The Mysterious Garden Muse

I have my daughter to thank for this topic. She is a makeup blogger (I should say "vlogger" since she mostly focuses on videos these days), but for a change of pace she did a post on her favorite spooky books. Here's her video: I've read a lot of the books she mentioned, and I agree with her comments. The first really scary book I remember reading was THE UNINVITED by Dorothy Macardle. Around the same time - I was in high school - I discovered the gothics of Victoria Holt, books like MISTRESS OF MELLYN and BRIDE OF PENDORRIC. I also enjoyed Anya Seton's GREEN DARKNESS, many of Phyllis A. Whitney's and Dorothy Eden's books, and everything by Mary Stewart. Soon I added more authors to the list : Evelyn Anthony, Velda Johnston and a few male authors, like Edgar Allen Poe. Stephen King later joined my list of favorites, even though sometimes his books were too scary - books like CUJO and PET SEMATARY weren't for me, but I loved THE STAND, FIRESTA

The only writing I've accomplished this year has been a couple of posts for Romance University, one for The Contemporary Romance Writers Online Chapter and, oh yeah, my mom's obituary. I'm considering doing NaNoWriMo this year - I've skipped it since I moved to Chicago a couple years ago, but I might be ready for a month of November writing insanity. In the meantime, I've spent many joyful afternoons playing with my granddaughters. My free time - as in, not watching the girls or fixing dinner or doing all the usual things - has been spent reading. I'm back to my old, pre-grandkids, pre-move, pre-writing book-a-day binge reading. I reread all the J.J. Marric Gideon books, discovered and read all the Kerry Greenwood Phryne Fisher mysteries, reread almost all of my beloved Mary Stewart books, and I'm currently bingeing on Susanna Kearsley's wonderful books. I discovered them a year or two ago and read three of the books in succession, and then switc