Meet Marjorie Brody

Please welcome Marjorie Brody as my Wednesday's Guest today. I asked her for a quick introduction and she wrote: "I love scuba diving, the theatre, escaping into books, creating characters and stories from a blank page, my husband, our four children, and our five grandchildren—and not necessarily in that order. I met Maryann and her son at an Author and Artist event in Killeen, Texas, rapidly devoured her novel, One Small Victory, and hope our paths cross more often."

I second that motion, and since we both live in Texas, further meetings in person could happen. In the meantime, grab a glass of lemonade, sit back and enjoy the visit as we chat about... well, stuff.

Marjorie: Thank you for inviting me to It’s Not All Gravy, Maryann. I appreciate you reviewing my psychological suspense, Twisted, and especially admire your restraint in not giving away the ending. No apology needed for missing clues. While they begin on page one, they do remain subtle until Sarah needs them not to be. Thanks for reading her story. I hope it touched your heart. Now, you wanted to ask me some questions. I’m ready whenever you are.

Q.  If you could go back in time, what one thing would you change about yourself?
A. Ah, to have that kind of magic. I’d give myself more confidence earlier on, especially around academics. I think I’ve had an undiagnosed dyslexia and reading was always a challenge for me. I remember a teacher berating me because I reversed words in a sentence when I had to read in front of the class. “If the author wanted those words reversed, Margie, he would have written them that way.”

I can still feel my cheeks heat. I would try to figure out what section I’d be called on to read and would jump ahead to practice that section while my classmates read. Naturally, I heard nothing of what they read in class and would have to reread their sections at home. My first grade teacher told my parents never to expect too much of me academically, that I’d always be an average student. I wonder if that teacher’s definition of average included being on the Dean’s list, earning a doctoral degree, having three plays produced for the stage, publishing short stories and an award-winning novel. Wish I could speak with that first grade teacher now.

Q.  Before I ask the next question, isn't it great fun to be able to prove the nay-sayers wrong? I had a similar experience, but without all the degrees to follow. (smile) I know your background is in psychology, but I wonder if you have always wanted to be a writer?
A.  I’ve always written. In elementary school, it was poetry and what is now called flash fiction, in high school I wrote a novella. I continued to write poetry and short stories off and on, but didn’t know I would enter the field of fiction until 2001. My parents wanted me to become a teacher because, “God forbid something should happen to your husband (I wasn’t even married at the time), I would need a way to support myself and my children.”

I bet those beliefs must seem ancient to modern women.

I did teach for a brief time, but when my husband went on for a second Master’s degree and then a Doctoral degree, the competitive part of me wanted to keep up with him. Psychology and marriage and family therapy courses excited me and led me into a career as a psychotherapist. I developed a reputation for helping severely dysfunctional clients turn their lives around. I loved the challenge. It’s a sacred privilege when someone shares his/her journey with you. And when that person changes an unhealthy intergeneration behavior and makes things better for the next generation, wow, how awesome is that? But after decades in the field, my professional growth had peaked—and I always want to be growing and learning. Around the same time, my desire to write pushed to the surface and prompted me to attend the Santa Barbara’s Writing Conference (2001). I left that experience determined to write a novel. In 2007, I gave my clinical practice to a colleague and stepped into a full-time writing career.

Q.  It's wonderful that you were able to accomplish so much in another career and have now found your way to writing. On another note, I wonder what is your fondest childhood memory?
A.   Not only my fondest, but one of my earliest: I am 3 ½ - 4 years old. My parents, younger brother and I were visiting my grandparents in Florida. We were probably showing them my newest baby brother. My grandfather had a boat he’d take us out on (we kids would be tied by a cord so we didn’t fall over). He also had a mariner best friend we called Captain. One day during our visit—maybe because the new baby was getting so much attention—Captain took my brother and me to a toy store and told us we could buy anything we wanted. “Anything?” my brother asked, his eyes wide with excitement.

“Anything,” Captain said. The store seemed gigantic from my young eyes. I remember bicycles and tables and chair sets hanging from the ceiling. Captain waited at the register in the front of the store while I walked up and down aisles picking up and examining items of interest: tiny china dishes, games, doll houses, stuffed animals. I sat in cars that could really drive, walked in princess high heels, sat on a rocking horse twice my size. I finally decided on a four-foot high doll dressed in a long wedding gown, a veil and heels. She held a bouquet of cloth flowers in her hand. The box declared her Betsy the Beautiful Bride. I cherished that doll for years. What struck me so vividly about that experience was the vast freedom the Captain had given us. We could have anything we wanted. The power to choose. Hmm, I hadn’t consciously associated this memory with Sarah’s, my protagonist in Twisted, until this very minute, but for those of you who read it, you’ll understand the connection.

Q.  Ah, I do see the connection. It is so interesting when one of our childhood memories slips into a story. I know you like books and theatre, but I'm curious if you have a favorite movie?
A.  I’m not sure I have a favorite movie, but I do have a  favorite scene. In Camelot, King Arthur (Richard Harris) and Guinevere (Vanessa Redgrave) dance to the song “What Do The Little Folk Do”. I have never been fond of that song, but there is a moment when they are dancing and the viewer knows that King Arthur knows that Guinevere is having an affair and Guinevere knows that he knows, and he knows that she knows he knows—you get the idea—and not one word is said directly about their painful awareness. Wow, what powerful subtext. That’s one of the things I like in novels too, when the reader can tell that something else is going on under the surface but it’s not overtly written on the page.

Q.  That is a good point about things not being overly written on the page or shown in a scene. I love an actor's ability to say so much without one word. Now the final question, just for fun,  do you have a pet?
A.  Oh, I’m so glad you asked that, Maryann. I do. in the past I’ve had cats, as well as medium-sized dogs—often at the same time. Now, I have the sweetest nine-pound Yorkiepoo, named Cuddles, who lives up to her name. Like a proud Momma, I’ll share this picture with you.

