Beyond the Book: The Victorian Christmas Tree

 

Since people are starting to put out their Christmas decorations, I thought I’d share a little about the Victorian Christmas tree. Maybe you’ll even want to decorate one.

When we think of Christmas during the Victorian Era, most of us picture a Charles Dickens Christmas complete with a goose or turkey and a Christmas tree, but the English haven’t always had Christmas trees. They were introduced into England in 1841 when Queen Victoria was on the throne. Her husband Prince Albert decorated the first Christmas tree. Albert was from Germany, a place where they’d long used Christmas trees. He decorated a tree for Windsor Castle using candles, candies, and paper chains. The custom spread, and before long all of the English had Christmas trees. So did the Americans.

As time passed, people started to use more elaborate decorations on their trees, including gingerbread men, marzipan candies, hard candies, cookies, fruit, cotton-batting Santas, paper fans, tin soldiers, whistles, wind-up toys, pine cones, dried fruits, nuts, berries, and trinkets of all kinds. They also enjoyed hanging cornucopias filled with sweets, fruit, nuts and popcorn on their trees. Small homemade gifts, such as tiny hand-stitched dolls or children’s mittens were also popular. Beautiful angels were the tree toppers of choice, and some families set up a Nativity scene under the tree using moss for grass and mirrors for ponds.  

Eventually, people started to use German store bought ornaments which first appeared during the 1860’s. Glass icicles came first followed by hand blown glass globes called kugels. People also liked Dresdens, embossed silver and gold cardboard ornaments in many shapes.  

Decorating a Victorian tree today would be pretty simple without investing a great deal of money. Here are a few things I’d do.

1.String popcorn and cranberries to make a garland. The kids should have a great time helping.

2.Shape small paper doilies into cornucopias. Fill with candies of your choice.

3.Recycle old Christmas cards. Cut out shapes you like and attach them to the tree with ribbons to make mock Dresdens.

4.Make or buy small cookies to hang on the tree. You can decorate them with glitter if you like. Hairspray works great as a preservative.

5.Fill small mesh bags with colorful candy and tie them with ribbon.

6.Spray nuts in the shell with gold paint and glue a slender cord to them so they’ll hang on the tree. 

7.I don’t recommend lighting the candles if you use real ones, but I’ve seen strings of electric lights in the shape of candles. That sounds a lot safer to me.

8.Don’t forget to fill the tree with small toys. Personally, I’d add some cherubs, another Victorian favorite.

9.Decorative tassels would look beautiful on your tree.

10.Buy some pretty ribbon-Victorians preferred velvet-and shape it into pretty bows or swirls.

11.Fold wrapping paper in the shape of fans and put them on the tree. We used to love making fans when we were kids.  

If any of you decide to do a Victorian tree, email me a picture at elainecsc@aol.com and I’ll post it on the blog for others to see.  

Oh, and the picture that accompanies this post is from an 1841 engraving showing Victoria and Albert and their children.

Does your Christmas tree this year have a theme?

The Early Case Files of Sherlock Holmes

 

The Early Case Files of Sherlock Holmes

by Liese Sherwood-Fabre

 

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GENRE: Historical mystery

 

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BLURB:

 

A murdered midwife. A body in the stable. At the age of thirteen, Sherlock Holmes is thrust into his first two cases. At stake: the lives of his own family.

 

Before Sherlock Holmes met Dr. Watson in 1895, he had already developed his skills as the world's most famous consulting detective. Arthur Conan Doyle provided little information about his detective's formative years or how he created his singular profession. These first two books in The Early Case Files of Sherlock Holmes series reveal how Sherlock's past shaped the sleuth he became.

 

Faced with the possibility of losing his mother to the gallows for a murder she did not commit, Sherlock must uncover the true killer before she hangs in The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife.

 

In Case Two, unexpected guests and a murder arrive in time for the family's Christmas celebrations. For the safety of his family, Sherlock is compelled once again to bring the perpetrator to justice in The Adventure of the Murdered Gypsy.

 

Fans of Sherlock Holmes and traditional historical British detective mysteries will love The Early Case Files of Sherlock Holmes as a welcomed addition to the originals.

 

 

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EXCERPT

 

They told me the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, and I knew I should have been honored to be at the institution; but at age thirteen, I hated it. The whole bloody place. I remained only because my parents’ disappointment would have been too great a disgrace to bear.

