Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Finished 9-19-16, rating 5/5, play, 327 pages, pub. 2016

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.     from Goodreads

Oh, how I’d missed my wand wielding friends.  I read the Harry Potter series, along with a large percentage of literate world and loved it.  Muggles and wizards, yes, but at its heart it is about friendship and loyalty, right and wrong.  I was sad to see the series end, but felt it was complete (well, except for the pairings at the end).  I hadn’t heard great things about this screenplay, based on the story by JK Rowling, that takes place decades later, but I wanted to know what happened just like everyone else.  It was so great to be back in the company of Harry Potter and his pals, even the beloved ones that were gone by the end of the series.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Draco are all back, but this time it’s their children that are off to Hogwarts.  Albus and Scorpius are outcasts and best friends who decide to make their daddies proud.  Silly kids.  This was the bromance that made this play sing.

Amazingly, there’s still plenty of juice in the Harry Potter world and anyone who has read the first 7 books needs to get their hands on this one. I did miss the novel form and the great writing, but accept it as it is and enjoy.

Last night I attended Avon’s KissCon with this excellent lineup of romance authors – Katharine Ashe, Toni Blake, Shelley Shepard Gray, Linda Howard, Linda Jones, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Ryan and Jill Shalvis.

Once I saw that Susan Elizabeth Phillips was going to be there I bought my VIP ticket so I could hang and drink wine with my new BFF.

Susan is just as sparkly and quick as you might expect if you read her books.  I talked to two other authors -neither of which I’ve read, but I brought home books to change that- and both of them flew all the way from California.  Jill Shalvis and Jennifer Ryan were both so nice and willing to chat even though I didn’t know anything about them or their books 😉

Jill ShalvisJennifer Ryan

There was a panel so we could hear from them all and that was lots of fun too.

It was a fun night, but I confess that I felt terrible.  I think you can see in those last two pics that I could barely open my eyes because it felt like there was a vise squeezing my head.  I’m a little better today but I’m going back to bed for a few hours while Gage is at school.

 

 

A new month, a new 30 day challenge.  For those of you who are friends on Facebook or check out My 30 Day Challenges blog regularly, you already know that I’m participating in NaNoWriMo this November.  Thirty days, 50,000 words, local events, and the permission to completely suck.  At least that’s what I was told at the kick-off event last Saturday 🙂

I’m two days in (after I write this I’ll start writing toward my 1700 word daily goal) and already my story is not going quite as planned.  I’ve added a main character who I adore and taken out the love interest in my romance.  That’s right.  He’s gone. Someone else jumped into that role in chapter 1 and I’m rolling with it.  Oh, and as I was writing in Bob Evans the first morning, my waitress got into the novel too (her name anyway).

I’m asking people on the 30 Day blog and on the Facebook page to help me decide things.  Right now voting is up for the name of my heroine – please stop by either place to see the finalists and cast your vote.

I’ve found a couple other bloggers who are participating too.  If you or someone you know is signed up let me know so we can be buddies.

Care (Care’s Books and Pie)

Michelle (True Book Addict)

It’s going to be a fun month 🙂

Extreme Prey. Finished 9-30-16, 4/5 stars, thriller, 406 pages, pub. 2016

Lucas Davenport series #26 (1- Rules of Prey, 2- Shadow Prey, 3- Eyes of Prey, 4- Silent Prey, 5- Winter Prey, 6- Night Prey, 7- Mind Prey, 8- Sudden Prey, 9- Secret Prey, 10- Certain Prey, 11-Easy Prey, 12- Chosen Prey, 13- Mortal Prey, 14- Naken Prey, 15- Hidden Prey, 16- Broken Prey, 17- Invisible Prey, 18- Phantom Prey, 19- Wicked Prey, 20– Storm Prey, 21- Buried Prey, 22-Stolen Prey, 23-Silken Prey, 24-Field of Prey, 25-Gathering Prey)

After the events in Gathering Prey, Lucas Davenport finds himself in a very unusual situation—no longer employed by the Minnesota BCA. His friend the governor is just cranking up a presidential campaign, though, and he invites Lucas to come along as part of his campaign staff. “Should be fun!” he says, and it kind of is—until they find they have a shadow: an armed man intent on killing the governor . . . and anyone who gets in the way.  from Goodreads

So, either you’ve read, are reading, or have no intention of reading this series.  I don’t think my thoughts on this one is going to sway your choice.  I love Lucas and the progression of his life.  Although he has changed official jobs throughout the series he always remains a bad ass detective and this time around he has no job at all. So, he’s working on the side for a wanna be governor and can call in old friends like Kidd, who don’t do things by the legal book.

An interesting take on the fringes of the voting electorate, a timely story.  I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Lucas.

 

Dear Almost. Finished 9-13-16, rating 4.5/5, poetry, pub. 2016

Dear Almost is a book-length poem addressed to an unborn child lost in miscarriage. Beginning with the hope and promise of springtime, poet Matthew Thorburn traces the course of a year with sections set in each of the four seasons. Part book of days, part meditative prayer, part travelogue, the poem details a would-be father’s wanderings through the figurative landscapes of memory and imagination as well as the literal landscapes of the Bronx, Shanghai, suburban New Jersey, and the Japanese island of Miyajima. As the speaker navigates his days, he attempts to show his unborn daughter “what life is like / here where you ought to be / with us, but aren’t.” His experiences recall other deaths and uncover the different ways we remember and forget. Grief forces him to consider a question he never imagined asking: how do you mourn for someone you loved but never truly knew, never met or saw? In candid, meditative verse Dear Almost seeks to resolve this painful question, honoring the memory of a child who both was and wasn’t there.

