Weekend Reads: “Rescued By a Kiss”

Hi, everyone. It’s been a tough couple of weeks. I lost a friend to cancer on Feb 8, and my favorite cousin on Feb. 11. I had a day job business trip that was made all the more stressful because of those losses. So, the blog has been a little bit off-schedule.

To put us back on track, I thought I would share a fun cozy mystery. I had the pleasure of meeting Colleen Mooney during Heather Graham’s Writers for New Orleans. I finally read the first book in her Go-Cup Chronicles mystery series, and it is just delightful.

Rescued By A Kiss (The New Orleans Go Cup Chronicles, #1)Rescued By A Kiss by Colleen Mooney

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Schnauzer rescuer Brandy Alexander is tired of living with her parents, not sure what’s going on in her relationship with her boyfriend, Dante, and is looking for a little fun.

She gets way more than she bargained for when she kisses a handsome stranger during a Mardi Gras parade … as he’s shot in front of her and pretty soon it seems like the New Orleans gangsters are after her, too.

This is a super-cute cozy mystery featuring dogs, intrigue, fun characters, and the Big Easy. What more could you ask for? I’ll be checking out more of this series.

View all my reviews

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Facts from My Fiction: Executive Order 9066

Signed on this day in 1942.

Sharon E. Cathcart

492px-exclusion_order_posted_at_first_and_front_streets_in_san_francisco_directing_removal_of_persons_of_japanese_ancestry-_-_nara_-_196319 Instructions Based on Executive Order 9066

This is probably going to be one of the hardest posts I’ve ever written.  Not because the content is difficult to understand, mind you, but because it’s very personal.  Over the course of this post, you’ll find out why.

Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was the reason that Japanese-American citizens like actor-activist George Takei and his family were taken to live in concentration camps.  Before the camps were built, many Japanese-Americans had to live in the stables at race tracks.  One of them, Tanforan (which is now a shopping center), is only 45 minutes from where I live.

I worked with a man named Jan Kurahara who was an internee.  Jan was also one of the nisei, Japanese-Americans who joined the Army to prove their loyalty to the country.  Before he passed at age 91, Jan wrote a book…

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Why You Should Be Reading Romance Novels

These books show women finding love, sure, but even the thinnest hypothetical opponent that I’ve conjured up to make my point wouldn’t object to that being a part of a person’s life, right? And while women in romance are falling in love, they’re also coming more fully into themselves, discovering strength and independence, or vulnerability and honesty, or the bravery to stand up to their parents or fight a war or be proud of who they are. And, almost more important than these women falling in love, is them being fallen in love with. For being strong, independent, vulnerable, honest, brave, smart, funny, and stubborn. Those are stories about women that I think are extremely worth reading.

via Why You Should Be Reading Romance Novels

An Unexpected Passing

Hi, everyone. I’m still on my day job business trip, but I needed to write something.

You may remember me mentioning my cousin Kenny in my article about Uncle Al’s autograph. He was my favorite of all of my cousins; he lived with our family for a while after Uncle Al died. He played accordion, which was fun when I played violin. About half of my little girlfriends had a crush on him; he was a high school boy who treated us with respect and like our thoughts were worth hearing. We could talk about just about anything, and when I was facing a challenging time as a young adult, he was always there on the other end of the phone to talk. At one point in his life, he was a police officer in Wheatland, Calif. At another point, he managed a bowling alley. He became a gifted wildlife photographer, and at some point I’ll share some photos.

Kenny died unexpectedly yesterday afternoon, after being admitted to the hospital. I think he was only 7 or 8 years older than me. I’ll admit I’m only just processing it.

Kenny was an avid bowler … and I am fairly atrocious. Our group went out bowling tonight, and I like to think that Kenny was chuckling when I was not so great, and cheered when I made my one-and-only strike or picked up the spare.

When Kenny lived with us, he often listened to this record. For years, every time I’ve heard it I have thought of him. This is Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s “Lucky Man,” in honor of Kenneth Paul Fretz.