Happy (belated) Birthday! 🎂🎈 Wishing you a thousand beautiful moments and blessings. I couldn’t agree more—love, family, a few trusted friends, and good health are what matter most. Your life sounds full and meaningful, and I’m genuinely happy for you. I'm currently rereading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and Find Yourself at Home by Emily Grosvenor—keeping it all non-fiction this week. 🩷 While living in New Mexico, I became very familiar with spiritual animals and their meanings mostly originated from Native American Tribes. The turtle represents healing, protection, wisdom, and longevity. It also urges us to take small steps.
Thank you my dear! Full and meaningful is all we can ask for, right? It’s the one thing we have control of — our love of life and how we live it. I’m a firm believer that you get out what you put in.
I’m reading Tolle too-his book on stillness. It’s is very calming.
Healing protection wisdom longevity—and small steps. This is perfection!
I love that a turtle came to visit you on your birthday! I have The Hunting Party and The Doorman are both high on my wanted list. I started The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali. Only 2 chapters in but I think I’m going to like it. I have the May book club pick Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall up next.
Happy Belated Birthday!! It's funny that you saw a turtle on your birthday. I saw one today and snapped a pic because...turtle. I love turtles but had no idea what they represented. I'm glad you're creatively unstuck, and I'd love to read a post on that. Happens all the time to us intuitive writers. I might be there right now on my new WIP. Not a hundred percent sure, but I'm feeling something I can't quite identify yet. I'm 39k words in and feeling uninspired, but no deadline here except my own, which I take seriously.
I read THE TELL by Amy Griffen for book club. Normally, I wouldn't have read it as it isn't my type of memoir, but it was well-written and captivating. I read 2/3rds of the book in one sitting and the rest of it the next night. It deals with sexual abuse, so it was heavy but also interesting as to how she uncovered her memories. It had to do with MDMA--psychedelics. I'm assuming this is why there is another book out there about abuse. Right now, I'm reading EVERYONE HERE IS LYING by Shari Lapena. Just started it so I can't rate it yet. Have a great weekend y'all.
So you were blessed as well with a reminder to be patient, that it will all come together soon. Love it! And I’m working on the piece now.
Sounds like a hard but enlightening book. I’m saw something this morning about psychedelic mushrooms being used in Parkinson’s to reset the brain to its factory settings. I wonder if the mechanism is the same?
I have the Lapena book—let me know if it’s good!! Have. A great weekend!
Lapena book update--I finished it on Monday and waited until today so I could give you a thoughtful update on it. I thought it was compelling and yet stilted. Most of the book feels passive instead of active. I had to think about why I felt that way. I think it's because she has so many POV's that she has to spend a page and half or more trying to get the reader into the character's head. It slows the pacing of it often as she sometimes switches characters quickly within a chapter. But it's not head hopping. She delineates it. As for the compelling piece--you're invested in the overarching question of what happened to the girl, and there are so many suspects that it feels like it could be any one of them. I found myself skimming paragraphs to get to the end. I've finally reached the age that I DNF books, but I couldn't do it with this one because I had to know the ending, along with all the tiny pieces of the story. It was a weird dynamic.
I love multi POV books more than single POV for the most part. I love the feel of the whole story coming together with the different observations or pieces of the story. I write multi POV books myself. Now that I'm thinking about it, I haven't written a manuscript (13 of them so far) that was single POV. Funny I hadn't realized that until now. Maybe I didn't connect with Lapena's characters because none of them seemed sympathetic/engaging enough to want to root for them to be innocent or to achieve their goal.
On a different note, you haven't said anything about this, and I wanted to respect your privacy, so I didn't want to say anything last Friday when TCE was active, but I hope your career and literary representation isn't in flux/chaos with the loss of your friend/agent. I'm praying that the transition goes easy on you and for you.
Happy birthday! Love your turtle visitor! I did not know they're a good omen on birthdays. I'll have to be on the lookout for a turtle on mine, though they're not very common around here.
Happy belated birthday! I've never heard that about turtles...how cool is that?!?
So glad you had that "spark" while working on the new book.
I read THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO EMBER by Danica Nava. Woman lies on her resume to get a job, falls in love with coworker, loses job...it was cute.
I also just finished MOONLIGHT FEELS RIGHT by Barbara Freethy. This is part of her OCEAN SHORES series and it was great.
I got back from my trip to Dayton around noon on Mon. My Mom and I had a great time visiting my brother....but we're pretty exhausted with the Super early flights. He's an aerospace engineer and he took us to the Air Force museum and the Carolin museum (features Dayton industry pioneers including the Wright Bros). It's interesting going to places like that with an engineer!
Oh that’s super cool! I’d love to visit those museums. I bet it was enhanced by his background. Glad it was a good trip and you’re home safe and sound! And the Nava book sounds right up my alley!!! Thank you!
The Nava book had a blurb from Emily Henry so that's why I bought it. The main characters are Native American, which is interesting and a little eye opening!
Happy Birthday! I just finished WILD DARK SHORE by Charlotte McConaghy, beautifully written and a wonderful, twisty read.
Happy belated birthday! I hope this year holds so much good in store for you!
Many thanks! A wonderful wish!
Happy (belated) Birthday! 🎂🎈 Wishing you a thousand beautiful moments and blessings. I couldn’t agree more—love, family, a few trusted friends, and good health are what matter most. Your life sounds full and meaningful, and I’m genuinely happy for you. I'm currently rereading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and Find Yourself at Home by Emily Grosvenor—keeping it all non-fiction this week. 🩷 While living in New Mexico, I became very familiar with spiritual animals and their meanings mostly originated from Native American Tribes. The turtle represents healing, protection, wisdom, and longevity. It also urges us to take small steps.
