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Month: April 2025

My first novel

My first novel

I am excited to announce that I have now published my first novel. It is entitled, “Mary Laing.”

"Mary Laing" book coverWhile crossing the Atlantic in a wooden packet in 1855, Mary Laing writes a series of letters to her stepdaughter, Frances “Fannie” Laing, left behind in Scotland. The letters provide an account of the traumatic voyage endured by Mary and her family, as well as chronicle Mary’s own emotional odyssey along the way.

Forty years later, Mary reads those same letters to her granddaughter, almost thirteen-year-old Jessie Laing, hoping the letters prove a salutary guide as she and Jessie make their own hazardous journey, navigating the ocean of their shared grief.

You may order the book from the Lulu bookstore: Mary Laing. The cost there is $25.00 plus $5.69 shipping and $1.38 taxes. Or you may order the book directly from me! I will sign it and ship it to you for $25 plus $5 shipping for up to two books. You may order one or more copies by commenting on this post or by sending me an email or text.

I am thrilled to have completed this novel and am eager to share it with all of you!

The Cave

The Cave

Fun with words …

The Cave

Crepuscular clouds cloak the walls of the cavern
cryptically concealing its crenelated buttresses and
            shrouding time in an uncanny stillness.
Splendiferous stalactites solemnly stand guard as
stealthy salamanders slither to and fro
            splotches of iridescent orange against the twilight.
Pearlescent pods of petrified pine nuts
populate preternaturally pristine pockets in the limestone
            telling the stories of plantations long gone.
Frigid freshets flood the fluted floor at my feet
filling fissures with fragments of florid feldspar and
            numberless flakes of sun-whitened bone.
Limpid lines of lovely lapis lazuli
lend a luminescent luster to the leaden tableau
            crowning an allegedly dreary scene with glory.

Moving meditatively through the melancholic mists I
mark the mesmerizing magnificence of a singular moment
            granted access to a place apart.
Humbly hearkening to the wonders of this hallowed haunt
head and heart happily heeding its distinctive charms
            I bless the cave our erstwhile home.