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REGULAR EXERCISE IS THE EQUIVALENT OF “MIRACLE GRO” ™ FOR YOUR BRAIN

Posted on by Joy Held

REGULAR EXERCISE IS THE EQUIVALENT OF “MIRACLE GRO” ™ FOR YOUR BRAIN

19 April 2025

Exercise. We either love it or hate it, but we all know that some form of physical activity on a daily basis is part of a healthy routine and promises a balanced lifestyle, reduced stress levels, and longevity. Sometimes it can be a challenge to workout because life and schedules get in the way. Regular exercise doesn’t have to be time consuming or exhausting. Working in short bursts of movement throughout the day is better than nothing at all. On days when you have more time, exert more effort to exercise in concentrated amounts of time. Consider this sample exercise schedule for busy people.

1.Plan to exercise for 10 minutes three times a day. Choose from these examples,

  • walk
  • work with small hand weights
  • work with a treadmill or other exercise equipment
  • pedal exerciser (under-desk-bike)
  • do some stretching

Better yet, be active in a variety of ways throughout the day to keep boredom at bay. Yard work counts!

2.Group exercise classes that are regularly scheduled can be very motivational but are not always practical. Spend a few minutes researching and bookmarking exercise videos on the internet. There are tons for free. Once a week, prioritize time to exercise with a video. If it is more than ten minutes long, that’s okay. Do the first ten minutes only, which should be the warm-up portion, if that’s all you can work into your schedule.

3.While books about exercise don’t offer the benefit of having a knowledgeable instructor nearby to offer tips for safety and modification, they are a great source of information.

4.Put exercise on your list of things to do every week. Just writing it down will remind you to do it and make you feel accomplished when you can check if off the list.

Physical exercise is not just about keeping the body in shape. The mind-body-spirit connection is a real thing and has been proven by studies to deliver overall health benefits.

In his book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, Dr. John J. Ratey offers amazing details about how exercise supports thinking while keeping the physical container in working order. For the sake of simplicity and understanding, Ratey reported that the discovery of a protein factor found in the brain called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is responsible for the growth of new cells, especially those required for learning. BDNF is manufactured in the brain only. There is no pill form of it. What stimulates the production and hence the new brain cells is the connection between the protein and physical activity. Exercise propels BDNF for what Ratey calls “Miracle-Gro for the brain” (40). Studies since Ratey’s report have expanded on this principle and evidence proves that exercise strengthens not only our physical bodies but also develops our brains. Throughout the life span.

Here are a couple of questions about your physical fitness program if you care to post a comment!

Exercise question #1: Describe your current exercise routine explaining what you do and how often.

Exercise question #2: Are you satisfied with your current exercise routine? Why or why not?

Up Next: Quick and easy relaxation techniques.

Sign up for my weekly e-newsletter by filling out the form below. Thanks in advance!

Be well, write well.

~Joy

 

MY WRITEDAY SUBSCRIPTION BOX CART OPENS MONDAY, MAY 5. Don’t miss out on this fun box of writerly goodness lovingly called by one subscriber “A treasure trove for writers.” The May/June box is called “My Writing Coach.”

“Miracle-Gro” ™ is a registered trademark of OMS Investments, Inc.

Work Cited

Ratey, John J., M.D. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. Little, Brown, and Company, 2008.

This article may contain affiliate links which may result in the author receiving a commission when readers purchase items through the links.

You are receiving this message because you previously signed up for notifications or participated in a program/course with Joy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

Advertisement

The wealthy Kate Hamilton must marry the wounded viscount she is sheltering in her London townhouse since saving his life has ruined her. But he is a perfect candidate since he needs to marry well. When he seems reluctant, Kate proposes hiring him as her husband to disguise her love for him.

Hugh Bartram, Viscount of Dancy, has never met anyone like levelheaded Kate, thrusting herself into a scandal to save his sister from gossip. He resents Kate trying to solve everything with money, even as he admits her heart is in the right place.

Just as they wed, his sister elopes, and Dancy is captivated by the unconventional Kate as they ride across England together to prevent another scandal.

Buy me a coffee:)

JOY E. HELD is an author, educator, editor, entrepreneur, and literary citizen responsible for this site and its contents. She is the author of
Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2020)
Writer Wellness Workbook: A Guided Workbook and Journal to Accompany Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2023)
The Mermaid Riot (Fire and Ice YA, 2024) Young Adult Historical Fantasy
She writes spicy historical fiction under a pen name.
She is the winner of multiple writing and book awards:
West Virginia Writers, Inc. Annual Writing Contest, Honorable Mention, Novel, 1998.
New York Book Festival, Honorable Mention, Writer Wellness, 2020.
Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Finalist, Writer Wellness, 2021.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, Member of the Year, 2020.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, First Book Award, 2020.
She is an adjunct faculty member in the Southern New Hampshire University Online MFA Creative Writing.
She is a proud graduate of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA with an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction.
She is a member of The Authors Guild and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Joy is the founder and CEO of My WRITEDAY Subscription Box for writers and readers.

 

JOURNAL-TO-GO-BAG SHAKES THINGS UP IN A GOOD WAY

Posted on by Joy Held

JOURNAL-TO-GO-BAG SHAKES THINGS UP IN A GOOD WAY

12 April 2025

To refresh your memory, my author platform for over 30 years has been the health and well-being of creative people, especially writers. Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity was my first published book in 2003 after several years of presenting workshops on the topic. The book is in its third edition and with a third publisher because the previous hosts closed up shop. Publishing is a chaotic business and not for the faint of heart or the impatient. Writer wellness is a way to embrace and thrive within the chaos.

The five key concepts of writer wellness are journaling, exercise, relaxation, nutrition, and creative play. As publishing and authoring evolve, I like to regularly remind creatives to follow good self-care practices in order to support their work and health. This post includes tips for journaling.

