Our weather has been near perfect in PA the last couple of weeks. Temps in the high 70’s. This weekend it ’s cooled off and rainy but we’ve been spoiled. We have never had so many daffodils in bloom and the grass is greener than ever and almost needs to be mowed already. Even though we had a mild winter and only a few days of bad weather driving, everyone’s ready for spring. We love the season changes!
The galley for the Revised Edition of Mother Love arrived on Friday. I am happy with the new cover sketched by my college art student grandson, Evan. How cool is that? It captures the feeling of the moutain village much better than the original cover. It should be posted online for sale within the next month.Things take time.
I received a message on my blogmail from Emma Taylor requesting I post this link. It is interesting and fun to see how strongly the Irish have influenced our vocabulary. I didn’t check it in time to post for St. Patrick’s day but then there are lots of us who are part Irish more than ONE day a year! Just click and take a look, enjoy! http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2012/18-everyday-English-words-that-come-from-Irish/
I read an interesting and intriguing novel this month, The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak; about Catherine the Great. I have long been fascinated with the complicated and brutal history of the Russia. This book of hsitorical ficiton is suspenseful and bold. The skilled author takes the reader inside the Russian court and the layers of cunning plots within the palace, where there are no real secrets.
We saw The Descendants with Geroge Clooney last week. I went with low expectations, thinking it would be just another over rated Hollywood movie and was pleasantly surprised to see one of the best moives ever. We felt like we were watching real people instead of actors playing parts. It was so well done!
Till next time…Happy reading, my friends!
Ann
I was shocked when I realized it has already been six weeks I last blogged. Especially since I had such good intentions of blogging every week!
We did take a ten day winter get away vacation to Myrtle Beach, S.C. with friends and stopped overnight on the way at my cousin’s home in NC and had a deligthful visit as always. The weather was warm and sunny, just perfect. We went to Brookgreen Gardens and Sculpture Park. If you visit Myrtle Beach, it is a wonderful place to visit. And the good thing is, one ticket is good for seven days.We also drove to the Amercian Tea Plantation south of Charleston on Wadmalaw Island. A fascinating place, after taste testing, we bought several packaes of peach tea and will enjoy iced peach tea this summer. On the way home we visited with my sister and her family in MD. Family time is always precious, especially with those we seldom see.
I received several copies of Women Writing on Family and am very impressed and pleased to be even a small part of this project. It is truly an excellent book. It is now available online or through any bookstore. You could ask your local library to buy a copy. It would also be an ideal gift for an aspiring female writer.
I have been intensely busy with deadlines and projects. Preparing Mother Love for ebook publication mushroomed. First the new cover, then proof reading the new format, I found several changes I needed to make because I am a better writer now than I was nine years ago when I orignally wrote the story. And I fell in love with the story and the characters all over again. It will soon be available online in revised new paperback as well as ebook. I will keep you informed of the status.
I wrote a five page review of Women On Poetry, published by McFarland Press, a wonderful new anthology for women poets who are ready to move their poetry to the next level. There is absolutely something for every woman who has thought about the art of poetry in this book.
I also read my friend, Lauren Nichol’s newest book, At Any Cost, an inspirational romance. She dedicated it to me and two other writer friends! It was so suspenseful and frightening that I complained to her about causing me two nights of poor sleep because of her book. But it is worth losing sleep over, a very good read with unforgetable characters.
We’ve been to several movies, we liked The Artist and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close the most. Meryl Streep was wonderful in The Iron Lady but we didn’t like the movie overall that much. Too many flashbacks and the Brits had a right to complain that there was too much emphasis on her later days rather than on her career.
That’s all for now. Till next time, keep reading… and don’t forget to be wearin’ the green on the 17th. After all, aren’t we all a bit Irish on St. Patrick’s Day?