Leigh's Views

This book is a slow and gentle read. When I was part way into the story, I had to double-check because this just didn't feel like a novel to me. This read more like a diary, Cora's private thoughts as she journaled out what she felt were the important moments of her life. While it didn't appear anything dramatic happened, this tale winds around the simple mountain life. Hardships, trials, family, and faith all weave together to mold this woman's heart and mind. Most interesting were the bits of outside events that filtered into this isolated community - the Civil War, WWI, the Spanish Flu, to name a few. This story is reminiscent of several others I've read over the years. Accounts of old-fashioned values that were the backbone of America for so long. These pockets of society which were often shunned because of their 'backward' ways. Yet, there are lessons to be learned -  perseverance in the face of tragedy, flexibility in all seasons, redemption from mista...

This book is a bit of a diamond in the rough. However, there's quite a bit of value contained within the pages. While this isn't the typical type of book I read, I found myself interested in the author's journey.  So, what do you think of when you hear 'stepmother?' The fairy tale one who's evil? Yup, I'm sure that's where most people's minds tend to go. I've known quite a few stepparents over the years, and I have to say most of them don't appear to be downright horrible. And this is why when I was asked to read this book, I agreed.  In this rather short book, the author did her best to show examples from her life of how she found happiness and made stepparenting work for her. Which, to be honest, was a refreshing take on the process of combing families.  The author does give a few specifics of how her story and struggles can help others. And she shares a few cases of other families as well. Her insight and wisdom is timely and needed. Click...

The other day I sat down at a fast food restaurant to eat my lunch, the place was packed. A few tables over, a woman chatted on the phone, very loudly. I tried not to eavesdrop, however, that wasn't possible at the volume she spoke at. It soon became apparent the conversation leaned toward that of a rather personal nature. She talked about how her cousin had fantasies about her that were rather inappropriate. Then she moved on to discuss in detail about her attempts at online dating. And how all her matches were 'cowboys who fish' or the like.  As I sat in silence, munching, I debated about saying something to this woman about it probably would be best for her to not air her private affairs this way. But before I could do anything, she got to the end of her call and something rather unexpected happened. She said to the person on the other end, "Thanks for the therapy session, I do believe these calls are helping me. And next week, I do think I'm ready for an in-off...

A few weeks ago, I boarded my flight back to the States after my trip to Spain. I'd ended up with a window seat and was looking forward to getting some great shots from the air since it was a daytime flight. After I settled in, a man sat beside me in the middle but he seemed rather uncomfortable. Fidgeting, he futzed with his phone, adjusting his earbuds, bumping me several times. Ignoring him, I figured he'd calm down in a minute since we were about to depart. However, he spread out his legs, ending up with his right foot in between my feet. I glared at him, and when he didn't notice this in the least, I gave his foot a hard tap with mine. And he didn't budge. Giving up, I removed my shoes and tucked my feet up onto my carry-on under the seat in front of me. The plane began to move, he continued to send texts to whomever. He shifted a bit more, his shoulder now firmly resting on mine. Debating about saying something, I pushed him hard with my shoulder instead. With no ...

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the beach. Any excuse I can find, I'm there. There's something about the way the salt air smells. The feel of sand in between my toes. The wind blowing my hair into my eyes. The calling of the birds. All of the little critters scurrying in the sand. But right now, the closest I can get to the ocean is the local pool. Not even close to being the same, but at least it's outdoors. However, because it's winter there's a huge dome covering it. Which has resulted in the water being too hot, well at least for me. Over the last couple of months, I've watched as person after person, entered the pool area and dip their hand in the water. Then make some kind of face - from a mild frown to out-and-out disgust. Then every last one of them made a hasty retreat. Yeah, I get it. I'm not from here. What is cold to me isn't to others. I wear shorts when it's sixty degrees outside and everyone else is bundled up in seven layers...

I was having coffee the other day with a friend of mine. After we'd been chit-chatting a while, she mentioned something about how she now was 'breaking the law' to save a buck. I paused for a moment, unsure how to respond to this revelation. She then went on to explain that after trying her level best to cut costs to fight inflation, her household budget still wasn't working. Thus, she'd shopped around for cheaper car insurance. Finding none, she called her current company to try to haggle for a lower rate. They told her to download an app, they'd send her a thing to put in her car and she'd get a discount based on her driving patterns. Sounded easy enough to her, she'd never gotten a ticket or been in an accident, therefore, she had to be a great driver. Right? Turns out she was wrong. After a few days of using the app/thing in her car, she checked the app and discovered she had a really low score. Digging deeper into the information about the trips, sh...

  Okay, I know that the title of this blog sounds like the opening of a bad joke. But the other day, as I was walking down the street, I noticed these guys trying to park a trailer in a yard. Now, you might be thinking how hard can that be? Well, let me tell you, extremely. This particular yard is surrounded by an eight-foot-high sturdy wrought iron fence. And a gate that once opened left a space which, from my vantage point, appeared to be only about an inch wider than the trailer. So there they were, a guy driving a truck, two guys trying to guide him into the yard. The guy on one side yelled that the truck needed to turn to the right, the other was yelling that the truck needed to turn to the left. The poor driver jiggling the truck back and forth trying to do both. Until the inevitable happened - a loud crunch ringing out as the trailer and the fence collided. Resulting in minor damage to both the trailer and the fence. Now, at some point, the driver should've realized how impo...

