It's Monday! What are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Share what you (are, have been, are about to, hope to be) reading or reviewing this week. Sign Mr Linky at Book Journey and visit other Monday reading roundups.

The sections of this template:

Intro (here)
My Week in Review (list of books finished and links to bookish posts in the previous week)
Reading Now (my current reading list broken up into NF and Fiction)
Upcoming (scheduled reviews and blog tours and list of finished books awaiting reviews)
Recently (links to bookish posts in the last few weeks)
New Arrivals: (lists of recently acquired ARC broken up into snail mail, email and Net Gallery)
ARC in waiting (a list that is getting shamefully long)

My Week in Review:

Various events conspired to shift my focus from reading to writing in the last month,  from emails to copywriting course work, to poems, to LOLs, to NaNoWriMo prep.

Now that has shifted back towards reading.  Or at least widened to include it.  I don't want to drop the other balls I'm juggling but I must add reading and reviews back into the mix as I'm committed to 12 blog tours between this Friday and Thanksgiving.  One of them is for beta testing a new writer's community web site. I count that as reading as there will be as much reading involved as in any book.

So stay tuned.  I should be posting IMWAYR? every week through the end of November at least.

The next blog tour book review is this Thursday for Tinseltown Riff by Shelly Frome -- October 10th

I participated in the blog tour last Friday for Her Dear and Loving Husband by Meredith Allard

If you like the genres that are blended into it: Paranormal, Historical and Romance you are bound to be as enthralled as I was.  It is a sweet yet intense romance exploring the concept of eternal love that bridges the centuries to be fulfilled.





Thursday September 26th I posted the tour review for Arctic Fire by Paul Byers.

Move over Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy, and Arthur C. Clarke.  Make room for the new kid on the block.  In Arctic Fire, Paul Byers has created a futuristic, technology thriller that can stand proudly in the company of Cussler, Clancy. and Clarke.






Thursday September 19th I posted the blog tour review for Mr. Monk Helps Himself by Hy Conrad. This is a delightful fix for all of us Monk addicts

Finished reading recently:

Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Other Dangers of Southern Living by by Bailey White I thought this was a novel and getting set to put it in the fiction list below when I thought to check out its page on Goodreads and discovered it is a memoir.  It's short little vignette chapters and easy to read font made it ideal for taking with me to doctor appointments.  Which is how I managed to finally finish it.
Mr. Monk Helps Himself by Hy Conrad.

At Home in Holly Springs by Jan Karon  --  was reading aloud to Mom.  Features Father Tim from the Mitford series as he returns to the town he grew up in.  First of two.  We started nearly a month ago and I forgot to put it on this list.  We will probably finish Tuesday evening.
 Arctic Fire by Paul Byers
Her Dear and Loving Husband by Meredith Allard

Began reading recently:

The Autistic Brain by Temple Grandin  My sister bought this book for herself and we are both reading it.  We both have a passion for how brains work.
Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy by Emily Bazelon -- one of the new library books and also a NetGalley ARC that timed out on me months ago.
Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights by Marina Warner about the influence of the Arabian Nights stories on western literature, art and culture.  One of the new library books.
A Dual Inheritance by Joanna Hershon  --  a novel and a NetGalley ARC
Complexity and the Arrow of Time by (multiple authors) --  a collaboration of scientists, philosophers and theologians exploring the concepts of Complexity Theory.  a NetGalley ARC
My AWAI Copywriting course Installment 1 (of 13)
Tinseltown Riff by Shelly Frome

Reading Now:

__Non-Fiction:

Most of these I plug away in at a snail's pace--a couple pages or chapters per week or even every other week as that is my preferred way to read non-fic.  It sticks with me longer. I'm closing in on the finish line for several but as I get close on one I tend to add two or three more. There are some not listed here because I read in them so infrequently.

Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Go by Les Edgerton  ROW80 reading list
What to Do When There's Too Much to Do by Laura Stack (Part of my attempt to organize my life around my priorities. So part of my ROW80 reading list)
The Act of Creation by Arthur Koestler   ROW80 reading list
And So It Goes by Charles J. Sheilds a bio of Kurt Vonnegut.  (I've posted about this biography of Kurt Vonnegut several time in a kind of reading journal. It is past time for another.  Part of the fun I'm having reading this is in stopping to read the stories he wrote as the narrative reaches the point where he writes them. Since this is an author bio this will also be on my ROW80 reading list )

This Mobius Strip of Ifs by Mathias Freese (I've posted a reading journal post for this collection of personal essays also.  It is past time for another.)

