Ramey Channell's Blog, page 9

Dreams Are All True While They Last

Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams? Alfred Lord Tennyson
What a coincidence that my last blog post was about dreams! Today I just received word that  my YA novel in progress Lovely, Dark, and Deep has been awarded an Honorable Mention from Alabama Writers' Conclave in their First Chapter of a Novel contest. And this story is all about dreams, but definitely not in the ordinary sense.
None of my dreams are ever in the ordinary sense, so I have plenty of material for Lovely, Dark, and Deep!
Now, I just need to finish my Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge sequel, titled The Witches of Moonlight Ridge, which I'm determined to have finished by the end of summer, then get busy on Lovely, Dark, and Deep , a YA supernatural mystery.
Edgar Allan Poe said:  All that we see or seem , Is but a dream within a dream.

The Best Sweet Potato Pie In the World

Photo by Ken Price
Sweet Potato Pie page 117 - Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge
2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes½ cup honey½ teaspoon salt2 eggs1 cup sugar1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 cup pecans chopped
Heat oven to 350.
Mix mashed sweet potatoes, honey and salt.
Beat eggs. Add sugar, vanilla extract, and pecans. Add to sweet potato mixture.
Pour into unbaked pie shell.Bake at 350 for 1 hour. (Check after 50 minutes)

Big Things Are Happening On Moonlight Ridge!

Spring has arrived, and beautiful changes are taking place out on the mountain. My new publisher, Vanilla Heart Publishing, will soon release Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge on ebook, a new paperback edition and an enchanting brand new book cover, and other exciting announcements coming soon.  Watch for updates!

Here's my fabulous new BOOK TRAILER from VHP , and the music on the mountain has never sounded sweeter!

Springtime Out On the Mountain

Oak Leaf Hydrangea on Moonlight Ridge


My Blood Kin
My cousin was named after our great-grandfather, William Theophilus Greenberry, who had been dead a long, long time when my cousin and I were born, and who had been a crazy man when he was alive.

I don't know why, but it seems like our part of the country just breeds crazy people. We're from Moonlight Ridge, out on the mountain near a little town called Eden, Alabama.

Great Granddaddy W.T. Greenberry was a naturalist; he went on excursions, into the woods on Moonlight Ridge and all around Alabama, and wrote about leaves and weeds and flowers that he saw. He'd bring home specimens and try to get them to grow in his yard, and make up names for the ones he didn't know the names of. He perfectly loved a trillium! He always took a bottle of whiskey with him, and he always came home when the bottle was empty.

And Great Granddaddy W.T. Greenberry purely doted on possums!

Possum Love

Sleigh Bells and Ink Wells on Moonlight Ridge

Welcome to all the Blog Hoppers and visiters! In this joyous season of celebration, I'd personally like to celebrate all the wonderful books being written and the talented authors who write them!


Let me introduce myself: I'm Ramey Channell from Leeds, Alabama. My debut novel, Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge , was published in 2010 by Chalet Publishers LLC.


Here I am with my book, the first in a series of four Moonlight Ridge novels.


I'm currently working on the next installment.
Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge is a work of fiction, based on remarkable real-life characters from my childhood and family history!
Filled with magic, music, laughter and a little touch of the supernatural,


it's a special story about two precocious children who take matters into their own hands,
solve a mystery, and save the day!

The next blogger after Moonlight Ridge is Leah Shalleda!
http://www.leahshelleda.com


Thanks so much to our sweet and talented Smoky Zeidel for all the work she did to pull this great idea together.

Autumn on Moonlight Ridge

Ramey and all the Moonlight Ridge Possums have been very busy during this changing of seasons. With speaking engagements, book signings, and book talks in Vestavia, at the Mountain Brook Emmett O'Neal Library, and with The Pensters of Fair Hope, Alabama, we have met so many sweet folks who are interested in the magic and music on Moonlight Ridge.


Hope to have pictures posted soon, and good news is just around the corner! The second volume in the chronicles of Moonlight Ridge is in the works! News about the upcoming sequel will be posted here.

Wishing everyone Happy Reading for the holidays!

The Songs of Moonlight Ridge

A few weeks back, I hosted a contest here on Moonlight Ridge. Originally, I asked three questions about some of the songs featured in Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge, with a free copy of the book, like a carrot on a stick, to the first person to get all three answers!


Then, upon considering the possibilities of short-term memory loss and the possible unfairness of excluding those who had not yet read the book, I changed the rules (It's my contest, I can do that) so that anyone who left a comment was entered in the drawing for the free book.


Shelley who blogs at
http://bookfare.blogspot.com/

was the winner and has received her copy of SMOMR !


So, for anyone who may still be curious about the songs in question, here are the answers.


1- After chasing the hunting dogs, Rich Man and Poor Man, out of the house, what song did Great-granddaddy W.T. Greenberry sing to his marsupials?



Great Granddaddy W.T. sang Dona Nobis Pacem,
but in his version the words were "Oh, don't I know this possum?"
.
2 - What is the origin, title, or some of the words, of the strange song the children heard while they were in the woods near Grind Rock Spring?



Lily Clair and Willie T. heard somone singing Desdemona's Song, also known as Willow, Willow, from William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice.
.


3 - What song did Willie T. sing when he was in the hole?


Willie T. sang Au Clair de la Lune, (to the tune of Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms) as it had been handed down from Paw Paw Jack Levert, a Cajun from South Alabama who played poker for a living and made homemade fiddles on the side.


So, as Heny Hope would say, there you have it. If you want to find out more about these, and other alluring tunes from the mountain, get yourself a copy of Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge , and join the fun!

Author Interview from Smoky Zeidel

SMOKY TALKS AUTHORS

It was my good fortune to be interviewed by Smoky Zeidel, an enormously talented writer and editor, on her website, Smoky Talks Authors. She is so easy to talk to, and such an interesting individual, she made the interview as easy as sweet potato pie!

Click the link beow to read the entire interview.
http://smokytalksauthors.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/a-talk-with-ramey-channell/