Sheila's Guests and Reviews

Author Mary Russel is interviewing Angela from Flower Child today at http://maryrussel.blogspot.com/2011/10/interview-with-angela-from-sheila.html . Meanwhile, Mary's dear friend and character, Flickertail, has kindly agreed to let me interview him here. Flickertail stars in some wonderful children's stories filled with mystery, whimsy and word-play--don't forget to look for excerpts on Mary's blog. And, in case you're wondering, Flickertail's a llama. So, hello Flickertail --you've got to tell us, how did you get your name? I have a white tail, while the rest of me is mostly a reddish brown. When I run, my tail flicks and it’s the most outstanding part of me. And your friend Paint? Where did Paint's name come from? She’s a Painted Horse. Where did Paint come from? How did you meet? Paint lives in Texas. We met online through Mary, my owner and Norma, Paint’s owner. They had established an internet friendship on Gather....

Mary Russel, author of Flickertail and Paint, Barnyward Sleuths , was born in 1948 and grew up in the U.S. in various foster homes and in an orphanage. She found her escape in books and is now a children's author and mystery writer. It is her hope that she can provide present and future generations of readers with the same enjoyment and excitement that she finds in books. Today, Mary's sharing some of her experiences in writing with readers of my blog. I'm delighted to have this chance to interview her (the first time I've interviewed an author), and I hope you'll enjoy reading her answers as much as I have. I'm sure Mary will visit here during the day, so if you have questions to pose, just put them in the comments. Meanwhile, if you visit Mary's blog at http://maryrussel.blogspot.com , you'll find me being interviewed there, and eager to hear from you too. Me: What did you dream of becoming when you grew up? Mary: Besides dreaming of being a writer, I...

Mary Russel, author of Flickertail and Paint, Barnyward Sleuths , is interviewing me on her blog - http://maryrussel.blogspot.com - on Thursday 17th June, and I'll be interviewing her here on my blog. We're both new authors with lots of books in the works, and I'm sure you'll enjoy reading Mary's answers to various questions about her writing life. Mary was born in 1948 and grew up in the U.S. in various foster homes and in an orphanage. She found her escape in books and is now a children's author and mystery writer. It is her hope that she can provide present and future generations of readers with the same enjoyment and excitement that she finds in books. She has a Bachelor's Degree in journalism and enjoys reading, writing, cooking, crafts, and spending time with her husband and two very spoiled dogs. (There's a gorgeous picture of Cookie reading Flickertail and Paint on her blog, http://maryrussel.blogspot.com . You should really go and look.) Mary...

Maybe trying to edit 150 children's stories based on Psalms, plus 40 based on Exodus, was bound to leave me with a rather strange reading mix. But I finished the edits, dismayed myself utterly with the number of proof-reading glitches, considered writing a mathematical algorithm relating glitch-detection to glitch-fixing and creation (minimizing the function with respect to time might give the optimum point at which to self-publish), failed to differentiate my function, decided it was as good as I'll ever make it, and put in my order. Now I'm trying (and failing) to stop thinking about it till the books arrive. Anyway, here's this week's books read and reviewed for that continuing Reading Journey . The Miracles of Exodus , by Colin J Humphreys: This was a reread - The first book to make Exodus come to life for me (and get me over that feeling that surely someone would have touched the pillar of fire and found out if it was hot). I wanted to make sure I'd not mad...