What Matters in Jane Austen? by John Muller   ROW80 reading list  Net Galley ARC a NF that purports to answer many puzzles in the Austen novels.
Trust the Process: An Artist's Guide to Letting Go by Shaun McNiff So part of my ROW80 reading list.
Jung and the Tarot: An Archetypal Journey by Sallie Nichols   ROW80 reading list  Since I'm reading this for an understanding of character type and the language of symbol understood by our unconscious this will be on my
13 Ways of Looking at a Novel by Jane Smiley   ROW80 reading list  This was one of the 24 items I checked out of the Longview library on my sister's card last Thursday.
The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick.   ROW80 reading list  Who knew.  Dick was a mystic.  I've only read one of his novels and a few short stories but now I've got to try to find and read everything!
Before You Say I Do Again by Benjamin Berkley  for Blog Tour Review Feb 8.  The review is up but I'm not finished.
The Fiction Writer's Handbook by Shelly Lowenkopf  ROW80 reading list  posted review for blog tour in March but still not finished
Choice Theory: A Psychology of Personal Freedom by William Glasser M.D. a library book
Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson  I own this book.
How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
Mystery and Manners by Flannery O'Connor    ROW80 reading list  This is a reread for me and has had significant impact on the development of my storyworld in the early months of its inception.  This Friday post was about my current encounter with it after checking it out of the Longview library again for the first time in over a decade.
The Right to Write by Julia Cameron   ROW80 reading list
It's Not About You by Max Lucado.  I found this on my own shelves while packing up my personal library.  It was one of the last gifts I received from my Dad in 2005 the year he died of cancer.  It has a lovely inscription in his handwriting on the inside front page.  And I was reminded how I'd promised him to read it.  My bookmark was less than half way through and I could not remember if I'd finished it and just left the bookmark in or not but I doubt it.  So I've pulled it out to put on front burner.
Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch  I pulled this off my sister's bookshelf awhile back.  It is over a thousand pages in smallish font.  So it will be on this list for a long time.  I find it exhilarating that my mind seems ready to tackle text that is so dense in info and complex ideas again.  There is only one other book on this list that fits that criteria, The Act of Creation, and I've not pulled it out very often in these last months but am now finding myself yearning toward it again.   Good signs.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance by Alison Kent.  Also found on my shelves.  I won this in a drawing during the Sweating for Sven writing challenge in 2007.  It made me blush and I kept it hidden in the recesses of my bookshelves but I think I've gotten over that.  Tho I admit it is hard to pull it out and read in it now that I'm back at Mom's.  But since Valentine's Week all my new story ideas have been for romances.  Not my usual thing.  But hey, you gotta take what the muse sends or she'll stop sending.  Setting aside the erotica aspects, this book is full of good story structure advice as well as romance genre specific advice.  I'm exploring the idea of writing a love story.  Hmmm.  Not sure who that is that just said that.
The Autistic Brain by Temple Grandin
Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy
by Emily Bazelon -- one of the new library books and also a NetGalley ARC that timed out on me a couple months ago.
Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights
by Marina Warner
Complexity and the Arrow of Time by (multiple authors) --  a collaboration of scientists, philosophers and theologians exploring the concepts of Complexity Theory.  a NetGalley ARC
My AWAI Copywriting course Installment 1 (of 13)

__Fiction:

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness  (audio from library)  Was listening to this while working on this Xmas crochet project and have not gotten back to it since Christmas.  I'm going to have to restart it yet again.
The Civilized World by Susi Wyss (another a Tree book ARC that got lost in the mix before I'd finished it.  Have not posted a review for this one either and can't remember when I received it but it had to be at least a year ago before I started packing for our move and likely before 2011 NaNo when I typically stop reading fiction while I'm so intensely writing it.  This is a collection of interlocking short stories set in South Africa and I remember I was quite enjoying it.  I've had to start it over.)
A Dual Inheritance by Joanna Hershon  --  a NetGalley ARC
In the Company of Others by Jan Karon  --  am reading aloud to Mom.  Features Father Tim from the Mitford series as he and his wife Cynthia travel to Ireland to spend two weeks in the area where his father and grandfather immigrated from.

Upcoming:


___Blog Tours:

I will be participating in 12 blog tours in the next 8 weeks.  The first this Thursday:

Tinseltown Riff by Shelly Frome -- October 10th
Review as Beta Tester for Indicated, a new writer's community web site about to launch. Mid October
The Return by Melissa Douthit -- October 21
The Thunderbird Conspiracy by R. K. Price  --  October 30
Ghosts of Lost Eagle  -- November 4th
Sinnerman by Jonathan M. Cook -- November 7
The Three Sisters by Bryan Taylore  --  November 12
Blood Drama by Christopher Meeks  --  November 15
Head Games by Erika Rummel  --  November 19
With Friends Like These by L. Hunter Cassells  --  November 25

Woman On Top by Deborah Schwartz  --  November 25

___Books I've Finished Awaiting Reviews:

Whenever I'm not pinned to a date like with the blog tours I do very poorly at getting reviews written in a timely way after finishing books and the longer I wait the harder it gets.  This is an issue I'm working on and hope to get a system in place to smooth the track from beginning book to posting review.

At Home in Mitford and A Light in the Window by Jan Karon  (the ebook I was reading aloud to my Mom while staying there in March and April. These short little lighthearted chapters are almost like stand-alone short stories with beloved characters and make great bedtime reading for adults wanting pleasant dreams)

