Vicki Batman's Blog, page 5
March 31, 2022
Favorite Book and Book with S. Hilbre Thomson - A Gift from Mom and her book, Trevor
Your Favorite Book:
Look Through My Window by Jean Little was my favorite book when I was a young girl. I believe my mother got it for me. She was an avid reader and I got my love of books from her. I come from a big family and the main character, Emily, has to move to a huge house in the country because her parents take in her four younger cousins while their mother is sick. Emily needs to adjust to the chaos they bring. She learns how to share her parents, love her cousins and the way she meets Kate, who becomes her best friend.
The appeal of this book still holds for all of its universal themes. My mother probably thought I needed to learn some of the same lessons Emily did!
About Your Book:
Matthew Stone thought he would never see his son again.
Unable to escape his past, Matt Stone heads North leaving behind the memory of his dead wife and son. His journey takes a turn when he comes across his late son's doppelgänger; Trevor Reed. Blinded by the resemblance, Matt becomes obsessed and begins stalking him. Little does Trevor know, he becomes wrapped up in Matt’s delusions. Concerned, Trevor's mom, Jesse, enlists the help of the local authorities to keep him safe. Despite the involvement of police and eventually the inclusion of the FBI and an enthusiastic reporter, Trevor disappears. The Reeds will do anything to get their son back which results in a chase starting in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts to an Island on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Will their efforts be enough? Will they find Matt and Trevor? Or will they be too late?
About the Author:
S. Hilbre Thomson grew up in Massachusetts with three older sisters and a younger brother. While she has had a career in education as an elementary school teacher her entire adult life, she has always dreamed of writing suspense novels. Trevor is her first published novel. Her love of writing comes directly from her love of reading which she enjoys almost as much as spending time with her husband, three daughters, and their dog, Tucker. Summer vacations allow her to spend time with extended family at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire where she loves to read on the dock and look forward to a great thunder and lightning storm. Thomson is an exceptional baker (but not a good cook). She enjoys making other people laugh with her sarcastic sense of humor. Her favorite authors include John Grisham, James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell, and Jennifer Nielsen.
Answer these questions:
Red, White or Blue? White tee shirt- Blue jeans
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? Summer
Cake or Pie? Cake- white with chocolate frosting
Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? none! Diet Coke
Country music or Michael Buble? Country music
Pencil or Pen? pen
Find out more at: S. Hilbre Thomson website
Find Trevor at: Amazon link
March 24, 2022
Favorite Move and Book with author Heather Weidner: Two Girls Fighting Over Shoes? and her book
My favorite movie of all time is MGM’s The Wizard of Oz. I remember watching this on TV when it came on once a year. I bought the VHS tape and probably wore it out. I love everything about the movie and the books. The movie has such history (like one of the prop coats purchased for the movie actually belonged to L. Frank Baum). It has had such an impact on pop culture, and allusions to it can be found in books, movies, and music across generations. It’s a timeless classic. The witch and the flying monkeys scared me to death as a kid, and I had the hardest time understanding that the woman in the Maxwell House coffee commercials in the 1970s was the witch.
I loved studying the film for bloopers and reading about how they created the special effects with 1930s technology. It was cutting edge with its use of color. Fun facts were that they used colored gelatin to “dye” the Oz horse of many colors (and the horses licked a lot of the coloring off). They also wrote “Surrender Dorothy” backwards in the bottom of an aquarium and filmed it for the witch’s sky-writing scene.
My college offered mini-terms between semesters (January or J-terms), and the best course ever was the History of The Wizard of Oz. I got to hang out with an entire class of Oz lovers and watch every version of the movie we could find.
I even slipped an homage to my favorite movie in the second Jules Keene Glamping mystery, Film Crews and Rendezvous (October 2022).
About the Book:
There is nothing like finding a dead body, clad only in a red satin thong, on your property to jolt you from a quiet routine. Jules Keene, owner of the posh Fern Valley Camping Resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is thrust into the world of the Dark Web when one of her guests, Ira Perkins, is found murdered in the woods near her vintage trailers. Jules quickly discovers that the man who claimed to be on a writing retreat was not what he seemed, and someone will go to any length to find what he left at her resort. Jules, along with her Jack Russell Terrier sidekick Bijou, has to put the rest of the missing pieces of a blackmailing scheme together before her glamping business is ruined.
