Thank you to Kat at The Lily Cafe for interviewing me about Beauty From Ashes for her blog today!
The Lily Cafe is thrilled to welcome author and blogger Lisa R. Howeler, here to talk a bit about her Christian romance novel Beauty From Ashes. Lisa blogs at and shares early drafts of her novels on Boondock Ramblings. Even though I don’t identify as Christian, I love her novels as they’re clean, sweet romances […]
Author Interview: Lisa R. Howeler, author of Beauty From Ashes — The Lily Cafe
Welcome to Sunday Bookends where I ramble about what I’ve been reading, doing, watching, writing, and listening to.
What I/we’ve Been Reading
This week I started a book I needed to read for a book tour and had a hard time enjoying it. I feel bad for that and for skipping through most of it so I’m going to go back this week and read it a little slower. The book is called The Prayer Shawl by Jenny Lynn Cary and it has a sweet premise of two cousins making amends, but I just couldn’t seem to enjoy the dueling storylines in it.
The book is about two cousins who do not get along well and are brought back together after their grandmother dies. Their grandmother raised the one cousin, Cami, after her parents died and now Grandma (Kate) has left directions for Cami to complete a task before she can receive her inheritance. This is not the first time I have either read a book with this plot point. I’ve also seen it in movies. My question is if it really ever happens in life and how a lawyer can actually ensure the person’s last request is met appropriately when these tasks are often so vague.
Elderly relatives leaving money only if the heir completes a task, is a very common plot point in Christian Fiction and romances these days, I have discovered. I feel it is becoming a little bit overused, but it does create some interesting storylines and characters, which is what happened in Cary’s book. I do like her writing style and the characters she creates so I want to give the book another chance this week.
It really wasn’t fair that I started Cary’s book at the same time I started an ARC by a favorite author of mine, Robin W. Pearson. I mentioned last week that I was reading the book which comes out at the end of July. The book flows so smoothly and the characters are so real that it is hard to put down. Robin’s books don’t have a lot of “action” per say and some readers might not like that, but I don’t mind at all because Robin’s action is in the way she makes the reader think. Plus, there is a bit of mystery to this one and I have to keep reading to find out secrets the dad and son are both holding on to.
So far, the book is tackling race issues, as well as family relationships. It’s a different take on race issues for me because I am used to reading books where the racist feelings are directed toward African Americans. That does happen some in this book, but it’s also directed toward the wife in the book who is mixed race with light skin and married to an African American. The book has some heavier topics than other books, but it isn’t so heavy you can’t stand up.
I’ve also started The Darling Buds of May by H.E. Bates for some lighter fare. This book was one of my Mother’s Day gifts from last week.
Little Miss and I were reading Paddington but we are back to Laura Ingalls Wilder. Please, someone send help. I am tired of reading the Little House books. I need to find something else to interest her.
The Husband (I feel weird calling him “The Husband” as if that is his title. I asked him as I wrote this, if he wanted me to use his real name or if he wants a blog nickname like the kids. He said he is fine with me simply calling him The Husband.) finished The Hundred Year Old Man Who Went Out the Window.
There is a sequel to the book, but my husband said it dives into politics and he gets enough of that at work these days so he’s decided not to read it. He is now reading Shots Fired by C.J. Box.
The Boy is still reading Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman.
What’s Been Occurring
I had a very nice Mother’s Day last week. I visited my parents for a little bit on the actual day but we had visited with them for dinner on Saturday because my dad had a minor procedure on Monday and couldn’t eat Sunday.
My husband and children bought me the book I mentioned above, a new journal, and a new purse. The Husband also made dinner for me on Mother’s Day on the grill and drew me a bath, which was wonderful.
The day ended with him and The Boy making me watch the latest Spider-man which was a bit depressing honestly and not my favorite. I’m over the whole comic book schtick requiring the hero to suffer and go through life alone. That’s all I’ll say about that.
The weather finally warmed up which helped my sinuses immensely. Aren’t you glad I won’t be lamenting every Sunday about how hard it has been for me to breathe? At least for a while anyhow.
