Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

From our house to your house.

The Joys of Art

I am celebrating my art club today. But first, thank you to the  co-hosts for this blog hop,  Lexa Cain @ Lexa Cain , L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog  You can go to any of these sites to get all the links and add your name to the links, too.

A word about my art club and why I am celebrating it. Well, it's on my mind, for one thing, because yesterday we had our last class until January 7th. And it's just a wonderful group of kids. They make my week!

I volunteer at a local community center one day a week and teach fine art to kids ages 7-14 after school. This year. though, a couple of 6-year-olds got in, and they are wonderful little artist--focused, attentive, and passionate about art. The class goes for an hour and a half, and all of the students use the time well.
During the course (November through mid-April, we use acrylics, watercolors, soft pastels, oil pastels, drawing pencils,  colored pencils, and charcoal. We cover landscape, portraiture, and still life,   work with Native American themes,  use bamboo brushes during Asian New Year, and we study artists like Turner, Van Gogh, Monet, Georgia O'Keefe, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and William H. Johnson (a Harlem Renaissance artist). Here are some samples of their work so far this year:

El Día de los Muertos

More El Día de los Muertos

Plains Indian Themes

Landscapes Inspired by Monet and Van Gogh

Landscapes Inspired by Turner.                 

You can see why these young artists are so inspiring to teach. they really give it all they've got. 

I took pictures of yesterday's work in colored pencils (baby animals), but those are still in the camera.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this little "gallery." 

I won't be posting until after New Year's Day. Until then, Best Wishes from our house to your house for a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year ahead.

Celebration Time.

Hats off to co-hosts for this blog hop,  Lexa Cain @ Lexa Cain , L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog  You can go to any of these sites to get all the links and add your name to the links. 

What I'm celebrating: Two things:

1. I'm almost finished with my new Imogene story. Just one more scene to go.

2. Last Monday evening, we were privileged to hear Morris Dees and Richard Cohen speak at the Crest Theater in Sacramento. Morris Dees is the founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the wonderful organization that fights racism and intolerance and pursues justice through the courts. The topic last night was Hate in the Mainstream. (Many of the recent "lone wolf" shootings are a result of hatred being fomented on websites and poisoning individuals who already feel alienated for one reason or another.)

This was a high point in my life: hearing Morris Dees and Richard Cohen and actually meeting Morris Dees and being able to shake his hand. Likewise for Rajan.

Many people were having their pictures taken with Morris Dees and he kindly let us do the same. As you can imagine, this is a picture moment I will treasure! 

Morris Dees is one of my heroes!

Time to Celebrate Again

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day. We had a great day with my god family. Good company. Good food. Good memories.

I am finally back to celebrating again, but first, hats off to co-hosts for this blog hop,  Lexa Cain @ Lexa Cain , L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog  You can go to any of these sites to get all the links and add your name to the links. 

Meanwhile, what am I celebrating? Two things:
1. The Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators' Book Launch. The actual kick-off day was Tuesday, December 1st, but it will be going on until the next launch in spring.

You can go HERE to see a wonderful collections of children's books, from picture books to MG to YA novels, all of which would make great Xmas or birthday presents for a reader you know of the appropriate age. (My MG mystery, Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, is being launched there, too. You can go directly to that launch HERE.) 

2. My second thrill was going to Pacific Grove and Carmel last week-end to celebrate my birthday. My husband and I love that area. He's into black and white film photography. I take my little point and shoot digital camera. You can see pictures I took of that beautiful area next door on my 4th Wish blog. 

A few questions for you: What is your favorite type of children's book? Are you into picture books? YA? MG? Fantasy? Mystery? 
What is your favorite spot for special occasions?

Two Book Reviews for Sherlock Lovers

Two books for Sherlock lovers. The first for children, the second for adults:

The first book is Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur, written by Derrick Belanger and illustrated by Brian Belanger. 7-to-12 year-olds will enjoy this latest adventure starring Emma and Jimmy McDougall, twin sleuths that work with Sherlock Holmes.

It’s Christmastime, and the McDougalls have just finished decorating their tree, when they are visited by none other than Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older brother. Their services are needed by Sherlock, as well as those of Toby, a dog who has helped Sherlock before.

At 221b Baker Street, the twins meet Jonas Bogswell from a farming village in Surrey. He has come to Sherlock for help because a dinosaur – that’s right – is killing sheep on the local farms. Because of an old legend the local fortune teller remembers, the Bogswell family is being shunned for bringing bad luck to the village. The entire McDougall family accompanies Sherlock and Dr. Watson to the village. They stay with Bogswell family. One by one, events unfold that make the McDougalls believers in this dinosaur.

