Vera Jane Cook's Blog, page 2

Meet Olivia

Meet my alter ego, Olivia Hardy Ray. She’s a bit off, as any alter ego should be. She helps me to see things in the dark that aren’t there. She insists I’m not crazy when I talk to ghosts, when I walk in time and when I actually do away with Jack the Ripper (But […]

Chatter Creek: Books

Reading is the ultimate relaxation, an entryway into fantasy land and the opportunity for compassion and connection. Reading is like religion because it transcends you, removes you from your narrow world into the lives of those who live on the edge, even those who live beyond the realm of reality. Reading is spiritual and provides […]

Chatter Creek Cottage: Friendship

“Friendship is so fragile. It shatters the heart with a word, it’s so difficult to maintain … it can vanish over time, as if it were never there.” Vivian picked up her glass and toasted Susie with it. “It’s only friendship, Viv … friendship that hides it’s head in the sand for a bit, and […]

Chatter Creek Cottage: Looking Back

2017 was not a year to remember for me. It was just as bleak and cold as this photograph. Slapped in the face by mistakes, not just in the year but also in my life, the sting was brutal. It’s not that I’m a stupid person; I’m a naive person who simply doesn’t see dismal […]

Chatter Creek Cottage: When I was a Girl

My father hid presents under whatever he could find, a new bicycle behind a chair, games and clothes under couches. My mother hid dolls in very creative places, under mattresses, in shoeboxes, maybe once under the sink. When I was a girl Christmas was the incredible smell of my Grandmother’s gravy, someone’s Jean Nate, one […]

Chatter Creek Cottage: White Winter World

I realize that the settings of all my books are about the sizzling south, the hot sun, the bountiful flowers of purple and red and yellow petals reminding me that the colors brought to the earth in summer is what makes me grateful for life. The sun always makes me feel good and energized. I […]

chatter Creek Cottage: First Snow

Dreaming of old churches in small towns on white days when the sky is the color of ash was a fantasy of mine, city child that I was. I thought life was better on streets like Main Street and Beechwood and Pucky Hollow than the sudden attack of sirens and horns on avenues filled with […]

Chatter Creek Cottage: Coming on Christmas

So it’s coming on Christmas once again at Chatter Creek Cottage. The long dark year is coming to a close and I breathe a sign of relief that I am looking forward to getting back on track. So I sold twenty seven books last month, that is not nearly enough to quit my day job […]

Chatter Creek Cottage: No Where Near a Southern Stream

How did I get so southern? Where the hell did the southern fiction come from? I never read southern fiction growing up, leaning more toward gritty novels and crime. I don’t just write southern fiction though. My next novel due out in 2018 is about five very east coast young actors who meet in the […]

Chatter Creek Cottage: Wake up Sleepy Head

This is a picture of the rear of Chatter Creek Cottage, all golden and red and looking like autumn. Autumn has finally arrived with a full curtain call of color, a splendid smile, having arisen from its slumber. For a while there I thought autumn was in hiding, too depressed about Donald Trump to spread […]