Looking back, I can see that I was extremely lucky. My summers in Plymouth were darned near perfect. New England summers by and large have wonderful weather, a great time to be outside, doing whatever. My brother and I were free range kids, year round. Our playmates were spread over a mile or two, and we could be found anywhere, and unless we were at the Eel River Beach Club, Mom used to ring a large cow bell to summon us home for supper. I used my memories of this club to write about the scenes at the swim club in my first book, Death in a Red Canvas Chair. So let me tell you about where I lived. My family and I lived in a then 100 year old house with 14 rooms, three stories high, counting the gables for the third floor rooms – square and unyielding even to hurricane force winds. Its many windows reflected the sky and ocean. It sat across the road from the beach, and at night, you fell asleep to the sound of waves or the lonely fog horn on Gurnet lighthouse. The house still sits on roughly five acres of land, arranged in terraces leading up from Warren Avenue; while it has been on the top terrace for many years, there was evidence that the entire thing had been moved from the first terrace by the road, back in horse and buggy days. You can only imagine what that might have entailed. The house has a porch which wraps all around it; at that time, the part off of our kitchen was screened in and we ate there almost every evening to the accompaniment of crickets and warm breezes. What I plan to do with this series of posts is tell all y’all (as they say here in the south) a few stories about my summers. Imagine warm, lazy days – Mom handing clothes out back in our drying yard to dry, bees and humming birds buzzing around the blossoms on the trumpet vines that covered the lattice work wall surrounding that space. Wind rustling the pine needles of the enormous tree in the back yard where perched our tree house (a platform two stories up, no ladder, you climbed), and in the two other tall pine trees, between which ran a 4×4 to hold my swing. My Dad had put the seat of the swing up high, so I could hang by my knees from the seat and swing with my hair brushing the ground. On the porch to one side of the house on the porch was a hammock, great for dreaming away an afternoon. Summer chores were few: help with hanging out the clothes and taking them in, setting the table, dishes after supper, keeping my room in some order. The rest was just FUN! Happy Fourth of July, everyone! 0 0
Hello friends and followers of Noelle! My name is Fia Essen. I’ve been an expat since childhood. I grew up in the stables of the Middle East and Southeast Asia, surrounded by horses, philandering polo players, and the occasional Boa Constrictor. Currently, I live in Athens, Greece with my Yorkshire Terrier. I’m an author. I’ve written two novels and they’ve both been published this year. Now I’m working on my third novel. I love to write. I get to make up stories on the job. What could be more fun? But as I’ve discovered since I made the decision that I wanted to become an author, the actual writing is a relatively small part of being an author. Promoting my books and finding readers takes up a lot more time and effort. That’s why I’m so grateful to have kind friends like Noelle who are willing to help me out. Today, she has offered to let me tell you guys a little more about my books. Ariel is a half-English, half-American, lifelong expat who was born in Hong Kong and now lives in Singapore. At the age of thirty-four, she is in debt and out of luck. She used to have a great career, a penthouse she shared with her boyfriend of ten years, and a group of fun friends. Now she has a dead-end job, a rented hovel of a home, and a rising stack of unpaid bills to keep her company. In essence, this is a story about finding the courage to pick yourself up when you’ve hit rock-bottom and starting over. Of course, there is also intrigue and romance in the book. Ariel is summoned by the mysterious Muse Agency and she has no idea what they could possibly want with her. She meets a charming Irishman who makes her feel alive again. But can she work up the courage to take another chance on love? Anna thought she knew exactly where her life was heading. She was wrong. After ten years of climbing her way up the stressful corporate ladder at Milton International, her dream of one day occupying her boss’ corner office has been ripped from her thanks to a round of downsizing. Her boyfriend of five years has dumped her because he didn’t think she shared his vision of their “ideal future” together. In addition to losing her job and boyfriend, she comes to the conclusion she might be losing her mind too. A sane person wouldn’t follow a perfect stranger they meet on a plane to a tiny village no one has heard of on a Greek island, would they? The stranger in question is an irresistibly handsome Englishman with a sympathetic ear. But that’s no excuse to follow him to the place he calls his home and practically move in with him, is it? I’d be thrilled if you read the books and find out how things turn out for Ariel and Anna! You can find Ariel on Amazon in paperback and Kindle here: http://mybook.to/ariel and Anna here: http://mybook.to/anna And if you’d like to get social with me, you can… Visit my Website – http://www.fiaessen.com/ Follow me on Twitter – @FiaEssen https://twitter.com/FiaEssen Join me on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/fiaessen Thank you! Fia PS Note to my followers: Do read these books. Aside from being a great writer, Fia is a wonderful person to get to know, so do visit her blog! 0 0
