Author Archives

Melissahttp://www.missmeliss.comWriter, voice actor, dog-lover, and bathtub mermaid, Melissa is the Associate Editor-in-Chief at All Things Girl. To learn more about her, visit her website, or follow her on Twitter (@Melysse) or Facebook. You can also listen to her podcast, "Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub" at Bathtub Mermaid or on iTunes.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Ghost and the Dead Man’s Library by Alice Kimberly

by

On Teaser Tuesdays readers are asked to:

  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between 7 and 12 lines.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given.

I’m not sure if having a live-in ghost is something that will remove the necessity of having good, cheap life insurance, but I do know that I’m really enjoying Alice Kimberly’s Haunted Bookshop series. It’s the relationship between Pen and Jack that has me inhaling these books, and also the fact that light reading is nice during the holidays.

In any case, here’s my teaser, from page 192 of book three, The Ghost and the Dead Man’s Library.

Picking a lock is an art. You can’t master it in a few minutes.

“So how do I get in?”

Break the window and turn the knob from the other side.

“Okay.” I raised the Maglite to smash the glass.

Not like that! Jack cried. With finesse. And real quiet like.

“How do you break a window quietly?”

I should note that in the above passage, lines in italics are the words of Jack, the ghost.

Review: The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly

by

The Ghost and Mrs. McClure
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure
by Alice Kimberly
Get it from Amazon >>

The Ghost and Mrs. McClureThe Ghost at Mrs. Muir and part homage to noir crime fiction, this book is a light mystery – nothing is terribly unpredictable, but the relationship between Jack and Pen makes it an interesting read, and keeps you coming back for more. Some of the best humor of the book comes from Jack’s reactions to modern technology – chat rooms on the internet are as cool to him as websites touting low cost health insurance would be to those looking for new policies.

I suspect future novels will see the Pen/Jack relationship deepening – as far as it’s possible when one half of the relationship is incorporeal, but that the basic premise will be maintained: He’s the ghost of a hard-boiled detective, she’s a widowed bookseller. Together, they fight crime.

Lost: One Book

by

I lost a book somewhere in my house.

Worse, I lost a book I promised to review, while I was in the middle of reading it. The book in question is Whom God Would Destroy, by Commander Pants, which I posted a teaser from sometime in the last month or so. It was really enjoying it, because it was making me think AND making me laugh – a combination which I generally cannot resist.

I have this horrible feeling it got slipped into a stack of shipping boxes (incoming, not outgoing) and is upstairs in the library, buried in a pile, but I looked, and don’t remember seeing it.

Speaking of boxes, however, I have found something to read in the meanwhile: The Ghost and Mrs. McClure, by Alice Kimberly. This is the first in Kimberly’s “Haunted Bookshop” series, and I know it will be good because I know that Alice Kimberly is also Cleo Coyle, who writes the Coffeehouse Mysteries I love so much.

I’m enjoying this book a lot, but I’d rather find the other, and finish it, before moving on entirely.

Booking Through Thursday: Mark!

by

btt2

On Thursday, October 29th, Booking through Thursday asked:

What items have you ever used as a bookmark? What is the most unusual item you’ve ever used or seen used?

True confession: Whether it’s a serious novel or a catalog offering a great selection of unique gifts for her, I tend to dog-ear, or use the flaps of a dust cover, rather than an actual bookmark, at least with my own books. I’ve even been known to – horror of horrors – leave an open book face down.

With books that belong to other people, however, I’m much more respectful, and always use bookmarks. What kind? Typical choices are:

  1. Business cards, usually other people’s, sometimes my own.
  2. A clean square of toilet paper (I read in the bathroom a lot.)
  3. The receipt telling me when a book is due back to the library.
  4. A used boarding pass from an airplane flight.
  5. Receipts from recent purchases.
  6. Emery boards.
  7. A dollar bill.
  8. Movie or theatre ticket stubs.
  9. Postcards.
  10. Hang-tags from new clothing.

Sadly, I’ve never noticed any particularly unusual or interesting bookmarks.

Teaser Tuesdays: Christmas Stories compiled by Everyman’s Pocket Classics

by

On Teaser Tuesdays readers are asked to:

  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between 7 and 12 lines.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given.

Several years ago, my aunt Patti began the tradition of sending me a different collection of Christmas stories every year. Last year’s collection, entitled simply Christmas Stories was one of the more literary of the collection – others tend toward lighter fiction, and even humor on occasion, but I like all styles of writing, so I enjoyed it even so.

As it’s December, and I’m a sucker for a good holiday tale – they make a nice change from worrying over wireless security systems and other such technological concerns – I’m using it this week.

So, from the short story “The Burglar’s Christmas,” by Willa Cather, which is included in the Everyman’s Pocket Classics edition of Christmas Stories, I offer the following:

‘O, my poor boy, much or little, what does it matter? Have you wandered so far and paid such a bitter price for knowledge and not yet learned that love has nothing to do with pardon or forgiveness, that it only loves, and loves – and loves? They have not taught you well, the women of your world.’ She leaned over and kissed him, as no woman had kissed him since he left her.

Reviewed Elsewhere: Holiday Grind, by Cleo Coyle

by

Holiday Blend

From the moment I first picked up a Cleo Coyle novel, I knew I’d found a kindred spirit – two really – one in Ms. Coyle herself, and the other in her lead character Clare Cosi, who cooks with an Italian flair and has espresso running in her veins.

