Our Halloween weaves an intricate web of mysteries and surprises. Once again, the authors Derek R. King and Julie L. Kusma give your family a book that teaches and inspires imagination. Every page offers beautifully designed illustrations accompanied by a story, poem, or the history behind the object portrayed. Also included in this book are excerpts from various prior publications, as well as original shorts stories from both authors. You’ll be excited by the colors, photos, and puzzles from the first page to the last. Monsters find their way into your line of sight throughout the book. But, don’t worry, there’s a story behind each one. You and your family will find yourself reading and re-reading this Samhain treasure.
This is a fun yet scary book centered around Halloween. Included are illustrations, photographs, and puzzles with many different Halloween activities. Historical references are included. The one that touched me most was the child crying in the house when no children were home. Furthermore, the adult was on the phone at the time, and that woman also heard the cries.
Please welcome J.P. Reedman to my blog. Good morning, Janet. I’m happy to have you on my blog today. Shall we get started?
Please introduce yourself to those reading this blog post.
I’m J.P. Reedman, and I am a full-time writer of historical fiction and historical fantasy. I was born in Canada, daughter of a Canadian soldier and an English war-bride who met in WWII but have lived in the UK for over 30 years. Home is a few miles from Stonehenge. There is a missing queen buried in my local town; her grave lost in time. Historical inspiration lies all around me!
Has writing always been part of your life and when did you “know” that it was time to start writing your first book?
I began writing very young—age five. The first story was a typical adventure tale, but that was quickly followed by one on Cleopatra, which stunned my grade 1 teacher. I seem to have been born with an innate love of historical subjects; this deep passion showed up by the age of four. I began writing book length stories in my teens. At that time, I wrote mainly high fantasy. However, in 1992 I moved from Canada to the U.K. and for about 10 years wrote very little. I began writing again after a serious illness that left me partly sighted for around 3 months. It was a wake-up call for me that if you truly want to do something, you cannot keep putting it off saying ‘maybe tomorrow.’
How difficult was it writing your first book?
My first published book was called STONE LORD, and it is a historical fantasy set at the time of Stonehenge. I worked at Stonehenge at the time and the story was not terribly difficult to write as I had daily inspiration! I knew what it was like out at the Stones in rain, mist and sun. I saw solstices and burning sunsets and walked in the stones at dusk. I even found a buried human tooth!
Have you ever wanted to give up and what stopped you?
I never wanted to give up, but as I mentioned, I stopped writing for quite a while. I was busy with other things, travel and photography mainly. I must admit I had become a bit disillusioned in the late 80’s after sending out a large fantasy manuscript many times. ‘Classic’ fantasy wasn’t so popular at that time (it’s come back again, hurrah!) and it was costing loads querying and sending out sample chapters to the big Trad publishers (all before email was used so it had to be sent by snail mail.) When indie publishing became popular, it was like a whole new world of opportunities opened. It was now a case of ‘talent wills out.’
Who is the most supportive of you and your dream to be a writer?
All my friends have always been extremely supportive, but it is my partner Dan who is my rock. He listens to all my writing (and selling) woes and drives me to various events and historical places connected with my books (so I can film them—and to just get ‘the vibes’.)
Anything specific you want to tell your readers?
Just that I am glad of their support. They helped me achieve what at one time seemed an impossible dream—to write full-time. I hope they’ll stick with me!
What is the best advice given to you (book or otherwise), and by whom?
When I still lived in Canada, I was a member of a Science Fiction group. They published short stories in their zine, and that was where my first published work appeared. One chap, Garth, gave me some criticisms. I did not take umbrage at in the least—for I realized his critique was right. Too many adjectives! I do have a descriptive style, and reviewers have said that ‘visual imagery’ is a strong point in my books, but I learned to ‘hold back’ and edit out what wasn’t necessary.
What is your target audience and what aspect of your writing do you feel targets that audience?
My target audience for my main two series is anyone who enjoys historical fiction set in medieval times. The first series, I, Richard Plantagenet, is about the Wars of the Roses and Richard III, told in 1st person from Richard’s viewpoint. It seems to appeal to both men and women; it’s not ‘romancy’ and it doesn’t shy away from battles, though it does have some dry, sometimes black, humour.
My other series, Medieval Babes (yes, deliberately something of a joke title!) is a collection of 12 titles (and growing) biographical fiction about lesser-known medieval queens and nobles. It is popular with the same readership as Philippa Gregory, Jean Plaidy etc.
Did the cover evolve the same way, or did you work with someone to make it come together for you?
My covers are a mix. Sometimes I purchase them and sometimes I create them myself. It is quite hard to get ready-made covers which have images on them that resemble the historical figures I write about.
What are you working on now? Can we get a peek, an excerpt?
My current book, late but coming soon, is ‘The Melancholy of Winter.’ It is about Richard III’s older brother, the little-known Edmund, who was killed at the Battle of Wakefield, aged just 17.
