Tag Archives: Books

The Games Children Play

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On St. Patrick’s Day, I went to the public library to listen to author Naomi Helen Yaeger read from her book Blooming Hollyhocks: Tales of Joy During Hard Times. Yaeger’s book is a warmhearted biography about her mother’s childhood in Avoca, Minnesota, during the Great Depression and World War II. [To read my review of Yaeger’s book, click here.]

One of the selections Yaeger read was about St. Patrick’s Day. The small town of Avoca had a mix of Protestants and Catholics. The Irish Catholic children celebrated the day by wearing green to school. Yaeger’s mother Janette, and her family were Methodist and not Irish, and so Janette didn’t wear green to school on St. Patrick’s Day. Her classmates who wore green teased her, telling her they could pinch her because she wasn’t wearing green. Janette, who didn’t want to be pinched, told them, “You stay away from me.”

Author Naomi Helen Yaeger reads a selection from her book, March 17, 2026

As I listened to Yaeger read this selection, I remembered wearing green to school on St. Patrick’s Day. My great-great-grandfather was Irish. But I couldn’t recall anything about the pinching of classmates who didn’t wear green. Later, I called my sister who is four years younger than me, and I asked her if she remembered the game of pinching classmates who didn’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. She did, very clearly. Ironically, she had just jokingly reminded her daughter, who is thirty-something, to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day so she didn’t get pinched. Long past her school days, her daughter laughed and shrugged off the advice.

A few days later, I asked my other sister who is a year younger than me if she remembered the pinching tradition, and she did. So why don’t I remember it? Someone suggested that if I always wore green, I wouldn’t have been pinched, so I might not remember the game. And I know I wouldn’t have pinched anyone who didn’t wear green. I was often teased and called names when I was in elementary school, and it was hurtful. I made a point to avoid certain classmates and to behave kindly to the rest — pinching someone wouldn’t have been okay with me.

This seemingly harmless childhood tradition upset Yaeger’s mother when she was a child. It probably wouldn’t have occurred to me when I was young, but as an adult listening to Yaeger read her mother’s words, “You stay away from me,” I thought about the darker side of games like these. (My oldest grandchild confirmed being pinched for not wearing green is still a thing.) I don’t think children see it as a statement about being Protestant or Catholic, British or Irish. Nor do I think children know anything about the history of the British occupation of Ireland and its brutal consequences. But the St. Patrick’s Day pinching tradition pits one group of children against another group of children based on the color of one’s clothes on a certain date. Perhaps, one could argue it’s a small thing, a fun game played for one day a year. But it also singles out a group of children who, for whatever reason, don’t wear green on March 17.

Of course, to escape the fate of being pinched, a child could simply wear green to school on St. Patrick’s Day. But that’s not harmless either, compelling someone to either fit in or get pinched. Some youngsters probably had fun with this — chasing each other and laughing — like it was a game of tag. But other children probably felt like Janette: “You stay away from me.”

I wonder at all the subtle and not so subtle “seemingly harmless” ways children are taught to marginalize others who are not like them. I like that Yaeger included this story in her mother’s biography. It’s a story that takes us back to the days of our youth, while at the same time making us think about something differently as grownups.

[To read the reviews of both a nonfiction and a fiction book dealing with the Time of Troubles in Ireland, click here.]

Book Review: McGarr and the Legacy of a Woman Scorned by Bartholomew Gill

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McGarr and the Legacy of a Woman Scorned is Bartholomew Gill’s seventh mystery featuring Peter McGarr, a detective chief inspector with the Irish police.

What is this book about?

Peter McGarr and his wife Noreen are on vacation in a part of Ireland filled with sunshine, beautiful sandy beaches, and rich black earth. Peter and Noreen agree there is no other place like it in Ireland. Although, McGarr is a bit bored, as any self-respecting, workaholic detective would be. Then, Fionnuala Walton, who is in her sixties and owns a prestigious horse farm on a large piece of prime real estate, is found murdered, shoved down a flight of stairs.