JOURNALING

Everyone goes through a journaling slump. Regardless of dedication to the practice, it can become stale or mundane. It happens. Don’t take it as a sign of time to stop. A journaling slump is time to explore the page beyond the norms. Instead of documenting the events of the day, write the list in your journal and title it “Today’s Goals” then check everything off with an X or a check mark. This is a positive way to look at a repeat practice.

Another helpful activity is to change up the place where you journal. I regularly like to go to a coffee shop or the library to journal to shake up my surroundings and what I journal about. One thing I do is LEAVE MY JOURNAL AT HOME and take blank paper to the new spot. I do this because I don’t want my regular journal to be misplaced. Once I’m home, I staple, glue, or enclose the pages in a cellophane envelope and add stickers then attach the whole thing to a page in the regular journal.

“Journal-to-Go-Bag” is a must and makes journaling in a new place easy. Fill a tote with the essentials such as blank paper or a notebook, pens, and markers and keep it always ready to go. I also include a roll or two of washi tape in case I find ephemera or interesting things at the location to add to my pages.

Up Next: Taking care of your physical body with regular exercise keeps your brain in shape too!

Sign up for my weekly e-newsletter by filling out the form HERE. Or scroll to the bottom of this page! Thanks in advance!

NEWSLETTER

Be well, write well.

~Joy

MY WRITEDAY SUBSCRIPTION BOX CART OPENS MONDAY, MAY 5. Don’t miss out on this fun box of writerly goodness lovingly called by one subscriber “A treasure trove for writers.” The May/June box is called “The Writing Coach.”

Advertisement

The wealthy Kate Hamilton must marry the wounded viscount she is sheltering in her London townhouse since saving his life has ruined her. But he is a perfect candidate since he needs to marry well. When he seems reluctant, Kate proposes hiring him as her husband to disguise her love for him.

Hugh Bartram, Viscount of Dancy, has never met anyone like levelheaded Kate, thrusting herself into a scandal to save his sister from gossip. He resents Kate trying to solve everything with money, even as he admits her heart is in the right place.

Just as they wed, his sister elopes, and Dancy is captivated by the unconventional Kate as they ride across England together to prevent another scandal.

This article may contain affiliate links which may result in the author receiving a commission when readers purchase items through the links.

You are receiving this message because you previously signed up for notifications or participated in a program/course with Joy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

JOY E. HELD is an author, educator, editor, entrepreneur, and literary citizen responsible for this site and its contents. She is the author of

Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2020)

Writer Wellness Workbook: A Guided Workbook and Journal to Accompany Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2023)

The Mermaid Riot (Fire and Ice YA, 2024) Young Adult Historical Fantasy

She writes spicy historical fiction under a pen name.

She is the winner of multiple writing and book awards:

West Virginia Writers, Inc. Annual Writing Contest, Honorable Mention, Novel, 1998.

New York Book Festival, Honorable Mention, Writer Wellness, 2020.

Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Finalist, Writer Wellness, 2021.

Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, Member of the Year, 2020.

Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, First Book Award, 2020.

She is an adjunct faculty member in the Southern New Hampshire University Online MFA Creative Writing.

She is a proud graduate of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA with an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction.

She is a member of The Authors Guild and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Joy is the founder and CEO of My WRITEDAY Subscription Box for writers and readers.

 

GUEST POST FROM AUTHOR VALERIE NIEMAN

Posted on by Joy Held

GUEST POST FROM AUTHOR VALERIE NIEMAN

Saturday, 5 April 2025

Welcome historical fiction author Valerie Nieman with a fascinating perspective on researching for her novels.

Tracing Flickering Lights in the Dark

Not so long ago, most of us were putting away the strings of Christmas lights, hoping we won’t find a tangle when we open the bin again come November. That never seems to happen – somehow, the sets manage to knot themselves and cannot be easily pulled into the neat linear strings we expect. Where did all this complication come from?

It can be a bit like that, researching historical fiction. We expect to find a more or less continuous story, a reasonable thread of action and consequences, but history is more tangled than we think. Conspiracy theories aside, the reasons for an incident are often less than clear, people’s motivations are complicated, and people (or nations) may act in unreasonable ways. And history, as we know, is told by the victors.

I began working on my first historical fiction novel, Upon the Corner of the Moon, 30 years ago. People are shocked to learn that! Now I haven’t been writing continuously for three decades, but I have been working. Lots of reading, spells of writing, then back to research. As I was drafting and redrafting, I spent time writing other books – five novels, three books of poetry, a college history. I also went to Scotland on two month-long trips to hike, visit historic sites and museums, and generally “get the lay of the land.”

In this age of “instant art and writing” from AI, the thought of spending a third of a lifetime on one project seems a bit – obsessive. And it is. I came onto the story of the historical Macbeth while researching another book and was intrigued at how my favorite play had completely twisted the story. When I plunged into research for a novel on this topic, I didn’t imagine how deep that rabbit hole could go.

Those working in recent (20th century) historical fiction or studying well-documented eras have the benefit of newspapers, government records, previous histories– but in the more ancient past, records may be few or fragmentary, and they can be severely slanted because of religious or political considerations. Shakespeare based his play on Holinshed’s Chronicles, itself a compilation of earlier chronicles. At each iteration, legends became attached to history, cultural misunderstandings were amplified, and the actual Macbeths were slandered so that the current ruling dynasty might plump up its lineage.

I read original sources such as the “Life of St. Columba” by Adomnan, medieval handbooks of penance, an 18th century survey of the province of Moray that detailed the landscape of my book. I read sagas from the Norse and Danes, which provided some meat but also a lot of gristle: Names are replaced with epithets, dates might not match up, and the details of battles – well, remember that these were composed to glorify the jarl.

Scholarly sources were of great help in understanding the political landscape of northern Europe, from the Cnut’s Great North Sea Empire to the shifting Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Scotland itself was not united into roughly the form we expect until the early 11th century, under Malcolm II, who welded Strathclyde and Lothian to Alba, and his grandson Macbeth who solidified this realm. The Western Isles remained under control of the Norse, and Orkney was an independent kingdom claiming parts of the north (Caithness).