During the week we spent as much time as we could outside, or at least Little Miss and I did. We chased each other in the yard in a game she simply calls “Zombie.” All the chasing showed me that my lungs are not totally healed from the crazy sinusitis-type thing I had all through April and the Dreaded Virus last year but they are way better than they were.
One day during the week we visited my parents and made pizza for dinner. Our oven is currently broken so this gave us a chance to use up the dough I’d purchased (forgetting about the oven issue) and to see my parents. Zooma The Wonder Dog enjoyed rolling in the dirt road, covering herself with dust, and I enjoyed watching the Canadian geese who have decided to take up residence in my parent’s pond. That pond has been there my entire life and I have never seen geese land there or stay there. I’m interested to see if they have lain eggs there or not.
On Friday we visited a restaurant we really enjoy but which isn’t open during the winter. It’s located pretty much in the middle of nowhere by a beautiful covered bridge. We chose to sit at the tables outside the building and then admired the creek and covered bridge during our meal and afterward. The restaurant makes amazing cheesesteaks.
They are so amazing they were named one of the top ten cheesesteaks in the state of Pennsylvania. It’s no surprise they are so good since the owners are originally from Philly. Ironically, no one ordered an actual cheesesteak. I had a cheesesteak salad, so that was close. The husband had a buffalo chicken cheesesteak, The Boy a chicken wrap, and Little Miss a chicken tenders basket.
The boys also ordered some Jersey Dirty Fries, which are French fries with cheese whiz, barbecue sauce, garlic sauce, and bacon on top.
When we came home, I sat on the back porch in silence and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and view, petting our dog and cat, and reading. I didn’t have my phone or computer near me and it was the most relaxed I’d been all week.
What We watched/are Watching
This week I start watching that old show J.A.G. — Do you remember it? Lt. Harmon Rabb. Swoon. I remember watching the show in high school. If I remember right, it got a little crazy at the end, but most shows do. I enjoyed it at the beginning at least. It was nice to be nostalgic this week and to see the show now that I’m older and understand a little more about, well, everything.
Enjoy the comments on this Youtube video, by the way. Most of them are slamming all the military errors on the show.
As I mentioned above, we also watched the latest Spider-Man and it wasn’t my favorite. There were aspects I enjoyed but there were also some heartbreaking aspects that simply brought me down into the dumps.
Friday, after our trip to the restaurant, we watched another Brokenwood Mysteries.
What I’m Writing
I worked on Mercy’s Shore this past week and shared Chapter 2 on Friday.
I did not share much on the blog but hope to this upcoming week. I am working on a Randomly Thinking and maybe a post about our last couple of weeks of homeschooling.
What I’m Listening To
I’ve been listening to CeCe Winan’s Believe For It.
I’ve also been listening to the Matthew West Podcast and a podcast by Life Church and Pastor Craig Groeschel.
The Husband found a new podcast by Phil Rosenthal (creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) and I hope to listen to that this week.
Now it’s your turn
Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.
The ebook for Beauty From Ashes, the third book in The Spencer Valley Chronicles, is out today on Amazon and will be available on other sites at the end of the week.
The book is 99 cents through the end of the week and even better? The first two books in the series are also 99 cents. Whoot!
Here is a description of the book for those not familiar with it:
27-year-old Liz is a bit lost, trapped in a prison of shame after becoming pregnant by her abusive boyfriend. Well, technically ex-boyfriend. Now she is a single mother who feels like the whole town, or at least her church-going parents, view her as a trashy woman with no morals. That’s not what she used to think of herself as but — could they all be right? And if they all think that, what about God?
53-year-old Ginny Jeffries has hit a snag of her own in life. She hit the snag a couple of years ago, in fact, and now she’s still stuck on that snag, with no sign of moving forward. Her husband, Stan, hasn’t noticed her in at least a year, maybe longer, her job as the town’s library director has become mundane and stagnant, and her youngest daughter is having some kind of identity crisis. Pile on the return of her ex-boyfriend from high school to town and she’s about to collapse under the weight of it all.
