Fiona’s old college chum, Priscilla Conroy, has recently moved back to the Pittsburgh area after a most unpleasant divorce. Fiona was looking forward to reconnecting with her friend to help cheer her up and the two had made plans to meet at the bank where her friend worked after it closed—only Priscilla never shows up for the lunch date. Thinking the worse, Fiona is beside herself and spends the entire Memorial Day weekend searching for her friend. Did her ex-husband abduct her? Has she been murdered? Somehow Fiona knows that the key to Priscilla Conroy’s disappearance lies within the bank. But how can that be? Join Fiona Quinn for a quick mystery that’s sure to keep you guessing!
This is a quick read and hilarious as well, in places, along with a bit of dementia and notes from an ATM. The essence of the author’s writing style is the same. Wonderful. Five shiny gold stars!
Dive into the delicious world of veggies with “Vegetabites: The Alphabet One Veggie at a Time!” From A to Z, journey through vibrant watercolor illustrations, fascinating facts, and nutritional highlights of each vegetable, shared by award-winning authors, Derek R. King and Julie L. Kusma with her Master of Health Education expertise.
Asparagus spears gracefully introduce children to the alphabet adventure, leading them through a garden of delights to the final flourish of zucchinis. Each turn of the page reveals a new vegetable, beautifully depicted and bursting with knowledge.
Explore the crunchy, leafy, and colorful spectrum of vegetables, from the antioxidant-rich A in Asparagus to the zesty Z for Zucchini. Along the way, discover fun facts about each veggie’s origins, cultivation, and culinary uses.
Engaging and educational, “Vegetabites” encourages young minds to embrace healthy eating habits while learning the ABCs. With stunning artwork and engaging content, this book is the perfect blend of fun and learning for budding food enthusiasts.
This is another wonderful concept book by Kusma and King. They have taken the ASCs and incorporated vegetables into each letter and vowel. Furthermore, they also broken down vegetables by their category, such as tubers. Then, the fun part of tracing over the alphabet and writing each character on a blank page. I love how kids can incorporate drawings into the mix. Five shiny gold stars!
“A gripping and thrilling tale. The writing was INCREDIBLE!” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Her letters can save the country. But can she be trusted?
A double agent.
As World War Two rages, MI5 agent Sarah Gillespie is faced with her toughest challenge yet: handling Adeline Vernier, a mysterious double agent from Paris.
A dangerous mission.
Adeline’s coded letters could help the Allies defeat the Germans – but, in return, she demands that her boyfriend is rescued from Nazi-occupied France. Adeline is not above threatening to double-cross MI5 to get what she wants, leaving Sarah fearful for the millions of lives at stake.
Letters that could change their lives forever.
As they embark on a secret operation through Lisbon, they must tread carefully to avoid the clutches of the Nazis. But will they make it out alive, together? Or is the enemy closer than they realise?
This is either the first book or second book I’ve read from this writer. I felt like I was thrust into the war at the time. Hard truths became real as I read about the occupation and the destruction of so many lives and places with historical relevance. I read about this war in school and in college, but the author brings out just how devious agents and agents were and are to this very day. WW2 was more than bad, and I felt like I was living in some of the scenes. This novel is not all gloom and doom. There are funny, lighthearted moments and romance interspersed with spies and subturfuge to make people higher up within the regimes believe the Intel given, and one woman from France became a double agent. Real life with rationing and black out curtains was normal. Five shiny gold stars!
A sulfur sky poisoned her family and her heart. Now revenge tastes sweeter than justice.
It’s 1900. In a Pennsylvania coal town tainted by corruption and pollution, Charlotte’s world collapses when her parents meet a tragic end. Sent to a foster family in a Maryland fishing village, she’s fueled by grief and embarks on a relentless quest for justice against the ruthless coal boss, Nels Pritchard.
But Charlotte is no ordinary girl. She shares the fiery spirit of her father, whose powerful speeches inspired worker riots. With a burning desire for vengeance, she sets out to uncover the truth behind Pritchard’s crimes, unearthing a shocking connection between the town’s toxic air and the lifeless fish washing up on the shore of her Chesapeake Bay foster town.
To expose the truth, Charlotte builds a network of unexpected allies. There are gutsy suffragists, a literary society of teenage girls willing to print the truth… and Weylan. The captivating young man lost his own family to Pritchard’s poison. He offers support, but Charlotte questions his true motives when he lures her to break the law. Could she be falling into a dangerous trap, leading her to a fate worse than poison?
With her unwavering spirit and determination, Charlotte must forge alliances and navigate a web of treachery before Pritchard seeks his own ruthless revenge.
When Angels Fly Blog Post:
Writing around The Tiffany Problem in 1900 Settings.
Readers of historical fiction know the Tiffany Problem well, even if they’ve never heard the term for it. One moment, they’re enjoying a Roman-era romance, the next they’re stumbling on a reference to central heating, scowling at the seeming anachronism, preparing their one-star review.
Only a handful of readers may be familiar with hypocaust systems. The rest either pitch the book at the wall or tumble down a rabbit hole, losing weeks of their lives to old archaeological Time Team episodes on YouTube.
Authors of historical fiction must balance these little surprises with Olympic-gymnast levels of grace to avoid pulling readers from the story. No matter how well we know our audience, it’s impossible to predict what might surprise them, so we lean on feedback from beta readers and editors. Then we smooth out little bumps in the road, and we compile the rest in the author’s note.
One of the joys of writing in the year 1900 is the lesser-known time period. Most readers are familiar with Regency and WWII settings, but many might be surprised to learn that a mimeograph machine, canned deviled ham, matchbooks, and high schools were all a part of life in 1900.
While drafting Downriver, I kept a list of things that might surprise readers for that purpose, and I enjoyed discussing them with readers online. Here are a few readers will see in Downriver.
Matchbooks:
The invention of matchbooks is credited to two Pennsylvania men—Joshua Pusey (Delaware County) and Charles Bowman (Lebanon, PA)—who simultaneously but independently developed them.
High Schools:
High schools feel modern, but they were increasingly prevalent by the 1880s. Cecil County, Maryland, where Downriver is set, had high schools in 1898. The school that inspired the one in Downriver opened in 1900.
Spiked Drinks:
The phrase “spiked drink” seems modern, but Etymonline places the earliest mention at 1889. The earliest mention I could find in print was in a November 7, 1900 edition of Northwestern Christian Advocate.
Five and Dime Stores:
The five and dime seems like a 50s-era establishment, full of toys and housewares. The first store was opened in 1878 by Frank Woolworth in Utica, NY. Unfortunately, it didn’t thrive in Utica, but did in its new home in Lancaster, PA – spawning countless 5&10 stores across the country.
Mimeograph Machines:
Based on a design by Thomas Edison, a Chicago businessman made a flatbed duplicator in 1877 that he sold for $12! It copied one page at a time.
Rotary Press:
Could there have been a rotary press in 1900? Sure! The Hoe Rotary Press, also known as a Lightning Press, was first used in 1847 to print the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
Deviled Ham in a Can:
Have you ever eaten Deviled Ham? Kids in 1900 could! The Underwood company started producing it and selling it in distinctive cans in 1868!
The newest book by award-winning author Jennifer M. Lane is perfect for fans of Jeannette Walls’ Hang the Moon and the fiery protagonist in The Hunger Games. Join Charlotte in this small town, coming-of-age dystopian historical saga as she finds resilience, courage, and triumph in her search for identity, independence, and her true home.
Buy Links:
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
A Maryland native and Pennsylvanian at heart, Jennifer M. Lane holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Barton College and a master’s in liberal arts with a focus on museum studies from the University of Delaware, where she wrote her thesis on the material culture of roadside memorials.
Jennifer is a member of the Authors Guild and the Historical Novel Society. Her first book, Of Metal and Earth, won the 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Award for First Novel and was a Finalist in the 2018 IAN Book of the Year Awards in the category of Literary / General Fiction. She is also the author of Stick Figures from Rockport, and the six book series, The Collected Stories of Ramsbolt.
George Matcham, dubbed the most unsettled man alive, was born in East India Company controlled Bombay and undertook three epic overland treks between Asia and England before marrying the favourite sister of the not yet famous Horatio Nelson. Intimate details about George’s life have been preserved because of his close relationship with Nelson and his famous paramour Emma Hamilton, whose rises and falls he observed first-hand.
Packed with period press clippings and eyewitness accounts, A Most Unsettled Man provides an unprecedented glimpse into the private life of a modest 18th century English gentleman, as well retelling the enduring love story of Nelson and Emma from an entirely new perspective.
Excerpt 3:
In Bath, balls were big business. Laying on the type of fancy fare the attendees were accustomed to would have decimated profits. Alcohol wasn’t served, but cheap refreshments, comprising day old “thinly sliced stale bread, dry cakes, lemonade, coffee, and tea”, could be purchased at about ten in the evening, for approximately sixpence, from a side room with no tables and only a few chairs.
This chaotic bustle seems to have been more similar to modern-day club parties in Ibiza than the stately ensembles reenacted in costume dramas, and very different from George’s regimented upbringing in Puritanical Bombay.
It was here, amidst a sensory riot of high fashion, pressing bodies, perfume, stink, violins, haphazard dancers, and poor food, that his eyes passed over the eligible Dorothea Scrivener and were, instead, hooked by her cousin, Kitty Nelson.
Lily Style is the direct descendant of famed lovers Admiral Lord Nelson and Emma Hamilton and also Nelson’s sister, Kitty Matcham (because their grandchildren married).
Lily is the founder of Emma Hamilton Society and writes regularly for Nelson-related publications. She is also a keen genealogist with an interest in piecing together real human stories lying behind dry facts.
One of these stories is of her 4th great-grandfather, George Matcham, whose story she’s traced from his mid eighteenth-century birth in East India Company controlled Bombay through to his intimate involvement with Nelson and Emma’s rise and fall.
Please welcome J.A. Smith to my blog. Hello Julie, Welcome to my little book spot on this beautiful blue sphere of life!
1. Please introduce yourself to those reading this blog post.
Well, I believe that we are all unique, we are given certain talents, and it is up to the individual to find it within us. It took some time to find me. Not that I was lost but finding what I am good at. I hope you will understand. My life has felt like many different stories throughout my time. I have moved many times throughout my life and each time I felt like I began a new story. It was like each time I would become a different person with new challenges to take on. Meeting new people with new diversity to learn. Having to find that new meaning in life. I really do believe the saying that people come into your life for a reason. They walk in when they are needed and then walk out when they’ve accomplished their quest, and that is how a good book is written. But with great imagination to go along with it. Not that all stories are good or bad, just unique in the way of one who tells it. Writing fantasy lets you see that anything is possible, it only allows the mind its freedom to see what can happen!
2. Has writing always been part of your life and when did you “know” that it wastime to start writing your first book?
When I was in 9th grade I worked in the school library: (It was my last class for the day) New books would can in. Each having a long list of kids that want to read them, so I would take them home and read all night to get them back the next day. The worlds I opened reading all those books inspired me. My imagination sparked….
I knew I want to make someone feel like I did and wanted to write a good book….
I’ve written off and on, for many years, but nothing finished to be published. I felt like I needed to write a book that would be worthy of publishing. So, in 2015, I had a dream that started my journey….
3. How difficult was it writing your first book?
The first chapter went well but the second chapter stumped me a little. I took writing the book very seriously like it was a job. Working on it from 9 till 5 every day until it was done.
4. Have you ever wanted to give up and what stopped you?
No, I found it very fascinating. Each chapter just seemed to come alive, like I was living in this great new world.
5. Who is the most supportive of you and your dream to be a writer?
Myself. I don’t think anyone understood the imagination of my writing.
6. Anything specific you want to tell your readers?
Sometimes you just must believe, and sometimes it takes time for others to understand, but don’t give up… You will get there.
7. What is the best advice given to you (book or otherwise), and by whom?
Well, that one’s kind of funny, I would say it was the self-publishing companies…
I talked to a lot of them before I published it. They all loved my excitement in explaining the book. Like some how they could cross over into you amazing new world and see the potential in the book.
8. What is your target audience and what aspect of your writing do you feeltargets that audience?
Well, my books are fantasy, so I feel like they’re for all ages, but it would best fall into Young-Adults category.
9. Did the cover evolve the same way, or did you work with someone to make itcome together for you?
My first cover the publishing company made. Then when I rewrote the new version I created it myself and also the second book.
