Capturing the reader's emotions, by J.C. Kavanagh

 

Book 3 of the award-winning Twisted Climb series:
A Bright Darkness
https://www.bookswelove.net/kavanagh-j-c/

When I began to write creatively, I wanted to write a story that would have some kind of impact on my readers - whether they be teenagers, young adults, or a young-at-heart adult. I didn't want to preach a narrative; rather, I wanted the characters to react to real life drama and adventure in a way that would resonate with the reader. The character evoked the response in the reader, either by what they said or what they did. If the character becomes 'real' in the mind of the reader, then the character's emotion becomes the reader's emotion. That, my friend, is a fine, visceral line for the author to convey.  

Can our books make a difference? Yes. A resounding yes. 

One of my friends told me that her daughter felt a connection to Jayden, one of the main characters in The Twisted Climb series. Jayden is a brash, assertive teenager who is torn between being 'nice' and being 'bully.' My friend's daughter does not have those personality traits, so why did she feel a connection to Jayden? Apparently she felt uncertain of her place in the world/school/friends and that uncertainty evoked an internal, angry response. When my friend's daughter read the following in The Twisted Climb: "There was only one way to make herself feel better. (Jayden) had to make someone else feel worse" well, my friend's daughter started to cry and then shared with her mom that she felt the same emotional turmoil, but was at a loss on how to deal with it. That honesty opened up a new dimension in their relationship, one that they've maintained to this day.

Recently, another friend said she had to share something very important with me. We met and she told me the following.

"When my son read 'A Bright Darkness,' where the plot revolves around the Ojibwe myths and the Seven Fires Prophecies, he was shaken to his core. You see, we are native Indian, from the Anishinaabe First Nation, and all his life he was reluctant to embrace the spirituality of our peoples. He's almost 60, by the way. So he phoned me, almost in tears, to tell me he was sorry he didn't espouse the native way as I did. And that he wanted to re-discover his heritage, because it's never too late."

If we can share a story or create a character that makes a difference in the life of a reader, well, I call that wonderful. I call that satisfying. It's one of the greatest compliments a writer can receive.

Thank you to all the readers who accept a created character and make them as real as can be in the playground of their mind. 

J.C. Kavanagh, author of
The Twisted Climb - A Bright Darkness (Book 3)
and
The Twisted Climb - Darkness Descends (Book 2) voted BEST Young Adult Book 2018, Critters Readers Poll and Best YA Book FINALIST at The Word Guild, Canada
AND
The Twisted Climb,
voted BEST Young Adult Book 2016, P&E Readers Poll
Voted Best Local Author, Simcoe County, Ontario, 2021
Novels for teens, young adults and adults young at heart
Email: author.j.c.kavanagh@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/J.C.Kavanagh
www.amazon.com/author/jckavanagh
Twitter @JCKavanagh1 (Author J.C. Kavanagh)
Instagram @authorjckavanagh

Creating a Fantastic but Believable Setting by BC Deeks, Paranormal Mystery Fiction Author

 

 Visit B.C. Deeks' BWL Author Page for Book and Purchase Information 

 

http://bookswelove.net/deeks-bc/

SETTING is crucial to a story’s development and the reader’s experience in any fictional work, but never more so, in my humble opinion, than in a fantasy. If an author is working on a contemporary story, you can count on the reader to have enough personal experience to fill in the blanks with minimal prompting. 

In the fantasy genre, all bets are off. It is up to the author to show the reader how far they should suspend their disbelief in every aspect of the world they are entering—from the ground they stand on, to the creatures they will encounter, the language that will be spoken…Indeed, every aspect of the reading experience can be distorted to best tell the story that is about to unfold. The setting where all this distortion will occur must support the changes from what the reader has come to expect in ‘real life.’

It would be jarring for a fur-covered fire breathing dragon to appear on the sunbaked beaches of Florida, for example. Not that it couldn’t be done but the author would sure have to work at developing plausibility for such a scenario.

When I created a family of supernatural beings inspired by witches, I needed to base them in a dimension that could support their use of powerful magic as a daily occurrence. I decided that not everyone should have such powerful magic, so therefore my primary characters would be the Guardians to the ruling Council of Master Witches. Their powers would draw from the elements of nature – air, water, fire, earth, and a fifth universal element known as Aether. The rest of the population would have diluted powers linked to nature but not of the same strength.

Since my characters must be freely able to interact with their elements, I supposed that they would need lush outdoor spaces, with mountains and forests, oceans and open skies. Yes, I thought, a rocky island out in the ocean…much like where I grew up! My magical dimension of The Otherland began to take shape. 

