A California Online Magazine with Local Focus and Global Appeal
When it comes to the imagination, the sky’s the limit for Gail Daley. With three science fiction and fantasy series underway, the Central Valley author feels as much at home exploring distant galaxies as she does creating memorable characters who leap off the page. Kings River Life spoke with Daley about inspiration, genre bending, and writing’s biggest rewards.
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This week we have a review of 2 fun mysteries for your February reading-one magical and one a spin off-Coached to Death: The Life Coach Mystery by Victoria Laurie and Potions are for Pushovers: An Eleanor Wilde Mystery by Tamara Berry.
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Another year has ended and once again we take a look back at a few of the many books reviewed in KRL in 2019. All but one of our main reviewers share in this post their top 5-10ish favorite books they reviewed in 2019. Katherine Costa wanted to include favorite authors and TV shows that she has reviewed, so hers went up in a separate post in this issue.
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In 2019, I reviewed a record 180 entertaining books along with connecting with talented and delightfully friendly authors, including some beta reading. It was a daunting task to choose my annual “Tops” because every book, and a few television shows, have provided me with hours of entertainment and some inspiration…
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Here is your weekly reminder that there are also new articles up on our other website KRL News & Reviews! Every week there will be book reviews and giveaways, plus sometimes pet articles, theatre articles, and more! And listen to our new podcast!
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Caitlyn’s magical family has long been shunned, if not bullied, by local villagers who suspect they are witches, even though they don’t really know the truth behind their suspicions. Caitlyn knows her apprentice powers are not a danger (well, there have been a few miscalculations), her grandmother’s chocolate has only been delectably masterful, and her aunt’s medicinal herbal concoctions truly provide remedy for various ailments.
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Released in 2018, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a not-quite reboot of the 1990s TV sitcom Sabrina: The Teen-age Witch. Both series center on the same lead character, Sabrina Spellman, the teen witch who first debuted in Archie’s Madhouse in October 1962. The character then received her own comic series and animated series until gaining new popularity with the 1990s series starring Melissa Joan Hart.
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In Haunted Rails: Tales of Ghost Trains, Phantom Conductors, and other Railroad Spirits, Matthew L. Swayne offers three-score tales of hauntings at train museums, stations, tunnels, bridges, and accident sites. The bibliography lists twice as many sources. This slim-ish volume is exhaustively researched, bringing together story as well as tales of hauntings from across the United States (even Hawaii gets a paranormal mention) and Canada.
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I am always excited about the release of the annual “magical” mystery anthology. The Curses and Cauldrons collection, released in September, highlights many of my favorite authors and some new ones I have begun to explore. I was able to connect with a couple of my favorite authors and ask a few questions about writing.
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The Darkest Gateway is the fourth and final book of the Booke of Hidden series by Jeri Westerson. The third book, Shadows in the Mist, left us hanging so I was anxiously awaiting this one.
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Hedgewitch Katie Lightfoot’s wedding to Declan McCarthy is fast approaching, but unless the renovations on her Savannah home manage to overcome an increasing number of delays and snafus, it is very possible that her reception guests will be using the on-site porta potties. It’s why Katie is so looking forward to a visit from her father Skylar Lightfoot, who is not only a practicing Shaman but has a surfeit of home construction experience. As it turns out, his shamanic skills are needed first when local philanthropist Kensington Bosworth is murdered.
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Dr. Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer) is a visiting research fellow at Oxford University set to explore prized manuscripts connected to her academic research into alchemy in the seventeenth century. She also comes from an extraordinary family of witches, with the distinction of being a direct descendant of Bridget Bishop who, in 1692, was the first to be executed for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.
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Witch Lily Ivory may have grown adept at wielding spells and charms, but she’s never before manifested a nightmare to the point that she wakes up covered in sea water. The new experience is not one she welcomes, especially since she’s finally planning her wedding to the mysterious Rom gypsy Sailor. Not only is Lily in the midst of scheduling a honeymoon that will include tracking down the gargoyle mother of her shape-shifting familiar Oscar, Lily’s mother and grandmother’s coven are in San Francisco to sight-see and prepare for the ceremony.
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Went to see a lovely play at the Geffen last week, Mysterious Circumstances, starring Alan Tudyk as Richard Green and…Sherlock Holmes. One scene especially resonated with me, as Holmes scholar Green is shaken by the sudden rejection and ejection from his fandom by Dame Jean Conan Doyle, sir Arthur’s youngest daughter and heir. Memories abounded…turning the page back to 1983…
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