 Thanks for the picture of Cuddles. As my friend LD Masterson would say, "Aw!" Also, thanks so much for the fun interview and the great read.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Marjorie Brody is an award-winning author and Pushcart Prize Nominee. Her short stories appear in literary magazines and the Short Story America Anthology, Vols. I, II and III. Her debut psychological suspense novel, TWISTED, delves into the secrets that emerge following a sexual assault at a high school dance and features a remarkable teen who risks everything to expose the truth. Twisted was awarded the 2014 Best Young Adult Fiction Book Award from the Texas Association of Authors and an Honorable Mention at the 2013 Great Midwest Book Festival. Twisted is available in print and ebook at

The second Tuesday of each month you will find her blog at the Stiletto Gang (a group of female mystery writers) Marjorie invites you to visit her website or on Twitter  @MarjorieEBrody1 or on her Facebook page She can be reached via email at marjorie@marjoriespages.com

BOOK BLURB: Timid fourteen-year-old Sarah wants her controlling mother to stop prying into what happened the night of the freshman dance. Confide in the woman? No way. Her mother will say Sarah is totally to blame for what the boys did—which Sarah believes is true. Confess to the police? Get real. She just needs to hide the truth. From Momma. From the police. From everyone.

A mysterious connection pulls her toward Judith, a beautiful, confident, eighteen-year-old with the seemingly perfect life. Acting as Sarah’s sole confidante, Judith gains the power to expose Sarah’s secret. Will the truth be worth the sacrifice? Or will Sarah stop at nothing to keep Judith quiet?

Friday's Odds and Ends - Pretty Presents and More

One of my publishers, Untreed Reads,  just let me know that all the books at the online bookstore, Kobo, will be 50% off through December 31st, so readers can load books into their new electronic reading devices at a huge savings. The code can be used over and over through the end of this month. How cool is that. I may have to go check out some books for myself. Some of my favorite authors have some books there, so this is a great time to pick up some new ones.

If you are interested, here is the code to use - 50DEC - and here is the link to the Kobo site. I am pleased to have several of my titles available at Kobo: One Small Victory and Play it Again, Sam,  and the short stories: Making it Home, SAHM, I Am, The Visitor, and The Last Dollar. With the discount the short stories are under a dollar, and the two novels are well below $5.

Christmas was bittersweet this year, considering the big empty spot in our family, but we did manage to do some of the normal Miller traditions: Christmas Eve lasagna and White Elephant gift exchange, then dinner on Christmas Day followed by a movie.

In addition to the fun gift exchange, we do exchange other gifts, and my main gift from my kids was this beautiful stained glass artwork. I actually got it back in October, as my youngest daughter, Dany, saw it at an art fair where I was offering my books. She went around visiting all the other artists there - yes, writers are artists - and she saw this piece. She contacted her siblings to see if they wanted to chip in, and the vote was unanimous. 

This was taken with the picture leaning against the window where it will eventually hang.

This picture was taken with the glass leaning against the drawers in my desk. I thought the changes to the colors was interesting.

I also got another lovely piece of glass art from my oldest grandchildren. Owls and horses adorn many of my walls and shelves. Not literally, of course, but you know what I mean. (smile) I've heard that owls are a sign of good luck in many Asian cultures. I think horses are just a source of joy. 

This is a serving tray that I may just leave on my table for a while so I can enjoy it.

Finally, let's end on a fun note with a joke from Pearls Before Swine: 

Pig is sitting behind a desk and he says, "Hey, Rat. What you doing here?"

Rat replies, "Goat said you got an office job. I told him I had to see it for myself."

Pig says, "It's true. I go to meetings, read reports, write memos."

Rat says, "What? You don't know how to do any of that stuff."

Pig says, "No but I can learn."

Rat says. "Learn? These corporate types will eat you alive. What are you going to do the first time some boss comes in here to chew your head off about some stupid memo?"

"I've got a Time-to-Duck hole."

Rat says, "You're gonna duck?"

The Guard Duck pops up out of a hole on the desk, aiming a missile and says, "We're gonna tell him to write his own blankety-blank memo."

Pig says, "Everyone needs a Time-to-Duck hole," and from inside the hole the Guard Duck says, "Can someone bring me a doughnut?"

Monday Morning Musings

It was a brisk 30 degrees when I went for my walk this morning. Probably a warm spell for you folks north of the Mason Dixon Line, but for us in Texas that is cold, cold, cold. However not as cold as it was this weekend when temps dipped into the teens and we there were ice storms in West Texas that slammed into the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Courtesy of The Dallas Morning News

We were lucky here, 100 miles east, and only got a bit of ice that did not stay long and did not hamper driving.What it did was hamper our weekend performance of our holiday show, Calliope's Christmas. We had to cancel the Friday performance, but did manage to get Saturday and Sunday performances, and we had terrific audiences for both shows.

I was intrigued by today’s Google Doodle so I clicked on the link to go to the Time Magazine feed to see who that lady was sitting in front of what looked like the computers that did the data processing in the early years of data processing. It took a whole room full of large machines to do what many small processors are able to do now, and I remember going to where my husband worked and visiting the computer room. It was larger than my house and had rows of tall, metal machines that hummed and crackled with activity.

Today the doodle celebrates what would have been the 107th birthday of computer pioneer Grace Hopper (1906-1992) just in time for the “Hour of Code” kicking off Computer Science Education Week. Hopper created COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language,) the program that allows computers to communicate through language as well as numbers. That was the language my husband used as a programmer, and it has given way to far more sophisticated languages.

My book, One Small Victory, will be featured Tuesday at The Fussy Librarian, a new website that offers personalized ebook recommendations. Subscribers choose from 40 genres and indicate preferences about content and then the computers work their magic, sending recommendations for new reads. I joined a few months ago, and I really like getting information about new books. The whole idea is pretty cool, and you might want to check it out -  www.TheFussyLibrarian.com

Has the weather been kind to you this weekend?  Had you heard of Grace Hopper before? I will be honest and say I had not, but what an impressive resume she had. For those of you who have done computer programming you might be interested in how the term "bug" came about. She coined it. Check out the Time article for the details.

