Hepburn’s Necklace by Jan Moran A vintage necklace. A long-hidden secret. A second chance for love. When costume designer Ariana Ricci leaves her groom at the altar, she seeks solace with her great-aunt, a Texas-born Hollywood legend who worked on the film Roman Holiday as an extra. There, Ariana discovers Audrey Hepburn gave Ruby Raines an intriguing necklace during filming, and a cache of 1950s letters, postmarked Italy, raises more questions about Ruby’s hidden past. Aching for a fresh start and the chance to resolve an unfinished story, the two embark on a journey to the sun-dappled shores of Lake Como, Italy that will illuminate secrets of a bygone era and offer second chances to each of them—if they are bold enough to seize them. Moran explains the inspiration: “HEPBURN’S NECKLACE is an uplifting family saga that begins on the set of Roman Holiday, one of my favorite classic films. Many of my readers adored Audrey Hepburn, not only for her talent and style, but also for the kindness and compassion that she has displayed throughout her life. Beginning on the film set in Rome, the saga evolves into a seemingly impossible, parallel love story between two young extras that spans decades and is fraught with nearly insurmountable challenges. Told from the point of view of a
legendary Hollywood actress and her great-niece, HEPBURN’S NECKLACE is a heartwarming saga; it’s my Valentine to those who have suffered loneliness during this pandemic year. Like many of my books, the heart of the story is love in its many forms: the love of a mother for her child, the often complicated love between couples, and the passion of artistic pursuit.” "Second chances, twists of fate, and a glittering Lake Como backdrop combine to create Jan Moran's latest stunning read. Weaving back and forth through time, Moran creates an epic tale of love and loss that can't help but make readers question what might have been. With lyrical prose and unforgettable characters, HEPBURN'S NECKLACE proves that Jan Moran is a writer at the top of her game and a storyteller to remember." - Kristy Woodson Harvey, USA Today Bestselling author of Feels Like Falling
Jan Moran is a USA Today bestselling author of heartfelt women’s fiction series, family sagas, and 20th-century historical novels. Jan dreams up her popular, contemporary beach books on sunny shores in Southern California, not far from where she lives. Jan has been an avid traveler throughout her life, so you’ll find her books infused with authentic locales and things she loves to research—from chocolate, wine, and food to history, fashion, and more. Readers often say that along with a heartwarming story, they also learn many fascinating details. As a native of Texas who lived on the east coast and worked in Paris, Hong Kong, and Canada, Jan brings a wealth of experience to every book she writes. Pour a cup of tea or a glass of wine, open one of her books, and find yourself transported with characters you’ll soon be rooting for as friends.
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Hello Readers! Welcome to READING NATION MAGAZINE, THE magazine for readers and booklovers everywhere. This month’s issue is filled with great books to add to your TBR list, a sweet story from PQ Author and movie producer Marci Henna, a trip to Malibu, California with PQ Author Claire Fullerton, and PQ author Joy Ross Davis shares a story from her time as a travel writer. We also have our first Authors Interviewing Authors article Alice Early interviews Deborah Goodrich Royce. I can’t tell you how much fun it is putting these pages together. If you’d like to join this great community of authors and readers, go to www.thepulpwoodqueens.com to find out more - we’d love to have you! Wherever you are I hope you’re healthy, happy, and enjoying a good book. Thank you for stopping by,
Mandy Haynes Pulpwood Queen Author Creator, Editor, and Publisher of READING NATION MAGAZINE Owner of three dogs write press and crazy dog lady…
Because life’s too short not to have fun, we’ve added a mini scavenger hunt to this month’s article. The first twenty people who find this image within the pages and sends an email to mandy.pulpwoodqueen@gmail.com will be entered into a drawing for some fun prizes! 4 AUGUST 2021
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WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PULPWOOD QUEEN
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WATCH THIS!
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AUTHORS INTERVIEWING AUTHORS
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TO ADD TO YOUR TBR LIST
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WHO WE ARE
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AUTHORS AND THEIR ART
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WHERE WE’RE FROM
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ADVENTURES OF A TRAVEL WRITER
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MEET BOOKISH ROAD TRIP
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BREATHLESS BUBBLES AND BOOKS
95
TIARA WEARING, BOOK CLUB SHARING, GUIDE TO LIFE
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IF OUR PETS COULD TALK
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
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FYI
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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NETWORKING
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The Fourteenth of September by Rita Dragonette On September 14, 1969, Private First Class Judy Talton celebrates her nineteenth birthday by secretly joining the campus anti-Vietnam War movement. In doing so, she jeopardizes both the army scholarship that will secure her future and her relationship with her military family. But Judy’s doubts have escalated with the travesties of the war. Who is she if she stays in the army? What is she if she leaves? When the first date pulled in the Draft Lottery turns up as her birthday, she realizes that if she were a man, she’d have been Number One—off to Vietnam with an under-fire life expectancy of six seconds. The stakes become clear, propelling her toward a life-altering choice as fateful as that of any draftee. The Fourteenth of September portrays a pivotal time at the peak of the Vietnam War through the rare perspective of a young woman, tracing her path of self-discovery and a “Coming of Conscience.” Judy’s story speaks to the poignant clash of young adulthood, early feminism, and war, offering an ageless inquiry into the domestic politics of protest when the world stops making sense.
“The ebb and flow between a nineteen-year-old’s mistakes, vulnerability, and surprising moments of insight ring achingly true. The Fourteenth of September is a moving tribute to lives altered by chance. The draft lottery and its rippling effects highlight a generation that came into adulthood amid devastating uncertainty.” Foreword Clarion Reviews
“Rita Dragonette has written a strong-hearted and authentic novel about a naive young girl and her struggle to reconcile the dissonance between the world she sees and the world she was raised to believe in. Judy is truly a quiet hero; you won’t forget her.” Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean
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“Kathy Murphy and her Pulpwood Queens are a source of much-needed inspiration and big-heartedness in the world of books and book clubs. The tales here are as wise as they are entertaining, a testament to living large and joyfully in a sisterhood of storytelling”. --Paula McLain, New York Times best-selling author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin 8 AUGUST 2021
READING NATION MAGAZINE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PULPWOOD QUEEN
Thanks to Brother Mockingbird Publishing, I’d like to share an excerpt from one of the Pulpwood Queens featured in the collection, The Pulpwood Queens Celebrate 20 Years!
Connections Susan Peterson Changing the world, one reader at a time—that was Kathy L. Murphy’s goal when she started her book club, the Pulpwood Queens. That mission is conveyed every year when Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys gather in East Texas for a weekend of authors, books, and readers. I have been to many book signings and book festivals over the years, but Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend is unique. I attended my first Girlfriend Weekend by myself, in 2018, but once I entered that space for the first time, I knew it was where I belonged. I was with like-minded people who shared my love of books and reading, in as intimate an atmosphere as you can have with over 300 people! To say I was star struck is an understatement, as the 9 ISSUE NO. 5
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authors—50 or more—were bestselling authors I never dreamed I’d ever get to meet, let alone get a chance to spend an entire week-end with! But beyond the awe of being in their company, came the realization that these women and men already felt like friends, because I’d read their books and chatted with them on social media, and through their writing, I already knew who they were deep down, because they’d shared their stories with me. That isn’t to say I wasn’t tongue-tied the first time I saw Alyson Richman, Randy Susan Meyers, and M.J. Rose! I was standing in the back of the room when the three of them came in, and my heart was beating out of my chest, I was so excited! I didn’t even know what to say, and then Alyson turned around and saw me, recognizing me immediately, and with a hello and a hug, I felt like I’d known her forever. This is the beauty. The personal interaction is what sets Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend apart from any other author event. There were panels and book-signing sessions, which are always special. But where else is there a dinner for the readers, with authors dressed in costumes, acting as our very attentive waiters and waitresses! Being served barbecue by Jamie Ford dressed as a hippie, or Barbara Claypole White and Camille Di Maio dressed as Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton respectively, are experiences that are unique to Girlfriend Weekend that I will never forget. It is a haven from the noise that constantly interrupts the quiet of our lives. It’s a place where I can laugh out loud 10 AUGUST 2021
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until my sides hurt or cry along with an author and her poignant story. Books and reading and the relationship between authors and readers should serve as an example of love, friendship, and sup-port for the rest of the world. The best way to make connections with people, the best way to understand people from different circumstances, cultures, and parts of the world; the best way to appreciate and remember those who came before us, is through stories. That is the beauty of Girlfriend Weekend. It gives us the opportunity to make connections through stories— with the people who read them, and the people who write them. That is what will keep me coming back year after year.
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WATCH TRAILER HERE
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READING NATION MAGAZINE WATCH THIS!
