The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

 In the past, deciding what book to read next has been a really long process. I have stacks of books in a little shelf by the bed, plus a few boxes of books here and there in the attic, under the bed, etc. I usually will pick and choose, looking through the pile, but recently I've been doing something different. I'm just grabbing the next book on the stack. 

I've got books that have been in my to-read stack for so long I don't even know where they came from. Some books in my to-read stacks I bought two or three houses ago, and I just keep moving them from place to place. Time to finally make my way through this backlog of books and either read them or give them away.

Which is how I ended up reading The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. This haunting, beautiful book is exactly what I needed, and I'm not sure I would have picked it out of the stack if I had been pickier. Not because it didn't sound intriguing, but because I hadn't heard a lot of people talking about it. It's on the to-read list for a lot of my goodreads friends, but not many have read it yet. 

This book sits in the literary world somewhere between Jane Eyre and Frankenstein, with a dash of Girl Friday. A book seller turned journalist ends up interviewing a mysterious author essentially on her deathbed. The journalist, who has her own traumatic past, learns about the author's sordid, gothic childhood and uncovers murder, secrets and drama. Throughout, however, the mystery of what the "Thirteenth Tale" is remains... 

The most impressive thing about this book is that even when I had figured out the big secret, I was still completely enthralled by the storytelling. Usually, once I've solved the mystery I get bored with a book, but this one still kept me reading. Even though I knew what was happening, I was wrapped up in all the details of HOW it would happen.

As a writer, I always want to pay attention when an author can keep me intrigued even if I know the end of the tale already... (ie. Hamilton, or Titanic...) 

And that's all I'll say about that, because anything else would be spoilers. 

The next book in my stack is: 

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

I also recently read and enjoyed: 

A Tale of Magic by Chris Colfer

Magic Lessons - Book Review

Like so many of us, I was first introduced to Alice Hoffman through "Practical Magic." I was a huge fan of the movie, sought out the book, and never stopped reading. Her return to the lives of the Owens women in The Rules of Magic was lovely. And in October she'll be releasing Magic Lessons.

I love any moment when an author gives us a glint of an idea about a character, and we can wonder what the rest of the story was. Washington Irving's hints at who the Headless Horseman may have been has been on my mind for years. And Maria Owens has always been that for me as well. Hinted at in Practical Magic with just a few references to the rope, and a short fanciful backstory about how she survived hanging, Maria has always felt like this overshadowing mystery behind the curse on the Owens women.

Hoffman did even more than I imagined she would, though. She has (once again) woven a tale of female empowerment inside a tale of magic and sprinkled a whole lot of history on top. This story is both timeless and timely. Like all history there are forgotten details that Hoffman fills in with this tale. And those forgotten details show how the women of yesterday relate to the women of today. How much has changed and how much remains the same.  What I'm reading next:   Anne of Avonlea

What I'm listening to: 

Murder on the Orient Express

Daughter of the White River - Audiobook Review

Ten years ago I was lucky enough to be invited to an S.J. Tucker house concert in Salem, Massachusetts. I had been a fan for a few years by that point, and it was a magical night of music and good company.

A picture of me looking really weird and super nervous.

S.J. Tucker’s music has this wonderful, faery charm and I can’t stress enough how good it is. Each album has its own sound, and purpose. Some are more spiritual and pagan-focused, others play a different direction, but every one of them is good.

When I heard Sooj had recorded an audiobook I had to jump on that. Then I found out it was a true crime story about an incredibly complicated woman who exacted revenge on the man who killed her father and I was even more excited. 

Daughter of the White River by Denise White Parkinson is like a roller-coaster, in all the best ways. From soft, tranquil moments of southern charm, to wild, heart-racing murder and prison escapes, this story has everything a true crime fan could want.

Parkinson offers us a story of crime and poverty that begs us to question what we view as justice. 

S.J. Tucker’s reading performance is beautiful and soothing. I hope I can experience many more audiobooks read by her. 

What I’m reading next:

 

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Another book I recently read and loved:

Giant Days, Volume 11.

(I have loved this entire series.) 

What are you reading? 

The Princess Diarest Audiobook: A Short Review

Some books can be read on paper or as an audiobook, others are just soooo muchhhhh betttter as an audiobook. The Princess Diarest by Carrie Fisher one is one of those books. (See also: Lauren Graham reading her book Talking as Fast as I Can.)

