Seeking Solace by Callum McLaughlin

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Callum’s Seeking Solace is a lovely, lyrical book, filled with musical language that lifts the heart and opens the eye. Many of you know I adore poetry, going all the way back to my childhood, so I’m always happy when I have a chance to read a new collection. This one was especially moving. My favorites include Light Bringer, Rise, Will You, and Annual. I lean toward the uplifting aspects of these, though there is a lot to be said for the impact of some of the darker themes in other poems. Overall, this is a wonderful collection that I’ll be reading again and again, I’m sure. And I’m looking forward to more from Callum, who puts his soul out there for all to see.

Do yourself a favor and check out Seeking Solace today!

Seeking Solace

Happy Saturn’s Day!

Have a great weekend, everyone. See you later! 🙂

LAST DAY!

Last day to sign up for my monthly Newsletter and request a free download of one of my books, your choice. Deal ends at 5:00PM EDT tonight. Don’t miss out. Your chance to read either Book 1 or Book 2 of my Wake-Robin Ridge series (or ask for the boxed set, and get them both). And if you’re in the mood for something more…tropical?…slithery?…Vikingly?…try Swamp Ghosts. 🙂 The sleepy little town of Riverbend, Florida is full of surprises! Just sign up (by clicking the link at the top of the right sidebar) and email me with your request:  mmeara@cfl.rr.com  It’s that simple. Simple is good. FREE is better! 🙂

Win a Free Download, Today Through Friday Only!

Sign up for my newsletter (link, top right column) and I’ll gift you with a free download to your choice of my eBooks: Summer Magic, Wake-Robin Ridge, A Boy Named Rabbit or Swamp Ghosts. That’s it! Just sign up, and then email me at mmeara@cfl.rr.com to be sure I don’t miss you. I’ll have Amazon send you a download link to whichever of my books you’d like to have, completely free.

Free is good! 🙂

Here are the links, so you can read the blurbs. Remember that A Boy Named Rabbit is Book 2 of the Wake-Robin Ridge series, and while it’s basically a stand-alone, it will be much easier to understand if you’ve already read Wake-Robin Ridge.

Wake-Robin Ridge
A Boy Named Rabbit
Swamp Ghosts
Summer Magic: Poems of Life & Love

Real Neat Blog Award

Though I’m sorry to say I haven’t had a lot of time for my blogs lately, due to long days of writing novels that I hope will help feed me in my even more advanced old age, I still love it when I have time to review a book or two here on Bookin’ It, or share with my fellow writers and friends on The Write Stuff. So I was especially pleased and grateful when Callum McLaughlin nominated me for the Real Neat Blog award. My heartfelt thanks, Callum! It’s nice to know I still qualify, even with fewer posts.

These are the questions Callum posed, along with my answers, such as they are. Read on, to find out more about me than you probably ever wanted to know.  

CALLUM: Physical book or eBook?

ME: I’m greedy! I want both. I see no need for this to be an either/or situation. I love collecting books and always have. In this house, I have a library with floor to ceiling bookshelves, and it’s my favorite room. There are books that I’ve had all my life and would never get rid of. There are series that I loved so much, I felt compelled to buy the entire set. There are books I bought because the cover art was irresistible. I have books stacked on end tables, and on bookshelves in other rooms. Books equal treasure! But when I sit down to read, I will choose my Kindle almost every time, even if the actual book is on my shelves. It’s more comfortable to hold, the lighting is perfect, and best of all, I can adjust the font for my tired old eyes.  I like being able to tap a word and have an instant definition pop up. I like highlighting without marring a print book. And best of all, I can finish a Book 1 and within sixty seconds, can buy, download, and start reading a Book 2, even at midnight, usually at a bargain price. You can’t beat that. 

CALLUM: Music or silence?

ME: Whether it’s reading or writing, I’ll always opt for silence. The voices in my head make their own music. In the car, I listen to everything from Celtic music, to classical, to classic rock, to Jimmy Buffet’s island songs, or movie and Broadway soundtracks. But at home, where I’m almost always to be found writing these days, it’s silence. Nothing to remind me anything exists beyond the page I’m working on. 