The Island of Newfoundland where I was born is definitely on earth although far enough out in the North Atlantic to forget at times. Its history dates back to the Vikings and leans heavily to Irish, who believe in everything from fairies to leprechauns, four-leaf clovers to banshees, and have all sorts of rituals to ward off evil spirits or bad luck. There were still Gaelic speakers in Newfoundland well into the 20th century and, like the Irish, we love to spin a tale!

Of course, my characters would travel to other dimensions, so I adopted the accepted fantasy principles of portal magic and integrated that into my imaginary world. My supernatural beings would have a gateway on the edge of the granite cliffs that allowed them to pass through to alternate realms, including the mortal world. Since I wanted to write a series, this would allow for a revolving door so they could visit a wider range of story settings like the coastal regions of Seattle or the mountains of Montana when adventure called. And adventure does summon the Egan family members...

Mythics and mortals battle dark forces in my epic paranormal mystery adventure trilogy, BEYOND THE MAGIC. In Book 1: WITCH UNBOUND, Marcus, the powerful eldest brother, is sent to the mortal realm to investigate the murder of two long-lost Guardians of The Otherland. Can he abandon everything he’s ever believed to save the life of an extraordinary witch who knows nothing of her heritage? Together they begin a quest to deflect an ancient prophecy that could destroy his world. Marcus’s brother, Theo, and sister, Elowyn, join that quest in Book 2: MORTAL MAGIC and Book 3: REBEL SPELL, respectively, coming in 2023.

Two Easters

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This year my family is celebrating two Easters…one in America and one in Greece.

Elysian mysteries in ancient Greece celebrate rebirth after death in winter. In modern Greece, Easter celebrations connect with the Christian Orthodox faith.

In Greece...Easter means RED eggs!

  

...and candles at midnight

There have been accounts of dying and rising gods for thousands of years of our history…the resurrection of Egyptian Horus, Mithras, worshipped at Springtime, Dionysus, resurrected by his grandmother. All the stories highlight fertility, conception, renewal, descent into darkness, and the triumph of light over darkness or good over evil. They represent the cycle of the seasons and the stars.

The goddess Eostre

From Lakota scholar Tristan Picotte, here's a New World view: “For many Native American cultures, the seasons also coincide with certain traditions and beliefs. The arrival of warmer weather signals the return of animals and plants. Beautiful greens roll across the plains and mountains, and wildlife forages in the area. Tribes recognize this as the time to gather, confer with one another and make decisions that affect the community as a whole. For our ancestors, these gatherings decided who got to go where, how adversarial tribes were to be handled, and what new resources were available.”

The name of our holiday, Easter, comes from Eostre, goddess of Spring, also Ostara, Austra, and Eastre. She is a spirit of renewal.

The Latin name for Easter, Pascha is derived from the Hebrew Pesach, meaning Passover. Both holidays celebrate rebirth – in Christianity through the resurrection of Jesus, and in Jewish traditions through the liberation of the Israelites from slavery.

Whether you observe a religious holiday or the coming of Spring, I wish you a happy spirit of rebirth.

Inside Police Headquarters

                                        For author and book information, please click this link.

My current novel-in-progress got into police work more than I'd planned when I made two homicide detectives viewpoint narrators. I wrote scenes of them in their workplace from information I recalled from a years ago visit to Calgary Police Service Headquarters - Westwinds, but mostly from my imagination. During revisions of the novel, I made a list of questions I'd ask someone familiar with the place, if I ever had the chance. 

Then a writer-friend mentioned that Calgary homicide detective Dave Sweet had generously answered her questions about her crime novel. I'd enjoyed Dave's presentations on homicide cases at local crime writing events and read his memoir, Skeletons in My Closet. My friend gave me his email address and I wrote to him and asked if he'd mind answering my questions. He replied right away, saying he'd be happy to help. 

I emailed my list to Dave. Again he quickly replied. My first question was my greatest worry: are the homicide and robbery units located in Westwinds?  If they weren't, I'd either have to do a major novel revision or ignore this fact. To my relief, Dave answered yes, both were in the Investigative Services Building on the west side of Westwinds campus. I didn't remember this second building from my visit.  

Evidently, from my questions, Dave got the hint that I was interested in the workplace environment because he offered me a tour of Westwinds, if I was interested. Yes, I was really interested, and the earlier the better. David said the next day would work for him, unless he got a call out before then. I knew once he was hot on a case, I'd lose the opportunity. We arranged to meet the following afternoon at the entrance to the Investigative Services Building. 

In my novel, I'd described a large lobby. Instead, I entered a cozy space, with a few padded chairs and a side room with toys and a computer screen for children who come in with their parents. Dave waved me past the reception desk and into a huge, oval atrium. He explained that CPS bought the building from Nortel in 2009 when the telecommunications company filed for bankruptcy; the rooms along the sides of the atrium had been Nortel's executive offices. CPS converted the building to police use, but this space didn't look like any police stations I've seen on TV. He said they use the atrium for large gatherings and the side rooms for special meetings.   

  

From the atrium, we went to the homicide unit offices. In my novel, I'd given my Detective Mike Vincelli an office with a door. Instead, Calgary detectives work in cubicles. Dave didn't take us in, to protect his colleagues' privacy, but he pointed out a glass enclosed room in the far corner, where the unit's four cold case detectives work. Their windows face west and would have a view of the city skyline and mountain backdrop. My novel had my cold case Detective Novak working in a windowless storage room, which reflected his depressed mood. Now I thought this glass fishbowl office might offer intriguing possibilities.      

Next Dave took me down a corridor to a service elevator, located in Nortel's former delivery dock. This brought us to the holding cells, which I found creepy. The cells were behind solid doors; no looking out through bars. Voices carried between the cells and into the central corridor. Two detainees talked rapidly and loudly. 

"Getting their stories straight," Dave said.  

I looked through a peephole into an empty cell, directly at a toilet. Two narrow benches lined the walls on either side. Dave said they rarely kept people more than thirteen hours, with twenty-fours the maximum before they sent them home or to longer-term facilities. This would be a problem for my book. I'd had the police keep two of my suspects close to forty-eight hours, which I'd thought was the maximum allowable time before laying charges. Could I change this without radically altering my story? 

Sometimes it's better not to know too much. Few readers would notice if I brushed aside this policing fact, but I started contemplating solutions for my novel.    

In the holding area, we went into an interview room, which was smaller and drearier than I'd expected. Cameras in the corners, but no window for outsider viewing. Peeling paint on the greenish walls. The room had an acrid smell. Dave said they let interviewees smoke to not put them on edge. For the same reason, the police don't bring their guns into the room. Interviews are typically one-on-one, although a second detective might sit in or stand outside the door if they anticipate a dangerous situation. 

We left the Investigative Services Building and went outside to the main headquarters building. On the way, we passed a grassy area with benches and a picnic table. In my novel, Novak meets someone connected to the cold case in an outdoor area. I'd need to make some minor changes to the setting. The main headquarters building contains classrooms, training rooms for new recruits, and Westwinds' largest gym, where a recruit class jogged back and forth at an easy pace. Dave said they'd gradually speed up and some would drop out of the pack.   

"They'll never be more fit than they are now," he said. After recruits become full-fledged officers, CPS no longer requires them pass fitness tests. Now that I knew Westwinds had gyms, I could include my line that Novak had never entered one, to illustrate his disinterest in exercise.     

I came home with lots of material to work my novel-in-progress. Many were easy fixes. I'd asked Dave, Do police generally refer to the building as headquarters or Westwinds or something else?  Westwinds usually, he said. In my manuscript, I changed this with a simple word find/replace. For my largest problem, I came up with a (hopefully) good reason for the police to keep one of my suspects for two days, but had them release the other one on time. This involved deleting, shuffling, and changing much material, but I think it improved the overall storyline. 

While my tour gave me extra writing work, it wasn't onerous. I think the new details give my story pizazz. Maybe readers sense when something rings true. And, if nothing else, I found my look inside police headquarters interesting.  

Observations From a Picky Reader, by Karla Stover

 

By The Same Author:

Murder: When One Isn't Enough

A Line to Murder

Wynter's Way

Parlor Girls

BWLPUBLISHING.ca

If the word, "Scottish" refers to whiskey, why is my cellophane tape called "Scotch Tape"?

I'm just asking.

Is it wrong to be a critical reader, or does paying attention to other's mistakes make us better writers? The more fiction I read ( or see ) the more picky I become. I will start with the TV show, Fraser. I wasn't a fan but occasionally we watched an episode and the only one I can remember involved a thunder storm. Everyone was in Fraser's apartment, as they usually were, while outside the picture windows thunder and lightening crashed and flashed. It created good atmosphere except this was supposed to be Seattle and we rarely have thunder storms here on Puget Sound; if we do, they last about five minutes.