So the other day I was chatting with someone from another country. I mentioned something about chicken fried steak. And her response was 'Wait, what? Is it chicken or steak, because it can't be both!' Well, that threw me. To me, chicken fried steak is a normal Thursday night meal. Nothing special, nothing unique about it at all. How does she not know what that is? But as I reflected on this a moment, I realized that when I travel a lot of foods I eat I have no idea what they are. To me, they seem so exotic, fun, extraordinary. Like this plate of grilled sausage-like something, I had in Greece a few years back. This meat concoction was divine, sweet, spicy, with a yogurt dip and veggies on the side. So many flavors hitting my tastebuds all at once, I was in heaven. However, to those who live in the area, I'm sure it's nothing to write home about at all. Like my chicken fried steak - this was a normal Thursday night meal in Greece. And this is why I hate the word ...

There I was a few weeks ago, standing in my booth space, waiting for customers. It was late afternoon, the rush long gone and almost none remained at the event anymore. An elderly woman the sole person walking the aisle. I watched as her slow,  measured steps took her the length of the building, never stopping to look at anything. Until she got to me. Dressed in dark grey slacks, cream twin set sweater with her short white hair elegantly poofed just right, she had this air of elegance.  As she entered my space, she patted my arm and said something about not wanting a book. But she would like to chat for a moment because she loved my curly hair as it reminded her of her daughter. Of course, I told her 'No problem'. I realize how lonely it can be when you're older, especially if you live alone. Which may or may not have been the case with this woman, I'm well aware. I let her ramble on for a while, about her life in this small town. How she'd never been much farther t...

 Okay, I know. I'm an author. I do reviews of books, not movies. But today, I'm making an exception. First, let me explain, why this movie out of all of the movies in the world. It's about adoption, finding one's birth family, and every emotional twist and turn involved. And I went with my sister. Which in itself is a rather big deal. We've known each other for less than a year, yeah, I know that sounds odd. However, I was adopted, thus, it's only recently I've connected with a small part of my birth family. So I could relate to this movie, it felt like the storyline was my life in a way. There were so many places I found myself muttering, "I feel that way", "I've done that", "I've said that", or "I've heard that from so and so". And being there with my sister made the movie even more special. Having a few more moments with her are always a blessing since we've missed out on so much. Beyond that, I feel...

I've been working on my schedule for fall events for the last week or so. Various places I'm headed to over the next few months so I can sell my books. And as I've been going over the emails from the various organizers, I realized something. Almost all of them are requesting I have holiday decorations for my booth/table. Uhm, okay. Not something I've been asked to provide in previous years. However, I'm game. Well, I was until I pulled my rather meager collection of decorations out of my attic. There I was, sitting in a pile of mish-mashed weirdness, and knew there was nothing in the bunch which would be presentable to the world. Yup, since I moved into my home, not a single Christmas has been spent in it. And my plans this year are to be somewhere other than my house as well. They say home is where the heart is. And I guess my home is somewhere down the road since I'm always traveling. And as I continued to stare at those decorations various thoughts popped int...

  Okay, I haven't been home for most of May and June. And the other day I was standing in my yard and realized things were different. It took me a few minutes to figure out what was odd. There wasn't a sound coming from anywhere. As I pondered on this, it dawned on me that things had been rather quiet since I'd been back home. Turning around, I looked at the neighbor to my left. The house now stands empty - the dogs, cars, trash, and whatnot from the yard are gone. Ah, yup, I'll never have to listen to them yelling and screaming at each other for hours on end. Nor will I ever enjoy the sounds of him playing the drums at two in the morning again. Shifting a little, I took a peep at the neighbor in the front. All the toys, broken lawn mowers, cars, junk, etc. in that yard were gone as well. Hmm, no more kids yelling or jumping over the fence into my yard for no reason. Spinning around, I gazed over at the neighbor to the right, that yard was empty as well. The older-than-...

When I was asked to look at this book, well, I was intrigued because this is such a timely subject. Almost everyone is struggling to make ends meet right now. What was more interesting as I got into this book was that it was more of a 'Why to' instead of a 'How to' book. By this I mean, the focus was more on changing how people view money and financial matters rather than saying 'do this' or 'do that' and all of your problems would be solved.  This book is filled with Scripture and a few personal examples enabling the reader to reexamine how they handle money. Now, I found myself agreeing with the author on many points. Things I've been saying for years are pointed out in this book, like not getting into debt. And I must say one of my favorite parts of the book was when he called out churches for going into debt just for a building. So if you've tried everything to get your financial house in order and nothing has worked, you might want to check ...