Thank you my dear! Full and meaningful is all we can ask for, right? It’s the one thing we have control of — our love of life and how we live it. I’m a firm believer that you get out what you put in.
I’m reading Tolle too-his book on stillness. It’s is very calming.
Healing protection wisdom longevity—and small steps. This is perfection!
Glad to hear you had a wonderful birthday and a sweet surprise visitor.
This week’s list:
The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr
Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham
The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
A Guide to the Beasts of East Africa(Mr Malik #2) by Nicholas Drayson
The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood
Heya Brandee! Cool list. I bought The Author Is dead—looking forward to it. And jealous of your access to the new Willingham! Hope it’s stunning!
I love that a turtle came to visit you on your birthday! I have The Hunting Party and The Doorman are both high on my wanted list. I started The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali. Only 2 chapters in but I think I’m going to like it. I have the May book club pick Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall up next.
You will love The Hunting Party- guaranteed. It’s terrible fun… Curious about Broken Country, too!
Happy Belated Birthday!! It's funny that you saw a turtle on your birthday. I saw one today and snapped a pic because...turtle. I love turtles but had no idea what they represented. I'm glad you're creatively unstuck, and I'd love to read a post on that. Happens all the time to us intuitive writers. I might be there right now on my new WIP. Not a hundred percent sure, but I'm feeling something I can't quite identify yet. I'm 39k words in and feeling uninspired, but no deadline here except my own, which I take seriously.
I read THE TELL by Amy Griffen for book club. Normally, I wouldn't have read it as it isn't my type of memoir, but it was well-written and captivating. I read 2/3rds of the book in one sitting and the rest of it the next night. It deals with sexual abuse, so it was heavy but also interesting as to how she uncovered her memories. It had to do with MDMA--psychedelics. I'm assuming this is why there is another book out there about abuse. Right now, I'm reading EVERYONE HERE IS LYING by Shari Lapena. Just started it so I can't rate it yet. Have a great weekend y'all.
So you were blessed as well with a reminder to be patient, that it will all come together soon. Love it! And I’m working on the piece now.
Sounds like a hard but enlightening book. I’m saw something this morning about psychedelic mushrooms being used in Parkinson’s to reset the brain to its factory settings. I wonder if the mechanism is the same?
I have the Lapena book—let me know if it’s good!! Have. A great weekend!
Lapena book update--I finished it on Monday and waited until today so I could give you a thoughtful update on it. I thought it was compelling and yet stilted. Most of the book feels passive instead of active. I had to think about why I felt that way. I think it's because she has so many POV's that she has to spend a page and half or more trying to get the reader into the character's head. It slows the pacing of it often as she sometimes switches characters quickly within a chapter. But it's not head hopping. She delineates it. As for the compelling piece--you're invested in the overarching question of what happened to the girl, and there are so many suspects that it feels like it could be any one of them. I found myself skimming paragraphs to get to the end. I've finally reached the age that I DNF books, but I couldn't do it with this one because I had to know the ending, along with all the tiny pieces of the story. It was a weird dynamic.
You are so sweet to be concerned. While there are a few legal issues I need to work through, I moved agencies several years ago.
Oooh that’s a fabulous observation. Do you. Totally like multi pov books and just didn’t connect with these characters? Or are you a single POV fan?
I love multi POV books more than single POV for the most part. I love the feel of the whole story coming together with the different observations or pieces of the story. I write multi POV books myself. Now that I'm thinking about it, I haven't written a manuscript (13 of them so far) that was single POV. Funny I hadn't realized that until now. Maybe I didn't connect with Lapena's characters because none of them seemed sympathetic/engaging enough to want to root for them to be innocent or to achieve their goal.
On a different note, you haven't said anything about this, and I wanted to respect your privacy, so I didn't want to say anything last Friday when TCE was active, but I hope your career and literary representation isn't in flux/chaos with the loss of your friend/agent. I'm praying that the transition goes easy on you and for you.
Happy birthday! Love your turtle visitor! I did not know they're a good omen on birthdays. I'll have to be on the lookout for a turtle on mine, though they're not very common around here.
They are all over the golf course, but I have never seen one so far from the lake, especially in my back yard. Fortuitous!
Happy belated birthday! I've never heard that about turtles...how cool is that?!?
So glad you had that "spark" while working on the new book.
I read THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO EMBER by Danica Nava. Woman lies on her resume to get a job, falls in love with coworker, loses job...it was cute.
I also just finished MOONLIGHT FEELS RIGHT by Barbara Freethy. This is part of her OCEAN SHORES series and it was great.
I got back from my trip to Dayton around noon on Mon. My Mom and I had a great time visiting my brother....but we're pretty exhausted with the Super early flights. He's an aerospace engineer and he took us to the Air Force museum and the Carolin museum (features Dayton industry pioneers including the Wright Bros). It's interesting going to places like that with an engineer!
Oh that’s super cool! I’d love to visit those museums. I bet it was enhanced by his background. Glad it was a good trip and you’re home safe and sound! And the Nava book sounds right up my alley!!! Thank you!
The Nava book had a blurb from Emily Henry so that's why I bought it. The main characters are Native American, which is interesting and a little eye opening!
Even better! Talk about an underrepresented group in fiction!
I love turtles! I'm glad your little visitor helped you break through a block!
He was such a cutie!!!