CALLUM: City or countryside?

ME: Hands down, countryside. I’d live in a cabin on a remote mountain in North Carolina, if I had my way. I’m most inspired by nature, wildlife, and gardens run amok.  

CALLUM: Factual or  Fantasy?

ME: Put me down for Fantasy, every time. There’s nothing I love more than escaping reality. As often as possible, preferably. I do still keep a pretty good library of books on nature and wildlife, and love learning about both, particularly where it concerns birding, butterflies, and my garden. 

CALLUM: Extravert or introvert?

ME: A weird mixture of both. Mostly, I’m pretty outgoing, often striking up conversations in grocery store lines. I’ve been told I never meet a stranger. However, having said that, if the situation makes me feel the tiniest bit uncomfortable or awkward, I tend to seek out a dark corner, and observe. When I was younger, I was so insecure, I wouldn’t even go to the grocery store without a friend riding along. I’m past that, now, but there are still those occasions when I find myself looking for a seat in the back of the room.

And that’s it for me. Now it’s my turn to nominate someone, which is pretty tricky, with all the wonderful bloggers I’ve met in the last couple of years. However, I’m going to go with my friend and editor, Caitlin Stern, who is a prodigious reader, in addition to writing some really wonderful poetry. And in addition to Caitlin, I’d like to nominate Jennifer Melzer, a newly acquired but greatly admired fellow writer and tea lover, who introduced me to Adagio teas, thus beginning my latest addiction. If you ladies decide to participate, I submit the following questions:

• Your day’s writing is done. You escape to your Comfy Chair. Do you go for something completely different, and grab the remote, or bury yourself in even more words with the latest offering from your favorite author?

• Vacation time comes round again. Sun-washed sand and sparkling surf? Or dappled mountain shade and fern-lined waterfalls?

• Your book just rocketed to the top of the New York Times best-seller list. Champagne and caviar, or a week being pampered at a spa? Neither sufficiently celebratory for you? Tell us what is.

• You simply must take a day away from the computer, before you find your limbs completely atrophied and useless. Power shopping at the mall? A stroll around an art gallery? A day at the zoo? An afternoon in your garden? None of the above?

• Life is Good, because…

Once again, thank you, Callum, for nominating me, and thank you ladies, if you choose to participate, which IS, of course, strictly voluntary. There will be no repercussions if you choose not to. Honest. Probably.

 

Enterprise Heritage Museum Event

Photograph of Purple Gallinule by Doug Little
St. Johns River Eco Tours

Lots of fun stuff coming up over the next three months, and I thought I’d share some of them with you, in case any of you are in the central Florida area. A week from today, I’ll be doing a slideshow presentation at the Enterprise Heritage Museum, in Enterprise, Florida. Enterprise is a small town across Lake Monroe from Sanford, where I live. Like my fictional town of Riverbend, it has a long history with the lake and the St. Johns River. I’m very pleased to have a chance to talk about why I decided to set my novel, Swamp Ghosts, in central Florida, with an emphasis on the St. Johns River basin, and some of the wonderful wildlife contained, therein. If you can make it, call and reserve a seat today.  (Cindy Sullivan: 386-804-6987) I’d love to have a chance to chat with you. I’ll be doing a book signing afterward, as well. Here’s the official flier from the Museum.

Peak of the Devil by Jen Rasmussen

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

I’ve followed Jen Rasmussen’s blog for some time, always enjoying her intelligent, witty posts, and her dry sense of humor, though I’ve never met her personally. When she wrote her first novel, Ghost in the Canteen, I couldn’t wait to read it. I was sure I would enjoy it, and I was right. If you haven’t checked it out, you should. It’s the first book in this series, and it’s a humdinger, with a premise completely new to me. (Clue: It involves a drink called switchel, which was a word I’d never heard before reading that book.)

