Sometimes something comes along to really lift the spirits and cause the sunshine to be just a tad brighter. That’s what happened yesterday when Deb Forbes posted her review of By the Fright of the Silvery Moon on her blogpost, Mystery Reading Nook.
The first thing I noticed when I clicked on http://mysteryreadingnook.blogspot.com was the book Deb had reviewed. It was mine! Do you know what else sprang out at me as I read her review? Descriptions! What she thinks of Fright.
“Good, intense, fun cozy mystery,” she said. And then, wonderful, hair-raising, toe-curling, suspenseful. Boy! I wanted to know what else she said about my latest mystery, so I read on. Deb gave a great summary without giving anything away. I particularly liked this part: This is a great mixture of suspense, mystery, faith, friends and tension. I love how Blanche Manos combines just enough scary situations to keep you on the edge of your seat yet not terrifying to the point of you not wanting to read more.
I hope you go to Deb’s attractive blogpost this morning (it’s lined with books), read, and then post a comment at the bottom. So far, Deb’s and my comments are the only ones there but I’d like to see lots of them! Lots and lots.
Although August has two days remaining after today, this review was a wonderful way to end the last summer month. These dwindling warm days also brought to mind a poem I wrote many years ago. I hope you enjoy it.
Summer’s End
When summer sings its sweetest song and August days grow hazy,
And crickets creep about the hearth and grasshoppers grow lazy,
When something in the breezes, as they brush the leaves and grasses,
Whispers of September, then the summer softly passes.
http://mysteryreadingnook.blogspot.com/2017/08/good-intense-fun-cozy-mystery.html
Congratulations for that fantastic review of Fright! I agree wholeheartedly! I’ll get my review on Amazon asap. And I love your poem! The aspen trees are beginning to turn up here in the higher altitude! Snow isn’t far away!
Thanks so much, Teresa.
My good frind Jen Swan just posted on FB asking if anyone knew the authoe of the poem above. When a teacher she would post it in her classroom. I was delighted to find you for her and I look forward to reading your works!
Connie, thanks so much for writing. I’m happy your friend Jen liked my poem. It’s an honor to be posted in her classroom.
I taught reading in public school from 1974-1984. I don’t know when you wrote Summer’s End, but as soon as I discovered it I started putting it up on my classroom wall or bulletin board at the start of every school year. I just love the way it sounds when I read it aloud, and the pictures it puts in my head. The loveliness of it makes me tear up sometimes! I’ve been looking online every so often to see if I could find out anything about it. SO grateful to my dear friend Connie for finding you! I’m thrilled to find a new author to read, as well!
Jennifer, thank you so much for writing. What a wonderful way to begin my day, reading that you enjoyed my poem. I’m honored that you used it in your classroom. I wrote it quite some time back, probably in the 1980s. Several different periodicals published the poetry I was writing then. I sometimes write poetry today but mostly, I write cozy mysteries. It is thrilling to learn you enjoy them too. I taught kindergarten for many years and retired in 1996. It’s great to meet a fellow teacher!