If you have a moment and want a bit of a humorous break to your day, join me at The Blood Red Pencil where I wrote about the joys of trying to work with little kids under foot and in your office.

Monday Morning Musings

This weekend my hubby and I went to see the movie "Alex Cross." There have been so many Cross books now, it is hard to remember what scenario goes with which book, and some of the elements in this movie hadn't been in any books, but that was okay. Overall, I liked the movie. Tyler Perry did a credible job as Alex Cross, and in some ways he suits the character better than Morgan Freeman did in "Kiss the Girls" and "Along Came a Spider." I love Morgan Freeman's work, but he just wasn't Alex Cross.

Some critics are really panning the movie, so perhaps it is just a matter of personal taste. Tyler Perry is trying something so different from straight comedy, and some of the critics are saying he has not done that well in this movie. I beg to differ. There were a number of scenes that called for deep emotional reactions, and Perry gave them, especially the scene where he decides to lay down his badge and go after the killer. Granted, he does not yet have the depth of dramatic acting like Morgan Freeman, but he did a credible job here, and, in my opinion, will only get better as Alex Cross.

Now let's just see how Tom Cruise does as Jack Reacher.

Art courtesy of http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/film3.shtml

While on the subject of reviews, I just have to mention this wonderful review of One Small Victory I saw this morning. Here is just a snippet: "I enjoyed this book very much. It is very well-written with good, accurate prose, a well-constructed plot and excellent characterization"

Doesn't it just make your day to get that kind of feedback? No matter how many books we write, I think all writers battle little doubts all the time. Will anyone like what I write? Susan Mary Malone covered the topic of those fears that plague writers in a recent post at The Blood Red Pencil.

Well, folks, we're coming down to the political wire. One final presidential debate airs tonight, and I can't resist the urge to ask the two candidates to please stop the bickering and attacking and interrupting and shouting and act like gentlemen.

This is Ruthie's take on the debates from the comic strip, One Big Happy: Ruthie is walking with her dog and says, "I wonder what would happen if n\Ninja Kitty met up with Buggy Crowspino. Would they get along just fine? Or would they get all nasty and start hissin' and peckin' at teach other?"
The dog just gives her a look.

"You know, like those guys on the TV debates."

Wednesday's Guest - Slim Randles

Some news to share before I let Slim Randles entertain you with his cowboy humor. First off, my friend, Irene Sandell, has a new book out.  Irene is a retired history teacher in North Texas, and she has a wonderful way of blending fact and fiction in her books. Don't you just love the cover?

I have enjoyed her work since I read her first book, In A Fevered Land, a look at the oil fields in West Texas and the people who worked them. I can't wait to read this latest one.

"Irene is first an historian -- specializing in real Texas History, the stuff you won't (always) find in the textbooks. She has captured a genre in her historical fiction that stands alone."  George Arnold, Author

On a personal note, Dan Wright has just written a wonderful review of One Small Victory, giving it 4.5 stars. "It’s brilliantly written and never once ceases with the drama, making you want to carry on reading to find out whether it has a happy ending or not." 

I always blush when someone uses "brilliant" in a sentence about me. Thank you so much, Dan.

Now, here's Slim.....

It was like buzzards circling the body.

The Jones kid, Randy, was out in the Mule Barn parking lot with the hood up on his car. He was staring down into it as a first-time parachutist would look out the airplane door. You never quite knew for sure what lay ahead.

“Looks like Randy’s got problems,” said Steve.

“Let’s have a look,” said Dud.

So coffee was left to get cold and the entire Supreme Court of All Things Mechanical – Steve, Dud, Doc, Herb and Dewey – trooped out to see what was going on.

They formed a powerful semi-circle of wisdom around the youth and his engine with folded arms and facial expressions that said, “It’s okay, Kid. We’re here.”

Dewey spoke first. “Having trouble, Randy?”

“Won’t start.”

Doc, who has the most initials after his name, said, “Give it a try.”

Randy ground the engine, but it wouldn’t kick over.

“Stop! Stop!” Doc yelled. “Don’t want to flood it.”

All Doc knows about flooding is that the animals went on board, two by two.

“Randy, I think it’s the solenoid,” said Steve, looking wise.

“Doesn’t have one, Steve,” Randy said.

“Sure it does. All cars have solenoids.”

“Not the new ones. Haven’t made solenoids in years.”

Steve’s expression said, “Young punks, what do they know?” But his voice said, “Well, what do you know about that?”

“Need a jump?” Dewey asked.

“Got plenty of spark,” Randy said.

Randy looked at the older men and then bent to the engine and smiled. His voice came floating up over the radiator. “Might be the junction fibrillator. Or it could be a malfunction of the Johnson switch. If I rerun the wire from the organ housing to the pump by-pass, that might get it done.”

When Randy looked up, all the men had gone back in for coffee. He smiled and called Triple A on his cell phone.
---------
Brought to you by Home Country (the book). Read a free sample at www.slimrandles.com

Wednesday's Guest - The Toad

Today one of my frequent Wednesday's Guests is over at The Blood Red Pencil, sharing some tips on improving the vocabulary of young people today. It is a fun post, so I hope you can hop over and see how Alphonse proposes to help kids, like, talk better.

I am a guest on Terry Odell's blog where I have posted the recipe for some scrumptious hamburgers my husband makes frequently. 

Now back to regularly scheduled programming.

This absolutely wasn't planned, folks, but today's guest is the toad I found in my bathroom. I was getting cleaned up and dressed after my morning walk and happened to notice something gray at the top of one of my cabinets that reaches to the ceiling. I didn't have my glasses on so I couldn't tell what it was, and at first I thought it was a glob of plaster. However, I remembered I just refinished that cabinet and there was no glob of plaster on it.

What could it be?

I got my glasses and looked up. "Is that a toad? How did a toad get up there?"