About the Author:
professor, software tester, and IT manager. Vintage Trailers and Blackmailers is the first in her cozy mystery series, the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries. She also writes the Delanie Fitzgerald mystery series set in Virginia. Her Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries debut in 2023. Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.
Answer these questions:
Red, White or Blue? Red(I am a red-head with blue eyes.)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? Summer – I’m a beach girl.
Cake or Pie? Pie
Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? Ice Coffee or Iced Tea
Country music or Michael Buble? They’re both okay. I’m an 80s Girls. I love a variety of music.
Pencil or Pen? Pens. I love collecting cool pens and journals. I always sign books in pink, purple, or red.
Find the Book at:
Book title at:Amazon
Heather Weidner at:Website
March 17, 2022
Favorite Handbag and Book with author Cara Bertoia - Do You Have a Handbag You Cherish? and her book, Casino Queen
The story of my handbag is really a story about my husband. I met Ray when we both worked for Princess Cruises. He jumped ship, left before his contract was over, to move with me to America, and we got married two weeks later. People said it was too soon, it wouldn’t last. We got jobs as blackjack dealers at a Native American casino in Palm Springs, California. I never was much good at relationships when I was single, but it turned out I was great at being married. Ray is Scottish, and he always jokes about being canny with his money. We both know that the stereotype was popularized by a Scottish comedian, Harry Lauder, as a joke, but Ray likes to play into it. On the road to Los Angeles, there was an outlet mall, with a Gucci store in it. The manager of that store played on my husband’s blackjack table. I had never bought a designer handbag in my life. One of the first holidays we spent together imagine my surprise when I woke up to this beautiful Gucci bag. I will always cherish this bag because I know how it hurt him to buy it for me, but he did it to show me how much he loved me.
I love this classic style because it is immediately identifiable as a Gucci bag. The style is classic handbag, the material is leather, and the color is a cross between brown and burgundy. I only carry it on special occasions. After twenty years the bag still looks new. It is in excellent condition. Every time I look at this bag, I am reminded that marrying Ray was the best decision of my life. Thank you for listening to my story!
About the Book:
Gamble like your life depends on it…
Caroline Fleming, alone, heartbroken, and deeply in debt ends up in glamorous Palm Springs, California where Native casinos have just opened, offering employment to thousands. She lands a job at the Palm Oasis Casino and is mentored by the charismatic tribal chairman, John Tovar. Embraced by casino culture, Caroline works her way up to casino manager of the Night Hawk, in the High Desert town of Joshua Tree. There, she is responsible for managing multicultural team members, satisfying the demands of challenging guests, growing revenue while rooting out corruption. In the process of rediscovering her inner strength, she learns, you have to gamble like your life depends on it. With her life on the line, can she pull out a win?
About the Author:Cara Bertoia. Growing up in a strait-laced Southern family, I was always fascinated with
casinos. In my twenties I drove to California and became a dealer at Caesars in Lake Tahoe. I was offered the opportunity to join Princess Cruises as a croupier. Jumping at the chance, I spent the next five years circling the globe. I returned from ships with a very special souvenir, my Scottish husband, Ray. We went to work at a Native American casino in Palm Springs. We now live in Hollywood, Florida, where I write about my casino years while gazing out at the ocean.
Answer these questions:
Red, White or Blue? red
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? fall
Cake or Pie? cake
Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? tea
Country music or Michael Buble? Country music
Pencil or Pen? pen
Find the Book at:
Book title at: Amazon
Cara Bertoia at: Blogsite
Nice Interview on 4/1 at: The Big Thrill Online Magazine
Nice Review at: Review
March 10, 2022
Favorite Handbag and Book with author Terry Newman: Is Your Bag Ordinary? and her book-Heartquake
No, it isn’t anything out of the ordinary. A small clutch. Just large enough to hold a cell phone and some tissues. The two most important items I carried with me that evening. But it’s the memories this small purse holds that are meaningful for me. I carried this at my daughter’s wedding last year. A truly stunning Halloween ceremony, with the perfect balance of spooky and romance.
