Red Wolf's Room

  I jumped back into the Found Things series. Like Xanthe and her singing antiques, Book 2: Secrets of the Chocolate House by Paula Brackston has been sitting on a pile of books, calling my name for a few months now. It was so nice getting back into it. I listened to Adrian von Ziegler's "Resting by the Fire" as I had done when reading Book 1: The Little Shop of Found Things and it was like returning home! The writing has the same magic.  You Should Read  Secrets of the Chocolate House  if... You love antiques.  You enjoy meeting old friends again for a new adventure. You want to be spirited away through time. You are intrigued by the paranormal. You want to know more about Xanthe's power. Want a short and spoiler-free version? Check out my review  on Reedsy Discovery.  --  SPOILERS AHEAD  -- Photo by  Victor Clime  on  Unsplash Summary  Xanthe and her mother, Flora, are still working on drumming up business and ant...

So, I ordered four sweet potatoes in my online grocery order. Ordering groceries online is full of surprises. Maybe you get all of your items, maybe you don't or maybe you get substitutions and find new brands and items you wouldn't have tried otherwise.  It was the first time I've ordered sweet potatoes. They weren't in a bag; they were like other veg at the store where you pick the ones you want.  Well, I got a surprise. All four of them are the size of grapefruits.  Now, you might be thinking that it's funny, but so what? Why are you writing a blog post about it? Well, I'm a writer and a partly Irish one at that, so I kind of see them as a sign. As something worth noticing. Maybe I'm looking for meaning where there isn't any. All of the stock at the store may have been like that. Or the grocery store worker picked whatever as they silently counted down the seconds until their shift ended.  But I'm a writer who believes in Fate, who is maybe lookin...

  I think this novel is appropriate for International Woman's Day (March 8th) since it helps the protagonist go from accepting her life as is, mundane and unfair, to knowing the power she holds within herself. No, it's not a fantasy novel with a woman who can accomplish the impossible with powers, gadgets, or talking animals. But it does have some spiritual awakening, so by the end, Kelly has the confidence and power to #choosetochallenge .     You Should Read For the Love of a Pirate  if... You love pirates, specifically Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy You enjoy time-travel and reincarnations. You're psyched when spirits and ghosts are involved. Want a short, spoiler-free review? Check out  my review  on Reedsy Discovery! Summary  For the Love of a Pirate  by Laura Nelson introduces us to Kelly Hunter, your average woman who works a nine-to-five job for the State of Colorado. Working in the fraud section of the unemployment department, Kelly keep...

Since the troubling news I had received of late in the ASMR community, I threw myself into my artistic projects, one of which was this book review. The book was one I started back in September; it had been calling my name ever since I left it unfinished. At the time, I read half of the first chapter, but it felt depressing. It turns out that now was the right time to read it, and I listened to Adrien von Ziegler's haunting Celtic fantasy composition of Resting by the Fire . It complemented the story perfectly for me. You Should Read The Little Shop of Found Things if... You love antiques  You enjoy the new-in-town theme You want to be spirited away through time You are intrigued by the paranormal Want a short and spoiler-free version? Check out my review on Reedsy Discovery.  Summary  The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston is a historical fiction and fantasy novel that tells the story of Xanthe Westlake and her mother arriving in Marlborough, Wiltshire to s...