It didn't move and was so pale I thought at first it was petrified up there. Petrified, as in it had become a stony replica by petrifaction.

I couldn't reach it without getting a step stool, and I didn't want to bother going to the shed, so I got a hanger and poked at it. I figured if it was dead, it would just fall down. To my surprise, it turned and looked at me. Obviously, it was just petrified, as in paralyzed with fear.

I am going to have to get the stool at some point so I can put the toad outside. Otherwise God knows where it will go. If it isn't caught by one of the cats, it could turn into a toad mummy at some point.

If you notice the little droplets of water in this picture, that's from me spraying him to give him a drink.
I'm such a softie.

On another note, I have taken my suspense novel, One Small Victory, out of the Select program at Amazon, and it is now available for  NOOK. As soon as I can, I am going to get it up on Kobo and Smashwords.

UPDATE: The toad is now happily living outside.

Having a Bit of Fun at a Yard Sale

Before we get into the fun part of today's post, I just want to mention that my short story, The Visitor, is free today then tomorrow, One Small Victory goes free for five days. This will be the last time One Small Victory will be free, but I will occasionally put a short story free again for Kindle. With so many other reading devices out there now, I just don't see the wisdom in keeping the novel limited to Amazon.

If you do download the stories and are so inclined, I would love it if you could leave a short review on Amazon. It is amazing how those reviews can help an author.

And now please welcome my frequent Wednesday's Guest, Slim Randles, with a bit of country humor. 

The hassled, red-faced man cruising the neighborhood Saturday morning in the pickup truck is good ol’ Bert, of course. It’s a Saturday in summer, which means only one thing in our part of the country – yard sales. That’s why the charming lady riding next to him, his wife, Maizie, was wearing a big grin.

“There’s one Bert,” she said. “On the right. Pull over and park.”

Not exactly Maizie's, but Close

It took Maizie almost 20 minutes to work her way up the driveway. There were three boxes of paperback books to go through first, then a shelf full of various knobs.

After getting two paperback books that she hadn’t read in several years, there was a little stack of doilies to go through.

“We don’t need doilies,” Bert said.

“Hush!” said Maizie. “People will think you aren’t friendly.”

Then she spotted the lamp.

It was only five bucks, and it was a golden brown like a big fat vase and had a nice amber shade on it.

“Oh Bert,” Maizie said. “It’s a lot like the one we used to have. Remember that one? It used to sit on the end table closest to the door to your den. I really miss that lamp. Let’s get this one, Bert. It’ll remind us of the one we used to have, OK?”

“It is kinda nice,” Bert said.

Maizie bought it and Bert loaded it in the pickup, along with the new ironing board, game cartridge for the grandkids, plant pots for the geraniums, dishes for Maizie’s dish collection, a serving spoon holder from Niagara Falls, and a five-gallon milk can to put magazines on.

When they got home and were unloading, Bert noticed Maizie’s initials on the bottom of the new table lamp. Didn’t the Johnson’s buy this from them in their yard sale about 10 years ago?

Oh well, nothing shines like a new lamp, and Bert might be tired of yard saling, but he is still gentleman enough not to spoil it for Maizie.
------
Brought to you by the new book Home Country ,at www.slimrandles.com 

A to Z Challenge - M is for Monarch

For my nature theme, I thought I would focus on the Monarch butterfly today. I have always loved these butterflies, and when I was a child, our yard in Michigan teemed with them in the spring and summer. I didn't learn about the great migration until years later and was amazed that these delicate little creatures can travel hundreds of miles. The Monarch is famous for its southward migration from Canada to Mexico in the winter, then a return north in the summer. This migration can span  the life of three to four generations of the butterfly.