The Land of Decoration by Grace McClean
Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Leher.
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg   Part of my attempt to organize my life around my priorities. So part of my ROW80 reading list.   I discussed this in such detail in my mid-week ROW80 check-in post it was practically a review and I'll probably copy/paste much of what I said there into the review.
Never Give in to Fear by Marti MacGibbon  This was a NetGalley ARC but later I picked it up for Kindle when it was free on Amazon.  I began it in Adobe Digital Editions and when that timed out on me switched to the Kindle for PC.  This was a memoir of an addict's decent into the abyss and rise back out again and was quite engrossing.
The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff  a library book
Get Your Loved One Sober by Robert Meyers (Research for a fiction WIP)
Losses by Robert Wexelblatt an ARC
After: The Shock by Scott Nicholson  This is post apocalyptic horror with zombies.    I anticipated enjoying this even tho zombies are not my favorite horror theme because I really enjoyed his The Red Church and I did but probably not to the same degree.  And its continued.
These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon  The third book in the Mitford series.
Pie Town by Lynne Hinton
Out to Caanan by Jan Karon  Book Four of the Mitford series.
Witch by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie
Curse by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie
A New Song by Jan Karon.  The fifth Mitford book.
Legacy by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie
Spellbound by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

A Common Life: The Wedding Story by Jan Karon
In This Mountain by Jan Karon
Good in Bed by Jennifer Wiener
Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon  reading aloud to Mom
Certain Girls by Jennifer Wiener (sequel to Good in Bed)
Joyland by Stephen King
Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular by Rust Hills onetime fiction editor at Esquire.
Rose Fire by Mercedes Lackey
A Light From Heaven by Jan Karon  --  have been reading this to Mom in the evenings.  It's the final book in the series.
Boys Will Be Joys by Dave Meurer.  my sister bought this one for me after finding me standing by the book rack reading it while waiting on her to exit the restroom at the truck stop in Rice Hill OR on our trip home last May.  It's a Father's musing (Erma Bombeck style) on the vicissitudes of parenting.
Write Good or Die! edited by Scott Nicholson   ROW80 reading list (a collection of essays by inde authors.  many of them self-published)
Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Other Dangers of Southern Living by by Bailey White
At Home in Holly Springs by Jan Karon  --  am reading aloud to Mom.  Features Father Tim from the Mitford series as he returns to the town he grew up in.  First of two.  We started nearly a month ago and I forgot to put it on this list.  We will probably finish Tuesday evening.

Recently:

___Reviews and Bookish Posts:

Banned Books Week: 

tell them thay can't and they gonna

moar littery kittehs

Other Bookish posts this past week include several nods to Banned Book Week:

Danger!  Books Can Change You.
Banned Books Week: Ask Dr. Suess
Sunday Serenity #356  Banned Book Week

moar kittehs  see   share  caption
my Merlin & my new Library Loot

Recently my sister cut me loose at the library with her card and in the days following my posts fixated on the new library loot:  that night's post was a picture and a list of the haul, then for the ROW80 check in I created this LOLcat featuring the stack and my Merlin,  then for Sunday Serenity another picture of the books.  This time with the mug of bookmarks as I prepared to select just the right ones for each of the six non-fic.  And try to decide which novel to start first.  Still working on that one.

I participated in the blog tour for Tilda Pinkerton's Magical Hats by Angela Shelton.

I participated in Ms Shelton's tour for The Adventures of Tilda Pinkerton last November and opened my review thus:  "This is a truly lovely story.  If Dr. Seuss had written a novel it would be just like this--whimsical, charming, colorful as an artist's palette, with moral values wrapped in parables like peaches in whipped cream, with epic struggles of good against evil and full of the wonder and wisdom only ever comprehended by the heart of a child.  This story will speak to every child heart aged 8 to 88."  Need I add that I was ecstatic when asked to join this one?

 Anyone who has read many of my reviews knows that I'm not generally a gusher but there is something about these Tilda stories that taps into the deep reservoir of glee that was a natural aspect of my early childhood but has been buried deep by the traumas and worries, the failures and furies of fifty years.  Reading these stories, I feel as though I'm trying on happiness like a hat and hope like a pair of sunglasses.  I can't help wishing I had a Tilda hat as I'm sure it would make the anxiety, depression and blood pressure meds I'm now taking moot.



I captioned a pic at cheezeburger.com with a quote from William Styron for a quickie quote post: How to Acquire More Lives Than a Cat.  That LOLcat and similar ones I'd created brought me to the attention of a group on cheezeburger.com called JeffCatsBookClub which has its own profile created for the purpose of collecting bookish and other story themed LOLs.  It's a story lover's treasure trove.

I posted about JeffCatsBookClub with the image of the 'library card' they issued me on this Sunday post.  Anyone into the IMWAYR? meme would likely also get a kick out these.  And if you have a cheezeburger profile and like what you see, just make a friend request.

BTW my profile at cheezeburger is Joystory

There were two other quickie quote posts in the last couple of weeks: Just LOLlygagging.  and  Lonliness is Feeling Embraced by the Empty.  I used to feel embarrassed by these, thinking of them as lazy cheats and not real posts but now that I know they are giving pleasure to those who encounter them I guess I'll own them and even flaunt them a bit.

New Arrivals:

By snail mail:

By email:

from NetGalley



ARC in waiting:

Tree Books:


The Variations by John Donatich
The Inquisitor by Mark Allen Smith   My husband read this and loved it and is after me to read it so he can talk about it.
The Hunger Angel by Herta Muller  Nobel winner!!
Skios by Michael Frayn
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
The Sadness of the Samurai by Victor del Arbo
Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World by Sabina Berman
Winter Journal by Paul Auster a memoir from an American literary figure that really excites me.
We Sinners by Hanna Pylvaine.   It's another story exploring the impact on family life of a fundamentalist religion.  One of the themes I'm drawn to like Pooh to honey.
Our Harsh Logic: Israeli Soldiers' Testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010 compiled by The Organization Breaking the Silence
A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulks
Detroit City Is the Place to Be: The Afterlife of an american Metropolis by Mark Binelli
The Autobiography of Us
The Abundance by Amit Majmudar
Here Comes Mrs. Kugelman by Minka Pradelski

Ebooks:

____By email:


Troubled by Scott Nicholson

____From Net Galley:


A Thousand Pardons by Jonathan Dee
What Matters in Jane Austen? by John Muller
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
Unloched by Candace Lemon-Scott
Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy by Emily Bazelon  [the  55 day NetGalley digital edition timed out before I finished but I have just nabbed a library copy]
APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur: How to Publish a Book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch
With or Without You A Memoir by Domenica Ruta   [the  55 day NetGalley digital edition timed out before I finished but I am watching for a library copy]

The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All by Laird Barron

The Book of Why by Nicholas Montemarano  [the  55 day NetGalley digital edition timed out before I finished but I am watching for a library copy]

Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself by Lissa Rankin, M.D.
Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence by David Samuel Levinson
Kinslow System Your Path to Proven Success in Health, Love, and Life by Frank J Kinslow
Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One by Joe Dispenza
Women, Sex, Power, And Pleasure Getting the Life (and Sex) You Want by Evelyn Resh
All Is Well: Heal Your Body with Medicine, Affirmations, and Intuition by Louise Hay & Mona Lisa Schulz
The Honeymoon Effect: The Science of Creating Heaven on Earth by Bruce H. Lipton,

The Science of Creating Heaven on Earth by Bruce H. Lipton,
A Dual Inheritance by Joanna Hershon
Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani
Directing Your Destiny by Jennifer Grace
Hiding in Sunshine by John Stuart and Caitlin Stuart
I Am: Renewal from Within the Garden by Lucie K Lewis
The Book Publisher's Toolkit by Independent Book Publishers Association
The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino
Why Priests? by Garry Wills
Why we Write by by Meredith Maran (Editor)
A Dual Inheritance by Joanna Hershon
Complexity and the Arrow of Time by (multiple authors) --  a collaboration of scientists, philosophers and theologians exploring the concepts of Complexity Theory.

If anyone reading this states a preference I may let it weigh my decision as to what I begin next from the above list.

Read more...

Sunday Serenity #357

More Inspirations

For weeks I've been feeling like I'm chasing my tail.  I've got so many commitments and projects in the works but I think it would all be manageable if life wasn't always trying to sabotage me with among other things:

• Internet connection issue that turns 1 hour projects into 4 or 8 hour projects.  
• Illness.  
• Clinic appointments that crowd or push aside other commitments.  
• Conflicts in schedules when my schedule depends on someone else's. 

I am slowly learning how to juggle it all.  Some of what I've learned that helps is:

Flexibility

Having a schedule

Having a plan in place for when something knocks me off the schedule

Having a plan for using extra time those rare times a task is finished in less than the estimated time

Read more...

Fall 2013 Challenges

more LOLs to see  share  caption  vote

Reading

Dewey's 24hr Read-a-Thon October 12
It's a good thing I had the concept for this post now as I hadn't yet checked to see if they'd scheduled the October Read-a-Thon.  Usually it is one of the last two Saturday's of October so this was unexpectedly early and I might have missed it!

This will be my 13th.  But like the one last April I won't be doing the full 24 hours.  My med schedule and sleep schedule have to take priority.  So I will start with the rest at 5am but won't be able to push it much past midnight.  In April I made it to 2am but that was before I switched from night owl to early bird last summer.

Virtual Author Blog Tour reviews 

• Tinseltown Riff by Shelly Frome -- October 10th
• The Return by Melissa Douthit -- October 21
• The Thunderbird Conspiracy by R. K. Price -- October 30
• Ghosts of Lost Eagle -- November 4
• Sinnerman by Jonathan M. Cook -- November 7
• The Three Sisters by Bryan Taylore -- November 12
• Blood Drama by Christopher Meeks -- November 15
• Head Games by Erika Rummel -- November 19
• Journey to Galumphagos By Seth Eisner -- November 21
• With Friends Like These by L. Hunter Cassells -- November 25
• Woman on Top by Deborah Schwartz -- November 27

Also for Virtual Author Book Tours I'll be posting my review as a Beta tester of a new website/community for Inde Authors some time in mid October.

Writing

A Round of Words in 80 Days
Round 2 2013
The writing challenge that
 knows you have a life

Round 4 of ROW80 begins tomorrow with the first check-in on Wednesday.  I was hoping to have my Goals updated before posting this but did not get to it.  But other than the specifics of the writing projects I'll be focusing on it will look much the same as my goals are mostly of the time investment commitments

NaNoWriMo
Still haven't updated my profile for this year.  Probably because I haven't chosen the novel to work on either.

AWAI Copywriting course work including the 10K challenge to complete a project for AWAI that can potentially earn me up to $10,000 if I am able to apply what I learn to their satisfaction.

Personal Challenges

Finish the Secret Santa crochet project from last year!  so close but so far.  I Finished the two panels of squares that make up the top, bottom and side pockets of this crafter's tote.  But I still have two inches of 2 chain mesh to add to the 8ft Mobius strip that will make the bottom, sides and carry strap.

