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Audio Non-fiction review: 1493, by Charles C. Mann

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  Title: 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created Author: Charles C. Mann. Narrated by Roberston Dean Publication Info: Random House Audio 2011, 17:45 hours. Original Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, 557 pages. Source: Library Digital Editions Publisher’s Blurb: From the author of 1491— the best-selling study of the pre-Columbian Americas—a deeply engaging new history of the most momentous biological event since the death of the dinosaurs. More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed radically different suites of plants and animals. When Christopher Columbus set foot in the Americas, he ended that separation at a stroke. Driven by the economic goal of establishing trade with China, he accidentally set off an ecological convulsion as European vessels carried thousands of species to new homes across the oceans.  The Columbian Exchange, as researchers call it, is the reason there are

Friday Flash: How Does a Dragon Blow Out Candles?

I got the idea for this story from a meme a friend posted, about the things you lie awake worrying about. How, he asked, does a dragon blow out the candles on a birthday cake? This is my answer to that vexing conundrum.   How a Dragon Blows Out Candles   There was no way to dodge the problem. Every time one of Flick’s fellow students had a birthday they had a party, and at every party there was a cake. Flick liked cake, especially chocolate cake with lots of frosting. The cake wasn’t the problem.   The problem was the candles. Every one of those cakes came with a bunch of candles burning on top, and the excited birthday ogre, gargoyle, gremlin, elf, fairy, or human child made a wish—and blew out the candles.   Flick’s birthday would be one of the last, but it would come, and he couldn’t concentrate in class on account of the one, all-important question: How could a dragon blow out candles?   Flick sat in a desk an extra three feet away from all his classmates, b

Writer's Update

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Business first: My books, and a whole lot more, are available at sale prices during this week, Smashwords' Read an eBook Week sale. Learn more here .  Aside from such minor accomplishments (signing up is easy, as is promotion, but it still takes an effort for which I'm claiming credit), the big news is: Death By Donut has gone to the proof-reader! That puts me well on track for the new release date, May 16, without undue stress--thank you to all the IWSG commenters who recommended making my life easier! I am scheduling a blog tour through Great Escapes book tours, but will be delighted to offer guest posts, interviews, etc., to anyone who wants to help with the launch. Just in case anyone has missed the lovely cover! So what is the writer up to now? Besides taking care of the business end of the coming release, I have resumed playing with the ideas percolating in my brain, which will lead to a new cozy series. There's no title yet, but I can tell you that the heroine is one

Friday Flash(back): What's for Dinner?

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  Before I give you a story, I get my little brag. My story for the February WEP was runner-up in the judging . I think people want humor these days! If you missed it, the story is here .   I wrote this story in 2014. It's kind of a fun venture into seeing the world in different ways :)  I'm reposting it complete with the photo from the original. This was written to a sort of prompt that challenged the writer to turn something very ordinary into a story. What’s for Dinner? Mom’s acting weird.  Well, that’s kind of normal, if you follow me, because she’s always weird, but usually she’s weird like wearing strange clothes and working all night on one of those bizarre sculptures she makes.  I won’t ever tell her this, but I don’t like them.  They have too many jagged edges.  They’ll tear holes in you if you get too close.  I sometimes wonder if she’s out to destroy someone, or if she just sees the world that way, all jagged.  Either way: weird. But what’s really weird is t

IWSG: Reading and Writing Genres

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The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer's Support Group day. Members post on our blogs, discussing our doubts and fears, struggles and triumphs. We visit each other and offer a word of encouragement for those who are struggling, or cheer for those with a success to celebrate.  Today's the day--Let's rock the neurotic writing world! The awesome co-hosts for the March 3 posting of the IWSG are Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen   Jacqui Murray ,  Chemist Ken ,  Victoria Marie Lees ,  Natalie Aguirre , and  JQ Rose ! Each month we have an optional question to start the discussion. The March 3 question is: Everyone has a favorite genre or genres to write. But what about reading preferences? Do you read widely or only within the genre(s) you create stories for? What motivates your reading choice(s)? Before I get on with answering the question, time to report on progress!   Thanks to support from my friends, I expect to finish edits on Death By Donut this wee

Audiobook Review: This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing

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  Title: This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing: A Memoir Author: Jacqueline Winspear. Read by the author. Publication Info: Audible Audio, 2020; 10 hours.   Hardcover Soho Press, 2020. 303 pages. Source: Library Digital Resources Publisher’s Blurb: After sixteen novels, Jacqueline Winspear has taken the bold step of turning to memoir, revealing the hardships and joys of her family history. Both shockingly frank and deftly restrained, her memoir tackles such difficult, poignant, and fascinating family memories as her paternal grandfather's shellshock, her mother's evacuation from London during the Blitz; her soft-spoken animal-loving father's torturous assignment to an explosives team during WWII; her parents’ years living with Romani Gypsies; and Jacqueline’s own childhood working on farms in rural Kent, capturing her ties to the land and her dream of being a writer at its very inception. An eye-opening and heartfelt portrayal of a post-War England we rarely

Photo Friday: Patagonia National Park, Chile

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A year ago I was in Patagonia with my husband and brother-in-law. Part of our trip was a 10-day road trip through Argentina and Chile. I wrote about the early parts of that trip here and here . The center of the trip was Patagonia National Park of Chile, not so very far from the southern terminus of the Carretera Austral. Many of these photos are by Dave Dempsey. Entering the park. Tom and I are rearranging the car in the background, to make room for one of the hitch-hikers hoping for a lift to the campground. The Parque Nacional Patagonia has at its core the Chacabuco Valley, until recently one of the region's largest sheep ranches. It was purchased in 2004 by Kris and Doug Tompkins, to be re-wilded, then turned into a park under the control of the Chilean government. Doug Tompkins didn't live to see his dream fulfilled, but did get things well under way. His widow eventually negotiated the creation of five Chilean national parks through the-profit conservancy that owned the