My old site, http://mercuryval.wordpress.com, has moved here, valm16.sg-host.com. All the posts and comments have been moved over to this new site. Take a look around–I hope you enjoy!
For the first time ever this year, I was sick for Christmas. So sick, in fact, that I had to call off the celebration. Christmas is the time for sharing, but the fever/flu I had was something I’d rather keep to myself. It was a quiet Christmas, one I spent mostly in bed or on the couch. I don’t think I’ve ever watched the film A Christmas Story so many times before!
While I was sick, however, I decided to polish off some of my “to be read” list. As an English teacher, I’m always reading (and re-reading) the titles I teach, so I have little time during the school year to read for pleasure. Being sick was a great opportunity to tackle my short stack of Christmas reading for the year. So now, feeling much less feverish, I thought I’d share what I read with you:
Sing We Now of Christmas by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
This is a romance book rated “3” on the “heat index.” I won a copy on a blog contest and wanted to save the story to read around Christmastime. The tale follows Jessica and Johnny, a married couple perfectly in love. But Johnny leaves for an early-morning fishing trip on the Fourth of July and never makes it back. A terrible storm passed over the lake as Johnny was fishing, and everyone presumes him to be dead. Everyone, that is, except for Jessica. Sticking to her hope to the point that everyone else thinks she is insane, Jessica refuses to believe that Johnny is gone, and she holds out hope that she will return for the holidays.
The plot has suspense built right in. As soon as Johnny disappears, the reader wishes for him to return. Flashbacks of Jessica’s first meeting with him allow the reader to feel how perfect their relationship is and increases the sense of urgency to get them back together. Happy flashbacks to their past relationship sprinkled throughout the story help to break up Jessica’s despair at not knowing what happened to Johnny or why he hasn’t made any attempt to contact her. As an author, I appreciated the way Murphy used different points of view to add information, increase dramatic irony, and build suspense. As the story unfolds, we are given more and more information to piece together the mystery. And as promised, the climax of the novel happens right during the holidays, making it an enjoyable read for this time of year.
As I sat curled up in bed listening to my husband cooking in the kitchen, the book helped me to remember what’s really important in life: not having beautifully-wrapped gifts or a perfect Christmas dinner—rather, having those we love the most right by our side.
Journey to Christmas Creek by Melinda Elmore
Earlier this year, author Melinda Elmore’s husband unexpectedly passed away. “Journey to Christmas Creek” is a story her husband used to tell their children, and Melinda wrote it down. DWB, Melinda’s publisher, decided to publish the story as a benefit to the Elmore family, helping them to cover final costs for their beloved. The short story is a fast but enjoyable read—it took me maybe thirty minutes to read it. The cover is wonderful, capturing the beauty of unadulterated nature while also paying tribute to Tommy Elmore.
The story is a coming-of-age tale following Spotted Buffalo, an adolescent determined to help his tribe find a new home and prove his manhood. It is the 1800s, and Spotted Buffalo’s tribe is making the slow trek to search for a better place to live. Eager to find a new home while the rest of the tribe is resting, Spotted Buffalo trusts that the Great Spirit will help him find the legendary Christmas Creek–but his sister, Gentle Tears, tags along for the ride. On their journey, Spotted Buffalo breaks his leg, and his sister must face terrifying dangers on her way back to find help.
This would be a great story to share with family during the holidays. It is a fast, enjoyable read that could easily become a Christmas tradition of its own.
Both stories stress the importance of family, and during this last week of 2011, I hope that you get to spend lots of time with yours. It doesn’t matter how sick you may be or what circumstances you may confront: as long as you have a loving family, you just can’t cancel Christmas.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year.
Welcome to my interview with Debbie Roppolo, author of Amelia Frump and her Peanut Butter Loving, Overactive Imagination The book has recently been released at Dancing With Bear Publishing.
Tell us about yourself:
Thank you for having me, Valerie. I’ve always enjoyed writing, but when I was a child, I wanted to be a vet instead of a writer. Writing meant sitting still for long periods of time, and that was not something I cared to do at then.
The desire to become a vet was fueled by my love of animals–we had horses, cows, chickens, and at one time, a raccoon. In tenth grade, my career choice changed when we were required to dissect a bird in biology. I discovered, as did my lab partner, I couldn’t stand the sight of blood and guts.
My first story was published in Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul in 2005. Since then, my stories have been in magazines, newspapers, and in a few more of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books.
I’m also a field editor for Taste of Home magazine, and an award-winning baker.