Here’s an excerpt from the book. Edmund and his older brother Edward (future King Edward IV) are in Ireland as young boys: ‘St Brigid’s procession swirled by the drums and the pipe and the singing gradually fading away.
The rain stopped and a huge rainbow, the sky behind it black as pitch, arched across Dublin town, while the heavens brightened in the west, and burning golden light splashed over the walls and towers of monasteries and churches, wiping the dirt and dung from the damp, streaming cobbles and dancing off the crenels of the castle.
Dublin was indeed a strange and wondrous place, I decided, as our chariot rolled stolidly through the golden glare of storm-light to the castle’s gate, gaping a wide welcome beneath the banner of the Falcon and Fetterlock.
It might not be for long, but for now, this place, this sturdy fortress beside the Black Pool, was our home.’
Any last words before we wrap things up?
Advice for new writers—believe in what you are doing and don’t give up. If someone gives you a critique, don’t feel crushed. Try to look at it dispassionately and see if something can be learned from it. Also, remember, different books appeal to different people. Not everyone will like what you write—it doesn’t mean you are not a good writer.
BIO: J.P. Reedman lives in Wiltshire near to Stonehenge. Born in Canada, she has had a lifelong interest in ancient and medieval history, and is often found lurking around prehistoric sites, ruined castles and abbeys, and interesting churches with camera in hand. She became a full-time writer in 2018. Series include I, Richard Plantagenet, 5 books chronicling Richard’s life from childhood to Bosworth, and Medieval Babes, a set of standalone novels about lesser-known medieval queens and noblewomen. Her most recent release is Princess in the Police Station, the tale of little Anne Mowbray, wife of the younger ‘Prince in the Tower’ whose grave was unexpectedly found in the 1960’s. The next book to be released will be The Melancholy of Winter, which is about Edmund of Rutland, Richard’s tragic elder brother.
BOOK I AM PROMOTING: Medieval Babes 12: THE PRINCESS IN THE POLICE STATION: A TALE OF LITTLE ANNE MOWBRAY
After forty disastrous dates, Elsie Goode decides she’s kissed her last frog and turns to focus on salvaging her business that’s close to bankruptcy.
New-to-town veterinarian, Dirk Lovett, prefers the company of animals—they don’t crush your heart by lying and skipping town with another man.
In a twist of fate, Mr. Purrfect veterinarian hires Elsie to plan a birthday party. Her hopes for a happily-ever-after spike, but her conniving business partner promises to sign over her half of the company—if Elsie helps her become Mrs. Dr. Lovett.
Sole ownership will save the business, so Elsie takes on a dubious matchmaking role requiring lies and deceit. Trouble is, the pet whisperer falls for Elsie.
Now she must make a choice: continue to lie and save her company or give up and tell Dirk the truth—which will destroy his heart all over again.
After the loss of her mother the previous year, Katie finds solace in a newfound fascination with her family history ignited by a school genealogy project. But her journey takes a mystical turn when she discovers an extraordinary ability to astral project through time, sharing the body of her ancestor during the American Civil War. Katie learns the true power of family bonds and resilience as she tracks a treasure through time into a world fraught with battles, disease, wounded soldiers, and the unsanitary conditions endured. The past and present collide unexpectedly, shaping Katie’s understanding of herself and her place in the world.
This first installment in the “Thread Through Time” series is an unforgettable time travel journey through history that will captivate readers of all ages. “Katie’s Attic” is a spellbinding tale of courage, love, and the timeless threads that bind us together even after death.
“From the moment I started reading this, I was hooked.”
“…engaging characters who carry the reader along with enthusiastic excitement, and it is historically informative too.”
“I can’t wait for The Golden Locket.” (Book Two)
My Review:
This book by Kusma struck a direct hit to my heart. In those lucky enough in life to have known family and heard about their ancestors from their known family, will understand this book better than those who did not have the advantage of learning about their ancestors and their trials and tribulations. I packed a lot into that sentence, but it’s true. Yet, for those who don’t have an ancestral lineage due to adoption or other reasons, this story offers the reader a vision into the past that becomes part of the readers soul.
Facing mortality for the first time in its life, a two-hundred-year-old house vividly recalls, in its own words, two of its beloved families.
Magnus Quinn, a reclusive sea captain, whose heart has been marred by a horrific tragedy, hesitantly agrees to marry Audrey, a pregnant woman with whom he shares a volatile past. As they forge a tentative bond, their relationship is hampered by secrets—one, long-buried, one, still raw—which threaten to tear them apart, along with Quinn’s brooding and vindictive brother Callum, who will stop at nothing to end their marriage.