I also read a lot of books on ancient matriarchal religions and guides to Pictish symbol stones and Celtic runes.

Secondary sources, from popular books to deeply scholarly analyses, were important in helping me untangle the chain of events that led to Macbeth’s death and the change from old Celtic patterns of kingship to primogeniture. That’s why the second book is titled The Last Highland King, because after Macbeth, Scottish rulers were highly Anglicized and connected to the lowlands.

Ultimately, I had to make decisions between competing sources. Was this man a nephew, or an uncle? Did this battle occur in 1054 or 1057? Some recent works invaluable in sorting wheat from tares included Macbeth Before Shakespeare by Benjamin Hudson, Picts: Scourge of Rome, Rulers of the North by Gordon Noble and Nicholas Evans, and The Wolf Age by Tore Skeie.

Research is like that pile of twinkling lights – you see the glimmers, study how the knots have formed, and with patience and some good advice, make a tangle into something that can illuminate the dark.

Thank you, Valerie!

BOOK: Upon the Corner of the Moon

AUTHOR: Valerie Nieman

GENRE: Historical Fiction

BLURB:  At the dawn of the second millennium, two royal Scottish children are swept away from their families—Macbeth to the perilous royal court of his grandfather, Gruach to the remnants of the goddess-worshiping Picts. Macbeth learns that blood bonds are easily severed while Gruach finds her path only to lose it when she’s summoned back to the patriarchal world. They struggle with gaining and losing power, guided and misguided by prophecy and politics as their paths converge in a fiery bid for royal succession. Upon the Corner of the Moon separates literary legend from the reality of rulers who changed the face of Scotland. While closely following recorded history about Macbeth, it also speculates on the heritage of his wife Gruach, drawing on the Neolithic settlement of Alba and the mysterious legacy of the Picts. “Upon the Corner of the Moon is a haunting and bloody tale of Scottish history. It’s also a finger tracing along a set of scars, ones we already know are too deep to ever really heal,” said the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Valerie Nieman’s debut historical novel, Upon the Corner of the Moon, is the story of the young Macbeths, destined to unite Scotland in the tumultuous 11th century. To learn more about the people and landscapes, she wandered Scotland from coast to coast and spent many happy hours in museums, libraries, and small pubs. She is the author of a short fiction collection, three poetry books, and six other novels, including In the Lonely Backwater, winner of the 2022 Sir Walter Raleigh Award, which was called “not only a page-turning thriller but also a complex psychological portrait of a young woman dealing with guilt, betrayal, and secrecy.” Her novel Blood Clay won the Eric Hoffer Prize in General Fiction. To the Bones, a horror/Appalachian/ecojustice novel, was a finalist for the 2020 Manly Wade Wellman Award, and now has a sequel, Dead Hand. A graduate of West Virginia University and Queens University of Charlotte, she has held state and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships is professor emerita of creative writing at NC Agricultural and Technical State University.

Advertisement

The wealthy Kate Hamilton must marry the wounded viscount she is sheltering in her London townhouse since saving his life has ruined her. But he is a perfect candidate since he needs to marry well. When he seems reluctant, Kate proposes hiring him as her husband to disguise her love for him.

Hugh Bartram, Viscount of Dancy, has never met anyone like levelheaded Kate, thrusting herself into a scandal to save his sister from gossip. He resents Kate trying to solve everything with money, even as he admits her heart is in the right place.

Just as they wed, his sister elopes, and Dancy is captivated by the unconventional Kate as they ride across England together to prevent another scandal.

This article may contain affiliate links which may result in the author receiving a commission when readers purchase items through the links.

You are receiving this message because you previously signed up for notifications or participated in a program/course with Joy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

Buy me a coffee!

 

MY WRITEDAY MARCH/APRIL ’25 BOX REVEAL

Posted on by Joy Held

Monday 31 March 2025

Welcome to “Write True” the March/April 2025 box! Writing true means several things to me. Write the truth as you know it whether it’s fiction, nonfiction, memoir, or poetry. Use true words to describe what you believe is the truth. Be authentic and avoid overused words. What does true writing mean to you?

Let’s look at it all.

 

  1.  500 Words You Should Know by Caroline Taggart is not your average “dictionary” because of its organization by theme. Need a unique or special word for mood? It’s in there. Want to use something besides heaven to name it? It’s in there. This is the most unique “dictionary” I’ve ever seen. It even has a bibliography and an index to further support your word cravings. I’d love to know what you think about this book!

  1. Plot Twist inspiration cards. These are not your average inspiration cards for writers. These are not your average cards for coming up with ideas when you’ve hit a bump in the manuscript. Because you never know what you’ll find behind the scratch off area on the card. Just like a lottery ticket, pick a card, get a coin, and scratch off the hidden inspiration. The only difference between Plot Twist cards and lottery tickets is that PT makes you a winner every time. Each hidden message is fodder for fixing plot problems or having something to journal or blog about. The fiction collection is in this box. I love them so much that you are guaranteed to see another genre in a future box! I would love to know how you used these cards. Critique group writing prompt anyone?

  1. Fruit Flavored Chewy Candies consciously crafted by The Lovely Candy Company. Individually wrapped and organic, these candies are perfect for that moment when you want something sweet but don’t want a whole cupcake! The “no” list of ingredients is just as important as what’s in each delicious piece. No artificial colors or flavors, non-GMO, no high fructose corn syrup, or gluten. Awesome.
  2. Candle kit with “natural fireman” is something I created for you. The tea light candles are from an artisan candle maker in California. The sand is what is called a “natural fireman” for candles because if the candle melts or flames out of the container, the sand will automatically and naturally put out the fire! Place the sand in the glass tea light holder then center the candle in the sand. Never burn candles around paper, please😊

  1. Bookshelf Note Pad from Pippi Post products in Kentucky is perfect for lists or keeping in the journal go bag I wrote about in the January/February MWD Digital Magazine. And so cute!
  2. There are reading and writing stickers, a Thoughtfull pop-out journal prompt, and promotional bookmarks from some my author friends.