WATCH TRAILER HERE
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WATCH TRAILER HERE
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Alice Early Interviews Deborah Goodrich Royce
Q: In your varied career you have been an actor, edited films, written screenplays, and worked in development, including restoring buildings with community significance, before devoting most of your time now to writing pageturning fiction. You’ve described your life as “episodic.” How did you make the transition from your earlier career involvements to writing? I stopped acting both by choice and by circumstance. I had had some success in film and television, I was living in LA, and I was newly married with two small children. As my priorities shifted, I found it harder to motivate myself to get out the door to audition for roles. When the opportunity arose to move to France (my first husband grew up there), 16 AUGUST 2021
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we jumped at it. I knew it would mean the end of my acting career, which I grieved, but I took the risk. And a door opened. One day I met an executive from a French film studio. They were investing in English language productions and needed native English-speaking readers to evaluate manuscripts. She offered me a position, I accepted it, and the transition from acting to writing had begun! From there, I went on to be the story editor at Miramax Films and eventually began writing myself. The transition may have had some precipitous aspects, but it took twentyfive years to unfold! Q: How long did it take to publish your first novel (bestselling Finding Mrs. Ford). After that stunning debut, was it easier or harder to write Ruby Falls? From the first word on the page of Finding Mrs. Ford in the summer of 2014, to seeing books in bookstores in the summer of 2019, it was five years. It took me a year to write a first draft, another year to land an agent, then two more years of revisions and submissions to get an offer from a publishing company. There was a final year of all the pre-publication work like cover design, metadata, copy edits, etc. I began Ruby Falls in the summer of 2016, overlapping it with Finding Mrs. Ford, and it was again five years until the pub date. However, the work was interspersed with that of the first book and the edits were less draconian. Q: Mrs. Ford of your first novel makes it out of Detroit carrying a secret into her perfect life on the East Coast. You 17 ISSUE NO. 5
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grew up in Detroit and now live on the Connecticut shore. The setting in Ruby Falls comes from your childhood. Yet these novels are not especially autobiographical. How do you mine events or experiences in your own life to bring vibrancy and depth to your characters? I think all fiction writers poach liberally from their own lives. In Finding Mrs. Ford, I set the Watch Hill sections in a version of the house I share with my husband. I knew from the minute I saw the house that I would love to set a novel in it. My original thought was to rework The Ghost and Mrs. Muir because of the house’s dramatic perch overlooking the sea and a lighthouse. In the end, I wrote a very different story with tiny traces of my first idea. In Ruby Falls, Eleanor lives in a cottage on Primrose Avenue in the Hollywood Hills across from an elderly “cat lady” named Dottie. Well…I actually lived in that house on that street across from an elderly “cat lady” whose name was Kathy! Q: You’ve spoken about loving Gothic novels and taking inspiration from Daphne du Maurier’s classic 1938 mystery/romance Rebecca. What draws you to the darker side of your characters and their relationships? Live long enough and you see a lot; most of it beautiful but some of it is dark. I am usually very gullible and take people at face value. But there have been occasions when people I’ve known have turned out to be other people entirely. When I was an actress, I played the woman who married Ted Bundy opposite Mark Harmon as Bundy. As I 18 AUGUST 2021
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researched her, I kept wondering what she was thinking. She must have believed in his innocence in the face of gruesome evidence to the contrary. I find this fascinating. Q: A theme you seem to return to is that of identity. What does “identity” mean to you and how do you spin out that theme in Ruby Falls? Ruby Falls pays homage to Rebecca and other classic gothic novels like Jane Eyre and The Woman in White. In them, a young and vulnerable woman comes under the influence of a powerful man who may or may not have her best interests in mind. The heroine—and the reader—feels unstable and unsure of safe footing. The male characters are mercurial and difficult to read. We don’t know if the heroine is in danger or where that danger may come from. Ruby Falls plays with these themes of identity: who are these people, really, and which of them is trustworthy? Q: Now that you’re in the writer phase of your life which implies you have a little more ability to structure your time and focus your creativity, can you tell us about how you manage your day and your life and what sustains your spirit and energy? Has any part of your current life surprised you? To sound like a parable again, my whole life has been a surprise and not a surprise. Apparently when I was two years old, I informed a friend of my grandmother that I was a famous actress from Paris. Hard to believe at that tender age, but that’s what she later told me. Even allowing room for hyperbole, it is funny that I went on to become an actress and to live in Paris! 19 ISSUE NO. 5
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My life now is structured as follows: I begin my day with a spiritual reading (I draw from a variety of traditions) and a little meditation. I say a little because—even after decades of mediation—I am not very good at sitting for long. Then, if I am feeling particularly virtuous, I will exercise. I am trying to get better about that as my metabolism is NOT what it used to be. I generally write from three to six hours per day. Ideally I write is in the morning, but that is not always possible. Evenings are for dinners, reading, movies, relaxing. Q: What’s next? Can you tell us about your newest project? Given your extensive film background, is a book-to-film project in your future? Finding Mrs. Ford is with two Hollywood producers who have just secured an extraordinary actress and are working on other aspects of putting a deal together. Ruby Falls is with another Hollywood producer who is trying to move it along in similar ways. All of this is fantastic, but still requires generous sprinklings of pixie dust to get to the point where cameras actually roll! I have just completed a draft of a third book which is tentatively called Reef Road. It is a dual narrative that alternates between the musings of a lonely writer in Florida obsessed with the childhood murder of her mother’s best friend and the story of a woman whose Argentine husband disappears with their children in the early days of the pandemic of 2020. The reader has to follow the breadcrumb trail to discover how these two stories intersect! 20 AUGUST 2021
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Deborah Goodrich Royce writes psychological thrillers that probe questions of identity. After a career in film and television (she played Silver Kane, sister of the legendary Erica Kane on the soap opera, All My Children), and a stint at Miramax Films as their story editor (snagging the Gwyneth Paltrow-starring version of Jane Austen’s Emma), Deborah turned her attention to writing. Her first novel, Finding Mrs. Ford, (called “juicy and suspenseful” by People Magazine) debuted in 2019. Her newest book, Ruby Falls (described as “taut and propulsive” by Kirkus Reviews) was published May 4, 2021.
Alice Early, a recovering business workaholic, is a writer, singer, and avid cook and gluten free baker living on Martha’s Vineyard. THE MOON ALWAYS RISING is her debut novel.
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The Baddest Girl on the Planet by Heather
Frese
Evie Austin, native of Hatteras Island, NC, and baddest girl on the planet, has not lived her life in a straight line. There have been several detours— career snafus, bad romantic choices, a loved but unplanned child—not to mention her ill-advised lifelong obsession with boxer Mike Tyson. This is the story of what the baddest girl on the planet must find in herself when a bag of pastries, a new lover, or quick trip to Vegas won’t fix anything, when she must learn from her relationships but also look within to navigate the decisions and turning points in redefining a new notion of herself. “This sun-and-salt-kissed coming-of-age story reads like a wry, honest chat with a close friend.” —Jaclyn Fulwood, Shelf Awareness 22 AUGUST 2021
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“Frese’s debut is a snappy novel with a relatable character that will resonate with readers.” —LynnDee Wathen, Booklist “Heather Frese has written a coming-of-age story like no other—with a fiercely original narrative voice that’s funny, brave, honest, and occasionally terrifying . . . in fact, compulsively readable!”—Lee Smith, Blue Marlin and The Last Girls Heather Frese is the author of the novel The Baddest Girl on the Planet, winner of the Lee Smith Novel Prize. She has published numerous short stories, essays, and the occasional poem. Her work has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, the Los Angeles Review, Front Porch, the Barely South Review, Switchback, and elsewhere, earning notable mention in the Pushcart Prize Anthology and Best American Essays. Heather received her M.F.A. from West Virginia University and has a master’s degree from Ohio University. Coastal North Carolina is her longtime love and source of inspiration, her writing deeply influenced by the wild magic and history of the Outer Banks. A native Ohioan, she currently writes, edits, and wrangles three small children in Raleigh, North Carolina. 23 ISSUE NO. 5
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SISTERS OF THE UNDERTOW by Johnnie Bernhard Sisters Kim and Kathy Hodges are born sixteen months apart in a middle-class existence parented by Linda and David Hodges of Houston, Texas. The happy couple welcomes their "lucky daughter" Kim, who is physically and mentally advanced. Following several miscarriages, Linda delivers "unlucky" Kathy at twenty-nine weeks, ensuring a life of cognitive and physical disabilities. Kathy enters public school as a special education student, while Kim is recognized as gifted. Both sisters face life and death decisions as Houston is caught in the rip current of Hurricane Harvey. Kim learns the capricious nature of luck, while Kathy continues to make her own luck, surviving Hurricane Harvey, as she has survived all undertows with the ethereal courage of the resolute. Sisters of the Undertow examines the connotations of lucky and unlucky, the complexities of sibling rivalry, and the hand fate delivers without reason.
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“An engaging novel that, at its core, wrestles at the struggle for personal happiness in the contemporary world. Sisters of the Undertow will resonate with anyone who’s ever asked: ‘How did I end up here?’” Cliff Hudder A former English teacher and journalist, Johnnie Bernhard is passionate about reading and writing. A traditionally published author, her work has appeared in newspapers and magazines, both nationally and internationally. She has written articles and columns for: the Suburban Reporter of Houston, World Oil Magazine, The Mississippi Press, the international Word Among Us, Heart of Ann Arbor Magazine, Houston Style Magazine, and the Cowbird-NPR production on small town America. Johnnie's entry for Cowbird, "The Last Mayberry" received 7,500 views, nationally and internationally. Sisters of the Undertow, Johnnie's third novel, was selected for panel discussion for the 2020 AWP National Conference, as well as an official selection for the international Pulpwood Queens Book Club. It was chosen by the Association of University Presses as one of the hundred best books published by university presses. Johnnie's work can also be found in the following anthologies: Louisiana Literature, Writers on Writing, The Pulpwood Queens Celebrate Twenty Years, Katrina Memories, and Coming Home. 25 ISSUE NO. 5
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PURE DYNAMITE by Lauren Bach HIS MISSION: HIGH RISK FBI Special Agent Adam Duval is deep undercover with one mission: gain the trust of his cellmate, Lyle McEdwin, one of the notorious McEdwin family, by staging a prison break with him. Lyle promises they can hide out with his family in their secluded bunker, and that’s just the opportunity Adam’s been looking for – until it all goes wrong. Lyle is injured in a shootout with an off-duty cop, and Adam has no choice but to kidnap Dr. Renata Curtis from her clinic in order to keep Lyle alive… HER LIFE: IN DANGER Eluding the police, the trio reaches the compound, where it’s clear the McEdwins want Renata dead. She can identify them and their top-secret location. As Lyle grows more unstable by the hour, Adam faces his toughest mission yet: how to protect Renata without giving himself away to the rest of the McEdwin clan. But a much bigger game is in play, and Adam is the only one who can stop a network of domestic terrorists from executing their deadly plot… 26 AUGUST 2021
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BURIED BENEATH by Debbie Baldwin am barely had time to brace for impact as Evan let out a squeal and threw herself into his arms. Her cinnamon eyes went to his then traveled to his lips. In that moment, Cam wanted to kiss her more than he wanted to breathe. He couldn’t break cover for any reason. Up until now, that hadn’t been a problem. Cam could withstand torture, commit crimes, fuck women, and never compromise the persona of Miguel Ramirez. But Cam knew like he knew how to break down and reassemble his Sig, if he kissed Evan, he would break.
Buried BeneatH
C
Camilo Canto has unfinished business. As the newest member of the Bishop Security team, Cam has left the dark world of undercover work with the CIA and is starting a new life in South Carolina. Unfortunately, there is a haunting figure from his past with an agenda. The Conductor is a criminal mastermind who wants Cam eliminated along with the evidence Cam compiled while working undercover. A devious plot is in place to do just that. Cam is abducted and awakes on the island paradise of Mallorca, where crime, danger, and obsession are buried beneath the picture-perfect surface. In order to stop The Conductor, Cam must sift through layers of diversion, including an infatuated supermodel, a corrupt mine owner, and an obsessed treasure hunter. As he fits the puzzle together, Cam crosses paths with a beautiful archaeologist searching for answers to another mystery hidden in the caves beneath the island.
Setting her on her feet, he ran a finger down her cheek. Then they heard voices. Debbie Baldwin is a successful print media and television writer. She is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Virginia School of Law. Debbie and her husband live in Saint Louis, Missouri with their puggle, Pebbles. They have three children in college.
Cam held a finger to his lips, and they both stood stock-still. “No one should be in these mines at this hour. I need to see what they’re up to. If I’m not back here in ten minutes, leave through the caves. I’ll meet you back here tomorrow.” Silent as snowfall, Cam navigated the mine until he found the danger sign he had noticed on his first day. The chain barring entry to the tunnel was still rocking back and forth after being disturbed. Following the path the men took, Cam ducked under the chain and crept down the tunnel until he again heard voices.