10. What are you working on now? Can we get a peek, an excerpt?
I AM brightening the sky into a wondrous beauty. Then speaks, “I LOVE YOU ADIEL. I HAVE MISS YOU VERY MUCH.”
A calm swipe through like a breeze. Mr. Steins trembles….
11. Any last words before we wrap things up?
The best thing to do as a writer is to believe in yourself. Sometime people don’t get you, so you need to shake off the bad and keep at what you believe in, because if you touch just one person’s life it’s worth that journey. (I believe in you) Say positive….
Bio:
Well, I believe that we are all unique, we are given certain talents, and it is up to the individual to find them within us. It took some time to find me. Not that I was lost but finding what I am good at. I hope you will understand. My life has felt like many different stories throughout my time. I have moved many times throughout my life and each time I felt like I began a new story. It was like each time I would become a different person with new challenges to take on. Meeting new people with new diversity to learn. Having to find that new meaning in life. I really do believe the saying that people come into your life for a reason. They walk in when they are needed and then walk out when they’ve accomplished their quest, and that is how a good book is written. But with great imagination to go along with it. Not that all stories are good or bad, just unique in the way of one who tells it. Writing fantasy lets you see that anything is possible, it only allows the mind its freedom to see what can happen!
I have great writers, great Authors, and many new supporters in this new adventure. I also am writing a new book called Just Got to Be Me. Hoping to get it out soon. It’s about five different short stories and it’s kind of a personal look into my life.
Britannia, AD 59. Decimus is a long-serving senior centurion who dreams of retirement in Rome. Luciana is a Cornovii princess devoted to the freedom and survival of her tribe. Connected only by a passion for horsemanship, the pair could not be more ill-matched. After a deadly conflict thrusts these enemies together, each is determined to fight their desires and triumph over the other. Who will ultimately control the other’s heart?
But Decimus and Luciana are not the only ones on the hunt for supremacy; a desperate struggle over the province is beginning to simmer to a boil. There are whispers of mysterious Druids fomenting unrest among the western British tribes, whose inter-tribal divisions threaten to subsume them. The future of the Roman legions in the province is suddenly thrown into doubt as casualties begin to mount. Decimus and Luciana find themselves entangled within a web of characters, Briton and Roman, playing with Britannia’s destiny to serve their own ends.
The hunt for power is on, where only one side can emerge triumphant. But just who among these hunters will end up hunted?
Excerpt 3:
Decimus’s pulse quickened. ‘Everyone form square! On the double!’
He whirled around to face the treeline, creating the edge of one corner as the men formed up, linking shields around him. He silently cursed the fact that the half-century’s pila were sitting uselessly in a pile on the opposite side of the moor – a spear worked best when confronting a mounted enemy. He looked over his shoulder to find Vulso just behind. ‘What are their numbers?’
‘Forty at least, sir. Probably more.’
‘Fortuna, you old bitch,’ Decimus softly swore. He craned his head and lifted his voice to carry along the lines. ‘Swords ready! Hold formation! Aim for the horses; we’ve got to get those bastards dismounted!’
No sooner had he turned around to face the forest than the British horsemen charged forth from the trees. Time slowed as Decimus took their features in. The compact shaggy beasts they rode rolled their eyes, nostrils puffing visible smoke in the cold air. The warriors’ fierce expressions, accentuated by their intricate woad tattoos and blood-curdling war cries, were enough to make any man’s blood run cold. They brandished their lengthy swords above their heads, long braids and pigtails streaming in the air behind them. Sunlight glinted off the sharpened blades and the glittering torcs that adorned their arms and necks. Their oval shields, skins stretched tight across and embossed with iron, depicted tribal symbols Decimus knew all too well: Silures. Their brightly dyed leggings and fur boots, highlighted against the stark wintry landscape, urged the ponies forward in a triple line, making straight for the Roman soldiers. A whiff of shit within the ranks indicated some of the legionaries had indeed been cowed.
‘Roma!’ Decimus cried defiantly just as the first wave of horsemen smashed into the square. He crouched low and thrust his gladius directly into the nearest horse’s neck. The beast crashed to the ground behind the centurion with a strangled whinny, sending his rider flying. He whirled around and thrust his shield high to parry a sword blow from the next rider. He feinted towards the man’s thigh, causing his opponent to accordingly lower his shield. When the warrior swung his sword again, Decimus ducked inside the weapon’s arc and drove his gladius into the rider’s stomach. He wrenched the blade once and withdrew as the rider slumped over, dark blood gushing from the wound.