This small, unassuming clutch is a reminder that true love exists. And as long as true love is possible, I think I’ll continue to write romance novels.
About the Book:
A fierce kind of love. Coffee shop owner, Charlee Lightheart, views corporations with contempt. She believes her father died at the hands of the pharmaceutical industry. When she's approached to run for city council on an anti-fracking platform, she's reluctant. She's not sure this movement is her cause.
Billionaire Riley Brockton has given up on love. Then he walks into Charlee's shop. All he wanted was coffee and muffins. From that first electrifying touch, he knows he needs more. He withholds one piece of vital information: he's a lionshifter.
A rogue reporter sets out to reveal the one secret that can destroy the anti-fracking movement and the couple's relationship.
Can their love survive the truth and public exposure?
About Terry Newman:
I’ve always loved words and my career reflects that. From the editor-in-chief of a national natural health publishing company, to communications specialist and freelance writer, my jobs all reflect my obsession with the written language. One day I woke up and decided to make the dream of writing my own novel come true. All my stories are set in fictional towns in northeast Ohio where I live. And all stories somehow include my other obsession—coffee.
Answer these questions:
Red, White or Blue? Blue, since I’m forced to choose.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? Spring this year. It’s been a tough winter.
Cake or Pie? Pie. But only if it’s apple
Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? Coffee. What a silly question.
Country music or Michael Buble? Neither. How about The Monkees?
Pencil or Pen? Pen. I gave up using a pencil in high school.
Find the Book:
Heartquake at: Amazon
Terry Newman at: Website
Favorite Handbag and Book with author Terry Newman: If Your Bag Ordinary? and her book-Heartquake
No, it isn’t anything out of the ordinary. A small clutch. Just large enough to hold a cell phone and some tissues. The two most important items I carried with me that evening. But it’s the memories this small purse holds that are meaningful for me. I carried this at my daughter’s wedding last year. A truly stunning Halloween ceremony, with the perfect balance of spooky and romance.
This small, unassuming clutch is a reminder that true love exists. And as long as true love is possible, I think I’ll continue to write romance novels.
About the Book:
A fierce kind of love. Coffee shop owner, Charlee Lightheart, views corporations with contempt. She believes her father died at the hands of the pharmaceutical industry. When she's approached to run for city council on an anti-fracking platform, she's reluctant. She's not sure this movement is her cause.
Billionaire Riley Brockton has given up on love. Then he walks into Charlee's shop. All he wanted was coffee and muffins. From that first electrifying touch, he knows he needs more. He withholds one piece of vital information: he's a lionshifter.
A rogue reporter sets out to reveal the one secret that can destroy the anti-fracking movement and the couple's relationship.
Can their love survive the truth and public exposure?
About Terry Newman:
I’ve always loved words and my career reflects that. From the editor-in-chief of a national natural health publishing company, to communications specialist and freelance writer, my jobs all reflect my obsession with the written language. One day I woke up and decided to make the dream of writing my own novel come true. All my stories are set in fictional towns in northeast Ohio where I live. And all stories somehow include my other obsession—coffee.
Answer these questions:
Red, White or Blue? Blue, since I’m forced to choose.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? Spring this year. It’s been a tough winter.
Cake or Pie? Pie. But only if it’s apple
Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? Coffee. What a silly question.
Country music or Michael Buble? Neither. How about The Monkees?
Pencil or Pen? Pen. I gave up using a pencil in high school.
Find the Book:
Heartquake at: Amazon
Terry Newman at: Website
March 3, 2022
Favorite Book and Book: Welcome to author Lois Winston-Is Choosing a Favorite Book Impossible? and her book
Choosing one favorite book is impossible for me because I read across several completely different genres. Although I write humorous cozy mysteries and read many cozies by other authors, I also enjoy reading historical novels and women’s fiction. When I need a good laugh, I grab the latest Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich or books by Jonas Jonasson. However, I find it’s the historical novels and some women’s fiction that leave a lasting impression on me. Even so, picking just one of these books as a favorite is hard. However, if I had to choose one book to recommend, it would be City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin. Franklin is best known for her Mistress of the Art of Death series, which I also highly recommend (except for the final book which was written by her daughter after her death. Unfortunately, neither the plot nor the writing rise to the level of her mother’s books.) I read City of Shadows after having read the first three books of the Mistress of the Art of Death series because I was captivated by Franklin’s writing and storytelling.