I adore hearing from you any time! Watch your email in late APRIL for the exclusive MWD subscriber digital magazine.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

The May/April 2025 MWD box will be available from Monday, May 5 to Saturday, May 10 ONLY. Mark your calendar so you don’t miss out on this “treasure trove for writers” delivered to your door every other month.

Thank you so much for being a My WRITEDAY subscriber AND a future subscriber.

I hope your WriteDay is fantastic!

~Joy

Advertisement

The wealthy Kate Hamilton must marry the wounded viscount she is sheltering in her London townhouse since saving his life has ruined her. But he is a perfect candidate since he needs to marry well. When he seems reluctant, Kate proposes hiring him as her husband to disguise her love for him.

Hugh Bartram, Viscount of Dancy, has never met anyone like levelheaded Kate, thrusting herself into a scandal to save his sister from gossip. He resents Kate trying to solve everything with money, even as he admits her heart is in the right place.

Just as they wed, his sister elopes, and Dancy is captivated by the unconventional Kate as they ride across England together to prevent another scandal.

This article may contain affiliate links which may result in the author receiving a commission when readers purchase items through the links.

You are receiving this message because you previously signed up for notifications or participated in a program/course with Joy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

 

 

BOOKS BY MY FRIENDS

Posted on by Joy Held

Thursday, 27 March 2025

Welcome to Books By My Friends!

Today we are featuring

  • CHAD BOYKIN
  • JAMES FLANAGAN
  • BARBARA JEAN MILLER
  • VALERIE NIEMAN
  • LYNN SLAUGHTER

This article may contain affiliate links which may result in the author receiving a commission when readers purchase items through the links.

You are receiving this message because you previously signed up for notifications or participated in a program/course with Joy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

CHAD BOYKIN

BOOK: The Twilight Zone Haiku

AUTHOR: Chad Ellis Boykin; Foreword by Tom Elliot

GENRE: Haiku, Poetry, Popular Culture, Television, Science Fiction.

BLURB: The Twilight Zone Haiku explores the essence of Rod Serling’s iconic,
uncanny 1960s television show through haiku, giving us dazzling, spot-on
snapshots of each episode. In seventeen syllables, Boykin captures the
show’s main objective: to deliver a keen jolt of existential awareness.
As you read, you find yourself marooned on an alien planet, lost in
time, trapped inside a mannequin, surrounded by the debris of a nuclear
attack, and always, always powerless to forces beyond your control. The
Twilight Zone Haiku conjures the trappings of each haunting plot of the
series, but more astutely, its scalpel-edged soul.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Attorney, author, and former boxer Chadwick Ellis Boykin is the owner
and creator of Jobber House Press, LLC. He is the author of Muay Thai
Kickboxing: The Ultimate Guide to Conditioning, Training, and Fighting
(Paladin Press, 2002), The Twilight Zone Haiku (Jobber House Press,
2023), and the forthcoming Kaiju and Kayfabe, essays on the uniquely
interconnected history of giant Japanese monster cinema and the art of
professional wrestling. He has contributed to the forthcoming Outside In
Can Live With It: 174 Deep Space 9 Stories, 174 Writers, 174 New
Perspectives (ATB Publishing), and The Kaiju Haiku: The Comic Zine with
Weirdo Poetry.

Tom Elliot is the host of The Twilight Zone Podcast, the definitive and
longest running podcast about the landmark show on the web. In addition
to episode reviews, the podcast includes short story readings, book
reviews, event coverage and interviews. The show has been graced by
guests such as Anne Serling (daughter of The Twilight Zone creator Rod
Serling and acclaimed author of As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling),
Earl Holliman (the first actor to ever appear in The Twilight Zone) and
Win Rosenfeld, Executive Producer of the 2019 The Twilight Zone reboot.
Tom featured as one of the speakers in the BBC documentary You’re
Entering Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, along with Anne Serling and
Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker. The Twilight Zone Podcast is an
unofficial production, dedicated to the preservation and promotion of
The Twilight Zone and the work of Rod Serling.

JAMES FLANAGAN

BOOK: The Civil War with a Twist

AUTHOR: James Flanagan

GENRE: Historical Fiction

BLURB: History meets the Twilight Zone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Retired principal became a professional storyteller then put his stories into books.

BARBARA JEAN MILLER

BOOK: Governess for a Week

AUTHOR: Barbara Jean Miller

GENRE: Regency Romance Suspense

BLURB: Governess Marian Greenway feels she’s been hired by a lunatic when her employer demands she wear a revealing dress to dinner then introduces her to his relatives as his fiancée. When she realizes his behavior may be rooted in his war wounds he has her instant sympathy. Captain David Armstead, Lord Wyle just wants to fob off his interfering aunts, and a fake engagement seems a good idea when in his cups. But the next day the woman he thought was a hired actress takes over his household, and his children become instantly devoted to her. After only a few days he feels that he is falling in love with her but she has vowed never to marry a soldier. Even before they wed Wyle and Marian face the dilemma of what is more important, the welfare of the children or their own happiness. They find the answer when a threat to those children vaults them into an international plot where only Marian’s resourcefulness and Wyle’s faith in her can bring them all home safe.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Barbara Jean Miller is a retired educator, author, and nature observer.

