See Me as I Am Book Review

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See Me As I Am Book Review

 

Cheryl Wanner

Immortal Works 2023

I was drawn to purchase this book from an online conversation and hungrily dove into the reading. This was a book that made me stay up late and groggily pay the price the next morning! The dialog is well-paced and moves you through the story of a young woman who has been blind since age 12. Now 17 Jenny is a huge fan of a rock band from Ireland that comes to play in her Oregon city. There are twists and turns as family life, the rock band, and so many emotions compete as Jenny becomes the long-distance love interest of the band publicist. This book is labeled YA and will be an enlightening and gripping read for teens. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it if you like romance and action in a realistic coming-of-age story. This one gets 5 stars and an extra coffee for me!

Ekaterina; My Favorite Book This Year

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I introduce you to the debut novel from Tom Brillat, Ekaterina. Knowing the author as a storyteller and museum interpreter I couldn’t wait to see where his muse would take readers. Within a few chapters, I began having images of a roller coaster in my mind as I settled for the night after reading. The… Continue Reading

Snow in August a Book Review

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Snow in August Book Review I just discovered Snow in August by author Pete Hamill. What a powerhouse of a story. I was swept back in time and walked the streets of Brooklyn, New York with the characters. The deep research and character development brought such realism to the events. Although the book published in… Continue Reading

Everwud Book Three Revolution

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To the classroom teachers, homeschoolers, and afterschool programs, have I found a trilogy for you! It took me a while to get to book three, sorry I waited. This book was such a satisfying culmination of the children’s adventures in our world and the magical one next door. Book Three can easily stand alone, when… Continue Reading

Reminders are Everywhere

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Reminders Are Everywhere   In my recent travels, I keep seeing reminders of the messages in my new novel Christmas Letters. They pop up and make me smile in the middle of a busy day. My story premise is of a farm family, their military service, community, farm, and the letters they leave behind to… Continue Reading

An Unusual Book Launch Day

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Unusual Book Launch Day July 30, 2023, I am exhausted, and I did it to myself. On second thought I had helpers, one was mother nature who sent a week of heat and humidity that can drain the strongest. My other helper was a tick, I am on medication for a tick-borne disease like Lyme.… Continue Reading

Christmas Letters Blog 1

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Blog 1 Christmas Letters   The countdown to my new book Christmas Letters is well on its way and gaining speed! Launch day is set for July 29, 2-5 pm at The Vineyard at Hillyland in Scotland/Windham CT. Check out their website to learn more about the former dairy farm turned vineyard. https://www.thevineyardathillyland.com/  I am… Continue Reading

Rosa’s Voice Book Review

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Rosa’s Voice by Barbara Connery  –  Book Review   Time to order books for your classroom. Don’t miss this empowering book! Barbara Connery has penned an important book for young people to read. The discovery of the power of public speaking and the confidence to represent yourself and bigger ideas is well portrayed in Barbara’s… Continue Reading

Half Broke Horses, a Book Review

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Book Review: Half Broke Horses   Jeannette Walls   Are you looking for a heroine? I was given the book Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls, what a story! I owe my friend a huge thanks. I love a good story, adding horses, is even better. This novel is based on the life of the author’s… Continue Reading

Review of Horse by Geraldine Brooks

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Book Review: Horse By Geraldine Brooks   I went ahead and ordered the book without reading a synopsis or knowing the particulars of what it was about. It is simple, the title is “Horse” the author Geraldine Brooks, my current favorite historical fiction author. This decision was a no-brainer, I love horses, I have to… Continue Reading

Book Review: The Midnight Disease

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Book Review: The Midnight Disease – The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block and the Creative Brain By: Alice W. Flaherty The cover caught my eye, the content blew my mind! This is an incredible book of deeply researched and experienced investigations of the creative mind and the troubles that prey upon it. The full spectrum… Continue Reading

What’s Happening in Storytelling?

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What’s Happening in Storytelling? Face-to-face, traditional storytelling is back. I couldn’t be happier. I have been so fortunate to return as a guest presenter to classrooms. One thing I share is multicultural awareness through world folktales and stories. The world has a rich wealth of stories. An example I love to share is a comparative… Continue Reading

My Book Family is Growing

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This summer my book family will grow with the edition of Christmas Letters that will be launched on July 29 at The Vineyard and Hillyland in Scotland, CT. If you are new to my writing or have missed a title let me introduce you to the family. How Far is Safe? was my first novel… Continue Reading

Review: Project Solomon

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Book Review: Project Solomon By Jodi Stuber and Jennifer Marshall Bleakley   A poignant true story of an inspired partnership between Jodi Stuber and her horse Solomon has rippled across a broad community. What can rescue horses do for people who need rescue? Jodi answers that through her prayerful narrative of a life enriched through… Continue Reading

Review Slater Mountain – The Journey

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Book Review: Slater Mountain – The Journey By Judy Ricketts-White   Judy writes Slater Mountain from her deep reservoir of equine and horsemanship knowledge. Each chapter is a full lesson in the communication between horses and humans. This technical wisdom is imparted through a believable and engaging family story of life on a horse farm… Continue Reading

