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Book Review: You Belong Here by Megan Miranda
Megan Miranda is the queen of creating a suspenseful, atmospheric setting, and she succeeds once again in her latest thriller, You Belong Here. As the mother of two children in college, one of whom is attending a university in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I knew I wanted to check out Miranda’s latest when I learned she was inspired to write it while visiting colleges with her daughter a few years ago. Synopsis: Beckett Bowery never thought she’d return to Wyatt Valley, a picturesque college town in the Virginia mountains steeped in tradition. Her roots there were strong: Beckett’s parents taught at the college, and she never even imagined studying anywhere…
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The Murder of Sandra Coulthard
On July 9, 1988, 30-year-old High Point, North Carolina resident Sandra Coulthard passed away at Duke University Medical Center. She’d been sick for about six months with vomiting, diarrhea, vomiting, and numbness of her feet and fingers. Doctors had diagnosed her with Guillain-Barre syndrome and had been treating her for it, but her symptoms never improved. Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that causes a person’s immune system to attack their nervous system. It often begins suddenly and as symptoms increase, can cause weakness and paralysis. While there is no cure for Guillain-Barre, treatments such as plasma exchange and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy can be administered for relief of symptoms. Sandy, a married…
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Book Review: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
Several months ago, I was browsing the shelves of Barnes & Noble when I noticed the book Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix on an end cap. The illustration with the lava lamp instantly caught my eye, and having read The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires several years ago, I knew it would fall into the horror category. I immediately opened my Libby app and requested the book, noting that I would be waiting a few months before it came available. Synopsis: They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are…
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Updates on the Writing Life
I don’t want to discuss how this is probably the last summer we’ll have both of our young adults at home (they are entering their sophomore and senior years of college). Our time with them is winding down, and while I’m sad, I’m also grateful for their desire to live out in the world on their own and reach for their personal and professional goals while in college. I can’t wait to hear about what adventures lie ahead for them in the coming school year! I’m continuing to write, podcast, read books, exercise, immerse myself in foreign language, spend time with my husband, and anything else I can think to do to keep…