Review: Tom Hicklin's "Road to Antietam"

Title: Road to Antietam Author: Tom E. Hicklin Buy it on Amazon. (Available for Kindle and in hard copy.) In a nutshell: Lovingly researched and historically accurate in details, Road to Antietam features strong and well-crafted characters and realistic battle scenes. I’ve been interested in the American Civil War since high school, especially the Eastern Theater and…

Why the title, Five Fathoms Beneath?

Titles are very … personal. One reason I chose to go indie with my novel was I didn’t want anyone dictating to me what the title of my book should be. What can I say? I’m independent-minded that way. Anyway. The title, Five Fathoms Beneath, derives, as many titles do, from Shakespeare, in this case…

Necklace Starfish

Toward the end of my novel, the narrator receives an unexpected present from his father in the form of a hand-carved and hand-painted Necklace Starfish. So what does a real Necklace Starfish look like? Something like this!  (Photo taken by Richard Ling, Creative Commons Licensed through Flickr.) The Necklace Starfish, also known as the Peppermint…

Review: Suzie Gilbert's "Flyaway."

Title: Flyaway: How A Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings Author: Suzie Gilbert. Buy it on Amazon (Kindle, Hardcopy) A memoir written in an entertaining, witty, and delightful style, Flyaway is a quick and well-paced read. Obviously aimed toward bird lovers (nothing wrong with that!) this book is written in an accessible style which could be enjoyed by…