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Book Club Night

Last night my book club met for our monthly meeting. The book we read was Stiff, the curious lives of human cadavers, by Mary Roach. I was the host, so I took the liberty of placing a book-themed centerpiece on the finger-food table.

The old gal had spent the past few years packed away in a closet.

We created her several years ago for a Halloween decoration, and she hasn't had many excuses to leave her closet since then.

I think she was glad to get out and about  for a night.

The book was extremely interesting, if a little nauseating at times, but I would recommend it to the curious.

And also for the curious, if you'd like instructions for creating your own mummy, visit this post on my other blog.

Farmers' market book signing

I attended a book signing yesterday, sponsored by the Akron Manuscript Club, the oldest writing group in Akron at almost 80 years old.

It was hard to sit at the table the whole time and not walk around the farmers' market where the signing took place.



I did manage to step away a couple of times to make a few purchases. I bought home baked cookies and lemon-blueberry scones, honey-blueberry jam, and a tie-dyed T-shirt, the proceeds of which are going toward a high schooler's trip to China with the Confucius Institute.

Needless to say, I spent more than I made selling books : ) But that's not hard for me to do at a venue like this.

Book signing this Saturday!

I'll be signing books in Cuyahoga Valley National Park this Saturday! How awesome is that?

When:
Saturday, June 18th, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Where:
Countryside Conservancy Farmers' Market
Howe Meadow, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
4040 Riverview Road,
Peninsula, OH 44262

What:
A book signing at the Farmers' Market!

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by to experience a great Farmers' Market, and come say 'hello' at the book signing tent!

Book Giveaway!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Witch of Starmont

by Linda Ash

Giveaway ends July 15, 2011.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

My book giveaway for The Witch of Starmont over on Goodreads will go live withinn the next 48 hours. I'll be giving away three paperback copies to celebrate its paperback release! [EDIT: The book giveaway is now officially live - enter at Goodreads for a chance to win one of three paperback copies being given away!]

Getting two books ready for paperback release!

I've been hard at work getting My Twelfth Christmas and The Witch of Starmont ready for paperback release. I won't have my hands on the proofs until next week.

I'm excited about them becoming available in paperback for two reasons. One is that I'll be able to offer paperbacks of The Witch of Starmont for sale along with my herbal salves and teas and tinctures when I participate in an arts and crafts fair in early June. The Witch of Starmont is about a woman who runs her own herbal remedy and skin care business, but who also harbors a secret. There's a lot in the book about collecting and growing beneficial plants, so it will be a nice addition to everything I'm offering for sale at the craft fair. Those interested in my wares may also be interested in the book.

The other reason is because My Twelfth Christmas is my best seller and it might be the type of book that people want to have a hard copy of. It's small and will be very inexpensive, likely under $4.00. So when the Christmas season rolls around (although it sells pretty steadily all year round), the paperback version will be there, too, for those who may want it in that format.

Spider Silk

photo from this site

The picture at right is a traditional royal Madagascar weaving done in spider silk. That's right. Spider silk. The silk was milked by hand from golden orb spiders found in the wild in Madagascar. More information about the cloth and the process that went into its creation can be found here.

This is one of the most beautiful textiles I've ever seen, and I'm doubly interested in it because in my book, Rose of Par Kluhnd: A Fairy Tale, there is an area in the Lands of Shey which produces textiles made from spider silk. In fact, Rose, from time to time in the story, wears armor made from spider silk.

Spider silk ounce, for ounce, is stronger than steel, but my use of it as armor in the story is poetic license. It turns out that spider silk is extremely elastic, so although it might be able to stop a sword or a bullet, it would stretch so much in the process that the sword or the bullet would actually go right through you anyway. For a tad more information about spider silk, visit this post in my other blog.

And here is a little clip featuring this amazing, golden cloth woven from the silk of spiders: