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When Nancy Cooper Went Missing in Cary, N.C.
October is the designated month for bringing awareness to Domestic Violence, but it is a topic I believe we should be talking about year round, as it still remains a prevalent issue in our society. I’ve discussed several cases tied to domestic violence in this podcast, including Patty Jo Pulley from Episode 45, Across State Lines, Maryann and Elaine Boczkowski…
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The Drowning Death of Brenda Anderson in South Carolina
On the afternoon of June 19, 1965, a little girl playing on the shore of Folly Beach, South Carolina came across the deceased body of a woman wearing a two-piece bathing suit. Because there were no personal belongings found on the beach, authorities began questioning nearby residents to see if anyone could identify the young woman. When 24-year-old John Paul…
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Book Review: Murder by Milkshake by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo
When I heard that author Elizabeth Maria Naranjo had begun writing a YA cozy mysteries, with Murder by Milkshake being the first in her series, I was so excited. As a teen, I was a huge fan of the Trixie Belden mystery series, as well as Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High books featuring the lives of twins Liz and Jessica…
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The 1995 Shooting at the University of North Carolina
On Jan. 26, 1995, around 2 p.m., twenty-six-year-old University of North Carolina law student Wendell Williamson walked down Henderson Street near campus in Chapel Hill, N.C., carrying a semi-automatic rifle and wearing a camouflage jacket. He opened fire, killing 42-year-old restaurant worker Ralph Walker near his apartment. He continued walking, shooting at bystanders. Twenty-year-old UNC student and lacrosse player Kevin…
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Book Review: The Merchant of Venus
Today I’m participating in a fun blog tour for WOW! Women on Writing by sharing my review of the book The Merchant of Venus: The Life of Walter Thornton by Nancy Thornton Navarro and Adriana Thornton-Cornejo with Philip Mershon. Imagine losing a parent and discovering he had a secret life you’d never known about. You and your siblings embark on…
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Book Review: Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand
I discovered author Elin Hilderbrand on a beach trip with the book Barefoot, so it was fitting that I completed her final Nantucket-based novel, Swan Song, on the beach as well. I’ve never been to Nantucket, as I mostly visit beaches in the Carolinas and Florida, but you can bet it’s on my bucket list of places to visit, thanks…
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From Patriarch to the Small Screen: The North Carolina Murder of Leith Von Stein
The 1988 murder of Leith Von Stein that was perpetrated by a young man named Chris Pritchard, who was then a student at North Carolina State University. I found the following background information on the family in an article that ran in the Winston-Salem Journal on January 29, 1990. Chris Pritchard grew up in North Carolina, the son of a…
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What Happened to Jeremy Grice from Aiken, South Carolina?
On November 22, 1984, a four-year-old little boy vanished in the rain from his parents’ home. Jeremy Grice lived with his mother and step-father, Donna and Nick Arrington, and his 10-month-old sister Christy. His step-father put Jeremy to bed the night before while his mom worked second shift at a local manufacturing plant that made thermostats. She arrived home from…
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Library Apps, Creepy Notebooks, and Epiphanies about Writing
In addition to sharing my work here, I’ve also been writing for WOW! Women on Writing for many years. I blog for them about once a month, and thought I’d share some of my recent blog posts, where I share the app I can’t live without, my true crime journal, and how my writing style has evolved over the years.…
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Book Review: Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda
If you’re looking for a suspense/thriller with a foreboding setting, I recommend Megan Miranda’s new novel, Daughter of Mine. Megan Miranda is the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls; The Perfect Stranger; The Last House Guest, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick; The Girl from Widow Hills; Such a Quiet Place; The Last to Vanish; and The Only Survivors. She has also written several books…