Evangeline Cole is a Ph.D. candidate in Mallorca with an archaeological team. When Evan stumbles upon a strange marker, she is compelled to follow the clues to solve a centuriesold mystery buried in the caves. When Evan’s treasure hunt crosses paths with Cam’s investigation, passion and danger ignite. Cam is forced to confront both the real and psychological demons from his years undercover to find the true treasure buried beneath.
He moved forward on silent feet and peered around the corner. Three men passing a joint stood to the side of a heavy fire door propped open with a cinderblock. Beyond was a large room, and inside was a sight sadly familiar to Cam. Workers in headcovers and surgical masks stood working at long stainless steel tables. Others were piling vacuum sealed white bricks into crates stamped with the double M of the March Mining logo.
DEBBIE BALDWIN
Cam pulled back and leaned against the tunnel wall. Copper wasn’t the only product coming out of this mine.
Fans of Lori Foster, Sandra Brown, and Toni Anderson will love Buried Beneath.
DEBBIE BALDWIN author name
Be advised: this story contains scenes of violence equivalent to an R-rated movie and explicit sexual situations.
The third book in the Bishop Security series features Cam "JJ" Camilo and centers around a mysterious drug lord, a mythical yellow diamond, and a feisty archeologist.
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WAYWARD GIRLS by Claire Matturro and Penny Koepsel (Red Adept Publishing August 2021) Estranged ex-best friends Camille and Jude travel to their former boarding school where a sexual predator had targeted them as teens. Breaking into the abandoned school the night before its demolition, they relive the unfathomable, fiery danger they faced there. Because they were labeled “the crazy girls, the ones who lie,” no one believed them. Then it was too late. "Wayward Girls is a story for the times we live in now. As women of all ages demand equality and fair treatment, the shadow of the past looms larger than ever and must never be forgotten. It's a compelling read with characters who stay with the reader long after the book is finished." ~Carolyn Haines is the USA Today bestselling author of over 80 novels. "Emotionally-charged and skillfully written, Wayward Girls is a poignant and heartrending story about trauma, its lifelong hold on one's psyche, and the need for selfforgiveness." ~Kelly Stone Gamble, US Today BestSelling author. 28 AUGUST 2021
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"Wayward Girls" is a portrait of brave sisterhood, infused with beauty and exquisite pain. Your heart will melt with every turn of the page." ~Laura Benedict, Edgarnominated author of the Bliss House novels and The Stranger Inside. "Wayward Girls delivers suspense, emotional depth, social commentary, and a gripping story. Grab a copy, a box of tissues, and the phone number of your oldest friend, because you're going to want to talk about this one after you turn the last page. It's a terrific book." ~Mary Anna Evans, award-winning author of the Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries, and assistant professor of creative writing at University of Oklahoma. Claire Hamner Matturro has been a newspaper reporter in Alabama, a lawyer in Florida, and a writing teacher at Florida State University and University of Oregon.
Penny Hagner Koepsel is a psychologist whose experiences and career are often reflected in her fiction, as she continues to be a voice for those less fortunate. 29 ISSUE NO. 5
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NINE TENTHS OF THE LAW by Claudia Hagadus Long Two sisters, their mother, and a Nazi thief. In 1939, a beautiful enameled heirloom menorah was looted by the Nazis, grabbed from the hands of its young Jewish owner. Too beautiful to kill, Aurora herself was singled out by the SS for “special duties”. Eighty years later, Aurora’s daughters Zara and Lilly discover the family menorah in a New York museum. Haunted by their mother’s buried memories, the sisters scheme to get it back—but their quest takes a dangerous turn when the menorah disappears, leaving a trail of murder and mayhem behind it. Aurora’s memories, it turns out, are very much alive; and now her secrets can bind the sisters together or tear them apart. “Everything isn't light-hearted, of course. Not only were their forebears affected by the Holocaust, Zara and Lilly carry that burden as well. They feel that whatever they suffer, it is nothing compared to what their mother went through, so they should bear it without complaint. Again, Long has struck a nice balance between describing Zara's inner conflicts and the action of the story. It never bogs down; instead, her interior journey lends considerable richness to the narrative”.-- Crime Fiction Lovers, April, 2020 30 AUGUST 2021
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THE FLYING CUTTERBUCKS by Kathleen M. Rodgers Now available on audiobook! Decades ago, Trudy, Georgia, and Aunt Star formed a code of silence to protect each other from an abusive man who terrorized their family. One act of solidarity long ago lives with them still. With the election of a president who brags about groping women without their consent, old wounds and deep secrets come alive again, forcing hard truths to be told and even harder truths to be left to the dead. On the outskirts of Pardon, New Mexico, Trudy returns to her mother, Jewel, to navigate an old house filled with haunting mementos of her father who went missing in action over North Vietnam. As she helps her mother sift through the memories and finally lay her father to rest, Trudy will do her own soul searching to say goodbye to the dead, and find her way along with the other women in her family, and through the next election. "When the history of this time is written, Rodgers will be one of those novelists who wasn't afraid to talk about what the late 2010s was really like." --Mark Childress, author of Crazy in 31 ISSUE NO. 5
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MURDER UNDER A FULL MOON by Abigail Keam A 1930s Mona Moon Historical Cozy Mystery Book 7 (A Mona Moon Mystery) "Excellent plotting and convincing characters make this a surefire winner!" Prairies Book Review Mona Moon goes to Washington D.C. to have lunch at the White House with Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States. While in Washington, Mona wants to take in the sights but her visit is marred by the violent death of two men who were trying to procure copper contracts with Moon Enterprises. Mona is then approached by American agents to spy for the government. Mona wants no part of that as "gentlewomen do not read other's mail." Mona soon realizes that she and Moon Enterprises are thrust upon the world stage of countries vying for power whether she likes it or not. All Mona wants to do is run Moon Enterprises and marry Lord Farley, but events make that impossible. Mona must make a choice. Does she fulfill her duty to her 32 AUGUST 2021
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country and forget Lord Farley? Or does she forge ahead and place her country in jeopardy by selling copper to whoever wants it? It looks like 1934 is going to be a challenging year for Mona.
Abigail Keam is the award-winning and Amazon best-selling author of several series including the Josiah Reynolds Mystery Series about a Southern beekeeper turned amateur female sleuth. “I hope my readers come away with a new appreciation of beekeeping from my Josiah Reynolds Mysteries.” She also writes the Mona Moon Mystery Series–a rags-toriches 1930s mystery series which includes real people and events into the story line. The series is about a cartographer who is broke and counting her pennies when there is a knock at her door. A lawyer, representing her deceased uncle, announces Mona has inherited her uncle’s fortune and a horse farm in the Bluegrass. Mona can’t believe it. She is now one of the richest women in the country and in the middle of the Great Depression! “I am a student of history and love to insert historical information into my mysteries. My goal is to entertain my readers, but if they learn a little something along the way–well, then we are both happy.” 33 ISSUE NO. 5
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The Trouble with Horses by Susan Y. Tanner What does a black cat detective and the rescue horses of Summer Valley Ranch have in common? A whole lot of trouble—with a capital T! Whenever Trouble, a black cat with uncanny sleuthing abilities and an over-fondness for Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes, finds a damsel in distress, his mission is always solving mysteries and thwarting the plans of criminals! THE TROUBLE WITH HORSES comprises a ‘series within a series' with each book featuring a new horse adventure and one sassy black cat detective. The horses at Summer Valley Ranch are the heart of Susan Y. Tanner's compelling storytelling. TROUBLE IN SUMMER VALLEY TURNING FOR TROUBLE TROUBLE IN ACTION 34 AUGUST 2021
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Trouble Most Faire by Jaden Terrell CASTLES, CUDGELS—AND MURDER! After the worst breakup in human history, Robbi Bryan needs a carefree summer and a place to fly her falcon. To give her wounded heart time to recover, she joins the Sherwood Renaissance Faire. But the faire holds much more than jugglers, archers, and a chance to reenact the days of yore. Robbi finds herself entangled in a web of secrets, lies, rivalries, and murder. The last thing she has time for is a handsome Scotsman with some hefty baggage of his own. Mal McClaren has found a haven and a retreat among the permanent residents of Sherwood, Tennessee’s year-round Ren Faire. When a murder threatens his home, the brawny Scotsman comes up with a risky plan to find the killer and save the faire. He didn’t count on falling for a feisty falconer with a troubled past. Trouble, the famous black cat detective, has never lost a human in his charge. He’s also never had—or wanted—a sidekick. But with a killer on the loose and the future of the faire in jeopardy, Trouble must work paw-in-hoof with Tuck, an incorrigible potbellied pig, to unmask the killer and show two wounded people that love is a risk worth taking. 35 ISSUE NO. 5
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Murder at Sea Captain’s Inn by Melissa Bourbon A Book Magic Mystery, Book 2 Generation after generation of Lane women die in childbirth, while the sea claims the men. Pippin Lane Hawthorne’s grand opening of Sea Captain’s Inn is tainted when a scholar studying the Lost Colony of Roanoke is brutally murdered. Like the black crow that hangs around the old house, could the untimely death be a harbinger of dark things to come? When her twin brother, Grey, begins bucking the curse by risking his life in the waters of the Outer Banks, Pippin lives in terror that he’ll be the next Lane male to be swallowed by the sea. Now she must use her gift of bibliomancy to save her brother, solve the murder, and end a two thousand year old pact. "This tightly woven mystery spins a web of intrigue where magic simmers, waiting for the perfect time to surface. I can't wait to read more about Pippin and what awaits her in the next Book Magic adventure." -Dru Ann Love, Dru's Book Musings 36 AUGUST 2021
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“A combination of magic and mystery, “Murder In Devil’s Cove” by Melissa Bourbon is a deftly crafted and impressively original novel by an author with a genuine flair for originality. While certain to be an unusual, immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Mystery/Suspense collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of anyone who enjoys Women’s Friendship Fiction, Cozy Animal Mysteries, or Supernatural Mysteries…” -Midwest Book Review “A magical blend of books, mystery, and smart sleuthing, Melissa Bourbon’s Murder in Devil’s Cove offers mystery readers everything they crave and stands out in the crowded cozy genre. This captivating new series will leave readers spellbound.”-NYT and USA bestselling author, Ellery Adams "I LOVED THIS BOOK. This is the first thing I wanted to say...This was a thrilling murder mystery novel..." -Book Reviews Community Murder in Devil’s Cove A Book Magic Mystery, Book 1 37 ISSUE NO. 5
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When Enemies Offend Thee by Sally M. Whitney Viciousness can lurk beneath even the most serene of surfaces. Recently widowed, Clementine Loftis returns to her hometown in North Carolina looking for comfort and peace. Instead, she finds an angry former highschool classmate who sexually assaults her in a bizarre attempt to settle an old score. When her lack of evidence prevents police from charging him, Clementine vows to get even on her own. After her first attempt doesn't pan out, she escalates her effort. When that fails, she escalates again . . . and again. Clementine's determination to make her attacker pay for what he's done drives her to walk a fine, dangerous line between vengeance and justice, making her question who she really is and whether she can ever again be the woman she wants to be. When Enemies Offend Thee is a provocative thriller that will have readers questioning their own friendships, loyalties, ethics, and the possibility of redemption. 38 AUGUST 2021
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Although Sally Whitney has spent most of her adult life in other parts of the United States, her imagination lives in the South, the homeland of her childhood. “Whenever I dream of a story,” she says, “I feel the magic of red clay hills, soft voices, sudden thunder storms, and rich emotions. The South is a wonderland of mysteries, legends, and jokes handed down through generations of family storytellers, people like me.” The short stories she writes have been published in literary magazines and anthologies, including Best Short Stories from The Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest 2017 and Grow Old Along With Me—The Best Is Yet To Be, the audio version of which was a Grammy Award finalist in the Spoken Word or Nonmusical Album category. Her first novel, Surface and Shadow, published by Pen-L Publishing in 2016, tells the story of a woman who risks her marriage and her husband’s career to find out what really happened in the suspicious death of a cotton baron in Tanner, North Carolina in 1972. She’s a member of The Authors Guild and has been a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her kitten, Ruth. When she isn’t writing, reading, watching movies, or attending plays, she likes to poke around in antique shops looking for treasures. “The best things in life are the ones that have been loved, whether by you or somebody else,” she says.
