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Several months ago I posted that I was growing some garlic for the first time. Believe it or not, it’s still alive. I am the first to admit my brown thumb when it comes to plants that are needy. Thankfully garlic is not one of those kinds of plants. I have been told that the bulbs take awhile to grow, so I am not ready to yank one out to see how it is growing. With my luck all four…
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Michelle Crystal’s debut novel is one I would recommend. You will find yourself laughing and crying as you turn page after page. It is a story of one woman’s journey from tragedy to recovery through her connection with the past. It is wonderfully written, painted with beautiful metaphors, and an easy read. Now all I need are recipes! 🙂 From Amazon: We’re Murdocks. We can do hard things. Rachel Tate enjoys an idyllic life and attentive, handsome husband. Three healthy,…
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I have never had this question posed to me. When do I write the most? I have never paid very much attention to my productivity in the past, but I can say that this year I have written more the first half of 2018 than any other time I can remember. The first burst came in February for the 28 Days of Writing Challenge. It is hosted by Leap into Writing and your’s truly, me. I started this challenge about…
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I can’t believe that this is the last day of the A to Z Blog Challenge! I hope you enjoyed reading about the Isle of Man and are as excited as I am about The Manx. On this last day I want to share one last bit about the Isle of Man and it’s zoo.** Currahs Wildlife Park is located in an area of wetland in the north-west of the island. It houses meerkats, pelicans, mongoose, lemurs, big game, primates, and much,…
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Tonight I am asking myself, Why oh why did I wait until 10:00 at night to write this post?” I could have pre-written it, put up it on the scheduler, and had it automatically post today. But did I do that? No. So, here I am, 10:00 at night (yes I know, that’s not late to most people) writing my ‘Y’ post for the A to Z blog Challenge. Why did I wait? I blame it all on the Pikes Peak…
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We are getting down to the last letters of the A to Z Blog Challenge. Through the challenge I have been writing daily about the Isle of Man where my book, The Manx, takes place. Besides all the wonderful characters and the folktales, I also included posts about visiting the island and some of the basics about the Isle of Man. Now we come to the letter X. In my 1932 edition of 20,000 Words there are only three words…
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Slieau Whallion is a hill located on the Isle of Man near St. John’s just off of Gleneedles Road. It has a grisly history of being the execution place of accused witches. They would be put into a barrel with spikes driven into the sides of the barrel, pointing inward. Then the barrel, with the accused witch inside, were rolled down the hill. Murderers were also punished this way. Quite a cruel way to die. In my book, The Manx, Slieau Whillion…
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In a churchyard in Malew parish, Isle of Man, there is a grave that is said to be that of a vampire. It is eerie to look at photographs of the strange grave, and not surprising that a vampire legend would be born from it. It is interesting to have the juxtaposition of a vampire buried in a grave on consecrated ground in a parish named for a saint (Saint Moluag). The person buried here went by the name of…
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When the sun goes down and the stars come out, how many can you see? Where I live the night sky is getting filled with flood lights from shopping centers and parking lots. 18 years ago we could go out in our backyard and were able to see quite an abundance of stars. Today the numbers have dropped. Isle of Man is considered one of the leaders Dark Sky sites in the British Isles. There are 26 sites given the…
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My main character in The Manx, Kaitlin Manning, and her father, Charles, are on the Isle of Man to photograph the TT races when Kaitlin stumbles across the first piece of a puzzle that takes her far from the races. I became fascinated by these races when looking for a reason for Kaitlin to visit the island. I thought about having her on vacation or just visiting family, but that was almost too simple of an idea. I came across these…
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