 

My aversion culminated about a month after my arrival when I was forced into a boxing match on the school’s verdant side lawn. I had just landed a blow to Charles Fitzsimmons’s nose, causing blood to pour from both nostrils, when the boys crowding around us parted. One of the six-form prefects joined us in the circle’s center. 

 

After glancing first at Fitzsimmons, he said to me, “Sherlock Holmes, you’re wanted in the Head Master’s office. Come along.”

 

Even though I’d been at the school only a few weeks, I knew no one was called to the director’s office unless something was terribly wrong. I hesitated, blinking at the young man in his stiff collar and black suit. He flapped his arms to mark his impatience at my delay and spun about on his heel, marching toward the college’s main building. I gulped, gathered my things, and followed him at a pace that left me puffing to keep up.

 

I had no idea what caused such a summons. If it had been the fight, surely Charles would have accompanied me. I hadn’t experienced any controversies in any of my classes, even with my mathematics instructor. True, earlier in the day I’d corrected him, but surely it made sense to point out his mistake? For the most part, the masters seemed pleased with my answers when they called on me.

 

I did have problems, however, with most of my classmates—Charles Fitzsimmons was just one example. Except he was the one who’d called me out. Surely, that couldn’t be the basis of this summons?

 

Once inside, my sight adjusted slowly to the dark, cool interior, and I could distinguish the stern-faced portraits of past college administrators, masters, and students lining the hallway. As I passed them, I could feel their judgmental stares bearing down on me, and so I focused on the prefect’s back, glancing neither right nor left at these long-dead critics. A cold sweat beaded on my upper lip as I felt certain something very grave had occurred, with me at the center of the catastrophe. Reaching the Head Master’s office, I found myself unable to work the door’s latch, and with an exasperated sigh, the prefect opened it for me and left me to enter on a pair of rather shaky knees.

 

My agitation deepened when I entered and found the director examining a letter with my father’s seal clearly visible. He glanced up from the paper with the same severe expression I’d observed in his predecessors’ portraits. Dismissing his appraisal, I concentrated on the details I gathered from the missive in his hand.

 

Taking a position on an expansive oriental carpet in front of his massive wooden desk, I drew in my breath and asked, “What happened to my mother?”

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Liese Sherwood-Fabre knew she was destined to write when she got an A+ in the second grade for her story about Dick, Jane, and Sally’s ruined picnic. After obtaining her PhD, she joined the federal government and worked and lived abroad for more than fifteen years. Returning to the states, she seriously pursued her writing career, garnering such awards as a finalist in RWA’s Golden Heart contest and a Pushcart Prize nomination. A recognized Sherlockian scholar, her essays have appeared in scion newsletters, the Baker Street Journal, and Canadian Holmes. These have been gathered into The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes essay collection series. She has recently turned this passion into an origin story series on Sherlock Holmes. The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife, the first book in The Early Case Files of Sherlock Holmes series, was the CIBA Mystery and Mayhem 2020 winner.

 

Writer links:

 

Website: www.liesesherwoodfabre.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liese.sherwoodfabre 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/lsfabre

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Liese-Sherwood-Fabre/e/B00810INE6

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5758587.Liese_Sherwood_Fabre

 

Book Buy Links:

 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Early-Files-Sherlock-Holmes-Cases-ebook/dp/B0B3Y6TVX3

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-early-case-files-of-sherlock-holmes-cases-one-and-two

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-early-case-files-of-sherlock-holmes-cases-one-and-two-liese-sherwood-fabre/1142543755

Apple iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-early-case-files-of-sherlock-holmes-cases-one-and-two/id6443924482

Other: https://books2read.com/u/md12A5

 

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Liese Sherwood-Fabre will be awarding $15 Amazon, Apple or B&N gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The After Times

 

The After Times

by Christine Potter

 

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GENRE: YA Fantasy--Time Traavel

 

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BLURB:

 

Say you’re Gracie Ingraham, nerdy but happy high school senior. But you’re also a time-traveler from 1962 who got a bit lost and has been living in the 2000’s since 2018. That would be plenty without it now being 2020. Covid has just shut down the world. Your pandemic pod? Your BFF Zoey—and your ex-boyfriend, Dylan.