Carrie’s undeniably unique voice was such a light and refreshing break from everything happening in the world right now, and I needed it. I needed to hear her acceptance of her own flaws and her strength in overcoming so many hurdles in her life. I needed her sense of humor.

Carrie Fisher is the cheerleader we all need in our lives. I’m so glad this audiobook came to me and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a comical, someone insane break from the insanity.

Next I’m reading:

Wishful Drinking

Empire Falls

My Relationship With Comic Books (and a Short Review of Wonder Woman)

If someone had asked me a year ago if I was a comic book fan I would have said, “Eh, not really.”

However, I just read Wonder Woman, Vol. 2, Year 1 and halfway through it I got thinking about my relationship with comic books. I realized that somehow some patriarchal stereotype of who a comics fan is had made me think I was something I wasn’t. I am totally a comic book fan, I just never read “boys” comic books.

There was a time I owned a notebook with every “Blondie” strip from the Sunday comics taped inside it. I also read every "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," “Archie," and "Betty and Veronica" book I could get my hands on. I read Garfield until I wore through the binding, and I discovered and devoured Dilbert years before I understood the office politics involved.

What I didn’t read was superhero comic books, and the stereotypical image of a “comic book fan” includes superheroes. I fell for that trope so hard I questioned something I’ve known about myself for years.

I am most definitely a comic book fan.

My quick review: I definitely enjoyed this book. The artwork was beautiful, it was timely commentary on our modern world, diverse, and inclusive. It was empowering, and a great accompaniment to the spectacular movie this summer.

And in the future I’ve got to remember that I really am a comic book fan.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - A Review

I have extremely mixed feelings about this book and I’m going to explain them in two parts.

Part one - The Part Without Spoilers:

This book is, as my wife so eloquently put it, “Willy Wonka for video game nerds.” Also for comic book fans and 80’s music and movie buffs. Ready Player One is a dystopian, set roughly in the 2040s. Global warming and fossil fuel shortages have taken their toll, and now everyone lives, works and plays in a virtual MMO style video game world called The Oasis. When the creator of the game, Halliday (quirky guy, Steve Jobs type) dies he leaves an easter egg in the game waiting to be discovered. Whoever finds it first gets everything. All Halliday’s money, and complete control over The Oasis. However, in order to find the egg you have to basically memorize everything about pop culture in the 1980’s. Oh, and learn everything there is to know about Halliday himself.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Seriously though, you won’t go two sentences without an 80’s reference in this book. The characters even talk like they are in the 80’s. (I can’t remember the last time I heard someone say “smooth move ex-lax”) The tests to find this egg involve "Monty Python," "War Games" and Pacman. This book is dripping in 80’s nostalgia to almost a nauseating point. Almost. It walks a fine line, and really most of the 80’s nostalgia I enjoyed.

There is, however, a lot of exposition. I mean, there is an entire world to build here, I get that. But there are so many pages of this teenage boy talking to us, explaining the world he lives in. There had to have been a better way to handle that.

Still, I couldn’t stop listening. I “read" this book as the audiobook version performed by Wil Wheaton (who, incidentally, can mimic old video games perfectly) and I just kept listening. I listened to all fifteen hours in just three days. It was mesmerizing. I totally recommend reading it if you in any way have any interest in video games, or 80’s pop culture.

Part two - The Part With Spoilers:

First of all, “Reality is real.” My GODDESS I hope they find better final dialogue for Halliday in the movie version, because that’s about the worst bit of advice you can give to a kid who just WON THE INTERNET in a literal sense. Overall, there’s a lot of cheese like this. I definitely recognize the cheese was intentional, it fed into the whole 80’s feel of the book. But it also made the book a bit too predictable. I mean, obviously THAT GUY is going to come to the rescue. Obviously one of these avatars is being played by a person of a different gender or race...

And speaking of gender, why am I reading yet another book about a mediocre white boy who wins everything simply because of circumstance and luck? I mean, yeah, Wade put in a lot of research. But Artemis found the first gate before he did, AND she’s the only reason he gets through the third gate at all! Basically all my issues with the book are in the supporting characters.