Recently, I read Ms. Coyle’s latest coffeehouse novel, Holiday Grind which features cafe owner and amateur detective tracking down the person responsible for killing her customer (and friend), Alf, who spends his winter days as a street corner Santa Claus.

If you’ve never read a coffeehouse mystery, you should know that all the books are the type of cozy mysteries that go best with froufrou espresso drinks, chocolate dipped biscotti, and the crackling sound from Amish fireplaces.

Look for my review of Holiday Grind later this month in All Things Girl.

Teaser Tuesdays: Whom God Would Destroy by Commander Pants

by

On Teaser Tuesdays readers are asked to:

  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between 7 and 12 lines.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given.

It’s great fun for me, then, when an author contacts me directly, as did Commander Pants. I’m woefully behind on my reading, having had a weird and insanely busy November, but I am about to FINALLY crack open Whom God Would Destroy.

Here’s the teaser, from pages 170-171:

He walked out of the stall and continued on to the other side of the room. Beyond the last stall there was a matching corridor ending with a matching door; a twin to the way he had entered, except this door was closed. Confident of what was on the other side, he walked down the hall and opened it. He wasn’t disappointed. There it sat in all it’s glory: the missing McDonald’s kitchen from South Bend, Indiana, just as Doc had told Oliver. It appeared to be closed; the oil sat cold in the fryolators and the microwaves weren’t microwaving.

Teaser Tuesdays: Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle

by

On Teaser Tuesdays readers are asked to:

  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between 7 and 12 lines.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given.

My teaser this week is from Holiday Grind, by Cleo Coyle. I’ve been reading it from my cozy house, where it finally feels like November (49 degrees at 6:41 PM) and taking breaks to mock the people across the street who don’t seem to know how their moving truck works.

If you don’t know the Coffeehouse Mysteries, you should seriously check them out. Anyway, here’s the teaser:

There was nothing like walking through the Village on a snowy winter night. The few vehicles on the slippery street crept along no faster than horse-drawn carriages. Every surface appeared flocked with white; the pungent smell of active old fireplaces floated through the air; and bundled couples hurried past dark storefronts, eager to get back to their warm apartments or inside a cozy pub for a glass of mulled wine or mug of Irish coffee.

As I passed by St. Luke’s churchyard, the whole world seemed to go silent, save the icy flurries that still pecked at my parka and the crunch, crunch, crunching of my winter boots. At one intersection I stood alone, watching a traffic light provide a signal for crossroads that had no traffic. Hands in pockets, I waited half amused as the bright red light flipped to green in an unintentional
Christmas display just for me.

from Holiday Grind, chapter 3, by Cleo Coyle.

Sunday Salon: Children’s Stories

by

The Sunday Salon.com

Despite the fact that I’ve been reading enough mysteries lately to re-paper the rooms in several haunted mansions, it’s children’s stories that are on my mind this week.

Last week, I had the wonderful experience of attending Peter Yarrow’s (of Peter, Paul and Mary) performance/book signing at the Jewish Community Center in Dallas. Unlike a formal concert, this was a more intimate affair. He spoke and sang for about an hour, inviting various kids up on stage to help out, and showing off several of his books.

The newest, Day is Done is the latest in his collection of stories based on his songs. The first was, of course, Puff, the Magic Dragon. I now have signed copies of each, got to converse with Peter for the second time in my life (the first was in August, 2002, in California), and have a lovely photo with Peter to help me remember the event.

And did I mention the books?

But kiddie lit is also on my brain because of an old Leo Buscaglia book, The Fall of Freddie the Leaf. I was first introduced to it about 27 years ago when I was part of a team from the Modesto UU Fellowship that performed the book in a reader’s theatre format. I was twelve at the time.

Today, I was again part of such a performance, on the stage at my church (Oak Cliff UU). You see, our church has recently lost two of its elders, and everyone is still grieving, still raw. I mentioned the book when I was at lunch with our minister and our associate minister, and they said, “So you’ll stage it as a dramatic moment, yes?”

And so I did.

And today we read.

And there was not a single dry eye.

But we needed the release.

Badly.

So, I may be reading mainly mysteries, but I’ve been reminded lately that even adults can take a moment to see things from a child’s perspective, and be the better for it.

Review: Heat Wave by Richard Castle

by

Heat Wave
Heat Wave
by Richard Castle
Get it at Amazon >>

Richard Castle might be as fictional as belly fat on a Barbie ™ Doll, but his book, Heat Wave is a fast-paced mystery with just enough romance to keep it interesting.

As anyone who’s ever seen Castle on television knows, Heat Wave is the novel about fictional NYPD detective Nikki Heat and her shadow, journalist Jamie Rook, and both characters are clearly stand-ins for series characters Det. Kate Beckett, and Castle himself.

One might think the fact that this is obviously a well-placed marketing tool makes the book unreadable.

One would be wrong.

Heat Wave is a bit short, coming in at around 200 pages, but it’s funny, interesting, and satisfying, much as the average episode of Castle generally turns out to be.

As it’s a mystery, I won’t spoil the plot, except to mention blackouts, dual murders, and art thievery. If you want to know how those three things combine, and where the aforementioned romance comes in, you’ll have to read the book!