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One Hundred Daffodils: Finding Beauty, Grace, and Meaning When Things Fall Apart by Rebecca Winn An engaging, wise, and uplifting reflection on human resilience and nature’s ability to teach, inspire, and heal after an unexpected life upheaval, One Hundred Daffodils is told through the lens of the author’s personal experiences with grief and heartbreak on her journey toward self-discovery and empowerment. Written with uncommon honesty, One Hundred Daffodils offers readers the kind of relatable connection that we hunger for and love to share. It is a book whose words, like those of a trusted friend, are often raw, frequently funny, reliably uplifting, sometimes painfully familiar, and always vulnerable, honest and wise. Like Hermann Hesse, Walt Whitman, and Mary Oliver before her, the author uses nature as a metaphor, a sanctuary, and a sage teacher. It is a contemporary yet timeless story of a woman’s search for meaning, identity, and purpose. “A shockingly beautiful work of art.” ~ KATIE MARIE, Martinis & Memoirs Blog 40 AUGUST 2021
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Rebecca speaks to all manner of spiritual centers, women’s groups and conferences, and other organizations. Contact her here. Rebecca Winn is a multiple award-winning landscape designer and creator of the inspirational Facebook blog, Whimsical Gardens. Her eye for nature’s beauty and her unique blend of wisdom, insight and humor inspire and entertain hundreds of thousands of readers around the globe each day. Born in Dallas, Texas, Rebecca’s family moved to Europe when she was in first grade, providing her the opportunity to grow up surrounded by the majestic, centuries old gardens of Italy, Scotland and England, which strongly influenced both her garden designs and her writing. Her articles have appeared in regional and national magazines. One Hundred Daffodils is her first book. In 1995, Rebecca took her love of gardening, her degree in fine art, her many floral design and horticulture awards, and requests from friends, and started Whimsical Gardens, a boutique, residential landscape design firm. In the years that followed, she was recruited to be the garden writer for D Home Magazine, and an on-camera talent expert in garden design for eHow.com. In addition to 31 top floral design awards and over 300 horticulture awards won in garden club flower shows, Rebecca has won five consecutive TEIL Awards (Texas Excellence in Landscaping) through the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association, as well as a LUXE Magazine RED Award (Residential Excellence in Landscaping). She has served on numerous arts, civic, and gifted education boards, and supports environmental causes throughout Texas and the world. To read more about Whimsical Garden, Click here 41 ISSUE NO. 5
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Husbands and Other Sharp Objects by Marilyn Simon Rothstein A heartwarming, hilarious novel for anyone who has ever had a family, from the author of Lift and Separate. After a lifetime of marriage, Marcy Hammer is ready to get herself unhitched--just as everyone else in her life is looking for a commitment. Her new boyfriend, Jon, wants to get serious, and her soon-to-be ex-husband, Harvey, is desperate to get back together. When her headstrong daughter announces a secret engagement to Harvey's attorney, Marcy finds herself planning her daughter's wedding as she plans her own divorce. Now with two huge events on the horizon, the indomitable Marcy soon realizes that there's nothing like a wedding to bring out the worst in everybody. From petty skirmishes over an ever-growing guest list to awkward confrontations with her sticky-fingered new in-laws, pulling off the wedding is going to be a challenge; seeing her divorce through is going to be a trial. And trying to make everyone happy might prove to be impossible--because in the end, Marcy alone must make a choice between something old and something new. 42 AUGUST 2021
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The Eves by Grace Sammon The Eves is a multi-generational novel portraying lives lived well and lives in transition. Filled with poignancy and humor, The Eves captures the conversations we wish we had had with our parents, if we had taken the opportunity, and the lessons we would want to impart to our children, if they were ready to listen. Told through the voice of the psychologically complex Jessica Barnet, this is her story. As the primary witness in a messy trial she has been torn from the foundation of her existence—her connection to her children. With a partially finished doctoral degree, and incomplete renovations on her Washington, DC row house, she has let go of her ambitions and her appearance, but not her vodka or her sense of loss and guilt. When Jessica meets five diverse, determined, and sometimes ditzy old women living in a sustainable community everything and everybody changes. Through plot twists and turns that cover three continents, we learn the truth of Jessica’s life and lies just as we fall in love with the vividly drawn characters and the vibrantly described settings. 43 ISSUE NO. 5
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NOWHERE NEAR GOODBYE by Barbara Conrey A mother’s love vs. a doctor’s oath. Oncologist Emma Blake has dedicated her life to finding a cure for a rare brain cancer. Twenty-five years ago, Emma’s childhood friend Kate died of glioblastoma, and Emma vowed to annihilate the deadly disease. Now, Kate’s father, Ned, is pushing her to work harder to fulfill that promise. When Emma discovers she’s pregnant, she’s torn between the needs of her family and the demands of her work. While Ned pressures her to do the unthinkable, her husband, Tim, decorates the nursery. Unwilling to abandon her research, Emma attempts to keep both sides of her life in balance. Emma knows she needs to reconcile her past with her present and walk the fine line between mother and physician. But Ned has a secret, and when Emma discovers what he’s been hiding, the foundation of her world cracks. Nowhere Near Goodbye is a story of family, failure, and second chances. 44 AUGUST 2021
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RISING STAR by Michele Kwasniewski In the first book in THE RISE AND FALL OF DANI TRUEHART series, RISING STAR, fifteen-year-old Dani Truehart is living a life that is not quite her own. Driven by her mother's desire for fame and fortune, she has spent her childhood dutifully training for a career as a pop star. On the brink of discovery, doubts begin to creep into Dani's mind as she questions her own desire for fame, and she wonders whether she can trust the motivations of the adults who are driving her forward. Following a brilliant audition arranged by her vocal/dance coach and former '80s pop icon Martin Fox, Dani is thrown full-force into the music industry. She leaves her friends, family and scheming mother behind to move with Martin, who has become her legal guardian, into the Malibu compound of her new manager, Jenner Redman. Jenner, the former swindling manager of Martin's boy band, leverages what's left of his depleted fortune to launch Dani's career. Isolated from her life at home and trying to stay apace with her demanding schedule, Dani struggles to keep in touch with those she loves, connect to her withholding mother and find her voice as an artist. With Martin and Jenner at odds over their rocky past and finding herself unprepared to handle the pressures of her future singing career, Dani's debut album and future stardom are at risk of falling apart. 45 ISSUE NO. 5
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Adulting by Liz Talley Today bestselling author Liz Talley’s emotional and heartlifting novel about facing the past, unconditional love, and a woman on the verge of a breakthrough. After another all-night bender, one more failed stint at rehab, and a parole violation, self-destructive actress Chase London has to deal with her demons. She’s been written off as a Hollywood casualty by almost everyone, including her own mother. But handsome superstar Spencer Rome has her back. So does an uncompromising stranger determined to start Chase at square one and help her pull her future into focus. If Chase is willing. Life coach Olivia Han is devoted to “adulting” boot camp therapy. It’s not just her professional specialty, though—it’s also one way to avoid focusing on building a life of her own. To escape the pressures of Tinseltown, the two women head to Olivia’s cabin in the wilds of Northern 46 AUGUST 2021
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California. There they discover a place in need of TLC. As they work together to rehab the once-charming cabin, they create a refuge where Chase can come to terms with her unsettled past, and where Olivia has an unexpected reckoning with her own troubling history. For two women doing damage control, this is a time for second chances—in life, in finding love, in forgiving family, and in an emerging friendship that might be exactly what each of them needs to heal. “Liz Talley delivers. Her dialogue is crisp and smart, her characters are vivid and real, her stories are unputdownable.” ROBYN CARR, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR USA Today best-selling author Liz Talley loves staying home in her jammies and writing emotional women's fiction and romance. Liz has published thirty books, reaching number one in kindle romance. Her stories are set in the South where the tea is sweet, the summers are hot, and the porches are wide. Liz lives in Louisiana with her childhood sweetheart, two handsome children, two dogs, and a mean kitty. 47 ISSUE NO. 5
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Who, Me? Fog Bows, Fraud and Aphrodite is a mystery set in an urban boating community in Seattle. Bryn Baczek lives on a sailboat in a small marina with her cat, Macavity, and a series of short-lived goldfish. When a neighbor she doesn’t like becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation, she reluctantly seeks evidence to prove him innocent. She ends up being threatened by the victim’s abusive boyfriend, betrayed by a close friend, and can’t resist using subterfuge to enter a secured building to search the victim’s office. Although Bryn shares what she learns with a charming detective whose manicured mustache she finds off-putting, she is one step ahead of the police in identifying the murderer . . . a step that puts her in a dangerous face-to-face confrontation. "What’s a fog bow? You’ll find out when you read this delightful cozy mystery!" Christy's Cozy Corners "The characters are endearing and they keep you reading and wanting more. I said it earlier and I’ll repeat it again. This was a really enjoyable book." - Literary Gold Review 48 AUGUST 2021