Here in Texas we would see the butterfly en masse in early spring, but not so much any more. The milkweed, which is a major attraction for the monarch, has been disappearing along with the butterfly. HERE is an excellent article that explains some of what is happening to this beautiful little creature. We are definitely slowly killing our planet.
~~~~~~~~
Yesterday's Friday the 13th Mystery Event was a lot of fun. I met so many new friends on various sites all over the Internet. What a wonderful way to meet people without having to leave home. I am pleased that my book made it to the top 10 best-seller list for suspense on Amazon, thanks to all the folks who downloaded the book. Many of these books, including my One Small Victory, are free again for today, so tell your friends there is still time to get some good books for their Kindle. All of these are from award-winning authors who have first published with major publishers.

1. Darker By Degree by Susan Branham and Keri Knutson - A missing girl. A mysterious break-in. A brutal murder. 

2.  Diary of Murder by Jean Henry Mead -  Dana Logan's wealthy sister, Georgi, dies and Georgi's husband claims it was suicide. Dana knows her sister would never take her own life and sets out to prove it was murder, with her friend, Sarah Cafferty. 

3. Ghost Island by Bonnie Hearn Hill - Is Aaron a dream, or is he something much more deadly? Livia Hinson has just begun a Seminar at Sea when a storm hits their boat. Now, she is stranded with the other students on an island off the coast of California. NOTE: For some reason this book is still listed at $2.99

4. Kiki Lowenstein and the Purple Passion: A Kiki Lowenstein Short Story by Joanna Campbell Slan - When a customer’s daughter is falsely accused, Kiki Lowenstein foils a nasty plan to ruin the girl’s reputation. 

5. One Small Victory by Maryann Miller - the story of one woman's courage. Suspense novel by Maryann Miller, based on a true story of a woman who infiltrated a drug ring and helped bring down a major distributor in her small Texas town. Don't discount what a mother can do to protect her children. 

6. Rock & Roll Homicide by RJ McDonnell - The 1st novel in the Rock & Roll Mystery Series finds PI Jason Duffy helping the widow of a slain rock star after she climbs to #1 in the police suspect charts. 

7. Sink or Swim by Stacy Juba - After starring on a hit game show set aboard a Tall Ship, personal trainer Cassidy Novak discovers that she has attracted a stalker. Can she trust Zach Gallagher, the gorgeous newspaper photographer assigned to follow her for a local series? 

8. Southeast Asian Quartet by William S. Shepard - Mystery, suspense and murder in Southeast Asia in the style of Somerset Maugham, these four tales evoke Singapore, Borneo, Malaya and Indochina. Draw up a chair at the Raffles Bar and join us.

9. Taken by Debra Lee -  Welcome to the fictitious little town of Watery, Pennsylvania where the district attorney’s personal secretary, Mary Murray never planned to become a single mom or a suspect in her infant’s disappearance. 

10. The Four Last Things by Timothy Hallinan - Hired to follow a young woman, private eye Simeon Grist becomes mired in murder and a million-dollar religious scam in The Four Last Things, the first in a series of highly-praised LA private-eye novels written in the 1990s by 2011 Edgar nominee Timothy Hallinan. 

11. When a Man Loves a Woman - Enhanced Multimedia Edition by Alina Adams - Can a man and woman ever truly be just friends? What about if one of them is married? What if one of them suddenly isn't anymore?  

12.  Willowtree by Mike Bove - Bruce DelRano, retired postman, golf and food nut, finds a body near the golf course. He believes the murder is connected to others and involves his Apache friend. Together, they stay a step ahead of the police in trying to solve the cases. 

13. Whispering by Gerrie Ferris Finger - Will Cleo Snow admit to making love with charming World War I fly-boy Graham Henry to clear him in the disappearance of an island woman who claims he plans to marry her? Will Graham compromise Cleo to clear himself?

A to Z Challenge - K is for Kingfisher

Azure Kingfisher

Following my nature theme, today I thought I would write about a bird that has always fascinated me, even though I have never seen one in real life.

I've always thought that kingfisher was an unusual name for a bird and I wondered why they were called that. Perhaps because they eat a lot of fish? Although they do eat other things, like lizards.

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher

One won't find kingfishers in North America. Some species are tropical, with most of the others living in Europe and Australia. Some of the birds are known as river kingfishers, some as tree kingfishers and some as water kingfishers. They are small to medium sized brightly colored birds, and all have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with little differences between the sexes. Like some other birds, they nest in cavities, usually tunnels dug into the natural or artificial banks in the ground.

Kingfishers are generally shy birds, staying away from people, but people have always been fascinated by the little birds, possibly because of the bright coloring and some of their behaviors. 

For the Dusun people of Borneo, the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher is considered a bad omen, and warriors that see one on the way to battle should return home. Another Bornean tribe consider the Banded Kingfisher bird of good omens. 

The Sacred Kingfisher, along with other Pacific kingfishers, was venerated by the Polynesians, who believed it had control over the seas and waves.

~~~~~~~~~~
Starting tomorrow for Friday the 13th, a group of 13 mystery authors have banded together to bring some good luck to readers. We are offering our books free for the weekend for the Kindle. My suspense novel, One Small Victory is just one of the books. For a complete list of the books click HERE

What's Wrong With Education Today?

For a long time, I thought the education system in most states was way off the mark, and I am not alone in thinking that. I was reminded of the importance of a classical education when I found an interesting article in School Book, an online magazine for the NYC school system.  A Lesson in Teaching to the Test was written by Anne Stone and Jeff Nichols, both associate professors at NY colleges and the parents of eight-year-old twins in the third grade in New York City schools. They recently introduced their children to E.B. White’s wonderful book, The Trumpet of the Swan, about a mute swan given voice by a trumpet stolen for him by his father.

The book contains a passage that the couple cite in their article about a teacher who is in the midst of a mathematics lesson. This is what she asks one boy. as well as his response.

“Sam, if a man can walk three miles in one hour, how many miles can he walk in four hours?”

“It would depend on how tired he got after the first hour,” replied Sam.

What follows is a lively discussion among the students and the teacher covering all kinds of things that might factor into the distance and the timing. I encourage you to go read the entire piece as it is quite interesting. Unfortunately, that exchange is not something that would probably happen in a classroom today, although it should. The authors make the point that the little scene from White's book  "...captures what volumes of education research have shown: we are born curious, and the best education models do not proceed on the basis of 'what we want students to learn.'"

My interest in this topic was spurred by a recent column I read in The Dallas Morning News. The author of that column, Kim Rice, wrote, "My entire educational experience consisted of learning one happy fact after another. A name here, a date there and those delightful little rules all over. Alas, I was a miserable memorizer."

That opening to her column resonated with me, because facts fall through my brain as if it had holes. Like, Kim, I was lucky to have a college professor who "cracked open a door that exposed the difference between being trained to do and being educated to think. I discovered ideas."

I was also lucky enough to have a bit more of a classical education in high school - this was before the idea of standardized testing came to be. It's hard to quantify what I learned because I did not come out with facts and figures that could be measured. What I did come out with was a mind that was quick and eager to learn, and really has not stopped.

What about you? What kind of education did you receive? Do you think we are losing something vital by not offering a classical education anymore?


On another note, I just have to share part of this wonderful review I recently received for One Small Victory. 
"Excellent! That is one small word that hardly describes a novel written with such heart. Maryann Miller is an accomplished writer, weaving her tale of intrigue, romance and determination. She takes her readers on a wild ride of adventure that will not be soon forgotten." Highly Recomended by Reviewer: Elaine Fuhr, Allbooks Reviews Int.

Another Reason to Abandon the NFL

I used to really enjoy watching football. It started with high school football when I was in high school and we had a winning team. It was so exciting to go to the games and cheer the team and swoon over the quarterback, on whom I had the biggest crush. I still enjoy high school football and will sometimes go to watch a game even now. No more crushes, but there is still just a bit of that school pride and excitement for the game that a spectator can absorb just sitting in the bleachers.

When we moved to Texas in the late 60's, I became a huge fan of the Dallas Cowboys, and saw in some of those players - Roger Staubach, Lee Roy Jordan, Drew Pearson, Ed "Too-Tall" Jones, Robert Newhouse - that same love of the game and eagerness to just go out and play.

