Lynn Hightower on Writing A Heroine with Hearing Loss

This is a lovely picture book for a child who may lack confidence, even when really wanting to do something. The story is told through a family of lightning bugs; often nonhuman characters can be helpful in reaching kids.

Lucy is having trouble lighting her light. She is discouraged. What will happen when her friends need her? Will she be able to soar? Adults may know the answer although kids may not take such things for granted.

This book could nicely open up discussion between adults and children. Both may benefit.

The illustrations are beautiful and complement the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the American Psychological Association for this title. All opinions are my own.

This title was published in 2019.

From the Publisher

The Raging Storm: Ann Cleeves’s New Series Continues

By Ann Cleeves

August 1, 2023

Ann Cleeves shares with us the inspiration behind her beloved Matthew Venn character as well as why she set the series in Devon. The next book in the series—The Raging Storm—is coming on September 5th, 2023!

Correction: in our August 1st newsletter we incorrectly stated that The Raging Storm was the final book in this series. It is not; it is the third installment in the continuing Matthew Venn series.

It’s hard coming to the end of a series.  I knew that the Shetland novels had run their course and I needed something different to spark my imagination.  New characters to meet. I’d always dismissed suggestions that I should set books in Devon where I grew up.  It lacked the wildness, the authenticity of Shetland and Northumberland.  My books are traditional and domestic, but I didn’t think they fitted the tourists’ image of the place: a gentle landscape, thatched cottages, and cream teas.

Then, very suddenly, almost exactly five years ago, my husband died.  We’d been together for more than forty years and I wanted to run away from everyone who knew him here in the northeast.  An escape from their pity and their memories.  I ran back to North Devon to stay with an old school friend.  

It was winter and rainy, but we walked along the beaches and the headlands, remembering the intense and happy times of our adolescence, the parties, the music, the wonderful friendships.  It came to me that I wanted to write about this place and explore it again in my stories.

My friend had grown up in a tight, evangelical community, and we talked about that too.  About the certainty of her parents’ beliefs, their support of older members of the group, but also the lack of sympathy for people who’d lost their faith.  They would be ‘unfellowshipped’ and no longer welcome, cast out.

Matthew Venn developed from those conversations.  It seemed to me that someone who’d grown up as a beloved son of Brethren, but who had lost his faith as a young man, might feel that his new life was chaotic, unanchored.  He could turn to the police service to recover the sense of duty, honor, and community that he’d lost.  I wanted to write about that man.

At that point, I had no idea that Matthew was gay.  But the people who looked after me when Tim died, who scooped me up when I got home from the hospital and saw me through those strange confusing days were Martin and Paul, a gay couple.  Tim and I knew them well.  We’d been on holiday with them and we all shared a passion for Shetland.  

They’re still looking after me, dropping me a text, inviting me for a beer, or a curry, or to see a film, but then they saw me through some dark times. They were rattling round in my head when I started writing, and got mixed up with Matthew who was in there too.  Suddenly, Matthew was gay and happily married.  I wrote him as a celebration of my friends’ relationship, and because that was who he was.  

The Raging Storm is the third novel in the series, rather different in tone, I think, from anything I’ve written before.  When adventurer Jem Rosco blows into the isolated coastal village of Greystone, everyone is excited.  He’s a famous explorer and a television celebrity.  Speculation spreads.  Who is the mysterious visitor for whom he’s waiting?  And why does he suddenly disappear in the middle of a furious gale?

I enjoyed writing this tale of power, superstition, and revenge.  I hope that you enjoy it too.

I love the punniness (I know it may not be a word) of the title of this book. It is the third in a series and, those who already know the books, know that safes are part of them. Readers of the first two books will be delighted with this new entry. Those just coming to the series will, I think, quickly make their way to the backlist.

Spend time with Electra/Ellie in WWII Britain under the shadow of the Blitz. Ellie is a woman of many talents, of which safe cracking is a big one. That said, she is trying to stay on the side of law and order as the story opens. Will she be able to do so as the Major of the Intelligence Department gives her new directives?

In this exciting story, readers will find counterfeiters, spies, murder and loads of excitement. It is a page turning ride for readers and highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

This title was published in May 2023.

The latest in a wonderful series. I especially LOVE All the Devils are Here.

Booker Prize 2023: which 13 novels made this year’s longlist?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0be7f75c-2fd0-11ee-b862-55515d26d392?shareToken=ddecd43bb4a0b3023749b823b75fc2a2

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#Loyalty #NetGalley

I read many books in the series by this author that began with Everywhere that Mary Went. Over the years, Scottoline began to explore other kinds of fiction and wrote a number of standalones. This is an historical fiction title and one worth reading.

The author has penned a rather complicated story that involves kidnapping, hospitalization in a psychiatric facility, the beginnings of the Mafia, a Jewish character trying to stay alive, loyalty and relationships in many forms. Quite a lot to take on but Scottoline handles all of this very well while also bringing Sicily in the 1800s to life.

Historical fiction fans may well want to give this one a look.

Many thanks to Penguin Group and NetGalley for this title. All opinions are my own.

This title was published in March 2022.

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