 

Dylan still lives to spin weird vinyl LP’s with your sort-of, kind-of Dad, Amp. So your quarantine hobby is going to have to be Being Mature About Stuff.

 

But then your time traveling kicks into high gear again.  And your long-lost brother and mom mix it up with a creepy, pyromaniacal force that is most likely demonic. How can love save the day when you can’t even go downtown without wearing a mask?

 

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EXCERPT

 

We’d arrived at the first of the big, fancy gravesites: nineteenth century family plots, with tall, marble obelisks and statues of weeping angels. Some of them have creepy stone and marble mausoleums. Mausoleums are tombs the size of tiny houses with windows and even gates and front porches sometimes. You could go inside one if someone unlocked the door.

 

Some kids had obviously partied out by the mausoleums the night before.  They’d left a White Claw can one at of the sad angels’ feet. A few more cans were tossed on the ground and on the stone stairs to one of the bigger tombs. There were beer cans, too. 

 

Zoey shook her head. “Some people are still getting out at night.” 

 

“They could have at least recycled!”

 

“Alas!” 

 

See, Zoey, Dylan, and me… We’re the kind teachers and parents don’t worry about. We always recycle. We don’t break quarantine. We wouldn’t have gone to a midnight graveyard party before quarantine … well … not without seriously good reason. 

 

Not that Zoey wouldn’t snag a White Claw. And I did sneak out on one serious midnight date when Dylan and I were first together. But I also had to zap a demon that evening. Which was the last time anything interesting happened to me… Up until the very next minute, that is. 

 

‘Cause then it wasn’t a pretty April day anymore. It was very cold and very dark. Zoey and I were still in the cemetery, but we weren’t by ourselves anymore.

A Word With the Author

 1. Did you always want to be an author?

I think I did. I read before I went to school, and I was stapling together “books” when I was seven. I loved reading. Some of my happiest childhood memories are being stretched out on the beat-up three-seater couch my mom kept in a room we called “The Sun Porch. ” It was a little drafty in there in the winter time from its huge windows, and I remember rainy late fall afternoons, cuddled down with a book, just lost in a story. I wanted to be able to make that kind of magic. When I learned how to type on my mom’s old Smith-Corona, it was Jenny, bar the door. Writing felt like play to me. It still does. 

 

2. Tell us about the publication of your first book. 

 I published poetry long before I published fiction. My first book of poems (I have three out) was called Zero Degrees At First Light. I had just retired from teaching English, and the local paper came and took my picture. I remember giving the first reading to support it; my parents were still around then. They were in the audience, and I was skipping around, trying to find poems that wouldn’t make them mad!  I still write poems as much as I tell stories. 

 

My first novel felt much more like I had arrived. 

 

I’d been at Hedgebrook, a woman’s writing retreat on an island off Washington State. I was lucky enough to have Karen Joy Fowler, who wrote The Jane Austen Book Club and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, for my mentor. I was terrified!  She was the first set of eyes on Time Runs Away With Her, the first book in the Bean series, which was my first novel. She loved my characters, and that gave me the strength to pull the book apart and put it back together about three times. Finally, it was accepted by Evernight Teen. (Yay, ET!!)  I was on vacation with my husband on Prince Edward Island when I got the news, and I went straight to the gravesite of Lucy Maud Montgomery to say thanks. I loved the Green Gables books, which is why the Bean Books are a series. 

 

3. Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?

My favorite YA author that I’m pals with is my fellow ET-ite Marcus Damanda, who wrote the incredible Salvation State trilogy. It’s horrifying and fascinating and smart. Great characters, superb world-building, some of the vilest villains in all of fiction. I love those books. The only horror/dystopian author I know who can grab you faster and better is Stephen King. For real. My favorite YA author  all-around is probably still A Wrinkle in Time’s Madeleine L’Engle. Her blend of warmth and imagination is hard to beat. I try to take myself a little less seriously than she does, though…And yeah, there’s the matter of my last name. I come by it honestly. You have to love the Harry Potter books. The whole concept of there being a group of people nobody knows about who can do magic just fascinates me—and I explore it in another sense in my own work. In my books time-travelers are just people who can step out of their own time and see the past. There’s a community of them. I don’t do time machines, you know. For the record, I’m

disappointed with Rowling’s comments on trans people, though.  