Another example I recall took place in Hollywood years ago when the book, The Egg and I was being made into a movie ( and not a very good one). One of the characters was named Geoduck pronounced Gooey Duck. The book's author, Betty MacDonald, was on the set during filming and why she allowed the name to be pronounced Gee (to rhyme with we) Oh Duck is beyond me.

Picky, picky you say but I'm on a roll. Several years ago my husband and I went to visit a lilac garden. It was 80 or so years old and had an interesting history so I read a book about how the garden came to be. The thing I remember most is that the gardener picked flowers from her yard for a funeral or something and the bouquet included asters and daffodils among others. Those two particular flowers bloom three or four months apart so how did she manage this? By poor research on the part of the author.

More recently I picked up a book with a creepy-sounding title and cover to match. As I recall, the author was a New Yorker which is probably why she filled the landscape with pine trees and had it rain practically all day every day. Yes it rains in Puget Sound but almost never does it go on for hours and hours on end. Generally half the day will be dry, and as for trees, well we have lots of cedar, fir, alder and madrone trees but not many pines. I rechecked this morning when I took my dog for a walk in the woods.

My writer friend Pat Harrington (Death Stalks the Khmer) always said books are like a 3-legged stool: equal parts people, place and plot. My own particular weakness is "place." Pat did an excellent job of getting into the heart of the local Cambodian community because she worked in it, dealing with the refugees and their customs, and problems in assimilating.  C.S. Harris, author of the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries also does a really good job of recreating Prince Regency England. 

As for how to write about Puget Sound, I just discovered The Big Both Ways, a book that starts in Seattle and ends in Alaska. Boy did the author do a good job.

I discussed this with some friends Wednesday over lunch and we agreed that fiction writing demands a certain amount of fact checking to capture the reader's interest.

The 3 books I mentioned make me extra careful of surroundings.

Going to the Dentist – By Barbara Baker

 

Since I was a kid, I’ve dreaded going to the dentist. So why would I volunteer to take my granddaughter to see one?

“She’s never had teeth pulled before,” my son says. “Are you sure you want to take her?”

“Yup. I’m not the one pulling her teeth out. The dentist is the bad guy. Not me.”

When we get to the dentist’s office, Ainsley grabs my hand. “Come on.”

She leads me through a colourful hallway, and we climb twisty stairs. At the top, we’re in a tree fort. A tree fort in a dentist office. How cool is that? We test out bean bag chairs in front of a big tv while cartoons race across the screen. Then we move on to a computer at the base of the tree and Ainsley tries out her math skills until they call her name.

“Follow me,” the dental assistant, Breanne says. “Jump right up here.” She taps the blue chair.

Ainsley hands me her stuffies for safe keeping, puts on the fashionable glasses and gets on the chair.

“So, you’ve got some stubborn baby teeth,” Breanne says and then explains what’s going to happen. She’s animated and entertaining and makes it sound like what’s about to happen will be fun.

I cradle the stuffies and watch Ainsley’s hands. They’re relaxed. Fingers spread out. What a brave girl. If she knew what was about to happen, she’d clench them into a ball.

“Hello,” the dentist greets us in a cheerful voice. “I’m going to put in some freezing so you won’t feel anything when the teeth come out.” He pulls Ainsley’s lip out and taps where the needle will go. “But you might feel a bit of a pinch when I do it.”

Ainsley nods.

The dentist slides the longest needle ever towards Ainsley but keeps it down low out of her line of vision. Clever guy.

“Open wide,” he says. “Here comes the little pinch.”

I squeeze the stuffies. Ainsley’s index finger taps the chair once but then relaxes. The dentist jiggles her lip while telling her baby teeth sometimes need help to come out so the adult teeth, which are currently facing the back of her mouth, grow properly. He slips the needle out and passes it discreetly to Breanne.

“I bet your lip feels funny now.”

Ainsley nods again.

“That’s the freezing working.” He smiles. “I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”

“What do you think the tooth fairy will bring?” I say.

“I don’t know if the Tooth Fairy is real.” Ainsley scrunches up her lip.

“Okay. But if she is real, how much money would she bring?”

“She brings money?” Ainsley puckers up her mouth and presses a finger on her lip. “It feels really big.”

“Yup, it’ll feel like that but,” Breanne passes her a small mirror, “look, it’s not big at all.”

Ainsley tips the mirror back and forth to examine her lip.

When the dentist returns, I sit up straight, reorganize the stuffies and squish them together. Tight.

