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I met Andrew on line, and aside from falling love with his companion, Danny the Dog, who also blogged, I’ve read a couple of his books – Yellow Hair  and Molly Lee are now among my favorites. They are darned good. Bedtime Stories for Grownups is a combination of fiction and non-fiction, including an interview he and Danny did for me a while back. It’s hilarious. Andrew has won several prizes for his writing, so you are never taking a chance when you pick up one of his books. Here is what he has to say about his latest: About the book, straight from the author Hello, my name is Andrew Joyce and I write books for a living. Well, I mean … I write books in between marketing my books, which is what I’m doing here today. I’m down on bended knee, asking you to check out my new offering. If nothing else, it’s a good buy—700 pages of genius prose. And if you buy the print copy, it will make a dandy door-stop once you’ve finished reading it. My stuff ain’t half bad. I’ve won a few awards for my writing and obtained best-seller status on Amazon a couple of times … blah … blah … blah. Anyway, the blurb is below, and somewhere on this page I’m sure there’s a link to Amazon so you can read the first few stories and see if my writing might be your cup of tea, so to speak. Thank you for your time. Blurb Bedtime Stories for Grown-Ups is a jumble of genres—seven hundred pages of fiction and nonfiction … some stories included against the author’s better judgment. If he had known that one day they’d be published, he might not have been as honest when describing his past. Here is a tome of true stories about the author’s criminal and misspent youth, historical accounts of the United States when She was young, and tales of imagination encompassing every conceivable variety—all presented as though the author is sitting next to you at a bar and you’re buying the drinks as long as he keeps coming up with captivating stories to hold your interest. Comprised of 218,000 words, you’ll have plenty to read for the foreseeable future. This is a book to have on your night table, to sample a story each night before extinguishing the lights and drifting off to a restful sleep. Mr. Joyce sincerely hopes that you will enjoy his stories because, as he has stated, “It took a lot of living to come up with the material for some of them.” Andrew Joyce is the recipient of the 2013 Editor’s Choice Award for Best Western for his novel, Redemption: The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. His book Yellow Hair was awarded Book of the Year by Just Reviews and Best Historical Fiction of 2016 by Colleen’s Book Reviews.  About the author: Andrew Joyce left high school at seventeen to hitchhike throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico. He wouldn’t return from his journey until years later when he decided to become a writer. Joyce has written five books. His first novel, Redemption: The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, was awarded the Editors’ Choice Award for Best Western of 2013. A subsequent novel, Yellow Hair, received the Book of the Year award from Just Reviews and Best Historical Fiction of 2016 from Colleen’s Book Reviews. Joyce now lives aboard a boat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he is busy working on his next book, tentatively entitled, Mahoney: An American Story. PS I highly recommend this book and you can get it on Amazon, along with his other books: 0 0

Susan Appleyard is the award-winning author of six books of historical fiction. Her latest, The Forsaken Queen, is about Queen Isabella of England, wife of the feckless Edward II. Isabella’s reputation is not sterling – she has been called the ‘She-wolf of France’ – in part because of her contravention of custom and her extravagant lifestyle, plus her determination not to be the victim of corrupt men. Isabella was the youngest surviving child of Phillip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre. She was married in 1308 at the age of 12 to Edward, a handsome young king. At that time England was experiencing a period of growing conflict between the king and powerful baronial factions. Despite that, her early married years were happy and productive – she and Edward had four children, one of whom would rule as Edward III of England and another as Queen Joan of Scotland. When Edward came under the spell of a charismatic young man, Piers Gaveston, with whom he was rumored to have a romantic relationship, the Queen continued to support Edward, forming a working relationship with Piers and using her relationship with the French monarchy to bolster her own authority and power. During this time, Isabella was known for her beauty, diplomatic skills, and intelligence. Gaveston was killed by the barons in 1312, only to be replaced by a new favorite of Edward’s, Hugh Despenser the Younger. Edward was a weak king and, ruled by Hugh Despenser, tried to take revenge on the barons, resulting in internecine warfare