Can the two women figure out their chaotic, confusing lives together?
Links to buy the books:
The Farmer’s Daughter: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TVHHL4B
Harvesting Hope: https://www.amazon.com/Harvesting-Hope-Spencer-Valley-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B094M615GK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Beauty From Ashes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09T2P69XV
If you enjoy the book and would like to review it, you can do so at the following places:
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09T2P69XV
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60599967-beauty-from-ashes?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=fb1J5HBdtW&rank=1
Bookbub:https://www.bookbub.com/books/beauty-from-ashes-the-spencer-valley-chronicles-by-lisa-r-howeler
Or you can share a review on your blog or social media as well.
If you would like to use any of my graphics and would like me to email them to you, let me know and I can do so. As always, thanks to all my blog readers who have supported my writing either by reading the chapters on the blog and commenting or purchasing the books and recommending them to others.
Paperbacks of the book will be available within the week.
Welcome to Sunday Bookends where I ramble about what I’ve been reading, doing, watching, writing and listening to.
And first, Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers!
What I/We’ve Been Reading
I finished Open Season by C.J. Box Friday and my fingernails suffered a bit from the tension. It is the first book in the Joe Pickett series and also the book they based the new show Joe Pickett on Paramount Plus on. There are currently twenty-some books in the Joe Pickett series. Joe is a game warden in northern Wyoming who apparently always finds himself in the middle of some sort of crime.
You know you’re completely invested in a book when you text your husband at work and tell him that a certain person in the book better die a seriously gruesome death for the crimes they committed, or you are never reading another of this author’s books again.
I won’t spoil the book, but I will say that I was satisfied enough with the ending that I’ll most likely read another by C.J. Box in the future. I’ll need a palate cleanser though so I am probably going to pick up a romantic comedy this week to read in between my other books – or I might just continue Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain which has enough humor in it to cleanse my mind off the sadness our world has to offer at times.
My brother asked me if Open Season was as good as The Walt Longmire Mysteries and I can say that no, I don’t feel it’s quite as good. I’m still a bigger fan of Craig Johnson in the end, even though I will read more Box in the future.
This week I will also be reading an Advanced Readers Copy of Walking in Tall Weeds by Robin W. Pearson. The book comes out in July. I really enjoyed her first two, A Long Time Comin’ (A Christy Award winner) and ‘Til I Want No More.
Here is the description of Walking in Tall Weeds:
From award-winning author Robin W. Pearson comes a new Southern family drama about one family who discovers their history is only skin-deep and that God’s love is the only family tie that binds.
Paulette and Fred Baldwin find themselves wading through a new season of life in Hickory Grove, North Carolina. Their only son, McKinley, now works hundreds of miles away, and the distance between the husband and wife feels even farther. When their son returns home, his visit dredges up even more conflict between Fred and Paulette.
McKinley makes it no secret that he doesn’t intend to follow in his father’s footsteps at George & Company Fine Furnishings or otherwise. Fred can’t quite bring himself to accept all his son’s choices, yet Paulette is determined McKinley will want for nothing, least of all a mother’s love and attention—which her own skin color cost her as a child. But all her striving leaves Fred on the outside looking in.
Paulette suspects McKinley and Fred are hiding something that could change the whole family. Soon, she’s facing a whirlwind she never saw coming, and the three of them must dig deep to confront the truth. Maybe then they’ll discover that their history is only skin-deep while their faith can take them right to the heart of things.
Thanks to a very busy work week last week, the husband is still reading The Hundred Year Old Man Who Went Out the Window.
What’s Been Occurring
Thanks to the fact our weather can’t make up its mind, my sinuses are still suffering and I’ve been fairly miserable. If it doesn’t clear up this week, I am going to head to the doctor, but I have a feeling it will clear up as soon as we have a few days in a row of warm temps.
Last week we had a couple of warmer days, but they were still cloudy days. By Friday morning it was cold and rainy again but for some reason my nose had cleared some and I was breathing better. For the morning at least. All the stuffiness came back later in the day and then again with vengeance yesterday and today.
It was warm enough one day for Little Miss to splash some water on her feet after she watered the tulips that came up.
On Friday when my nose was open, Scout curled up on my chest for 45 minutes and it was wonderful! She snuggled against my arm and fell asleep, like when she was a tiny kitten, and I needed breakfast, but I didn’t want to move.
Earlier in the week, Little Miss and I went for a walk down the street and visited with our neighbor. All of our pets followed us at least half way down —
We celebrated Mother’s Day with my mom yesterday because my dad has a minor procedure on Monday and can’t eat today. We didn’t think it would be nice to cook and eat a full meal while he was only allowed to sip water. We made our Mother’s Day dinner very simple with hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.
What We watched/are Watching
Last week I finished up The Larkins, which is about a quirky farming family in the 50s from Yorkshire, England. It’s based on books by M.E. Bates.
The husband and I also watched more Brokenwood Mysteries, an old Perry Mason from the original show in the 60s, and another Shakespeare and Hathaway. Burt Reynolds had a guest appearance on the one we watched and his range was not very good at that time.
Yesterday I watched My Man Godfrey with William Powell and Carol Lombarde with my parents.
What I’m Writing
Last week I shared a hodge-podge of blog posts, about a variety of subjects.
I also worked on Mercy’s Shore but not as much as I wish I had. Hopefully, I will get a chance to write more on it this week.
What I’m Listening To
I listened to Matthew West almost all week mainly while I struggled with the breathing issues. His songs are so perfect for easing my anxiety. Especially this one:
I needed to sing this song a lot throughout the week.
Now It’s Your Turn
Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.
Jenny Knipfer has a way of melodically weaving a story through well-written prose that takes you into the past, a world she easily strolls through in her latest historical novella Violet’s Vow.
The story of Violet takes the reader on an emotional journey as Violet navigates loss, anger, and love after the unexpected death of her husband, Roger. Violet knows how her husband died but throughout the book, she feels she must find out why her husband died. Was it truly an accident, or was there something more sinister at play? No matter the reason behind his death, his loss has left Violet insecure and unsure of her future, which she thought would involve running the flower shop she and Roger owned together, into their old age.
When Violet begins to receive love notes I was pulled into the mystery of who has feelings for her and why they aren’t telling her in person. As I continued the journey with Violet, I also began to wonder which man in her life I wanted to have written the letters, since each one seemed to have something suspect about their past. As in her other books, Jenny uses poetic language to create a story worth following to the end. There is heartbreak yet hope within the pages of each book she writes, and Violet’s Vow is no different.
You can purchase Violet’s Vow on Amazon, or read it through Kindle Unlimited starting Friday, May 6.
I am a fan of quirky mystery shows and lately, I’ve been finding most of those types of shows on Britbox or AcornTV, which are British channels on Amazon Video.
Today I thought I’d share with you five of my (and my husband’s) favorite fun, quirky, and unique mystery shows. I’ve mentioned most of them already during my Sunday Bookends post.
Most we watched are based in the UK but one is Canadian and the other is from New Zealand.
Shakespeare and Hathaway
I discovered this one on my own and fell in love with the characters, though I would say I liked Frank Hathaway more than Luella Shakespeare at first. She did grow on me as I continued to watch.
The premise of the show is that the two are an oddball detective team. Frank was working as a private detective when he met Luella who came to him to find out if her fiancé was cheating on her. At the conclusion of that case (you’ll have to watch it to find out what happens), Lu essentially invites herself to work with Frank as a fellow detective.
Frank is also a former police detective who has a contentious relationship with the local police because of that. As the series goes on you learn a little bit more about why he left the police force and became a detective instead.
Sebastian is Frank’s flamboyant and talented assistant. He’s also an inspiring actor. Of course, to fit the title, the show is based in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays into the Shakespeare theme quite a bit.
At the end of one season, we thought Sebastian was going to leave and I literally cried.