“Okay, kiddo. Let's do this.” The dentist takes a silver plier-like grabby tool, slides it down out of sight again and brings it up to Ainsley’s chin. “Open wide.”

I perch on the edge of my chair and watch Ainsley’s hand. Still relaxed. She’s such a trooper.

“There’s one.”

The tooth pings into a container. He brings the grabby tool back to Ainsley’s chin. Her fingers, her hands – nothing flinches.

“There’s the second one.”

Ping. It also falls into the container.

The dentist looks at me. “Tell her parents not to worry. Those adult teeth will move right into place. Probably in a few weeks.” He turns back to Ainsley. “Good job. I knew you could do it.”

Breanne gives Ainsley two tokens to claim her prizes and then shows her the tiny teeth tucked safe in a miniature treasure chest.

“Wait till the Tooth Fairy sees these.” Ainsley skips down the hallway.

Treehouses? Painless tooth removal? And prizes? What a great day! For all of us.

You can contact me at: bbaker.write@gmail.com

Summer of Lies: Baker, Barbara:9780228615774: Books - Amazon.ca

What About Me?: Sequel to Summer of Lies : Baker, Barbara: Amazon.ca: Books

 

Credibility by J. S. Marlo

 

Wounded Hearts

"Love & Sacrifice #2"

is now available  

click here 

 

 

  

J. S. Marlo's BWL Books

Many years ago, I received a message from one of my readers. She was a scuba diver, and she loved stories that took place underwater, but she often found herself disappointed by how the divers were depicted. Still, she gave my novel Salvaged a chance.

Her "well-done" message was to tell me she knew I'd done my homework when I strapped weights to the belt of my female character before her dive.

The story was over seventy thousand words, but it only took five words to give credibility to my character: strapped weights to her belt.

Details are important to stories, and those details need to ring true to the readers who know what you're taking about--and there will always be one reader who knows better.

A beginner writer who's never seen snow asked me to review one of her scenes. It went pretty much like this:

The character left home and drove to the airport in the middle of a snowstorm. Lighting and thunder strike in the dark sky as the snow fell. The character landed an hour after leaving home.

Anyone reader who's ever driven in a snowstorm or flown anywhere is bound to notice the inconsistencies in that scene. Left uncorrected, the scene would have buried the story's, an author's, credibility deep in the snow.

I ended up exchanging lots of messages with that particular writer. Here's a few things any writer should take away from this scene.

Weather or Natural Disaster:

If there's a snowstorm, a tornado, a forest fire, a tsunami, etc... in your story, and you've never experienced such phenomenon, make sure you research it. No one is expected to know everything, that's why google exists.

In the middle of a snowstorm, the sky is kind of white, not dark. There isn't any lighting or thunder, but there can be lots of wind.

Severe weather often affect transportation, any kind of transportation. Plane, ferry, car, train...

If your character is flying somewhere during a snowstorm, his plane will likely be delayed, if not canceled. If if he's flying in the middle of a thunderstorm, the plane won't land or depart until there's no more lighting risk for the ground crew.

Before your character travels anywhere, you want to make sure it can be done under the weather conditions described in your story.

Elapsed Time or Time Zones:

Google Map and Airline Sites are great tools. They will tell you how long it takes to travel from Point A to Point B using different modes of transportation.

If you're traveling by car, and Google Map tells you it'll take ten hours, it's doubtful you'll be there ten hours later--unless you don't need to stop to fill up on gas, don't encounter traffic or construction, and don't need to pee or eat. So, remember to factor in the stops along the way.

If you're flying, and the flight is four hours, you won't arrive at destination four hours after leaving home. You need to drive to the airport, be there at least an hour ahead of time, and after landing, you may have to wait for your luggage or go through custom.

A character flying commercial cannot arrive at destination an hour after leaving home.

The greater the distance your character travels, the more time zones he/she will go through.

A non-stop flight from Calgary to Montreal is around 4 hours. If the plane departs at 2pm, it won't land around 6pm, it will land around 8pm, because there is a 2-hour time difference between Calgary and Montreal.

If a character living in Vancouver wants to chit-chat with his mother living in Finland, then the character may not want to call her after 1pm unless mom is a night owl, or it's an emergency. When it's 1pm in Vancouver, it's already 11pm in Finland.

Time zones affect not only travel but also communication.

The stories may be fictional, but they still need to be credible. The veracity of the details is important. It only takes a few words to hook -- or lose -- a reader.

