"By Water and Blood" teaser!

So here it is: a little taste of By Water and Blood, for the curious.

***

       Five years ago, Sophie Durrant surprised herself and her friends by dropping out of college and taking a job as a bartender on a tiny island at the end of the world, knowing only that for once in her life she felt that she was home.

Now, a cryptic note in her mother's handwriting leads Sophie to delve into the mystery of her past, a mystery which points to the old legend of the Selkies: the seals who could set aside their skins and walk on land as men and women.

Her heritage calls to her, by water and blood.

...but there are other secrets, darker than any legend, and their keepers are not forgiving.

***

As a bonus, my very talented mother, whose illustrations some of you might recognize from our children's book, An Amazing Alphabetic Anthology, has agreed to tackle the cover illustration, as well as pencil sketches for the chapter headings.  As a sampling, here is a puffin!

Confessions of an Absent Blogger

I think my last blog post was in November.  This is a problem.  There are a few contributing factors involved in this.

1.  I am a flake.

2.  I've been working on setting up my official website!  http://melanieroseauthor.wix.com/melanierose  Check it out and let me know what you think.  The idea is to have everything together and compact: news, events, bio, book links, nifty contact form...even this blog is tied in.

3.  I've fallen headfirst into my new novel.  Now, this is a very good thing, but it means I've been neglecting other things in consequence...this blog and my MatadorU assignments in particular.  However, I'm very hopeful when it comes to the forgiving natures of the readers of this blog, and I can take any length of time to complete the Matador course...thank God for that.

4.  I've also been writing study guides for Teaching the Classics: The Center for Literary Education...

5.  ...and dancing...a lot.

For a few hints about the new novel, which I'm hoping (fingers crossed) to release in the autumn, check out my inspirational Pinterest board.  http://pinterest.com/melanierosehuff/inspiration/

More soon...I hope.

Short Review: Walk to Paradise Garden, By John Campbell

Walk to Paradise Garden, by John Campbell, was a very enjoyable read, with an attention to historical detail which left me feeling as I do when I walk through a nice antiques shop, full of snapshots of lives which make me curious to know more.  The story follows the life of humanitarian John Armitage, from his early twenties as a stretcher-bearer in Belgium during the first world war, to his death.  Without spoilers, I can say this is a story which takes you all over the globe.  The novel is episodic, almost giving the impression of a collection of short stories, but with continuous threads running through which keep you going from one to the next.  The writing style is fairly smooth and old-fashioned, which I like, with a good balance between active scenes and scenes of a more personal nature.  Altogether, a book for the head and the heart, with a healthy dose of nostalgia thrown in.

http://www.amazon.com/Walk-to-Paradise-Garden-ebook/dp/B007BGZN30/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2