City of Shadows is a stand-alone historical thriller that melds history with the modern myth that Anastasia, one of Nicholas II’s young daughters, survived the Russian Revolution. Set in Berlin in 1922, the story brings together a scarred and secretive Russian émigré, a woman claiming to be Anastasia Romanov, a serial killer, and a dedicated detective, all within the backdrop of the rise of Adolph Hitler and the Nazis.
Reading this book is like taking a master class in plotting and character development, and the story will not only haunt you long after you finish reading the book, but you’ll never see the twist coming.
About Your Book:
An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 10
With massive debt, a communist mother-in-law, a Shakespeare-quoting parrot, and a photojournalist boyfriend who may or may not be a spy, crafts editor Anastasia Pollack already juggles too much in her life. So she’s not thrilled when her magazine volunteers her to present workshops and judge a needlework contest at the inaugural conference of the New Jersey chapter of the Stitch and Bake Society, a national organization of retired professional women. At least her best friend and cooking editor Cloris McWerther has also been roped into similar duties for the culinary side of the 3-day event taking place on the grounds of the exclusive Beckwith Chateau Country Club.
The sweet little old ladies Anastasia is expecting to meet are definitely old, and some of them are little, but all are anything but sweet. She’s stepped into a vipers’ den that starts with bribery and ends with murder. When an ice storm forces Anastasia and Cloris to spend the night at the Chateau, Anastasia discovers evidence of insurance scams, medical fraud, an opioid ring, long-buried family secrets, and a bevy of suspects.
Can she piece together the various clues before she becomes the killer’s next target?
Craft projects included.
About Lois Winston:USA Today and Amazon bestselling author Lois Winston began her award-winning writing career with Talk Gertie to Me, a humorous fish-out-of-water novel about a small-town girl going off to the big city and the mother who had other ideas. That was followed by the
romantic suspense Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception.
Then Lois’s writing segued unexpectantly into the world of humorous amateur sleuth mysteries, thanks to a conversation her agent had with an editor looking for craft-themed mysteries. In her day job Lois was an award-winning craft and needlework designer, and although she’d never written a mystery—or had even thought about writing a mystery—her agent decided she was the perfect person to pen a series for this editor. Thus, was born the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, which Kirkus Reviews dubbed “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” The series now includes ten novels and three novellas. Lois also writes the Empty Nest Mysteries, currently at two novels, and one book so far in her Mom Squad Capers series.
To date Lois has published twenty novels, five novellas, several short stories, one children’s chapter book, and one nonfiction book on writing, inspired by her twelve years working as an associate at a literary agency. To learn more about Lois and her books, visit her at www.loiswinston.com where you can sign up for her newsletter and follow her at various social media sites.
Answer these questions:
Red, White or Blue? Depends on whether I’m buying clothes or painting the walls of my house. I’ve been told I look best in red, but I prefer black because it’s so slimming. As for the walls, I’m getting ready to paint my house in the spring, and I’m leaning toward a soft, light blue gray. White? Great for kitchen cabinets.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? It’s a toss-up between spring and fall, depending on the day and which of my allergies is acting up. Summer is too hot, winter too cold!
Cake or Pie? Finally, an easy question! Definitely cake, preferably chocolate.
Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? Coffee, coffee, and more coffee. Although, I do like a glass of Champagne every now and then. Unfortunately, Champagne doesn’t like me very much. More than a glass, and I get a headache. I’m a cheap date!
Country music or Michael Buble? Another easy question! Definitely Michael Buble, especially when he’s singing the classics of the twenties, thirties, and forties. When it comes to music, I’m an old soul. I love the songs of George and Ira Gershwin and Cole Porter. I’m also a diehard fan of Broadway and movie musicals, including modern ones like Hamilton, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman. And then there’s Disney…I’ve never outgrown my love for all those Disney musicals!
Pencil or Pen? Keyboard all the way! My hand cramps up when I use a pen or pencil.