and repressive acts. Isabella hated Hugh Despenser and considered him to be the cause of her disintegrating marriage. Hugh turned Edward against her and persecuted her, keeping Isabella as a virtual prisoner – until she took destiny into her own hands. Historically, Isabella is not an endearing character; she has been compared to Cercei in Game of Thrones! Nevertheless, the author makes her worthy of the reader’s sympathy, creating a three-dimensional character who is all too human, with understandable foibles and the need for love and support. She is a fierce mother not only to her children but to her adopted country, England, becoming the first person to depose a sitting king and serving as regent and advisor to her son until he was old enough to become an effective leader. I do love a good historical novel, especially one with a strong woman character and Appleyard does not disappoint. She brings the age to life with great attention to detail. Her characters live and breathe passion, romance, ambition, greed, evil, and duplicity. There is also a sizzling romance which develops into a life long love. This book is not a dense read, as some historical novels I have read have been, but it entertains, teaches history, and makes you feel a connection to Isabella. If you like historical novels, this is a must read. It reminded me of the novels of Phillipa Gregory, who is a favorite of mine. About the author Susan Appleyard was born in England, which is where she learned to love English history. She now lives in Canada in the summer. In winter she and her husband flee the cold for their second home in Mexico. Susan divides her time between writing and her hobby, oil painting. Writing will always be her first love. She was fortunate enough to have had two books published traditionally and is very excited about publishing ebooks. She is the author of six other historical novels including This Son of York, Queen of Trial and Sorrow,  The First Plantagenet, and The Remorseless Queen. You can find her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susan.appleyard.9 You can find all of her books on Amazon: 0 0

I found this wonderful prize winning animation of the city of 17th century London on Susan Appleyard’s Facebook page (I am reviewing her latest book) and just had to share it! Six students from De Montfort University have create a stellar 3D representation of 17th century London, as it existed before The Great Fire of 1666. The three-minute video provides a realistic animation of Tudor London, and particularly a section called Pudding Lane, where the fire started. As Londonist noted, “Although most of the buildings are conjectural, the students used a realistic street pattern [taken from historical maps] and even included the hanging signs of genuine inns and businesses” mentioned in diaries from the period. For their efforts, the De Montfort team was awarded first prize in the Off the Map contest, a competition run by the British Library and video game developers GameCity and Crytek. Prize-Winning Animation Lets You Fly Through 17th Century London 0 0

I was asked if I would participate in a new book tour for Owen Mullen. I did read Delany – And So It Began, and am happy to do this. Owen Mullen, whose first book Games People Play was critically recognized. The story: PI Vincent Delaney thought he was done with the NOPD until a string of seemingly unrelated child murders brings an unexpected invitation from the FBI, and his old boss. A serial killer is roaming the South, preying on children appearing in pageants, and the police want him to go undercover using his own family. Accepting would mean lying to people he loves and maybe even putting them in harm’s way. In Baton Rouge, a violent criminal has escaped and is seeking revenge for the brother Delaney shot dead. But Delaney isn’t going anywhere. He has unfinished business. Meanwhile, north of the French Quarter, shopkeepers are being extorted and ask for Delaney’s help. Extortion is a matter for the police. But what do you do when those responsible are the police? Delaney has his work cut out and he’ll be lucky if he makes it out of this alive… **** About the Author: Here’s Owen’s life in his own words. School was a waste of time for me. Or rather, I wasted time; my own and every teacher who’s tried to get me to work. It took twenty years to appreciate what they were telling me. Life has rules. They aren’t written down but they exist nevertheless. I got that. Eventually. But by then I was thirty five. Along the way I missed an important clue. At ten I won a national primary schools short story competition – and didn’t write anything else for forty years. As a teenager my big obsession was music. Early on I realized if I was successful I would probably be rich and famous and pull lots of girls. So how did that turn out? Well, you haven’t heard of me, have you? And this morning I caught myself worrying about the electricity bill. So the short answer is: one out of three ain’t bad. Running around the