Decimus caught a movement in the corner of his eye and turned towards a large warrior approaching on foot. He thrust his scutum forward and felt his arm shudder from the impact of the Silure ramming his sword into the metalled wood. The tip of the blade poked through the canvas lining on the reverse side, coming within a hair’s breadth of Decimus’s face. He heard the Briton’s hoarse laugh and gritted his teeth. He thrust his gladius over the top of his shield, penetrating the warrior directly through his eye. The man fell silent as his skull cracked, brains spilling out onto Decimus’s blade.
The centurion looked around him at the men fighting either side, grasping his useless, unwieldy shield. His men were fighting ably given their considerable disadvantage, but the Silure band had already claimed several casualties. The strength of the square grew increasingly weak as the men stepped over their fallen comrades to fill gaps in the shield line. The ground immediately behind him lay strewn with scarlet-clad corpses.
He ducked down and hurriedly picked up a shield from one of the downed legionaries, tossing his old one aside. As soon as he popped back upright, his brilliant red crest drew more of the enemy his way. An angry, raven-haired man bellowed, drawing the others back. He sawed the reins of his horse directly into the centurion’s path and drove him forward. His skin bore more of the woad dye than his comrades’, and his heavy winter cloak, trimmed in fox fur and fastened about his broad shoulders with large, burnished gold pins, was of a rich, purple wool. Two eyeless heads, fastened to the rider’s saddle by the hair, clattered against the horse’s shoulder. The warrior bent low, sword aimed for Decimus’s head.
Decimus ducked and swerved to avoid being trampled under the horse’s feet. The warrior smashed the flat of his blade down against the centurion’s helmet, knocking the crest over against the back of his head. The world flashed bright before Decimus’s eyes and he felt his legs crumple. He regained his wits just enough to dive underneath the horse’s abdomen as the warrior moved to deal the killing blow. He pressed his shield against the horse’s clattering hooves and thrust his gladius up inside the horse’s stomach. He sawed it back and forth, deepening the wound. The horse reared back off his blade, throwing its rider to the ground. The horse galloped away from the melee, intestines trailing from its abdomen.
Decimus sprang to his feet just in time to see his opponent rush him from on foot. The black-haired warrior expertly parried his thrust, swinging his own sword towards the centurion. Decimus crouched behind his scutum, moving with the momentum of the warrior’s charge and effectively blocking his feints. Suddenly, to his surprise, the warrior ducked down and rolled aside to avoid one of Decimus’s thrusts. Before the centurion could wheel his shield to follow the swift movement, the Silure had risen to a crouch and plunged his sword into Decimus’s thigh.
The world turned red before Decimus’s eyes. Searing pain shot through his frame. He dropped his shield to clutch at the driven blade. The man leant against the hilt to shove his sword in further and Decimus swept his gladius down over the warrior’s knuckles. His blade severed the bones with a swift crunch. The Silure howled and quickly withdrew his hand. The tips of his fingers dropped into the snow by Decimus’s feet. A bright trail of blood followed the warrior’s path as he retreated towards the forest.
A native of Dayton, Ohio, A.M. Swink grew up obsessed with two things: books and horses. After a childhood of reading, writing, showing, and riding, she moved to Lexington, Kentucky to complete a degree in equine science and management and a degree in English literary studies. She now works in Lexington as a college professor of reading and writing. In her spare time, she has travelled extensively around the UK and Ireland, exploring ancient sites and artefacts, as well as tracing her own ancestry. She is proud to be descended from County Cork’s Callaghan clan.
When not writing, she can be found collecting and showing model horses or enjoying her favourite British comedy programmes.
She was taken from her family when she was a toddler and raised to be an unstoppable warrior. But for what purpose? As Saku grows in power and begins to master the four elements – earth, wind, fire, and water – she’ll seek answers to that all-important question. And she will learn that there is something beyond the elements – the Voids. If she can learn to bind the Voids, nothing can stop her. Inspired by samurai stories and esoteric teachings, this thriller will keep you turning pages until late at night.