There's something about us that craves connection. A need to be with others like us. And family often plays a big role in this. For people who were adopted, this gets complicated. Sure, they usually love and accept their adoptive parents as parents. But, still many end up thinking about finding their birth parents. Because there's this pull to look into the eyes of someone who looks like you, has the same nose as you, the same hands as you, the same hair as you, shares your DNA. However, not all end up taking the steps to follow up on those thoughts. And what happens when an adult adoptee finds his/her birth family and then has to introduce his/her children to a family they never knew existed? See - complicated. A while ago, I had the opportunity to witness two cousins meet for the first time. These college-age young men were the children of an adoptee and her newly found half-sister. I'm not sure how either was told the news - "surprise, you've got a new cousin!...

  When I first was asked to review the book 'Remember the Butterfly', I was intrigued. A story about a modern adoption seemed right up my alley. I was adopted so have some knowledge on the subject. However, this book I was never quite able to get into. Both mothers - adoptive and birth - I couldn't sympathize with. To the point, that by the end of the book, I was hoping the child would end up with another family altogether. Jillian, the adoptive mother, moved from one disaster to other. All the while, she was just an overly whiny mess. Keeley, the birth mother, also deals with one too many devasting things in her life. But it just felt like she gave up and ended up a pushover.  The premise of the book had so much potential that just, for me, never was fulfilled. While I'm sure there are others out there who may love this book, it wasn't for me.

  Now I've been doing a lot of shows and events. Thus, I hear about a lot of interesting products and services from various vendors during them. And at one show recently, one woman was singing the praises of a - wait for it - lettuce knife. Yup, that's right. She was telling everyone who walked by her booth about how wonderful this knife was. Because ever since she started using this modern marvel, her lettuce now lasts for two whole weeks in her fridge! Crisp, fresh, green lettuce, ready for her to eat. Okay, I don't know about anyone else. However, all I could think was "What was she doing to her lettuce before she got this knife?!"   Let's face it, my lettuce lasts at least two weeks in the fridge and I don't use anything unusual. Nope, sorry, I've never plunked down good money for a special knife that cuts only lettuce. And I've never noticed my lettuce getting overly brown or disgusting. Yet, how many times in life have you known someone to do...

Okay, I'll be the first to admit, history and I have never been friends. Sure, I've read a ton of books with historical elements. Plus, I took all of those history classes in school. However, I tended to roll my eyes through most of it, and goodness me, I never did learn all of those lists of dates. Thus, when I was given a copy of this book to read, I almost told the author 'sorry, no can do.' Because let's face it - a book designed to expand on a story from the Bible didn't seem like my kind of thing.  Yet, I did find parts of this interesting. It would've been so much more so if the author had gone into so much more detail - there was just too much 'telling'. He really didn't go far enough into setting the scene so to speak. I felt myself wanting to be pulled into this time of history, be immersed in the culture but, alas, that never seemed to quite happen.  Still and all, I've got to hand it to the author for the amount of research he mus...

A very sweet reader sent me a link to this video -  Relate  - click on it if you want to hear it. Anyway, she said my latest book and this song by For King and Country had such similar themes she was wondering if I used it for inspiration. Actually, I hadn't heard the song until she sent me the link. Plus, that song was released after I wrote the book and was in the final editing stage. But her question does raise an interesting point. Since all of my books have a 'playlist' of sorts, do I listen to music as I write? Often, I do have music playing. Other times, the songs are all in my mind - popping in to fit a scene I'm working on. I find music changes my mood - playing sad songs makes me want to cry and playing happy tunes makes me want to get up and dance. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Music has such power, guess that's why they say music soothes the savage beast. So dust off your old favorites, sing loud, dance until you drop. I was doing this earlier t...

Now, right upfront, I must admit these aren't the typical books kids read these days. There's nothing suggestive, profane, or 'adult' about these stories. Quite the opposite in fact. All three books in the series are faith-based, simple, and positive. There are moral lessons for both young and the young at heart. As I read the first book, Journey to the Glass Hill, I was almost wishing I had a grandkid or two I could read the story to. It's that kind of book - take your time and savor. The others are in the same vein. Will doing what is right win? Will the family be healed? So many little twists and turns as you go along. What's most intriguing about these books is the fact that D. Marie based them on a very short Norwegian folktale. And who doesn't love a good folktale?

 Okay guys, I decided to try something new. Every once in a while, I'm going to review a book I've read and hopefully post a few tidbits about the author as well. First, let me start by saying, that while I do watch science fiction I've never read any. Odd, I know. However, I found this book interesting. Because it was short, Caleb skimmed a few things I'd wished he'd gone into details about. My favorite parts were the fight scenes. The details provided were excellent and drew me right into the action.  Now to tell you a bit about the book - From my take, it seems to be the classic underdog situation. We've got a kid fresh off the boat (literally - a fishing boat) who's taken off to fight a war. Matthew has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, angry at the world and ready to take on any and all comers. Needless to say, this attitude gets him in trouble. As if he didn't have enough problems already with the creatures who've invaded the plant out to destro...