Blog - From the Write Side

September and the Relentless March of Time

September always makes me think about Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves setting off on an adventure, his furry hobbit feet and their sturdy dwarf ones whispering through the long grasses of the fields bordering the Shire. Perhaps it's because the prairie beyond our home waves at me each morning, the hummingbirds come to feed, and the app on my phone records the slowly departing birdsong that has sustained me throughout the lovely summer days. There is a hint of mystery in the lessening of daylight, [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-08-31T16:20:26+00:00August 31st, 2023|Blog|0 Comments

September: RUTH DUDLEY EDWARDS

When I met author Ruth Dudley Edwards at the PrimeCrime Conference in 2022 in Indianapolis, I immediately knew I wanted to interview her. What I didn't know was that she would be the featured author in September of 2023, the same month I would be traveling to the British Isles for the first time! Nor did I know that I would be in London and have the opportunity to meet her at her favorite café in Covent Garden. Wow! The universe sends gifts when one [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-08-31T17:05:37+00:00August 31st, 2023|Author of the Month|0 Comments

August Reverie

This is my August reverie... There is never a perfect time to ponder one's direction in life. After all, those chores won't do themselves. The workload won't ease up. The needs, wants, demands, and fears of the world conspire to pull us from contemplation into action. But on a hot summer night when the sky glows with sunset smiles and the fireflies ease from their day nests to grace the darkness and the bullfrog on the edge of the pond announces his dominance, I find [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-07-31T16:09:49+00:00July 31st, 2023|Blog|0 Comments

August Author of the Month: De’Shawna Yamini

One of the responsibilities of being a writer is giving back to the community that has nurtured me. One of the best ways to do that is to champion new writers when they begin their writing careers. It is always a privilege to discover someone whose passion for a topic had compelled them to write a story that will help others. So this month, I'm so pleased to introduce readers to De'Shawna Yamini. Yamini is a lifelong resident of the Dayton, Ohio, area and a [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-07-31T15:53:36+00:00July 31st, 2023|Author of the Month|0 Comments

A Midsummer’s Madness

Oh, how quickly the days speed by! It's already July and I'm writing like crazy...two novels completed, another in the R and D stage. Yes, writers do research and development, we just don't refer to it as such! Had the opportunity to visit the Ohio History Center to read up on Quakers in southern Ohio and their involvement with the Underground Railroad movement in the first half of the nineteenth century. What a fascinating deep dive into that period. I learned so much and still [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-06-30T17:58:20+00:00June 30th, 2023|Blog|0 Comments

July Author of the Month: CHARLES JACOBS

Summer is the perfect time to explore new authors and expand your reading world into genres unfamiliar to you. July's author offers a dive into the sci-fi thriller pool with The Pangaea Solution. This debut novel by one of my newest author friends, Charles Jacobs, doesn't disappoint in the action category. In his day job, Chuck works as a management consultant, specializing in quantitative analysis applied to risk and strategy, and as an aspiring writer. In his writing, he mixes a thrilling story with complex, [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-06-30T17:45:06+00:00June 30th, 2023|Author of the Month, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Find Your Summer Retreat

Because it's summer... Because you deserve to find joy... Because the world is truly "too much with us" these days... Find a place where you can retreat from the stress, pressure, cares, sorrows, a place where you feel your own life thrumming through your body. Savor the land and the sky, the mountains and the water. Inhale the fragrance of lilac, rose, and new-mown grass. Open every sense to the pleasure of residing in the moment and allow that peace to heal, if only for [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-05-31T16:34:13+00:00May 31st, 2023|Blog|0 Comments

June Author of the Month: SIERA LONDON

How lucky am I to have the lovely, scintillating, and 'Best-Selling' Siera London as my June author of the month? Her LunchTime Chronicles are scrumptious enough to finish during your break and her stand-alone novels take romance to new, hot levels. I had the good fortune to work with Siera on a writing contest and was super-impressed by her willingness to mentor new writers and assist existing ones. Janet Irvin: Welcome, Siera, to my author's nook. Let's settle in and get right to the [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-05-31T16:31:36+00:00May 31st, 2023|Author of the Month|0 Comments

Are You a Word Warrior?

The arrival of May signals a change in the tempo of growing things. The garden beds warm, seeds germinate, the pond and prairie hum with exuberant life. A new set of goslings in the neighborhood delight with their fuzzy bodies as they follow their tribe across the lawns and into the water. While the young ones practice swimming, their parents, ever vigilant, remain on guard to protest the incursion of dogs off leash, eager to prove their hunting skills, or fend off hawks that swoop [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-04-30T17:33:46+00:00April 30th, 2023|Blog|0 Comments

May Author of the Month: MOLLY MACRAE

Former librarian, bookstore manager, and current adventurer, Molly MacRae writes mysteries with a softer touch...and scrumptious food descriptions, books, and quirky characters. Upon meeting this author, one is struck by her warm, inviting personality, which mirrors the characters and the situations in her novels. Except for the murders, of course! ;) But the designation of COZY reminds the reader that the books will be heavy on the puzzle and light on the gore. A peak into MacRae's background reveals that she spent twenty years in [...]

By irvinjgdm|2023-05-01T02:45:18+00:00April 30th, 2023|Author of the Month|0 Comments