Review of The Stargleamer

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Book Review The Stargleamer  by James Omar Hansen   The Stargleamer is a perfect read-aloud to accompany your family’s Christmas traditions. There is enough shadow to keep the reader or listener attentive and curious, enough gleam to put a sparkle in a child’s eye. There is a Dickens-type journey meeting characters of the holiday and… Continue Reading

Interview with author Carolyn Stearns

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Carolyn, what are you currently working on as an author? I am working on revisions to my new novel Christmas Letters. I have a self-imposed timeline to get it out by late summer – early fall. The push is due to the fact that it is a Christmas-time story and after January sales and readership… Continue Reading

Book Review: Railroad Stories by Jim Kissane

Book Review: Railroad Stories by Jim Kissane

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Review of: The Story of Industrial America 1850’s – 1950’s Railroad Stories Vol. 1 By Jim Kissane   Railroad stories have drawn a faithful following of fans, but this volume breaks the barrier with its broad range of railroad-connected subjects. Ghostly tales, Christmas stories, coming of age, westward expansion, and farming all find a coupling… Continue Reading

New Book Coming

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Working my way toward the final production and publishing of Thirteen Spooky Stories. I am still looking for the perfect photo for the cover. I would prefer to use a local spooky photo. A foggy moment at Gardner Lake a moment on the airline trail with wispy fog or eerie light, a winter night at… Continue Reading

Why Spooky Stories

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Why Spooky Stories?   I have been asked, why tell spooky stories? I immediately ask the person to define spooky for me. I have found that often the term spooky is closely misaligned with horror, it is not horror,!  I don’t tell, write or read horror, it’s not my thing. I think of spooky as… Continue Reading

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

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Are you afraid to walk in the dark, dark.   When something goes bump in the night do you shiver?   Does a wolf howl raise your heart rate?     Do you love a campfire and story?                                                  I’ve got a story for you!   In fact, I have Thirteen Spooky Stories      … Continue Reading

Review The Great Red Horse Trilogy by Helen Scanlon

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Now and then a great horse comes along and is remembered and celebrated for who he was to a breed or sport and its people. UC Ringmaster was just such a horse. The UC is for the University of Connecticut where he was born. I just had the pleasure of recalling those days as I… Continue Reading

250 Years, One Family, One Farm

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I am going down a research rabbit hole. My quest is to develop a Mansfield Historical Society display that honors the Stearns family in Mansfield, CT. for 250 years. How does one condense 250 years of living, farming, generations, wars, and weather into an exhibit? I’m trying… The family purchased this farm in 1772. Tonight,… Continue Reading

Historical Exhibit

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Telling and Showing the Stearns Family History in Mansfield 250 Years I am preparing a historical exhibit for the Stearns Family’s 250 years in the town of Mansfield. What a journey as I research and sift the ages. Winnowing down this collection of dates, photos, artifacts, and mementos to what will be displayed is difficult.… Continue Reading

Writer’s Journey

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I’m on a writer’s journey and the view is fine! I walked a road with little to no recognition of the writer’s landscape. Finally, I am cresting the first hill. I have published my first book! That book was written part by hand in a notebook and finished on a laptop after I typed in… Continue Reading

The Finish Line

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The Finish Line   The last push, the final mile. A runner knows there is the last kick, an adrenaline-pushed spike to complete that last bit when that goal comes into sight. Authors know that as well. Here I am looking at the finish line for my new novel Mystic Girl. I have the anticipatory… Continue Reading

Review The Broken Violin By M.B. Tosi

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Review The Broken Violin – Book One The Early Path Series The Revolutionary War  by M.B. Tosi Westbow Press 2017   My sleep was invaded, peace gone. I wrestled with the blankets and couldn’t find comfort. I rose to a state of semi-consciousness in a tangle of blankets. A hint of the scent of straw… Continue Reading

New Year Photo Scavenger Hunt

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Time for some individual or family fun. Make it a competition or do it for arts sake. Join in to get out of the house. Share your photos on social media with the hashtag #PhotoScavengerHunt Scavenger Hunt Photo Checklist   Take the Photos Share the Fun! Brought to you by www.carolynstearnsstoryteller.com People ☐ Volunteering ☐… Continue Reading

Review of Pirates; The Pursuit and Captivity of Captain Jack Scarfield

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It has been a long time since I read this kind of story, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised at the outcome and stayed up late reading to see the characters through their battles. There was no attempt to hide the gruesome nature of the time in history when pirates were the scourge of… Continue Reading

Estate Sale Glimpse to the Past

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Estate Sale Glimpse to the Past Saturday morning errands included getting gas. As I left the station there was a homemade sign for an estate sale in nearby Hampton CT. Why not go for a ride. I love the village of Hampton Connecticut. Parts of this town seem untouched by time. The Main street is… Continue Reading

Covered Bridge and My Book

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Covered Bridge and My Book             It’s Saturday and that means a dozen errands that added up over the week and eat in to writing and family time. I try to add some side adventure, curiosity or food stop to make the necessary more enjoyable. Today we were off to get repair parts for the… Continue Reading