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Charlotte Stuart earned her PhD by studying how values influence behavior. That interest in communication and relationships became a theme in her work life – first as an academic, later as an organization development consultant, and now as a mystery writer. It wasn’t particularly helpful during her time as a commercial salmon fisher in Alaska, but she enjoyed those years of physical labor and being away from everything except the ocean and the captivating Alaskan scenery and wildlife. Her current passions include doing pro bono consulting for small nonprofits, writing mysteries and watching the sea life from her island cabin. She is also engaged with local writers and readers as VP of the Puget Sound chapter of Sisters in Crime. SURVIVAL CAN BE DEADLY was published by Amphorae Publishing Group in September 2019. WHY ME? Chimeras, Conundrums and Dead Goldfish was published in January 2020 by Taylor and Seale. Charlotte is also the author of DISASTROUS INTERVIEWS: THE COMIC, TRAGIC AND JUST PLAIN UGLY. 49 ISSUE NO. 5
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Little Tea by Claire Fullerton Southern Culture … Old Friendships … Family Tragedy One phone call from Renny to come home and “see about” the capricious Ava and Celia Wakefield decides to overlook her distressful past in the name of friendship. For three reflective days at Renny’s lake house in Heber Springs, Arkansas, the three childhood friends reunite and examine life, love, marriage, and the ties that bind, even though Celia’s personal story has yet to be healed. When the past arrives at the lake house door in the form of her old boyfriend, Celia must revisit the life she’d tried to outrun. As her idyllic coming of age alongside her best friend, Little Tea, on her family’s ancestral grounds in bucolic Como, Mississippi unfolds, Celia realizes there is no better place to accept her own story than in this circle of friends who have remained beside her throughout the years. Theirs is a friendship that can talk any life sorrow into a comic tragedy, and now that the racial divide in the Deep South has evolved, Celia wonders if friendship can triumph over history. 50 AUGUST 2021
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Claire Fullerton hails from Memphis, TN. and now lives in Malibu, CA. with her husband and 3 German shepherds. She is the author of Little Tea, set in the Deep South. It is the story of the bonds of female friendship, healing the past, and outdated racial relations. Little Tea is the Goodreads, 2021, July Book of the Month, the August selection of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club, a Faulkner Society finalist in the William Wisdom international competition, 1st place winner in the Chanticleer Review's Somerset award, a finalist in the International Book Awards, and the Independent Authors Network 1st place in Literary Fiction winner and 2nd place winner for 2020 Book of the year. Claire is the author of 12 X award winning Mourning Dove, a coming of age, Southern family saga set in 1970's Memphis. Claire is also the author of 3X award winning, Dancing to an Irish Reel, set on the west coast of Ireland, where she once lived. Claire's first novel is a paranormal mystery set in two time periods titled, A Portal in Time, set in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. She is a contributor to the book, A Southern Season with her novella, Through an Autumn Window, set at a Memphis funeral. Claire is represented by Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Literary 51 ISSUE NO. 5
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A Woman’s Story by Francine Rodriguez This book will be released August 19, 2021. A Woman’s Story tells the stories of Latina women’s lives. Depicting conflict in gender bias, experiences of exploitation, violence, and powerlessness, sometimes resulting in pain and despair in their turbulent world. But these stories also tell of these women’s celebration of life itself that empowers them and gives them the will to sustain. These stories resonate on a deeply emotional level. Francine Rodriguez grew up in and around downtown Los Angeles and later worked as a Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity Investigator in the Federal sector. All told, she has worked in the fields of law and psychology for over thirty years, and her experiences in these fields inform her writing. She has published two previous novels, A Fortunate Accident (Booklocker 2015), and A Woman Like Me (Booklocker 2019). 52 AUGUST 2021
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Being Home edited by Sam Pickering & Bob Kunzinger This book will be released September 16, 2021. Being Home is about the spirit of place, the juncture of memory and emotions. It is different for everyone; it is different for members of the same family, and it most likely has nothing to do with where you were born or grew up. Award-winning essayists Sam Pickering and Bob Kunzinger selected the essays for this collection, selecting essays about being home where setting becomes character, where time becomes the antagonist, and where we make our most important discoveries. These are not quarantine, stay in place, Covid-19 essays.
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The Arthur Smith Poetry Prize September 2022 publication for winner Judged by Jesse Graves The winning poet receives a $1,000 advance, a standard royalty contract, and 20 copies of the published book. Finalists will also be considered for future publication. There are no restrictions on the type of poetry we will consider. 54 AUGUST 2021
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The Finding by r.e. Joyce Ariah, from the moment of her transformation to Unicorn, is given a mission to find and stop the evil that has covered her valley in darkness. Leaving the only home she knows she bands with an elf maiden Dariel, a leopard, a grumpy wolf and even the young man Tarran for a journey of discovery seeking the Light of Savron that can stand up against The Darkness. As they seek, her horn changes color until in battle it turns crystal revealing her to be the Light of Savron. Yet it is in the love of Dariel and Tarran that the true light is made complete. While the world holds back the evil hordes, Ariah brings her precious friends before The Darkness and returns the world to the light of love.
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DEEP END OF THE LAKE by Carol Grace Stratton Who Says Giving Up Dreams Isn't Success? Ally Cervantes has all she wants in life—an upcoming wedding, a chance to prove herself with a writing gig, and two great kids. But her life turns for the worse when the unexpected happen and she soon finds herself struggling with a rebellious teen daughter, a shaky job, and a shakier engagement. With her newfound faith acting as a life preserver, Ally discovers if you’re in the deep end of the lake, you’d better learn how to swim. Although fiction, Deep End of the Lake, is written from the authors’ personal compassion for families who have the privilege and responsibility to care for a child with a disability. Having worked with autistic students, Carol has seen first-hand the stress and demands these parents face and wanted to capture in a story those pressures, all while providing the encouragement that a beautiful hope and faith can bring into the struggles. Deep End of the Lake grabbed me from the start. Carol Grace Stratton has a wonderful way with words, a wonderful way with a story, and creates fascinating characters. I loved Lake Surrender, so I was eager to read the sequel. It was well worth the wait. Stratton weaves complicated emotions through the book that will resonate with readers from all walks of life. I love that she dwells on the life of a family with a special needs child, but so much of what she feels is what all moms feel. The scenes dealing with the teenaged daughter are just as real. The romance is sweet and tender. The setting impacts the characters and mood. Deep End of the Lake is sure to keep you turning pages and leave you wanting more."-Norma Gail Holtman, author of Within Golden Bands 56 AUGUST 2021
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Sharp as a Serpent’s Tooth Eva and Other Stories by Mandy Haynes "Reading Mandy Haynes's collection of short stories, Sharp as a Serpent's Tooth, takes me on a journey down red clay backroads to the gothic South where Flannery O'Connor rides shotgun and whispers in my ear. Haynes takes her fiction into a world I love--a South of conmen, snake handlers, and individuals with unsettling courage. She brings fresh insight into characters I've met and places I've visited in real life and in fiction. There's no better journey--highly recommended." USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Haines, 2010 Harper Lee Distinguished Writer Award winner “Mandy Haynes captures the authentic southern stories readers love. She writes, not with stereotypes readers can spot from a mile away, but with wisdom which comes from the calloused hands of a great author.” Renea Winchester, author of Outbound Train. “With an ear for conversation and a storyteller’s gift, Mandy spins tales of ordinary peoples’ struggles that are both touching and compelling.” Richard Bailey (otherwise known #3) 57 ISSUE NO. 5
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What is Left Behind A Mostly True Essay by Marci Henna
When our grandmother passed away, we found all sorts of treasures nestled in and around the Texas hill country home she’d shared with our grandfather for decades: blue-eyed beauty marbles, rusted metal toy planes, plastic 58 AUGUST 2021
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bead necklaces, and old thick glass bottles placed upside down over the yard fence to turn purple in the sun. Her dog-eared Bible in a worn Ziploc bag was in her everyday black purse, and forty years of journals recording the price of feed and cattle and the effect of drought on crops were found in the bedroom. They reminded us of what had been tucked in her heart and saved for all of us who would miss her. Occasionally, she wrote about how she felt about things, but that is another story. She used the bounty of her garden and the pecans that fell from the trees in the front yard to feed her family. Her harvest included sacks of pecans, shelled or whole, fresh Beefmaster tomatoes, butternut squash, potatoes, corn, green beans, black-eyed peas, and peach, fig and plum preserves. All these things she often shared with us when we came to visit. She was a gentle woman who gave love without measure, kept her sights on the eternal and believed in a higher meaning than the visual world. Her daily routine was predictable as clockwork. She would awaken and stuff logs in the old kitchen wood stove and the iron potbelly in the bedroom before anyone else stirred. She’d get dressed in relative darkness and move again into the kitchen where she would run a comb through her hair, wash her face with Noxzema, gargle with Listerine, and sit down on the utility room step to put on her shoes. Next she would pick up her milking bucket and head out to snub the cow in the shed. Invariably, the cow would threaten to kick, but our grandmother would just 59 ISSUE NO. 5
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say, “Settle down, sister,” and she would. Milking done, she’d carry the bucket back into the kitchen, let the cream rise to the top, skim and save it, and put the milk into glass bottles. Meanwhile, she’d also have started making biscuits, frying eggs and bacon in an iron skillet, and coffee bubbling in the old metal percolator.
