Sharing a poem

by Carol3 Comments
I was looking for a summery poem to share today. I have to admit that the title of this one grabbed me, simply because of the weather we've been having lately and our lack of air conditioning at home. Hot Summer Nights by Mary Hamrick It haunts me so those summer nights in dim lit homes where music flows and tempers flare and lullabies fill the air. I while away the hours under the electric swell of light, (pulse-scorched out). Bone-idle and coral pink, this dry spell grills, but Southern nights do fill me. Spider-blue legs peddle tales as gossips-a-brewing and roaming by my streets. Scuttling through like marsh rabbit, neighbors wave their charmed hellos. Feverish and swollen together, they inhale the blossoms, riding high, and move through summer as the lake declines. It haunts me so those summer nights in dim lit homes where music flows and tempers flare and lullabies fill the air. Mary Hamrick was born in New York and moved to Florida when she was a young girl....
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The One I Kept

by Carol5 Comments
As a kid, I had all kinds of toys- Barbies, My Little Ponies, Pound Puppies, Care Bears. Can you tell I was an 80s kid? But the big toy, the one that I desperately wanted for Christmas was a Cabbage Patch Doll. They were the popular toy that year, the one parents stood in line for, actually got into fights over, the one that was impossible to get. I was so not getting one. But I was a kid so there was still that little bit of hope niggling in the back of my head. And what do you know, Christmas morning there was that present, and I just knew what it was. A Cabbage Patch Kid! My grandma had managed to get one for me. And do you know it's the only toy from my childhood that I've held onto all these year. I forget her name, I'm ashamed to admit, but she's on the right above. Her original outfit...
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“The King Is Dead”

by Carol11 Comments
The King Is Dead 388 words Listening. Watching. I know the hunters are out there searching for me, ready to kill me, just as I had killed the King. Now that the snow has stopped falling, I need to be careful. They'll notice any tracks I leave, just as they hear any snapping branches. But these are my woods, I grew up here, climbing the hills, playing in the valleys, talking to the critters, whistling with the birds. They will not catch me, these foreigners. They may work for the royal family, but they don't know our land, don't care about our people. Mercenaries, enforcers, hired thugs. But who am I to judge? I was paid well for my service, too. Does it matter that I did it for a cause I believe in? Ah, they're nervous. The small fire they've built to warm themselves, eat a bite of dinner, doesn't provide much sense of security, but I wonder what happened that made them...
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Guest Post: Wayne Zurl, author of A New Prospect

by Carol3 Comments
Today, I am happy to welcome Wayne Zurl to my notebook. He is the author of A New Prospect and is here to talk a little about his book. The Road to New Prospect When I began writing the story of ex-New York Detective Sam Jenkins becoming police chief in Prospect, Tennessee, I used the working title, Murder in the Smokies. After my second major rewrite, I changed it to A New Prospect. I hope changing titles isn’t bad luck like changing the name of a boat. The first title focused on a murder, and for a new author writing a murder mystery today, he had better produce a body and start an investigation right up front if he wants to please an agent or editor. I didn’t do that, nor did I intend to. Never being one to do things the easy way, I wanted the book to be more about people than the crime or the big question, “Who dunnit?” A commissioner...
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Review: A New Prospect by Wayne Zurl

by Carol5 Comments
1. Why I chose this book When I was contacted about the tour for A New Prospect by Wayne Zurl, I jumped at the chance to review it. Finding a killer in a small Appalachian community doesn’t look that difficult to gritty ex-New York Detective Lieutenant Sam Jenkins. Adjusting to the culture of rural Tennessee , dealing with shady politicians, powerful rich families, and colorful residents, makes Sam feel like a fish out of water, or a cop out of bourbon. I read and enjoy a variety of mysteries, but it was the Appalachian setting that really drew my attention. It's one of my soft spots. 2. Reasons I liked the book This is a mystery at heart. Who killed Cecil Lovejoy? Granted, the man was a horrible, nasty person and the murderer was probably doing the world a favor, but the suspect list is long and Sam is not getting much help form the deceased's family or the local politicians. The plot was well-done,...
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Thursday’s Tale: Into the Woods

by Carol7 Comments
Today's tale is a little different than my recent posts. Last weekend, the three of us and my mom went to see Into the Woods at the Brooke Hills Playhouse. What a fun re-telling of some of the classic fairy tales. If you're interested and local, it's on again this weekend. Times and ticket prices are listed on the website. The musical, with lyrics and music by Steven Sondheim and book by James Lapin, opens with four characters, each of whom have a wish: Cinderella, who wishes to attend the King's festival; Jack, a simple young man who wishes that his cow would give milk; and the Baker and his Wife, who wish they could have a child. While Little Red Riding Hood buys bread from the Baker to take to her grandmother's house, Jack's weary mother nags him into selling the cow, and Cinderella's stepmother and sisters tease her about wanting to attend the King's festival. The Baker's neighbor, an ugly...
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