Of course, McGarr is asked by the local police to help with the case, proving once again to the crime-reading fan that a detective should never go on vacation because a dead body is sure to be discovered. (Sometimes you have to love a trope.) McGarr is more than willing to help. He suspects Fionnuala Walton was murdered by one of her sisters, her niece, or one of the Daughertys who own the farm adjacent to Fionnuala’s. An incident that occurred thirty years ago has made the Waltons and Daughertys both allies and adversaries. Fionnuala’s sisters have their own reasons to be angry and bitter about Fionnuala. And the niece is engaged to one of the Daughertys, perhaps shifting her sense of loyalty away from her aunt Fionnuala.

Because the McGarrs aren’t known in this part of Ireland, Peter enlists the help of Noreen by having her rent a room — using her maiden name — in a B & B run by the Daugherty family, whom he considers prime suspects. Noreen, intelligent, quick-thinking, and gutsy, is game. Their vacation is over. The hunt for the killer is on.

Why I liked this book.

Gill has written another moody, suspenseful police detective story. This mystery, like Gill’s others, weaves past events into the present and serves up a twisting plot and an interesting cast of suspects, while DCI McGarr picks apart alibis and uncovers motives until he confronts the killer.

Thoughts about story and character development in Gill’s mystery series . . .

Gill’s seventh McGarr book was published in 1986. I’ve been following a few aspects of Gill’s stories as they develop over time. First, there is McGarr’s drinking. He’s a man who carries a flask and has a bottle in his desk, who can’t enter a pub without having a drink, who accepts a drink while questioning a suspect, and who cozies up with yet another glass at home. For six books, I’ve been wondering if McGarr can keep this up without it impacting his marriage and career. At the beginning of this book, while McGarr and Noreen are on vacation, he has abstained from drinking. Noreen and Peter’s coworkers had begun to worry about his drinking. But as those conversations took place off the page, somewhere between the six and seventh books, we must imagine how those talks went down, which I like.

Noreen has a big role in this book. (So far, in most of the other books, she has remained in the background.) While spying on suspects for Peter, she finds herself attracted to a handsome, flirtatious man who is one of the suspects. She’s twenty years younger than Peter and has begun to wonder if she rushed into marriage with him. He’s a complacent fifty-year-old man who drinks and smokes too much and takes his young wife for granted.

There are still no female detectives in McGarr’s office. There is only Ruthie, who is smart and dedicated, but relegated to her desk. I’m waiting for a female detective. Perhaps in book eight.

[To read my reviews of the first six Peter McGarr mysteries, click here for books one and two, here for book three, here for book four, here for book five, and here for book six.]

Thirteen Months to Publication

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Working copy of my book. I made the quilt too.

In the fall of 2024, I sent Silent Negotiations, my collection of short stories, to Cornerstone Press at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. In December of the same year, the editors at Cornerstone notified me they wanted to publish my book, and the publication date would be February 2027. It was the best Christmas present! And for a few weeks, I walked around in a euphoric bubble. But the publication date was over two years away, so I settled into a calmer mode of waiting. At times I’d forget about my upcoming book for a couple of days. With a publication date in a faraway galaxy, there wasn’t much for me to do. Then suddenly, because objects are closer than they appear, I’d fret about the book and think, “Will anyone want to read my stories? Is there something I should be doing right now? Where will I have my book launch, and will anyone come?” Then sometimes I’d get excited all over again, thrilled that my stories, which took me five years to write, will have a home together in a book.

On January 23, after I’d spent several days reading my stories one more time, I emailed my manuscript to Cornerstone Press. Don’t worry. I didn’t fiddle with them. I’ve heard other writers warn against overworking one’s stories. Besides, I’m happy with them. Instead, I looked for typos and questioned commas. I read out loud, listening for the awkward sentence, a word choice that wasn’t working, an ambiguous pronoun. I double checked stories to make sure they were coherent with correct timelines. I changed very little, but I’m glad I read them one more time.