VALERIE NIEMAN

BOOK: Upon the Corner of the Moon

AUTHOR: Valerie Nieman

GENRE: Historical Fiction

BLURB:  At the dawn of the second millennium, two royal Scottish children are swept away from their families—Macbeth to the perilous royal court of his grandfather, Gruach to the remnants of the goddess-worshiping Picts. Macbeth learns that blood bonds are easily severed while Gruach finds her path only to lose it when she’s summoned back to the patriarchal world. They struggle with gaining and losing power, guided and misguided by prophecy and politics as their paths converge in a fiery bid for royal succession. Upon the Corner of the Moon separates literary legend from the reality of rulers who changed the face of Scotland. While closely following recorded history about Macbeth, it also speculates on the heritage of his wife Gruach, drawing on the Neolithic settlement of Alba and the mysterious legacy of the Picts. “Upon the Corner of the Moon is a haunting and bloody tale of Scottish history. It’s also a finger tracing along a set of scars, ones we already know are too deep to ever really heal,” said the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Valerie Nieman’s debut historical novel, Upon the Corner of the Moon, is the story of the young Macbeths, destined to unite Scotland in the tumultuous 11th century. To learn more about the people and landscapes, she wandered Scotland from coast to coast and spent many happy hours in museums, libraries, and small pubs. She is the author of a short fiction collection, three poetry books, and six other novels, including In the Lonely Backwater, winner of the 2022 Sir Walter Raleigh Award, which was called “not only a page-turning thriller but also a complex psychological portrait of a young woman dealing with guilt, betrayal, and secrecy.” Her novel Blood Clay won the Eric Hoffer Prize in General Fiction. To the Bones, a horror/Appalachian/ecojustice novel, was a finalist for the 2020 Manly Wade Wellman Award, and now has a sequel, Dead Hand. A graduate of West Virginia University and Queens University of Charlotte, she has held state and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships is professor emerita of creative writing at NC Agricultural and Technical State University.

LYNN SLAUGHTER

BOOK: Missing Mom

AUTHOR: Lynn Slaughter

GENRE: Young Adult Coming-of-age romantic mystery

BLURB: Never mind the circumstantial evidence. Seventeen-year-old Noelle, an aspiring ballet dancer, doesn’t believe her missing mother would ever have committed suicide and launches her own investigation. Meantime, she’s dealing with growing romantic feelings toward Ravi, her best friend and fellow dancer, as well as worries about why her little sister is so reluctant to visit their dad. Threaded throughout the novel is the story of a young woman nearly twenty years earlier whose escape from an abusive marriage turns out to be related to Noelle’s investigation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lynn Slaughter is addicted to the arts, chocolate, and her husband’s cooking. After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, Lynn earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She is the award-winning author of five young adult romantic mysteries: MISSING MOM, DEADLY SETUP, LEISHA’S SONG, IT SHOULD HAVEBEEN YOU, AND WHILE I DANCED, as well as an adult mystery, MISSEDCUE. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where she’s at work on her next novel and serves on the board of Derby Rotten Scoundrels, the Ohio River Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime.

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My WriteDay is a bi-monthly subscription box for writers and readers. Each “treasure trove for writers” includes a writing craft book and 3-5 writerly gifts curated to support writers.

This article may contain affiliate links which may result in the author receiving a commission when readers purchase items through the links.

You are receiving this message because you previously signed up for notifications or participated in a program/course with Joy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

writerwellness at gmail dot com for information on how you can be a featured author on Books By My Friends.

Buy me a coffee:)

 

JOY E. HELD is an author, educator, editor, entrepreneur, and literary citizen responsible for this site and its contents. She is the author of
Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2020)
Writer Wellness Workbook: A Guided Workbook and Journal to Accompany Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2023)
The Mermaid Riot (Fire and Ice YA, 2024) Young Adult Historical Fantasy
She writes spicy historical fiction under a pen name.
She is the winner of multiple writing and book awards:
West Virginia Writers, Inc. Annual Writing Contest, Honorable Mention, Novel, 1998.
New York Book Festival, Honorable Mention, Writer Wellness, 2020.
Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Finalist, Writer Wellness, 2021.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, Member of the Year, 2020.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, First Book Award, 2020.
She is an adjunct faculty member in the Southern New Hampshire University Online MFA Creative Writing.
She is a proud graduate of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA with an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction.
She is a member of The Authors Guild and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Joy is the founder and CEO of My WRITEDAY Subscription Box for writers and readers.

“Advice on How to Get Your Writing Noticed from Estelle Erasmus”

Posted on by Joy Held

“Advice on How to Get Your Writing Noticed from Estelle Erasmus”

GUEST POST from author/educator/journalist ESTELLE ERASMUS

As legendary memoirist Abigail Thomas said about Writing That Gets Noticed: “It’s an encyclopedia of writing advice, but feels like a conversation.”

A Curious Mind Takes You A Long Way

I think a successful freelance writer keeps a curious mind, and a beginner mindset and gathers information, and then makes sure that the craft supports the execution of the essay, article or pitch. They also realize that publishing is a long game, and so they look into various ways to tell their stories: through micro memoir, substack posts (where they can accrue subscribers, and eventually get paid), podcasts and new technologies. The traditional media venues are shrinking so it’s important to find new ways to get what you want to say out there and build an audience for your message or writings.

The Importance of Building Your Craft 

I think that the cream rises to the top, and if people aren’t able to craft a story well, they will lose their readers over time. A publication may want them for a “clickbait” story, but once that story is over, if they don’t know how to tell other less sensational stories they won’t be published consistently in credible publications. I think to develop craft people can read books for ($20 and less) like mine, and others, read about craft in Brevity and Writer’s Digest, and listen to/watch free podcasts like Freelance Writing Direct that offers craft and writing advice, directly from authors, agents, editors and publishing and media professionals, including how to structure books.

The next level is attending online webinars for a small fee (I love the ones offered by Jane Friedman and also CRAFTSTALK). You might also consider taking a class at your community college, but make sure that the person teaching has the kinds of bylines or books you aspire to, as well as deep ties in the industry.

Another option is to take classes at established organizations like the ones I teach for Writer’s Digest. A fifth level is to take a university-level class for adults, which I teach at NYU’s School of Professional Studies.

Finally, they can invest in attending conferences (virtual and in-person) and going to sessions taught by industry leaders. Many writing coaches also offer 1 x 1 coaching which requires a deeper investment. I always advise having some experience with the person first before putting a great deal of money down.