Also still need to tuck tails on the panels and once the Mobius strip is off the hook attach it to the panels and the panels to each other.

Start the  Secret Santa project for this year (twill be much smaller project!)  Will make up for that by adding something bought and/or a gift card

Continue Daily posting

Dentist, Doctor and Counselor appointments:  There will continue to be several per month

Now that my mood has been stabilized and the infection in my teeth being dealt with it is time to:

• Return to daily exercise
• Take on some more responsibility here at Mom's to take some of the burden off my sister
• Continue the sorting and packing of my belongings in anticipation of return to Rogue Valley before Christmas (Hope won't die)

Create Professional Website for Copywriting Business
Create Professional Website for Self Publishing Business
The website work amounts to dabbling in the sandbox versions my husband is setting up for me at first but I will need to get serious after Thanksgiving as I hope to go live the first week of January.

Read more...

Book Review: Her Dear and Loving Husband by Meredith Allard

Her Dear and Loving Husband
by Meredith Allard
Publisher Copperfield Press (April 1, 2011)
Print & ebook,  268 Pages

I stayed up waaaay too late trying to finish this last night.  Then got only three hours of sleep  before I had to be awake again for a scheduled vid chat with my husband--the highlight of my day.  I was reading as I waited for him to message me and when I heard the tone I delayed rushing over to respond until I'd read two or three more paragraphs.

That should give a fair indication as to how engaging this story is.  If you like the genres that are blended into it: Paranormal, Historical and Romance you are bound to be as enthralled as I was.  It is a sweet yet intense romance exploring the concept of eternal love that bridges the centuries to be fulfilled.

Adding to the charm for me was the setting in a University in modern Salem, Massachusetts with the enamored couple a librarian and a professor of English Literature.  The historical era woven into the story via Professor James Wentworth's memories and Sarah Alexander's dreams is that of the Salem Witch hunt in the 1690s which has long fascinated me.

The contrast between the era of Puritan rule and the witch trials and modern day Salem which proudly claims its identity as Witch City and depends on an economy revolving around tourists who flock there to visit the Witch Museum, Reenactments of the witch trials, the historical buildings built in the 1600s and the annual all out citywide Halloween Bash, is stark except for one crucial thing.  Human nature remains the same.

They are just as easily manipulated into paranoia today as they were back then; just as opinionated; just as self-serving; just as hysterical (and I don't mean funny).  In the Puritan era it was the power of the pulpit in the modern era its the megaphone of the media.  I found Allard's exploration of this theme quite thought provoking and it brought the level of this story, to my mind, several notches above 'light, entertaining read'.  As did the cogent discussions of 17th and 18th century literature.

I thoroughly enjoyed Her Dear and Loving Husband and can't wait to read the second and third books in this trilogy.



From the Publishers:

James Wentworth has a secret. He lives quietly in Salem, Massachusetts, making few ties with anyone. One night his private world is turned upside down when he meets Sarah Alexander, a dead ringer for his wife, Elizabeth. Though it has been years since Elizabeth's death, James cannot move on.

Sarah also has a secret. She is haunted by nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and every night she is awakened by visions of hangings, being arrested, and dying in jail. Despite the obstacles of their secrets, James and Sarah fall in love. As James comes to terms with his feelings for Sarah, he must dodge accusations from a reporter desperate to prove that James is not who, or what, he seems to be. Soon James and Sarah piece their stories together and discover a mystery that may bind them in ways they never imagined. Will James make the ultimate sacrifice to protect Sarah and prevent a new hunt from bringing hysteria to Salem again?

Part historical fiction, part romance, part paranormal fantasy, Her Dear and Loving Husband is a story for anyone who believes that true love never dies.

What they are saying:

"I thought the story was great. I did not want to put the book down. With all the twists and characters the book keeps you gripped to the edge of your seat. With a bit of romance mixed it makes a wonderful read. Reading about the witch trails added a mystical touch. Charles Dickens and Jane Austen even made their way into the read. This is a book I will re-read again and again"- Babs Book Bistro Website

"The historical facts regarding the Salem witch hunts, trials and executions served as the backbone for this interesting paranormal romance and i loved how author Meredith Allard wove her magic around them.  I also loved how the author's use of modern English seamlessly flowed into 17th century speech when her characters Sarah and James relived their dreams and memories respectively. Magic, romance, mystery and suspense make Her Dear and Loving Husband a great read for me!"- aobibliophile Website

"With strong gothic flavor, this beautifully structured story captures the intensity and frenetic activity of the late 1600's and the Salem Witch Inquisitions and trials. Graphic scenes and sequences are brilliantly depicted in small segments throughout the modern-day story. I enjoyed the tale and especially the secondary characters who sometimes provided levity during an otherwise often harrowing chronicle. This is a wonderfully spooky love story that is painstakingly researched and eloquently penned.- Laurie Jenkins, Laurie's Paranormal Thoughts 

"If you like a bit of history, some paranormal goodness and a downright good story, look no further than Her Dear and Loving Husband for your next read.  Sarah's past life is really what makes the story. I love the way Meredith brings her former life to us through the dreams/nightmares she has. She really brings her former life to life well.