I met the wonderful Olga online via the blogosphere and have enjoyed her posts. She has become a good friend, and I was enthusiastic to participate in her blog tour. She now has six (!) books published, twelve if you count that this bilingual author has translated them into English! There are three books in the Angelic Business Trilogy, which I am posting about today, with Olga’s assistance. The trilogy concerns angels, demons, and teenagers but is far from Land of the Living Dead. Rather, each book is humorous and practical, dealing with issues that are larger than life to a teenager – very appropriate for a YA audience. So without further ado, here is my friend and fellow author: My name is Olga Núñez Miret and I’m a writer, translator, reader, psychiatrist, I love movies, plays, fitness, owls and recently have taken up meditation (mindfulness). (I thought I might as well summarize and not take too much of your time). I’ll leave you some links at the end just in case you want to find out even more about me (I’m not sure I’d recommend it, but hey…do your worst!). I’ve been writing since I was quite young and I write in whatever style the story I have in my head wants to be written in. So far literary fiction, romance, YA, thriller…and a few unfinished works. Around five years ago I discovered and read quite a few interesting Young Adult books and had an idea for what I thought could be a series. At the time I wrote the first of the novels and after trying to find an agent or a traditional publisher without much success, I started self-publishing, but decided to publish some of my other books first. Since then I’ve published 12 books (6 original books and their translations, as I write in English and Spanish). I kept thinking about Angelic Business and a few months later wrote the second novel in the series: Shades of Greg. (No, nothing to do with…) And last year, as part of NaNoWriMo I wrote the third novel in the series, Pink, Angel or Demon? As I had written the three, I thought I’d publish them pretty close to each other so people wouldn’t have to wait to know what happened next (at least not too much). The three books in the Angelic Business collection are now available for pre-order at the special price of $0.99 each. It’s a bargain price and they’ll go up shortly after publication. Here, a video: Link: https://youtu.be/ZKWP_Q89CiQ Angelic Business 1. Pink Matters You are Pink, not the prettiest girl, but smart and with plenty of resources. What do you do when your best male friend offers to have sex with you, because he thinks you’re a lost cause? You plot your revenge with your two best female friends, of course! It seems you’re in luck when a new and mysterious student appears. And, to top it all, he seems interested in you too. He could take part in the plan. But then, he seems to have a plan of his own… He insists he’s not just an ordinary boy. And what seemed so easy to begin with, gets more and more complicated when Heaven and Hell come knocking at Pink’s door. Pink Matters is the story of Pink, a 17 year old girl, good student, articulate and smart. What she has never been the centre of attention or made the top ten of the most popular and attractive girls at school. When two guys, both claiming to be angels, insist that she is, indeed, ‘special’, fight for her attention and help and tell her she is the key to the future of the universe, she can’t help but ask: Why me? And a snippet: “Who are you?” Lorna asked. Before she could say anything else, she froze as if paralyzed. And the same happened to Sylvia. “Oh no, not again” I said. “Hi Pink. I’m Azrael. I’m…” “Let me guess…You’re an angel.” I could say he smiled but it was more like a white light radiating from between his lips. His voice also seemed slightly “otherworldly”. He was nothing like G. Flesh and blood didn’t seem to be his priority. “Yes. I am.” “O…K….And…to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? If you are going to make an announcement of some sort…I could have done with some notice.” The light now seemed to radiate from his whole “body” if that was what it was. Somehow his show was much more believable than G’s. And scarier. “It’s not an announcement as such. But you should know…G…” “Yes?” “I know he told you he’s an angel.” I looked at him. Maybe he was different to G but he could be as annoying as him. And interfering. “Yes. I also “know” things…In my case it is because “I” am an angel. He has not been truthful about his identity.” Pink Matters is currently available for pre-order and will be published on the 26th of June 2015(Amazon time). So, if you’re reading this post after the 26th of June, you’re in luck and can get the book straight away! (I’m also publishing it in other platforms although as their processing speed is different the dates might vary. Do check there or in my website, that I regularly update). Link: http://rxe.me/YIHTW96 In case you’re intrigued, I leave you the cover (reveal!) and links to the other two books. Angelic Business 2. Shapes of Greg What more could happen after the death and resurrection of your mother? What could Heaven and Hell toss at Pink to top that? Well, to start with, she gets a new hellish babysitter, who is seriously hot. And although everybody likes him, he only has eyes for her. When she learns what the price was for the ‘miracle’ of saving her mother, she realises that she must be careful, as Hell doesn’t lose gracefully. One of her friends wants to find
A few weeks ago, I posted about the death of Grayson Queen. His wife, Rara, has a blog, Rarasaur, which given her current situation, she is unable to use. I sent her a letter quoting all of the condolences that people posted to this blog, and here is what she wrote me back: “Thank you for your condolences and kind letter. I especially appreciate the bouquet of warm wishes you collected from the blogosphere. There’s nothing like the wild array of beauty grown from the blogging community. The world is full of love, so full that I am oft overwhelmed by it. In a good way. Please extend my gratitude to all who have reached out with a word or thought. My family appreciated it and I am completely humbled by it, I am also grateful for the mail – it keeps me focused on something other than my worries! I am not quite sure what to write or where, but I am home in 40 days and will be posting again soon, I hope.” If you would like to write to Rara or send her a card, leave a comment and I’ll send her address to you. Thanks to all of my online friends who sent wishes of condolence and encouragement. It clearly meant so much to Rara, and I am honored to have such wonderful people following my blog. 0 0
Trouble Comes in Threes Inspired by today’s humorous post from TanGental (http://geofflepard.com/2015/06/19/international-rescue-south-london-branch/), I feel compelled to comment on what happened when we came back from our last trip. It was sort of like our Christmas curse: every year at Christmas something expensive happens to our house or a car. We now have a Christmas catastrophe fund. But I digress… Number 1: We are packing up to leave Las Vegas for home and my husband opens our computer, which had been sitting on a desk in our hotel room. The screen displays a lovely abstract of lines and colors right in the middle. At that point, we might have been in an evangelical church for all the calling on the Lord. I commented to Mr. Doctor that we could still read around the edges and maybe by making whatever we were looking at very small, we could see the whole thing. Plus I pointed out that I had worn the letters off the keys and was working with a rubber pad printed with keys laid over the originals. The pad did keep moving to the left though, resulting in some interesting compositions. Resolution: We bought a new laptop. Cost: You don’t want to know. Number 2. Upon arriving home, we pull out all our dirty clothes to wash because we are leaving again for a 3 day, thousand mile marathon to Georgia to see my son and get our truck back. He was taking an eight week course at Fort Benning and needed wheels while he was in the States. The washer starts up, goes through the wash cycle and then stops, full of water, and refuses to spin. Mr. Doctor removes the towels to the wash room sink and attempts to get the washer to drain. Some luck, so he starts another, lighter load. Same result. We now have a towering pile of wet clothes. Resolution: I hand wring the towels (where is that wringer my mother used to have on her washer?) and put them in the dryer. They’re still sodden and it takes two hours for them to dry. Only then do I find the lint screen is totally clogged. Mr. Doctor takes twelve dollars in change to the nearest laundromat, along with the wet, partially washed clothes. He barely makes it back with fifty cents – prices for a load have really skyrocketed since we last used a laundromat! We call Sears, schedule a repairman for when we get back. Cost: $400. Number 3: Making the guest bed up for our next set of house and pet sitters, I find huge yellow stains all over the bedspread. House sitter #1’s dog has been using the spread at night instead of going outside. Resolution: Costly trip to the cleaner’s, dragging said bedspread. On the good side, there are two jars of moonshine in our refrigerator. Owner unknown. Resolution: Guess! 0 0