Depending upon the season, she would either go out to work in the garden after breakfast, before the sun became too hot to work under, clean house or help our grandfather doctor cattle, sheep and goats. By eleven a.m., she’d be back in the kitchen frying up tender chicken pieces dredged in flour, using even the gizzards and necks, wasting nothing. Soon there’d be the anticipated platter of fried chicken, steaming bowls of creamed corn or new 60 AUGUST 2021
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potatoes and peas, fresh peaches to spoon over icebox cookies, and a pitcher of iced tea placed on the kitchen table. While they ate, they listened to the local radio announcer tell who’d been born or died, who had a combine to sell, the price of cattle and hogs, and what weather had been forecasted. Mostly, they just liked to hear Paul Harvey tell, “The Rest of the Story.” After the dishes had been washed, naptime came for all in the household, no matter the age. When we visited them, we would lie down wherever there was room, read the newspaper, look at pictures in the Montgomery Ward’s Catalogue, or just be still until we fell asleep. Whether we were visiting or not, the afternoon schedule remained the same. After our grandparents had awakened refreshed, they would tackle more chores or take a trip into town to get mail or supplies. Most often, they’d climb into the ranch truck and rattle through the pasture checking on cattle, sheep and goats. During the winter, hay and bags of cow cubes would be distributed from the back of the truck, which sometimes had been loaded by our grandmother. Even at age eighty, she could throw fifty-pound bags of feed to and from a vehicle. Evenings were spent eating a simple meal–bowls of cereal with bananas, perhaps with spoonsful of black cherry JellO with fruit cocktail and Reddi-whip on the side, watching Walter Cronkite report the six o’clock news, and then afterward the Grand Ole’ Opry, Gunsmoke, The Ed Sullivan Show, or a John Wayne movie. She shelled 61 ISSUE NO. 5
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pecans while she watched television, which must have hurt her some due to the arthritis that plagued her hands. Bedtime occurred after the end of the ten o’clock news. Faces were washed and our grandparents slipped inbetween white sheets underneath a chenille bedspread, and sometimes slept soundly, still as pieces of wood. There were variations to these daily rhythms, of course. Our grandmother took care of her mother-in-law, her bedridden sister-in-law, and her mother until their deaths. Indeed in some way, she took care of the rest of us until her internal clock wound completely down. No matter what tribulations had come her way, she had managed them all with grace. There was a demon squirrel, however, who was like a giant fingernail scratching upon her spirit’s chalkboard. She witnessed him scampering away from her prized pecan trees with her treasured nuts. Giving him fair warning, she told him to get away from her pecans, that they were to be left untouched for icebox cookies, fruit cakes and the Thanksgiving cornbread stuffing, or else… That squirrel defiantly stuck a nut in his cheek and scampered away only to return twice as often as before. After days of battle, our sweet grandmother went into the utility room, got her gun out of the rack, and accidentally shot a hole through the roof. Now there were two reasons to settle the score, and she was riled. She went outside, got him in her sights, took aim and missed the scampering target. The squirrel won the day’s battle, and all she won 62 AUGUST 2021
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was a dislocated shoulder when the gun kicked back hard. The Hatfields and McCoys knew nothing about feuding compared to our grandmother’s war with that squirrel. Daily, each side upped the ante. Where the critter had stolen seven pecans and squirreled them in his nest the day before, he now stole ten. Where she’d gotten the gun out once, she now got it repeatedly. However, before she took aim, she’d needed to remove the sling the doctor had recently ordered her to wear. Our grandmother developed a heart problem, just as had her mother before her. She accurately predicted how she would pass away, recorded it in her journal, and even warned our grandfather that he might be prepared. It was wintertime in the hill country. The grass had turned brown and the pecan trees had shed their leaves. The squirrel was still stealing pecans, and our grandmother was hot on his trail. On their sixty-third wedding anniversary, she prepared the evening meal for our grandfather just as she always had. Next she washed her face, put on her nightgown and slipped into bed. Like the squirrel, she made a nest of things to tuck under her pillow that might be needed during the winter’s night: Mentholatum for her stuffy nose, white tissues and eighty-one years of dreams. She settled down to sleep as usual, but varied from her routine in the wee hours of the morning. Instead of getting up, putting logs in the stoves and milking the cow, she opened the gate into heaven’s garden and passed through it. 63 ISSUE NO. 5
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The next morning, after her death had been discovered, details handled and tears shed, family gathered in the living room. There upon the fireplace hearth lay the squirrel, expired. No one knew why or how this had happened, but possibly life for the squirrel just wasn’t worth living without his adversary. The battle was clearly a draw. Each had won nothing and yet everything. Perhaps it had been by grace that they had gone to gather their harvests together.
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Marci Henna is the descendant of two generations of Texas Rangers and grew up on the family’s 1800’s era Texas Hill Country ranch near Austin, Texas. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in English and enjoys foreign language and reading southern literature. As a child, she also lived with the Wakamba in Kenya, East Africa, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in various Texas cities. For twenty years, she served on the executive committee of the Dell Children’s Medical Center Foundation, on the James Dick Foundation (for the International FestivalInstitute at Round Top, Texas) and on the boards of other non-profits. She is a recipient of the KVUE (Austin Television Station) “Five Who Care” Award, the Children’s Hospital Chairman’s Award and others. When We Last Spoke (her Fireside, Texas series novel) is currently screening at film festivals and awaiting broadcast distribution. She and her husband, Louis, have four beautiful children, two roly-poly dogs, and reside in Austin and Santa Fe. They recently drove the Dalton Highway (Ice Trucker’s Road) in Alaska and look forward to their next great adventure! 65 ISSUE NO. 5
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How Tiny Art Saved Me by T.K. Thorne During the pandemic, the muse deserted me. I could not put pen to paper except to edit. Fortunately, I had a lot of material to edit, but the more days that have turned into weeks and months, the drier the well of creativity seemed. I had finished my police-witch trilogy (House of Rose, House of Stone, and House of Iron) and an eight-year nonfiction project (Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham’s Civil Rights Days). I finished a rewrite of an old manuscript and had no idea where to go next. I felt aimless, adrift. Everything had a surreal quality. A good friend introduced me to a form of art called Zentangle. It is done on little 3×3-inch pieces of stock paper—tiny art. I played with it and decided to add colors. Because it is so small, it was not intimidating like a big canvas would have been. I’ve never done any “art thing” beyond doodling, but I’ve always wanted to. They may not be great masterpieces, but the world fades away when I am working on one. But still fresh words eluded me. No stories pushing to be born. Then a fellow-panelist I almost met at a writer’s conference that was canceled at the beginning of the pandemic emailed me and asked if I were interested in submitting a short story to an editor in Australia who was 66 AUGUST 2021
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putting together a crime anthology featuring law enforcement authors and wanted some submissions from women. I am both of those things—an female author and a cop, a retired one anyway, now a short, gray-haired old lady. I agreed to submit a story. The catch is I had to write it. I had to create it. I told myself—this is like the tiny art. It’s a short story, not a novel. Even so, I was totally blank. But I promised, so I had to do it. One word at a time. I was delighted and surprised that the words came. The story is about a short, gray-haired old lady who is an excop and witnesses a murder. I sent it off and it was accepted for the anthology. Maybe I’ll do another short story, a writing “tiny art,” or maybe I have found a character for a novel….
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Pulpwood Queen Author Claire Fullerton takes us on a tour of her beautiful surroundings!
Malibu, California on a Sunday Morning!
I recently discovered a new set of stairs to the beach. It’s been two years and 8 months since the Malibu fires swept through the area, and these new stairs are part of the reconstruction of an area I can walk to from my house, known as Leo Carrillo State Beach.
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Straight on from the stairs is this view. I am as familiar with this area as I am with the back of my hand, and am forever amazed at the constant yet ever-evolving tide that changes the beach landscape from one day to the next.
Walking left are these massive boulders. According to the strength of the tide, there is always drama happening, and I wait for the waves to crash against the boulders as if I were waiting for fireworks to light up the sky. At certain angles, the waves collide with these timeless boulders. 69 ISSUE NO. 5
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They erupt in a misty-white plume that paints the blue sky, and I think of time and tide and it’s ceaselessness, and the fact that the ocean’s anchoring constancy is something I can always count on. A closer view…
And closer still. At this spot, I take my shoes off and wade knee-deep in the water until my heartbeat aligns with the tide’s rhythm.
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I use this South end incline to get to the cliffs above for an elevated view of the Pacific Ocean. From the cliffs, you can literally see the curvature of the earth. There have been days when the wind is at such a fevered pitch, it’s hard to keep my footing, but on other days, when the air is still, I stand and look out to forever
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This is the view from the cliffs. There are two trails to take from the spot where I’m standing to the lifeguard station you see at the end. One trail hugs the edge, while the other meanders in serpentine fashion through the indigenous landscape, which changes month-upon-month. My favorite time is spring, when the yellow mustard seed and coreopsis is plentiful. All around, a vibrant yellow lifts my mood. 71 ISSUE NO. 5
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A closer view. It is high tide in this photograph, which creates a series of coves.
This photograph was taken from the top of the stairs not far from the lifeguard station to a cove on the south side of Leo Carrillo State Beach. The cove is a perfect arc, and during low tide, you can walk along the coastline to the stretch of beach on the other side of the lifeguard stand.
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A view of the cove from the sand.
A cove view from the life guard stand above. The yellow flowers you see here are coreopsis, which look like bouquets of daisies.
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This is the serpentine trail that cuts through the landscape on the cliffs of Leo Carrillo.
This is another path that leads from the lifeguard stand to the asphalt that leads to Leo Carrillo State Beach’s campgrounds, which is tucked in a heavily wooded canyon, and which you can’t see from the side of the Pacific Coast Highway.
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This is the view of the Santa Monica Mountain foothills on the other side of the Pacific Coast Highway– across from Leo Carrillo State Beach. I wanted you to have an understanding of that which can be seen as you drive through Malibu along the Pacific Coast Highway. These photographs were taken in Western Malibu, and it is a quiet, rural area I feel as if I have all to myself, save for the height of summer when people come to the beach. This area is not as popular among tourists as other parts of Malibu ( such as the infamous Zuma Beach) because it is far out, almost at the Ventura County line. As part of the California coastline, the area is specific, peculiar in nature, and part and parcel to the place I call home.
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And here is a video taken of the tide at Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu!