Several things make this a pleasurable read: The author has a good sense of pacing and suspense. Clues are believable and scattered like bread crumbs to keep a reader turning the page, and tension heightens all the way through. Despite Mrs. McDougall’s insistence that the twins cannot join the dangerous hunt for the dinosaur, Emma and Jimmy  encounter the beast in some really scary scenes that kids will love. The twins are well drawn in ways that demonstrate why they are good detectives and in ways that complement each other, and the climax is a satisfying surprise.

A nice touch Belanger includes in his books is the use of footnotes in the form of “fun facts” at the bottom of pages involved. These really are fun facts, and they don’t interrupt the flow of the story.

At the end of this satisfying adventure, a reader is promised more to come. With Christmas near at hand, this book would make a nice gift under the tree.

Contact information:

Website: Belanger Books  

Facebook 

Twitter 

 You can order Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur at:

Amazon

Harry deMaio's A Case of Scotch, as even the title suggests, is a book for adults, not children -- and for adults who like word play and clever allusions to people and places. It's the author's third book in this one-of-a-kind” series. 

In the alternate universe of Octavius Bear, a solar flare rendered Homo Sapiens extinct and made all other mammals evolve exponentially. Octavius Bear, the wealthy Kodiak scientist and leading detective in each book is writing an erudite history when he is not solving cases with the help of his team -- a meerkat (African mongoose) named Maury who plays Dr. Watson to the bear’s Sherlock, two wolves, a porcupine, and an otter, among others.

This particular case kicks off with an R & R visit to Bearmoral Castle in the Shetland Islands in Scotland. (Thus the title.) The castle was inherited by Octavius’s new wife, Belinda when her first husband, Bearon Byron Bruin, passed away. But strange things have been happening lately on the premises and in the nearby oilfields, doing away with the anticipated R & R. Mysterious power outages occur. Platforms appear and disappear among the oil rigs. An elevator shaft seems to go nowhere but turns out to have lethal destinations. When a family member is found dead, the game is “apaw”. 

           

Other characters who figure in this adventure is a slinky cheetah (named Chita) with an unsavory past who owns a North Sea oil rig, Belinda’s obnoxious bruin in-laws, and a group of wildcats who hang out at a local pub, drowning their sorrows over the fact that their oil production is down.

There is lots of action in this complex mystery, and all the characters are truly humorous. The author tells the story “tongue in cheek” all the way, with allusions and puns that kept making me smile, even while I was trying to figure out “who dunnit”. Maury the meerkat is the main narrator. His narration is supplemented by excerpts from Chita’s memoir and Octavius’s rather pedantic history of the world. Each chapter begins with a clever limerick that sets the tone for unfolding events.

Occasionally there was a point-of-view bump, and the huge cast of characters kept me flipping back to the roster at the beginning to make sure I knew who was who and what their role was. That said, this is a real romp of a book readers will enjoy.

Contact Information:

Website TheCasebooks of Octavius Bear

Facebook 

You can buy A Case of Scotch at:

Amazon 

Are you a Sherlock Holmes fan? If so, what are some of your favorite tales from both the canon and pastiches? Are you a mystery fan? I love a good mystery and am always looking for a good recommendation.

Has it been two weeks????

                                                     

Wow, time flies. This is kinda double celebrating, 2 weeks worth;  But first, hats off to the two co-hosts for this blog hop,  Lexa Cain @ Lexa Cain , L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog  You can go to any of these sites to get all the links and add your name to the links. 

So, what am I celebrating:

1. I'm writing a new Imogene story for an anthology, and it's going well. Tons of research, as usual, but that's going well, too. And, as a matter of fact, I love research, especially historical research.

2. Art Club at the community center started 2 weeks ago -- well, three -- and I have such a wonderful class. The class is mainly for 8-to-12-year-olds, but I have two 7-year-olds and three 6-year-olds. Normally I don't take students that young, because the class is an hour and a half long. But these little sweeties are so focused, they are in like Flynn, as the saying goes.

Two weeks ago I attended Stories on Stage in Davis, (there's one in Sacramento, too). A writer friend of mine was there, and I took copies of his mystery to sign. And Catriona McPherson, one of my favorite authors, was there, and I won a copy of her latest book! I couldn't believe it, but there you are!