A) Artemis was way more interesting than Wade. And should have won it all. Instead she gets the boy. As usual.
B) Aech deserved a book of her own. (I hope you really paid attention to the “spoilers” notice above because I would hate to ruin that twist for anyone, if you don’t see it coming on your own...) Seriously, though, HER STORY WOULD KILL. I want to know more! I want to know about her relationship with her mother. I want to know about her life as a black lesbian in this computer world. I want to hear from her.
C) Shoto and Daito, also could be great characters. But we’re so busy learning about the world they all live in that we don’t learn enough about them, and we’re left with rather flat, cliché, Japanese video game nerds.

It really was a great book and I will plan to be there opening weekend of the movie. But I’m kind of sick of the white boy who is conveniently surrounded by a diverse cast, who all seem smarter than him in about ten thousand ways... and yet he still wins it all in the end.

Including the girl.

In a garden maze.

Where she’s gazing into a fountain...

Really. That happens.

Next week I’m going to review:

Wonder Woman

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

I just finished listening to the audiobook version of Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire and I keep thinking, “Oh so-and-so would love this book, too!” It was a quick, easy listen, a delightful story and a wonderful break from reality. 

 Nancy is a teenage girl who spent some recent time with the dead. Now back on earth, distraught and missing the land she calls “home" she has been sent to a school for kids like her. Children, mostly girls, who have wandered through looking glasses and fell through trap doors into fantasy worlds, and want desperately to return.


Think Ms. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, throw in a dash of Alice in Wonderland and sprinkle a healthy dose of Neil Gaiman on top. 

I was first introduced to Seanan McGuire through the novels she published under the name Mira Grant, and she has yet to disappoint me. She has a deftly develops characters, making them whole and real people within pages. Her handling of modern day social issues is timeless, and will likely read well decades from now. She is always a good read, her novels an escape for the reader as they watch the characters in this book escape into their own fantasy worlds.

Next I’m reading:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Brunonia Barry’s “The Lace Reader"

I have probably had a dozen people tell me to read this book, and somewhere along the way it ended up on my shelf, but I hadn’t touched it. Last week I was looking for something with a little magic in it, and I finally pulled The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry off of my shelf. It was exactly what I needed.

A little magic. A little history. A whole lot of Salem, MA.

It’s Salem that really won me. I’ve read a lot of books set in New England and often it is painfully obvious that author hasn’t spent a lot of time here. Perhaps they were inspired by one single trip to the region. I’ve written to authors to find out they hadn’t been here at all. This book, though, oozes Salem. I knew immediately Brunonia Barry must live in the area. She knows that little town, she understands how the town’s history has impacted its current tourism industry. She gets it.

Barry’s book has one unreliable narrator trying to figure out who she is, a missing woman, maybe a murder, maybe a suicide, some witches, a cult and a few psychics. So many intriguing details in this story, I couldn’t stop reading it.

The book is a tad confusing and for the first half I thought it was a bit hard to follow. It’s hard to tell what is reality, and what is not. It’s hard to follow the chronicle history of the characters as dreams and psychic revelations get in the way. I don’t want to say too much because spoilers suck, so let me say this the only way I know how: The confusion is intentional. Go with it. It will pay off.

I live just two hours north of Salem, and this book reminded me that I don’t spend nearly enough time there.

You may like Brunonia Barry if you like:

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Books for the Third Grade

In honor of my friend Renée, who started her first year as a third grade teacher this week, these are all the books I think should be in a third grade classroom:

Wingdingdilly by Bill Peet

Here’s the rule with Bill Peet: Don’t pull out this book unless you have a glass of water nearby. Or any Bill Peet book. They are wordy, and if you’re reading them aloud you’re going to need a beverage. But they’re so worth it. There is magic here. A dog wishes he was a horse, until a witch turns him into the Wingdingdilly and he learns to value who he is.

She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton

Every child in every classroom in America will learn about certain American women. This book, however, includes many of the women our history books forget. Every classroom needs a book that reminds us that women have persisted, and through this persistence women have shaped our world.

Journey Trilogy by Aaron Becker

A girl draws a door on her bedroom wall. That door opens into another world where colors mean everything and art comes to life. This entire trilogy belongs in every classroom. Unlike Bill Peet, Becker’s books have no words, giving children the opportunity to tell the story themselves.