Charlie Montgomery just turned thirteen and shares a bedroom with her younger brother Travis and his invisible friend Billy. She lives with her divorced mother and grandmother, who reads palms to help make ends meet. Notably missing from her family unit is her older brother Tyler, who has been sent to fight in Vietnam, and her estranged father, who’s in a rock band that no one has ever heard of.
As Charlie tries to traverse the perils of middle school, as well as the challenges of growing up in an eccentric family, she is suddenly bestowed a gift that follows the line of her grandmother. When this gift allows her to see a disaster that threatens to end the very existence of her family, she must come to terms with a life she never wanted in order to try and save them.
In the present day, Wren Sutcliffe has suffered an unspeakable crime that has left her unable to cope and in fear for her life. Taking refuge inside House’s darkened rooms, she spends her days working her way toward the bottom of a bottle as she struggles to make a fresh start. When her twin sister Zoe shows up: penniless, jobless, and needing a place to crash, Wren welcomes her with open arms, but the pair’s fragile relationship is immediately put to the test when their diverse personalities knock heads. As Wren begins to spiral out of control, the special bond that holds her and Zoe together starts to unravel when certain childhood secrets come to light, and she learns that a dangerous man from her past may have followed her to Echo Point.
Life lives on despite aging. One can think that metaphor applies to human life only, but in the real world it can apply to mostly inanimate objects such as a house. This novel reads as a point of view from a house itself, one two centuries plus old. A house in which, if one is sensitive, can feel the heat and energy soar throughout and knowing that the house is alive!!! That is why you want to read this book. Two plus centuries of different people and family that have lived inside come to life. I was mesmerized while reading.
The cookies are baked. The tree is trimmed. The shopping? Well, it’s almost done, and Fiona’s parents have finally returned home for a holiday visit—along with some unexpected unruly friends. Yep, Fiona’s perfectly planned Christmas is coming together, but how could’ve she planned for her favorite uncle’s murder? Who could possibly kill a sweet old man who’s played Santa at the local mall every year without fail? Fiona’s boyfriend, Detective Nathan Landry, is determined to find out—before Christmas day arrives. There’s only one problem: Nancy Quinn. Fiona’s mom is just as determined as the detective to catch the murderer, and she isn’t shy about getting the job done—even if it includes breaking a few pesky laws! Will Fiona and her mother find the killer first or will the killer find them?
My Review:
I loved this book! It was great to finally read one of the first two books in this series! I gained a bit of backstory and a lot of laughs at the antics of some characters and pint-sized little dogs. Add in Christmas, one murder, and a drug cartel, and the mystery around all of it makes for a great read!
Alphabites is a friendly frenzy of fun with letters and words. Children will love the alliteration on each page. This book will make learning the alphabet exciting and engaging; a cute little monster represents and introduces each letter. Words galore spill out on every page. The Alphabites throughout the book will make your child hungry to learn. At the end of the book, there are pages provided to ignite and fire up a passion for reading and words. The authors offer pages to practice upper and lower case letters. They’ve also provided pages to write their favorite word for each letter of the alphabet. What kid doesn’t like drawing at some point? Pages are also provided to transform each letter into a neat little monster or animal. Oh, what fun the kiddies will have. Alphabites is the perfect book to have on your kid’s bookshelf.
This is a fun book for both kids and adults. Each letter is used, of course, yet uniquely written with tongue twisting words along with words for what each letter sounds like. Adults will like this book, too. The illustrations are great.
She stole his world. He’s got twenty-four hours to get it back.
Although Liam Tallamore can’t remember the first fourteen years of his life, he’s built a happy home with his wife, Carly, and their two children in suburban New Jersey … until one Friday afternoon when everything changes.
While cashing his paycheck, he’s told his bank accounts have been emptied. Once at home, he learns Carly has left him for her first love—one he never knew existed. Most devastating of all, she’s taken their eight-year-old daughter, Rayelle, and is preparing to leave the country. As if things couldn’t get worse, he has no idea where their twenty-year-old son is or why he’s been unreachable for the past two months. With total distrust in law enforcement and no clues to guide him, Liam hops on a train to New York City, Carly’s hometown. Through the next twenty-four hours, Liam goes on a wild, unforgiving, frantic search through rain-soaked Manhattan, experiencing the brightest and the darkest humanity has to offer. This is the story of a man who refuses to quit, determined to find “a needle in a haystack,” and who, in searching for the children he loves, doesn’t yet realize he’s searching for himself as well.
