Snowy is based off my dog Millie from a decade or so ago. Millie taught me how to love and be more self-aware. Whenever I see a post from my story concerning the dog, I just remember her.

#writing #reading #fiction #books #horror #apocalyptic #journal #monsters #novels

https://patrickwmarshauthor.wordpress.com/2026/06/15/the-greenland-diaries-day-62/

TWO tickets left for Winchester tonight

https://www.ticketsource.com/pg-wells-bookshop/robin-ince-standing-up-and-standing-out/e-jzzeja

Four for lunchtime gig in Haddenham on Tuesday

https://www.ticketsource.com/haddenham-community-library/an-afternoon-with-robin-ince/e-qgrljy

#books #reading #poetry #comedy

READ ~ DREAM ~ REPEAT
Act Out Tees ~ www.ActOutTees.com
#read #dream #repeat #books #reading #reader #cozy #escape #imagine #story #PrintOnDemand #Tees

Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell

I started reading this series when they first came out. I loved the books and I have no clue why I stopped. I am guessing life got in the way and that there are so many books to read.

I got the urge again because Chris Wolak of The Book Cougars is doing a buddy read of the series with the mystery man on their podcast. They are responsible for much of my book shopping. If you are not familiar with them, you might check them out wherever you get your podcasts. I also follow them on YouTube.

There are twenty-nine books in the series, and I think I stopped with this one. I remember when the author was on some book show talking about this book. She said it scared her so much while she was writing it that the couldn’t work on it at night. That was enough to make me want to read it. Also, I tend to like anything werewolf. I loved the old horror movies on the weekend when I was a kid and for some reason, I was more scared by the werewolf than Dracula or Frankenstein. The only version of a Mummy show I liked were the ones with Brendan Frasier and it wasn’t because of the Mummy.

Black Notice starts out with a body found in a container on a ship in the harbor. The corpse had been there for a while. There was also a message about a loup-garou – a French term for werewolf.

The murders are also very violent so it leads you to think it was an animal.

In this one Kay and Pete Marino are dealing with a difficult police chief. She’s a female and she seems to have it in for Pete. She demotes him back into uniform. Pete is not happy.

There is also a female police detective who likes to harass Pete, and both women have it in for Kay.

The investigation into the death leads Pete and Kay to Europe by Interpol. This is all happening while Kay is grieving over the loss of her husband Benton. He had been a profiler for the FBI and probably other agencies.

While investigating in Europe they learn about the suspect who has been killing for a while over there. It seems that since the corpse has been found on the ship, more murders are happening in the United States.

Kay and Pete search for the killer and the connection.

There are several different threads in her stories. There is also a family thread with her niece who is also involved with police work for a special government agency. I enjoy the way she weaves the storylines.

This was a good read. It is suspenseful and Cornwell has developed characters I have grown to care for. I liked that she delved into a little paranormal with this book. I have read that she has continued to do so in this series. I hope to read more.

Have you read this series? Are you a fan?

First published August 2, 1999

I include links to purchase. As an associate, I earn from qualified purchases. Thanks to all my readers who have supported me in the past.

A few other books by Patricia Cornwell:

Black Notice

Sharp Force

Unnatural Death

What I am currently reading:

Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano

Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages by Jenny Colgan

Happy Reading!

If you like a bargain check out my bookshop on Pango. https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/virginia468417.

I will be listing Black Notice in my shop soon.

Rate this:

#BookReview #Books #Fiction #KayScarpetta #reading #Werewolf

Started reading Peter Clines' "God's Junk Drawer"
https://amzn.to/4tFfdrc
📖🦕👽🤖
Very cool so far. Like a serious version of that old #SciFi adventure movie "The Lost World." Or a really serious version of "Land Of The Lost."
#books #reading #ScienceFiction

Alt...

Started reading Peter Clines' "God's Junk Drawer" Very cool so far. Like a serious version of that old #SciFi adventure movie "The Lost World." Or a really serious version of "Land Of The Lost."