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Read this book with your children, and then spend time with it. Talk about what it means. Talk about who the Once-ler is as a person. This book is a heavy-handed examination of environmentalism, but it’s also a great way to introduce children to nuance and the gray area between good and evil where most people exist.

I Am a Story by Dan Yaccarino

I think I reviewed this one before, but it’s still so beautiful. What is story? What does it mean to share narratives and tell tales? Easily one of my favorite little history picture books I’ve ever read. A love letter to story-telling and perfect for children who are learning to fall in love with writing.

Hockey-Loving Princesses and Lumberjanes

Last Autumn I began a new job as a nanny to two wonderful children. With this job comes a lot of reading children's books, so I'd like to review a couple of them:

I Am A Story by Dan Yaccarino

On Mondays, my weekday off, I tend to run through the library and grab random books on my way through based strictly off of the cover art. This was one of those books, and I'm so glad I grabbed it. This beautiful book is a history of storytelling, broken down for children. It covers everything from cave paintings to kindles, and even sparked a conversation about book burning and censorship with one of the children I read it with.

Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

Bruce is a grouchy loner of a bear, who ends up adopting a flock of baby geese when they hatch before he can turn them into breakfast. This book is for children, but has enough entertaining adult jokes to keep the rest of us interestedHotel Bruce is just as fun.)
. (Also,

The Princess and the Packet of Frozen Peas by Tony Wilson

This prince doesn't want a whiny princess who complains all the time about things like peas under mattresses and dinner that's too cold. He wants a tough princess, who can handle an entire package of frozen peas under her mattress, and also it's best if she likes camping and hockey.

Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, Brooke A. Allen

The children I nanny aren't old enough for this yet, but I have a couple of nieces who will likely end up with copies of this graphic novel in the near future. Lumberjanes is about summer camp, it’s about being a girl and it’s about being a little weird.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce

I think I’ve shared the short film of this book before, but if not click here. This book is a love letter to books. I read this one by myself, not just with children.

A Book Update: Politics and Feminism and a Book about a Book

What I just read:

Nation by Terry Pratchett

I’m relatively late to the Terry Prachett world. Why? I’m not really sure. I should have been here decades ago! At this point, though, every Terry Pratchett book I’ve read has been an entertaining insightful examination of our world. This beautiful book explores the path of a tribal boy becoming a man after a tidal wave wipes out his entire community. He befriends a woman named Daphne, and as they learn to speak each other’s languages, they also learn who they are and what their role in the world is.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

I picked this book up just after the election thinking it was time for me to read something light and beautiful that would distract me from the horror of the political election. About thirty pages in I realized that this book was not going to distract me at all. It’s a penetrating examination of prejudice, holocaust and otherness. I’ve always had a minor fascination with the job of a book restorer, and this book is about those people, along with book creators, book saviors, and people who have been willing to live and die for a book.

What I’m Reading Now:

Our Revolution by Bernie Sanders and First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Laura Bush by Betty Boyd Caroli

Aside from making my way through the Game of Thrones series, I’ve also been reading about politics. Many of you know that last year I was a Bernie Sanders Delegate at the Maine Democratic Convention. I learned so much about politics this year, about how our system works and how a person can make change.

One of the things I’m fascinated by is how the women married to our past presidents have made change, most notably (currently) Hillary Clinton, who did a lot to reframe what the job of the first lady is.

With these two books I’ve been exploring these thoughts further and exploring my own role as a voter and socially-conscious person in this country.

What I just added to my To Read Shelf:

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

Notes From a Feminist Killjoy by Erin Wunker

Jeff Messick Interview & An Upcoming Event

I was recently given the opportunity to interview author Jeff Messick, but first I want to tell you about an upcoming event!

As the new Creative Director of BGP Publishing, my first big project is to host our first big event! The first BGP Publishing Facebook Book Crawl.

The event will take place on September 22nd as a tour of Facebook pages. I will start the evening off with a live reading from my book By The River on the BGP Facebook page. At the end of my reading I'll provide a link for viewers to go to the next author, who will do a reading on their own Facebook page, and then link you to the next, and so on. The length of the event will depend entirely on how many authors are interested in participating.

