The people in the neighborhood called him Crazy Ed. He sat day after day on an ashcan in the alley staring at the dirty brick wall. Most didn’t know where he had come from or why he was there, but Ed was a quiet man with silver hair, and a sad expression on his face, so they left him alone. Few noticed him and most paid no attention what-so-ever to him. Once in a while if a spare moment presented itself, they wondered who he was, until one day Ed disappeared.
saket
Fluid, Charming and Bright
This is a small story of Ed. But more than the love story of Ed and Isle, it is another vehicle created by Marta after the In Between Times which is meant to transport you to a different and hopeful world. While the story is to short for one to thoroughly enjoy the beauty of Marta’s writing, like Ed, we readers regret coming back to this side of the wall as the story ends. Enjoyable read.
A short story. One hot summer evening in Chicago, we went on a Ghost tour on Lake Michigan. Afterward, we were invited back to Mike’s house which was once owned by Al Capone and was haunted. This is the story of my experience in the house that hid, for that house did not care for unexpected visitors.
Sammy Sutton Author
A Ghostly Tale
A fabulous haunted short story. Told in the first person, it takes place at a haunted house in Chicago. Marta’s story is a fun and nostalgic experience that has you wondering if ghosts really live amongst us. Best on audio!
From the horror of a psychopath killer with extraordinary powers, to true ghost stories, and stories that leave you wondering, if their is a place for everybody or if some are really just lost in their own minds, you will find that story in this collection of short stories by Patricia Moran, Marta Moran Bishop, Roman Nyle, and Pat Marsden.
Kindle Customer
Fun read
Thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short stories. Most were different from the usual paranormal stories as they ended leaving the reader to decide what will happen. Fun and entertaining.
Winnie Award Winner at the Equus Film Festival. Best Equine Rescue book. Dinky: The Nurse Mare’s Foal is the story of one little foals fight for survival after being taken from his mother within hours of his birth. Dinky, takes us on a poignant trip through the heart and mind of an animal, who was born for the sole purpose of producing milk in the mare. In the elite world of horses, Dinky was considered a by-product, a ‘junk foal.’Dinky’s story will resonate with animal lovers, as well as anyone who has adopted. Although a horse, his story has been called an adoption story. The reader can follow him through the heartbreak, cruelty, loneliness, and finally to happiness in his forever home. His story is based on true events. Each event from the moment the author met Dinky actually happened, though it is the author’s interpretation of what he might have been thinking and feeling during the occasions described in his story. His early life which is unknown has been fictionalized by the author and constructed through research and imagination.There are many wonderful animal rescue leagues, many are very empathic to these young animals, though some are not. Since Ms. Bishop has no knowledge of Dinky’s early days, she used the latter to enhance the strength of his story.It will break your heart, open your eyes, lift you up, and teach you much about horses. It is suitable for all ages.
Dodester
Emotionally engaging….insightfully written – Exceptional!
Every so often, I come across a book that strongly pulls at me to read; Dinky was one of these. It is not an easy task for a writer to keep her reader’s interest when the story is written in the first person. Ms. Bishop’s script with Dinky as the narrator of his story is exceptional. I loved this story – it is educational, emotionally engaging, insightfully written and so very rich in detail.A real-life foal, the author brought Dinky vividly to life for me, from page one. Ms. Bishop’s interpretations of Dinky’s thoughts during the initial months of his life were so heart-wrenching to read yet, from the beginning, I found myself captivated by Dinky’s spirit. Despite the incessant cruelty done to Dinky by humans – he was always famished, underfed, ignored and frightened – there is resilience in his nature that commanded my respect.After reading the synopsis, I expected to be angry, to cry when Dinky, a `junk foal,’ told his story of being taken from his mother, a mare caught up in man’s cruel practice of breeding her only for milk to nourish a high-dollar mare’s foal. It was almost unbearable, reading of the cruelty done to Dinky during his first few months of life – the overwhelming fear for his fate: being sold to a meat market or to tanners, or being adopted. In the words of Dinky: “I wasn’t prepared to believe in the possibility of good things.”The story shifted, becoming delightful and enlivening when the author and her husband adopted Dinky from a fair. At that point, my tears came then from reading Dinky’s accounts of his life in fresh air, with ample food, water, and companionship. He tells us about learning to trust, to love and becoming part of a herd; and the silly ways in which he let the impishness in his spirit free.Since my read, I have wondered if Marta Moran Bishop is a `horse whisperer’; I do not know. However, I do believe that she is a woman who speaks horse. Dinky told me so.
Who was Jane Doe? Where did she come from and who was she? No one knew and after nine-years, everyone stops trying to trace her. This is a short paranormal Christmas story, originally started by my mother Patricia Moran and finished by me, Marta Moran Bishop
Viv Drewa
What a remarkable Christmas Story!
Jane Doe found unconscious and naked with only her long red hair covering her body. The police try to help her find out who she was but to no avail. They soon lose interest. After nine years she wanted to die. She felt alone in her dingy apartment. Will she ever learn who she was and where she came from?
From the horror of a psychopath killer with extraordinary powers, to true ghost stories, and stories that leave you wondering, if their is a place for everybody or if some are really just lost in their own minds, you will find that story in this collection of short stories by Patricia Moran, Marta Moran Bishop, Roman Nyle, and Pat Marsden.
Kindle Customer
Fun read
Thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short stories. Most were different from the usual paranormal stories as they ended leaving the reader to decide what will happen. Fun and entertaining.
What do files and a file cabinet have to do with an ancient old woman who has been a tyrant in the file department for decades? Miss Tofte is a paranormal story that will chill, delight, and leave you wondering.