I finished reading Foundation today. I really liked it. The fact that it tells the story of a massive galactic empire falling apart but does it with mostly relatively simple interactions between characters is pretty interesting.

I'm not going to jump into the sequels straight away, but I have every intention of reading them eventually.

#books #reading #asimov #foundation

Weekly Update #244

Hello Readers.

It has been a busy week, but it is leading to a big announcement.

I got about halfway through listening to “After a Ghostly Millennium, I am Heard” and making edits and notes. It has been slow going and there is a good deal to fix that story.

With Kathy on nights, I had planned on doing some recording, but there were a few nights my voice didn’t feel up to it. Because of my voice, I spent time working on the cover for My Time Among The Elves.

That additional time playing with the cover allowed me to actually finish it and start the publishing process. I’m waiting on approvals and proof copies, but I’m hoping to do the cover reveal next week.

That is it for this week, take care everyone.

Interesting in buying one of my books? You can get more information here.
You can support my writing at Ko-fi.

Fedi Cities city hashtags are most active in the Fediverse?
data as of 12–13 June 2026:
#berlin 🇩🇪 1458
#hamburg 🇩🇪 1136
#paris 🇫🇷 660
#amsterdam 🇳🇱 594
#belfast 🇬🇧 431
#london 🇬🇧 430
#reading 🇬🇧 379
#tours 🇫🇷 338
#koln 🇩🇪 295
#wetter 🇩🇪 295
#dresden 🇩🇪 289
#rotterdam 🇳🇱 282
#bonn 🇩🇪 276
#bremen 🇩🇪 274
#almelo 🇳🇱 261
#munchen 🇩🇪 260
#groningen 🇳🇱 253
#lyon 🇫🇷 241
#leeuwarden 🇳🇱 237
#chemnitz 🇩🇪 230
#mainz 🇩🇪 222
#brandenburg 🇩🇪 220
#leipzig 🇩🇪 219
#zwolle 🇳🇱 200
#wimbledon 🇬🇧 194

All results https://codeberg.org/54GradSoftware/fedi-cities/src/branch/pages/software/data/cities-result.csv [2/3]

#WordWeavers 14/6: Emotional temperature of your story: what are the most predominant emotions?

There is a lot of fear, a lot of love of all sorts, some jealousy and spite, a sense of loss and a dawn of contentment. I'm into emotional rollercoasters. There are adventures and puzzles and threat but also relationships. I hope the reader ends satisfied and wanting another book.

#books #writing #reading

Read Hache Pueyo's "Cabaret In Flames" tonight
https://amzn.to/3Rqhs4g
📖🔥🔥🔥
A rather gripping novella about some vampiric (but not vampire) people.
#books #reading #fantasy #DarkFantasy

Alt...

Read Hache Pueyo's "Cabaret In Flames" tonight A rather gripping novella about some vampiric (but not vampire) people.

There’s smut, and then there’s loose smut.*

— found in “Farm Economy: A Cyclopedia of Agriculture for the Practical Farmer and His Family”, 1915 — via Junk Rescuers and Bismarck Antique Mall

*There’s also stinking smut, but we won’t get into that here. #books #reading #agriculture #farming #antiques

This explains why reading is an act of rebellion... 😁

#Books #Reading #Readers #ReadingCommunity #Litterature #Novel #Novels #Bookshelf #Books #Bookstodon #IndieAuthor #Antifascism #Antifa

A Bookstore Boom in a Time of Literacy Decline

https://lithub.com/a-bookstore-boom-in-a-time-of-literacy-decline/

#Reading #Books #Bookstore

“Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.” ― John Steinbeck

#books #literature #art #reading #culture #media #news #life #usa #europe #uk

Alt...

“Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.” ― John Steinbeck

Finished reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children Of Memory."
https://amzn.to/4dA3vtr
📖🚀🪐
3 for 3 when it comes to deep thought and heavy #SciFi. And there's still a book to go...
#Books #Reading #ScienceFiction #HardScienceFiction #HardSciFi

Alt...