I spent last week at the annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Anatomist. I have been the Program Chair for the last three years, largely because no one else wanted the job, and have, as a parts of the job, led a committee which decides where the annual meetings will be for the next five years, chose the hotels, worked with the Annual Meeting Committee which handles the details of the meeting, sat in on three conference calls per month, and did a lot of trouble shooting. I feel very comfortable with this group because of my years as an anatomist, but now that a new Program Chair has been elected (a real competition this time), I am dealing with the fact one of my last ties to my previous life is gone. Since I no longer teach or do research in the field, I have lost something that defined me. Now I am a blogger – not the best but enthusiastic! – and I work hard at being a writer. I’m still not comfortable in these clothes and feel like I did as a graduate student: getting my feet under me on a steep mountain of learning. It’s proven hard to let go; I came up with the idea for a text book at that meeting, one which my scientific publishing company – Elsevier – would be happy to consider. I was an editor for three issues of the Netter Atlas of Anatomy, author of an anatomy review book, and they are marketing an online anatomy program I created (which the British Medical Society recently recognized). So you can see I am torn. I know if I slipped back into my former suit of clothes, I would not have time to work on the Rhe Brewster Mystery series, or at least a lot less so, nor time for the marketing work, nor for the historical novel I am thinking about. So here I sit, straddling both worlds, not comfortable yet in the new one, but knowing I have to leave the old to grow. 0 0
To all my friends in the blogosphere: I have been running an academic educational meeting in Nevada for the past week and thus have not had a chance to visit your blogs. We got home last night and are off tomorrow for a three day driving junket to see our son before he heads back to Germany. I promise to be back reading and commenting by the end of the week! Funny how summer works out… Noelle 0 0
4.5 stars I will admit at the outset I have enjoyed two other Terry Tyler books: The Last Child, Kings and Queens, Round and Round. So I was looking forward to reading Dream On. I found Dream On a little less compelling than these other books – it is a sobering look at the effect of one young man’s pursuit and dream of being in a commercially successful rock band on the people in his world. As Ms. Tyler describes the ups and downs of David Bentley’s life, she hints he will probably never be more than a minor musician in the rock world and as a result, his life will be unfulfilled. Or will it? Nevertheless, the characters, who are developed with richness and depth, stayed with me after I long after I finished the book – the hallmark of a great read. Dave Bentley works at part time jobs, fully believing he is destined to be a rock star. Married to Janice, a kind, warm girlfriend who truly loves him and who is the mother of his small son, he has been dropped from his latest band gig. His ensuing depression and drinking has led Janice to throw him out of their home, and he is squatting with a friend when he discovers a belief that he’s a reincarnated Viking warrior. Propelled by his enthusiasm for a new group he names Thor, Dave gathers bandmates and they start playing gigs, hopefully leading to the big break. Just as the band is picking up steam, singer songwriter Ariel Swan, Dave’s true love, who had left him to have a career in London, returns. Dave can’t help himself and he resumes his relationship with Ariel, lying to Janice. When Ariel and her friend Melodie, low on talent but high in looks, decided to enter a TV talent completion, Dave and his bandmates in Thor decide to enter as well. A fateful decision, which leads to big changes in the lives of all the competitors and not necessarily for the better. Ms. Tyler captures the flavor, language and tempo of the time period, the retro bands, as well as the craziness of the rock world, and the highs and lows of the life of musicians. As usual with a Terry Tyler book, this is a good, smooth read that will keep you turning the pages! You can find Dream On at Amazon Kindle: amazon.com/Dream-Terry-Tyler-ebook/dp/B0094WNOF8/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1433624338&sr=1-3&keywords=Terry+Tyler You can find Terry at: http://terrytyler59.blogspot.com 0 0