Keeping The Upper Paw: A Cat’s Guide To Training Your Human, began with scraps of paper that were found lying around the house. It is a humorous look at life through the eyes of a cat. All of the cats in this book were once a part of the family, cohabiting together in the household of, Ms. Moran and Ms. Bishop. Morris, the elder cat, Beau, his second in command, Kitten a cat who liked to get physical, Poofie, a small gray boy, who dreamed of being an only cat, Champ, the shy one, Mikey the playful boy, Sheba, the only girl, and Little Bit, the baby all lived, played, and trained their humans. Both Ms. Moran and Ms. Bishop, have described their part in this book as merely the typists.
Sherrill S. Cannon
This Little Book is Purrrrfect!
This is an adorable interpretation of the cat world, and I found myself smiling through most of it. Having been owned by many cats throughout my life, I truly related to this cute book. I’ve immediately gifted it to two of my “cat-people” friends, and suggest you do the same. Thanks for a smiling read…
Marta Moran Bishop’s Darkness Descends is powerful, gripping work! It’s a compelling, sometimes scathing prequel to her first series title, The Between Times. Set in a dystopian city-state, Bishop indicts a patriarchal oligarchy that feeds a rape culture at the same time as it plots the overthrow of the rule of law with the anarchic rule of a well-managed mob psyche. The Roman people were given bread and circuses. The crowds in Darkness Descends are handed Rebecca, Jewell’s mother, and a crucial charter character of the series, who faces public torture, humiliation, assault, and finally, auto-da-fé, burning at the stake, which she accepts as her fate as the ultimate sacrifice for a greater good. Bishop pulls no punches. The blows land all the harder when one realizes she is not working solely from imagination. She has incorporated into her literary tapestry the warp of today’s culture, with the weft of actual history, including a chilling early Twentieth Century plot by brutal American financial moguls to overthrow the United States government. Who knew?! This book is devastating. I’m praying for an uplifting third installment to arrive in my Kindle soon, but given Bishop’s dim view of humanity and history, I’m not holding out too much hope for a Pixar ending. Every win in Bishop’s world comes at a great price, and the brilliant Darkness Descends is no exception. Of course, I absolutely can’t wait to see what Bishop will come up with next! Robert Blake Whitehill, Author/Screenwriter – The Ben Blackshaw SeriesWhat if…for the first time in the history of the United States we took a social and economic nose dive into oblivion? THE BETWEEN TIMES is just such a scenario. A story that reads like a folktale from the past, but in reality is a fantastic possibility based on the choices available to us today.The premise is nothing short of an incredible imagination as modern-day Chicago fades into an evil darkness separated by a wall. A separateness ruled by the upper society that isolates and mistreats the poor. These less fortunate people, in a short amount of time, find themselves forced to live in the lower communities suffering from mistreatment comparable only to the concentration camps during WWII. Women are no longer human beings but are nothing more than breeding animals kept only to prevent the extinction of the race. The conditions are bleak and seemingly hopeless.It is the belief in a Legend that becomes the driving force behind the survival. A young girl named Jewel, living in the captivity of this devastating socioeconomic environment, is the dream. She manifests hope and magic from within this beautiful tale.Fantastical, Magical, & Mystical in a story that will make you believe it is about a long-forgotten past, but in reality is a possible future! I wholeheartedly recommend this remarkable highly imaginative novel!
Skyler Rankin
A Sobering Dystopian Myth Based on History and Current Events
I was given a copy of the audiobook version of The Divide Boxed Set: Darkness Descends & The Between Times in return for an honest review. First, this set of stories is a dystopian myth based on actual historical and current political events in the United States.Before reading this book, I was only marginally aware of some of the issues raised in it. I knew, for example, about the elite’s opposition to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s policies. I did not, however, know the full extent of their opposition and what occurred within the government itself. The author draws upon her own family’s experience and research around the rise of the oligarchy in our country and weaves this into the backdrop of her story. It was an eye-opener to me because much of what is revealed is not typically taught in basic high school US History classes or even 100 level college courses. That left this reader wondering if this real-world curricular omission was by design because it is so important. Bishop’s narrative explained a lot, and the implications were horrifying.The author weaves a deeply disturbing cautionary tale that serves as a warning for us all. In some ways, The Divide is like other books in the genre such as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, in that it is dark and portrays one potential outcome if our country continues on its current path. This book is different, however, in one important way. Bishop craftily reminds us that the horrific future she describes isn’t really much of a departure from the darker chapters of our own history. That fact alone chilled me to the core. Her future isn’t just plausible. It’s lurking just beneath the surface of our real-world present.Admittedly, parts of this book were hard to listen to, and some depictions left my heart thumping as my mind made connections between the story and current and historical events. That said, it was enthralling, and I could not stop listening. By the end, I wanted to send copies to all the young people in my life so they understand the implications as well.Even in its darkness, the story is a tale of hope through unity. In the story, a young family is living on the cusp of a fascist takeover in its government and society. The family is of mixed descent and race and serves as a metaphor for our country in that way. Their ancient culture has a prophecy involving the rise of a child who will bring about change through unity, and the family believes the child is their own daughter. This is especially troubling because the fascist regime has relegated women to the status of breeding stock, and teaching a girl to read has become a crime punishable by death.This book will stay with you, and its message will spring form its pages and into your life as you make connections between the story and our lives today. In an interesting parallel, as reached the end of the audiobook, Greta Thunberg was arriving in the United States, and the power and wisdom of our youth were palpable in the air as demonstrations sprang up across the globe. It gave me hope that the prophecy might be real too.A.J. Carter narrated the audiobook version of this story, and I felt he did a good job with it. His voice was smooth and almost hypnotic. The production quality was excellent.