Have you ever won something that you didn't expect to win? Do you enjoy doing research?

Sherlock Holmes and the Dead Boer at Scotney Castle

At last I can get back to the Sherlock Holmes and one of the many good novel pastiches that abound at MX Publishing.

Sherlock Holmes and the Dead Boer at Scotney Castle, is full of surprises, even for the great detective himself.

The adventure begins in early summer of 1904. The President of the Kipling League, David Siviter, sends Sherlock Holmes a telegram, inviting him to Crick’s End in Sussex that afternoon to give a talk to the League as an expert on “the criminal mind.” The League includes Siviter (poet and children’s writer), Alfred Weit, Sir Julius Wernher, and Viscount Van Beers, all rich and powerful men, devotees of Kipling and adamant believers in empire. Pevensey, a famous, if mediocre, painter will also be on the premises.

Holmes accepts, but is suspicious. Ignoring the telegram’s instructions as to times and stations (and the promise that a chauffer will be waiting for them), he makes his own arrangements for a different train route that allows him and Watson to arrive at their host’s mansion three hours earlier than Siviter planned.

Following a long and effusive introduction by Watson, Holmes gives his talk, explaining his methods and giving examples from cases that Watson has made famous. After meeting Pevensey, who has completed two paintings commissioned by Siviter, the two are taken to Etchingham station for the trip home.

At the station, news headlines again arouse Holmes’s suspicions. The unclad body of a man has been discovered in a wagon pond at Scotney Castle, not far from Crick’s End. Watson thinks the death may be accidental or self-inflicted. Holmes feels the Kipling League is behind the death and hires a carriage to take them back for a confrontation, which leads to a serious quarrel between him and Watson. To tell why Holmes is convinced of what he calls “the smack of a great crime,” would create spoilers for the reader. Let me just say that his suspicious involve a discrepancy between two paintings, a strange hatband, an ill-fitting hat, and linseed oil, among other clues. 

There was much to like about this story. Symonds captures the flavor of the early Edwardian era in the settings and furnishing and the language of the time. His characters are interesting, and for the most part, Holmes and Watson feel true to character. There were times, however, when I felt they were a bit overdrawn. And there were some sections where too much detail slowed the story. That said, a reader will find this an intriguing case and will enjoy trying to put the facts together that explain who the dead person was and how his body ended up in a wagon pond at Scotney Castle.

Sherlock Holmes and the Dead Boer at Scotney Castle is available at:

Amazon,  Strand Magazine,  Book Depository,  and MX Publishing, 

and all good bookstores and e-bookstores worldwide including in the USA.

Wow the week went fast. I'm a day late celebrating, but first -- hats off to co-hosts for this blog hop,  Lexa Cain @ Lexa Cain , L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog  You can go to any of these sites to get all the links and add your name to the links. 

Today I'm celebrating the fact that, despite the time crunch of getting ready for going home (cleaning and closing the house here in Trasulfe, saying goodbye to neighbors and friends), I managed to submit on of my books to a publisher, and I finally downloaded all my pictures from the trip and did a post about it next door at Elizabeth Varadan's Fourth Wish. You can read about the first leg of our fall journey -- the two weeks we spent in India -- HERE.

For two days I'll be offline, but, once home, I'll hop around and visit your sites, eager to catch up on your news and cheer you on. Hasta entonces.

Celebration Time Again

                           

After "going dark" for a few weeks I'm happy to say it paid off.
I'm celebrating three things today, but first, hats off to co-hosts for this blog hop,  Lexa Cain @ Lexa Cain , L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog  You can go to any of these sites to get all the links and add your name to the links. 

What am I celebrating?

1. I finished the draft of my book and sent it to my writing group. We'll  be discussing it next month, after I return home. This, of course, will mean another rewrite, but hopefully the final one, so I can start submitting it.

2. We went to Portugal again for a few days. Our trips to Portugal started out as research trips for the book I just finished. Each time I get more and more details that will help "fine tune" the book. But in the meantime, we've developed some wonderful friendships that mean a lot to us. We took tons of pictures, as usual, and in due course they will make their way to my blog -- probably my next door blog (The Fourth Wish).

3. I'm at work now on a new "Imogene" story. I actually have a series planned, but this is a story to be included in an anthology. It's great fun to write (I like Imogene) and it's going well. I want to finish this draft by the end of this month and submit it to my other writing group. (I belong to two: one for YA/NA/Adult works and one for PB/MG works. Both groups are wonderful, and I count myself very lucky.)