Peak of the Devil is Book 2 of this series, and I have to say, it’s not as good as the first one…it’s better! Rasmussen’s already solid writing was even stronger this time around. The tough-talking, snarky star of the series, Lydia Trinket, is back, giving a whole new twist to the concept of ghostbusting. Things happen she wasn’t expecting. Bad, scary things. New characters show up to add interest to her life, as if it was ever boring, and old characters are busy building new lives of their own.

Mysteries to be solved, ghosts to lay, and deals with the devil to thwart, before even more people get hurt. Or dead. It’s all in a day’s work for Lydia, and with the help of her new…friend?…Phineas, things get very, very interesting. Being the die-hard romantic that I am, I have to say I’d like to see more of Phineas. A lot more. But Lydia may have other ideas, altogether, and I’m sure they’ll still be plenty entertaining. Only time and the next book, will tell.

And speaking of the next book, Peak of the Devil ends with a great set up for Book 3, and I, for one, can’t wait. I highly recommend both of these books!

Ghost in the Canteen

Peak of the Devil

I Did It, and Lived to Tell the Tale!

Happy Birth Month Event!

Take advantage of Jennifer Melzer’s birthday celebration offers! I did!

Check Out This Scavenger Hunt!

Looking for a fun way to drive more traffic to your FB page or put your book in front of a few more readers, maybe get a couple more reviews? Veronica Williams is having a Scavenger Hunt, and it sounds like a lot of fun, plus a chance to win some cool prizes. Check out her Event Page below and see what you think. I don’t know about you guys, but when something falls into my lap out of the blue, I tend to think it’s probably something I should pursue. So, I’ll be joining in the hunt. Who knows, I might win a great prize! 

You should play along on the hunt and see what you might win. Have fun!

Multi-Author Scavenger Hunt & Book Review Event

What Are You Going to Read?

Yep, that’s what I asked…what are you going to read? What’s next in your To Be Read pile? Or by any chance, do you, like me, have a few extra special book treats you’ve been holding to one side to disappear into when you have some reading time that’s likely to be uninterrupted for a while? I’ve had several books that I’m DYING to read, but haven’t started on because I just didn’t want to keep getting pulled out of them by work, chores, or Life, in general. I kept telling myself to go ahead and start on them, because such a sweet stretch of uninterrupted time wasn’t likely to happen. But guess what? It IS going to happen. Sort of.

In late July–not really as far away as it sounds–I’m having foot surgery done on my left foot, involving several issues, to include putting in a steel pin, which, as it happens, means it will then match my right one. I’ll be setting off metal detectors everywhere! 🙂 The upshot of the surgery (besides ending some very significant pain) is that I will be pretty much out of commission for the better part of six weeks. Yes, I said SIX WEEKS!! The first two, I won’t be doing anything other than sitting in the Comfy  Chair with my foot propped on pillows all day long. After that, it will be a gradual transition to a wheelchair, and then to crutches.

Soooo….Reading Time, here I come!! And those extra special books I’ve been hoarding are going to be enjoyed to the max!  Things like Dean Koontz’s Saint Odd, the final installment in his wonderful Odd Thomas series. And Maggie Steifvater’s Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the third installment of her Raven Cycle series, which I adore, and which touches something in my heart to the point that I want no interruptions at all when I’m in that world. I’ve got Lee Child’s latest Jack Reacher book, Make Me, for some kick butt and take no names action, and Patricia Briggs’ newest Alpha & Omega offering, Dead Heat, for some Urban Fantasy with a power couple I thoroughly enjoy. And I’m finally going to start that massive first book of the Game of Thrones series, A Song of Ice and Fire.

Should I finish  all of those, I have dozens more, both in my TBR basket, and on my Kindle, I can move on to, so don’t feel sorry for me, stuck at home for weeks and weeks. I’ll actually be off on lots and lots of adventures, having a great time!

Do you have any special books you’ve been saving for just the right time to read?