I also love the modern day witches in the story. Jennifer and Olivia really help Sarah to find her true self. There's a lot going on in this book, but everything is tied together nicely and the story is super enjoyable. There are so many books with vampires out there now, this is definitely one that is well worth reading. It is the first book in the "Her Loving Husband" series and once you read it you will want the next book immediately."- Andrea Guy, A Chick Who Reads Website

"First of all, I loved this book! The "love conquers all things, including time" theme was absolutely delish for my locked in a closest hopeless romantic inside. And personally, my favorite character really was James. He is a wonderful combination of modern and traditional. He loves Sarah and Elizabeth, both for their individuality, their uniqueness. And he is willing to sacrifice everything to protect Sarah. How sexy is that? 

Sarah was a great character. She is a strong woman who has kept secrets for years, living a life that just hasn't felt completely right. After moving, she begins to feel everything falling right into place; her life feels right when she is with James. 

I loved the development of not only the characters, but also the crisis. Can't give too much away, but you can bet your next book that you will be on the edge of your seat wondering if all is going to turn out okay. Overall, this is an amazing book, and I really look forward to reading more by Ms. Allard. Highly recommend!"- Cana Elene, The Place of Reads Website

Meredith Allard has taught creative writing and writing historical fiction workshops at Learning Tree University, UNLV, and the Las Vegas Writers Conference. Her short fiction and articles have appeared in journals such as The Paumanok Review, Wild Mind, Moondance, Muse Apprentice Guild, The Maxwell Digest, CarbLite, Writer's Weekly, and ViewsHound. She is the author of the Loving Husband Trilogy, Victory Garden, Woman of Stones, and My Brother's Battle (Copperfield Press). She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Visit Meredith online

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Follow the blog tour for more reviews, giveaways, author interviews and guest posts: 

So Many Precious books Sept 3 Spotlight & Giveaway

VW Stitcher Sept 3 Review

Genuine Jenn Sept 4 Review

Book Snatch Sept 4 Interview  & Giveaway

Crossroads Sept 5th Review

A Chick Who Reads Sept 6 Guest P ost

Peeking Between the Pages Sept 9 Review & Giveaway

Books & Bindings Sept 10 Review

Books & Bindings Sept 10 Guest Post  & Giveaway

Books, Books & More Books Sept  11 Review

Mom With a Kindle Sept 12 Review

In This World of Books Sept 13 Review & Giveaway

Mina Burrows Sept 13 Guest Post

From the TBR Pile Sept 16 Review

Every Free Chance Sept 16 Guest Post  & Giveaway

Open Book Society Sept 17 Review

My Seryniti Sept 18 Review

Talk Supe Sept 19 Review

Talk Supe Sept 19 Interview  & Giveaway

My Cozy Corner Sept 20 Review

Giveaways & Glitter Sept 23 Review & Giveaway

Saving for 6 Sept 24 Review

Manic Mama of 2 Sept 25 Review

No Wasted Ink Sept 25 InterviewMoonlight Lace & Mayhem Sept 26 Review

Moonlight Lace & Mayhem Sept 27 Guest Post & Giveaway

My Precious Sept 27 Review

Broken Teepee Sept 30 Review & Giveaway

Romance & Inspirations Oct. 1 Review

Faerie Tale Books Oct 2 Review

My Devotional Thoughts Oct 3 Review

My Devotional Thoughts Oct 4 Interview  & Giveaway

Joystory Oct 4 Review

My Shelf Confessions Oct 7 Review

My Shelf Confessions Oct 8 Guest Post

Rainy Days & Pajamas Oct 8 Review & Giveaway

New Age Mama Oct 9 Review

DWED Oct 10 Review

DWED Oct 11 Interview

Chic Book Chick Oct 11 Review

Sweeps4Bloggers Oct 12 Review & Giveaway

Literary Winner Oct 15 Review & Giveaway

http://www.virtualauthorbooktours.com/

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Of Grumps, and Dumps and Triumphs.

moar kittehs  cute  grumpy  funny squee

The triumph is that the dentist was able to save the tooth that was at high risk for exposure of the nerve while he prepped it for the filling.  That would have meant the no choice choice of several thousand dollars of work to save it or yank it immediately.  But that good news could not trump the grumps inspired by it taking so long he didn't have time to extract the infected root which was all that was left of the neighboring tooth so I have to go back on Monday morning.

Feeding the grumps was the headache that began to develop in the car on the way to the clinic and and turned raging moments after he'd injected the numbing agent.  So bad I actually put my hand up to the back of my head which got in his way and lifted my head a bit.  I had a mouth full of stuff he's put in to prop it open so I couldn't speak when he asked 'Are you all right.'

He quickly pulled all of it out so I could say that I had a headache.  Then got truly alarmed and asked if it started just now. I think he was afraid it was the shot. I said no it started in the car and was probably anxiety.  But it had been a long time since it had gotten this bad.

It was starting to lessen as I rubbed the back of my head and neck with my head slightly lifted.  So I sighed and lay back down.  'Better now?' he asked and I nodded but seconds later I had to lift up again and when it subsided again I realized it was the same thing that often happens when I try to do sit ups.  I can't lay flat in bed either. I have to have a nest of several pillows to prop me up and prevent me from rolling off them and laying flat.

He had lowered my chair to the flat position just prior to starting work and it didn't register with me that this likely to happen.

