Fantastical Island and Other Paranormal Treats


Fantastical Island

fantastic beasts, paranormal, pnr, kindle unlimited, jenny schwartz,I have a release date for the second book in the Old School series. Each novel is a stand alone read, but there’s a lightly connecting story arc for the series. Fantastical Island comes after Phoenix Blood (out Dec 27).

Someone is hunting the fantastical creatures of Catalina Island.

 

Deviant Art

There is never enough time in the day. If there was, I could lose hours at Deviant Art. Realms of Fantasy has some great collections of amazing fantasy art, but just browsing throws up gems, too.

Do you look at art online? Any favourite sites? My Modern Met is pretty cool.

Kindle Unlimited Discoveries

helen harper, highland magic, kindle unlimited,I’ve found some great books in Kindle Unlimited. I’m loving Helen Harper’s Highland Magic series – Last Wish (the final book) is out in a couple of days. Can’t wait!

I’m also enjoying the first book in a new (to me) mystery series with a handsome, gentlemanly detective chief inspector. It reminds me a bit of an up to date Ngaio Marsh mystery. Holy Island by LJ Ross had a nice touch of romance, too. (Warning: it does get a bit gruesome re the murders).

Christmas Trees!

No, I haven’t put my Christmas tree up yet. This is the West Australian Christmas tree that I was nattering about a few weeks ago. They’re just beginning to flower.

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Household Tip

You probably already know this – it’s pretty obvious, I guess – but I’ve just found out about using a few drops of essential oils on cotton wool balls and placing them in cupboards/wardrobes to keep clothes and linens fresh. I used to put lavender soap on a shelf. This is better. You don’t need much oil and you can get the fragrance you want with a little drop of this and a little of that. I used lavender and ylang-ylang.

Are you ever shocked by the simple things you never thought to try?

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8 responses to “Fantastical Island and Other Paranormal Treats”

  1. Those trees are absolutely stunning. The picture doesn’t do them justice. I cannot believe how brilliant the colour is. It’s like the trees burst into flame and ‘froze’ into the flowers you see. I am used to red poinsettia trees flowering in the east at Christmas time. So wonderful to see these in the west.

    I keep flour in the fridge so no bugs. I will remember the bay leaf trick though.

    Can’t wait to read your new book. 🙂 And dare I say I’m not feeling the heat yet, but I’m loving the lack of humidity.

    • D, you’re so right! Photos don’t do those trees justice. You’re description works for me – frozen flame.

      Flour in the fridge is probably best.

      As for the weather … wait for January and early February. For some reason the weather tends to “celebrate” the beginning of school with a heatwave.

  2. I would love to see you write about Christmas in Australia. Here in the states we all know the local traditions and foods, but Australia seems like another world to me, especially since our seasons are reversed.

    What kind of food do you eat for the holidays? What kind of traditions are common down under? Can you post a picture of your Christmas tree?

    It might seem boring or old hat to you, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d like to see how the other half lives. 🙂

    • Can do! Thanks for the idea, Maria. I was just looking at someone from Alaska’s Christmas photo and thinking – whoa! so much snow – that’s definitely not an Aussie Christmas 🙂

  3. When I was growing up we lived close to a cotton gin. My dad used sweet potato or peanut butter in the mouse traps. My mom would put a bay leaf(whole or broken) in the flour to keep out those pesky little bugs. It worked and you never knew there was a bay leaf in the flour. A piece of bread on top of brown sugar keeps it from getting hard.

    • Brenda – I’ve never heard of bread to stop brown sugar getting hard – thank you! I’ve used the bay leaf trick myself. You’d think the flour would smell, wouldn’t you? But it works really well. I have a bay tree planted by my mailbox because the leaves are so useful.

  4. I preordered your two books :). Yep…they say mint teabags keep mice away too. Used to put 1/2 bar of Yardley’s in mynlinen boxes in storage. Now I used Yardley’s verbena. Also used to use a small dish of bleach on top of the fridge ( I’ve lived in some pretty old parsonages in tiny rural towns) and a whole bar under the front seat of the car when I drove

    • Preordering – way to make an author’s day 🙂 Thanks, Andrea!! As for the mint tea bags, I had no idea. I always thought I’d have to find a neighbour’s cat to borrow – you know, to leave the feline scent around to keep the mice away – when they started coming around. I could even make my own tea bags with a bit of muslin. Plenty of mint in the garden. That’s fab.

      I hadn’t heard of the tip of bleach on the top of the fridge. I guess with Perth, Australia (my hometown) being so hot, we tend to have other smelly problems. Summer’s arriving here, so things like tomatoes have to be moved from the pantry into the fridge or they go rotten FAST! I swear the climate has changed here. Definitely hotter.

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