Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg

What happens to you when you die? That's the big question Fannie Flagg tackles in her latest novel, and she uses the kind-hearted inhabitants of Elmwood Springs to address this debate. After 80-something Elner Shimfissle falls off her ladder, she's brought to the hospital where she finds herself floating down hallways and into elevators that go in every direction, including sideways, thus embarking on her journey to Heaven. And in keeping with her personality, she has a lot of questions for her maker. At the same time, Elner's worrywart niece Norma and Norma's loving and loyal husband Macky are at her side. The news of her accident spreads through the town like wildfire, and each resident reflects on Elner and how she touched their lives. Elner was a mother and grandmother all rolled into one for Luther Griggs, who has no parents to speak of. ~more review

Near-death experiences (NDEs) 

Although some dying people report seeing angels and other religious figures (and sometimes even mythical figures), the vast majority claim to see familiar people who had previously passed away.

Very often, the friends and relatives seen in these visions express directly that they have come to help take them away.

The dying person is reassured by the experience and expresses great happiness with the vision. Contrast this with the confusion or fear that a non-dying person would experience at seeing a "ghost." The dying also seem quite willing to go with these apparitions.

The dying person's mood - even state of health - seems to change. During these visions, a once depressed or pain-riddled person is overcome with elation and momentarily relieved of pain... until death strikes.

These experiencers do not seem to be hallucinating or to be in an altered state of consciousness; rather, they appear to be quite aware of their real surroundings and conditions.

Whether or not the dying person believes in an afterlife is irrelevant; the experience and reactions are the same. ~about paranormal

"The characters are endearing, the story is engaging. Good triumphs over evil, mostly....The book is not perfect....But on the whole it's a comforting and sometimes thought-provoking read, especially for those interested in end-of-life scenarios and issues." Dallas-Ft. Worth Star Telegram

Mount Vernon Love Story by Mary Higgins Clark

In Mount Vernon Love Story -- famed suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark's long-out-of-print first novel -- the bestselling author reveals the flesh-and-blood man who became the "father of our country" in a story that is charming, insightful, and immensely entertaining.

Always a lover of history, Mary Higgins Clark wrote this extensively researched biographical novel and titled it Aspire to the Heavens, after the motto of George Washington's mother. Published in 1969, the book was more recently discovered by a Washington family descendant and reissued as Mount Vernon Love Story. Dispelling the widespread belief that although George Washington married

Martha Dandridge Custis, he reserved his true love for Sally Carey Fairfax, his best friend's wife, Mary Higgins Clark describes the Washington marriage as one full of tenderness and passion, as a bond between two people who shared their lives -- even the bitter hardship of a winter in Valley Forge -- in every way. In this author's skilled hands, the history, the love, and the man come fully and dramatically alive. ~review

Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is the most popular historic estate in America. Located just 16 miles south of Washington, D.C. and 8 miles south of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, the plantation rests on the banks of the Potomac River. ~Virtual Tour of Mount Vernon

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: the love of a king
When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her familys ambitious plots as the kings interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands. A rich and compelling tale of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.

Mary Boleyn

Mary Boleyn was the sister of the more famous Anne Boleyn. Mary was one of the mistresses of King Henry VIII of England and also, allegedly, of his rival, King Francis I of France. She married twice. During the affair or sometime after, it was rumoured that one or both of Mary's children were fathered by the king. One witness noted that Mary's son, Henry Carey, bore a resemblance to Henry VIII.

The Six Wives of Henry the VIII
copyright "six wives of henry VIII"

                        

   Catherine of Aragon                  Anne Boleyn

      m. 1509 - 1533                     m. 1533 - 1536

            Divorced                               Executed

                       

     Jane Seymour                       Anne of Cleves
    m. 1536 - 1537                   m. 1540 Jan. - July

             Died                                    Divorced

                     

   Kathryn Howard                    Katherine Parr

    m. 1540 - 1542                   m. 1543 - 1547

         Executed                             Widowed  

            

Interview with Philippa Gregory 
~authors website

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

"Truman Capote I do not know well, but I like him. He is tart as a grand aunt, but in his way is a ballsy little guy, and he is the most perfect writer of my generation, he writes the best sentences word for word, rhythm upon rhythm. I would not have changed two words in Breakfast at Tiffany's which will become a small classic." 
-Norman Mailer

Truman Capote was already a celebrity by the time Breakfast at Tiffany's was released in 1958. It was written at the end of what he called his second cycle of writing which began with his first published novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms. Although it was never assumed by the critics at the time, Breakfast at Tiffany's was to become one of the most famous and influential works Capote ever wrote. ~website

Capote Quotes

"I don't care what anybody says about me as long as it isn't true."

"I like to talk on TV about those things that aren't worth writing about."

"My major regret in life is that my childhood was unnecessarily lonely."

Audrey Hepburn Quotes

"I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it. "

"I never thought I'd land in pictures with a face like mine."

Breakfast at Tiffany's Movie Trailer

The Greater Good by Casey Moreton

If he didn't get out now, he'd never forgive himself..." (from the first line)

This high-velocity political thriller from a gifted first-time novelist follows the hunt for a videotape that terrifyingly reveals Washington's deadliest secret: the shocking identity of the vice president's assassin. 

Hours before an assassin's bullet rips through his bedroom window, Vice President James Ettinger makes an explosive confession on videotape. When the smoke clears in the aftermath of the assassination, the tape has vanished. And the race is on. From the dizzying heights of Washington insider power to the subterranean realm of win-at-all-costs political maneuvering, the quest to find the mysterious videotape snatches readers up in a relentless whirlwind of espionage, brutal policy warfare, and the intricate machinations of no-holds-barred power brokering. Only one thing is clear: those responsible for Ettinger's death will stop at nothing to make sure his final words are never heard. Putting his crew of engaging, multidimensional characters through their paces as they negotiate a treacherous political maze, novelist Casey Moreton proves himself a natural storyteller with seemingly unlimited surprises up his sleeve. 

