Isn't the Lettuce Brave?
Welcome to the inside of my mind - I hope you brought snacks.
22 September 2025
Music Monday: Home to Newcastle
15 September 2025
Music Monday...maybe?
08 September 2025
Music Monday: Not just any old bog...
I will be brief today because the song takes a lot of breath control. Give it a try! Also, it will forever remind my of my Irish Fae Dog, Bryn, who would thump her tail in time to this version.
05 September 2025
The Upstate Renaissance Festival, 12-14 September!
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My wee bookshop, September 2023 |
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The booth indoors, September 2024 |
This year the faire has outgrown the lovely spot in downtown Greer and will be at the Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg, SC. I'm excited, but this will be a new experience for me. I always have help setting up and breaking down thanks to Hubs, but the last time I was solo in my tent outdoors I was still in the throes of chemo. We'll see! I did the faire last year solo, but as I've mentioned I was indoors.
I will be right next to the Livy & Co. tent, though, which will be good because our new Irish Wolfhound, Stanley, will hopefully be making his HOEF debut with my friend Anne...you may remember her as Bryn's "Auntsie" and resident Wolfhound Whisperer. Fingers crossed, and more on our big blond boy in another post.
But if you're in the area next weekend and looking for something to do, this faire has been charming fun for the last few years and can only be more so with more space. Come see me, get copies of my books signed (as well as the other authors that will be there), and just generally enjoy the day! The faire opens Friday the 12th at 5pm - 10pm, then Saturday and Sunday from 10am - 6pm both days. There is more information here, so have a read and then come visit!
Huzzah!
01 September 2025
Music Monday: Scream!
And not just because I'm a Clemson fan...
I love Florence and the Machine and this new album looks great. But when I listened to the first released track, one of my newer characters whispered in my ear that this would be a great song for dancing by a picture window with a glass of wine. So this is for Lark. I hope y'all get to meet her soon.
25 August 2025
Music Monday: A Different Danse Macabre
18 August 2025
Music Monday: Last Visit to Troubled Waters
Hmm, hmm
Hmm, that sacred ground
I was lost, but then I found
In the shadows, an abandoned home
But the soil was drenched in blood
I seek, I sought, I conquered demons
I teach, I fought, I fostered healing, I'm whole
I arrived as one
When I leave, I'll drift towards the sun
When kingdom comes
When kingdom comes
When kingdom comes
When kingdom comes
Mm, I pledged my life to glory
I studied every word
I walked into the valley
With a Bible in my nerve
This weight is not a burden
I'm guided by His name
No light, no glow
Still filled with hope
Mm, no (no), Mississippi water is so troubled
Troubled (troubled, troubled)
Troubled
Said it's troubled
Hmm, I hear the call
I pray to save us all
Betrayal, that's all I've seen
My faith is all I need
I preach, I pray, I'm chosen
I've seen plenty people go
We're not alone, we'll join the stars
My body's strong and able
And I've traveled roads with angels
I've come far, I'll say so long
Then I crossed my heart, protect my soul
'Til my veins run dry and skin turn cold
And now none of my prayers are etched in stone
But don't dance with the Devil, he'll follow you home
And I know
The world is wicked, I never walk alone, I know the Lord can hear me
I know
Forget my sins, I'm only human so I know I'm gonna do it again
Mm-hmm
Mmm, I pledged my life to glory (he pledged his life to glory)
I studied every word (he studied every word)
I walked into the valley (he walked into the valley)
With a Bible in my nerve (with a Bible in his nerve)
This weight is not a burden (this weight is not a burden)
I'm guided by His name (guided by His name)
No light, no glow
Still filled with hope
Mm, no (no), Mississippi water is so troubled
Troubled (troubled, troubled)
Mmm, no (no), Mississippi water is so troubled
Troubled (troubled, troubled)
Said it's troubled
Troubled
So troubled
Hey, Ryan
You gon' talk back to me?
No, yeah, but man, I
How are you doing?
Yeah, I'm, I'm wishing you would be all right there, back there
I know you get kind of homesick, but, uh
Just like Albert King said, "Just hang in there"
Hey, you'll be alright
And we love you
11 August 2025
Music Mondays: Sinners...All The Way to Dublin/Rocky Road to Dublin
04 August 2025
Music Monday: Spellbound
28 July 2025
Music Monday: I'm Screaming...and So Sad
21 July 2025
Music Monday: As Real As You Need Me To Be
14 July 2025
Music Monday: I try to think about...well, not Elvis.
07 July 2025
Music Monday: My Friend...
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Me and a camper, summer of 1992 (?) |
30 June 2025
Music Monday: Absolutely Bonkers
23 June 2025
Music Monday: I'm Back!
Wow, a lot of things have happened since I last posted. I am done with my active cancer treatments and reconstruction surgeries. I managed to survive Satan's Spanx (don't ask). I've been to three shows to sell and sign books. And since January, the world has blown up over and over again.
I chose Ordinary World for today because of this line: "Where is the life that I recognise? Gone away." In a lot of ways, personal and professional, this line resonates. But in terms of my writing, I'm closing in on publishing a novella (I know! I had no idea I could write a short book either!) that covers Taeben's back story or, as the kids say nowadays, his villain origin story. I have a reader who felt that he was a bit two dimensional and basically a few clicks away from tying Gin to the train tracks and twisting his moustache. So I started exploring how he got to be who he was in the trilogy and Darkness, and this novella became my last ever NaNoWriMo.
Ah, yet another thing that has changed. I'm pretty mad about that whole thing but that is a topic for another day. Anyway, Taeben's origin story deals with a lot of frustration over plans that were never realized or not realized in the way he wanted...and so this song seems perfect. "But I won't cry for yesterday, there's an ordinary world somehow I have to find..."
(Lyrics in the video.)
Music Monday: Home to Newcastle
Reet... Y'all that know me know I'm a Newcastle United supporter by marriage, and at first I will admit that I didn't get what t...
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"Do not love the world." How disturbing is THAT? I know what they are getting at, being the good preacher's daughter that I am...
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Y'all, I am scared of guns. I will admit that right here and now. Scared Stupid Of Guns. Before you ask, I have fired two guns in my lif...
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Well, not exactly...this morning on one of my message boards there was a discussion brewing about who was voting for whom, something that NE...