How Can you Make Your Mark as a Journalist?

I would say that to make your mark as a journalist, it’s important to not shy away from the big story. Go Big! Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself to explore new, groundbreaking subjects. If you stick to doing round ups or very service oriented pieces (how to carpet your guest house), you won’t get the kind of attention to make a name for yourself. I always tell my writing coaching students that they should work on adding voice to any service pieces that they write. This can be done in the intro statement and also at the ending of a piece.

My Best Advice if You Want to Write

As Jackie Collins said, “If you want to be a writer-stop talking about it and sit down and write!”  To start out in a professional capacity, write anything you can and for everyone you can. When I was starting out I wrote brochure copy, book reviews, pieces for local newspapers, and then wrote for magazines once I became a magazine editor. But, I always kept learning and growing and never gave up.

If you want to write a memoir, start writing your stories, and try to get some of them out in micro memoir form. A lot of the bloggers that I knew when we all blogged have since written books. I think it helped that they were in the practice of writing every day, and kept honing their skills. It’s important to realize that publishing is a long game, and so think of your writing that way and never give up.

Estelle Erasmus: an award-winning journalist, is the author of WRITING THAT GETS NOTICED (named a “Best Book for Writers” by Poets & Writers Magazine), a Contributing Editor for Writer’s Digest, and host of the podcast Freelance Writing Direct. She is an adjunct instructor for NYU’s School of Professional Studies/Center for Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts, has written for over 150 publications, including The New York Times, Next Avenue/PBS, WIRED, The Independent,The Washington Post, and AARP: The Magazine, and was the editor-in-chief of five national publications. Find out more at estelleserasmus.com and follow her on Substack at https://estelleserasmus.substack.com and on social media: @EstelleSErasmus.

Author of  Writing That Gets Noticed

In Poets & Writers “Best Books for Writers”

2023 Zibby Award winner for the “Best Book for The Writer”

Recipient 2023 NYU SPS Teaching Excellence Award

Contributing Editor, Writer’s Digest

www.estelleserasmus.com (sign up for my newsletter)

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Freelance Writing Direct Podcast  (I speak to Cheryl Strayed, Ann Hood, Noah Michelson  and more)

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Literary Citizenship Is Open to Everyone & How to Be a Good One

Posted on by Joy Held

 

Thursday, 13 March 2025

Literary Citizenship is Open to Everyone and How to Be a Solid One

I agree that the concept of literary citizenship is about supporting endeavors and people involved in writing, but it can also be viewed as anyone from writer to publisher to librarian to reader because the eco system of publishing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in some way, shape, or form everywhere you look because everywhere you look there is something to read. Something that someone had to conjure from thin air to make sense of something else.

Signage. Labels. Instructions. Emails. Texts. Art. Social media. Calendars. Books. Magazines. Newspapers. Billboards. You belong to the literary world because you can’t get through a day without reading something. Sometimes I think that might be why people don’t read books. They’re already reading everything around them. Why read more in a book?

Citizenship implies membership in a community of persons with goals that are at least similar. And it implies responsibilities. As a no-dues-here member in good standing, each literary citizen should contribute to the greater good. Contributions range widely. Obviously, I’m extending on the idea of supporting writers because writers NEED readers. Plenty of writers don’t make their work public, but most writers want to and that can’t happen without a reader to receive and possibly respond to the writer’s words and ideas.

Not all support means money. Time and effort are just as valuable even as they can also equate to money. Here are some ideas on how you can support the literary world we all live in with just time and effort and be a solid literary citizen.

  1. Check in with a writer. You don’t have to talk story with them, just let them know you know they write and that you appreciate that.
  2. Ask for their books at the library and the book store. Not all stores are going to be able to get some books, but that’s okay. It’s on their radar now and that helps. Every library takes requests from patrons about buying books. Librarians will at least take a serious look if you make a serious recommendation.
  3. If you own the print book, get caught reading it in public. If you don’t own it, check it out of the library. Even if no one asks you about it, they might take a look at the book cover. Ahem, you may want to be considerate of others when choosing a book cover to go public with. Just sayin’.
  4. Free. Little. Libraries. Give if you can.
  5. Attend book readings. I could be wrong, but I’ve never seen anyone charge money to people who show up at a reading. Readings are usually free. Go. It would be nice if you could buy the book and get it signed at the reading!
  6. Stop at least once a day and say to yourself, “I wonder who wrote that?”

Literary citizenship is an important element in the world of writing and publishing. It’s the give-and-take part of belonging to any worthwhile group. It is the juicy stuff that binds us to one another to be supportive, respectful, and helpful as we journey through the world. Within the literary citizenship concept lies opportunities to enrich and be enriched by a diverse group of writers.

A good literary citizen actively and purposely gives as much as they take. The good stuff. It can be gently used, which sometimes makes it advice, but a place to toss refuse it is not. That isn’t to say that the writing community won’t listen when you have an elephant to shove off your chest. They will.

When I say that everyone can be a member of the literary community by virtue of reading, that isn’t to denigrate those who seize the ideas, write them down, and either share them or hide them under the bed. We’re all literary citizens, and we should support each other.

One of my ways of demonstrating literary citizenship is to post a regular feature in my newsletter focusing on books. It’s called “Books By My Friends” where once a month I tell you about the books from my author friends. Email me if you have a book published in the last year and want it considered for BBMF! It’s free:)

writerwellness at gmail dot com

In what ways are you a solid literary citizen?

Be well, write well!

~Joy

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JOY E. HELD is an author, educator, editor, entrepreneur, and literary citizen responsible for this site and its contents. She is the author of
Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2020)
Writer Wellness Workbook: A Guided Workbook and Journal to Accompany Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2023)
The Mermaid Riot (Fire and Ice YA, 2024) Young Adult Historical Fantasy
She writes spicy historical fiction under a pen name.
She is the winner of multiple writing and book awards:
West Virginia Writers, Inc. Annual Writing Contest, Honorable Mention, Novel, 1998.
New York Book Festival, Honorable Mention, Writer Wellness, 2020.
Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Finalist, Writer Wellness, 2021.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, Member of the Year, 2020.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, First Book Award, 2020.
She is an adjunct faculty member in the Southern New Hampshire University Online MFA Creative Writing.
She is a proud graduate of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA with an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction.
She is a member of The Authors Guild and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Joy is the founder and CEO of My WRITEDAY Subscription Box for writers and readers.

