Ceremony follows the story of Tayo, a Native American who fought against the Japanese during World War II. The horrors he witnessed in the war have left him sick and restless, and he cannot settle into regular life upon his return. His fellow soldiers take to alcohol and violence to …
Welcome to the Spot Writers. The prompt for this month is “As the policeman pulled back the sheet she knew immediately that…” Today’s contribution comes from RC Bonitz, author of A BLANKET FOR HER HEART. His latest book, DANGEROUS DECISIONS, has just been accepted for publication by REBEL INK PRESS. …
This book had been on my “wish list” for several years, but I finally decided to buy it for myself. I love the movie The Mothman Prophesies, (I lost the DVD when I moved!) simply because I love the mystery surrounding the legend of the Mothman. I’ll admit I’ve watched …
For today’s Fantastic Friday post, I wanted to share some Memorial Day thoughts: Each year growing up, I biked several miles with my parents to watch the huge Memorial Day parade. It was a big deal, and of course to a kid, it was a day to have fun. It …
Welcome to the Spot Writers. The prompt for this month is to write a story including the words bird, roof, egg, war, hay. This week’s contribution comes from Cathy MacKenzie. Give Cathy’s new Facebook page, “Granny MacKenzie’s Children’s Books,” a “like” and a comment perhaps? The Grey Fedora by Cathy …
It’s spirit week at my school, meaning the students dress up as a theme each day. Wednesday was “zoo day,” and as a teacher balancing end-of-year projects, standardized testing, makeup work, and end-of-year “excitement,” I feel some days like a zookeeper. We also just finished reading The Life of Pi, …
This middle-grade/children’s book was available free as part of my Amazon Prime lending library, so I thought I’d give it a try. The theme also resonates with me: brave dogs changing humans’ lives for the better. The story follows Lady, an Irish Setter who is eventually “recruited” into the armed …
In The Kite Runner, protagonist Amir’s mother dies during childbirth in pre-war-torn Afghanistan. With the one-sided perspective of his father (physical strength! business prowess!), Amir’s childhood has the potential to be nightmarish. But Amir finds the role of “mother” filled by a male business associate of his father, a man …
Welcome to the Spot Writers. This month’s prompt is to write a story containing the following words: bird, war, hay, roof, egg. The following poem comes to us from Val Muller, author of The Scarred Letter, a reboot of Hawthorne’s original, which was just featured as one of Loudoun County’s …
What a fantastic book! I read all 379 pages in a single day. The Martian was recommended by a writer I respect, and he was right. I bought a copy for my dad for his birthday because I think he’ll love it, too. In short, it’s an archetypal journey involving …