I also feel lucky that many of you have faithfully returned to this site, waiting for me to get on with blogging again. I assure you, I've missed it, and it's nice to be back.

How about you? Have you had to "go dark" for the sake of a manuscript? Do you write in more than one genre? Do you belong to a writing group? More than one group?

Imogene's Trailer

Dear Blog Friends,

In my absence until mid-October, please enjoy this little trailer for my book.  Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls

See you in about three weeks.

Blog Break

Dear blog friends,

I am taking a blogging break until mid-October. I know that it looks like I already took a break, but my husband and I were visiting family in India, and we didn't have regular access to the Internet for a few weeks. I didn't have time to write, either, so now I am working again on the rewrite of my mystery, and I have a deadline to meet. Please come back in mid-October, when I'll be blogging again (and visiting your blogs as well).

Thanks for your understanding, and I look forward to reconnecting in four weeks.

Happy blogging, and happy writing. Ciao for now, Elizabeth.

Celebrating an Interview by Chrys Fey

It's Friday again, with new things to celebrate on this blog hop co-sponsored by Lexa Cain @ Lexa Cain , L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog . (You can go to any of these sites to get all the links and add your name to the links.) Do click around, explore them, and connect. 

Today I'm celebrating an interview about writing and about my book by Chrys Fey on her fascinating  blog, Write With Fey .  (Chrys is the author of Witch of Death, a mystery involving a detective who is a witch.) Mosey on over to her blog and read the interview HERE. 

Hope you all are enjoying your Friday and that you have a great week-end. But not before sharing what you are celebrating. Please leave a note.

Celebrate the Small Things

I'm not so sure that what I'm celebrating today is small. I'll tell you in a minute, but first hats off to co-hosts for this blog hop,  Lexa Cain @ Lexa Cain , L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog  You can go to any of these sites to get all the links and add your name to the links. 

Yesterday I didn't have time to post because I was running around doing errands in preparation for a coming trip. I also was without my computer for most of the day because I took it in for diagnosis and possible repairs at a place called Core Care. My computer had been slowing down, which sounded like possibly hard drive problems. Nope. A few little software hitches that were tweaked, and that was all. I know this is blog hop is called "Celebrate the small things," but  -- not needing a new hard drive and extensive repairs? And possibly not being without my computer for a few days while in the middle of a rewrite? For me, this was HUGE.

What are you celebrating this week? Are you pretty dependent on your computer?

Book Review: The Detective and the Woman, A Novel of Sherlock Holmes

 I seldom have time to read a book more than once, but this was such a satisfying mystery, I had to read it twice—the first time for the story, the second time for the sheer pleasure of the writing. The detective of the title is Sherlock Holmes. The woman is Irene Adler, who outsmarted him in A Scandal in Bohemia (lingering in Sherlock’s mind ever after, according to Dr. Watson, as “the woman”.)

Story setup: Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft, sends him to Florida after coming across an enigmatic message signed Barnett to someone in Florida named Sanchez. The message refers to Miss A, newly widowed and sailing for Florida. The tone of the message suggests her life may be in danger. The Holmes brothers have figured out “Miss A” is Irene Adler.

When the book opens, Irene has arrived in Florida and is on tour, re-starting her singing career after her husband’s heart attack freed her from an abusive marriage. Sherlock attends a performance and visits her backstage. He shows her the cryptic note, convincing her to team up with him so they can track down Barnett and Sanchez and foil their plan. Disguised as Bernard James, a British investor, and his American wife, Lavinia, they take a train to Fort Myers. (Sherlock has learned Alberto Sanchez from Central America has a profitable citrus grove outside of the town.)

These are not the only false identities they will assume. And, as the plot thickens, it turns out quite a few characters are not who they seem. Meanwhile, Thomas has done her research and creates a convincing Fort Myers of the late 1890’s, from hotels and rooming houses, to migrant workers in citrus groves to mansions of the few wealthy residents. (Thomas Edison and his wife are their host more than once, and a reader is treated to a description of what it was like to view in his lab a  Kinetoscope, an early device to show moving pictures.)

The story unfolds through alternating viewpoints that work very well—first person for Irene Adler, a stage performer who sings with emotion and passion; distant third person for Sherlock Holmes, always emotionally somewhat removed, while his intellect tries to unravel the plot against her. The plot has lots of turns and twists to keep a reader immersed—and surprised—with a believable resolution.