4. What's the best part of being an author? The worst? The best part about it?  I think it’s reading back over an old book and discovering that it’s—wow—pretty excellent. How did I do that?  Hah!  I also love getting a good review. The worst is waiting for the first reviews to come in, and feeling swamped, as I often do, by the difficulty of getting a book that I really care about out into the world and into hands. In other words, please read my books :) !

 

5. What are you working on now?

Right now, I’m promoting The After Times!  That’s a full-time job. Press releases, blogs, letters to local journalists, all that. So many people have books now, it can be hard to get loft with a project unless you’re on a huge, ginormous publisher. Even if you are!!  I’ll probably write a poem or two this week. I do that all the time, still. And I’m trying to figure out what my next novel will be. It’ll be young adult, I’m pretty sure. I have a fragment about a young piano student during WW2 that I wrote, based on my mom. I might do something with that. I also have an idea about ouija boards. And one about past-life regression. Lots of teen girls go through a ghostly phase, and I want to do something with that. I’m in the daydream stage. 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Christine Potter is a writer and poet who lives in a (for-real) haunted house in New York’s Hudson River Valley, not that far from Sleepy Hollow.  She is the author of Evernight Teen’s Bean Books, a five book series that travels through time—and two generations of characters. Christine is has also been a teacher, a bell ringer in the towers of old churches, a DJ, and a singer of all kinds of music. Her poetry has appeared in literary magazines like Rattle and Kestrel, featured on ABC Radio News, and sold in gum ball machines. She lives with her organist husband Ken and two indulged kitties.

 

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christine.potter.543/

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/chrispygal/

Blog: chrispygal.weebly.com

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Christine-Potter/e/B001K7URHS/

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Christine Potter will be awarding $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Little Writer

 

Little Writer

by Marina Hill

 

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GENRE: Historical Fiction

 

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BLURB:

 

A retelling of the classic coming-of-age story Little Women through the intimate lens of Jo March.

 

It's 1862 and fifteen-year-old Jo March would rather be fighting in the war, like her papa, than improving her knitting skills on the home front. But societal conventions for the "gentle" woman-and her steadfast adoration for her three sisters-force Jo to stay behind and support the family, all the while rolling her eyes at Aunt March and daydreaming of becoming a famous author.

 

At home, love abounds in the March girls' lives in the form of family, friendship, patriotism, religion, and-to Jo's chagrin-romance. As each sister navigates their ascent into adulthood, Jo unwittingly ventures down a path of self-realization, using her gift of written prose to craft her voice, and thus, her truth. Perhaps, just maybe, she can strike balance between the freedom of independence and the warmth of partnership...

 

In this visionary adaptation, Little Writer tells the March sisters' timeless journey to womanhood with a multiracial cast of characters, reimagining history to include diverse communities without elaboration.

 

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EXCERPT

When spring rolls around, my sisters and I love to stay outside.

 

One blossoming afternoon, while I’m in the coop to feed the chickens, I spot Laurie, Beth, and Amy around the redbud tree. Laurie latches onto a branch to shake the tree loose of any lingering magenta petals. Flowers begin raining on Beth and Amy, who lock hands and spin together. Their skirts fly about them and I smile at their girlish laughter.

 

Once I return to feeding the animals, Laurie appears behind me. “What d’you have there?”

 

“Teddy! Come in. I want you to meet my chicken, Aunt Cockle-top.” I point to her and, though Laurie enters the coop, he says far from the roaming animals. 

 

“Please keep that from me,” he says, shaking some magenta flower petals from his curls as he skirts away.

 

“Don’t be afraid,” I exclaim, cleaning my hands on my linen apron before scooping up Aunt Cockle-top. She flaps her wings.

 

Teddy stumbles backward. “Jo!”

 

“She’s just a chicken. Face your fears!” I haul Aunt Cockle-top into the air toward him.

 

He yelps and loses his footing without trying to catch her. My chicken falls on top of him and he screeches, “She bit me!” to send me into a deep laughing fit.

 

“Josephine!” Marmee’s scolding voice startles me. My laughter is slow to dissipate as she brings a whimpering Laurie inside.

 

A Word With the Author

1.Did you always want to be an author?

 

Yes! It has always been a dream of mine. Taking the world in my head and sharing it with others is such a wild experience. Everyone interprets stories differently and it’s interesting to see the way readers react to your own.