About the Author

Casey Moreton lives with his wife, Kari, in Rogers, Arkansas. This is his first novel.

Honeymoon With My Brother by Franz Wisner

Franz Wisner had the world by the tail. He was engaged to the beautiful Annie, with whom he shared a passion for conservative politics and a command of quotes from the movie This Is Spinal Tap. He worked as a government-relations official for a California real-estate giant, rubbing elbows with bigwig politicians. But then his fiancée dumped him days before their wed

ding, and his boss demoted him. So he dragged his younger brother, Kurt, a Seattle realtor and divorcé, to Costa Rica for his already-scheduled honeymoon, where Wisner spilled his guts to a prostitute in the hotel bar. ("Not once did it occur to me that I was having a heart-to-heart with a woman who faked orgasms for a living.")

Both inspired and desperate, the two quit their jobs, sold their houses, gave away their belongings, and traveled the world for two years, romping through Europe in a newly purchased Saab, then hitting the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa. Along the way, Wisner got to know his brother in a way he never had ("Kurt had become ... my new best friend") and fought to move past his failed relationship.

Wisner's story is straightforward, heartfelt, and highly readable--though without any true, biting insights--and should connect with readers who've gone through a breakup, career change, or midlife crisis, or fantasized about quitting the rat race. His best travel tip? Throw away the guidebooks, and talk to the locals instead. --Andy Boynton 

Quotes from the book

"Funny.  If it was just one of us, this would be considered flaky.  Two and it's brotherly love."

"Travel is a language spoken by an inclusive club.  It's a trigger for memories and a spark for more journeys."

About the Author
Franz Wisner (author's website) is a writer/vagabond who, in a previous reincarnation, used to work as a lobbyist, a public relations executive, and a government press secretary. During his world journeys, he published numerous travel articles and opinion pieces, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, ABC News on-line, and Coast Magazine, among others. Franz and his brother, Kurt, are currently traveling the globe for their next book, also with St. Martin's Press. ~macmillian publishing

Click here for Honeymoon with my video clip

Widow of the South by Robert Hicks

In late 1864, five months before the end of the Civil War, the Confederate Army of Tennessee charged the Union Army positions just south of Nashville in the small town of Franklin, Tennessee. A few hours later, 9,200 men, including six Confederate generals, lay dead or injured on the battlefield. It was one of the bloodiest days in an incredibly bloody war. Just outside the town was the Carnton Plantation, which was forced into service as a field hospital during and after the battle, and eventually became the burial ground for 1,500 Confederate soldiers. Carrie McGavock, mistress of the plantation, tended to the sick and dying and became caretaker of the burial plots on her plantation. Her life had been consumed by the dead and dying, and she knew she'd spend the rest of her life tending to the men in these graves and their families that visited or wrote Carrie about the final resting place of their loved ones. ~book review

About the Author

The Widow of the South was born out of Hicks's many years of work at Carnton and his passion for the preservation of the remaining fragments of the battlefield. In writing the novel, his hope was to bring national attention back to this moment in our nation's history, the impact those five bloody hours played in making us a nation, and in the preservation of the sites tied to the story. ~authors website

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

Inside the abbey of a Benedictine monastery on Egret Island, just off the coast of South Carolina, resides a beautiful and mysterious chair ornately carved with mermaids and dedicated to a saint, who, legend claims, was a mermaid before her conversion.

The Mermaid Chair is set on a tiny island off the coast of South Carolina, where a monastery has a chair carved with mermaids and dedicated a saint who was supposedly once a mermaid. Jessie Sullivan leaves behind her husband to come back home to this island after her mother's violent and unexplained self-mutilation. Jessie finds herself relieved to be without her husband and also finds herself falling for Brother Thomas, a Benedictine monk about to take his final vows. ~book browse review

About the Author

Sue Monk Kidd was born and raised in the tiny town of Sylvester, Georgia.  Her writing has been deeply influenced by place, and she mined her experiences of growing up in Sylvester as she wrote The Secret Life of Bees, her first novel. 

The Inspiration for The Mermaid Chair The idea for The Mermaid Chair began one day quite unexpectedly. While talking with a friend about her trip to Cornwall, England, she casually mentioned that she’d seen a “mermaid chair” in a small church. She described it as a chair with a mermaid carved on its side which had been in the church for centuries though the reason seemed to be a mystery. Something about this riveted me. I knew right then and there that I would write a novel and it would be called The Mermaid Chair. I didn’t have a clue what it would be about– no characters, no story, nothing- only that the novel would contain this chair and the chair would be in a church.

The Mermaid Saint In The Mermaid Chair there’s a sacred feminine image at the heart of the story- a mythical mermaid saint. She’s based on St. Senara, who is an actual church saint. In fact, the church in Cornwall where the real mermaid chair resides is named for St. Senara. Little is known about her, but in my research I came across a legend suggesting that before her conversion, she was a Celtic princess named Asenora, a woman who had a rather dubious reputation. I also found whimsical stories that St. Senara had been a mermaid at one point, & that even after she was converted, she continued to pine for the sea. This was too good to pass up. ~Interview with Sue Monk Kidd

The Mermaid Chair

A famous 15th Century bench end in St Senara church in Zennor depicts the mythical Mermaid of Zennor, who was said to have lured a sweet-voiced chorister, Matthew Trewhella, to his death in Pendour Cove below, with her beauty and bewitching singing.