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BOOKS BY MY FRIENDS SUSEN EDWARDS, MICKI R. PETTIT, AND ALANA VAN DER SLUYS

Posted on by Joy Held

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November 16, 2023

Today we’re featuring authors SUSEN EDWARDS, MICHELLE R. PETTIT & ALANA VAN DER SLUYS.

BOOK: What a Trip: A Novel

AUTHOR: Susen Edwards

GENRE: Historical/Women’s Fiction

BLURB: In this coming-of-age novel we meet Fiona, an art student at a New Jersey college struggling to find herself. Through her eyes we relive the turbulent culture of sex, drugs, and rock ’n roll, the Vietnam War draft lottery, Kent State University shootings, and harsh reality of war for young Americans. Note from the author: Sexual content and language.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Susen Edwards is the founder and former director of Somerset School of Massage Therapy, New Jersey’s first state-approved and nationally accredited postsecondary school for massage therapy. During her tenure she was nominated by Merrill Lynch for Inc. Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Susen is the author of “What a Trip: A Novel.” Her articles have appeared on Residence11.com, BooksByWomen.org, and DIYMFA.com. Susen lives in Middlesex, New Jersey with her husband, Bob, and her two fuzzy feline babies, Harold and Maude.

 

BOOK: A Kiss for Maggie Moore

AUTHOR: Micki R. Pettit

GENRE: General Fiction

BLURB: Standing at the altar as her two best friends get hitched, the Maid of Honor struggles to let go of her love for the groom and drifts back to when their triangle of love and friendship began—the late 1960s, rural Wyoming.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Micki R. Pettit is a former radio personality and voice talent with vocal experience spanning musical theater, opera, big band, rock, and country. She is currently lead female singer with the folk group Bandella and performs with the Bay Area Chorus of Greater Houston. Born in Wyoming and raised in New Mexico, she now lives in Texas with her husband and sons. A Kiss for Maggie Moore is her debut novel.

 

BOOK: Freedom with Food and Fitness: How Intuitive Eating is the Key to Your Happiest, Healthiest Self

AUTHOR: Alana Van Der Sluys

GENRE: Self-Help, Nonfiction

BLURB: Build the full, vibrant life that you’ve always wanted, without another diet or dreaded exercise program. Filled with personal stories, science-backed research, and easy tools to apply to your life today, Freedom with Food and Fitness will inspire you to adopt a more mindful and intuitive approach to food and fitness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ALANA VAN DER SLUYS is a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, TEDx speaker, eating disorder survivor, and the founder of Freedom with Food and Fitness. She is dedicated to empowering women to heal their relationship with food and their bodies to step into their potential, take up space, and pursue true health. She currently hosts the Finally Free Podcast, and her debut book– Freedom with Food and Fitness: How Intuitive Eating is the Key to Becoming Your Happiest, Healthiest Self–will be released with Urano World USA on November 14, 2023. She is a contributing writer for several national publications, including the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) and Best Holistic Life Magazine. She was also, most recently, a panelist and speaker for the Speak Up Women’s Conference in April 2023. You can find out more about Alana and Freedom with Food and Fitness on Instagram: @FreedomwithFoodandFitness.

 

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GUEST POST: “Writing for Your Life” by LINDA BALLOU

Posted on by Joy Held

 

 

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“Writing for Your Life”

Guest Post By Linda Ballou

 

My writing is not just a rewarding creative expression that some would consider an indulgence. It was my way of sorting out who I was, a healing mechanism and a way to cope with the challenges that came my way.  At the tender age of thirteen, I was rudely uprooted and transplanted in Haines, Alaska, a tiny town at the top of the Inside Passage. I remember our excitement at seeing a Mama Moose with a calf clomping across the road that runs through the Chilkat River Valley when we arrived at our new home. The river valley teeming with wildlife remains one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen on the planet.

Still, I was the new girl in town and plainly out of step with my peers. I turned to books in my isolation. I began to journal to help me deal with my loneliness. Reading, The Second Sex, by Simone De Beauvoir got me thinking about women’s roles in society. I wasn’t burning my bra in the streets, but I was questioning whether I wanted marriage and children.

As Isabella Bird so famously said,

” If you want to be a vine around a tree, then marry.”

When I turned 18 I returned to California to attend college in Los Angeles. Once again, I didn’t fit in. The drug -culture was in full swing and I found getting stoned boring. I put myself through college selling real estate. I earned a degree in English Literature and graduated exhausted and disillusioned with the materialistic society I was living in. I dropped out of society and landed on the North Shore of Kauai to think about it all and test my writing ability

It was here that I met the heroine of my first novel Wai-nani: A Voice from Old Hawai’i. Ka’ahumanu, the favorite wife (out of 32) of Kamehameha the Great, is a controversial character in Hawaiian history. She was a childless bride who became his confident and companion. When he died he bestowed upon her the power to rule with his son. She was a magnificent athlete, brave, passionate, and caring, dubbed the “Mother of the People”. She embodied the empowered, self-actualized woman that I so admired and wanted to become.

Publishing Wai-nani was a monumental step forward in my writing life. I had to be brave like Ka’ahumanu and lift the dragon’s tail of fear from my path. It meant taking the risk of failure and possible rebuke from Hawaiian scholars. It moved me towards personal liberation and believing in myself as a writer. It required taking responsibility for having a voice and becoming part of the “Long Conversation”.