At this point in time, I’ve made the stories the best I can make them. I think I’ve found all the errors that can escape an author’s eye, even after many readings. Because I know what my stories are about and what my sentences are supposed to say, I often read past mistakes — reading what I believe is on the page and not what is actually there. Of course, to help with this, I’ve had numerous people read my stories. It’s always a good idea to have someone read your story, essay, poem, article, or book before sending it out into the world.

I want to thank all the people who read my works in progress. Your input made my writing better. Each of you brought a unique perspective to my stories, and often found problems other readers didn’t. Now, I’m looking forward to working with the wonderful editors at Cornerstone. And I’m excited to see what the graphic design team puts together for the book’s cover!

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Below, in alphabetical order by authors’ last names, is a list of short story collections published by Cornerstone that I’ve read and enjoyed! To check out these books and other short story, poetry, and memoir books published by Cornerstone, click here.

  1. Colleen Alles, Close to a Flame
  2. Jeff Esterholm, The Effects of Urban Renewal on Mid-Century America and Other Crimes
  3. Steve Fox, Sometimes Creek
  4. Nikki Kallio, Finding the Bones
  5. Kim Suhr, Nothing to Lose
  6. Kim Suhr, Close Call
  7. Marie Zhuikov, The Path of Totality
Author photo for my book: Ziva and Me! I sent my final manuscript to Cornerstone on Ziva’s fifteenth birthday. Photo credit: Max Youngquist

Book Review: Ellie’s Pursuit of the Mighty Fitz by Mckenzie Lee Williams and illustrated by Alayna Maria

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Published in hard cover, Williams’s book is durable and easy to wipe clean, making it perfect for young hands.

What is this book about?

It’s the day before spring break at Great Lakes Grade School. All of Ellie’s fifth grade classmates have travel plans. Her best friend, Mike, is going to London with his family to see Big Ben. Ellie worries her friends will return after spring break with wonderful objects and stories for their last fifth-grade show-and-tell, and she will have nothing to share because she isn’t going anywhere. She hopes her father will surprise her with a last-minute trip. But, Ellie’s only surprise is that Grandma Gigi is spending the week because her father has to go on a business trip.

While riding home after school with her father, Ellie hears Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” for the first time. After listening to the song, she has lots of questions about the Fitzgerald. Later she talks to Grandma Gigi about the Fitz and her recently deceased Grandpa Loren, who also sailed the Great Lakes, and even knew some of the sailors from the Fitzgerald. Ellie and her grandma decide to drive from Superior, Wisconsin, to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on Whitefish Point in Michigan. They want to see the bronze bell from the Fitzgerald and to learn more about the ship and its sinking. Perhaps Ellie will have something special to share at her last show-and-tell as a fifth grader.

What makes this book special?

Delightfully written by Mckenzie Lee Williams and beautifully illustrated by Alayna Maria, this chapter book will appeal to children ages eight to twelve years old. I really enjoyed this story, and I read it in one evening. Ellie, the main character and narrator, captured my heart. She is enthusiastic, adventurous, curious, and kind. She loves learning and writing in her journal, and if you’re a writer, you’ve got to love a journal-toting character. Told with tenderness and gentle humor, this chapter book explores themes of disappointment, grief, remembrance, and resilience. Young readers will enjoy taking a road trip with Ellie and Grandma Gigi. Along the way they will learn about the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Great Lakes, and the enduring power of love. Now, I want to visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on Whitefish Point.

A special note about the author, Mckenzie Lee Williams . . .

Mckenzie Lee Williams died in a motorcycle accident in June 2024. She was twenty-three years old, a recent college graduate, and a writer. She was inspired to write Ellie’s Pursuit of the Mighty Fitzgerald when she worked at a bookstore. Customers would inquire about books regarding the Fitz for children, but there was little available. So, Williams decided to write a chapter book. After her death, her mother discovered Williams’s draft of Ellie’s Pursuit. With love and dedication, Williams’s family and friends edited and illustrated her manuscript. Like the bronze bell from the Fitzgerald, Williams’s book is a symbol of spirit, dedication, and love.

