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Review: Curio by Evangeline Denmark
Title: Curio Author: Evangeline Denmark Genre: Steampunk, fiction, fantasy Publisher: Blink Date: January 5, 2016 Grey Haward is nothing spectacular. She lives every day just like everyone else around her. She avoids the Chemists. She takes her potion. She does what she’s told. It’s all pretty boring. But there are just enough odd little flags here and there to let her know that her life is different. Her grandfather’s Curio shop has a cabinet that she never opens or cleans. It doesn’t seem out of sorts but the fact that it’s very specifically avoided and pointedly ignored gives her a hint there may be something different. One night, on the…
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How Poker Chips Saved My Sanity
A few years ago, I realized that I was outnumbered by children in my house. I know that is a logical conclusion when you have three kids and two parents, but the reality can sometimes catch you off guard. When the kids graduated out of toddlerville, I needed to come up with a way to manage and handle all of the expectations, chores and rewards in our house. I tried chore charts, stickers, and posters. I attempted morning motivational meetings where we set up the expectations for the day. I wrote out a daily schedule of events. I set up consequences and rules. None of it stuck. But then came poker…
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Review: Within the Veil by Brandy Vallance
Title: Within the Veil Author: Brandy Vallance Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Lyrical Vine Press Date: June 28, 2016 Feya Broon has a really difficult life. The oldest of a group of siblings, her mother died leaving her alone with her father. He, unfortunately, isn’t the best parenting role model. More often than not, Feya has to parent him. It’s when they are unable to pay a window tax that everything finally breaks. Watching the bricks stack up to make a covering over the only light in their little hovel of a home seems to be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back. When the money she’s tucked away disappears, Feya…
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Facebook Isn’t My Friend
So I’m starting off this article with a bit of a warning. This is my blog and these are my thoughts. You don’t have to agree and it is not my assumption that if you disagree you hate me or you want me to die. Sounds like a really dire warning doesn’t it? But these days, it is, sadly, far more relevant than outlandish. A few years ago, I was a writer. Only a writer. Not a social media guru or marketing pro. Just made a living writing stories for the masses. At the time, I was working on a radio drama and some members of the cast (all of whom…
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Review: Jilted by Varina Denman
Title: Jilted Author: Varina Denman Genre: Drama Publisher: David C. Cook Date: June 1, 2016 Lynda Turner has struggled with depression since her husband abandoned her and their young daughter fifteen years ago. Yet unexpected hope awakens when a local ex-convict shows interest. As long-hidden secrets resurface, Lynda must fight for her emotional stability and for a life where the shadow of shame is replaced by the light of love. Jilted tells of a woman who has lost the joy of living, a man determined to draw her back toward happiness, and a town that must—once and for all—leave the past where it belongs. It is a gentle reminder that…
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Review: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Title: The Invisible Library Author: Genevieve Cogman Genre: fantasy Publisher: Roc Date: June 14, 2016 Anyone who has read my reviews for a while knows that I love time travel. I was an Outlander reader from day one, I adore Doctor Who, and Quantum Leap was my introduction to the eccentricities of fandom. And obviously, I adore books as well! So when a book about an Invisible library and a time traveling librarian comes across my desk, it pretty much becomes a must read. Irene is a professional spy for the Library. Not A library. THE Library. This is a super-secret organization that travels through different realities gathering up and…