I returned to California where I supported my eating habit by selling real estate. I took up horseback riding and ended up hook line and sinker into the sport. My mare was my best friend. We rode the hills and dales around our barn entered jumping events and became a team. One day while riding her I felt a tingle in my lower back. The next day I was down for the count with a herniated disk. I was forced to give up my Gingersnap and the riding world.

The nerve pain was mind-bending, but the thought of losing my mare and the horse world I was so invested in was devastating. I couldn’t sit for any length of time, so I stood at my breakfast bar to write The Cowgirl Jumped Over the Moon. Being engaged in writing the story took my attention away from the nagging sciatic pain in my legs.

My protagonist does everything I ever wanted to do on a horse. She even rides solo on the Pacific Crest Trail which was a dream of mine. There she meets a lone cowboy who is a fire lookout. Rugged, yet sophisticated, caring, and a good cook he is my fantasy guy. There is also an environmental message about not disturbing the natural world that became important to me when I was growing up in Alaska. So, writing this story helped me let go of Ginger and allowed me to give voice to things I care about.

Eventually, I healed. I put the love of horseback riding, writing, and travel into play as a travel writer. For the past couple of decades, I have enjoyed traveling around the globe hosted by various outfitters. My writing has taken me where I needed to go.

When the pandemic set in for the kill my travel wings were clipped. At first, I was angry about not being able to continue the life I loved, but once again my writing saved my life. Isabella Bird was an intrepid, Victorian Age explorer who ventured to parts of the world where they had never seen a white woman. I had long admired her pluck and writing skills. I determined to fictionalize her life and times in Hawai’i and Colorado. The result, Embrace of the Wild, was featured on the BBC docuseries Trailblazers that aired in the U.K. in 2022. Writing this book got me through two years of isolation, and brought wonderful new exposure to my work.

In retrospect, I see how my writing has been my coping mechanism, a means of fulfillment, and a form of self-actualization.  Lost Angel Unleashed, the third book in my Lost Angel Travel Trilogy, released in 2023 is a travel memoir. I share my lonesome beginnings with humor along with some of my favorite travel memories. I think it is a wrap, but you never know, I may need to write one more book to stay alive.

www.LindaBallouAuthor.com

 

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BOOKS BY MY FRIENDS LAURY A. EGAN, NITA SWEENEY, & ZOE TASIA

Posted on by Joy Held

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

 

This article may contain affiliate links which may result in the author receiving a commission when readers purchase items through the links.

 

Welcome to Books By My Friends, a weekly feature hosting a variety of my friends who have published books. Please leave a comment for any or all of the guest authors in the space below.

 

Today we’re featuring authors LAURY A. EGAN, NITA SWEENEY, AND ZOE TASIA.

“The Psychologist’s Shadow” cover photo by Laury A. Egan

 

BOOK: THE PSYCHOLOGIST’S SHADOW

 

AUTHOR: LAURY A. EGAN

 

 

GENRE: Psychological suspense

 

BLURB: In October 1992, Dr. Ellen Haskell begins a new therapy practice in Princeton after a tragic error with a former client. Demoralized by her failure, Ellen strives to restore her emotional and professional confidence. Her parents have departed for Greece, leaving Ellen alone in their secluded country house. As the reader is introduced to her roster of clients through their individual sessions, Ellen becomes unnerved when she receives hang-up phone calls and a series of bizarre gifts from an anonymous admirer—at first at her office and then at home. As the obsessive lover increasingly invades her life, Ellen’s anxiety crescendos and she begins to fear the stalker’s behavior will escalate into violence. The Psychologist’s Shadow is a portrait of a compassionate, introspective therapist who finds herself in a dangerous struggle with an unknown stalker. The novel is a simmering literary suspense, one in which tension accumulates as the reader gains insights during sessions with clients—one of whom may be the psychologist’s shadow—and through the stalker’s journal entries, which serve as a discordant counterpoint.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Laury A. Egan is the author of eleven novels, The Firefly; Once, Upon an Island; Wave in D Minor; Turnabout; Once, Upon an Island; Doublecrossed; The Swimmer; The Ungodly Hour; A Bittersweet Tale; Fabulous! An Opera Buffa; The Outcast Oracle; and Jenny Kidd; in addition to a collection, Fog and Other Stories. Four limited-edition poetry volumes have been published: Snow, Shadows, a Stranger; Beneath the Lion’s Paw; The Sea & Beyond; and Presence & Absence. Eighty-five of her stories and poems have appeared in literary journals.

 

 

 

BOOK: MAKE EVERY MOVE A MEDITATION: MINDFUL MOVEMENT FOR MENTAL HEALTH, WELL-BEING, AND INSIGHT

 

AUTHOR: NITA SWEENEY

 

GENRE: Nonfiction memoir

 

BLURB: What do you think of when you hear the word meditation? Monks? Instagram influencers? Yoga? Tai Chi? What if lifting weights, dancing with your love, or walking across a room counted? What if you could make any move a meditation? Nita Sweeney’s Make Every Move a Meditation shows you how!

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nita Sweeney is the bestselling wellness author of Depression Hates a Moving Target, You Should Be Writing, and Make Every Move a Meditation. Ultramarathoner. Meditator. Mindfulness coach. Writing practice zealot. Mental health advocate. Dog mom. Retired attorney. Retired publisher of Write Now Columbus. Her next book, A Daily Dose of Now, will be released in September.

 

 

BOOK: BAGPIPES AND BASIL, THE SHROUDED ISLE BOOK 2

 

AUTHOR: ZOE TASIA

 

GENRE: FANTASY

 

BLURB: Becca juggles witch-in-training lessons, mothering to two teens, and falling in love as she works to stop island troublemakers and her crazy relatives from wreaking havoc. Bagpipes and Basil is a humorous, cozy fantasy about a family, a courtship, and a community.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Zoe Tasia lives in Texas with her understanding Greek husband and a crazy cat where she explores her imagination as a writer. When she’s not giving her imaginary friends full rein, she enjoys the opera, ballet, well-chilled champagne and books, lots and lots of books.

 

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