Happy Reading & Stay Safe! J.S.

 

 

J. S. Marlo's Website

Like Catching Up With Old Friends by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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When I wrote Erin's Children, the sequel to Kelegeen, I really enjoyed revisiting the characters I'd spent so much time with. It felt like catching up with old friends. I met new friends, as well, as I introduced new characters in a new setting. As authors, we spend so much time with our characters both when we are and when we aren't actually writing that they become part of our lives. They live in our heads, tell us their secrets, dreams, ambitions, faults, and desires. We know the most personal things about each of them. When a novel is finished and sent off for publication it can be like saying goodbye to people to whom we've grown very close. So writing a sequel or continuing on in a series is a kind of reunion.

My current work in progress (The Folklorist - expected release date: October 1, 2023) is a stand alone. However, once that is finished, I plan to dive right into writing the second book in the Cat Tales series. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with Smokey, Autumn Amelia, and all the other animals in Wild Whisker Ridge and Faunaburg. There will be some surprises as Smokey and Autumn find out that there is more to their family than they knew. There will also be a wedding, but I'm not saying who's it is yet. I just know it will be loads of fun to write the next set of adventures for a group of characters who can't help but make me grin from ear to ear while I'm doing it.

At the same time, I will start the research for the book that will follow Erin's Children. I plan to focus on the next generation. Meg, Rory, Kathleen, and Nuala will still be there, and it will be wonderful to reconnect with them, but I'm also excited about finding out what their kids are doing with their lives. I'm also looking forward to learning more about the history of Worcester, Massachusetts (the city where I work and closest to where I live and where Erin's Children is set) and incorporating some of it into the story. 

I also have an idea for a fantasy that I plan to work on in between these two projects (could someone create a few more hours in the days, please?!) so I'll be meeting and getting to know all new characters and a whole new world. This is also very exciting. New friends are great, too! 

I hope my readers will enjoy catching up with the old friends and meeting new ones as much as I enjoy writing them.

                                                                           

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Shelf Life by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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One way to know if you are a genuine bibliophile (aka bookworm) is by how much you love your bookshelves. This is more important than how many bookshelves you have. That could simply be determined by the amount of space available in your home. Therefore, it may not accurately project the depth of your love for books. It is more about how you feel when you look at the shelves you have. I have been known to spend time gazing lovingly at my shelves of books, taking them in as the things of wonder that they are. A warm, cozy feeling wells up in me as I contemplate my book collections. It's no surprise that I nearly swoon upon entering a library or bookstore. But the bookshelves I can view in the comfort of my own home are the best simply because they are mine. 

I have always dreamt of having a library in my house. Given the number of books I own, I suppose I do have one, but I mean one specific room dedicated to books. As yet, that is not a reality for me. Nonetheless, I take great pleasure in turning my entire house into a library. With the exception of the hallway, there is not a single room in my house that does not contain books. There are even a few shelves on the walls in the kitchen holding stacks of cookbooks. 

Despite the four bookcases in my living room...

     

                            (An antique from my grandmother's home holds non-fiction history books)

(A bargain at a second-hand store holds non-fiction and poetry)

                                                         (An online purchase hold fiction) 

(A rotating bookcase handmade for me by a very dear friend holds biographies)

... the shelves in the front entryway...

      This set of shelves holds a mix of fiction and non-fiction history books)

... the bookcase in my den...

(This one holds the books in use for research on the topic of whatever historical novel I'm writing at any give time.)

... the bookcase on the sunporch, and the five bookcases in my half-finished basement, I still have trouble finding places for all the books I collect so I've had to get creative.

The eight shelves lining either side of the fireplace once held a tea set, framed photos, and an assortment of knick-knacks. Four of those shelves have given up their accoutrement to make way for books.

(Mostly fiction on the shelves; Art & Photography books on one side of the mantel and Irish history on the other)

                                 

I have recently been thinking that I may have to find another spot for the tea set even if it means packing it away. There are too many books waiting for a good home. Many are currently piled in artful stacks around the house.

You may rightly ask if I've read all these books. Alas, I collect them much faster than I can read them. I also donate large amounts of books to the local library once I have finished reading them unless they are likely to assist me in research for a future writing project. This allows others to love them, too, and frees up space for more books. But no matter how full my bookshelves are, I find there's always room for more and even one small space on a shelf calls out to me for a book. This and the swelling of my heart that occurs when I take them all in, tells me that I am, without a doubt, a true bibliophile and proud of it!

                                                   

                       Click here for purchase information