The show is in its fourth season on BritBox on Amazon and I’m not sure what the future holds for it, but luckily we have all the past episodes to enjoy.
Brokenwood Mysteries
This was a new one for us this year, thanks to Erin at Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.
The show focuses on Detective Mike Shepherd and his assistants, Detective Kristin Simms and Detective Sam Breen. They solve mysteries in the small New Zealand town of Brokenwood. Similar to other small-town mystery shows, it’s surprising how many people are murdered in this place. It’s like the crime capital of New Zealand and it’s a town of like 600. They might run out of people to kill soon.
What I like about this show is, well, Mike for one —he’s awesome — but I also like that it has reoccurring characters who often play integral parts of each 90-minute episode. When we are watching it, we find ourselves wondering if one of the usual community members will finally get caught up and charged with murder or some other crime.
There is a lot of mystery about Mike’s past, including how he knows a woman in town who used to be in the witness protection program and if this is why he ended up in the town to help with an investigation in the first place. He has a very unique investigation style, including talking to the deceased when he arrives on a scene. No, they don’t answer back, but he feels it’s a way of reassuring them he will find out who killed them.
Mike is a huge fan of country music and thanks to the show, my husband and I have discovered a ton of New Zealand country music we never knew existed. We absolutely love the music for the show, in other words.
I also love the handyman, or whatever he is, Jared Morehu, who becomes a friend of Mike’s and is helping him grow wine grapes to eventually make wine from. Jared is of Maori descent. The Maori are indigenous Polynesian people who settled in New Zealand and are considered the first settlers of the country.
Another fun, quirky, and weird character is the coroner, Gina Kadinsky, who is Russian and has a very dark, dry sense of humor. Her character does poke a bit of fun at the Russian stereotype, but she keeps the laughter in the show, which is fairly light but does have some darker themes at times.
There are currently seven seasons of the show up on Amazon through Acorn TV. Season 8 is supposed to be up sometime this year, according to some information I found online. It will be on New Zealand TV in mid-2022.
Murdoch Mysteries
Murdoch Mysteries was something my husband discovered a year or so ago, maybe longer. We’ve been watching it off and on since then.
The show does not feature the best acting at times and the “special effects” are a bit corny, but we still can’t stop watching.
The show follows quirky Detective William Murdoch, a detective in 1890s Toronto, Canada. There are currently 15 seasons of the show, and I would recommend starting in the beginning because I feel the show has gone off the rails a bit as it has progressed. All 15 seasons are on AcornTV through Amazon.
I am sure many of you will ponder what I have the entire time I’ve watched the show, which is — Is Detective Murdoch wearing eyeliner? I believe he is indeed so there; you don’t have to wonder anymore.
The show follows Murdoch as the main character but also the female coroner Dr. Julia Ogden, Constable George Crabtree, Inspector Thomas Brackenreid, and Constable Henry Higgins (which always makes me think of the Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary). There is mystery, action, intrigue and romance.
Again, though, be warned, sometimes it can be a little silly. I think silly and light is fun and welcome, though, so I don’t mind a bit of silly in my shows.
This show is based on books by Maureen Jennings, and I believe they are a little darker than the show. There is also a movie available online and it is much, much darker.
The cast loves to have fun and to show that there have been many short features created as well for fans.
Death in Paradise
I believe this is one I discovered first, a few years ago now.
The show is filmed in the French Caribbean on Guadeloupe Island. For the show the island is called Saint Marie.
The first season kicks off with Detective Inspector Richard Poole coming to the island to investigate the murder of a British police officer. After he solves the case, he is ordered by his superiors at the Metropolitan Police in London to remain on staff on the tiny island. The “staff” are three other officers serving the entire, tiny island. Realistic? I don’t know, but it’s also very disconcerting so many people die on this island. If I was going to choose somewhere to vacation to, I’d definitely choose some place else based on the crime rate here.