The Widow’s Tale is a genuine romance and a debut novel. Set in the era of the English Civil War (17th century) in the Yorkshire Dales (a favorite part of the world for me!), it recounts the life of 17 year old Charlotte Hart, married by arrangement to a local gentry man, Captain Oliver Grimwell. Even his last name made me hate him. Grimwell had the misfortune to die before he and Charlotte consummated their marriage and Charlotte wants her dower, a small farm, returned to her. Although this is her right under British law, Grimwell’s grasping family, including his nasty brother Phillip, refuse to let the land go. Charlotte is mighty headstrong, as they might say here in the South, and is determined to recover her farm, by hook or crook. On one of her usual wild rides on the moor, she runs into some of Oliver Cromwell’s Army, the Roundheads, and meets the ruggedly handsome Nate Weatherall, a Cavalry officer. She gets away from him, but he later leads a group of Roundheads who garrison her family’s homestead. This creates problems for the family because her brother, a Loyalist, is hidden in a cave beneath the house. Charlotte and Nate could not be more different. Charlotte is an impetuous, emotional, and stubborn young woman who continually makes bad choices, so many that I wanted to shake her and yell “Stop it!” Nate is a Puritan who believes women should be subservient to men. Despite their differences, they are attracted to each other and begin a relationship that will never run smooth but definitely runs hot, with some sex scenes that will satisfy most romance aficionados. There is a mild element of SM running through their relationship, since Nate takes pleasure in smacking her bottom when displeased with her behavior. She smarts from the beating but doesn’t turn away. Charlotte’s schemes create tensions with her family, particularly with her outspoken older sister Cat, start a battle with the Grimwells, and lead to constant bickering with Nate. When her brother-in-law tries to rape her, Charlotte clocks him and leaves him for dead, necessitating a trip through the landscape of war-torn England, in and out of enemy lines, to find Nate. I did have a few problems with the story. The language and banter between Charlotte and Nate is very modern and the author uses words inappropriate for the time, like snarky. I also found Charlotte a little over the top, not entirely believable for a woman of that time in history. Perhaps if she had been older? Finally, there is way too much eye-rolling and blushing – enough that I was acutely aware of it. That being said, first novels are always hard. The author clearly knows and loves this period, as evidenced the details and the way they are woven into the story. The landscape and scenes are descriptive, but not overly so, and the secondary characters are clearly limned and very enjoyable. The fact some speak in a Yorkshire accent adds to the authenticity. I think romance readers who try this book will not be disappointed, and I suspect the next volume in this series will be even better. Paula Moss was born in Liverpool, a child of Irish Catholic descent, but now lives in the England not far from Jane Austen country. Her great passion is social history and she writes that she is “particularly enthralled by the experiences of ordinary people through extraordinary times.” Her current writing goal is a series of Historical Romance Sagas under the banner of ‘Swords, Saints & Sinners.’ These stories will focus on a group of characters from all parts of the divide during the English Civil War era. She is also working on a project set in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War. The Widow’s Tale can be found on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Widows-Tale-Swords-Sinners-ebook/dp/B00W59U3OM Ms. Moss can also be found at Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7901912.Paula_C_Moss and on her blog: http://paulacmoss.blogspot.com 0 0
One thing did result from the Great Chicago fire: it created a clean slate for the growth of a modern city with steel beamed buildings. The 1893 “White City” of the World Columbian Exposition is claimed by some to have led to a revival of Neo-Classical architecture in Chicago and the entire United States, and the 1909 “ Plan for Chicago” was the first comprehensive city plan in the U.S, and was in a Neo-Classical style. However, Chicago architects used many design styles and belonged to a variety of architectural schools, including the early Chicago style, Neoclassic, Craftsman Style, Prairie Style, Edwardian, Modern, Post-Modern – you can find whatever you are looking for. The architects include such famous men as Daniel Burnham, Mies Van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. We started out walking along Michigan Avenue, admiring the Wrigley Building with its decorative elements. The building was designed using the shape of the tower of Seville’s Cathedral combined with French Renaissance details. Then we looked at the neo-Gothic Chicago Tribune building , which has blocks of stone from various famous places (the Pyramids, the Alamo, the Great Wall of China, the Parthenon) embedded in the walls and flying buttresses at the top. We took a 90 minute architecture tour by boat on the Chicago River, which is definitely the way to see the city and the docents are very knowledgeable. Here are some pictures we took along the way to give you a smattering of the variety and grandeur of the buildings. Not to ignore the newest building: Trump Tower! 0 0