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Wandering The Emerald Isle Joy Ross Davis When my feet first touched the ground at the Dublin Airport in 2007, I knew that I’d done something I’d only been able to dream about. I’d come to Ireland. And better yet, I’d come to take a job for the summer as a travel writer. What could be better than getting paid to explore this beautiful country? A driver took me to my hotel where I met two supervisors, Philip and Robert, and the nine other members of this Summer of Travel program, something designed for firsttime American visitors to Ireland. As a first-time visitor myself, I was not expecting Ireland to be so cold. I’d packed a sweater, as instructed, and a flannel-lined London Fog rain coat, and while the Irish walked around in shirt sleeves and tee shirts, I wore my sweater and my coat! I also wasn’t prepared the daily rain showers, but they are a given in Ireland. The rain pours for twenty minutes or so, and then the sun comes shining brightly…several times a day! So, for first-timers, be sure to take a sweater, a rain coat, and some Wellies (rubber boots), especially good for wandering around ancient fields and avoiding stinging nettles. They’re everywhere, and they hurt when they sting. 80 AUGUST 2021
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At our meeting, we were each given an assignment of counties to cover: The Republic of Ireland has twenty-six counties. I was assigned eight of those counties but was free to travel to others if I wanted as long as I met my deadline of writing assignment (ten articles per week). We were given a crash course on the many sights in Dublin (the most traveled area of the country). So, with my transport vouchers in hand, I set off on my newest adventure, exploring Dublin, a bustling, crowded metropolis filled with people, buses, tour buses, streetcars, and two public transport systems, the Luas (speed) and the DART. I was happy to take the public transportation so that I could stop shivering for a moment. On the surface, Dublin looks like every other big city, but hidden away are ancient cathedrals, beautiful old buildings, and even some ancient stonework from the year of 841 A.D., the year the Vikings founded, settled and named it. In the center of the town is Trinity Church my first destination because it housed The Book of Kells, an ancient illuminated manuscript written by monks and containing the first four gospels. After I marveled at this manuscript for almost an hour, I took the DART to the Dublin Wall, a wall still partially standing proudly amongst the bustle of people. Built entirely of stone in 843, ravaged by weather, wars, and time, a piece of the Dublin wall stands in place. When I ran my hands over it, I imagined that I could hear the voices of the people who lived behind those walls, and while my hands had turned a strange shade of purple by now, I still enjoyed the feeling 81 ISSUE NO. 5
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of running them over those ancient walls. A famous landmark called St. Aoeduen’s Gate (1246) still survives. After a night in Dublin with the warmth of a warm bath and soft bed, I sampled a full Irish breakfast (eggs, hash browns, tomatoes, sausages, bacon, baked beans, and brown bread) with food enough to feed two grown adults. I surprised myself by eating most of that huge breakfast, and then I was on my way County Cavan, known as the town of 365 lakes, a fishing lake for every day of the year. Here, I stayed at The Keeper’s Arms and was hosted and guided along by a kind woman named Sheila. After a day or two, we became fast friends. Since it was technically summer, we spent a great deal of time wandering around the town of Cavan, driving to different locations, and sitting out in the back court yard talking to her other guests. As we were talking, Sheila would jump up and say, “Oh, you have to see this.” We’d take off in her car and drive to some place she wanted me to see. When it was time for me to travel on, I felt a little sad to leave, but we kept in touch throughout my trip and even when I returned to the States. As a little aside, I met Sheila in the airport in Birmingham, Alabama, before I boarded the plane to go to Ireland. We talked for a few minutes and I told her that I 82 AUGUST 2021
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was on my way to Ireland for the first time. She said, “Oh, come and stay with me!” (The Universe works in mysterious ways). From Cavan, I journeyed on to the county of Monaghan, the home of a beautiful wildlife preserve and sanctuary where, at its highest point, a visitor can look out and see six different counties in Ireland. I picked up some souvenirs about wildlife in Ireland and left for my next destination: County Sligo, the home of the poet W. B. Yeats. Sligo is a cobblestoned town with an enormous library where it is said that the poet Yeats spent a great deal of time. But more than that, County Sligo is perhaps the most beautiful county in Ireland. It is home to the magnificent mountain range called Benbulben which rises some 2700 feet into the air. It is almost staggering to see, and it is in County Sligo where the Emerald Isle shines, its many hues of green glistening in the sunlight. Sligo town is home to the megalithic tombs called Carrowmore and 83 ISSUE NO. 5
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Carrowkeel and is also the site of the passage tomb that is believed to have been the burial site for Ireland’s infamous Queen Maeve. I walked those hills with my tour guide, Robert, then an archaeology student. He drove me from place to place, and one look at his face showed his fascination with his hometown of Sligo and the work he was doing there to uncover ancient mysteries. I traveled on to the place in Ireland nicknamed Lovely Leitrim and The Wild Rose County because of its astounding natural beauty and colorfully pungent wild roses that grow wild along the road where I stayed at the Ramada Lough (lake) Allen. County Leitrim is indeed an astounding place to see. Its green hues sparkle everywhere from the center of town to the roadsides covered in thick growths of wild fragrant roses in every imaginable color. I spent a week in a tiny town called Drumshanbo and was granted permission to enter the hallowed convent of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. The people of Drumshanbo are 84 AUGUST 2021
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convinced that during sieges and wars, the constant prayers of the cloistered nuns kept their town safe. Many towns in Ireland have a high street and a main street. The main streets are those where cattle and sheep were once herded through the town, while the high street is raised several feet off the ground to protect the people from the herds. It was on Drumshanbo’s High Street that I first saw the participants in the yearly Joe Mooney Music Festival, a gathering place for amateur and professional musicians of all kinds. All around Drumshanbo, the musicians can be heard as they warm up and then play on a plethora of different Irish instruments. It is a feast for the ears and a day spent singing, dancing, and letting the sounds of the music drift across the land. And I believe it was at this point, the day I adjusted to the temperatures, and finally took off my sweater, wearing only my now familiar purple rain coat. One of my most amazing adventures took place in County Leitrim when I was allowed to stay two weeks at Castle Lough Rynn. I did my writing inside the famous Baronial Hall, a magnificent place of almost staggering beauty. On the room’s splendid fireplace is sculpted a bust of Queen 85 ISSUE NO. 5
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Victoria. And because I was inside, I didn’t worry about the sweater or the coat. I simply enjoyed being surrounded by the beauty of that castle. It was truly magnificent. From County Leitrim, I traveled to the northern most county in The Republic of Ireland, a tiny little town called Blacklion which sits directly on the border between The Republic and Northern Ireland. Many people believe that the “border” between The Republic and Northern Ireland is a barricade of sorts. In reality, it is simply a white line painted on the roadway and a tiny sign that reads, “You are now entering Northern Ireland.” No barricades. No armed guards. Just a tiny green sign. While in Blacklion, I met the world86 AUGUST 2021
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famous chef, Nevan Maquire, and was overjoyed to be able to eat in his fine restaurant. During my short stay, a shopkeeper told me that there was a legend about Blacklion. It is said that a spirit rises from one of the lakes and is its guardian. Blacklion is the home of The Shannon Pot, the feed water for the famed Shannon River. I was lucky enough to see this place and later, I used it as the basis for a novel called The Witch of Blacklion. One of the last stops on my journey through Ireland was County Donegal, perhaps my favorite of all the counties I visited and also the coldest. Cuddled in my sweater and raincoat, I took a walking tour of this beautiful wild place called Donegal. Donegal has many townships with names like Ballyconnell, Ballinamore, Dunfanaghy, Balleyboffey, Bundoran. It is an amazingly beautiful place, a wild place where part of the population still speaks only Gaelic and practices ancient traditions. Since Donegal is located toward the tip of Ireland, it is bordered on its entire outer 87 ISSUE NO. 5
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rocky coast by water, by loughs and bays, and many of the inhabitants of those coastal towns are fishermen. Donegal is prized for its fishing trade. Traveling through the outer banks of Donegal is like taking a step back in time. Fishermen line the docks hauling in their catches of the day, speaking little to strangers simply because they are busy. Yet, just a few miles inland will bring visitors to another area of Donegal, a bustling community called Ardara where there are shops and paved sidewalks and where the people are kind and warm. Ardara is famous for its woolens and tweeds. I bought a beautiful knee-length sweater there, handmade of wool, and I still wear it to this day. Another amazing site was that of Glenveagh Castle and its magnificently manicured gardens. An old legend of the castle is that the original owner invited guests to have dinner with him, and as those guests would arrive, they would be weighed in the famous “weighing chair.” 88 AUGUST 2021
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After the meal, each guest was weighed again, and if the guests as a whole had gained weight, the cooks were promptly fired (translation: killed). That was a story told by the guide, so as to the truth of it, I really do not know. When my journey and my assignments were completed, I traveled by way of different counties that I hadn’t seen back to Dublin and as I waited around for my flight back to the States, I felt a sense of deep regret. I’d seen a good part of Ireland, written over 100 travel articles, and turned in more photos than I could have imagined. I’d also managed to be comfortable in just my rain coat. Still, I knew that my heart’s home would always be in Ireland. I’ve traveled back four times since then, and each time, I pack that purple rain coat, my warm sweater, my boots, and prepare myself for the weather that I’m fairly accustomed to now. And, each time, I feel the warmth I felt when I first stepped out of the plane and onto Irish soil. It whispers, “I am home.”
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Breathless Wines is a family affair!
Created by the love between three sisters, Sharon, Rebecca, and Cynthia, and sparked by a passion for life passed down by their mother. Guided by the expert hand of award-winning winemaker Penny Gadd-Coster, the sisters are dedicated to sparkling and still winemaking in the time-honored French method. By employing this méthode champenoise—the traditional second fermentation in the bottle—and using the finest select Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay grapes, Breathless sparkling wines pair beautifully with all of life’s moments, from the everyday to the extraordinary.
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We love curling up with a great book and sipping a glass of bubbles. Breathless Wines has selected our favorite books to pair with our awardwinning Brut in a beautifully packaged gift set sure to delight the recipient! Especially if it’s you! 98 Points - Best of Show - Best of Class - Double Gold Medal Best of Sonoma 2019 Harvest Challenge 90 Points - Breathless NV Brut Méthode Champenoise (Sonoma County). Golden in color, with a firm mousse, this lively, refreshing sparkling wine tastes of apple skin, pear, mango and a hint of brioche. It remains fresh in the glass, showing moderate body weight and finishing stony and dry. - Wine Enthusiast Magazine (08/20) 95 ISSUE NO. 5
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Cheers to August Breathless Bubbles and Books! The Last Blue: A Novel by Isla Morley $39 book and Breathless Brut Gift Set! In this luminous narrative inspired by the fascinating real case of “the Blue People of Kentucky,” Isla Morley probes questions of identity, love, and family in her breathtaking new novel. In 1937, there are recesses in Appalachia no outsiders have ever explored. Two government-sponsored documentarians from Cincinnati, Ohio—a writer and photographer—are dispatched to penetrate this wilderness and record what they find for President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. For photographer Clay Havens, the assignment is his last chance to reboot his flagging career. So when he and his journalist partner are warned away from the remote Spooklight Holler outside of town, they set off eagerly in search of a headline story. What they see will haunt Clay into his old age: Jubilee Buford, a woman whose skin is a shocking and unmistakable shade of blue. From this happenstance meeting between a woman isolated from society and persecuted her whole life, and a man accustomed to keeping himself at lens distance from others, comes a mesmerizing story in which the dark shades of betrayal, prejudice, fear, and guilt, are refracted along with the incandescent hues of passion and courage. Panning across the rich rural aesthetic of eastern Kentucky, The Last Blue is a captivating love story and an intimate portrait of what it is like to be truly one of a kind. 96 AUGUST 2021
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Breathless Blue Bayou Cocktail to toast Isla Morely’s The Last Blue Breathless Blue Bayou offers the refreshing taste of tropical fruits. It's a stunning blue drink that's perfect for summer. A frozen cocktail, this recipe is incredibly easy and uses common ingredients. It features your favorite vodka with blue curaçao, which gives it color and an orange flavor, then the fresh taste of pineapple and grapefruit. It's sure to remind you of warm breezy days spent relaxing poolside.