Finished reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children Of Memory." 3 for 3 when it comes to deep thought and heavy #SciFi. And there's still a book to go...

"Who’s in, who’s out, and how many have you read? The story behind our 100 best novels list"

https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/may/16/story-behind-100-best-novels-all-time

#books #reading #novels #fiction

9/10

I knew of the movie and it was based on a book. Finally read it and am glad I did.

This book is another "following people and their relationships" book. I am enjoying this style of book at the moment.

Now to watch the film.

#books #reading

Alt...

Book cover of Hhideous Kinky by Esther Freud

My latest read: "The Wrecking Squad" by Nick Snape

Looking for a new sci-fi series? Give this one a try! 👍

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8679993767
The Book Radar
https://thebookradar.com/review/5448
The StoryGraph
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/d5547e7f-392c-4611-9528-32abf69c0e86

#scifi #bookreview #bookrec #bookreviews #bookrecs #books #read #reads #reading #readingcommunity #bookstodon #booktodon #booksofmastodon #readersofmastodon #sciencefiction

Alt...

"The Wrecking Squad" by Nick Snape

Am re-going through the various books. having quit Fb for good have a lot more time to enjoy. So just finished "Grapes of Wrath" by Steinbeck, for those who haven't read it, it's the story of a family who gets kicked out from their farm by Corporations, and end up on the street, moving to California, where they found such horrible human behaviour that beggars belief.

The very last page though gives hope for humanity, when a woman who lost her baby gives her milk to a starving man so as to save him.

Am now on "The Log fro the Sea of Cortez" also Steinbeck, true story of a friend and himself plus the whole town at times, very entertaining and mostly positive. As I haven't 're-finished', will report later.

#books #reading #Steinbeck

Beware the Ills: Part 47

She cuts her way through in a wild swing, cutting down her own troops along with Ills. The machines are firing on the melee, creating clouds of dark blue energy and arrows. The Ills are slaughtering the ground troops rather easily, but the machines still fire into the swarms, leaving the figures pulverized and mutilated. I’ve never really seen anything quite like this before.

I’m watching her cut through the Ills towards the prince at the end of their formation. He has bodyguards with red paint on their armor. I’m holding out hope that one of the Ills will step into her, evade the simple attack, and then stab her through the chest with one of their short spears.

None do though, she’s living thunder.

Besides her reckless slashing, the invaders are on their heels. I don’t think they expected these types of monsters to be living in the mountains or have this inherent furiousness. The Ills were built to brawl in tunnels and caves; a melee like this is practically second nature to them.

They cannot stop her. A new Ill, even multiple, step-in front of her, and are cleaved into portions with her ridiculous blade. They fall to the ground in green and bloody stumps. Her scream follows them as they topple, aching above the souring cold. She’s out of control, completely wild, a human animal. I feel sorry for her in a way. I don’t want to kill her. It’s something in my stomach, not quite sure what, but it’s there. I can feel it. I can disable the thick tube of metal running along her spin, which delivers power to the rest of her body. If I disable it, I should cease these berserker tendencies. She might’ve been a decent human being before this hideous alteration occurred.

It seems distasteful to engineer someone biologically to be a killer.

More Ills fall. I run. She’s becoming more savage the closer she gets to the prince. Her white body glows with the blue fire, and the bandages around her have been ripped and shredded by the battle. I cannot allow her to kill him. If the prince falls under her axe, there will be no peace, no armistice, only endless killing.

I must save him. There can be no more killing. If I fall to Haukter, who will protect the Ills? Who will protect the Diamond Town?

I run.

The Ills are clashing savagely with the encroachers as I run through. The steel mixes with crunching bones into a sinewy red cauldron. Shields fall upon shields, tendon and vein mixing in each strike. I dart so fast they can barely sense me, let alone see me. I count the number of Ills between the berserker woman, and the prince. I count ten. No tattooed bodyguards from earlier. They would be able to hold her strikes, those were scarred fighters. They must be out commanding the wings, taking down the machines. Some men scream and aim their crossbows in the direction of my dash. I cut their faces off in one vertical swipe. I hear quick and throaty gurgles. I’m running even faster than before. I can see the prince’s face through the bloody, twisting masses.

