Month: April 2015

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Book Review: Shadow of the Raven

Shadow of the Raven Millie Thom

Shadow of the Raven, the first book in the Sons of Kings trilogy by author Millie Thom, is a well-researched, beautifully written historical novel set in the 9th Century.

It is rare I find a book so wonderfully constructed that it is capable of transporting me back to another place and time. In the Shadow of the Raven, author Millie Thom has done just that.

This heroic adventure revolves around historical Alfred, fictional Eadwulf, and marauding Danish Vikings.

Rich in detail, full of intrigue, action, deception, romance and revenge, the reader is quickly and effortlessly pulled into the story to experience the trials, tribulations, and development of men who would be leaders and of those who would serve them.

From the daily toil of lowly servant thralls and their beds of straw, to the fearsome Danes in their mighty Dragonships, to the well-appointed and conniving courts of kings, the reader is immersed in a gripping, vibrant narrative. The many and varied characters are believable, the dialogue finely crafted, and the settings of Britain, Western Europe, Scandinavia, and Rome are filled with superb, lush details so vivid it seems possible to smell the cook fires, feel the icy winds of the North Sea, and hear the cries of battle and lamentations of grieving women and children as the divergent groups vie for wealth and power on both a personal and epic scale.

If you enjoy historical fiction and/or delight in reading a well-crafted, highly descriptive and engrossing story line, you will enjoy this book. I certainly did.

Learn more about the author by visiting her website at milliethom.wordpress.com

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Books In Bloom 2015

BooksInBloomEurekaSprings

My home state of Arkansas boasts many wonderful events for authors and artists. Among all, one of my favorites is Books In Bloom Literary Festival held on the grounds of the historic 1886 Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs.

I’m pleased that my friend and fellow author, Nancy Hartney, is among those selected to attend the prestigious event.  

Books in Bloom, an event for writers and readers, was established in 2005 by the Carroll and Madison Public Library Foundation to promote the value of books and reading. The Festival provides an opportunity for the public to meet authors and to hear them speak about their work and various aspects of writing and publishing.

For a complete list of events and all invited authors please visit the Books In Bloom web page.

More information about Nancy Hartney can be found here at http://nancyhartney.com/

My review of Nancy’s book “Washed In The Water: Tales from the South” is here.

Congratulations, Nancy!

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NPR Poetry Reading

logoIn celebration of National Poetry Month, the University of Arkansas Press has organized a special series of poetry readings on KUAF radio. Do The Dead Call?, a poem from my book Mystery of the Death Hearth, has been selected as one of the readings by organizers and supporters of University of Arkansas Press and KUAF.

The presentation is scheduled for broadcast Saturday, April 4, 2015. Reading times and other KUAF events including an archive of all poetry selections can found here at KUAF Radio, Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

If you tweet about it, feel free to use the hashtag for National Poetry Month (#npm15) and include @uarkpress and @kuaf if you have space.

In the event you can’t hear it, or if you would like to read along during the readings, here is a copy of the poem.

Do the dead call?

If they did, could we hear?

Would the voice be from afar?

Or would it seem quite near?

Would we listen with our minds?

Or would we run in fear?

Would we open to the chance?

Or would we jump and swoon?

Would we think it summer breeze?

Or howling at the Moon?

Do the dead call?

You tell me.

I wonder if you know?

Do they call on summer days?

Or whisper in the snow?

You tell me.

I’d really like to know.