Welcome
to my web site. Here you will find information on my books -- both
paperback and e-books. Please visit my blog: Parlez-Moi
Blog for more information on my books and for book reviews,
interviews with independent authors, knitting patterns, recipes, and
blog posts on a variety of subjects.Thanks
for visiting!
The
Reluctant Belsnickel of Opelt's Wood
Novelette
(23k words) – Folklore / Romance – When Father
Nicholas Bauer becomes the pastor of St. Walburga's in a rural
Pennsylvania Dutch community he make it his mission to revive some
of the Old World Traditions including Belsnickel. According to
the local legend, Belsnickel was an old man who lived in the woods
and visited children on the evening of December 6th to see if they've
been bad or good. He recruits his childhood friend Gretchen Fritz
who owns a quilting shop called the Calico Cuckoo. Both of them
grew up with Oliver Eberstark and Father Nick is determined to
get Oliver to play Belsnickel for the local children. When they
were young Oliver was a popular athlete and local heart-throb but
now he is a recluse he lives alone at his grandfather's sawmill
deep in Opelt's Wood. As the plans for Belsnickel and Christmas
progress Father Nick hopes to understand what happened to Oliver
and why he is now a hermit and Gretchen rediscovers why half the
girls in town had crushes on him. $1.49
PDF (read
online or print) | MOBI (for
Kindle) | EPUB (for
other e-readers)
99¢ Novelettes
and Short Stories in e-format.
Available for Kindle, Nook, and other e-readers.
Arthur's
Story:
A Love Story
YA/Coming of Age Kindle • Nook
The
Crazy Old Lady In The Attic
Psychological Horror Kindle • Nook
Ghosts
of a Beach Town in Winter
Suspense / Ghosts Kindle • Nook
Two
Short Stories about Revenge
Crime / Horror Kindle • Nook
The Old Mermaid's Tale
Posted
on an
Amazon Discussion Board, June 22, 2011: I just finished The
Old Mermaid's Tale and, omg, it's going to be really hard
to find something to read next. It was a love story but so much
more than that. It was also the story of the the opening of the
St. Lawrence channel and shipping on the Great Lakes, but told
through the eyes of old mariners, through legend and tales passed
down from generations. It was by far the best book I've read
in months and that's saying something as I go through 3-4 books
a week. It was haunting and beautifully written and everything
you could ask for in a book. If there was something more than
five stars I would give it. It will stay with me for a long time
and probably be read over and over.
"A
beautiful story, beautifully told."
- Susan Oleksiw, A Murderous Innocence
"A
timeless lovestory rich in maritime lore." - BookLovers
Alert 2007 Rising Star Nominee
"People
ask me if I, as a fisherman, ever encountered a
mermaid.
I have in this book and they are better than I imagined.
This is hot." -
Mark S. Williams, F/V Black Sheep
Before
the Edmund Fitzgerald there was the Carl D. Bradley,
the Willaim B. Davok, the Betty Hedger, the American
Sailor and many more...
In 1959 the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to international commerce creating a problem
for seaport towns bordering the Great Lakes. Within the first year over a thousand
barges and tankers from all over the world arrived at these seaports to unload,
re-outfit and reload. While waiting, the crew, that had been at sea for weeks,
went ashore looking for fun and companionship. Restaurants, bars, pool halls,
rooming houses, tattoo parlors, and rumors of other - less savory - forms of
entertainment sprang up in the blocks surrounding the commercial docks. Those
parts of town acquired a deservedly terrible reputation.
When Clair Wagner begins college in Port Presque Isle she dreams of meeting a "handsome
sailor with the constellations of the Northern Seas in his eyes". Into her life
comes Pio, a beautiful Italian fisherman, who dreams of life on the big lakes
under the aurora borealis. She meets Gary, the dashing son of a wealthy shipping
magnate, who introduces her to Canal Street where she encounters The Old Mermaid
Inn, a tavern that, as Gary tells her, "deserves its reputation".
But The Old Mermaid Inn, with its giant painting of a seductive mermaid, is home
to some fascinating people including Tessie, the owner and original mermaid,
and the intriguing Baptiste, a Breton mariner injured in a shipwreck, who earns
his living as a musician.
With Pio, Clair discovers passion, with Gary she gains entry into the world of
the commercial waterfront, and with Baptiste she discovers all-consuming love.
But as her relationship with Baptiste grows she discovers he is far more complex
and mysterious than she could imagine. He has secrets and his secrets will alter
her life forever.
Each Angel Burns
Each
Angel Burns
is now available in paperback or e-book from Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com
and other online booksellers
In
the latter part of the 19th century the Monastery of St.