So he raised my chair and relief flooded in as the blood flowed out of my head.

It wasn't total relief tho.  I continued to fight a moderate headache for the rest of the day and right now nearing midnight it is starting to escalate.  Now tho it is probably sleep deprivation and the aggravations of the day that's causing it.  My anxiety about the dentist visit did not dissipate much after it was over not even after we were back home.

It was like my psyche had a sunburn and every little frustration and disappointment burned and the overload of chaotic sensory input blistered my nerves.  I just wanted to go hide. To tune out the world.  But it was already time to fix lunch for Mom when we got home.  I was grateful my sister offered to help but with the two of us in there I couldn't move as freely nor control my environment.  So the focus of my anxiety became about bumping into something or someone, dropping something, knocking something over that I hadn't seen set there and similar scenarios.

I had frequent startle reactions to sudden sounds or movement and was easily distracted, forgetting what I was supposed to be doing, by the glint of light off a knife into the mirror over the kitchen sink that struck my eyes, the sounds of the microwave running or its timer dinging, of a metal whisk on a metal pan, of water running, of raised voices, phones ringing, traffic rumble,  the cat's toenails on the hardwood floor.

By the time lunch was ready my headache was sprinting past moderate.

Finally lunch was over and I was able to hole up in my office and start the afternoon chat with my husband.  Which cheered me up considerably.  After we said goodbye I began to surf, check email, fb and twitter.  I was just about to start work on this post (though it would have been quite different I'm sure) when my sister came in to ask how badly it would effect me to have the connection disrupted for a few minutes.

She was troubleshooting in preparation for calling Centurylink to complain about the steadily declining speed of our connection.  She was performing all of the things they would ask her to do while she was on the phone and she wanted to be able to say 'Already did that/
 
One of those steps was to unplug the modem and plug it back in.  It should only take a few minutes she thought.

So I returned to the book I'm going to be reviewing for the blog tour tomorrow.  I'd managed to get to the 40% mark in the waiting room, reading the ebook on my netbook, while waiting an hour on my sister to return for me after the dentist was done.

But when she plugged it back in it would not work at all.  That was about 6pm.  I'm not posted, my vid chat with Ed was scheduled for 7:30.  I was committed to post the review before noon tomorrow...

I began to panic.  The headache began escalating.

I continued to read as she spent nearly an hour on the phone with Centruylink.  It was determined she needed to buy a new modem as the tech's best guess was that something was already wrong with it.

Her son made dinner while Carri went to Walmart.

The last thing she said as she was going out the door about 7--in reply to my whine that Ed would be trying to connect at 7:30--was 'Well I guess you're gonna have to call him on the phone.'  As she left with her cell--the only phone that can call long distance without the internet.

She got home at just after 8 and before starting to work with her son to get the modem installed she set me up with her cell for calling Ed but repeated tries got me only his voice mail and he never returned the calls so I guess he'd given up and gone to bed.

They got the modem working just before 9:30.  I found a one line email from Ed saying 'You're showing as offline.  Please help.'  Usually when I'm showing as offline it is because Google Chat is disconnected but I will still get the email and thus alerted can reload the page to reload Chat and we're all set.  But of course that didn't work for him this time.

And now it is 1:30am.  I've still not finished the book for the review that needs to be up in ten hours.  And I need to be up by six if I don't want to miss our morning vid chat before Ed leaves for work.

So much for eliminating the sleep dep tonight.

My headache is a dull ache behind the eyes and just above the neck.

I had no business spending two hours rambling on like this.  Like anybody should care about such minutia.  But I think I needed to perform a drastic memory dump. A private journal would have been a more appropriate place.  It's always better to take your dumps in private.

This is the third long-winded post in three days.  What's up with that?

Should you care?  Probably not.

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You Know the Drill

moar funee kittehs  see share caption

My second dentist appointment is tomorrow.  I've been on the antibiotic for two weeks now and he's going to extract the back molar on the upper left with the infected root.  What's left of it.  One puss wrapped root attached to a stub barely peeking above the gum.

It did not help my anxiety to hear him say that he hopes it is a simple extraction and does not become oral surgery.

Also tomorrow he is going to scrape calcification off the neighboring tooth which also has a large cavity.  He is hoping he can prep that cavity for a filling without exposing the root.  Otherwise to save it would require several procedures with a final cost amounting to more than twice what we paid for our last used car. None of which can be performed at this sliding scale office.

So if that happens I'll be telling him to yank it too.

Then probably later this month I'll be back to have him look at the tooth just under the one he is hoping to fill.  This one is also not salvageable.  It is shaped much like Crater Lake.  A jagged edge around a bowl whose bottom is exposed gum.  I fear any morning now I'm going to wake to the pain signaling that the root has been exposed.  I'm certain it too is infected.

There is one more broken tooth to fix on the other side.  I don't know if Medicaid will cover that one though as the rules seem to insist that only procedures done to alleviate debilitating pain or infection can be covered.  And the rules governing this sliding scale dentist office allow only one x-ray per visit so I had to choose which 1/6 of my mouth to have him look at first.

I think I chose wrong because the lower jaw on the left is the one hurting the worst since the day after that appointment.

