Happy Tuesday, readers! Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly blog challenge hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday, multiple bloggers share their favorite books from a selected topic. Today’s topic is a Halloween Freebie which means we can choose any topic about Halloween. I don’t typically read or watch scary stories, but there are a few books I’ve enjoyed despite their creepy nature.
The Curse of Misty Wayfair, The Souls of Lost Lake, and The Lost Boys of Barlow Theater by Jaime Jo Wright – Jaime Jo is my favorite spooky story author. All of her books are creepy, but they always end up with a plausible, non-supernatural explanation. It’s kind of like Scooby Do for adults.
The Madman’s Daughter series by Megan Shepherd – One of my favorite series! This gothic historical is based on The Island of Doctor Moreau, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Frankenstein.
Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – The most frightening part of this book is the black and white photos he integrates, totally creepy.
The Green Mile by Stephen King – As good as, if not better than, the movie.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James – An actual ghost story, no Scooby Do antics in this one.
Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene – Yes, I had to dig deep to find more creepy books that I’d read. One of my favorites from my younger years.
Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare – This play is different from all his other work. It is brutal, disturbing, and interestingly written the same year as The Taming of the Shrew. I actually didn’t care for this one, but I ran out of scary books to include.
Have you read any of these? Do you enjoy spooky stories or do you steer clear?
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Welcome back to the Extra Edition newsletter and welcome to my new subscribers from this past weekend’s St. Joseph Cottleville and Ursuline Academy events! I’m excited to bring you bonus content each month with a special inside look at my novels and the history behind them.
What’s in this Edition:
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
The Readers Have Spoken – The articles you want to see in 2025
Sing a Song of the Sea – My latest writing soundtrack
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness
Did you know that October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month with October 15 being Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day? 1 out of every 4 women has experienced a miscarriage or infant loss at some point in their lives. My husband and I experienced two miscarriages, so I understand the heartbreak it brings and the years of struggle to find meaning from such a loss.
While miscarriage (and infertility in general) is a common problem, it is still discussed all too infrequently. I can only imagine how isolated one would feel in a time period without modern medicine, when few understood the complexities of reproduction, and discussing such delicate issues was considered socially unacceptable. These were some of the many reasons I chose to incorporate infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth into many of my stories. Through the couples in my books, I hope to show women and men the beauty they hold even without a biological child of their own, and that there is hope and blessing in overcoming that struggle together.
This month, I ask that you pray for those who are facing these issues, both the ones you know of and those who haven’t yet shared their stories. For my Catholic readers, October is also the month of the Holy Rosary. Asking our Lady to join you in prayer to her Son is a powerful way to help bring others peace.
The Readers Have Spoken
Thank you to those who responded to my survey on serialized articles. Far and away, almost all of those who responded wanted to learn more about two main topics:
On Location – Real Life Locations from my Books
The Art of Cover Design – How I create my covers, source photos, work with authors, etc.
Coming in second was “The Self-Publishing Process – Behind-the-scenes steps readers may not know.”
When asked which topic you wanted to read about the most, the majority (44%) said you most wanted to learn about the real life locations from my novels. When asked about the frequency of articles, you were tied for “1-3 times per year” and “Rotate 2-3 topics over the course of a year.”
Based on these results, new articles will begin in January 2025. To ensure you see the articles you’re most interested in, make sure to save the following schedule. Additional articles, such as author interviews (placing 3rd), may also be added along the way.
Sing a Song of the Sea
Since a good amount of my next novel, Stars in the Storm, involves sailors, the sea, and sailing ships, I have been listening to sailing-inspired music while writing. Spotify has introduced me to a whole host of new artists and it’s been fun listening to the wide variety of music available. These are just a few of my favorites:
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Happy Tuesday, readers! Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly blog challenge hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday, multiple bloggers share their favorite books from a selected topic. Today’s topic is “Books I Was Assigned to Read in School”. I decided to make this a little more fun and do a Top Twenty instead, 10 books I enjoyed and 10 books I didn’t.
