Audiobook Review: The Lake Quilt Mystery by S. D. Brown

by Carol3 Comments
Title: The Lake Quilt Mystery Author: S. D. Brown Read by: Wendy Pitts Category: Middle school, Mystery Audio published: January 21, 2013 (first published 2009) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Audible | Amazon Freedom Lake Resort Gated. Fenced. Remote. Miles from home. Miles from friends. The moment twelve-year-old Kelsey and her mother arrive at Freedom Lake, it's obvious that this is not going to be the kind of resort experience Kelsey expected. Or hoped for. A nurse escorts a girl in a straight-jacket out the back door of their cabin and Kelsey's creeped out. The girl begs Kelsey for help. Mrs. A., the woman who runs the resort, apologizes and explains that the girl hasn't been taking her meds. That's when Kelsey learns there's a private school on the property for girls with "special needs." It's off-limits to resort guests, not that Kelsey would have a reason to go there. At first Kelsey believes Mrs. A. because she has other things to worry about. Like how she will fit...
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Guest Post: T c Tombs, author of Run with the Wolves

by Carol1 Comment
Today, I'm happy to welcome T c Tombs, author of Run with the Wolves, to my notebook, discussing the time period his trilogy is set in Story and Setting In writing the “Run with the Wolves” saga I initially had a concept for a story about a number of different people who suffered from afflictions that were not of their choosing – and how differently those various people chose to deal with what fate had cruelly bestowed upon them. I had in mind a ‘Vampire-like’ character; a ‘Pack’ of both wolves and wolf-like humans who suffered from a lunar-sickness; and finally, a group of people who were rejected by society due to physical abnormalities or forced into hiding due to religious persecution. To make these characters come to life, it quickly became apparent to me that the setting was going to be every bit as important as the story itself. I did a lot of research – and a lot of soul-searching too, I suppose. The...
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Guest Post: Christopher Zoukis, co-author of The Directory of Federal Prisons

by Carol4 Comments
I'd like to welcome Christopher Zoukis, co-author of The Directory of Federal Prisons: PrisonLawBlog.com's Federal Bureau of Prisons Facility Directory to my notebook today. I read a lot of mysteries where someone ends up in jail or looking at a jail sentence, rightly or wrongly, but I've never really considered the steps they, and their families, should take. It's really an interesting and useful article. Prison Preparation: How to Prepare for a Stay in the Slammer By Christopher Zoukis Preparing for a term of incarceration can be an overwhelming task.  There are bills to pay, finances to get in order, medical appointments to schedule, a support network to put in place, and even mental and physical conditioning to consider.  Sadly, many go to prison without having the aid of experienced counsel to help them prepare for this very challenging experience.  This article strives to point soon-to-be prison inmates in the right direction, thus alleviating the stress of going to prison and the risk...
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Thursday’s Tale: Dinewan the Emu, and Wahn the Crows

by Carol4 Comments
  I've been listening to The Bat by Joe Nesbø. Nesbø's series character, Harry Hole, is in Sydney trying to solve the case of murdered Norwegian woman. Several of the characters tell him Aboriginal tales, which is why today's tale is an Australian story, retold by K. Langloh Parker in Australian Legendary Tales, 1897. "Dinewan the Emu, and Wahn the Crows" is not one that has been mentioned in The Bat, but I found it amusing. Dinewan, the emu, and his two wives, the Wahn (crows), were camping out. Seeing some clouds gathering, they made a small shelter made of bark. The rain started, and they all took shelter under it. Dinewan, when his wives were not looking, gave a kick against a piece of bark at one side of the shelter, knocked it down, then told his wives to go and put it up again. When they were outside putting it up, he gave a kick, and knocked down a piece on...
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Tuesday Intro

by Carol7 Comments
Next month is A-Z April, which means I'm trying to think ahead a little.  The next week or two may be a little short on posts as I gear up for it. Having a post for each letter of the alphabet can be a bit tough, especially when my focus is books, at least in general. I was going to post a review today, but the title has the word "quilt" in it, so I think I might have to save it for Q day. Q is a tough letter. And then there's the book I'm reading now, which features witches and werewolves. It's just screaming to be used for W, but I'll give you a taste of it with the opening of chapter 1. The book is Witch Interrupted by Jody Wallace. The shop door chimes bonged, rattling the test tubes and Katherine Zhang's teeth. Her hands jerked, and she scattered the point thirty-three ounces of granular ginseng she'd painstakingly measured. By...
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