So far, we have gone through four detective inspectors in eleven seasons. There seems to be a bit of a rotating door, in other words, but I’ve heard this is partially because they actually film in the French Caribbean and while this provides lovely views, it requires the actors to be away from their families for months at a time. This is why the first DI, actor Ben Miller, left the show after only two seasons.
Each DI has their own quirk, which becomes a joke throughout the show. The first DI was very uptight, stuck-up, and a clean freak. The second DI was accident-prone, the third is dealing with the death of his wife and brings his daughter and is a bit awkward (as all the DI’s are), and the fourth I have not seen yet, but reading up on it, it looks like he has a lot of allergies, including to mosquitoes, which are, of course, abundant on the island.
The show also features native island officers who apparently are too dumb to solve cases without the British detectives who are much more clever, smart, and quite frankly “crime-solving geniuses”.
The show features somewhat light crimes, with a dark edge, but nothing so dark you find yourself up all night thinking about the horrors of the world. Well…usually anyhow. I will admit that some of the episodes have left me fairly disturbed, including a couple in the first season. It’s not a gruesome show for the sake of being gruesome, though, which is one reason I like it.
The Mallorca Files
This is another escape-type mystery show, different from the others because it is based in Mallorca, which is a tiny island off the coast of Spain.
It is interesting because it has very international flavor. While it is set in Mallorca, the one detective is German, the other British and the captain and other characters are Spanish.
Each episode is a new mystery and characters don’t necessarily carry over, other than the detectives.
There have only been two seasons of this show so far and you can find them on BritBox on Amazon (just an aside here, I am not getting paid by Amazon for this post. It just happens to be where we watch most of our favorite shows at this time.) Season two of the show was cut short by the You Know What and it isn’t clear yet if there will be a season three, but if there is, I’ve read that the last four episodes will be added to season three.
Bonus mentions:
The Poirot made for TV movies
There are several versions of the Agatha Christie character Hercule Poirot but our favorite is David Suchet, so we have watched several of the movies starring him as the short Belgium detective.
Most of the movies can be found streaming on . . . you guessed it! BritBox.
Father Brown Mysteries
Like Agatha Raisin (which didn’t get mentioned in this particular post, but might in a future post), this show went off the rails a bit for me in about the sixth season, but I am going to try it again. There are nine seasons currently on Britbox.
Not only did some of my favorite characters leave the show but they had a couple of episodes that were just very unnerving and well, to sound like a prude, a bit dirty for my taste (if you’re new to this blog, yes, I am a prude about some things and not a prude about others. *wink*).
Father Brown is a Catholic Priest who gets wrapped up in a type of amateur sleuthing and pulls his housekeeper and others into the sleuthing with him. If you are familiar with the American Father Dowling Mysteries, this is similar except Father Dowling was the American version of Father Brown.
According to research, Father Dowling was also based on Father Brown which is based on books written by G.K. Chesterton in the early 1900s.
This is the second incarnation of Father Brown from British television. There was another series in the 70s.
So, there you go — some fun mystery shows to get hooked on today. What are you waiting for? Turn off the news and social media and lose yourself in the world of quirky and fun mysteries.
Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.
You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.
It’s hard for me to believe we are already at May for this year.
I have no idea what May will bring and don’t have any big plans, necessarily.
The only things I have on my calendar so far are the release of Beauty From Ashes on May 10 and my dad’s colonoscopy. Yes, my life truly is that boring.
Of course, I am sure we will do something for Memorial Day and my husband has the opening day for one of our favorite seasonal restaurants on his schedule to visit this upcoming weekend.
What I am hoping for in May is nicer weather since April was a dumpster fire of Pennsylvania weather. It was so cold, snowy, windy, and just overall horrid for our mental and physical well-being.
May will be our last month of school and while the children are excited about that, I actually see days without homeschool as a little sad and empty. I enjoy planning the children’s lessons and either watching them learn or learning with them.
I will most likely fill part of May planning for next school year and will continue to do that into the summer. The main part of planning is choosing the curriculum we will use. Some of the curriculum we will use will be carryovers from this previous year but much of The Boy’s curriculum will need to be new since he is going to be a — gulp! — sophomore! I can’t even wrap my mind around that right now and he’s let me know that he can’t either.