Schoolbooks I Loved
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Schoolbooks I Disliked
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Firm by John Grisham
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher
The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman
Agnes of God by John Pielmeier
Have you read any of these? Which books did you like/dislike from school?
If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to subscribe to my monthly newsletter, which includes updates on my books, behind the scenes information, and upcoming promotions. You can subscribe to updates by entering your e-mail on the Newsletter page. E-mail addresses are never sold or distributed. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Happy October, readers! Thank you to everyone who entered the Just Love Prints giveaway and congratulations to our winner, Stephanie.
What’s in this Edition:
Every Story Starts At the Beginning – Updates for Stars in the Storm
October Book Signings – Two Upcoming Events
Releasing in October– Other authors’ new releases I’m most excited about.
Every Story Starts At the Beginning
Note: If you have not read Larksong Legacy Books 1-3, you may want to scroll past this section to avoid spoilers.
If you missed the news last month, Stars in the Storm, the final book in the Larksong Legacy series, releases February 9, 2025.
The story is about 50% drafted at this point and hopefully scheduled to be with my beta readers by December 1. Many details related to the last half are still up in the air, but I think the first half is in pretty good shape. However, as most authors know, writing the first chapter can be one of the most challenging; therefore, I would love to hear what you think. The first chapter as it currently stands is included below. Thank you in advance for your feedback!
Alice Ann remembered everything; as much as she tried not to, she had no choice. Like her sister Coraline’s Gift for translation, Alice Ann’s perfect memory had appeared without warning, and for all the future she could see, there was no way to rid herself of it. From today’s first blink until she breathed her last, these horrid memories would always be with her.
Throughout their short marriage, Cade had often asked, “Are you happy, Alice Ann?”
In the beginning, she would laugh and lightly smack his arm. “Of course, you idiot.” But as time wore on, as her dissatisfaction with her mediocre husband grew, her responses held more hostility than joking affection. “How can you be happy in such a dismal place?” she had seethed. “There is nothing here for us. You have no ambition, no sense of adventure. If only you would let us sail away, then perhaps I could be happy.”
“Larksong is my home, Alice Ann,” he would reply. “Our family is here.”
“I’m your family, too! I’m your wife! Don’t I matter?”
“Of course, but everyone else matters, too.”
That was always where their quarrel ended. He would leave the house for his brothers’ or the fields or play with Julep to avoid further confrontation. Often, she considered telling him the truth behind her request, that it wasn’t only her sailor’s dreams that drove her, but there seemed little point in it. Whether she was Gifted or not, he would never leave Larksong, no matter how many arguments she threw his way.
Eventually, to her relief, he stopped asking. That was how she knew her time in Larksong was truly at an end. After penning Cade a letter she knew he would never forgive, she left it and her two-year-old daughter with Coraline. There on the Pacific shore, Julep snuggled into her blind aunt’s lap, finally asleep after her tiny fingers had shoveled sand into her mouth for the fifth time that hour. Small clumps of saliva-laced granules still stuck to her dress and her sticky hands, a baby trait Alice Ann would never find endearing.
“This is selfish,” Coraline had scolded, while cradling the child close.
“No, Cora,” Alice Ann told her, “This is the least selfish thing I’ve ever done. All my life, I’ve only looked out for myself, and you looked out for me. I was a bad sister, bad daughter, bad wife, bad mother. I’m the only one in our family who deserved to go blind, but I didn’t. You’re going to let me do this one good deed and take a little of the burden off your shoulders, since I know I placed so much of it there. Tomorrow, hopefully, I’ll be the best of everything everyone wanted.”
“This isn’t what we want,” her sister had begged; however, Alice Ann still walked away.
A year later, she had no sea-faring prospects and was living on her last dime. But she wouldn’t go back. Couldn’t. Didn’t deserve to, didn’t want to. Life was as she told Cora; she was a bad sister, bad daughter, bad wife, bad mother. The unwelcome memories—what she now referred to as memory moments—hadn’t stopped, but she would rather be alone and tortured in her mind than beg for forgiveness. Cade still had Julep and his family. That was who he truly wanted anyway. That was why he refused to sail away with her time and time again.
Are you happy now? she often asked herself. Now that you’ve gone?