If you're an author interested in participating email me at kraysaulis@gmail.com to get sign up information. Stay tuned and closer to the event I'll have a full itinerary of the event.

Alright, Jeff Messick's interview. Jeff is another Pandamoon Publishing author. His work can be found at his website. Here is that conversation where we discuss books we love, writing advice, and what it's like to work with an indie publisher like Pandamoon.

Me - What are you currently reading?
Jeff - The Warlock Case Files by Juli Monroe,
Stephen King's Mercedes Man series and Revival
Me - Is Warlock Case Files fantasy?
Jeff - Paranormal modern day.
Me - I enjoy those. I also love Stephen King. He's always good. What has your writing career been like? When did you start writing?
Jeff - I started writing when I was really young, before it was writing, it was daydreaming and storytelling. Maybe four to six. I excelled in creative writing classes in high school.
Me - What's your favorite genre to work in?
Jeff - Anything besides romance. I'm a storyteller that is beholden to no genre, though I have a soft spot for paranormal and fantasy.  Read Lord of the Rings at eight.
Me - Tell me about your work. Anything you think particularly stands out in your writing?
Jeff - I try hard not to jump heads in scenes. Multiple perceptions in a scene is bad. I also pride myself on dialogue.  Both of these things i got from Lary Crews,  an instructor and novelist. I also have penchant for morals and self reliance,  plus honor and responsibility.
Me - Lary crews. What did he write?
Jeff - He wrote three mysteries in the 80's, taught in America online, now writing novels again. He was also in movies. He wrote the Veronica Slate mysteries. He also recently released an updated publication of novel secrets, which is the book ideas he used teaching novel writing online.
Me - Lovely. Tell me about Pandamoon. How has publishing with them worked out for you?
Jeff - It has been incredible. As an indie publisher, their approach is very different, starting with the percentage paid to their authors. There are incentives too. They also train their authors on branding, social media use, and marketing. It is more a family than a publishing company to me.
Me - That’s so lovely to hear. I’ve heard a lot of good things about them from Pandamoon authors I’ve interviewed.
Jeff - Zara Kramer is building something special and I'm excited to be with her company.
Me - A lot of people who are new to writing seem to find their way to my blog. any advice for them?
Jeff - Never stop writing and never give up.  Write for your audience of one. Please yourself with what you write and the rest will follow.  Learn the industry. Did I mention...WRITE. Reading is also critical.
Me - Great advice. Any cool projects you want to plug or talk about?
Jeff - Just plugging away at Priesthunter,  book two in my new fantasy series. Trying hard not to be the overly proud dad,  but it's difficult.

There's a Giveaway in This Post

What I Just Finished Reading:

The Death Pit by Tony Strong. It's been a couple of days... I'm still not actually sure how I feel about this book. It's not great... it's interesting... I don't know. You read it. Tell me what you think. It's stumped me.

How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel. I've read such mixed reviews about Paula Vogel. It seems critics either love her or hate her. I love her. This play, which touches on subjects of rape, sexual abuse, incest and alcoholism, is easily one of the best things I've ever read.

What I'm Reading Now:

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I've only just begun this, but after reading Paula Vogel this seemed like a good place to turn.

The Feminist Bookstore Movement: Lesbian Antiracism and Feminist Accountability by Kristen Hogan. If you're interested in intersectional feminism in any way, I would consider this a must read. I'll have a full review for it when I'm done, I'm sure.

What I'm Listening to:

Popaganda & Backtalk from Bitch Media. This podcast bounces between pop culture and current events, and they discuss absolutely everything.

Vagina Chronicles Podcast. You know the consciousness raising groups of second wave feminism? This is that, only in a podcast. 

What I'm Watching:

She's Beautiful When She's Angry. FANTASTIC summary of the second wave of feminism, and sure to spark some critical discussions of where the "third wave" needs to go. Also, this is a healthy reminder of what works in any social movement, and why it's important to stay vigilant and keep a close eye on where society is headed in regards to marginalized people.

Warrior Women. Grace O'Malley is one of my favorite historical figures. She was a pirate and a chieftain in 16th century Ireland. Lucy Lawless telling her story is one of my favorite things. She always discusses Mulan, Boudica and Lozen.

What I'm Doing:

The next ten people to add me as a friend on goodreads and send me a message about this blog post will get a free ebook of By The River. 