The relationship between Irene and Sherlock, suspicious on both sides at the beginning, develops into one of mutual admiration and respect. They find they work well together, which is good news for the reader: More adventures are to come: The Detective and the Woman, A Novel of Sherlock Holmes, is the first of a series.

Amy's books are available at:

MX Publishing

Amazon UK

and all good bookstores and e-bookstores worldwide including in the USA Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Classic Specialities – and in all electronic formats including Amazon Kindle , iTunes (iPad/iPhone) and Kobo .

She blogs at: Girl Meets Sherlock: A Holmesian Blog

She also blogs on The Baker Street Babes, a fun site full of all things Sherlock.

Visit her on Facebook: 

and Twitter:

No Post This Week

I'm deeply immersed in a rewrite this week, and at a crucial point in it. So no post this week. Hope to be back next week. Have a great week-end!

Celebration Time Again

Goodness, it's celebration time again. Where did the week go? Well I know where my week went, and I'll tell you in a minute. But a reminder that this a blog hop, a really nice one called, "Celebrate the small things." It's co-hosted by Lexa Cain @ Lexa Cain with co-hosts
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog     

You can go to any of these sites to get all the links and add your name to the links. 

So, where did my week go? That's what I'm celebrating. I'm about a fourth through the re-write of my current WIP. Makes me pretty happy.

My office corner in one of its rare moments
of almost neatness. 

I hope your week is going well. I know you have something to celebrate, too, so please do share your celebration. 

Celebrating a New Interview at Rachna's Scriptorium and Our House-sitter's Baby Boy.

This is such a fun blog hop: "Celebrate the small things." It's co-hosted by Lexa Cain @ Lexa Cain with co-hosts
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The EdgeTonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog     
You can go to any of these to get all the links and add your name to the links. 

1. Today I'm celebrating because Rachna Chhabria is interviewing me on her wonderful blog, Rachna's Scriptorium. Rachna and I go way back. She was one of my first blog friends when I started my blog. She's a published author in India and her blog is full of interesting posts about writing, as well as interviews and reviews. You can check our her blog and the interview HERE.

2. I'm also celebrating the arrival of our house-sitters' new baby, Owen. Owen it just the cutest thing, and my husband and I got to meet him three days ago. He's utterly precious! I'd post a picture, but I think that's the parents' prerogative, not mine. Trust me, he's adorable, and my husband and I took turns holding him and cooing at him and making ourselves really dopey over him. New babies are such a wonder!

Hope you are celebrating something nice today and that you have a great week-end. Please leave a comment about your good news.

Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls is available at:
Amazon
MX Publishing           
Book Depository
The Strand Magazine

                                     

A Reading and Book Signing at Swan's Fine Books in Walnut Creek

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of reading an excerpt from my book, Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, at a wonderful bookstore in Walnut Creek. Swan's Fine Books, owned by Laurelle Swan, is located in a small shopping center at 1381 Locust Street, Walnut Creek. You can learn more about this fabulous bookstore at her website HERE. Let me just say "fine" is an accurate word to describe this shop. There is a treasure trove of rare and fine books, early editions, signed editions. Many are expensive, as you would guess, but many are also quite affordable for those on a more limited budget.

Laurelle, introducing me.

First, Laurelle introduced me. And then I talked about the background to my book, and then read the excerpt mentioned in the picture above.

Dear family friends.

One of the great pleasures of bookstore signings is the opportunity to get together with a lot of book-loving friends.

Another pleasure is the opportunity to browse books before and after. So I was in book heaven in more ways than one.

Great audience.

Dear writing friend on left; a mother
 and daughter on the right who saw Laurelle's flyer. 

Good friends and good listeners!

College chum and fellow
book lover. 

 And of course, it's always fun to sign those books!

Book club friend.

Dear family friend.

On right, a SBCWI friend

More dear family friends.

Socializing afterward.

We started at three, and by the time the talk, the reading, the signing were over and we did a little socializing, it was time to go. Afterwards my god family had dinner plans for Rajan and me, so off we went for a very enjoyable evening. This was truly an afternoon to remember. Many thanks to all who came. 

And many thanks to Laurelle Swan for this opportunity. If you are in the area, do stop by her store for a treat you won't forget. Both Rajan and I bought books there. (I can never leave a bookstore empty-handed.) So did some of our friends. 

Meanwhile, how about you? Do bookstores have a hold on you? Can you pass hours and hours browsing books? Like me, are you unable to leave a store empty handed?