Older Essays

The Author as a young child.

I have been encouraged by some of the people close to me to share some essays I've written in the past. Mostly, they were written as creative non-fiction pieces so they start to resemble blog posts. Watch this space for upcoming writing.

Book Review: Death and the Lit Chick

I'll be honest, I've had a thing out for Chick Lit since I was in middle school. I walked into the school library excited at all the new opportunities. I'd effectively read almost all of the books in the elementary school library and had to get special permission to check out some of the “adult” books kept for the teachers. The good books wouldn't be separated out for the grown ups, because I was almost a grown up, at least, close enough to read the good stuff. I felt like a kid in a candy store or, well, a geek in a library. I asked the librarian what she recommended because I didn't know where to start. She handed me 3 books that, I realize now, were basically standard YA books. I was bored, disgusted and absolutely offended. Thus began my loathing for the YA category of books. I went and did my own research and started reading Alexandre Dumas. In the 6 years I attended that school, I was the only person who checked out the only copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. Fast forward to several years later and I'm handed a Chick Lit book by a well meaning classmate because I mentioned liking a movie I'd seen over the weekend. I read the book and was sent back to 7^th grade; bored, disgusted and offended. It wasn't obscene, unless you consider it shopping porn, but it was frivolous. If I'm going to rot my brain, I'm not about to do it on what is essentially cotton candy.

Death and the Lit Chick
 by G.M. Malliet

All of this is to explain why, when I saw the cover for Death and the Lit Chick by G. M. Malliet, I was excited. Reading the blurb on the back made me nearly cackle with glee. I will admit to a certain . . . unhealthy anticipation of the murder of a writer of a genre that I really can't stand. What I did not expect was to enjoy the book simply because I enjoyed it. The whole thing was written with a sense of humor that's difficult to find done well in fiction these days.

Set at a writers conference in Scotland, Death and the Lit Chick is fast paced and clever. The dialogue didn't try to be witty in a forced Sex and the City way but remained believable and easy to follow. The writing was fresh and easy to follow. The characters began as caricatures of different types of authors but grew into multi-dimensional people with histories and motives beyond their 'type'; and trust me, if you know more than one author, you'll recognize the 'types'.

Death and the Lit Chick
by G. M. Malliet

Though the book has all the hallmarks of an English Country House murder mystery, including a storm the night the victim is murdered, it operates in the twenty-first century. The detective is part of, and acknowledges, a larger police force. He is not the only good man fighting against the monsters, though he may have the longest name; Detective Chief Inspector Arthur St. Just. D.C.I St. Just works with the system; he doesn't go rogue, he's not a lone wolf out to prove the system is wrong, he's a well adjusted member of the police force who's worked his way up, is good at his job and allows that other members of the police force are good at theirs. This may be a strictly American take on this book but it was very refreshing for the police to be, not only the good guys, but smart and competent.

Now, to the things that bother me; very little, actually. As a product of far too many writing classes and workshops, I noticed some things that made me want to smack the author upside the head, though not in a mean way. She uses the mirror trick to give a physical description of a character; this I consider cheating. Anybody familiar with crime statistics will be able to pick out the murderer, though how s/he does it remains a mystery until very near the end of the book, when a key piece of information is revealed.

All in all, this was a delightful read and I would recommend it to anybody who's ever been to a writers conference or knows much about the publishing industry.  

**Yes, there are two covers. While I prefer the first, the second fits a bit better with some of the things in the book. I consider both well done examples of a good cover.

My Eyes Are Going, Going . . .

Or, a lament for a well-spent youth.

Of all the parts of my body that are falling apart, my eyes worry me the most. I wear contacts all day because my glasses are so thick and heavy, they hurt my nose to wear them. I was warned at my last optometrists visit that I was going to have to get bifocals soon. Until then, I would need reading glasses if I was planning on doing anything up close while wearing my contacts.

Reading glasses. *sigh*

I've bought a few pairs and probably have enough for every room of the house, including my sewing area. They're kinda cute, actually, but I keep them in drawers or my purse so nobody sees them unless I have to wear them. I even try to work on the computer without them if I have company over.

Hillary Clinton - Secretary of State

This morning, I was working at my computer, typing and referring to books and my ereader when I heard a commotion outside. I looked out the window and realized it was just the trash truck coming down the street. Then I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the window; reading glasses slid down my nose, hair down but nice looking, holding a book in front of me, peering over the tops of my glasses.

I looked like every secretary and librarian over 30 I'd ever met.

Oh, I thought. So that's why. Huh.

It was a jarring moment that reminded me that I will soon be 30. I know age is really just a number but this one seems to be lurking, ready to pounce, attacking me with the fact that my youth is now over and I'm an adult.

One would think the family and the house and everything else would have already reminded me of that but they didn't. It took a small poke at my vanity to remind me I'm not getting any younger.

I'd better start saving for that trip to New York!

Cross Genre Pollination

Most people who like to read but don't read for a living pick a genre and stick with it. They pick a type of book they enjoy and look for more books of the same type. For the most part, I don't blame them. If your leisure time is short and precious, you don't want to waste it on a book you'll regret paying $8 - $25 for.

For myself, I used to love mystery books. By the time I was in 6^th grade, I'd read every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys book published, including the case files and crossovers. (I loved the sexual tension between Nancy and Frank Hardy even before I understood what sexual tension was; I considered Ned to be like Ken, the boyfriend accessory.) I read a ton of Agatha Christie but I had to get permission to check them out from the school library because they were considered too old for me.