Also, for the next week I'm abandoning my own Instagram and taking over BGP Publishing's account. Expect lots of photos of the orange cat and the naughty ferret.

Guest Blog Post: Suz Korb's Newest Cover Reveal and Live Novel Writing

Hello, I'm Suz Korb and my new book project is titled: Flutterby Girl. Welcome to this cover reveal blog post, with a twist. Here's the cover...

The twist is that this book hasn't been written yet. I'm going to write it live on Patreon. I've written a novel live before, chapter by chapter, on my blog. And now I'm doing it again with Flutterby Girl! 

 

I got the idea for Flutterby Girl, then I thought up a title, then I got the cover, and now I'm writing the story. It will go up on Patreon chapter by chapter, daily. You can read each chapter if you become my patron. I'm new at Patreon, so if problems arise I hope I can deal with them quick! It should be easy enough though.

 

I've decided to write my two most recent books live because it pushes me, and it makes my imagination flow more deeply.

 

Chapter 1 of Flutterby Girl is up on Patreon now and I hope you will join me in this young adult journey. 

Book Giveaway

For my birthday I'm giving away a copy of my book. If you join goodreads in order to enter this giveaway send me a friend request, too. Let's have more conversations about reading!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

By the River

by Katrina Ray-Saulis

Giveaway ends April 20, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Spending Time on The Playground

I have spent the last month and a half working part time in a preschool. If I stood on my preschool's playground and watched the children play it would be like reading The Playground by Don Martin.

In this preschool there is the child with a neglected life. She is emotional and needy. She comes to me with the smallest of issues and has a full blown meltdown over it, because she's so desperate for attention and she can't figure out a better way to get it. 

Then there is the child who is already so crestfallen by life that everything is a disappointment too hopeless to spend any energy on.

There is the child who is nothing but joy and comedy, smiling and bouncing through life.

There is the baby who is still growing, who hasn't yet found their place and is still too unaware to do anything but incidentally cause pain.

There are some children on my playground who are true brilliance. They will be running the world one day. Or they'll be so brilliant no one else will understand them and they'll fall through the cracks.

This is how this book of poetry reads. Some of the poems are pure brilliance, they make you feel like you're in the presence of something amazing. Some are dancing around you, silly and playful. Some are breaking your heart. Some just accidentally stuck their finger in your eye, but hopefully you learned a lesson as they did.

This is an eclectic selection of poems with some incredible variety. There is something here for you. I promise.

Martin's poems are not poems you're forced to dissect. They aren't poems you have to, in the words of Billy Collins, "tie to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of." If you want to investigate a little deeper a few have some interesting depth, and perhaps the author could have taken those few a little further. A handful of poems I felt like I was given an amuse-bouche when I ordered a steak dinner. But that amuse-bouche was still pretty yummy.

If you like these books I suggest you read The Playground:

The Trouble With Poetry

A Light in the Attic

Sarah K. Stephens Talks Writing With Me

Last week I had the opportunity to interview the lovely Sarah K. Stephens, author of A Flash of Red,  "a powerful glimpse at the destructive effects of mental illness and an online addiction on an already broken relationship.” 

Me - To start off, tell me about your books.
Sarah K. - I write literary thrillers. My debut, A flash of red, is coming out winter 2016 from Pandamoon publishing. It's a psychological thriller examining the intersecting lives of three main characters; a husband-wife pair and a university student. All three are losing their connection to reality, in differing ways.
Me - Interesting! How did you get into writing?
Sarah K. - I’m a developmental psychologist by training and a full time university lecturer, but writing has always been a passion for me since I was in elementary school, even.  I walk to work each day, and these story ideas kept popping into my head during my commute. Finally I decided I just needed to find time in my life to write them down.
Me - Lovely. I get a lot of ideas on my morning commute to work as well.
Sarah K. - It's really great to be able to have that time just for thinking

