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Profile Information
- Are you an Author, Reader, Publisher, Editor, Agent or Other?
- Author of Mystery/Suspense/Thriller novels
- Do You Have A Website?
- www.douglasquinn.com
- About Me:
- I am the author of The Catalan Gambit (Suspense/Thriller), The Spanish Game (Suspense/Thriller) and Blue Heron Marsh: A Webb Sawyer Mystery (Mystery/Susupense)
- Favorite Books:
- Anything by James Lee Burke and Kathy Reichs. I also like to read Carl Hiassen, Jonatthan Kellerman, John Sandford, Randy Wayne White and Stephen White. I also enjoy reading and reviewing new mystery/suspense authors
- Favorite Bookstores on land or cyberspace
- Amazon, Barnes & Nobel and Powell's Books
A Douglas Quinn Book Review of Bitter Tastes by V. B. Rosendahl--A Children's Chapter Book
Douglas Quinn
Author, Editor, Book Reviewer
rivercitypress@hotmail.com
www.douglasquinn.com
Bitter Tastes by V. B. Rosendahl
A Middle Grade Chapter Book/Mystery–Ages 9-13
Trade paperback, 108 Pages
Stargazer Press, January 2007
ISBN 9780973494099
**** A Fun Children’s Mystery Adventure with Important Messages
Review by Douglas Quinn, Author of Blue Heron Marsh, etal
Bitter Tastes is the first book of a contemporary mystery adventure series in the vein of the classic Nancy Drew mystery novels. The author applies similar principles used in adult mystery novels: clues, misdirections, family secrets and several suspects.
When a local restaurateur is murdered, our heroines and newfound friends, sixth-graders Kathy “Kath” Harmon and Martha “Marth” Cunningham, decide to find out who did it. During the course of the story, they track down clues, get into trouble and even put themselves in danger.
Besides the narrative and dialogue, which is well written, this book conveys several important messages for the reader. Kathy has a deformity from an accident about which she is embarrassed. In the past, her peers have teased her, even shunned her because of it. Her friend, Martha, comes from a broken home and lives in a trailer park about which she is embarrassed, particularly with Kathy, who lives in a big house with parents who have cashed in on the father’s business and retired to the beach. How the two amateur sleuths deal with their individual insecurities while they develop their friendship and try to solve the mystery is dealt with by the author in a kind and sensitive way, allowing the reader to understand the girls’ problems and also offering solutions in dealing with them.
I particularly enjoyed the setting in the mythical town of Warner, located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, a perfect setting for more mysteries for two interesting, smart and curious pre-teen sleuths. Bitter Tastes is a fun children’s mystery adventure with important messages for children trying to find their place in a world run by adults.
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MORGAN'S OWN BLOGSPOT
Slides, Anyone?
I added a few slides of my books to my blogspot. I'm not sure yet if they should stay on or not.Do you have more trouble loading my blogspot with the slides up? Do you like them or are they too distracting?
A Christmas Tree Already
On the way home from work yesterday, I passed a house that already had a lighted and decorated Christmas tree up and showing by the window.Is it not too soon for that? In my mind, the day after Thanksgiving is when the Christmas Season starts. That's when it's fair game to put up a tree and decorations and start shopping. The way things are going this year, I'll be lucky if I get organized enough to decorate a few days before Christmas.
With our dog, Rascal, who lives up to her name, we'll probably go with a fiber optic small tree on top of an end table. One of these days I may pull put the larger tree from the box in the basement and set it up, but not until our doggy is a little more sedate. I don't feel like chasing her to get ornaments out of her mouth. I will be putting up knick knacks, lights inside and decorations on the walls, so it will still look Christmasy. No lights outside because for some reason we have no outlets outside.
While we're on the subject of Christmas trees and such, be sure to add holidays in your books. You can mention decorations and lights or Easter eggs and baskets, or even mattress sales in your descriptions to ground the reader as to the season.
Now, back to that tree I saw. What about you? When do you decorate for Christmas? What do you put up?
Winners and Losers at the CMAs and Life
I love country music and almost every country performer. While watching the CMAs, I enjoyed seeing the winners accept their awards. On the other hand, it was hard for me to see the losers do their best to appear gracious and for the most part succeeding.For every winner, there's a loser. In life and in books, it's the same way. How people react to their good and bad fortune shows what their characters are made of. You don't have to tell a reader who the good guy or bad guy is. Let their actions speak for themselves. The readers are smart enough to figure it out.
PS Can't finish this blog without saying - You Rock, Taylor Swift! You are one smart, talented teenager! Congrats on all your awards, especially, Entertainer of the Year!!!
CMA Awards Tonight and Twitter
One of my favorite shows is on tonight - the CMA Awards. If you're a country music fan, you're probably like me and will be glued to the TV 8pm EST, or in my case 7pm, in the flatlands of Illinois.Almost all my favorite performers will be there, except I hear that Rascal Flatts can't make it.
I'll be on Twitter during the show also. That's part of the fun of it - discussing and dissecting outfits, performers, songs and even commercials, kind of like I'm at a giant party with people who all go for the same thing and want to share.
What about you? What kind of music do you like? Do you tweet during a favorite show or event?
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Rascal is sleeping right now. When she gets up, you'll know about it.
When RASCAL wakes up, you'll hear from her and/or her Mom - that would be me, Morgan Mandel.
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