Editing – Labor of Love

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Editing – Labor of Love   Writing is a labor of love. Lately it is the labor piece of that saying that has caught my attention. I have to get my edits done and they are a long slow labor to go through the manuscript. It is during the work of edits that I once… Continue Reading

Winter Homecoming

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This post is dedicated to all who work outside in winter weather. I appreciate your dedication to animals, agriculture and essential services. Orange bottom clouds scud across the evening sky carrying the last bits of sun and first flakes of snow. The wind howls in the tree tops like angry sea waves. My breath is… Continue Reading

I like Walking in September

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Why Do I like walking in September? Walking as a healthy habit is a good thing but I wane in interest as summer temperatures soar. High humidity and relentless sun drive me to the shady front porch and passive activity. September renews my love affair with walking. The sun is still warm, sometimes even hot… Continue Reading

Coping in Covid19 Times

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Covid19 – Corona Virus Isolation My heart feels gray. Seems a strange day, gray outside and a snowy start.  There is so much anxiety, stress and drama in the world. It is real and it permeates even the healthy with a pending sense of doom. When will the other shoe drop… I am trying to… Continue Reading

A Christmas Tree Story

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Sharing a short fiction story for your reading pleasure and wishing you the best of the season. A Christmas Tree Story By: Carolyn Stearns The wind blew over the hill in bursts of violent cold. The snow was trampled along the paths, but between the rows of Christmas trees, the snow lay deep and untouched.… Continue Reading

Day 15 NaNoWriMo 2019 Novel Challenge

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Today is day fifteen. Yes, I’m fifteen days into a novel writing challenge. www.nanowrimo.org challenges writers each November (they have for 20 years) to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days! October I did a little preparation. That came in the form of making some character bios and thinking about my story line- the… Continue Reading

On the Hunt for Nature

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                                                                    I hunt with a Samsung 8 android phone. My quarry a clandestine meeting with nature along a country road. I walk for health trying to keep in mind the goal of 10,000 steps a day for health and fitness. My usual course is on the road between my home and our family… Continue Reading

What’s This NaNoWriMo?

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What’s this NaNoWriMo?   I’m back! After a long hiatus from my blog I am returning to bring you interesting articles and a glimpse at my view of the world. If you are looking for storytelling, after-school, family fun, agriculture or animals they are lurking here within my posts old and new. You could get… Continue Reading

My Roots Are Showing; Collecting and Telling Historical Family Stories

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July 21-24, 2016 The National Storytelling Conference will be held in Kansas City MO.  The host organization is the National Storytelling Network. www.storynet.org their twitter handle is @nsnstorycon  There will be a steady update of happenings from the National Conference where storytellers from around the country and even a few from around the world will… Continue Reading

3 Reasons to Attend Connecticut Storytelling Festival

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Only three reasons? It is hard for me to choose three reasons to attend the Connecticut Storytelling Festival, but here I go. http://www.connstorycenter.org/festival.htm 1.) 2016 Festival Headliner Tim Lowry; is funny, interesting, educational, and a general character, a historical speaker bringing history to life! http://www.storytellertimlowry.com/ Well that is a mouthful, but you will see Tim… Continue Reading

Power In the Classroom – Storytelling Ellis Island

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The room hushed, eyes all looked expectantly toward the guest. She stood at the front of the classroom, took a deep breath and held the trance a few extra seconds. Her words spilled out. At first the words came in a soft trickle then stronger as the story grew. The story character climbed the gang plank… Continue Reading

Fiona’s Viral Post

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      Her name is Fiona, she is one of many beautiful calves at Mountain Dairy in Storrs/Mansfield Connecticut. www.mountaindairy.com  What is so special about her has been the reaction a photo of her received on Facebook. Mountain Dairy is our family farm. My grandchildren are the 11th generation. I take care of social media for… Continue Reading

Take Back Childhood

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Can you count 10 moments in childhood that you remember as being near perfect? Here are some of mine. These memories have a new job…. #1) Lazy summer days, no agenda, just staying outside all day! #2) Ice Cream Cones – take it back tonight, go out for ice cream! #3) Swimming, the Beach or… Continue Reading

Fair Season, I Have The Story

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Children grow up! One minute you are wrapped up in a whirlwind life filled with kids. The next minute you sit back and watch other people working with their kids, and it’s too quiet.          No time of year makes me realize that more, than fair season. We were one of those families who brought… Continue Reading

Prompt July 4 Family Stories

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 July 4th and you are planning a picnic. Nothing newsworthy just some family and friends coming over. This year make it special,  collect a few memories from your guests. Ask ahead for a couple of favorite recipes to prepare and share. Be sure everyone gets a copy of the recipe to take home. Then ask for the story behind… Continue Reading

50 Objects 50 Stories, Connecticut Historical Society

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  Connecticut Historical Society had a great idea! They have a new exhibit that highlights 50 varied objects from Connecticut, along with the story of the object. The objects themselves are a varied lot, they range from a Space Suit to a Revolutionary period diary of State Hero Nathan Hale and on to a Pepe’s… Continue Reading