country in a Transit van with your mates is fun. It’s your very own gang. You against the world. Until you fall out and the dream lies bleeding on the dressing-room floor. When that happened I went to London [everybody from Scotland goes to London, it’s like first footing at New Year, or ten pints of lager and a vindaloo on a Friday night; a sacred tradition] and became a session singer. I also started gigging with different bands on the circuit. Back in Scotland – most of us come back with wild tales of great success, none of them true – I wondered what I should do with myself and didn’t have to wait long for the answer. Her name was Christine. We got married, I went to Strathclyde Uni and got a bunch of letters after my name, and toughing it out at Shotts Miner’s Welfare, or dodging flying beer cans at the Café Club in Baillieston, was in the past. The long hair was short now, I wore a suit and pretended to like people I didn’t like because we were ‘colleagues’. After many adventures I started my own marketing and design business and did alright. Christine and I were very happy, we travelled all over the place; India, Brazil, Botswana, Nepal, Borneo, Japan. One day I suggested we move. To the Greek islands. So we did. We bought land and built a beautiful villa overlooking the Mediterranean. Then the pan global financial crash happened, years of fiscal carelessness finally caught up with Greece; the exchange rate dived and the cost of living in Paradise went through the roof. I had to do something. Then I remembered the short story competition. I had been good at writing, hadn’t I? I wrote another short story called The King Is Dead…the first thing I’d written since primary school. When I typed the last word [Christine taught me to type] I held the pages in my hand then started to read. An hour and a half, rooted to the chair unable to believe what was in front of my eyes. For four decades I had shunned a god given gift. And as I read I started to understand why. It was awful. Not just bad. Bloody terrible. But I kept going. And now, eight years and seven books later, three literary agents plus two I turned down [they were reading a different book] I am a writer. My books are on Amazon. People buy them and come back for more. One seasoned London agent has predicted I am destined to be ‘a major new force in British crime fiction.’ Yeah! So is the moral: follow my example, find something you’re good at and stick with it. Hardly. I didn’t, did I? Do it your own way; it’s your life. **** I enjoyed this book. The premise, that a killer is stalking young girls at the many beauty pageants (remember Jon Bene Ramsey?) is a great one, and the writer has a good feel for this scene. I personally didn’t figure out who dunnit until almost the same time the protagonist did, but Mullen gives the reader some red herrings to add to the mystery. **** OWEN MULLEN’S debut novel Games People Play has been long-listed for Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Crime Book Of The Year 2017 Links : Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Owen-Mullen/e/B01BJSFIU8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1502278389&sr=8-1 Twitter: @OwenMullen6 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OwenMullenAuthor/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/owenmullenauthor/ 0 0

Well, I did it. I sold every single one of my books! Of course I had to send Hubs to film the pumpkin drop (onto a pink car), but the books are gone. Here are some photos of the pumpkins – some of them you saw half completed in the previous post.     Here’s a couple of views of a father and son carving an octopus and a sea turtle on one pumpkin! Miss Piggy!           There was a matruska doll.       This peacock was next to my table. A crab! We had dinner at a restaurant in East Boothbay. There was a full moon rising over the water – beautiful. Every one had the two lobster dinner, but I opted for nage, a wondrous mix of lobster, scallops, clams and mussels in a creamy lobster sauce. Yum! 0 0

The idea for my third book, Death by Pumpkin, came from the pumpkin drop at the Damariscotta Pumpkin Fest, so this year – instead of visiting Maine in the summer – we decided to come up for the Pumpkin Fest. Tomorrow I will be selling books outside the Sherman’s in that town. Sherman’s stores in Maine carry my series and are happy to have authors hawk their wares. There are lots of activities in this small town, just up the Damariscotta River from the ocean, during the fest. In addition to the pumpkin drop, where they lift their heaviest pumpkin by crane and drop it on a car, there are pumpkin pie eating contests;pumpkin slinging from catapults and sling shots; live music; a pumpkin float where contestants race down the river in giant, carved out pumpkins; food, food, food, a Pumpkinfest parade; and a derby with pumpkins on wheels. Today we drove to Damariscotta from Boothbay Harbor, where we are staying, to check in at Sherman’s. People are already crowding the downtown area, to watch artists carve and decorate HUGE pumpkins, sponsored by various town businesses. Here are some of the works in progress or already done: This first one is my favorite, because it really is death by pumpkin! We’ll take more pictures tomorrow when all the pumpkins are carved and painted. My table will be right next to a huge blue and green painted pumpkin the artist is making into a peacock! 1 0