That has changed in more recent years, and I will admit that I have lost my football spirit. Sometimes I still watch a game with my husband, but I don't look forward to football Sunday like I used to. Part of the reason is that it has become about so many other things than the game itself. It is about salaries and who can make the most money. It is about bigger and grander stadiums, with ticket prices out of sight for too many people because of the stadium price-tag. And it has lost its sense of fair play and good sportsmanship.

In all fairness, maybe that last statement is too broad, but we can't deny that "winning at all costs" has superseded what used to be a sport of men who played with some sense of respect and honor.

That has become abundantly clear with the latest scandal that the NFL wishes would just disappear from the news. Last week the NFL released a report that said that for three seasons the New Orleans Saints had a bounty pool that was handled by a defensive assistant. The pool paid out for big hits that would take out an opposing player, and apparently the coaching staff of the Saints knew about it, as did the general manager.

According to an editorial in The Dallas Morning News, this practice is not limited to the Saints.

This is absolutely reprehensible behavior, and I, for one, resign from the role of being an NFL fan. I'll go watch a high school team when I start missing the game.

On another note. I have put my suspense novel, One Small Victory, up for free for today and tomorrow on Amazon. This is the end of Read an E-Book Week, and I thought I would celebrate by giving my readers a gift. Enjoy....

Some Exciting News

Three years ago I signed a contract for the audio version of One Small Victory and had just about given up hope that it would ever come out. Just a little while ago I discovered that it is a new release from Books in Motion, with a brand new cover and a great reading by Beth Richmond. I went to the site to hear the sample of the reading and was very impressed.

I know I have met some folks at signing events who asked if it was going to be an audio book, so I am happy to let them know it now is.

For those of you who have read the book, I'm curious as to what you think the candle signifies in this cover.

Wednesday's Guest - Slim Randles

I must have been cloned. Otherwise how could I be in three places at once. Here in my office working. Over at the Blood Red Pencil for my usual first Wednesday blog, and as a guest at a neat blog, Coffee With a Canine, where I introduce our dog, Poppy. While I am off gallivanting all over the Internet, my friend Slim Randles shares a post with you. Enjoy....

The phone rang just before Dewey pulled off his clothes for his end-of-workday shower.

“Hi Dewey.”

He smiled. “Hi Emily.”

“Hope I’m not interfering with anything by calling you.”

“Just got home from work and about to dive into a shower, so you called at a good time. How are you?”

He thought that would be a good way to start a conversation with this paragon of single bureaucratic woman.

“I’m fine. Thanks, Dewey. May I ask you some more questions? Got them right here. Tell me first, though, do you always shower after work?”

“Every day.”

“Any special reason? I mean, is it related to the cow manure thing?”

“Directly, actually. Cow manure … well, it permeates my very existence. It fills my waking hours. It … oh, it’s hard to explain.”

The king of fertilizer grinned as Emily Stickles wrote notes on the other end of the phone. If she wanted to think of him as having a fertilizer fetish, he didn’t mind. As long as she called.

“I’ve been reading up, Dewey. I think that … together … we can break this hold cow manure has on your life.”

“Oh, Emily, you really think so? What should I do about it, you think?”

“To get started, you should picture yourself free of cow manure. Just tell your mind that cow manure has no place in your thoughts and your life. Let’s see if that will cancel out some of the … unpleasantness.”

“You think cow manure is unpleasant, Emily?”

“You like it?”

 “Let’s say I like what it can do for others. It’s a little like a smile or sunshine,” said our fertilizer king, “it works wonders when you spread it around a little.”

Emily Stickles, the county employee in charge of fixing things for people who don’t realize they need fixing, was silent.

 “Dewey, we really need to talk.”

 “Dinner at the Chinese place tomorrow, maybe?”

 Then he just sat there, glowing in fertile, pre-shower radiance, and grinned.
                                                         ------------------
Brought to you by Slim’s award-winning book “A Cowboy’s Guide to Growing Up Right.” Learn more at http://www.nmsantos.com/Slim/Slim.html 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January seems to be a great month for lots of e-book discounts. Many publishers and writer's groups are offering titles for 99cents or for free. If you have a Kindle, this is a good time to stock up on some good reads. My suspense novel, One Small Victory, is free for two more days. The authors at Backlist eBooks have some of their books listed for only 99cents. Their sale ends on January 8th.

Change is Hard - In Life and in Writing

This morning after my shower I dried off with a towel that is the last of a stack of about 30 towels my uncle gave my husband and I for a wedding present. To put this in context, we just celebrated our46th wedding anniversary. These towels were a mis-matched assortment, some with flowers, some with geometric designs, and a number of them were plain. But they were all different colors.

For years my more decorative-minded kids laughed at the combination of towels in the bathroom that might include one blue washcloth, a yellow hand-towel, and a row of bath towels hanging over the shower bar of wildly clashing colors and designs. Mind you, there were seven of us taking showers.

Back to this morning. I got dressed and realized I was wearing a pair of white shorts that I have had for probably 20 years. Then I walked into the living room and stopped for a moment. The couch and loveseat are at least 30 years old, and since we have lived in this house - 10 years - they have not moved except for cleaning underneath and behind. After the cleaning, they go right back in the same place.

So then I went to throw a load of laundry in the washer and stopped again for a moment.  This washing machine is almost 40 years old. Of course, of all the old things in this house, including my husband and me, this one will stay if I act on any wild urge to update everything.

By now, I'm sure you've caught on to the fact that I am reluctant to change. So is my husband. We have our things, and our routines, and we like them very much, so it is hard for us to start stirring  it all up.Just leave us in our comfort zone.

In thinking about all this as a possible blog topic, I realized that this reluctance to change affects my writing, too. I remember early in my career when a trusted critique partner suggested I change an entire book from first person to third, I almost went into full panic mode. Granted, it was a children's book, so it was only about 200 pages, but still. Change the whole thing?

While my living room might still look the same as it did ten years ago, and I wear clothes I have had forever, I have gotten better about changing what needs to be changed in my writing. I still don't like it. I'd rather start something new than go through that rewriting and editing process, but it is a necessary process.