I never met Williams but she and I both had work published in the 2024 Nemadji Review at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. I was saddened when I heard about her death. Ellie’s Pursuit of the Mighty Fitzgerald is a lasting tribute to Williams and her talents as a writer.

[Ellie’s Pursuit of the Might Fitz, Mckenzie’s Mommy Publishing, October 2025, is available through Amazon and the National Museum of the Great Lakes.]

Book Review: Blooming Hollyhocks: Tales of Joy During Hard Times by Naomi Helen Yaeger

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Naomi Helen Yaeger, in a delightfully engaging biography, tells the story of her mother Janette Yaeger (née Minehart) who grew up in Avoca, Minnesota. Yaeger spent hours interviewing her mother before her mother died. In her book, Yaeger lovingly recounts the stories of Janette and her siblings, parents, and extended family. Most of the book concentrates on Janette’s life from toddlerhood through young adulthood. However, toward the end of the book, Yaeger summarizes the key highlights of Janette’s and her family’s lives as they moved through adulthood. I’m glad Yaeger did this because after reading about the early lives of Janette and her family, I wanted to know what happened to them as adults.

Yaeger’s book invites readers into a bygone era. We learn about the history, culture, and lives of ordinary people who lived through the depression, WWII, and the Korean War. We read about their daily joys, disappointments, and sorrows. Usually, the history we are taught in school focuses on major events and well-known people. But I find the daily lives of people and how they lived while major historical events happened around them fascinating. And I learned a few things that I didn’t know before reading the book.

As I read Blooming Hollyhocks, I laughed and I cried. I felt connected to my own relatives who grew up in the same era as Yaeger’s. And I remembered the stories they had told me, often similar to the stories Janette Yaeger shared with her daughter Naomi. As I finished Yaeger’s book and closed it for the last time, I was already missing the Mineharts, their relatives, and their friends.

[When I attended Naomi Yaeger’s book launch, someone mentioned that Yaeger’s book would make a great present. After finishing her book, I wholeheartedly agree. If you know someone who lived through this time or grew up listening to the stories of relatives who lived through this time, I believe they would enjoy Yaeger’s book as much as I did.]

I Have a New Bookstore to Love: Dockside Books in Charlevoix, Michigan

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Dockside Books on Bridge Street in Charlevoix, Michigan

There’s a new bookstore in Charlevoix, Michigan, called Dockside Books. It’s appropriately named because water abounds in Charlevoix. From the bookstore if you look to the west, you see Lake Michigan and the Round Lake Channel, which leads into Round Lake. If you look to the east, you see Round Lake, which leads into Lake Charlevoix.

The friendly clerk who helped me pick out a book

Dockside is a charming bookstore. Depending on the light, the color painted on the walls sometimes looks sea green or stormy blue. Changeable like Lake Michigan. A rowboat standing on end serves as a bookshelf. In addition to a wonderful selection of books in all genres, customers can shop for book bags, stationery, bookmarks, and journals. There is a nice sitting area where you can try out a book before you buy it.

I wanted to buy a book to be supportive of the new store. But I wasn’t sure what to get because I’d recently bought other books on my wish list. So, I asked the clerk what her favorite genre was and she said she likes them all (a diplomat!), but she added she loves historical fiction. I asked, “Do you have a new historical fiction book you could recommend?” She did. 33 Place Brugmann by Alice Austen. The story, set in Brussels in a small apartment building, begins with the Nazi occupation of Belgium. I bought the book because I like historical fiction and because the clerk enthusiastically recommended it. Also, I find that reading about World War II, Nazis, and fascism, which I’ve been doing a lot lately, is somehow less scary than reading today’s news. Sometimes, however, the parallels between the past and the present are frightening. I haven’t read the book yet, but if I like it, I promise I’ll post a book review.

I didn’t have long to visit the bookstore because I had two dogs in my car waiting for their promised walk. So I’m looking forward to spending more time in Dockside when I return to Michigan this winter. I also need to read 33 Place Brugmann before I return to the store because I promised the clerk I’d tell her what I thought of the book.