Tell us about your book:
Amelia is a nine year old girl, and like most children her age, she has a very active imagination that sometimes gets her into trouble. One night, as the winds howl through the treetops, she sees a spooky, bony finger tapping on the glass outside her bedroom window. She must use her imagination to save herself, and avoid becoming the final ingredient in a “Grubby Sock Casserole.
What is your favorite character or element of Amelia Frump and her Peanut Butter Loving, Overactive Imagination? Why?
I like all the characters in the story, but Amelia is my favorite. Her personality was based on my own, as a child. Like Amelia, I was a sassy, adventurous girl who enjoyed “thinking outside the box”. Instead of playing Barbie, there were tea parties with my ponies or chickens, and Bantam hens wore the latest in doll clothes fashion.
I too, was not a very neat child, and my favorite method of cleaning my room was sweeping everything under my bed. I also had a mischievous streak that would have made June Cleaver reach for a rum bottle, and it seemed (at the time) it was my goal to make my mother gray-headed before she was forty.
What book or author has been most inspirational for you, and why?
There have been so many books I’ve found to be motivational, but some of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books inspire me the most. Each collection has true stories of overcoming obstacles, joy, and dealing with grief, and the reader can gain wisdom from the contributor’s experiences.
If you were to be stranded on a desert island, what non-survival-related item would you bring along that you couldn’t live without?
I would probably go nuts if I couldn’t work on story ideas, so I’d have to bring my laptop and a battery rechargeable with solar power.
Are you working on any other projects at the moment?
I’m working on a children’s book that’s about a boy whose brother has autism.
When a child in a family is diagnosed, the parents are occupied with scheduling therapy sessions (occupational, speech, and others), and dealing with the emotional turmoil following the diagnosis. As a result, siblings may feel forgotten, and try to cope with their emotions by themselves. This book is about a boy, and his own journey through his brother’s autism.
What question do you wish I had asked?
You asked them all. Thank you so much for having me!
Finally, where can we find you?
Website: http://www.debbieroppolo.weebly.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/debbie.roppolo
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/debbieroppolo
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYXknTUpNyE]
I’m pleased to announce that Finding Home: Community in Apocalyptic Worlds is now available at Amazon.com with Timid Pirate Publishing.
My story, “The Girl with Sunrise in Her Hair,” is about a girl’s struggle to find peace and community in a land controlled by a dictator who has declared himself emperor of the remaining world: When the apocalypse comes, a power-hungry man with knowledge of the end has saved a portion of the world from destruction–to serve his own ends. Only Sonja seems to retain her will to think on her own and stand up to the control the emperor asserts over everyone else… until she finds out that she has company.
Wondering what this is all about? DWB Publishing is announcing its Christmas Contest. For details, listen in at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork/2011/12/09/a-good-story-is-a-good-story–host-marsha-cook this Friday at 2 p.m. Find out how you can win!
Also, now that you’ve found this picture, you’ll need a phrase to go with it: <<<Merry Christmas to All!>>>
I’ve just found out that two new anthologies were released, each one containing a short story of mine.
The first is a horror anthology called Under the Stairs and is published by Wicked East Press. My story, “Night of the Fish People,” is about a boy vacationing with his parents in the Caribbean. Awake and alone one night, he watches piscine terrors happen in the resort’s pool. His parents don’t believe him… until his father goes to check things out for himself.
The second anthology is through Red Skies Press, First Contact Imminent. My story “The Astrozen Composer” involves travel to a new world in which synesthesia is necessary because humans can only perceive the new world through music.
I just received the cover for my upcoming novella, “For Whom My Heart Beats Eternal.” This is a romance story involving a college student, a professor, time travel, and android robots. Yep. Fun stuff. It’s scheduled for release this spring with Rebel Ink Press.
I’m pleased to unveil the cover of Corgi Capers, set for release in January!
The cover was designed by Justin James
Following my trend of stretching my writing wings (away from predominantly writing horror), I’ve just received a contract for a novella I wrote. This one is new for me–a time travel romance involving robots! (It’s me we’re talking about here–you wouldn’t expect me to write a “normal” romance, right?)
The novella will be published as an e-book through Rebel Ink Press and will be available for purchase this spring.
I’m pleased to announce that my short story “The Girl with Sunrise in her Hair” is scheduled for publication in Timid Pirate’s Finding Home: Community in Apocalyptic Worlds anthology. It’s a story told largely through the journal of one of the youngest survivors of a global apocalypse. Part of a barren and hopeless population, she must choose between life in a dictator’s sanctuary or untamed life in the recovering wilderness.
Timid Pirate’s website, www.timidpirate.com, will start taking orders in early November. The book will be released in mid-December. For now, you can view the table of contents here: http://www.timidpirate.com/2011/10/16/post-apocalypse-community-toc/
