Vulnerable

Take a moment to reflect on relationships past and present and what they may have taught you. What you thought you wanted and wished for, to the moment when you realized you should have been more specific in your requests. This is a journey of reflection, release, and re-directing focus, from what is wanted to what is needed. That need and want from not only someone else but also yourself. Follow the story of five relationships – The Good, The Bad, and The Fling. Told through short stories and poems, these stories and poems, will not only help you discover some things about yourself but also help you discover what you may have lost searching for your comfort in someone else. Sometimes what you really need has been there all along, just waiting on you to be ready, waiting on you to finally release that baggage of your past and deal with some things you were scared to look at within yourself.

Waifs and Strays

These are short stories presented in poetic form. The cadence of poetry lends air and space to a story and heightens anticipation. There is war, loss, love and redemption in this work.

Accompanying these poems are some gritty short stories with twists as unexpected as a Twilight Zone episode. They are at times stark and unforgiving.

Walking a Duck in L.A.

Secrets! Secrets! Secrets!

Jolene Hartman, a young girl walking a duck in L. A., has a secret she’s unable to share as she grows up during the turbulent 1930s and l940s on the fringes of Hollywood. Despite an unusual and troubling relationship with her parents, Jolene finds wonder and delight in constant adventures as she seeks God and love.

Join Jolene as she grows up with unique relatives, fascinating friends from many cultures, and her pet duck, Oscar.

In this inspirational novel based on a true story, at age 55 in 1985, thinking she has it all; a happy marriage, kids, and a glamorous career, Jolene is stunned to find she needs therapy when demons from her childhood surface, and she seeks treatment.

As Jolene’s sessions in treatment bring clarity, the author hopes they may also open doors to some of your secrets.

Walking in Somebody Else's Shoes

Almost everyone has worn shoes during their lifetime! It begins when we are small, and attempt to wear the larger shoes of our father, mother, sister, etc. We attach meaning to a person’s shoes, and who wears them. Shoes say a lot about us, including what we may do for an occupation or what we wear to get us through the day. This may include recreational activities, work, and specialized occupations such as floating in space! They may seem like a mundane subject at first glance, but shoes really do make the person. Children know this, and this book will not only show them different types of shoes in a simple-to-understand manner, but will also explain how it feels to 'walk in somebody else’s shoes.'

We Are All Equal in Ink

The day after his retirement, Chris suffered a haemorrhagic stroke that paralyzed the right side of his body. The language area of his brain was the most affected, depriving him of speech. To regain his most valued skill – to express himself with the written and spoken word – he had to begin again, re-learning words and their meanings, and to write using his left hand. His urge to use language as before was so strong that he was able to recover little by little what the stroke had cruelly taken away. It took two years until his abilities improved enough to be seated in his wheelchair to read and write. He never felt impeded by his disability. With a tape recorder, a notebook, and a typewriter, Chris picked up where he had left off – his inspiration awakened anew.

We The People

Joanne S. Duffin’s poetry is a captivating fusion of the personal and the universal, delving into the depths of the human experience. Her verses touch upon matters of the heart, offer insightful observations of the world, and fearlessly tackle the pressing issues of our time, both within the United States of America and on a global scale.

As you turn the pages, you’ll find yourself immersed in the wonders and interpretations of the natural world, the joys of family, the treasure of discovered love, the journey of self-discovery, philosophical musings, political commentary, patriotic reflections, and the pursuit of justice. Duffin’s poetry also explores the complexities of friendship, the pain of loss, and the inevitability of death.

This groundbreaking work of fiction will captivate your mind as you traverse space and time alongside the author, who fearlessly delves into the very essence of self-expression. Throughout her poetry, Duffin never loses sight of the profound impact and influence of the past, acknowledging the experiences that have shaped her as both a writer and a human being.

Embark on this transformative literary journey with Joanne S. Duffin, and allow her unique voice to guide you through a landscape of beauty, understanding, and introspection, as her thoughts and words weave a tapestry of the human condition.