Writers, what about you? How easy is it for you to tear into a manuscript and nip and tuck to make it better?

Having a bit of fun

I know. This is Tuesday and I don't normally post on Tuesday's, but I thought you might like to have a little fun with us at the Blood Red Pencil today.

I'm a regular contributor to the Blood Red Pencil blog, and today we are featuring the authors behind the book, Write More Good, a guide to editing that is sure to get you fired. The book is a spoof on the AP Stylebook and is quite funny. We do a regular Ask the Editor series on the blog, and I thought it would be fun to have them answer questions today. No telling what kind of answers we will get, so if you have a moment, stop on by and join the fun.

Book Review - Swept Away by Marsha Canham

Back in March when authors who are part of the Backlist E-Books group were participating in a special sale, the book that kept popping up as a best seller on Kindle lists right along with my One Small Victory, was Marsha Canham's Swept Away. 

At first I thought her book was another contemporary suspense novel, and I was really surprised to discover it is a historical romance set in Regency-period England. The story does have a mystery, and there are some suspenseful moments when the hero and heroine are in danger, but I had a hard time seeing a close connection to my book, until I thought more about the heroine of Swept Away.

Annaleah Fairchilde is a strong woman who wants no part of the conventions of society, and she finds an ally in her Aunt Florence, who long ago thumbed her nose at what is expected of a woman. While visiting her aunt, Annaleah finds a half-drowned, mostly naked man on the beach. She pulls him out of the approaching tide and he is eventually brought to her aunt's house, and her aunt recognizes him as Emory Althorpe.

Being a romance novel, there is of course the attraction between the two central characters, but the story also encompases a mystery and adventure. Emory is being hunted as a traitor to England, responsible for Napoleon's escape from Elba and suspected of a plot to save Napoleon from exile to St. Helena. Annaleah believes in his innocence and becomes involved in his attempt to discover the truth about himself and reveal the identity of the real traitor.

It may have been pure coincidence that our books were so closely together on those Kindle lists, but it also may have been because they both have strong women leads, and readers are always ready to cheer for a protagonist who steps up to the conflicts and challenges instead of sitting back and letting the men handle it all.

Swept Away is  a well-written book with a complex plot and lots of adventure. The historical aspects were well-researched and came across believable. I really liked the characters, especially Aunt Florence, who had some of the best quips in the book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

FTC Disclaimer: I bought this book myself and made no promises to myself, or others, to do a review. It was just to satisfy my curiosity. The author may benefit from this review in that a few more people might buy her book, and I suppose in a round-about way that may benefit me if our books are still on some of the same best-selling lists. Perhaps I should go check.

Friday's Odds and Ends

Okay, professional sports has gone way beyond nuts. Used to be when a team won a major title the home city had a nice parade, with maybe some confetti and lots of cheering fans. But there was no violence. No riots. No looting. Then somewhere along the line all that got added to the victory celebration and the cost for cleanup was substantial.

I thought that was bad enough, but in a new twist, this week there were riots and looting in Vancouver, but not for winning the Stanley Cup. Thousands of fans took to the streets and trashed the city, injuring 150 people, because the Canuks lost the championship hockey game.

Could we all just grow up?

The latest news to come from the riots is a picture of a couple kissing in the midst of the rioting. A young photographer caught the moment and the photo has gone viral on the Internet. Ned Potter of ABC News wrote:

One headline called it "love among the ruins." History will decide, but one could imagine it becoming as iconic as the famous Life magazine shot of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square the day World War II ended.

 I think not and I think it is an insult to make that association. Here is a link to the photo. You judge for yourself. 

So Weiner finally decided to resign. Good thing, too. I'm not sure I could have listened to his whiny little voice making another excuse for his behavior. And the latest news is that Hustler Magazine has made him a job offer. I thought it was a joke, but it's not. Details here if you are so inclined.

If anyone is dying to buy my book, One Small Victory, in Turkish, here is your chance. I just received links from the Turkish Publisher.  

The book is listed on a number of sites and the publisher sent me links to all. Of course I vistited each one and it was all Turkish to me. LOL

I do like the cover. What do you think?

Let the Adventures Begin

Today's post is from Tracy Farr. He has a twisted sense of humor to say the least. When he first started writing a column for me at WinnsboroToday.com, his blog was related to a fictional town, Stinky Creek, Texas. Then he started another blog at TracyFarr.net. His latest is School Bus Cowboy and it has the best of all of his writing. If you visit his blog, be sure to read his May 16th post about breakfast cereal. Enjoy....

Just the other night as I was driving home from Dallas, an SUV zoomed past me and I could see the kids sitting in the backseat watching a video. “Wall-E” it was – right there in the backseat. So since I’d never seen the movie, I sped up and stayed right on their bumper to watch it. It wasn’t quite as relaxing as a drive-in theater, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

The movie wasn’t half bad (even without sound), but when it was over, I started feeling sorry for those kids, as well as all the other kids of today. They’re not near as lucky as we were when we were kids. Kids of today never go anywhere without a hand-held video game or a stack of movies. And it doesn’t matter if they’re driving to Washington to visit the Smithsonian or they’re going down the street to Wal-Mart. See kid. See car. See kid get in car. See kid in car watching “Wall-E.” See parents thankful their kid is quiet for two hours.

When we were kids, we didn’t have such things as video games and DVD players and cell phones and text messaging. Nosirree! We had it much better. We had comic books and Etch-A-Sketch and portable chess games and maps so we’d know where we were. And if we got tired of all those luxuries, we made up games like “Count The Road Kill Between Towns” or “Stare Your Brother Down Until He Punches You In The Gut.”

Ah, yes. Those were the days.

My favorite long-trip activity was to follow our route on a map, marking off the towns as we passed them by. I’d say, “We’re coming up on Childress. Only 509 more miles till we get to Wolf Creek Pass.” And when we got to the other side of Childress I’d say, “That was Childress. Next town is Memphis. Only 506 miles to Wolf Creek Pass.”