The locals like to say if you keep a big enough boat on Lake Charlevoix, you can go anywhere in the world you want. Sail into Lake Michigan, navigate through a few more Great Lakes and some rivers, and voilà you will sail into the Atlantic Ocean. And from there the world awaits.

Or you can do what I did and visit Dockside Books, buy a book, and go anywhere in the world and anywhere in time without getting seasick. Soon I’ll be traveling back in time to Brussels as World War II begins and the lives of ordinary people are upended because of Hitler.

To see interior pictures of Dockside, scroll through the slideshow below.

Review of Two Books: Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe (2018) & McGarr and the Method of Descartes by Bartholomew Gill (1984)

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Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe is nonfiction. Published in 2018, it tells the story of The Troubles in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants during the 1970s, and its aftermath during the 1980s through the early 2000s.

McGarr and the Method of Descartes by Bartholomew Gill is fiction. Published in 1984, it tells the story of Detective Chief Inspector Peter McGarr who strives to prevent the assassination of a Loyalist Protestant he loathes in order to prevent yet another cycle of violence between Catholics and Irish Protestants.

Both books tell stories involving the Irish Republican Army, the British Army, the Loyalist and Catholic paramilitaries, the informants, and the civilians who are swept up into tragic violence. In both books people are blown up, shot, executed, arrested, imprisoned, tortured, beaten, and burned out of their homes. Gill’s book is fiction, but it mirrors much of what happens in the real world of Keefe’s book.

I started out reading both books at the same time, sometimes reading a bit of each in a day, and other times reading them every other day. I’ve done this before with books. However, I stopped toggling back and forth after I repeated an episode from Gill’s fictional story to someone as if it had been a real episode from Keefe’s book. But in a sense it was real because the episode in Gill’s book was a fictionalized account of numerous real events that Keefe reported about in his book. Switch names and change some of the fictionalized details, and Gill’s event would be real. Gill captures the realism of the events and the emotional trauma that Keefe so deftly writes about in his nonfiction book.

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

Keefe’s book starts with the kidnapping and murder of thirty-eight-year-old Jean McConville, a widow and mother of ten children ranging in age from twenty to six. The IRA accuses McConville of being an informant for the British Army in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Without a trial of any sort, she was abducted from her home in Belfast, driven across the border into the Republic of Ireland, shot to death, then buried in an unmarked, secret grave.

Keefe’s book is highly engaging, well organized, and clearly written — important because he covers a slice of history that is complex and involves dozens of key people. He uses McConville’s abduction as a starting point to tell the story of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, but Say Nothing covers more than McConville’s disappearance and murder. As readers learn about The Troubles during the 1970s, Keefe leaves them with an understanding of the history behind The Troubles, the trauma caused by the conflict, and the negotiated peace that somehow feels tenuous.

I read Say Nothing on the advice of a nonfiction writer, Rachel Hanel, whom I admire. She recently reread and recommended it in her newsletter, stating, “It’s still my favorite nonfiction book of the past 10 years.” Keefe’s book was made into a limited TV series that can be watched on HULU. I have not watched it, but other people have told me it’s very good.

McGarr and the Method of Descartes by Bartholomew Gill

During the investigation of a murder, DCI Peter McGarr and his investigators uncover a plot to assassinate Ian Paisley, a bigoted, loud-spoken, but charismatic Protestant minister beloved by many Irish Protestants. (By the way, Ian Paisley was a real person who was all these things.) McGarr abhors Paisley, but he also detests the IRA, the British Army, all paramilitary groups, and anyone else who conspires to use violence in order to push Ireland and Northern Ireland back into the nightmarish times of The Troubles during the 1970s. Racing against the clock and up against a group of formidable foes steeped in a long tradition of deception and intimidation, McGarr and his team work to prevent Paisley’s assassination.