I'd read fantasy in the form of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia and Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time series but when I was introduced to Science Fiction, I was hooked. I've read Science Fiction and Fantasy almost exclusively since 5^th grade. I made a few forays into Romance but my favorites were the Supernatural Romances, especially the ones with dragons and vampires (except Twilight, fuck Twilight). On the few times I felt the need for a change of pace, I'd read the classics (I love The Count of Monte Cristo) or self-help/management books with a smattering of history and biography.

I've spent the last few weeks reading through some of my old writing. A lot of it makes me cringe but I've found some gems that I think need to be developed. Plunging back into my novel, I recognized a need that I wasn't sure how to meet; there was no mystery. There was plenty of Romance, I had the elements of the fantastic so well developed, it was almost a manual. There was a plot, I couldn't leave that out, but it was much too straight forward.

Going back over some of my favorite books, I realized they were all mysteries. Some were more straight forward than others but they were all universally mysteries. I hadn't read an actual mystery in, ahem, decades.

I needed to pick one up, and fast.

Then, I got a notice that I had a new e-mail. Borders was slashing prices to 70-90%. There was one less than 2 minutes from my house. I grabbed my keys and headed over. I'd avoided going because, well, watching any bookstore going out of business bothers me and I didn't want to be one of those people who go to pick over the bones of somebody's dreams. But, hey, 70% off books! I grabbed a couple Romance's I hadn't read by author's I enjoyed then went to the mystery section. There were some author's I recognized from when I worked at the library so I grabbed what I remembered being the most popular and another couple from an author I didn't recognize but the titles caught me.

You will be hearing about these books, soon. I was so impressed by one of them, I was sad to learn she only had 3 books out.

Also, I remembered why I loved mysteries. My writing has already improved and I've found a whole new genre to enjoy.  

Growing older . . . and up?

We're attempting to make these for her birthday

My daughter is turning 1 tomorrow. My little panda has 5 teeth (2 on top, 3 on the bottom) and is walking, much to her delight. 99% of the time, she is the sweetest, most loving child I've ever met. Her brother adores her and she loves him more than anything else. It's occasionally hard to watch the two of them together without tearing up and laughing so hard I'm in danger of hurting myself. When I thought about having kids, I never imagined watching my almost-one-year old dive bombing her 7-year old brother, and him being so tickled by it that he laughed while she did it, making sure she didn't hurt herself in the process. Far from having to keep him from running rough shod over her, I find myself constantly reminding him to not let her hurt him when I'm not watching.

Her birthday has me realizing that I'm staring down the barrel of a somewhat significant birthday. Granted, it's still a few months off but I can't help but feel the pressure. I'm not big on celebrating birthdays. Dinner with people who love me, maybe a cake, are all I really want. Of course, gifts are always appreciated, especially those of cash, but time and company are the things I want the most from people. But what do I want from myself?

I never expected to be at this point in my life. Kids were never a consideration when I was planning my future, which is probably one of God's biggest jokes. "You can't stand kids? Well, here's these two, I dare you to do anything but love them."

Bubble Fairies - fabric print I designed

I find myself designing more children's clothing and homey doodads that I wouldn't have ever thought I'd contemplate. (Aprons? Really? Well, yes, really, and they're really cute.) I'm also finding myself drawn to more ethereal things, and aching to make things that make me weep with their beauty. I look at some of my fabric designs and find them wanting because they can't match what I see in my head. I have to go back to the realization that I never considered myself an artist, even when my greatest ambition was to write, and keep writing, and publish enough books to support myself.

So, what do I want? I expect little, and desire even less, from 'the world' that we live in. Nobody owes me anything and I like to keep it that way. From myself, I expect brilliance, something I can't hope to achieve on my own.

Book Review: The Prophetess One: At Risk

My first book review! Woo! 


Ok, not the first book I read to be reviewed but the first review I finished and am mostly happy with. I reviewed it on amazon as well. 


It took a long time to get to reviewing this book. I stayed up all night to read it because I literally could not put it down.

I don't read much Christian fiction because I find it falls into 2 general categories; spiritual warfare (that has very little bearing on 'reality') or the morality that's about as filling as a blueberry muffin. It tasted good and you felt better about yourself for eating it but you should have just had the donut, it had fewer calories and you'd at least have been honest with yourself about your eating habits.

This book was not your average Christian morality tale and it is very much based in reality. The protagonist is a very pregnant, very broke, very worried young woman who has been given the gift of prophecy. Her husband wants her to keep it quiet and stay out of trouble. She has every reason to just stay out of everything that she finds out but, despite her very great fear, she does the right thing. Not only does she do the right thing, she forces many of the people around her to question what they believe.

Rohrbough doesn't spend a lot of time on characterization but she doesn't need to. It's in the characters that she shows the makings of a master wordsmith, doing what every writer is told and few can actually manage; show, don't tell. The villain of the piece is a very modern one, with motives that are familiar and at the same time alien to most of the people who will read this book. The other characters are also familiar faces to most in the Christian community and that should be very frightening.

The book is thrilling and chilling. It will force you to answer the question "what would I have done?" The answer, for most people, will not be very comforting.


Linda's Website (She has a monthly newsletter and some great "business" tips for writers. Be sure to check out her iPhone app!)

On Blogging and Babies

I come here with a common complaint, especially among mothers; there are just not enough hours in the day. With 2 jobs, 2 “jobs”, 2 children, a house and a husband, things are definitely hectic.

Not that I’m complaining.

Thankfully, everybody has overcome their various illnesses, the baby has finally cut her teeth and my back problems seem to be taking a break. Summer vacation has begun. I am starting projects for this summer, several of which will be made into posts.

This is more of an explanation post, really. Explaining my long, though productive, absence. I have 6 book reviews coming, along with several sewing posts. I’ll be putting them up as I have time to edit and upload. The sewing posts will definitely be picture and, occasionally, math heavy.

So, until next time, happy reading and stay creative!