This was a unique read for me. I learned much about samurai training and using elements, natural elements such as water, earth, wind, etcetera, and being able to control the elements. Not only control, but bind them for the betterment of all. I’m ahead of myself. A baby girl is born, and one faction wants her dead. The other transports her swiftly and carefully to a faraway place to live a safe life in her early years. Around age six, she begins training, in depth, and interesting, as she begins the path destined since birth. Five shiny gold stars.
Join Little Monster and his quirky friends as they guide children through a journey of emotional discovery shared with you by award-winning authors Derek R. King and Julie L. Kusma with her Master of Health Education expertise. From A to Z, each letter introduces a lovable monster embodying a feeling or emotion, an explanation, and a tip for reframing, making it easy for children to relate and understand.
But the magic doesn’t stop there—this delightful book also equips parents with invaluable resources. Simple definitions of emotions and feelings empower parents to have meaningful conversations with their little ones, promoting open communication and mutual understanding. Further strengthen the parent-child bond with a journal exercise to deepen emotional awareness and self-expression. This book is not just for children to learn their ABCs; it’s a tool for parents to engage and connect with their little ones on a deeper emotional level.
Additionally, “Monster Me ABCs” offers practical de-escalating techniques and imaginative role-playing suggestions for parents to navigate their child’s negative emotional reactions. Children learn healthier coping skills and emotional resilience by transforming challenging moments into positive learning experiences.
With its playful and educational approach to emotional learning, “Monster Me ABCs” promises to be a cherished addition to every family’s library.
The Alphabet Concept for Ages 3-5 Educationally for All Ages
I loved the ABC book. I’ve written more than 22 children’s books and many with tough social and personal issues children can have due to outside forces. Their focus encompasses feelings and emotions, but not like this book. First, there is a parent section in the beginning that aids parents, educators, preschool teachers, and others, a refreshing reminder about differentiating between one versus another. The letter pages contain a sentence about how a child might be feeling in the moment. This validates the child’s feelings. Below, one finds a different way to rephrase that feeling in a positive manner easily understood by children. That makes this book stand out! Ten, okay, five shiny gold stars.
Five years ago, First Force operative Grant Ketchum let the ballerina of his dreams dance right out of his life.
After her American adoptive parents had been killed in an automobile accident, Silja Ramsay returned to her birthplace, Russia, to take the position of the principal dancer for the Novikov Ballet Company. She was living her dreams, and although they had very little contact, Grant was proud of her.
The owner and director of the ballet company, Natalia Novikov, has a dark secret: her beloved ballet company is almost broke. Natalia has become so desperate for funds to keep the company afloat that she’s forced her dancers to prostitute themselves to financial contributors at exclusive after-show parties.
As the prima ballerina of the troupe, Silja has been exempt and kept in the dark about the parties, until a big-time American financier, who is obsessed with Silja, offers to bail the failing ballet company out and provide Natalia with everything she will ever need. His prerequisite: Silja must become his personal companion, live in his home, and fulfill his every desire.
Against her will, Silja is taken to the American’s mansion, but before she goes she manages to send a text to the only man who can save her, Grant:
HELP!
Now Grant Ketchum is on a mission to find his lost ballerina and rescue her from this powerful man’s subjugation. He will do anything to get her out alive.
If they survive, will he let her chasse out of his life again?
Wow. I’ve not read book one, but this book was great! First, it is truly a stand-alone book read. I was fine with it. When one mixes in special ops teams, USA ballerina who went to Russia to dance, and a very rich monster of a man who is ruthless beyond compare, the suspense is superb, the action dynamic, and great one liners tossed in here and there – that is the mark of a great book! A special love story that spans years, and the ruthlessness that some people are born with, as far as Mr. Crafton is concerned, plus other characters are a great fit. The only sad feeling I felt in my gut was the thought of women who are treated in a similar manner. Real life happens. My prayers go out to all real-life women who are trapped, whether they have a chip in their neck or trapped otherwise.
Life on Molly is a travel and lifestyle blog. I am a normal girl with many passions. I am an explorer of new places, a learner of new languages, creator of my ambitions, blogger, and a good pal. This blog is my little corner of the world where I am able to share my adventures with you and inspire you to live a life full of purpose.
When Angels Fly 