Dear Followers:  If you are willing, I could use a little help you could provide with the touch of a finger. A friend and fellow blogger, Don Messenzio, had written a new thriller Blood Match. This novel  is currently a candidate in the Kindle Scout Program. I’m hoping you will give it your vote. First, a little about the book to tempt you!      Intelligence analyst Jake Balrich boards his Monday morning flight, as he has so many times, for routine field work. When the plan lands, a passenger fails to wake up. Jake soon realizes that the death was not accidental and that the murderous plot was meant for him.       The situation soon spins out of control with Balrich running for his life trying to prove his own innocence as he struggles with an unknown enemy that seems to guess his every move. Blood Match is a terrorism thriller examines how far someone will go to reach the height of power and ambition with little regard for human life.     Follow Balrich as he enlists the help of Commander Brad Rafferty, to take down an enemy more powerful and dangerous than the United States has ever faced. Some of you may recognize this story. It originally appeared as a weekly serial on Don’s blog under the name Road Kill. The story has been reworked and many extras have been added to turn it into this novel. About the Author Don was born in Syracuse, New York to first generation Italian American parents. He’s an avid reader, with Harlan Coben, David Morrell, Stephen King, Jonathan Kellerman, John Grisham, and Hugh Howey among his favorite authors. He started writing as a way to combat the long hours of travel and numerous hotel stays that are part of the ‘glamorous’ world of corporate life and as a therapeutic outlet to combat his homesickness. His first published book, Frankly Speaking, rose to the top of the Amazon charts. It was the first in a series of books focused on the character, Frank Rozzani, a Florida private detective. The series is a throwback to the days of pulp detective novels with a tip of the hat to Jim Rockford from the 70’s television show, The Rockford Files. He has also written a non-fiction book, The Ultimate Guide For Independently Published Authors: Tips for Improving Quality and Selling Your Work, now available on Amazon.com as an eBook or in paperback Don moved to Jacksonville, Florida 22 years ago where he currently lives with his wife, daughter, and three dogs. What is the Kindle Scout Program? KSP is reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. Selected books will be published by Kindle Press and receive 5-year renewable terms, an advance, royalties and featured Amazon marketing. If Don’s book is selected for publication by Kindle Scout, it can help take his writing to the next level in terms of exposure and recognition. How can you help? First and foremost, you can vote to nominate the book. The campaign goes up on September 20th at midnight and will continue through October 20th. You can vote for it and preview the opening of the book by clicking HERE. How can you help even more? Spread the word. Don has made it easy for you using something called Thunderclap. Thunderclap is a social media tool that allows you to effortlessly spread the word using your social media accounts with a pre-written message. All of your followers will receive the message. You can help by signing up for the Thunderclap campaign HERE. And You Get Goodies… Apart from Don’s eternal gratitude, if his book is selected, you will receive a free pre-launch copy from Amazon and will have the opportunity to officially review it before its launch. That is a free book for you, but it also helps, yet again, by allowing the book to launch with established reviews. So this is a big win-win for my followers. Please help Don (and me) out here by voting. And then enjoy his book! 0 0

I chose to review this book because I am largely ignorant of the history of the Dark Ages, except for some marginal knowledge of Charlemagne, King Charles the Great. However, I am acquainted with The Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland), an epic poem based on the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778, during Charlemagne’s reign. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. This book is an homage to that epic. The Dark Ages was a time of great turmoil and the collision of empires. As the young Frank kingdom, led by King Charles, prepares to defend itself against the Saxons in the east, Roland, heir to the Breton March, has been relegated to guard duty. Everything changes when a foreign emissary entrusts him to bring Charles vital word of a new threat to the kingdom from a Muslim invasion from the south. Roland joins the king’s retinue and discovers there are traitors plotting regicide within the peerage and knights. Roland is well-acquainted with one of them – his step-father, whom he suspects of killing his father on the battlefield to assume his lands and take Roland’s mother as his wife. The story is written from an omniscient point of view, which sometimes breaks the train of the main story, but is necessary to understand the many obstacles faced by Charles as he works to hold his kingdom together. Nevertheless, the focus is on Roland’s development into a great warrior and the right hand of Charles, along his deepening love for the sister of his good friend and the plots of his step-father and others who desire to seize the throne. It revisits an age of court intrigue, chivalry and valor, the clash of arms, and a final, fateful decision made before the Battle of Roncevaux. I enjoyed this book. It is filled with superb medieval historic detail as it pulls together various threads in the life of King Charles and Roland. I particularly liked the visitations of Roland’s father William in ghostly form, to advise Roland and counsel him. While Charles remains a less formed character, Roland’s progression from an impetuous youth seeking revenge to a canny and powerful warrior is well limned. Most of the other main characters – the stepfather Ganelon and his equally treacherous son Gothard; Saleem, the son of Marsilion, the Muslim king; Oliver, Roland’s good friend; Aude, Oliver’s sister and Roland’s love – are also three-dimensional and unforgettable. There are many minor characters, related to various aspects of the story, who require vigilance on the part of the reader to keep in mind, but they added to the richness of world the authors have created. The Silver Horn is reminiscent of the stories of King Arthur, with courtly love, knightly honor and dark treachery; it also reminds me of a favorite book of my youth, Ivanhoe. The unrelenting battle scenes, although a necessary part of the story, can be overwhelming: their descriptions are not for the faint of heart and bear witness to the brutality of waging war in medieval times. I could still hear the clash of swords and the screams of dying men after I put the book down. With its sacrifice and loss, the ending was deeply affecting, and the discovery of the silver horn in the future was a reassuring testament to the endurance of Roland’s legend. This is a truly epic tale which will resonate with many readers and which does honor to La Chanson de Roland. About the authors Michael Eging wanted to write since he was very young. His earliest memories are of carrying a battered old notebook around full of illustrations and stories. While in college, he was inspired by professors and visiting writers. Literary classics such as Song of Roland and Inferno were often in his backpack, along with Russian textbooks. Recently, Eging has pursued an interest in writing screenplays for feature films with his first option being The Song of Roland. He continues to focus on a variety of script/movie projects, most recently a horror thriller, Feast of Saint Nicholas, and a political thriller, The Prince. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Lori and his children. You can find Michael Eging On twitter: @MichaelEging On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.eging And on Independent Author Network: http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/michael-eging.html Steve Arnold grew up on a farm in Northeast Ohio where he spent his free time reading Burroughs, Lovecraft, Zelazny and Tolkien, and his earliest writing efforts were creating adventures for his Dungeons & Dragons group. After several years of supporting his family through blue-collar jobs he joined the military and returned to school in his thirties, obtaining a BS in mathematics and then an MD. A veteran of the Army and the Navy, he is currently a Family Medicine physician near his hometown where he lives with his family, their dog, cat and two geckos, and relaxes by creating pencil illustrations, working on other literary projects with Mike Eging, and dreaming of building an airplane. Eging and Arnold have previously co-authored Anwyn’s Blood, a dark fantasy tale with elements of the undead. The Silver Horn: A Song of Roland can be found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Horn-Echoes-Song-Roland/dp/1532020201/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 0 0