Little Miss will be a second-grader. My knees went weak, and my eyes filled up with tears as I wrote that. A second-grader?! This school year has gone by so fast I can’t even believe it.
I thought I would look back at our May from last year and see if it was any more exciting than this May looks to be.
Last year around this time I was planning a garden, and while I have briefly considered that, I haven’t taken any serious action toward it, partially because of the crummy weather.
Last May I was also sharing chapters from Harvesting Hope, which released in August (cheap plug, you can still get the book HERE *wink*.
Also last year, our kitten discovered tree climbing and we spent much of May trying to coax her down from trees, which would later result in the local fire company climbing the ladder on their ladder truck to retrieve her. That last incident was in October, not May. She still climbs trees but so far she’s figured out how to get back down them.
Last May I decided to do a “No News May”.
which is interesting because I am considering doing the same this year. Last May I cut out almost all news, checking it maybe once a week by skimming headlines for less than five minutes and then logging off the sites. I remember that month being quite relaxing and productive actually.
So, how about you? What are your plans for May? Anything exciting? Let me know in the comments.
Welcome to Sunday Bookends where I ramble about what I’ve been reading, doing, watching, writing and listening to.
What I/we’ve Been Reading
I am still reading the first book in the Joe Picket series by C.J. Box, Open Season. It’s very good and fast-paced but I was also reading a book for another writer, so I had to keep setting it aside.
The other book I am reading is Violet’s Vow, a Christian historical romance novella by Jenny Knipfer.
Little Miss and I are reading By The Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder again. This is our second time around with this book and the second time I cried when Laura’s dog, Jack, dies. Good grief even working my way toward that part makes me cry. I wish Little Miss would find a new book series to become obsessed with, but it could be worse, I suppose.
Little Miss and I also finished Ribsy by Beverly Cleary this week. Ribsy is the story of the dog of Henry Huggins, another of Cleary’s characters, who gets separated from his family and has to find his way home.
For school, she and I read Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates. As it often is with old books, there was a death at the end of the book. Little Miss seemed to know what was coming and declared that if the main sheep in the book was dead at the end, she was tossing the book out the window. Our windows have screens, and she couldn’t get it open, so I told her to throw it out the back door instead.
She did and then later her brother threw it off the roof of the garage.
After that, Little Miss placed it in the burn barrel and told me to set it on fire the next time we burn the trash. That’s how much she hated how that book ended and I can’t say I blame her. I always hate books where the pet dies at the end. Curse Old Yeller. I’ll never read the book or watch the movie. Not even if someone offers me a million dollars. Actually, I’ll watch it only if someone offers me a million dollars to watch it.
The Boy was supposed to finish The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Friday but I am pretty sure he did not. I am encouraging him to start a book he wants to read for the last month of school to see if we do any better.
The husband is reading: The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.
What’s Been Occurring
The weather — I’m sick of writing about it, but well, it’s the only “interesting thing” going on right now. We had chilly days all week, but at least we had sun.
I have to say I don’t mind the chill at times. It’s nice to sip a cup of peppermint tea with honey (lots of honey, of course) and snuggle under a blanket while reading a book and brainstorming ideas for books and blog posts.
But I would also like some temps where the kids and I can go for a walk or sit on our porch without huddling in our coats and sweaters.
Little Miss had two of her little friends over one day last week and they lasted about five minutes outside when I tried a craft with them involving food coloring in ice cubes. The idea was to either rub the ice cube on the paper or let it melt and see what happened but the wind was too chilly so they dashed back inside after about five minutes. Kids today also have the attention span of a gnat so by the time they got inside they didn’t want to do the project anymore.
My goal this month is to help Little Miss focus on an activity for longer than five minutes at a time. My main goal then is to also wean her off the devices and instead have her find activities that will stimulate her brain.
Unrelated, but it seems everyone I know is going on vacation this week. One friend is on her way to Florida, another to Virginia.
