Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

When I reviewed The Scry's the Limit by this author (#2 in the series), I said I'd be doubling back to start the series at the beginning. So here's #1! In the interests of full disclosure, I am in an author's group with Ada Bell and we have beta-read for each other. That doesn't change my opinion of the book. Title: Mystic Pieces: A Shady Grove Mystery Author: Ada Bell Publication Info: 2021, Empress Books. 256 pages. Source: I bought the book Publisher's Blurb: Future scientists don't have visions. Aly's got enough on her plate, with finishing her degree and taking care of her nephew and starting her new job at the antique store while drooling over the owner's gorgeous son. No visions. Alas, the universe doesn't care what Aly believes. When she turns 21, she starts to feel psychic impressions left on objects. A disorienting power for someone surrounded by antiques. Then cranky customer Earl is killed, and Aly's new boss Olive is t

 Relevant reading as a response to my Africa trip (including hike around Mt. Kenya). This book was originally published in Italian in, I think, 1947, and soon after translated into English. It has been reissued many times.     Title: No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story of Three P.o.W.s' Escape to Adventure Author: Felice Benuzzi. I can't find info about the translation. Publication Info: See note above. My Kindle edition was put out by Quercus in 2017, and has an unknown number of pages, though the paperback appears to have 320. Source : Library Publisher's Blurb (from Overdrive web site): In the shadow of Mount Kenya, surrounded by the forests and creatures of the savannah, life drags interminably for the inmates of POW Camp 354, captured in Africa during World War II. Confined to an endless cycle of boredom and frustration, one prisoner realizes he can bear it no longer. When the clouds covering Mount Kenya part one morning to reveal its towering peaks for the firs

Hoping to finish up our Tanzania Safari today, but we shall see. The final two days were as jam-packed as all the rest, and photos were manageable only because I had some technical difficulties that greatly reduced the number of acceptable shots. You know it's been an amazing trip when you are actually glad to find horrible pictures that can be deleted without hesitation. Also: I'll respond to comments eventually, but this is posting automatically while I'm out backpacking. So far we have Arusha , Tarangire National Park , South Serengeti Part 1 , and South Serengeti Part 2 . In that report we actually moved north and into Serengeti National Park, and we resume the trip in the park, where we stayed at the Embalakai Camp, another tent camp but permanent, and very luxurious. As usual, we were up before dawn and ready to leave as soon as there was enough light to see the animals. Dawn on the Serengeti The lodge. The animals are perhaps most active in the morning, and the light

For some reason I have long resisted reading Kerry Greenwood's non-Phryne Fisher mysteries. I finally changed that, and can't for the life of me figure out what my problem was. I suppose I was afraid that nothing could measure up to that series. The whole thing does at least offer insights into book marketing--I don't think my new series is doing as well as the old, though I think it is better (okay, until later this year it's also only one book, so hardly a series. I'm working on that!).     Title: Earthly Delights: A Corinna Chapman Mystery Author: K erry Greenwood Publication Info: Poison Pen Press, 2012 (US Kindle edition. Originally published 2004 by Allen and Unwin). 250 pages.  Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: One day, Corinna Chapman, high profile accountant and banker, walked out on the money market and her dismissive and unpleasant husband James, threw aside her briefcase, and doffed her kitten heels forever. Now she is a baker with her own busi

At last, I have finished editing the photos from my Tanzania safari (which accounts for nearly half of the photos from the whole trip), so I can get on with my trip report!  So far we have Arusha , Tarangire National Park , and South Serengeti Part 1 .  Today, we get some really special wildlife moments as we continue our drive through the Serengeti--out of the Ngorogoro Conservation Area and into Serengeti National Park. Misty dawn. Almost immediately we headed for a mother lion and three cubs, who were hard at work on a wildebeest she'd clearly killed just that morning. Just kittens having fun with their chew toy. The carcass was still steaming. Very young cubs--after a while, they headed for the milk bar. Eventually we left the poor lions in peace (to wander off and take a nap), and headed on. Not too far off we encountered a lone male lion, and then a trio of bat-eared foxes. Definitely one of the cuties, and not something we saw anywhere else. More giraffes! This pair of young

This will be a very quick writer's update, as I've been busy and distracted and haven't much to say.  I am currently deep in the weeds on the revisions of Washed Up With the Tide . I've transferred notes from my beta readers to my MS and am working my way through changes and corrections, with some waffling from day to day if not minute to minute about possible big-picture changes to the story. One minute I think I see a way to make it all so infinitely much better, if I just change this one huge thing, and the next I decide that I'll just tweak two lines in that scene and it will be fine. When my brain is too full or too empty to write, I'm editing photos. Just one more day of the first safari to go! (That first safari was nearly 1/2 the total photos, so it's more encouraging than it sounds).  I'm headed out hiking for a couple of weeks, but will be posting at least one book review and, if I get my act together, won't miss my weekly photo posts! Mean

Participating in the Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop  hosted by Greg Pattrige of Always in the Middle , with loads of reviews of Middle Grade fiction (books for roughly ages 8-12). I have another good MG LGBTQ novel, age-appropriate and realistic. I'm going to briefly address those who wonder if this is appropriate for kids this age. The obvious answer is that since by 4th or 5th grade (9 or 10) many kids are dealing with puberty, crushes, and all the rest, of course it is. And yes, kids that age need to know that there are options out there besides boy/girl, because not knowing only adds to the confusion. For the same reason, I'm hoping to find some good stories about kids coming to grips with being trans, because for many (like my daughter) puberty is when that begins to make itself known to them. I am a firm believer in knowledge. Not knowing what the options are (and that they're okay) doesn't keep a kid from being gay or trans. It just leaves them confu

 Participating today in a Great Escapes blog tour for a Hawai'i-set cozy. Molten Death (An Orchid Isle Mystery) by Leslie Karst   I appreciate the opportunity provided by the publisher and Great Escapes tour to review this mystery with a non-traditional sleuth!  Molten Death (An Orchid Isle Mystery)   Cozy Mystery 1st in Series   Setting - the Big Island of Hawai‘i Publisher ‏ : ‎ Severn House (April 2, 2024) Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1448312167 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1448312160 Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CKWF5VWT A glimpse of a quickly melting corpse at the foot of a volcano has amateur sleuth and food enthusiast Valerie Corbin shocked. But how can she investigate a murder, when there's no evidence the victim ever existed? The first Orchid Isle cozy mystery, set in tropical Hilo, Hawai'i, introduces a fun and feisty LGBTQ+ couple who swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions! Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big

Last week we visited Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. This week, I'm making a start on our time in Ngorogoro Conservation Area, specifically the South Serengeti. It ought to be one post, also, but true confession time: this is as far as I've gotten in editing photos, so the next chunk will have to wait. This also means I get to post more photos :D The drive between the two parks/reserves was pretty long, and involved a change of plans. We broke the trip by spending the night in the Marera Valley Lodge, a short way outside the south entrance of the reserve. It was a beautiful hotel (also much higher and cooler!) and a gorgeous morning.  Petey Possum does like a bit of luxury. Sunrise from the balcony. We hit the road early, with the intention of going for a hike in Embakaai Caldera in the Ngorogoro reserve--the high part, where it would be cooler. However, something somewhere didn't happen, and we couldn't get our walking permit (I am pretty sure you have to have an