I’d do my little human GPS thing until my Dad would say, “I’m coming up on a Truck Stop. You mention how many more miles we have left to Wolf Creek Pass and I’m leaving you there.”

Kids these days don’t care about maps. They don’t appreciate the joys of unfolding a new one, trying to follow along from town to town, and then trying to fold the map back exactly the way it came – which, by the way, requires an engineering degree to do.

Maps are a part of our American legacy. Our Founding Fathers came to this country using maps; they founded Virginia using maps; they went west and discovered Hollywood, Rodeo Drive and Big Screen TVs using maps. Of course, those maps were not folded – they were rolled up. Trying to fold a map back then would have taken precious time away from exploring the “New World.” And that sense of exploration is what is missing when our kids watch “Power Rangers” instead of counting the utility poles between Wichita Falls and Amarillo. (“Count The Utility Poles” was another fun activity our parents challenged us to do)

When we were kids, parents were much more inventive and creative than the parents of today. They had to make up things to do, tell stories, challenge kids at who could be the quietest the longest, and a whole lot of other fun-loving trip activities. Parents had to think on their feet, they had to manage crises on the go, they had to be sneaky, inventive, and resourceful.

Parents of today are taking the easy way out of traveling when they say, “Put in another video.” Those parents are actually sending a message to their children that it’s better to interact with Disney instead of with the people and world around them. Well, I say instead of letting Little Johnny watch “The Lion King,” let him count the buzzards that are circling that dead cow out in the middle of the pasture between Amarillo and Dumas. Let him experience the “Circle of Life” up close and personal – and in extreme high definition.

So the next time you go on a trip, whether it be to Branson, Missouri or the K-Mart down the street, I dare you – I triple-dog dare you – to leave the DVDs and the video games at home and come up with something to do on your own. Flex those little grey cells up there in that noggin of yours. When you do, that’s when the true adventures will really begin.

Book Review - Where Danger Hides by Terry Odell

 Since I didn't post my usual book review yesterday, here is another one from Carl Brookins. Keep 'em coming Carl. And here's a link to Daily Cheap Reads where a number of authors have books mentioned that are on sale for only 99cents. One Small Victory is one of the books on sale until the end of May.
~~~~~~~~~~~~


Where Danger Hides
By Terry Odell
ISBN 978-1-43282-512-6
Five Star Mystery from Gale
May, 2011

The novel is a suspenseful thriller with a healthy dose of romance.  Or maybe it’s a romantic thriller with a good deal of suspense that keeps this moving at a sometimes alarming pace.  “Where Danger Hides” is both, and it’s also a fantasy in particular in the way and the speed with which the two principal characters are drawn together.

Miri Chambers is the caretaker and overseerer of a San Francisco shelter primarily for abused women.  Galoway House also manages to shelter and care for a number of children and men, as well. There’s a lot more to Miri Chambers. She is adept at disguise, light-fingered and as prickly as one can get. Two wrong words and she is liable to go off like a rocket. That propensity for shoot-from-the-hip judgments and attitude may also be the reason for her nearly unbelieveable hormonal response to the hunk she meets on a clandestine foray into the home office of a wealthy art patron.

Her reaction to “just” Dalton isn’t much different from his.  He works for a private security firm that has a large well-funded and mostly covert group of operatives working well outside the usual legal limits. Dalton, one of Blackthorn’s elite black ops operatives has an appreciated eye for female anatomy, wherever he finds it, including hiding under the desk of the aforementioned wealthy San Francisco Art patron.

Dalton and Miri Chambers are all fire and sparks and hot sex throughout this rollicking novel.  The author has created a pair of characters who could each carry the novel solo, but when you pair them, look out.

The action carries Dalton and Chambers from posh and elegant settings to gritty exceedingly dangerous operations.  Readers are not likely to predict each succeeding move.  One is required to suspend disbelief and recognize from the outset that explicit play, both sexual and firearms, is integral to the story.

Nevertheless, the plot is carefully and fully laid out, the dialogue is mostly logical and the tension carries well through the entire book. Gritty, tender, frustrating by turns I did feel that there were times when both characters exhibited too obtuse attitudes and were slower on the uptake than they should have been, given their life experiences.

Nevertheless, this is a fun read that makes several important points along the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carl Brookins
www.carlbrookins.com, www.agora2.blogspot.com Case of the Greedy Lawyer, Devils Island,
Bloody Halls, more at Kindle & Smashwords!

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing all mothers the best for a wonderful day. Hope you are celebrating and being celebrated with those you love.
Just for fun, I thought I would share an excerpt from my humorous memoir, A Dead Tomato Plant and a Paycheck that deals with the joys of motherhood. Enjoy....

Early on I learned to take my joys in little things, since the big things like Mother’s Day, Christmas, and my birthday only came once a year. Some days it was a thrill to take seven forks out of the silverware drawer and find them all clean. You may think that’s a bit pathetic, but you have to understand that it might have been year and a half since I’d taken a single clean fork out of the drawer and finding seven was like winning a Lotto jackpot.

Other days it was a thrill to tell the kids to start cleaning their rooms while I made a quick trip to the store and come home to find them actually doing it.

Another universal thrill for all mothers is to discover some random afternoon that we have fifteen full minutes to ourselves to do anything we want. As any experienced mother can tell you, there are all sorts of things one can accomplish in fifteen minutes. You can take half a bath. You can read twenty-two and a third pages in a book. You can start that letter you've been promising your sister for the last two years and hope that none of the news becomes ancient history by the time you finish it.

Or how about when we ask our kids who ate the last piece of cake, and one of them answers, "I did."

 If and when this ever happens to you, be very careful how you react. If your husband comes home from work and finds you wandering around the house in a daze with a silly grin on your face, he may lock the liquor cabinet, reserve a room in your name at the nearest mental hospital, or both.


~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget the special sale on e-books starting today. Check my Friday blog for links to some bargain books.