Ingredients for 2 1 cup ice 8 oz. Breathless Brut 1 1/2 ounces vodka 1 ounce blue curaçao liqueur 1/2 cup fresh or canned pineapple chunks 2 ounces grapefruit juice Pineapple wedge, for garnish In a blender, combine ice, vodka, blue curaçao, pineapple, and grapefruit juice. Blend until smooth and pour into 2 chilled margarita or highball glasses. Top with 4 oz. Breathless in each glass and stir gently. Garnish with a pineapple wedge. Serve and enjoy. Cheers! Sign up for monthly Breathless newsletter deals! 97 ISSUE NO. 5
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THE PULPWOOD QUEENS' TIARA WEARING, BOOK SHARING, GUIDE TO LIFE celebrates female friendship, sisterhood, and the transformative power of reading. It includes life principles and motivational anecdotes, hilarious and heart-warming stories of friendships among the Queens, and stories from Kathy about the books that have inspired her throughout her life, complete with personalized suggested book lists. 98 AUGUST 2021
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Enjoy an excerpt from THE Pulpwood Queen Kathy L. Murphy’s book - it’s recommended reading for everyone who is interested in knowing what it means to be a Pulpwood Queen. “Kathy L. Murphy is the real thing, and she will get America reading if she has to go door-to-door to do it. After you read this, you’ll want to be a Pulpwood Queen too!” Iris Rainer Dart, author of Beaches and Some Kind of Miracle Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, I longed for someplace to escape to. “Somewhere over the rainbow” for me was more than likely just outside. I loved to escape to our tree house, where at least I was way up high. I’ve seen The Wizard of Oz as many times as years I am old (at least fifty times) and have read all the books. I never miss an opportunity to see a production of The Wizard of Oz. That book and the film mean as much to me about home as home itself. When I think of Oz, I see the yellow brick road leading to the fantastical Emerald City. We may not have had the Scarecrow, the Lion, or the Tin Man, but we did have our own Toto, our little Jack Russell-looking mutts, first Pepper then Snicklefritz. We spent hours pretending to be caught up in a tornado. The wind always blows in Kansas, and with just a little imagination my sisters, our friends, 99 ISSUE NO. 5
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and I were on our way to Oz! Some of my fondest memories are of building our tree house, flying kites and making mud pies, playing kick-thecan or hide-and-seek until it was pitch-black outside, then catching fireflies in Mason jars. We created our own worlds with our imaginations. I believe that our imaginations and our dreams are as important as our basic needs: food, water, and shelter. Many times those dreams were all that sustained us during life’s trials and tribulations. To keep ourselves in candy money, we might set up a neighborhood lemonade stand, raiding the kitchen cabinets for empty grape jelly jars featuring pictures of the Flintstones or Yogi Bear, the kind that had a second life as drinking glasses after the jelly was gone. Another favorite activity was “creeking.” There wasn’t much to it. We’d walk through the big pasture behind the nursing home across the street from our house until we got to the treelined creek. In our imaginations we were pioneers crossing the great Midwestern plains in a wagon train, stopping to wash up in the first fresh water we’d seen for weeks. Or we were outlaws trying to outrun the sheriff and his posse by throwing them off our scent in the rushing river currents—which were more like a trickle, but I had a big imagination in those days. We would go as far as we wanted, not stopping until the sun began to sink on the horizon. Only then would we hightail it back home, muddy and dripping wet. 100 AUGUST 2021
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As long as we were home before dark, our mothers didn’t mind. (Auntie Em never worried about Dorothy on the farm. Well, not until the tornado came blowing in.) Shoot, nobody’s mother gave us a never mind. Just as long as we were out of the house, the mothers in our neighborhood were happy. To tell the truth, while our dads were at work—ours were gone sometimes for weeks working on the drilling rigs—our mothers were too busy with housework to want us underfoot anyway. Besides, half of them had grown up doing these same things themselves. They knew the mischief we might get into and they knew its limits. Today the world is a more complicated place. I can’t imagine giving my girls that much freedom. There are too many wicked witches and flying monkeys out there in our world. In fact, just thinking about my girls doing half the stuff we did as kids scares me to death. I am more like the overly protective farm hands who fussed over Dorothy when she awoke from the bump on the head. I realize that some might find me sentimental as I recall these simple pleasures. I don’t deny it. Like most childhoods, mine contains happy memories as well as some that aren’t so happy. When I look back, I remember the happy times first.
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Miss Freya assures that the computers and printers are working, and that none of the papers on the desktops fly away. In addition, she is the announcer of mealtimes, and guides the humans to their places each morning. We have a routine, and Miss Freya is determined that we follow it. She has also taken on the voluntary role of dog-comforter in the case of inclement weather or fireworks.
Toof, short for Toofless, manages our warehouse, keeping track of inventory and seeing any varmints off. Toof is tireless in his work, inspiring his colleagues to excellence. A soft spoken gentleman, Toof prefers the quiet of the warehouse to the hustle and bustle of the office.
One of our interns, Jojo, has earned the title “Troublemaker-inchief” as he sows chaos wherever he goes. He is great pals with the other intern in our office, leading him into mischief at every opportunity. He is showing particular aptitude when it comes to shadow security. That is, protecting us from shadows. 102 AUGUST 2021
READING NATION MAGAZINE IF OUR PETS COULD TALK
Toby is Head of Security. In addition, he is our FaceBark specialist. He takes his job seriously, informing the neighborhood of each new title as it releases. He never lets anyone rest alone, and assures that everyone receives sufficient cuddles.
Bibble is our newest intern. He has taken it as his special duty to see that we all get our exercise, and he never tires of trying to teach us how to chase a herding ball. He insists that we get out of our chairs a minimum of 37 times per day. We have an author in Arizona who rescues dogs from Native American Reservations, and she thought Bibble would fit right in with our crew. We drove all the way to Gallup, New Mexico to get him.
The four-legged members of the Madville Team.
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READING NATION MAGAZINE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Let’s have fun and share some stories! I came up with the idea for this collection because I had such positive responses from readers I shared my works in progress with when I was working on my first collection. I still get emails from some of them who want to know if I’m ready to share a few pages of one of my novels in progress. I’ve been saying I wasn’t…but maybe I am. And maybe we could do it together! Your submission doesn't have to be something you are working on at the moment. Maybe there were scenes that had to be deleted from your last manuscript, or there is something that you love, but haven't worked on in awhile... This book will be a great tool that not only tells who we are - proud Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys - BUT also shows the reader that we have a diverse group of authors that cover lots of genres. Submissions must read as a short story (DON’T OVERTHINK IT - IT DOESN’T HAVE TO MEET A SPECIFIC STANDARD, IT JUST HAS TO BE ENJOYABLE AND PEAK THE READER’S INTEREST) length can be between 200 to 4000 words. Each submission must have the story behind the piece and a short bio in a separate attachment. Only one submission per author please. If you’d like your work in progress to be considered, send it to mandy.pulpwoodqueen@gmail.com Deadline for submissions is OCTOBER 30th 105 ISSUE NO. 5
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
If you’re an author member and would like to purchase a page (or more) to feature your book, I have several pages left in upcoming issues for 2021. (I’ll be taking orders for 2022 soon ) If you’re a member of the International Pulpwood Queen or Timber Guy Book Club and have a story you’d like to share in the READING NATION MAGAZINE, I’d love to hear it. Book Club Members that includes you! 106 AUGUST 2021
READING NATION MAGAZINE FYI
We love our readers and you will always have a place in the magazine to share your news. I’m looking for pets to feature on our If Our Pets Could Talk page, authors and their art, photos of your local bookstores, and libraries. Maybe you have an interesting blog article you’d like to share that you think our reader’s would enjoy?
Send orders for pages, stories, as well as any questions about the magazine, to readingnationmagazine@gmail.com
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Upcoming Events For Our Members *Taken from our Calendar of Events All events will be posted on The International Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guy Reading Nation Facebook page and on Kathy L. Murphy's YouTube Channel. We encourage everyone to join us live in 2021. Each event is an opportunity to show support, share stories, and make connections! Join Kathy L. Murphy and Robert Gwaltney every Saturday at 6:30pm CST for The Pulpwood Queen Book to Film Club. Email Kathy L. Murphy at thepulpwoodqueen@gmail.com for the link up to one hour prior to the event. Guest Host schedule for Breathless Bubbles and Books: August 2nd-8th Isla Morley - The Last Blue August 9th-15th Mary Sheriff -Boop and Eve's Road Trip August 16th-22nd Gregory Erich Phillips - A Season in Lights August 23rd-29th
River Jordan - Discoveries on the Path to Celtic Christianity
August 30th-Sept 5th Lauren Marino - Bookish Broads Sept 6th -12th Ilene English - Hippie Chick: Coming of Age in the 60s 108 AUGUST 2021
READING NATION MAGAZINE UPCOMING EVENTS
Sept 13th-19th
Nancy J. Martin - Summer of Love to the Valley of the Moon
Sept 20th-26th Sept 27th-Nov3rd
Debra Thomas - Luz Caroline Leavitt - With or Without You
Featured Author Schedule for Tuesday Night Online Book Club For April & May. Email Kathy L. Murphy thepulpwoodqueen@gmail.com for the link up to one hour prior to the event. August 3rd August 10th August 17th August 24th August 31st Sept 7th Sept. 14th Sept 21st Sept 28th
Isla Morley Mary Helen Sheriff Gregory Erich Phillips River Jordan Lauren Marino Ilene English Nancy J. Martin Debra Thomas Caroline Leavitt
Writing Workshop (2nd Saturday of each month at 10am CST) Email Kathy L. Murphy thepulpwoodqueen@gmail.com for the link up to one hour prior to the event. August 14th Anju Gattani will focus on World Building with a Power Point Presentation. 109 ISSUE NO. 5
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
110 AUGUST 2021
READING NATION MAGAZINE NETWORKING
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THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
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READING NATION MAGAZINE
My Musings by Ruthie Landis This journal is all yours. It invites you to set one appointment with yourself each week to connect with the hidden crevices of your being in a unique way. That's why, in MY MUSINGS, there are fifty-two weekly journal prompts and activities. There are a few bonus activities to play with as well, at the beginning and end of your journal, plus one at the beginning of each seasonal section. Do whatever intuitively suits you. Perhaps you want to draw or make art in addition to writing. That's why there are no lines on your pages; nothing is here to limit you. If you are a musician, maybe the prompt becomes the muse for a new song. The title MY MUSINGS means exactly that. This is completely your own. Let it meet you where you are. Award-winning workshop designer, body-centered psychotherapist and coach, writer, teacher, actress, and director, Ruthie Landis has been designing powerful and interactive group experiences for over thirty years. Among the many disciplines she practices, she is a master of the Enneagram, and uses its wisdom in nearly every aspect of her creative, professional, and personal life. She works in constant collaboration with Body, Mind, Heart, Nature, Intuition, and the Creative Force. Her intention is to endow the people of the world with a "backpack" for their life's journey. This "backpack" is plentiful, filled with a rainbow of resources to navigate and explore. 113 ISSUE NO. 5
