Val Muller

My forthcoming novel, The Man with the Crystal Ankh, is about a teenager who relaxes when she plays the violin—to such an extent that she goes into a trance that allows her to contact ghosts. It’s certainly inspired by my love of music, especially classical. Indeed, my radio is usually tuned to my local classical […]

I chipped my tooth the other day. As soon as people hear this, they want a really cool story. Perhaps something about me heroically trying to open a jar of pickles with my teeth, or maybe tackling a really wicked taffy apple or something. But the sad reality is, I was simply flossing. Perhaps, like […]

Thought and prayers to anyone affected by Hermine, the tropical storm that recently hit the Eastern U.S. As I live a bit inland, I was preparing for lots of rain, a bit of wind, and a few hours without power. Luckily, the storm stayed off to the east of where I live, and our area […]

As one of my publishers celebrates its fifth anniversary with a huge sale, I wanted to take the time to reflect on the power of books. This week was Back to School week–the first week swimming in a sea of high school students eager to read all the great works of literature. That is, when […]

I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus from my Fantastic Friday posts. It’s not because each week has not been filled with something fantastic, but I had the opportunity to spend two weeks at the beach, followed by a hectic first week back at school–where I changed classrooms and took on a new course, so […]

If you haven’t already read the post over on my Corgi Capers blog, I’m happy to share a very cool podcast I discovered recently. The podcast is called Lu and Bean Read. Lu and Bean are two young girls who were having trouble finding a podcast to listen to about stories for kids. Their entrepreneurial […]

This week, 7-11 gave out a free small Slurpee to all customers. Then, Chick-Fil-A celebrated the next day with “dress like a cow” day. All customers who dressed “cow-like” were given a free entrée. Without trying to be too political for a Fantastic Friday post, I wanted to celebrate the wonders of capitalism. I know […]

Summertime has always been my bliss. As a kid, I counted down the days until I could go barefoot in June. I loved (and still love) when the local ice cream shop opens for the warm months. I love the sounds of crickets and peepers and birds. There’s nothing more magical to me than the […]

A month or so back, I was contacted by Emma Powers of Turo, a peer-to-peer car rental company, asking if I would participate in an “auto”biography blog post about a car I own or used to own. Cars definitely seem like family sometimes, so I thought I’d give it a “go” (sorry, pun intended!). I […]