My husband doesn’t get a vacation until July, and we aren’t sure what we are doing then, but we usually don’t travel far from home, for a variety of reasons, but mainly money.
Well, money and the fact my husband and I aren’t big on traveling or staying places we aren’t familiar with.
Now, unrelated to vacations is that I have been having horrible sinus issues for two weeks — to the point I have been barely able to breathe because of his stuffed my nose because of how stuffed my nose has been. I don’t want to do anything because breathing has been too hard.
My husband suggested I take an antihistamine to help dry me out. Apparently, it dried me out too much because my nose constantly felt swollen shut inside and my mucous was very thick. Thursday night I didn’t take any Loratadine and the next day I was still congested but nowhere near as bad. Apparently, Claritin was drying me out to the point my nose couldn’t even run and my lungs were so dry I felt tight inside.
I believe the weather change was what has been causing all my sinuses issues anyhow, so I probably didn’t even need the allergy medicine. Who knows. Maybe when the weather finally settles, I’ll be able to tell.
What We watched/are Watching
This week we watched Mystery Science Theatre 3000’s kickstarter project which my brother purchased for us for Christmas this year. They are starting a new subscription service and we are part of the lab rats while they figure it out and it’s been fun.
My husband was busy with a lot of work stuff so we didn’t watch a lot of shows together during the week. We did watch two episodes of the fourth season of Shakespeare & Hathaway, a British mystery show, which is finally up on Britbox.
While looking for clips from Shakespeare and Hathaway, I found a clip for a show called Why Didn’t They Ask Evans, which is a three-episode mini-series directed by Huge Laurie. I’m adding that to our que to watch this week.
Alone, I started a show called The Larkins. It’s very quirky and odd and I might be in love with it. It is based on a series of books and I have added those books to my list to buy.
I’m also looking forward to checking this show out while I take a much needed social media break in May (though I will be posting some on social media to promote Beauty From Ashes and helping with a reading group on Facebook I am a part of, I won’t be “surfing” on social media this month.):
It is about the real vet who still serves in the in the area where James Herriott, or Alf Wight, worked and based his All Creatures Great and Small books on.
What I’m Writing
I am writing two different stories at the moment, switching off depending on my mood, but I will most likely only share one on the blog if I decide to start sharing again on Fridays (pretty sure I will, probably this Friday).
It will probably be Mercy’s Shore that I share at this point, which is the fourth book in the Spencer Valley Chronicles series.
The other book I am working on is called The Devil’s Been Talking and it will be a stand-alone book, separate from the Spencer Valley Chronicles.
I have had a few ideas for blog posts but couldn’t seem to finish them for final posting. However, I wrote all or part of five blog posts yesterday. Shutting off the news and abstaining from social media helped that process. In other words, I do have plans to post more this week.
What I’m Listening To
I have not been listening to a ton of music and I need to remedy that because I feel better when I have good music in my ears. It helps to drown out the negative thoughts.
Now it’s your turn
Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.
April was torture weatherwise. Not only did it snow in late May, leaving heavy wet snow, but the rest of the month was mainly cold, wet, and gloomy.
We did have a few nice sunny days and we took advantage of them as much as possible.
We didn’t really do too much exciting in April. We picked up some local beef at a butcher. That was about the extent of our excitement.
If you want to see what blog posts I shared last month, you can access them on the archive drop down menu in the sidebar at the right.
I did share a post about why I had been writing less fiction and a few other ramblings about my writing and fiction. I also shared a post about how to find your creative spark again when it comes to writing.
I hope to share more blog posts in the month of May. For some reason, May often seems to be a productive blog month for me.
How about you? How was April for you? Productive? Wet? Cold? Warm? Stormy? Dull? Or Exciting? Let me know in the comments.
In the meantime, here are some photos from our month, including a few from today, the last day of April, when we noticed our tulips were finally blooming. We also watched a bee buzzing around looking for flowers to take pollen from and let him know he will probably have to wait another week or so.