2. Tell us about the publication of your first book.

 

I never planned on the indie publishing route. For a long time, I’ve been on the traditional track. And then I realized I can do whatever I want. Traditional publishing is full of gatekeepers and it’s certainly a goal of mine to break through, but I don’t have to wait for my first breakthrough to become an author. Realizing that was extremely liberating. I started taking my career into my own hands. There are plenty, plenty, plenty of successful self-published authors and there are many traditionally published authors who started as indies! I wanted to write something comfortable. Something that makes my heart sing with warmth and coziness—and Little Women gave me such a feeling. I love to dissect stories and understand them from different points of view. One day, I threw out on Instagram the possibility of a book series in each March sister perspectives, and multiple people responded with support and thus the idea was born!

3. Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?

 

I write in both historical fiction and fantasy genre. For historical fiction, I would say Alyssa Cole or Beverly Jenkins. Alyssa Cole’s historical fiction is an auto-buy. For fantasy, Tracy Deonn. She is so unbelievably talented and her Legendborn series is a masterpiece. 

4. What's the best part of being an author? The worst?

 

The best part? Imagination. The worst? Money.

5. What are you working on now?

 

Right now, I’m drafting a story about a girl who loves dragons! In her world, these beautiful creatures were thought to have been extinct and it is her duty to understand why they’re here and to convince the world that they’re not the monster they’ve been taught to fear.

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Marina Hill is a writer with a keen interest in all things undiscovered. She grew up in the New Jersey side of Philadelphia, watching Eagles games and roughhousing with her plethora of older brothers. She attended Baruch College in NYC and has over a dozen publications of her other works. If she isn’t daydreaming about her next story, she’s studying history or yearning to dash into the forest, build a farm, and never look back. Marina never lives in one spot for too long and loves to travel with her dog.

 

Bookish platform links

 

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61022196-little-writer

Website https://themarinahill.com/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thepaintingauthor/

 

Purchase links

 

Barnes & Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/little-writer-marina-hill/1141470299?ean=9798986290805

KOBO 

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/little-writer

Apple Books

https://books.apple.com/us/book/little-writer/id6442894240

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Writer-Marmees-Girls-Book-ebook/dp/B0B2KWTV3H

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Marina Hill will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Grave Girl

 

Grave Girl

by Dan Padavona

 

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GENRE: Mystery/Thriller

 

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BLURB:

 

Every mind holds a secret. Some are more deadly than others.

 

Nightshade County Sheriff Thomas Shepherd is a successful model for every law enforcement officer with autism. He leads an idyllic life in his uncle’s old home along Wolf Lake and is planning to marry private investigator Chelsey Byrd.

 

But when a star athlete’s girlfriend disappears while camping, everyone blames the boyfriend. He’s volatile and dangerous. Did he murder the girl and bury her in the woods?

 

The sheriff’s gut tells him there’s more to the story than the boyfriend is willing to admit. The more he digs into the case, the more he worries someone is hiding a dark secret.

 

Is the boy a killer? Or is he the next victim?

 

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EXCERPT

 

McKenzie Ossman twirled a length of blond hair around her finger and took in the stars. Here, five miles beyond Kane Grove’s city lights, the sky was a frozen portrait of fireworks. She shivered against the chill and puffed out a condensation cloud, the cold already deep enough to penetrate her bones. By morning, frost would cover the landscape. 

 

She accepted the bottle of Jack Daniels from Marshall and sipped. This was a terrible idea. As much as she wanted to get him away from the pressures of Kane Grove University and the constant attention he received from being a future NFL draft selection, she didn’t like it when he drank. Hazel-skinned, strong, body painted with tattoos, he was a Greek god when he was sober. But lately he’d taken to drinking too often. He changed after the alcohol hit his bloodstream, turning angry and short-fused, a bomb ready to blow. 

 

Then there was the problem of getting back to campus on his motorcycle. She couldn’t trust him to drive buzzed. Sometimes he pushed the motorcycle past eighty in the dark, her arms wrapped around his waist, Marshall one wrong move from disaster. 

 

Marshall Prisco was the proverbial diamond in the rough. Few small college football players attracted professional scouts, yet dozens attended Kane Grove football games for the chance to see him play. A senior wide receiver, he was unstoppable on the field, too fast and strong for the poor fools tasked with covering him. 