I read McGarr and the Method of Descartes because I liked the first five books in Gill’s series, which he published from the late 1970s through the early 2000s. I’m intrigued to see how Gill’s characters and stories will evolve in the series. I want to learn more about Noreen, and McGarr’s past, and if women are going to become an integral part of the police force. In Gill’s sixth book McGarr’s wife, Noreen, has a minuscule role, unlike the fifth book where she has her own story arc. But after a debate with McGarr and a sleepless night, she delivers the best lines in the book to her husband before he leaves their house to try and stop Paisley’s assassination.

The female computer expert, Ruth Bresnahan, is back in her biggest role since she joined the squad. The men on McGarr’s team know she is smart and rarely wrong, and they are intimidated by her. But McGarr isn’t bothered by her smarts. He respects her intelligence, doggedness, and energy. He believes in a way she is “worth two of any of the men on the staff.” He has her read into the case and takes time to mentor her. She plays a key part in helping McGarr and the team as they attempt to save Paisley’s life.

Bartholomew Gill’s sixth Peter McGarr book is excellent. It is his darkest story yet. But The Troubles in Northern Ireland was a dark time. I’m glad I read most of Keefe’s nonfiction book along with Gill’s novel. The talents of each writer made me appreciate the other’s book. Reading Keefe’s book gave me a great appreciation for the world Gill developed while fictionalizing actual events in Ireland that were barely dry behind the ears. On the flip side, Gill’s book gave me a great appreciation for Keefe’s ability to capture the human emotion and the tragic toll The Troubles wreaked upon generations of Irish people, both Protestant and Catholic.

A point both books make . . .

Colonialism and imperialism inflict a lasting impact on people who have been subjected to outsiders invading their lands and stripping their rights. The trauma of the oppressed and the entitlement of the oppressors are passed down from generation to generation.

On one side, children of the conquered sit at the knees of their parents and grandparents and learn about the atrocities their people have endured and the acts of heroic resistance they have performed.

On the other side, children of the conquerors sit at the knees of their parents and grandparents and learn about their superiority over other people and their imperial destiny.

Conditions become untenable, things fall apart. Childhoods vanish. Neighborhoods sunder. People die.

Anne of Green Gables, the Play

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Playbill from Anne of Green Gables adapted for the stage by Peter DeLaurier

On Sunday I took my fourteen-year-old grandchild to see a play based on the children’s novel Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.

Montgomery’s novel about a determined, outspoken, red-headed orphan is one of my favorites. I’ve read it twice.

I went to see the play for two reasons: first, to meet up with my old fictional friend Anne Shirley of Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, and, second to introduce my grandchild to Anne’s story. Judging by the large crowd of people at the play, who ranged from senior citizens to young children, Anne Shirley is still loved by old friends and still being introduced to new friends.

Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gables in 1905. At first her book was rejected by publishers. Montgomery set her novel aside for a while, but in 1907 she sent it to L.C. Page in Boston. It was accepted and published in 1908. Within five months she sold over 19,000 copies, and it was reprinted numerous times in its first year. Since its publication over fifty million copies have been sold, and it has been translated into over thirty-six languages.

What makes the novel so popular and timeless? Most definitely, it’s the main character, Anne Shirley, who wins our hearts. Set in the late 1800s, we meet Anne when she is eleven years old. She is an orphan who has lived in both foster homes and the orphanage. Her life changes when Marilla Cuthbert and her brother Matthew Cuthbert decide they need someone to help the aging Matthew with his farm chores. Marilla writes to the orphanage to request a boy be sent to them, but there is a mix up, and Anne is sent instead.

Anne has been an orphan since she was a baby. She longs for a family and a home to call her own. She has red hair and freckles, and she believes this makes her ugly. She is outspoken, talkative, and a daydreamer. In a time when girls were to be ladylike and sweet, her candid manner is labeled impertinent and disgraceful. At first Marilla is adamant that Anne should be returned to the orphanage, but Matthew doesn’t agree. Anne’s spirit touches him, and he convinces Marilla to give Anne a chance.