Find out more at:
Find Stitch, Bake, Die! at: Amazon
Find Lois Winston at: Website
February 24, 2022
Favorite Book and Book welcomes author Allison Brook-Is 1,349 Pages too Long for a Book?
One of my two favorite books is A SUITABLE BOY by Vikram Seth. That it consists of 1,349 pages, and I long for a sequel tells you how much I enjoyed reading it. Drawing partly on his own family history, Seth sets his novel in India in the early 1950s, shortly after Partition. This large, complex novel involves the lives of four extended families and reflects upon the cultural, sociological, and political aspects of the time. The main storyline concerns 19-year-old Lata, a Hindu university student, who is in love with Kabir, a Muslim. Lata's forceful mother urges her to marry "a suitable boy," and Lata is introduced to various Hindu young men. She settles on Haresh, of whom she grows fond, and succumbs to an arranged marriage. The book came out in 1993, and I read it a few years after that. Though at least twenty-five years have since passed, many aspects of the book are still vivid in my mind. I bought the paperback edition of the book at no one's suggestion. I own it still. Ever since I was a child, I've had an unerring sense of which books I would enjoy. This book was no exception.
DEATH ON THE SHELF is the fifth book in my Haunted Library series. Angela Vecchio, my sleuth Carrie Singleton's best friend, is about to be married. Angela wants her wedding to be perfect, but she's apprehensive for various reasons. Her two older cousins, Donna and Roxy, who have always intimidated her, are suddenly hosting her bridal shower because the restaurant where the shower was scheduled to take place has burned down. And Tommy, Angela's irascible brother is in town, certain to make trouble. Tommy makes trouble and Roxy makes a play for Donna's husband. And suddenly someone falls down dead at the wedding reception. Before Carrie can find the murderer, another of Angela's relatives is murdered. Carrie is in for a big surprise when she find the killer--and gets a surprise in her personal life as well.
About the Author:
A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and novels for kids. Her books have received many accolades. As Allison Brook she writes the Haunted Library series. DEATH OVERDUE, the first in the series, was an Agatha nominee for Best Contemporary Novel in 2018. Other mysteries include the Golden Age of Mystery Book Club series and the Twin Lakes series.
Her juvenile novel, RUFUS AND MAGIC RUN AMOK, was an International Reading Association-Children's Book Council Children's Choice. AND DON'T BRING JEREMY was a nominee for six state awards.
Marilyn lives on Long Island, where many of her books take place. She loves traveling, reading, doing crossword puzzles and Sudoku, and chatting on FaceTime with her grandkids.
Answer these questions:
Red, White or Blue? blue
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? Spring
Cake or Pie? Cake
Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? Coffee
Country music or Michael Buble? Buble
Pencil or Pen? Pen
Find out more at:
Find Death on the Shelf at: Penguin Books
Find Marilyn Levinson and Allison Brook at: Website
February 17, 2022
Handbag and Book: Welcome Hanna Park-A handbag which called her name and Finding Tiegan
I remember the moment like yesterday.
The little round handbag called my name––a brilliant blue eye ringed with circles. The bag teased my senses, an over-the-shoulder design crocheted with long fringes. Those fringes dancing on my hip appealed to my hippie soul. I had to have it. How could I say no? This perfect little bag would carry the necessities of life––room enough for a credit card and a smartphone. How cool was that? What more could I need? My friend wooed and cooed. Buy it. Buy it. I love it. I love it. It was perfect. Or was it? Always the procrastinator and, I put the bag back. That eye held me as I wandered the aisles, as I circled the shop. I checked out a few more, but those fringes tugged at my heart. There could be no other. I sped up, threw the bag over my shoulder, crossbody. My breath left me in a sharp exhale. What if––what if my phone wouldn’t fit. No…say it isn’t so.
Whew… The perfect fit…the perfect little bag.
About the Book:
He stole my breath.
A holiday in the Algarve of Portugal…sunshine…fun-shine. It’s what I need. It’s time to be me. Time to find the woman I was before the nightmares, outlandish dreams, and sleepwalking. But I wasn’t expecting to find Tomás Ferreira, a man made for pleasure. And now, my heart throbs with unfulfilled excitement, fire burns in my belly, and swirling flames lick my thighs. I’m a glorious mess.