Hey everyone, check out some of these new followers’ blogs! Kristi at https://bostonbookreader.wordpress.com As her blog name indicates, she lives in Boston, my home town, and LOVES to read. https://universaltrimming.wordpress.com  For all you seamstresses out there, this is a manufacturer that specializes in braids, cords, fringes, tassels, and passementeries. https://fancypaperblog.wordpress.com  is written by an Irish mom with two little girls under two. It’s about parenting and the joys and not-so-joys of having children. https://syedamahamriazblog.wordpress.com/ is written by Maham, who is a chartered accountant working for one of the big four audit firms. She is passionate about reading, writing, fashion, beauty, art, travel and food. https://marcbatesphotographyblog.com Marc Bates a freelance photographer from Cramlington in Northumberland, England. Stop by his blog to see some spectacular photos! Kanika at http://kanikachughs.com KC writes wonderfully lyric poetry Like to play bingo? This site https://perfectbingositesuk.wordpress.com will tell you all about the various kinds of bingo and where you can play and the rules. https://edgepropsg.wordpress.com  Is a site for sales of properties. You need a LOT of money to buy any of them! https://donmassenzio.wordpress.com  Don is a friend and a fellow mystery writer. I’ll have a post about his new book very soon! He’s also written  The Ultimate Guide For Independently Published Authors: Tips for improving quality and selling your work, now available on Amazon.com as an eBook or in paperback. Willie Gordon Suting at https://williegordonsutingblog.wordpress.com is a poet, writer, freelancer, bibliophile, vintage watches collector, blues and vocal jazz fan and country-jazz crooner who lives in Shillong, Meghalaya, Northeast India https://reasonstoresist.com is a fairly virulent anti-Trump blog. There may be some who would like this. https://emotionspassion.wordpress.com is an empowering, supportive blog about emotions. Let’s Roam the World at https://elaineroams.com is a blog written so the author, who admits to a bad memory, can remember all the places she’s been and things she’s done. A wonderful, eclectic travel blog. The Mad Movie Ranter at https://youtheman77.wordpress.com has a BA (with Honours) degree and took a two year part time Master’s Degree in Television Scriptwriting. He reviews LOTS of movies. You can check out almost anything new on his site. Sanjeef Jain at Digital Passion: https://www.shoutmepassion.com  He posts about how to make an income from your site or blog, how to redirect traffic to your site. Good information! Akataka076 at https://laughingmega.wordpress.com His site has comedy videos set in Africa and they did make me laugh! Sujata at https://abhikavya.wordpress.com  She writes poetry, but I need a translation. From the comments, it sounds like she has a real way with words! 0 0

The last Friday of the month is FlashbackFriday, started by Michael D’Agostino – I was reminded of it by a post from Jemima Pett at http://jemimapett.com/blog/2017. For my flashback, I’m re-posting something I wrote in October of 2012. I’m still swimming outside (the weather has been HOT) because the pool is holding at 80 degrees. I’ll keep it up until it his 70. And I’m still scooping leaves and picking out Cardinal feathers! **** Yes, you read that right. I’ve been walking in my pool. After my shoulder joint was rudely removed by a damned fine surgeon and replaced with a titanium replica that promises to outlast the rest of my body, I was told no swimming until the incision’s completely healed.  Bummer.  In addition, the machinations of the surgeon left me pretty anemic.  The thought of becoming a couch potato in a pool of blubber was not appealing, so I’ve taken to walking in the pool. Traversing the shallow end 50 or 60 times is absolutely mind-numbing, but it has the advantage of being close to home should I start to fade. This type of exercise has left me to my imagination and observation.  One of the things I’ve seen in the pool every day is a bird feather.  The adult wing feathers have a gray base and the loveliest pink-red tips, clearly from one of the cardinals living in the bushes near the house.  We feed them in the winter time, and to get to the food, the male meanly shoves aside any female on the tray. By spring, however, he has more urgent things on his mind and will delicately choose a seed to feed his mate.  Males of every species are clearly driven by their hormones! Each year a pair nest in the tree outside our family room window and raise a raucous brood which doesn’t want to leave.  But being territorial, by the time fall rolls around Mom and Dad have asserted themselves and we are back to one pair.  They apparently like to bathe in our pool, despite the fact that we have provided them with a fantastic bird bath. Occasionally, one or the other sheds a downy breast feather, totally pink, that floats gracefully on the water’s surface.  I do love seeing that fluff. I also use these walks to remove leaves from the pool, which are slowly taking over its surface.  I enjoy watching a sere and folded leaf land on the water and sail across the pool, pushed by the wind like a ship of state.  Makes me think of the Niña, Pinta, Santa Maria, Mayflower, Golden Hind, Trinidad and Santiago, ships that flew before the wind carrying explorers across the oceans and around the world.  But mostly I just scoop them up with a net, while walking mindlessly back and forth. 0 0