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November 20th, 2015 
Confessions of a Writer Tag
I was delighted to be tagged by one of my favorite authors, Kevin Ansbro, to do this Confessions of a Writer. I have had so much fun reading the Confessions and I was thrilled to be asked to continue it. The Confessions tag was started by Nicolette at A Little Bookish, A Little Writerly nicoletteellzie.com/2015/10/02/the-confessions-of-a-writertag/
When did you first start writing? Was being a writer something you always aspired to be?
When I was young, I wrote fanciful books with my own artwork for my younger sister, Elizabeth. They were tales
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November 11th, 2015 
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
I loved this wonderful book that author Kevin Ansbro said was inspired by his mum, Kathleen. What a beautiful, loving tribute to his mum! I had read Ansbro’s other book, Kinnara, which I loved and gave a 5 star rating, and now I love this book, his first, equally as well. He wrote it as he struggled with his mum’s slow demise from cancer and dementia. It was powerful, not overly edited, written from the heart and that is something every reader, I believe, will feel and
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November 5th, 2015 
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
Author Luca Rossi has masterfully combined great storytelling with universal themes. The Branches of Time was a mind-bending, shape shifting story, a mix of science fiction and fantasy, even erotica. The story spanned thousands of year, had magic and wizards, ancient kingdoms, evil and pathos, fantastical spells and time travel. Yet the human emotions and psychological drama was what anchored the story and made it a fantastic read.
The story began with a cataclysmic event on the island of Turios where the people were brutally exterminated
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September 10th, 2015 
My Review of Ten Days In Paradise By Linda Abbott
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
This is a wonderful debut novel by author Linda Abbott. She has masterfully woven together multiple plot lines to create a delightful, heartwarming story that explored the theme of family: love and commitment; parental issues with children, young and grown; sibling rivalries; marriages gone stale; infidelity; aging; loyalty, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
Set on the beautiful island of Sanibel off Florida, the lush locale was a character in itself. I could feel, see, and hear the tropical
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August 25th, 2015 
My Review of Long Shadows by Julie Haiselden
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
This wonderful book slowly seduced me, pulling me in with the lush prose and descriptions, the intriguing characters, and then suddenly I couldn’t put it down. It is beautifully written, a sophisticated and thought-provoking novel.
It is the story of Lizzie Tennyson a young mother and wife who sacrificed her nursing career to follow her husband’s dream: to own a pub and restaurant in the Lake District, far from their home in southern England. Lizzie dreaded the move
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August 19th, 2015 
My Review of Kinnara by Kevin Ansbro
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
I loved this book. It was such a fun read with great themes and a satisfying ending. I bought Kinnara after listening to a delightful interview with the author Kevin Ansbro on BBC radio about why he wrote the book. Who would not be intrigued by an author who mixed genres of romance, thriller, and mythology, and then injected a bit of humor to contrast with the suspense and pathos?
Ansbro is a superb writer with masterful storytelling skills.
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July 16th, 2015 
My Review of Buck Trent by Frank Atwood
I gave this book 5 of 5 stars on Goodreads and Amazon
Set in the Arizona Territory, 1875, Buck Trent by author Frank Atwood is a fast paced novel with authentic, engaging characters. It is raw, gripping, and immensely entertaining, reminding me in its grittiness of the TV Western, Deadwood, and E. L. Doctorow’s book, Welcome to Hard Times. It is a non-romantic look at what the West was really like post Civil War: prairie justice, uncertainty of life, outlaws, treachery, wolves, rattlesnakes, danger at every turn. Yet there is morality
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July 1st, 2015  Think Like A Lawyer, Act Like A Lawyer
I have been a lawyer since I was 23 years old, so naturally, I think like a lawyer. But I only realized that recently. I thought I was pretty clever, not like my law firm colleagues, but someone who had business and “real world” experience.
At 24 I worked for Mayor White of Boston at the Parkman Center for Urban Affairs in a private townhouse. During heated political times I had to literally step over TV reporters camped out on the doorsteps. I created an energy saving program for the City and
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May 31st, 2015  Optimism and Hope: My Author Themes
I like stories of resilience, of ordinary people who overcome great odds in order to triumph. Dreary, glass-half-empty writing doesn’t appeal to me as a reader or a writer. I believe in hope and redemption.
An editor who loved a book I pitched asked if I could inject more murder and mayhem. But when I tried, I found myself drifting to the romance, the woman who rose above her restrictive circumstances, then faced the dilemma: fame and fortune or true love?
I like writing about strong, empowered women. Women who are tempted by
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May 30th, 2015  My Review of Across The Pond by Michael McCormick
I gave this Book 5 of 5 stars on Amazon and Goodreads
I was awed by Michael McCormick’s stunning novella, which is based on his experience in Vietnam during the Tet offensive in 1968. There is such power and emotion in this simply told story of a young Marine, Sean, or Mac, as he is known in Vietnam.
Gripping, raw, visceral, McCormick assaults your senses, telling the story in a straightforward manner, like the great masters, with showing, never telling, without distracting embellishments and, in McCormick’s own beautiful imagery, like
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