Sheila's Guests and Reviews

I've been to Texas at last, in fiction and in fact, though not to Defiance, Texas. Still, it's kind of appropriate that I was catching up on the first book of Mary DeMuth's Defiance Texas trilogy during my travels. The third book in this trilogy has just come out. It's called Life in Defiance and it's a wonderful stand-alone book even if you haven't read the others. I feel like I'm qualified to make that claim since I read books two and three before book one. And it's probably a tribute to the author's wonderful writing that knowing the end of a mystery made me long to read the beginning. But Life in Defiance isn't just a mystery. There's a missing girl and the question of what happened to her. There are strange events and strangers and growing threats. But over all there's the personal story of the narrator, Ouisie Pepper, bound to a man who wounds her in actions and words, determined to do whatever it takes to tame her defiant spirit ...

I read an un-put-down-able book last night, and the strange thing is, I’m not even sure if I was meant to have picked it up yet. It’s called “A Slow Burn,” by Mary E. DeMuth, and according to the publisher’s website (Zondervan) it doesn’t come out until October. But Mary was kind enough to allow me to be an “influencer,” so I received my copy early, and once I’d opened it—well, like I said—I couldn’t put it down. It's got great characters, and the sort of situation I couldn't help wanting to follow (a woman who's daughter's been murdered tries to choose between giving up and moving on). But it's also the first book I remember reading where I've found myself simultaneously admiring the writing and unable to step out of the story. Beautiful phrases and images peek round dark corners of despair, filling even the saddest scenes with touches of rhythm and hope. I wish I could write like that. So now I'm wondering how the author did it. How does she weave scenes a...