Me - Definitely. What kind of books do you read? Favorite authors?
Sarah K. - Oh my gosh--P.D. James is a favorite of mine.  I've read every single thing she's written. I love her mysteries, but Children of Men is my favorite. Then there is Jessica Francis Kane-- the report was a masterpiece and her short stories just won't leave me after I read them. And of course-- Gillian Flynn is a favorite too. I could go on and on. Tana French too! See--I just keep wanting to add names.
Me - What's your writing routine like?
Sarah K. - I can only listen to instrumental music when I'm writing, so intern towards a lot of Beethoven. And Mozart's requiem, which has words but since they're in Latin I guess it doesn't mix up my writing brain. I prefer to write in the morning if my schedule allows--we have thee children and I try to write while they are at school.  Overall, I've learned over time that even 20-30 min of devoted time is better than nothing. I have to grab the little pockets of time that life as a professional woman and mom gives me.
Me - I can't imagine trying to write with kids. I have a hard enough time writing around my dog.
Sarah K. - We have a pit bull too--and I agree, he takes up a lot of time too
Me - What's your experience with your publisher been? I've seen Pandamoon around quite a bit lately!
Sarah K. - They are incredible! They have done an amazing job creating a community amongst their authors. I've developed strong professional friendships with my fellow 'Pandas' (as we call ourselves)-- I've never felt so supported and encouraged as an author in my life.  I truly feel Pandamoon is my advocate and will do everything to help achieve success for myself and its other authors.
Me - That's beautiful. Is there anything about your books you want future readers to know?
Sarah K. - In my writing, both within my books and my short stories, I strive to try and reveal aspects of our human natures that might otherwise go unnoticed or unremarked.  We are complex creatures, and when we connect via intimate relationships, platonic or romantic, the intricacies become ever more difficult to disentangle and view with clarity. My goal as an author is to try and reveal through my characters the tenuous nature of human connection and, often, how it can go awry.
Me - Well, you've sold me on it. I'll be reading something of yours for sure now. Any last words for our readers?
Sarah K. - I wrote a short story titled Boys. I wrote it in response to the student-led movement to @ endrapeoncampus and my own connections with students in my classes who are survivors of SA.  Many universities, including my own, instituted an emergency alert system where all subscribers would receive messages of emergencies in campus.  I signed up assuming it would be used in the case of campus threats, but from 2012 on it primarily became a medium for the university to notify subscribers that a SA had occurred on campus.  Not what was being done to address sexual violence on campus. Just a reporting tool.  And as the messages piled up in my inbox, I started to worry, first, about the victims and what was being done to prevent SA and to help survivors, but also about the potential for these messages to desensitize subscribers to the issue of SA.  It felt like a superficial attempt to address a very serious issue of safety for students. My story is in direct reaction to this reporting system and its potential for harming the cause of ending rape on campus. It examines three young men who proceed to kidnap a woman walking home from campus who they believe  witnessed them committing a minor traffic crime.  It proceeds from there, the alert system playing a major role throughout the story.
Me - Awesome. What an important topic. Thanks so much for spending this time with me.

Later on, Sarah K. Stephens and I also had a short discussion about Lady Gaga’s powerful performance at the Oscars, so I wanted to include this link to the video because if you haven’t seen it, you must.

Sarah K. Stephens can be found on Twitter @skstephenswrite and on her blog.

My Book & Some Other Books

Hello blog readers! It’s been a while since I posted. I was a bit busy with...

THE RELEASE OF MY BOOK!

By The River is out now! Any book store you go to should be able to order it for you, and hopefully they’ll all have it on their shelves soon!

By The River is my short story collection based on Maine history. The stories range from Beluga Whales swimming up river into Bangor in 1954 to the building of Rumford’s "brick park.” By The River is an examination of strength, adversity and diversity in a state with some amazing heroes and some shady closet skeletons.

By The River is on Amazon and Goodreads. It’s also available on KOBO, Barnes & Noble and iTunes. Buy the book and share the book and most importantly review the book!

In other book news, remember last year when I kept raving about Kindred by Octavia Butler? I even put it in my favorite reads of 2015 post. It’s about to become a graphic novel.  I’m ecstatic about this! This incredible book is an eye-opening, thought-provoking masterpiece. I highly suggest you don’t wait for the graphic novel. Go read this one today!

Today I’m finishing up Blackout, the last in Mira Grant’s very fun zombie trilogy. This series is great fun. It’s the zombie series for folks who grew up hooked on Buffy and X-Files. It’s all about conspiracy, truth and how we balance right from wrong when the lines start getting fuzzy between them.