Welcome to Welby Island

Welcome to Welby Island is a story that revolves around five troubled people from Los Angeles who come from different walks of life but will soon be traveling down the same path to enlightenment. That is, if they can survive twelve weeks on Welby Island at the hands of world renowned life coaches Micah and Blair Claine.

When they arrive via seaplane to the uninhabited island off the coast of Washington State, they are none too happy. After a fifteen-minute walk up the beach and through the woods, they emerge to the sight of a rundown cabin that in no way resembles the large sprawling beach house from the Claine Enlightenment Retreat brochure.

It doesn’t take long for the life coaching gurus to realize that these feisty five are not buying what they are selling.
Knowing that they are each carrying burdens that are clinging to them like seaweed, the five guests of Welby Island have to figure out how to get along and survive twelve weeks in a shack on a deserted island.

Welcome to Welby Island is a witty, sassy, humorous and emotional journey that will take you along on the road to enlightenment. 

Welcome to Welby Island: The Reunion

In the first book of the Welcome to Welby Island sequel, Leanne, Devon, Amber, Rosalie, and Leonard arrived on Welby Island as five strangers struggling with the tangled vines that had wrapped around them and landed them on the island. They knew they needed to find a way to break free from whatever it was holding them back from the one thing none of them could seem to find…happiness. What they didn’t know was that spending time on a deserted island, holed up in a shack, would not only find a way to detangle the vines through helping one another, but they would also leave the island not just as friends, but as family.

Welcome to Welby Island: The Reunion continues the journey with Leanne, Devon, Amber, Rosalie and Leonard. There will be bumps in the road, this time in a rented camper, an unexpected surprise, and a heart wrenching moment of loss.

The bond between these five is one of love and friendship, a bond so strong that nothing can break it, not even their past.

What Do You Think?

As a physician I frequently have to search for a diagnosis which will account for most, or hopefully all, of a patient’s problems. So when I consider a question related to politics, religion or philosophy, I look for an answer that will help us to understand the known facts.

When you read these poems, I don’t expect that you will necessarily agree with the conclusions but hope that you will be stimulated to ask, ‘What do I think?’ and, maybe of more importance, ‘Why do I think so?’

The interpretations will be a product of age, gender, culture, race, nationality, politics, education and religious beliefs or lack of them. It is hardly surprising that our responses may differ. I frequently apply the following quotation from Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), the Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, to my own thoughts:

“I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken.”
– Letter to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (8/3/1650).

What's Love Got to Do With It?

A world of love, a world of death, a world of insanity. These four stories are distinctly different from each other in tone and substance, but is love the defining factor?

What would happen if we refuse to accept defeat, even in death? Would the spirit of love carry us forward? And if we could somehow find the courage to move forward, would love never die?

The four stories, together, encompass a wide range of life and death experiences, as different from one another as night from day. And yet, a similarity exists within the protagonists of each story: an overwhelming loss of hope. Perhaps they’ll each discover, as we all must at some point in our lives, that a new beginning is simply the resurrection of hope; and that love, indeed, has everything to do with it.

When Darkness Reigned

A long time has passed since the ‘High Kingdom’ brazenly executed its campaign of genocide and ruthlessly slaughtered the majority of their people in the hope of finding a child with a secret.

Fortunately for those resourceful enough to survive under the dark reign, an underground network of interconnected factions have been plotting an uprising for some time and they have a secret of their own.

When Life Hands You Lemons

Marauding lions threatening the safety of early settlers in Rhodesia travelling by ox wagon were the order of the day.

Emma Bartlett, a young, petulant lady of aristocratic birth, followed Harold Watson, second son of the Earl of Adiston, whom she loved, when he left England to settle in Rhodesia.

Emma had to face hardship and trauma, but she was destined to become a formidable woman of strong character setting an example to the generations who followed.