I write southern historical fiction, local history, and I've written a devotional book. The two novels I'm writing are set in Virginia and the Carolinas in the 1760s. My weekly blog started out to follow my journey as a writer and a reader, but in 2025 it has been greatly expanded to include current events and politics in the United States as I see our democracy under attack from within. The political science major in me cannot sit idly by and remain silent.
I concentrated on my writing in August, to the detriment of my reading; however, I did read two interesting and very different books.
P.S. I Forgive You: A Broken Legacy, by D.G. Kaye
P.S. I Forgive You: A Broken Legacy, by D.G. Kaye
In this memoir, D.G. Kaye writes about how difficult and painful it was to grow up with a narcissistic mother. Everything was always and only about her mother, so Kaye grew up knowing that she could never be good enough to gain her mother’s praise.
Kaye writes about how she and her siblings coped in different ways through the years and then handled the situation differently when they reached adulthood. Kaye struggled to make her decision to estrange herself from her mother, but as her mother’s death approached and came to pass she had to deal with that decision all over again.
Kaye loved her mother, but she eloquently writes about how difficult it was to live with her and under her lingering influence.
P.S. I Forgive You: A Broken Legacy is not an easy read, but I highly recommend it.
For people like me, who had a wonderful mother who always put her children ahead of her own desires and needs, I found it jarring to read about Kaye’s experience.
I was fortunate beyond all measure in my childhood home life.
The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, by Kristin Harmel
The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, by Kristin Harmel
The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau, by Kristin Harmel was the August pick for the Rocky River Readers Book Club. It created lots of good discussion. The moral question presented by this novel is whether it is ever all right to steal.
Intrigued?
The book’s protagonist, Colette Marceau, was born in to a family of jewel thieves. The catch, is that her mother told her that they were descendants of Robin Hood and, therefore, their thievery was justified in that they used the proceeds for good causes.
Specifically, Colette dedicated her life to stealing jewels from Nazis and Nazi sympathizers and putting all the money gained from those jewels to build and maintain a Holocaust museum/center.
The story revolves around the disappearance of her sister along with her sister’s half of a butterfly bracelet. Colette had the other half. In her later years, Colette set out to find her sister’s half of the bracelet and determine who killed her.
The story becomes very complicated as everyone is not who they claim to be, there are familial connections you won’t see coming, and was the body retrieved from the river actually Colette’s sister… or did she survive World War II?
All the loose ends are tied up in the end, and some of them will surprise you.
It occurred to me that some of you might not be aware of the multitude of opportunities online to hear and see authors being interviewed live online. I have found so many this spring that I created a calendar on which to pencil in the events so I won’t miss one.
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SIBA’S Reader Meet Writer Author Series
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) has many author interviews scheduled. In fact, they’re so prolific they’ve named the shows the Reader Meet Writer Author Series. They’re often publicized through the social media platforms of independent bookstores. They are free.
You just need to register through SIBA or your favorite independent bookstore’s website. Reminders are usually emailed to registrants the day of the interviews. Most are aired at 7pm on weeknights, but a few are during the day or on weekends.
Author Wiley Cash is the primary interviewer for the Reader Meet Writer Author Series. The SIBA Reader Meet Writer Author Series webpage is https://sibaweb.com/mpage/readermeetwriter, You can find past Reader Meet Writer Author Series interviews on YouTube.
Independent Bookstores’ Author Interviews
Look up the websites of various independent bookstores and check their events schedules. Then, sign up for their newsletters and/or their social media. You will then receive announcements of author interviews they’ve scheduled. As I write this, most of these are online-only events. It will be interesting to see how these events
Evolve as we come out of the Covid-19 pandemic. I hope even as in-store author events return, they will also be live-streamed so a greater audience can take advantage of them.
Friends and Fiction
I’ve mentioned this weekly Facebook Live group before, but it bears mentioning again. Friends and Fiction is a group of five authors (Mary Alice Monroe, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, and Patti Callahan Henry) who meet virtually at 7:00 p.m. ET every Wednesday to discuss books and writing. They have a guest author almost every week.
You can find them on Facebook and join their page in order to get their occasional announcements. I look forward to this week’s segment because Pam Jenoff, one of my favorite authors, is the guest author.
You may recall that I blogged about Ms. Jenoff’s book The Orphan’s Tale on August 7, 2017 (Late July Reading) and The Lost Girls ofParis on May 3, 2021 (5 Historical Novels I Read in April 2021.) I’m on the waitlist at the public library for her new historical novel, The Woman with the Blue Star.
Just announced: You can now find the Friends and Fiction interviews anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Author Websitesand Their Social Media
Go to the websites of the authors that interest you, and click on “Events.” You’ll not only find information about any of their upcoming in-person appearances but also their virtual appearances. You can follow your favorite authors on social media and learn of their appearances that way, too.
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A Sampling of Authors I’m Hearing This Week
Yesterday I heard Dr. Jane Woodall in conversation with Peter Wohlleben (The Hidden Life of Trees and his new book, The Heartbeat of Trees) via Eventbrite, thanks to Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, Colorado. It was fantastic and inspiring! It was organized by the Miami Book Fair. I blogged about The Hidden Life of Trees on June 2, 2017 (You Need to Read These Books!) People all over the world took advantage of this event. They signed in from The Netherlands, Austria, South Africa, Germany, Canada, and the United States. (And those were just the comments I noticed in the chat sidebar.)
I signed up for a Virtual Lunch with Mary Adkins (Privilege) today at 12:30 p.m. ET through Hub City Books in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I haven’t read any of Ms. Adkins’ books, so I look forward to learning about her and hearing her speak. She’s an author and a book coach.
As I mentioned above, on Wednesday night I’ll get to hear Pam Jenoff thanks to Friends and Fiction on Facebook Live.
Thursday at 11:00 I’ve signed up to hear Susan Meissner. I blogged about The Last Year of the War in my March 8, 2021 blog (4 Books I Read in February 2021) and The Nature of FragileThings in my May 3, 2021 blog (5 Historical Novels I Read in April 2021.) I thoroughly enjoyed both these historical novels and I look forward to hearing her speak for the first time. She’ll be live online at 11:00 a.m. ET thanks to the Warren County District Public Library in Ohio.
Mary Alice Monroe will be interviewed and live-streamed via Zoom on YouTube at 3:00 p.m. ET on Friday. I learned about this event through Tattered Cover Books in Denver, Colorado. I blogged about one of Ms. Monroe’s books, TheButterfly’s Daughter in my September 7, 2020 blog (Books Read in August 2020.) Her new novel is The Summerof Lost and Found.
Next week I’m signed up to listen to an event about diversity in books and the power of books via Zoom and sponsored by Room to Read.
My in-person social calendar is still sparse due to the pandemic, but my online social calendar is full. Some days I have to choose between two author events that are scheduled for the same time.
Since my last blog post
The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta announced that those of us who are fortunate enough to have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can safely go without face masks indoors and outdoors, except when visiting a business or facility that still requires masks. It was great to go to church yesterday and not wear a mask. It’s wonderful to see others’ smiling faces once again. It was great and strange all at the same time.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to read. As usual, I have several books going. I’m reading several, listening to one on CD, and yesterday started listening to one on Playaway so I can “read” while I walk or do yardwork. And yes, sometimes the story lines get confused. Or maybe I’m the one who gets confused.
Remember: This is Get Caught Reading Month, so try to get caught reading this week.
Janet's Writing Blog 