Stephanie's Studio

I know a lot of literary folk, novelists and readers visit this site, so today I want to share a book review. This review is of "Shadows of a Tuscan Moon" by Sandra Carrington-Smith and Giovanni Logli. I have been following Sandra's work since her first wonderful nonfiction book " Housekeeping for the Soul ." Book Review I just finished Shadows of a Tuscan Moon , sadly. I say sadly because the author Sandra Carrington-Smith, creates such a real world, filled with mysterious twists and turns, spoken through believable characters, and I did not want the novel to end. To be sure, this is not easy reading. Its story focuses around domestic violence of every kind and its brutal, sometimes fatal consequences. Carrington-Smith is a masterful storyteller. She is gifted with the ability to imbue her novels with supernatural and magical elements grounded in everyday realities. This story is in turns poignant, sad, horrific and romantic. It flows effortless...

The opportunity to reflect as an integral post for the Blogging from A to Z April (2015) Challenge, is a sign that this event is well thought out. Going through a challenging event with a large group of people lends itself perfectly to reflection. It is because of the organizing of A to Z from the Theme Reveal, through the 26 days of alphabetically organized blogging, through to the summarizing reflection that I decided to participate for 2 years in a row. In my "S" post  Stick-to-it-ive-ness post  I thanked Arlee Bird and the countless minions and assistants for their organizational work and support before and during the challenge. Bravo and thanks again! Planning My regular readers know I'm fond of divination and am never too far from a crystal ball of one sort or another, I had no idea of the process or outcome of this challenge. I say this even though I participated last year.  Process With my life being incredibly full, to the point of b...

Theme Reveal As a writer, I tend to avoid the exclamation point, as a matter of style and form. My theme for the Blogging from A to Z  April (2015) Challenge however, re-images and embraces it. Each day, I will blog about points of wonder, joy, excitement, celebration and yes, things that deserve an exclamation point. During the month of April, join me for uplifting, inspirational Exclamation Point blog posts. Back Story What is the A to Z April Challenge, you may be asking, if you're  new to this blog? Each year bloggers are asked to dig deep into their reservoir of ideas, challenging themselves to blog in a marathon event. The challenge is three fold. (1) We are asked to blog every day, apart from Sunday for the month of April. (2) The posts must progress alphabetically. (3) We are encouraged to visit and comment on between 5 and 10 participating blogger's blogs per day. Gratitude Many people go behind the scenes of making this project a s...

There seems to be a lot of awards making their way across the blogosphere. Some stand apart, like the one for which I was recently nominated that pays tribute to both readers and bloggers as team members. It honors supporters and community building among bloggers. A few posts ago I announced my acceptance of the nomination for the  Wonderful Team Member Readership Award  from Marci Koski of  Fuzzy Undertones . In turn, I shared some of my  nominees.  But wait...there are more wonderful team members and readers to salute. Stephanie Faris, is a frequent visitor, who regularly adds comments. I am grateful that she is a supportive reader of my blog. Stephanie is the YA author of the highly thought of book, 30 Days of No Gossip  and she blogs at  Stephanie Faris Tween Author . Stephanie's blog has a fresh and inviting look, as well as tone, where you'll learn about a lot of different books, particularly for youth. Deborah Brasket is someone I fir...