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Wee Bird
A few mornings ago, I woke to hear rain pelting the outside world and little bird chirps. This is the story that burbled out from that moment. Dawn crept toward Wee Bird’s lake and forest home. With a sturdy leg, and one weakened an age during an encounter with Bully Bird, he gripped a leafless tree branch. His feathers lifted and fluffed to the chill morning air. Clouds, as broodingly gray as Wee Bird’s mood, taunted him from high above. The lake’s surface woke, glazing with diminutive ripples. A raindrop, large and heavy, splattered on Wee Bird’s head. Sheesh, he peeped. Another, and then another. It figures, he groused. Wee…
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Once Upon a Serene
A short piece of flash fiction for your reading pleasure. On a serene day at a lake, paddleboarding took a shocking twist when a ghostly, bikini-clad beauty floated into view. EMS was called. Chaos and speculating bystanders were just the beginning. So, I was meditating. All right, some would call it paddleboarding. But that’s where I can let my mind go limp. And, yeah, limp might not be the best word to use here. Let’s start over. Out to relax, spend time on our community lake, and get in a bit of exercise, that’s when it happened. Yeah, and you want to know about ‘it’. Pushy, pushy. Give me a…
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La Petite Cathédrale d’Elsie
(Author’s note: This story was selected for the 2021 Napa Valley Writers group Anthology, Third Harvest, released December 8, 2021 – available HERE*) Father Paolo gripped his cloak tight around his face, bent into the snowstorm, and moved on. A numb grip held his walking staff; fingers a mottled pink and pale, ghostly white. Aroused by the assault of another gust, he realized he no longer climbed with each step. Was this the vale he sought? When the wind abated, snowflakes surrounding him held motionless, as if considering their mission toward earth. He caught the scent of burning wood. The snowflakes returned to their downward flutter. He stopped and turned toward…
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Makes a Great Gift
New holiday pricing!!! Have you read Camino Child? Have you been wanting to read this new novel? Get your copy today, or, this new novel makes a great gift. Kindle edition $6.99 https://amzn.to/3Plr8rI Paperback $9.99. https://amzn.to/3PiJDN9 Camino Child is a multi-generation family epic, as told by teenaged Californian, Summer Darling. Follow along on her adventure across Spain in search of the truth about her family’s past. Will she find the answers as she treks hundreds of unfamiliar miles? From the back cover: Fifteen-year-old SUMMER DARLING and her grandmother have left their home in southern California to fly to the rugged coast of northern Spain, following a cryptic note and pages from a forty-year-old…
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Laughter and a Boujee Camino
What makes you laugh (or cry)? I know it’s been a while. I’m finally feeling back to normal after returning from six weeks in Europe—where we launched the new novel Camino Child, and from New Jersey, where we saw one of our grandsons graduate from Coast Guard boot camp. Yes, we’re proud. In Europe, I spent weeks walking many a beautiful Camino mile and spreading the word about the book launch. I had tons of fun making new friends, breaking bread, walking, and talking. I ran into people I had met before and folks I had only known through Camino social media groups. I was even fortunate enough to see…
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The Cutting Room Floor
Walking the Portuguese Camino, beside the Atlantic Ocean, reminded me of a scene we cut from Camino Child, cut for length and plot. Summer (our protagonist) sleeps on a beach. She wakes up to several feet surrounding her, surfer’s feet. As you wait for your copy of Camino Child to arrive, I hope you enjoy this little slice of her life on Camino. Random beach, north coast of SpainOctober 13, 2019 Voices? Dull voices weave through my senses. An odd smell scratches old memories. In the distance waves gurgle ashore. A ridiculously bright light bores through thin slits in my eyelids. That pungent, What-is-that? smell, mixed with the salty, fishy scents of low…
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New Camino Novel
CAMINO CHILD IS COMING SOON. This novel has been a labor of love, a learning curve, a way to virtually walk the Camino de Santiago during a global pandemic, and a passion. Pre-order your Kindle version today. The novel launches on October 4th, 2022. The story will be available in Kindle and paperback from Amazon. Other formats and outlets coming soon after. Click Shop now below to pre-order your copy today. ABOUT THE NOVEL Fifteen-year-old SUMMER DARLING and her grandmother have left their home in southern California to fly to the rugged coast of northern Spain, following a cryptic note and pages from a forty-year-old travel diary neither knew existed. The answers to…
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Cover Reveal
It was a close thing, a close race. Choosing the cover art for my new novel, Camino Child, was one of the hardest parts of this project. In general, writers liked the “red” version, and readers liked the “blue” version. In the end, my fifteen-year-old granddaughter broke a virtual tie. The blue (the dominant color in this cover) version it shall be, then. Camino Child will release at Amazon.com on October 4th. Pre-orders will open in the next two weeks. Keep a watchful eye for that announcement, coming soon.
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Quick Announcement
On Sunday, we will reveal the cover for the much anticipated new novel, Camino Child. Keep an eye out that morning. Pre-orders for the book, Summer Darling’s adventures across Spain on the Camino de Santiago, will open in the weeks ahead.
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Her Eyes Like Diamonds
An American Landscape Short Story Bodie Jacques is single. He drafts personal ads one after another, not finding the words. He casts his intentions to the universe. A shiny car parks near him. Out steps a supermodel. Over coffee, and from their respective tables, she talks Bodie into riding along on an errand she must run. At a ‘spooky’ mansion in the Heights, Bodie witnesses her take something. When the woman’s boyfriend wants it back, Bodie’s day goes from a happy Saturday off to a high-speed run for his live. The beautiful woman his pilot. Do you know someone who may like this story? Forward this page and they too…