My Review:
Brodey tucked me into this book from the beginning. When there is strife and children in a marriage that was never the true and real love type, it tugs at my heart. I don’t want to give away much of this book, yet I must write my review so that anyone reading my review understands my thought process and the emotions I felt. Before I go on, 24 hours – yes, in 24 hours a lot can happen and more in less than a week. Children or a child kidnapped, the underbelly and underworld nuances of metro New York City, people who did prison time for different things, a father who adopted one child, and fathered another child only to have second child snatched away by a deceitful and malicious wife is more than enough for me to be sad and angry that the cruelty happened. Children should never have to go through such trauma and harm. And a 20 year old son should not have to hide out just so he’s not kidnapped and also taken to Italy of all places. Bad things happen to everyone in real life. That said, good things can happen to offset the pain and loss in one’s heart. The way the author wove these elements together, the speed and frenetic pace in just 24 hours in NYC, strangers on a train, meeting a homeless man, working through a disassociate person’s struggles, and a lot more blend perfectly with the laughter and joy of love, rescue, finding family, and enjoying life, despite the horrors of abuse and loss, being unloved by one’s father for his brother, who spent time in prison, blame placed wrongly, I can go on and on. This story has all of this and a lot more. It touched my heart deeply. Well done!
A hair-raising, side-splitting supernatural adventure!
In the idyllic town of Pine Port, Kelsey was on the cusp of realizing her dreams. In weeks, she’d clasp her high school diploma and beauty license. Or so she thought, until her life took a supernatural detour, far removed from the ordinary path she’d envisioned before she stumbled upon her extraordinary ability—she could hear and see the deceased as if they were still living.
This wasn’t what she had hoped for and certainly not the kind of beauty treatment she had in mind. Juggling the intricacies of the living was already a challenge, and now with her power to commune with the dearly departed, she unexpectedly found herself on a mission to help the dead unearth their authentic selves as the local undertaker’s quirky assistant. Amidst a cast of eccentric characters, surprising friendships, and a generous dose of supernatural dark humor, Kelsey deftly navigated the realms of the living and the not-so-living in hilarious escapades as she struggled to keep her sanity and her sense of humor intact.
The burning question remained: Could Kelsey successfully graduate high school while straddling the realms of the living and the dead? Would she ever find her place in a world where the living and the departed collided in the most unpredictable ways? Discover the answers in “Authentically Dead,” a hair-raising, side-splitting supernatural adventure that will leave you in stitches and rooting for Kelsey every step of the way.
My Review:
This book is a true departure from most books I’ve read by this author. A teenage girl in her senior year of highschool is bullied for her quirkiness and being different. Yet only her mother knows how different our protagonist is as she and her mother were intuitive as well. After being tossed out of cosmetology school, she find a job in a funeral parlor doing hair and makeup. The dead talk to her, and not just talk, they unload secrets that only the next reader gets to find out what they are. Kusma must be rather intuitive to write this story so well.
In a run-down neighborhood in an unnamed city, people live and die in “the Obscure.” Whether anyone remembers the real name of the derelict establishment is a mystery. In this six-story building, most who occupy the rooms are long-term residents, though some stay for as little as an hour.
The patronage is an eclectic group: musicians, writers, addicts, hookers, lonely people, poor people, rich people, once-well-off people, and those who have reason to hide from their former lives or to escape the demands of a disapproving and punishing society.
As shabby as the Obscure is, as long as its walls keep out the wind and the rain, it remains a shelter, a hideaway, and a home for the many bewildered souls. Hotel Obscure is a collection of seventeen short stories that all take place in or around the “the Obscure.”
While the stories stand alone, they are to be read in order. Some characters appear in multiple stories, and sometimes, a story will continue in an unexpected way. The Obscure is life. It is death. In the blink of an eye, it may appear supernatural. It is a place we all visit … whether metaphorically or physically, at least once in our time on Earth.
REVIEW from NY Times best-selling author Jonathan Maberry: “Absolutely riveting. Lisette Brodey spins magic with HOTEL OBSCURE. Each story gives us a peek into the life of a collection of disparate characters. It’s the kind of storytelling that would appeal to Tom Waits, Charles Bukowski, or Leonard Cohen. It would also make one heck of a good anthology TV series. Brava!”
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:I write characters as I hear them speak to me. Some of these stories contain non-gratuitous expletives and sexual references. If this is not to your liking, please don’t read this book. Thank you.
If you’ve read other books by this author, you must read this one. Please note: If you can not handle cursing and such, then don’t read it. If you’re okay with that, you will read a book full of twists and turns as you read each story in order, and I highly recommend this five-star read! Honestly, on the first story, I was not sure about what I was reading. By the end, I knew I was hooked. Do read each story in order. I write that because each successive story builds upon the one before it, yet you wouldn’t know how until you immerse yourself into each story. Hotel Obscure is riveting and emotional at the same time. I don’t like giving away too much of a book, but I’m compelled to remark about one aspect. That is identity theft and stalking. I could relate to this as I recently had a stalker who left me more than 700 notifications in a 12 hour span overnight. Stalkers are always a bad thing, and they can hurt a person easily if they speak with you in person and know where you live. I was anxious as I read about the stalker in Hotel Obscure, and I worried about the woman being stalked and having her identity stolen right before her eyes.
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 