One of my goals this year is to add a new genre of books to my reading world. I enjoy reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction especially when it comes to memoirs, interior/architectural design and history books. This year I added the cozy mystery genre to my fiction palette. There are so many cozy mysteries to choose from.
A Scone To Die For is the first book in the Oxford Tearoom Mystery series authored by H.Y. Hanna.Read,Write,Travel with Clare
Born to Read. Born to Write. Born to Travel.
Friday, February 2, 2024
A Scone To Die For.
Monday, January 1, 2024
Happy New Year Everyone
I read dozens of books throughout the year. On January 1st of every year, I pick out the 'must read' books for the year.
Non-Fiction books:
The Stories We Tell by Joanna Gaines. Memoir.
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom. Memoir.
The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D. Psychology/personal development.
Heavy by Kiese Laymon - Memoir.
Plant Dreaming Deep by May Sarton - Memoir.
Becoming Philadelphia by Inga Saffron. Architecture/Urban Studies.
Fiction books:
What Girls Are Good For by David Blixt. A Novel of Nellie Bly.
Still Life by Louis Penny. First book in the Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery series.
Wild Irish Rose by Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles. Molly Murphy Mystery.
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. A thought-provoking Novel
The Poppy Wife by Caroline Scott. A novel of the great war.
What Did You Do In the War Sister? A novel regarding Catholic Sisters in the Nazi resistance.
The Wicked Redhead by Beatriz Williams. A jazz-age novel.
So, as of today, these books are on my to-do list. I love to-do list.
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year.
Thursday, August 24, 2023
Writer's Digest Conference 2023
The Writers Digest Conference was an energy shot in the arm for every writer that was able to attend. It was held again this year in the Midtown Hilton on the Ave of the Americas (6th Ave.). It is an easy walk (about 2 miles) from Pennsylvania Station, but taxi is certainly a faster method. My last WD Conference was in 2019, pre-covid, so I was eager for an in-person writing event and this one did not disappoint.
The day before the conference started, a variety of all-day workshops were held for anyone who wanted to take advantage of the moment. The conference offered a rich variety of sessions within several categories: Craft, Publishing, Fiction and Non-Fiction, Inspirational and Platform Building. It also offered a Pitch Slam throughout in designated time slots the first day for those wanting to connect with an agent. Within the Hall of the spacious second floor there were also plenty of vendors like Ingram Spark, Your Book is Your Hook who could answer any questions.
I jumped at the chance to soak up some concrete advise from Michael Le Ronn in his hour presentation: Microsoft Word Unleashed. It was fabulous. He knows his stuff. For anyone not familiar with One Drive, it was a good explanation of the features of the software. He strongly advised writers to turn on Auto Save. I never work in Dark Mode, but he showed how to switch the different modes and said Dark Mode is becoming the popular choice. He also advised that writers take advantage of the Read Aloud option. I absorbed as much info as I could, and I was happy to know that the conference will be sending the attendees a replay of the sessions, so I didn't have to write everything down. He also offered his help with question afterwards by giving us his email. Several people stayed a little later that he helped with specific questions.
Tiffany Yates Martin gave several presentations and an all-day pre-conference intensive on Supporting Elements of Story. She is loaded with excellent information and a high dose of energy to keep the pace going for the length of the session. She's amazing. I attended her Writing Multiple Timelines and Storylines session.
I grew up in a big family of seven sisters, and I seem to always have too many characters in my stories. Ms. Martin gave me several tips regarding mixing POVs that I will be sure to take include in my writing.
This session was excellent.
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Foster
Set in the rural southeastern coastal area of Ireland, "Foster" by Claire Keegan tells the story of a young child born into a family with too many mouths to feed and too little money to do it. It is on a hot summer day after Mass that her father drives her to Wexford to live with the Kinsellas, relatives she doesn't even know. He stays long enough to engage in small talk about farming, sits down for some food to eat, then leaves her not with a kiss but with these parting words, "Try not to fall into the fire, you." She watched him drive down the road, "Why did he leave without so much as a good-bye, without even mentioning that he would come back for me?'
Keegan's writing is poignant, drawing you deeper into an emotionally bound story that will keep you reading from cover to cover. You never know the child's name, but you know everything she is feeling. You feel her sense of abandonment, her sense of fear and her sense of achievement as the novella unfolds.
The Kinsella's home is strikingly different from her parents. They say, 'yes' instead of 'yeah'. They have a freezer where 'perishables can be stored for months." There is a toilet in the house but a chamber pot if the little girl is afraid to use it. There is a tub and she can take a bath when she needs. She has a bedroom with colorful trains and a small boy in the patterned wallpaper. She thinks the boy looks sad. There is a sadness in this home because of the little boy that once slept in this bedroom.
The Kinsellas are a loving couple who enjoy having friends over for playing cards and playing the spoons. It is a lively home filled with laughter to help manage a tragedy of long ago. They are the parents she needs, and she is the daughter they need. But the summer is not yet over, and she does not know if she will be here or with her birth family when summer is over.
Sunday, June 20, 2021
The Alice Network
From page one, Kate Quinn's novel gripped my attention and didn't let go til the end of the book. It's the best historical fiction novel that I have read this year. The novel is based on a spy network comprised of women operating during WW1. There are two story lines going on in the book. One takes place during WW1 and the other in 1947. I found the story fascinating in both time frames.
Saturday, July 4, 2020
Declutter Your Mind, Release Your Soul
The Story You Need To Tell is a wonderful read for anyone dealing with trauma or issues in their life that just won't let them move forward. By using her own story and the inspirational stories of others, Sandra Marinella conveys the power of writing down your stories and releasing them from having such a grip on your spirit. She explains things like sometimes you need distance from the event to make sense of it. Sometime you need to change your perspective or look at it from a different angle to get to the core of its hold on you. It's an easy read and offers the reader guidance and tools by which to declutter the mind so they you can breathe in fresh ideas and exhale hope into a life that seemed stuck in time.
Darkness will not leave the soul on its own accord, you have to force it out. We all have things that happen to us that can take a hold on us even to the point of paralysis, if we allow it to. Putting pen to paper is a proven way of helping you deal with whatever pain or trauma you lived through. Writing is a way to organize your feelings and a way to help view your life at a distance. This book can help anyone on that path.
I was fortunate to attend one of Ms. Marinella's workshops on Zoom. It' s not always easy to feel personally involved when you are in a Zoom meeting, but Ms. Marinella has an easy going personality that allows participants to feel comfortable even to the point of sharing their stories. In a class of about 12 women I felt privileged to listen to the stories they wrote and I felt comfortable in sharing my own. Whether you journal, just jot down notes on random pieces of paper or create other artistic narratives, these workshops are inspirational and sharing with like-minded women is a powerful endeavor all by itself.
If you would like to know more her events/workshops, here is a link to Ms. Marinella's website:
https://www.storyyoutell.com/
Stay healthy, safe and sane in this year of Covid-19.