Where did Tiegan Moss come from? And why is she suddenly here on the day of the dead, the day the door to the otherworld swings open, the day the veil is thin? I’d hidden in the shadows, content, a life barely lived. You’ve changed everything. You make me want. You make my blood sing. Lost in your kaleidoscope eyes, trapped in the pout of your lips, I can’t escape. And I don’t like it one bit.
Can our two haunted souls find a future together?
About the Author: Hanna ParkI began my writing career in the pre-dawn of a winter morning while my husband snored like a train. We could call my husband the catalyst. If it weren’t for him, I would never have gone to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, feed the cat, and sit on the loveseat in front of the fire. It was there, in those moments of wondrous quiet, that I did something I had never thought possible. I opened my laptop, and while the coffee went cold, I wrote a story. My husband had no idea that these sojourns to the loveseat in front of the fire would become a daily occurrence, that writing would become an obsession, but the cat knew. She knows everything.
Answer these questions:
Red, White or Blue? Red symbolizes passion, the life force that runs through our veins. Red is my favorite color. White symbolizes purity––can’t go there. Nope, won’t go there. Blue––did Zeus not make the skies rain when he was sad?
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? I love the smell of spring, dirt beneath your fingernails. The long hazy days of summer––and suntan lines. In the fall, I love bulky sweaters and rustling leaves. Winter––brrrr….hot chocolate spiked with Forty Creek.
Cake or Pie? Anything chocolate.
Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? I need my coffee in the morning…three or four…lol
Country music or Michael Buble? Michael Buble…And I’m feeling good.
Pencil or Pen? A pen…always write what you mean.
More information:
Finding Tiegan at: Amazon
Find Hanna Park at: Hanna Park
February 10, 2022
Handbag and Book welcomes author Kassandra Lamb - Love at First Sight? and her mystery, Lethal Assumptions
I don’t believe in love at first sight between humans, but when it comes to handbags ... definitely, I’m a believer. I stumbled on this one a few months ago, while doing some online retail therapy. And it was instant love!
First, this is my favorite color. Second, it’s got seashells on it. I love anything related to the ocean and/or the tropics. And since I now live in Florida, it’s perfectly acceptable to not only wear white year round, but also to carry a seashell-covered handbag. (I rarely change my purse unless I’m going somewhere super fancy.)
It’s amazingly roomy and amazingly light! The quilted material hardly weighs anything (until I put all my junk in it, but still not all that heavy). Plus the long, adjustable strap makes it easily convertible to a crossbody bag.
So. Many. Pockets! One lined in plastic, a built-in bag for cosmetics (which can sometimes leak or, in Florida, melt). There’s one pocket I don’t even use, because there are more than I need!
The brand is called Lug, and get this—there’s a 2-year warranty! Have you ever had a handbag come with a warranty before? I haven’t!
Okay, I think I’m getting a little carried away, having just used my sixth exclamation mark. I’ll let you all just admire this little beauty. (Did you see that? I resisted putting an exclamation mark there.)
About the Book: Lethal Assumptions, A C.o.P. on the Scene Mystery
There's a new female C.o.P. on the scene!
Judith Anderson’s no-nonsense attitude and confidence served her well in her climb to homicide lieutenant in Baltimore County, but that confidence is shaken when she finds herself one step behind a serial killer—eight days into her new job as Chief of Police of Starling, Florida. In a race to save lives, she’ll draw on every talent and instinct that made her a star in Baltimore. But will it be enough this time?
About Kassandra Lamb:In her youth, Kassandra Lamb had two great passions—psychology and writing. Advised that
writers need day jobs—and being partial to eating—she studied psychology. Her career as a psychotherapist taught her much about the dark side of human nature, but also about resilience, perseverance, and the healing power of laughter. Now retired, she spends most of her time in an alternate universe with her fictional characters. The portal to this universe (aka her computer) is located in Florida where her husband and dog catch occasional glimpses of her.
Answer these questions:
Red, White or Blue? Definitely blue.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? In Maryland, where I’m from, it was summer. In Florida, it’s spring.
Cake or Pie? Either, as long as chocolate is involved.
Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? Tea.
Country music or Michael Buble? If those are my only choices, country music.
Pencil or Pen? Pen.
Find the Book at:
Book Lethal Assumptions at: Publisher
Find Kassandra Lamp at: Website
February 3, 2022
Favorite Movie and Book welcomes Jack Brightside - Fight Club and his book, The Warlock of Westland
My favorite movie of all time is “Fight Club.” It was supposed to be a serious film about late-stage capitalism, but twenty years later it has become a commentary on toxic masculinity. The film is about an unnamed narrator (Edward Norton), sometimes called ‘Jack’ in fan circles, who suffers from crippling existentialism as a result of his dead-end corporate job and monotonous lifestyle. A chance meeting with Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), fills the narrator with new purpose in life. The narrator quits his job, moves in with sexy Tyler Durden, and opens underground “fight clubs” with his new friend. The narrator and Brad Pitt eventually recruit other white men into an alt-right/left (it is unclear) movement to sabotage capitalist infrastructure by destroying everyone’s credit records. This movie was made before “incel culture” became mainstream, before we had a name for the ‘alt-right” or “alt-left” and understood how toxic masculinity in internet subcultures led to extremism. This movie was ahead of its time in the worst kind of way. To best appreciate this film, root against the main characters while you watch it. Imagine that the director, David Fincher, endeavored to make the narrator and Tyler Durden as unlikable as possible. It might have been edgy in 1999 but in 2021 Tyler Durden’s anti-capitalist rants read like cries for help from a narcissist with zero self-insight. The relationship between him and the narrator is perfectly homoerotic, and their rants about feeling emasculated because of capitalism feel a lot like some kind of repression cycle.
He has this line about relationships like, “we are a generation of men raised by women, I’m not sure another woman is what we need.” Like, I don’t know, Tyler. Do all men feel emasculated or just you and your roommate? Do you feel more emasculated around each other? Do you feel especially emasculated when he knocks on your bedroom door, mid-coitus, looks directly into your eyes and asks you a question? Does it make you feel like a man when you guys smash car windows together? Are your hyper-masculine activities just you compensating for a sexual attraction to your roommate that you are ashamed of? Do you want to talk about your feelings?
At the end of the movie we discover that the narrator has been hallucinating Tyler Durden the whole movie. Possibly, Tyler was created just to satisfy his repressed sexual desires.
About the Book:
“The Warlock of Westland” is a male/male contemporary paranormal romance about two immortal warlocks who have to work together to catch a ghost in their town.
Sam is an immortal warlock whose life revolves around a failing hardware store in rural Southern Connecticut. His self-imposed isolation is interrupted when the Warlock Council assigns him to help an evil warlock living in his village. The desperate warlock happens to be Sam’s ex-boyfriend from two thousand years ago, Cailte the Cruel.
Cailte hasn’t used that name since the iron age. Now he’s Kevin MacCormack, a recently unemployed stockbroker. Kevin spends his days bewitching the villagers and making potholes for fun. The last thing he needs is a good warlock like Sam cramping his style.
The warlocks must work together to track a dangerous ghost that Kevin accidentally released in Westland. Meanwhile, Sam has fallen in love with Kevin all over again. He’s ready to do anything to make it work, including tolerating Kevin’s self-serving magic. Kevin isn’t as sure that it’s meant to be. Sam’s small-town charm starts to grow on Kevin just as they realize the ghost's devastating power.
About the Author:
Jack Brightside writes male/male romance for people who read too much fanfiction. Her writing career started with psychoanalyzing fictional characters on the internet, but now she spends more time writing her own characters. She likes writing millennial character tropes into historical and paranormal settings. Her stories are easy to read, steamy and always have a happy ending. Jack’s other hobbies include World War One reenactment and watercolor painting, but not at the same time.
Answer these questions:
Red, White or Blue? Red!
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? Summer!
Cake or Pie? Cake!
Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? Tea! I quit coffee this Fall because I had developed a tolerance. Now a single cup of black tea is enough to have me bouncing off the walls for hours.
Country music or Michael Buble? Ugh, Michael. I saw him live and it changed my life.
Pencil or Pen? Pen! Pen, all the way, for both writing and drawing.
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