Red Wolf's Room

  In finding  The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs by Tristan Gooley on the Amazon Wishlist of Whisperwind ASMR , it occurred to me that this book could provide some valuable information for writers, no matter what genre you write in. Readers usually pick up on details that clash or don't seem realistic. In addition to making your worldbuilding immersive, it can give you a good general knowledge about things you've wondered, but forgot to ask. For example, why is it common to have a smoky scent in the air during fall?    According to Gooley, temperature inversion occurs when you smell smoke on a cold morning. A "layer of warmer air traps a cooler layer near the surface." For example, you smell smoke in the fall from home fireplaces.  Keep in mind that this book sometimes focuses on specific areas, such as the English countryside, so the observations and tips Gooley provides will differ for warmer climates.  When there's a temperature inversion, sound, li...

  This novel is historical fiction because the author based it on her hometown of Cooperstown in New York. I also learned that this is a domestic novel, aka women's fiction. According to American literary critic Nina Baym, a domestic novel has a the following plot:  T he story of a young girl who is deprived of the supports she had rightly or wrongly depended on to sustain her throughout life and is faced with the necessity of winning her own way in the world . . . . At the outset she...looks to the world to coddle and protect her . . . . But the failure of the world to satisfy either reasonable or unreasonable expectations awakens the heroine to inner possibilities. By the novel's end she has developed a strong conviction of her own worth.     You Should Read The Monsters of Templeton  if... You enjoy genealogical hunts. You love worldbuilding. You want to solve a mystery. You're interested in books that touch on colonialism. Want a short, spoiler-free review?...