She should have been happy then. She was certainly not happy now, and never would be.
All around her, the Ghost Forest’s barren trees rose from the stagnant waters before Washington’s mountainous splendor, their juxtaposition the perfect metaphor to all she was. Alone and broken, yet surrounded by beauty. Longing for home, yet resigned to shame and regret as her only companions, the only ones she deserved after all she had done…or considered doing. The intense nature of her frequent reminiscences was punishment enough, without peering into the eyes of all those she had wronged.
No one would come here. No one would want to. Not even Garrett could find her if he tried. He had never been able to find another one of their kind.
A ramshackle hut became her home, her wedding ring the last page of her desolate story. A place where she could open her mind to the Gift of her memories. Where she could scream and no one would hear.
As a reminder, if you live near St. Louis, Missouri, there are two events in October where I will be selling and signing books with fellow author, Susan Laspe. If you already have copies of our books, feel free to bring them by for signing and to pick up some swag. Hope to see you there!
St. Joseph Cottleville School Craft Fair
October 12, 2024 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
1355 Motherhead Rd, Saint Charles, MO 63304
Ursuline Academy Holiday Boutique
October 13, 2024 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
341 S. Sappington Road, Saint Louis, MO 63122
Releasing in October
Need another read? Here are the new releases I’m excited about:
Specters in the Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright – Dual timeline to solve a series of murders by the “Butterfly Butcher” in Prohibition-era Wisconsin
Cocktails Before Midnight by Tanya E. Williams – The third book in the 1920s Hotel Hamilton series and my absolute favorite so far.
Sadie’s Star by Colleen Marie – Young adult novel of dark secrets and spirit bears in the Redwood Hills
One Must Die by Candice Pedraza Yamnitz, Amber Lambda, Sarah Everest, Claire Kohler, Lydia Mae, and C.C. Urie – In a contest of untold wealth for its winner, one contestant always has to die
Before You Came Along by Sarah Whitley – Coming of age novel about choosing love over perfection and doing the right thing in the face of opposition
Want to know what I’m currently reading? Follow me on GoodReads.
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Due to variability in social media algorithms, the best way to receive this newsletter is through e-mail. If you were directed to this site via social media or a search engine, you can subscribe to updates by entering your e-mail on the Contact page. E-mail addresses are never sold or distributed. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Happy Tuesday, readers! Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly blog challenge hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday, multiple bloggers share their favorite books from a selected topic. Today’s topic is “Books I Read Because of the Hype”. A few of the books on this list are now cringeworthy but here we go.
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James – Let’s just get this one out of the way. I 100% read this so I could honestly say it was terrible, and it really is. Not only because of the adult content, which is severe, but it was also poorly written. I’m sorry I read it, but happy to say that I was right in my assumptions.
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – I read this after watching the first movie and being very confused on why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry. This whole series definitely lives up to the hype.
The Promised Prince by Kortney Keisel – Several years ago, this book was going around Instagram like wildfire. It had a great cover, so I read it. This entire series in now one of my favorites.
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers – This book is known as one of the “it” books of Christian Fiction. While its sensitive content makes it an emotional read, it is an excellent one.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – I tried to read this in high school and hated it. Then, despite the great love for this novel amongst practically everyone, I refused to give it another chance. For some reason I picked it up 15 years later and loved it.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – So so good. I’m sorry I didn’t read it much sooner.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer – The last book of this series is by far the best. I liked the movies better.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – Absolutely worth reading. One of my favorite dystopian series and the movies are great, too.
Divergent by Veronica Roth- Another great dystopian series. The books and the movies are nothing alike, but I like them both.
The Walking Dead graphic novels – I read these after watching the first four seasons of the tv series. Sadly, the graphic novels are not as good, although I can’t judge after season 6 because I stopped watching.
Have you read any of these? Which books have you read because of the hype?
If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to subscribe to my monthly newsletter, which includes updates on my books, behind the scenes information, and upcoming promotions. You can subscribe to updates by entering your e-mail on the Newsletter page. E-mail addresses are never sold or distributed. You may unsubscribe at any time.