I've been living with some level of infection and pain from low grade to excruciating since 1998 when there was an abscess on the tooth he is extracting tomorrow.  I was on SSI and medicaid then too and I called around (when I wasn't sitting on the floor kicking the couch and swooning) everywhere north of Longview to Olympia and south to Portland and couldn't find a single one willing to take on a new Medicaid patient.

The next time I saw a dentist was in 2000 when Ed's tech job in the Silicon Valley provided insurance that covered it.  But I'd barely got started before the dot.com crash and we lost everything.  They'd only taken all the x-rays and set up a plan and done the cleaning.

The next time after that was in 2006 when Ed's job in the Rogue Valley finally offered a dental plan with a co-pay we could afford.  But I got only one visit with the dentist that time.  The one where they take all the x-rays and show you what is going to need to be done.  But my blood pressure was too high and they refused to start the work until my doctor signed off.  It took my doctor a year to get my BP under control with four meds taken daily and by then we no longer had that dental plan.

Recently in all my reading about blood pressure I learned that infected teeth and gums can contribute significantly to it.  And that just confirms what I've always felt--that the health of the mouth and teeth is as much a medical issue as any other aspect of the body.

It has always mystified me why dental work is treated as if it has little to do with medicine or well being and classified as elective and cosmetic.  Nice to have if you can afford it but not necessary until the pain gets so bad its making you mental and even then doing what's necessary to save the tooth is still considered elective.  Like face lifts and tummy tucks or BMWs and sapphire tiaras.

I wonder how much of what they are treating as depression is really, at least in part, the low energy and fatigue caused by that chronic infection and pain.

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Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner

One time last spring my sister was out of ideas for dinner.  I twas past due for a grocery shop so it seemed every one of our go to meals was either missing a crucial ingredient or the meat was frozen solid.  So I started rummaging in the fridge, freezer and cupboard to get an idea of what was available.  By the time I was done I had a concept.

I'd started with tomato sauce since she had recently bought a large carton of it at Costgo.  Surely there was something I could do with tomato sauce.  We use it to make soup but usually that is a simple tomato soup spiced with one or another of the Mrs Dash seasonings and stretched by adding water 1:1 and then thickened back up with tapioca flour.  But we have made a hearty taco soup with burrito leftovers before.

That was the vague concept I began with but we hadn't had burritos or nachos recently and if we'd had the ingredients for them I wouldn't be foraging for a new idea.  So I began by looking for likely items to put in a hearty soup.  But when I came across the package of frozen chicken breasts a lit up picture as tho in a slide show popped into my head.

I've made this two or three times a month ever since.  It is simple and quick and something I can do without any help.  Tho the first time I had my nephew pull it out of the oven for me.  With my tunnel vision I can't see the oven edges or even the racks when looking at the dish I"m reaching for.  Which makes it nerve wracking to put things in or pull things out of a hot oven.

Step 1:  I've never made it the same twice.  The first time and one other I've steamed the zucchini on the stove while the chicken dish was in the oven.  But the simplest way is to layer the zucchini on the bottom of the shallow backing pan.  I've experimented with different cuts.  The first few times I used the coin shape.

But I discovered that cutting it lengthwise in quarter inch strips was faster.  But this time the zucchini was very long and I should have cut those strips in half to make it possible to lift out a serving by sliding a spatula under the zucchini under the chicken piece.

Step 2:  Lay the chicken pieces on top.  I've done this with several cuts and sizes of chicken breasts.  These were called chicken tenders and were smallish and thin and many of them had broken in two while frozen.

Several times I've come close to frostbite on my fingers after handling the frozen piece to put the jigsaw puzzle together.

Step 3:  Usually, for a meal intended for 4-6 (or 4 plus leftovers for 2) I use two of the 15oz cans of tomato sauce.  But this time I had only one can and I tried to stretch it by adding water but was too impatient to bring it to a boil to add the tapioca flour to thicken it back up so I ended up with real soupy sauce this time.

Last night I seasoned it with Mrs Dash Tomato, Basil, Garlic which makes it taste much like spaghetti sauce.  But my favorite seasoning is the pizza flakes which are primarily crushed and dried red peppers.  That makes it taste like pizza but is quite spicy.  Another way I like is to use Mexican flavors--chili, jalapeno, cilantro, onion, garlic.

Step 4:  I thought I'd got a picture of this step too but either I forgot or it didn't take for some reason.  But the last step before putting it into an oven preheated to 375 is to spread cheese across the top.  You could use any of the cheeses or even combine them.  And you can use either shredded or sliced.  We usually use shredded mozzarella but we have used shredded Colby and shredded cheddar and the Mexican yellow and white blend which I believe is mozzarella and cheddar.

Last night I used the shredded mozzarella and was quite generous with it spreading over a cup of it on, hoping to compensate for the over sauce.

Step 5:  Bake for 50 minutes to an hour depending on the thickness of the frozen chicken pieces.  I usually set the timer for 45 and then check it, estimating how much longer it might need.  One time when using quite large chicken breast that were nearly half an inch thick and so big that only five would fit it took an hour and 15 minutes.  The sauce should be boiling and the cheese melted and starting to brown on top.  And the fork should slide easily into and back out of the thickest piece of chicken so I try to remember to place that one in one of the front corners.

The first time I described this dish to my husband he told me that I'd just made Chicken Cacciatore substituting the zucchini.

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