In bleak midwinter 2002, I moved to rural Lancashire, in northern England, an incongruous place for an American expat. The first months were so oppressively dark, I felt I was trapped inside some claustrophobic gothic novel. But then came spring in a tide of bluebells and hawthorn. The wild Pennine landscape cast its spell on me. I live at the foot of Pendle Hill, famous throughout the world as the place where George Fox received his vision that moved him to found the Quaker religion in 1652. But Pendle is also steeped in its legends of the Lancashire Witches.In 1612, seven women … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2011
Book Trailer Fridays – Juliette Fay & Deep Down True
I've been meaning to blog all week, but I've been completely lost in my manuscript. It's a good thing, but I get to the end of my writing day and I'm kind of shocked that I'm still me. It's a little disorienting. Like watching a movie that's completely engrossing and when it's suddenly over, walking through the doors of the movie theatre back to the normal world seems surprising. Or like the time The Other 1/4 watched the entire first season of Heroes around the same time that I did. She called and said, "You know, the only thing I didn't like about it --""--was when you stopped watching … [Read more...]
Book Trailer Fridays – Kelly O’Connor McNees & The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott
I read Little Women in fourth grade, and was completely and totally mesmerized. It was the first book that made me feel like I was living inside the story while I read it, because I was so emotionally invested in the characters. I'd enjoyed reading up until then, but Little Women is the book that made me a reader, and it's still one of my all time favorites.Little Women was also the book that sparked my interested in writers. The woman behind the Little Women is just as interesting as the book itself. Louisa May Alcott was a student of several members of the Transcendental Club, an … [Read more...]
Wordless Wednesday Video – Dog Wrestling
Book Trailer Fridays – Tatjana Soli & The Lotus Eaters
I re-read The Things They Carried for book club a few months ago. It is a stunning book, and I'm completely in awe of Tim O'Brien. So, my TBR pile has gotten a little taller, since discovering that he had this to say about The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli:"Set amid the twin infernos of Cambodia and Vietnam in the early 1970's, The Lotus Eaters draws the reader into a haunting world of war, betrayal, courage, obsession, and love. Tatjana Soli's spare, lucid prose infuses this novel with a dramatic clarity that makes us eyewitnesses to the collapse of two civilizations. More than that, The … [Read more...]
Wordless Wednesday – Snowy Face
2010 in Review
I love this meme! It's such a nice way to reflect on the past year. I swiped it from Jess again. Here's my review from last year: part one & part two. 1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?There's that whole having a book published thing, and going on a book tour. I also made a quilt. 2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?I didn't really make any, so does that count as keeping them? This year, I've decided I will eat fewer marshmallows (notice I did not say I'm giving them up), finish my next book, and learn how to sew from a … [Read more...]
Book Trailer Fridays – Heidi W. Durrow & The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky is on my must read list. And I love hearing stories about what inspires writers as they create characters, so Heidi W. Durrow's video about her grandmother, who shares a few similar traits with the grandmother in her novel is right up my alley.My Real Grandmother from Heidi Durrow on Vimeo.The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, a story of "Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I. who becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy," is the winner of the 2008 Bellwether Prize for Fiction. Here's what reviewers are saying about it:"The Girl Who Fell From … [Read more...]
Things I’m absurdly excited about
With the holidays, friends in town, and several people I love having birthdays, last week got a little crazy around here, and I didn't get to blog at all. I'm working on a year end wrap up post for later in the week, but a few things have had me jumping for joy & shouting "Mrs. X can suck it!" recently, and I wanted to share!The cover above is the standard German version of STAY from Weltbild! The title translates to "Sit! Place! (or stay) Love!" And I'm completely and totally in love with it. I didn't know it was out until a reader left me a comment in German on the Facebook page on New … [Read more...]