He cannot die.

She’s in front of him. The axe looks wild and gleaming in the sunlight. She’s drenched in blood, making her blond hair black and tangled. The prince has fallen down on his back but holds his curved sword in front of him. He doesn’t look scared. I’m impressed. He won’t be able to stop the massive axe head.

I leap. I pray. She’s swinging her axe down at him.

She takes her time in the middle of her vertical stroke. She must be relishing the moment. Her animal mind can still be sadistic. I get in-between her axe blade, and the prince in a black-metal blur. I’ve got both hands on my sword. I kick him back away from me. Some of his grizzled troops run to circle him.

The axe comes down, and I swing my sword to collide.

The shock of steel knocks everyone away from us, like the white sand upon the black waves. The berserker must be at peak strength. My hands tremble under the pressure of the grinding axe, it’s impressive. Her face shines pale and fades blue. The energy must be bleeding out of her. Her face glows with blue tears. You cannot see a single drop of blood, only the fiery indigo.

What have they made her into? She’s inhuman.

Her bloody hair billows angrily in the wind. She’s bitten her lip, and a blue glow runs down her pale narrow chin. She’s bent over me, pouring all her strength and pressure into the obscene axe.

I imagine only Haukter will be stronger than her.

We cannot stay locked like this much longer. Neither soldier nor Ill interferes. She’s panting over the edge of the axe. More inhumanity. I can’t maintain this strength any longer, the pressure pushes beyond comprehension. I swing my left shoulder with its steel black point. The spike knocks the axe off balance, and I slide my sword out from underneath. The axe smashes a small crater into the ground in a rocky flourish. I break away from her running full speed. I need to get away from the crowds, so I can maneuver my long sword more when countering that axe.

Up close, the axe has complete dominion.

She follows me faster and more wildly than before. She swings the axe at my shadow, just barely missing my legs. The sun hits us with heavy rays, and the valley glints stars with all its fallen steel. This sprint moves us quickly past the battlefield, soon we’ll be at the foot of the mountains and hidden paths.

She’s beyond fast, I can’t outrun her anymore.

She leaps in the air in a blue bound and slams her axe into me. My sword swings up to counter. I grip it with both hands. Sparks shower and rocks split. Each strike echoes towards the Ills and encroachers. They have completely stopped fighting to watch us.

I would prefer for them to kill one another.

I’ll be releasing my novel Beware the Ills in segments every Friday. You can find out more about the book right here, or check out Amazon’s info. I love this book. Happy to simply share it. 

It is difficult to cut these sections into pieces when at such a pivotal moment. Hope you're enjoying your trip to the Cursed Island. Not a whole lot more left.

#writing #reading #fiction #books #novels #horror #fantasy #darkfantasy #steampunk

https://patrickwmarshauthor.wordpress.com/2026/06/12/beware-the-ills-part-47-2/

The Crooked Medium's Guide to Terror at proofreader. Out Sept.

Free forever not SubStack newsletter to subscribers out soon, offering opportunities to read early, chat with me, party invite, pony (while stocks last). Unsubscribe any times. link below

#indieauthor #Victorian #murder #mystery #NoAI #books #reading #sapphic #LGBT

https://stephens-newsletter-69af79.beehiiv.com/

Self-promotion in progress 😁

The Last Philosopher is a Fantasy/Attempted Comedy story that some have even compared to #DouglasAdams and #TerryPratchett

My response to that comparison, is to go hide under the covers for a week with embarrassment 😊

1€ Ebook. Help an #IndieAuthor to get to 100 sales, currently at 16, not for profit but to avoid the fees from D2D

First part is available here: https://books2read.com/b/m0pJYA

#FantasyBooks #Fantasy #Comedy #Reading #Bookstodon #Books #Indie #AmWriting