 

McKenzie sipped from the bottle and winced when the alcohol burned her throat. Marshall held out his hand, and she wasn’t sure she should give the bottle back to him.

A Word With the Author

 1.Did you always want to be an author?

 

Definitely not. I wrote short stories during high school, and the school newspaper reprinted one or two, but I didn’t write seriously until I turned 46. I hold degrees in communications and meteorology, and I worked for NOAA for 27 years before my writing income greatly surpassed that of my previous career.

2.Tell us about the publication of your first book.

 

My first book is called “Storberry”, which is an unfortunate title that doesn’t tell readers much about the subject matter. I named the book after the town in the story. It’s an old-school, hair-raising vampire horror tale. I consider it a love letter to Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot”. The book released in 2014 and garnered a small cult following. Readers still discover this hidden gem today.

3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?

 

That’s easy. Dean Koontz. I love the way he combines chills and thrills, yet still ends most books on a hopeful, optimistic note. 

 

4.What's the best part of being an author? The worst?

 

The best part is earning a very generous living by entertaining readers. I’ve met so many wonderful people because of my success as an author.

 

I don’t like to be negative, so I’m not sure there is a “worst” part about my career, but I’ll say it’s difficult to manage so many moving parts: writing, working with cover designers and editors, keeping track of release dates, etc.

5.What are you working on now?

 

I’m finishing edits on “The Killer Inside”, the fourth book in the Logan and Scarlett serial killer series. That book releases on December 1, 26 days before “Grave Girl.” It’s going to be a busy two months!

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Dan Padavona is the author of The Wolf Lake series, The Logan and Scarlett series, Darkwater Cove, The Scarlett Bell thriller series, and The Thomas Shepherd Mysteries. Many of his novels rank in the top-10 in Amazon’s thriller and mystery categories. He is a husband, a parent, and proud member of the International Thriller Writers Organization.

 

When he’s not writing, Dan enjoys photography, biking, weightlifting, and storm chasing. Dan has videotaped tornadoes from New York to Oklahoma and Texas and was nearly swept up by a strong twister outside Sweetwater, Texas. A self-proclaimed ice cream and gelato lover, Dan admits to spending too much time in the gym, compensating for his questionable nutritional decisions.

 

Website: https://www.danpadavona.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djpadavona

Instagram: @dan_padavona

Twitter: @DanPadavona

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3ZHMKFD

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Dan Padavona will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beyond the Book: Reading in a Series

 “Do you enjoy reading SERIES fiction? Is there a “magic” number of titles in that series that you find most agreeable? Moreover, do you WRITE series fiction? How many titles do YOU plan in your series?”

Okay, starting from the top. Yes I like reading series very much. Once I fall in love with the characters I usually read every book in the series. I started reading series when I was very young. Some of these were: Trixie Belden, the Little House books, the Black Stallion series, and the Little Women books. I’m sure there were more, but these stand out to me.

As an adult, I’ve recently read in several series. The first one is the Tempe Crabtree series by Marilyn Meredith. Tempe is a deputy at the local police station. She’s not a detective so she isn’t supposed to be the lead investigator when something happens, but she’s always the one who figures things out. I’ve read the entire series so far. According to Mrs. Meredith’s last newsletter she’s working on a new Tempe book. When it becomes available I’ll read it too. 

Another recent series I’ve recently read is the Time series by Deborah Truscott. It’s a time travel series with fabulous characters, great plots, and loads of history. I just love it. I’m so hoping she’ll write another Time book, but the last book in the series Arc of Time seemed as if she was wrapping it up. I hope not.

A third series is The Brendan Chronicles by Ginny Dye. There was 19 books in the series at present. I quit reading the series even though the reviews are great. I have some problems with it, though. I won’t say anything else because I intend to share a review here later.

How many books should be in a series? I honestly don’t know. As long as the author is consistently delivering fresh material that people enjoy it probably doesn’t matter. One thing is sure, though. If an author draws it out and stretches two books out of what should be one, I won’t read it. I can’t stand books that drag along.

As far as myself is concerned, I started a series about the Lovinggood family. I got two books out and the third is written and edited, but I haven’t sent it out yet. The first book was Return Engagement, and the second is Blue 52. If I do get it published it will be the last in the series. That would be the natural stopping place for the series.

What about you? Do you read series? What’s your favorite, and which ones did you dislike?