Last month I read Dear Almost and was so moved. Jason and I experienced a miscarriage when I was 36 and it was a difficult thing to wrap my head and heart around. Eventually I was able to tell a few people and my good friend told me that she too had suffered a miscarriage the year before and didn’t know if she was supposed to tell people or just try to forget about her ‘almost’.  Since then I’ve talked to many women, friends who’ve had miscarriages, but it was that friend whose words stuck in my head.  Were we supposed to talk about it, which is the route I chose, or just move on and pretend it didn’t happen, like she did?  There is no right answer, of course, because like Thorburn so perfectly addresses in the book one day there is this life full of possibility and the next day all of those possibilities are gone and it hardly seems real.  How each chooses to move on from that is a very personal thing.

I am not much of a poetry reader, but I do like to read outside of my comfort zone and when Serena told me what the poem was about I was in.  Reviewing a poem is not a skill I really possess, but reading something beautiful full of sadness, grief, joy, and a renewal of spirit and appreciating it was easy.  I was completely caught up, all of the emotions of the poet swirling around the ones that it brought out in me.  It gives me hope that one day I might be able to call myself a poetry buff.

I’ll leave you with a little from the end. The last few pages bring tears to my eyes every time I read them but I’m only sharing a small part..

We’ve had our time

together. I wanted you

to see the snow.

I wanted to show you

these days, what

life is like. It scares me

I can no longer

picture your face,

which was only ever

my memory of

my imagining of

how your face

might look someday-

not enough

to hold onto.

I want to thank Serena for having me on the tour and Matthew Thorburn for graciously sending me a copy of his newest poem.  Thorburn also wrote an article in the Sept/Oct Poets & Writers magazine talking about this new poem so check it out if you can. It elevates the reading experience.

Other stops on the tour-

Another birthday is here and this one is making me feel both old (if I round up it’s 50!) and blessed. I’m exactly half the age that my grandmother was when she died and her life was full of joy and faith and just good old fashioned Christian values and I feel good knowing that I’m only halfway-ish to a life well lived.

Since I entered my 40’s I’ve learned a few things.  The weight goes up easier and comes down only with starvation.  I’m a stronger woman than I ever gave myself credit for, especially pre-kid.  Being a mother is easy to get lost in if you let yourself.  Being an older mother sets you apart and so does having a child with special needs, so the road is not easy nor all that well-traveled.  Online friends can be just as present in your life as those in your real world.  Cheering for Ohio State football will never get old.  Life gets busy and it’s too easy to lose track of friends, but if they matter the time won’t matter as soon as you start talking.  Traveling is fun and great for your spirit.  Flying is a necessary evil.  There will never be enough years to read all of the books I want to read.  Having supportive parents who are still together is not all that common, appreciate it.  Having no idea what the latest hot app is will not make one bit of difference in your quality of life. Cable is not all it’s cracked up to be.  Family is good for the soul.

Next week Jason and I will be married 18 years, if only our marriage could vote!  It’s true sometimes there are stretches when it’s not easy to remember why you agreed to such a crazy thing, but if every day you find one thing that you really appreciate those annoying periods fly right on by.  Unless you hear a tape of him bantering with Donald Trump in the locker room. Then all bets are off.

Any sage advice  you’d like to share about your 40’s or happy marriage secrets?

From my morning walk…Have a beautiful day!

First Star I See Tonight. Finished 9-6-16, 4/5 stars, romance, 368 pages, pub. 2016

A star quarterback and a feisty detective play for keeps in this sporty, sexy, sassy novel—a long-awaited new entry in the beloved, award-winning, New York Times bestselling author’s fan-favorite Chicago Stars football series.

Piper Dove is a woman with a dream—to become the best detective in the city of Chicago. First job? Trail former Chicago Stars quarterback, Cooper Graham. Problem? Graham’s spotted her, and he’s not happy. 

Piper soon finds herself working for Graham himself, although not as the bodyguard he refuses to admit he so desperately needs. Instead, he’s hired her to keep an eye on the employees at his exclusive new nightclub. But Coop’s life might be in danger, and Piper’s determined to protect him, whether he wants it or not. (Hint: Not!) If only she weren’t also dealing with a bevy of Middle Eastern princesses, a Pakistani servant girl yearning for freedom, a teenager who just wants to fit in, and an elderly neighbor demanding Piper find her very dead husband.        from Goodreads

She is a go to author and one of a handful of authors who have me purchasing their newest hardcover when it comes out. I’ve read and loved all of her romances.   This is technically listed as Chicago Stars #8 but this is not really a series.  You’ll see some of the same people show up, but in no way do you have to read the series in order to enjoy it and I don’t say that very often.

Coop, a recently retired pro football player is being followed by a  fledgling private investigator.  When he calls her on it she uses her humor and wit to power through all the way to a new job.  Sparks, fly, of course, and there’s plenty of hot sex to keep them panting after each other.

Phillips always does a great job with feisty and interesting heroines and Coop wasn’t too shabby either.

I’m taking a Writing Romance class through the library and the instructor always mentions Nora Roberts and Heather Graham as the elite, but in my opinion it’s Susan Elizabeth Phillips.