Six Sentence Sunday # 24

Regina Richards — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 06:01:59 +0000

Had that really been just a week ago?

A wry smile tugged at her lips. Her new life was a far cry from the sunny bungalow-on-the-beach with art-trumps-comfort furnishings she’d shared with David. Though centered on a wide tree-lined lane in what her brother assured her was fast becoming the fashionable part of town, this house was nothing like the beautiful historic homes that surrounded it. Small and shabby, it smelled of decades of dust and neglect. Repairing it hardly seemed worth the effort; tearing it down would make more sense.

- chapter 1, Home Court Advantage

Trivia Thursday # 23

Regina Richards — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 06:01:26 +0000

In the 1840s the slave-merchants who had previously sold slaves from the Wekalet el-Gallabeh in Cairo were forced to transfer their trade to a “city of the dead” (cemetary city) outside of Cairo called Kaid Bey because of the government’s belief the slave markets were a source of epidemic disease.

- source: The Englishwoman in Egypt by ophia Poole 1846

Four Bad Mommies

Regina Richards — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 06:01:00 +0000

Today I’m confessing my motherly sins over at www.4badmommies.com. Please join me there!

Six Sentence Sunday # 23

Regina Richards — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 06:01:04 +0000

“Excuse me,” Lou Ann held up a finger to the women.

She met the man as he reached the bottom step, arching her back just a little so that her round bottom stuck out and her even rounder chest thrust forward. With long carefully manicured nails she reached up to adjust his tie, not quite brushing her breasts to the front of his suit.

“Now Harlan,” she cooed, “you be careful on the road today and no fried food. You know what that does to your stomach.” She gave his stomach a little pat. Harlan’s hand went for Lou Ann’s round bottom. With a sharp smack Lou Ann swatted it away, startling a gasp from Cherry.

“You know better than that, Harley.” Lou Ann didn’t sound the least bit offended. “Now off you go to sell lots of, of, whatever it is you sell. I’ll expect to see you again in a few weeks.”

For a man who’d just had his hand so smartly slapped Harlan looked strangely pleased.

- chapter 5, Cherry’s War

Trivia Thursday # 22

Regina Richards — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 06:01:12 +0000

In the early 1800s in Cairo native Christian and Jewish men were easily distinguishable by the color of their turbans, which were black, blue, or light brown.

- source: The Englishwoman in Egypt by Sophia Poole 1846

Six Sentence Sunday # 22

Regina Richards — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 06:01:25 +0000

From the moment Cherry dried her tears and set her jaw to fight, Ro had begun gleefully rushing her all over Triple Oaks and beyond.

“Gatherin’ ammunition” the old woman had called it.

They’d visited carpenters, roofers, tilers, and painters, hiring a dozen young men. And, regardless of their trade, neither experience nor skill had been high on Aunt Ro’s list of desired qualifications. The men she’d selected – whether green-eyed blonds, brown-eyed brunettes, or blue-eyed redheads, brawny or sinewy, shy or flirtatious – all had one thing in common. Each in his own way was a dazzling specimen of his gender.

- chapter 4, Cherry’s War

Trivia Thursday # 21

Regina Richards — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:01:13 +0000

In the early 1800s, in letters home, Sophia Poole describes the street of Cairo as generally narrow (5 to 10 feet wide) and unpaved. Though some streets were as little as 4 feet wide and a few could be forty or fifty feet wide.

- source: The Englishwoman in Egypt by Sophia Poole 1846

Journal

Regina Richards — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:01:56 +0000

“Do you believe in miracles?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I could get a miracle?”

“You’re going to get a miracle, Mom. Just not the one you think you want. It’s going to be so much better than that.”

She nodded.

Two weeks later in the deep quiet of the night her miracle came so gently it did not even disturb the slumber of my sister who’d fallen asleep holding her hand.

from the journal of Regina Richards, entry 2-12-11

Six Sentence Sunday # 21

Regina Richards — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 06:01:05 +0000

Cherry tapped her forehead lightly against the pine door frame as if to knock some sense into herself.

She shouldn’t be here staring at her husband as he slept, taking the chance of being discovered, tempting herself to throw caution to the wind and touch him. She had to stay strong. Jason Culler was a man worth fighting for and she’d be a fool to spoil her chances of victory by deviating from the battle plan.

Jason mumbled in his sleep and Cherry came to taunt attention. Was it her imagination or had that been longing in his tone? It had certainly been her name on his lips.

- chapter 4, Cherry’s War

Trivia Thursday # 20

Regina Richards — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:01:42 +0000

In the early 1800′s snake charmers where plentiful in Cairo. Upon visiting a home the owner believed to be troubled with a snake the charmer might say:

“I conjure thee, by our Lord Suleyman” (Solomon, son of David) “who ruled over mankind and the Jan” (Jin or Genii) “if thou be obedient, come to me: and if thou be disobedient, do not hurt me!”

A snake would usually dutifully appear and be secured without harm by the charmer.

- source: The Englishwoman in Egypt by Sophia Poole 1846