Gabriel the Archangel was built on a cliff overlooking the
ocean on a peninsula in Maine. From its earliest days there
were rumors of strange activity there --- tunnels through
the cliff were reported to give access for smugglers, a miracle-working
nun was said to live there, and a group of drunken lumberjacks
who stormed the convent to kidnap wives claimed to have been
vanquished by a giant angel with a flaming sword. One hundred
years later, when the last of the old cloistered nuns was
removed to a retirement home, the decision was made to close
and sell the convent. That's when it was discovered that
he convent's treasure, a marble statue of the Archangel Gabriel
by Italian sculptor Giovanni Dupré, was missing. More......
Fry Bacon.
Add Onions: The Valentine Family & Friends Cookbook
The
new expanded and redesigned edition of Fry Bacon. Add Onions: The Valentine
Family & Friends Cookbook: five generations of good eating is now available to be ordered online:
In
this combination memoir and family cookbook blogger and novelist
Kathleen Valentine combines 30 posts from her blog with nearly
400 recipes collected from family and friends. Growing up
in a "mostly Pennsylvania Dutch" family she collected and
recorded recipes from grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts,
cousins, friends, etc. which were combined in the first Valentine
Family & Friends Cookbook published in 1981. This was
expanded in the 1992 edition and now, in this third edition,
nearly 400 recipes combine with essays recording memories
of growing up in rural Pennsylvania and photographs from
six generations.
Essays topics include making sauerkraut and soltz (sultz) (a German
pickled meat loaf), toasting marshmallows and catching fireflies, the old-country
Christmas traditions of making stollen and visits from Belsnickle, old world
ghost stories, their grandmother's quilts, and more.
Traditional family recipes include schmarn, panhaas, moultasha, a variety
of sausage recipes, hassenpfeffer, and liver dumplings, a wide variety
of pickles and relishes, as well as keuchels (a type of fried dough),
apple dumplings, and rhubarb crisps and pies. Contemporary recipes from the younger
generations of the Valentine family expand the collection with everything from
dips and cocktails to chowders, cakes and cookies. Among the more popular recipes
first featured on Valentine's blog are:
three
maple syrup pies
apricot-apple
crisp with maple cream
caramel
peachy-pear pandowdy
honey & white
peach pie
Pennsylvania
Dutch hot and sour soup
Though
this collection is a memoir in food of the Valentine family it
could be the story of any first, second and third generation
immigrant family.
The Mermaid Shawls & other Beauties:
Shawls, Cocoons & Wraps NOW
AVAILABLE FOR KINDLE
#1 Top Rated Lace Knitting book &
#20 Top Rated Needlework book on Kindle
Just got my hands
on your e-book "Mermaid Shawls", and am absolutely delighted! Thanks
for all the tips, suggestions ~ and heart ~ that are in the book.
It is wonderful! - KathyO in Ferndale, WA
I just bought your
book, after looking at the inside. It is just what I have been looking
for, Your illustrations and commentary have eased my fear of
starting a shawl. - Margaret in Canada
Worth
every cent, In my opinion. This is one I will read and re-read.- MMario on Knitter's
Review.
I just purchased and downloaded your
e-book. How fabulous it is!!! The download was easy and zippy
fast. - kknitterkc
on Ravelry
NOW AVAILABLE IN PDF FORMAT FOR INSTANT DOWNLOAD! $14
Note: As soon as you complete
your purchase your screen should be redirected to the download site.
If you wait more than 2 minutes and do not see the PDF file please email
me and I will send you the link for downloading.
The
Mermaid Shawl:
Shawls, Cocoons & Wraps
by Kathleen Valentine
Inspired
by the popularity of The Mermaid Shawl first featured on Parlez-Moi
Blog, this book provides instruction for the Mermaid Shawl and
two variations, the Gypsy Shawl and the Shawl of Falling Leaves and
Shooting Stars. In addition there are chapters on creating Emily's
Shawl, four stoles and wraps and how to convert a rectangular shawl
into a cocoon.
Photographs,
charts, and illustrations. Available as an eBook or as a paperback. BONUS! With the purchase of this eBook you
will receive a 20% discount on the shawl pin of your choice
from Leslie
Wind!
Eight
stories that celebrate the wonder of finding love... These
stories sweep the reader into sensuous worlds where ordinary
people discover, or rediscover, love. Foolish love, forbidden
love, married love – even murderous love, each story
is a seductive jewel populated with characters that seem
like someone we could know – or someone we could be.
Each of the stories in this collection is an exquisitely
rendered portrait of people from a broad range of ages each
proving that passion and love are eternal, regardless of
life's far-ranging challenges.
The Pooling-On-Purpose Project
Knit YourTail Off, Vol.1
Offers instruction on working with hand-painted yarn and
forcing colors to "pool".
Booklet includes instructions for scarf, wrap, ruana and
kimono.
------ Click on image to go to Kindle store
or
Buy Button from Ravelry
Sumptuous
Silk Bags
Knit Your Tail Off, Vol.2
Offers directions for knitting three bags from silk or any other fiber. It includes
information on working with silk fibers and detailed instructions for knitting
entrelac.
------ Click on image to go to Kindle store
or
Buy Button from Ravelry
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