum grows more onerous and offensive with each passing year. Worse still, Strowg isn’t the same. The human skin shedding and the creature beneath it is terrifying even for someone acquainted with the diabolical.
They live a nomadic existence in order to satisfy Strowg’s thirst for blood but they need to rest and have come to one of their boltholes. More than that, Hennessy hopes that a spell in Bledbrooke may restore what is lost in Strowg. Because Bledbrooke isn’t like other places. It’s home to an unknowable entity that could swallow Strowg whole and spit out the warped bones.
Hennessy’s life has to change and he’s right insofar as Bledbrooke is where that will happen.
It just may not be how he expects.
My review
I wrote this review as a member of Rosie Amber’s book review team. You can find out more about Rosie’s reviews and review team here: https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.
Strowg is a vampire tale with a twist that I found intriguing and unique. The author demonstrated a thorough knowledge of vampire fiction with his references to how other authors have skewed the perceptions of the public about vampires due to sharing what he refers to as misconceptions like they have no reflections. According to this author, vampires do have substance even if they are filled with the blood of their victims and must, as a result, have a reflection. The author also references Stephen King and states that he better captured the truth about vampires in his works. I assumed the book he is referring to is Salem’s Lot which I have read twice. This information is shared through the thoughts and reflections of the book’s main character, Charles Hennessy, and I found these references memorable and highly amusing. There is also a female cat called Carmilla which brought to mind the book by that name which I also enjoyed and which is also a different take on the traditional vampire tales.
Stowg is vile and evil personified as a physical creature. He is deceitful and has misled and abused his once loyal servant, Charles. It is not surprising that Charles feels resentful and only continues with his duties to Strowg out of fear of the repercussions. These feelings leave Charles ripe for a romantic entanglement as he seeks mental escapism. This is a novella but the characters of Charles and his friend, Ramona, develop nicely and I became quite attached to them in a short space of time. Strowg was not appealing and was easy to despise. Strowg was certainly the epitome of everything that is unpleasant and evil in this world.
The story is entertaining and tinged with dark humour which is a nice change from the usual heavy vampire lore. Lovers of vampire tales will enjoy this different take.
Purchase Strowg: A Bledbrooke Tale from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0G1TWN3R7
Roberta Writes – Reblog: Author Interviews – Meet Elizabeth Gauffreau and a review
Roberta Writes – W3, Tanka Tuesday, d’Verse and Thursday Doors
Kim at d’Verse challenged poets to write an acrostic poem using someone’s name. When I read here post here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/03/19/meeting-the-bar-tell-me-your-name/ I realised there is a lot more to this form than I have previously believed. I embraced it and wrote two acrostic poems.
The first is for Dennis’ W3 challenge to write about a lighthouse. The first letters form the words Mother Love. You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/03/18/w3-prompt-203-weave-written-weekly/.
The second poem forms the name of my oldest son, Gregory, who graduated from University with Honours in Mathematics this week (with distinction). He is working as a tutor at the University while he does a Masters in Homological Mathematics. This poem is for the d’Verse challenge. Thank you, Kim!
I have also written a micro poem which is between the two poems and about my son.
Mother Love (for W3)
My son, you have made me so proud. It’s an
Outstanding achievement to pass Honours with distinction. Now,
There you are on the threshold of an exciting new life. I
Hope your hard work and dedication will serve you well. You are so
Ernest in your quest to find meaning in your life. Your
Resolve to help others up the education ladder makes you a
Lighthouse in the lives of those less gifted than you. You turn the
Ordinary into something brighter and better. You are calm and never
Vexed when things don’t go your way. This quality makes you quite
Extraordinary in addition to your unusual mind and abilities.
my best qualities
in your hands have become a
lighthouse in the dark
Gregory (for d’Verse)
Guidance kindly provided in your
Responses to your students. You are
Exceptional in your patience. Ready to
Guide others on their way and help
Overcome obstacles along the
Road to success: Yours and other peoples.
You are a wonderful teacher and person
Thursday Doors
This is the door to the Great Hall where the graduation takes place. It is from last year. We were later arriving this year so I couldn’t get as good a picture due to the crowds. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/03/19/polish-room-announcement/
These are some pictures from the graduation (click on the slideshow to see the pictures).
roberta-writes.com 