Why have readers for over a hundred years loved Anne of Green Gables? Because Anne wants what we all want — a home, a family, and to be loved for who she is. She doesn’t want people to make fun of her red hair and freckles. She doesn’t want people to silence her outgoing personality or tell her daydreaming is frivolous. We cheer for Anne. She is our hero, not because she is always good or perfect, but because she is so human. When she makes mistakes, she learns from them while remaining true to herself. Anne’s willingness to be true to who she is as she grows up, changes the people around her, and they become more accepting and open minded.

Over a hundred years after its publication, Montgomery’s story still invites readers to be compassionate and accepting of people’s differences. Furthermore, without moralizing, her novel delivers this message with humor; tenderness; and richly drawn characters, such as the unforgettable, irrepressible Anne Shirley.

The play I saw on Sunday was wonderful. The actor who played Anne Shirley was outstanding. She captured the essence of Anne and brought her to life on stage. The supporting cast were also excellent; after all, there are no small parts. The play was creatively staged on a well-designed set, and the costumes were charming. (I found myself wishing I could wear some of them!) The play remained true to Montgomery’s story, and I loved being able to say to myself over and over, “Yes, I remember that from the book!”

Best of all, my fourteen-year-old grandchild loved the play. Teenage years can be difficult. Young people can be filled with self-doubt and feel as though everyone is judging them as they work to discover who they are and what they want out of life. The characters in Anne of Green Gables remind us that acceptance, kindness, and love are timeless and important for both the young and old. This message feels even more important today. In a world where some people want to divide us, we need to remember we are more alike than different. To forget this is to put our humanity at risk.

My Short Story Collection Has a Title: Silent Negotiations

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My story collection has a title! I’ll debut the cover when that is done.

In February 2027, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will publish my collection of short stories through Cornerstone Press, their university press. I’m excited, and nervous, and grateful. This is my first book, and like a first-time parent, I’m not sure what to expect, so I gather information. I talk to other writers who have published books. I attend book launches and author talks. I read blogs and articles and attend seminars about how to nurture a book in the world.

When Cornerstone accepted my manuscript, my publication date was more than two years away. But now it’s about fifteen months away, and if there is one thing I know about time — it’s how quickly it flies. I need to promote my book, and for that it needs a title.

When I submitted my collection in November 2024, it was called Fishing Around in the Dog Days of Summer, after one of the stories in the book. I chose the title for a couple of reasons. First, I really like its eponymous story about two young sisters with a tenuous relationship who go crayfishing on a hot, humid August day. Second, all the characters in my short story collection are fishing around for something they want. They each dip a line in the murky waters of their lives during their own dog days, hoping to catch something they long for.

But as much as I liked my original title, I began to feel it was too long and would be hard for people to remember. And I worried if the cover depicted a fishing scene along with the title, potential readers might think all my stories were about fishing.

I looked at my table of contents and considered other story titles. “Silent Negotiations” jumped out at me. It’s short and easy to remember, and it’s another story I really like. In 2020, it won second place in the Hal Prize Fiction Contest. (So, I feel the title has good mojo.) In the story a couple who have been married over forty years renegotiate the parameters of their marriage during a disagreement. Each spouse speaks their mind, but only to a point. The rest of their negotiations are silent, yet significant. The characters in my other stories are like the old married couple in “Silent Negotiations.” They all want something. They all talk to each other, but they leave things unsaid. And what is left unsaid, changes who they are with one another and themselves.

After I decided to change my title to Silent Negotiations, I asked my writing friends and readers what they thought. They had all read my stories several times, so I knew they would be good judges as to whether or not the new title would be a good fit for the collection. They all loved Silent Negotiations.

Last weekend I attended the Wisconsin Writers Association Conference in Stevens Point. The Cornerstone Press editors were there too. I talked to Dr. Ross Tangedal about using Silent Negotiations as my title. He liked it too, and so did his student editors.

My book has an official title!

Now, I’m excited to see some cover designs. Before I know it, Silent Negotiations will be out in the world.

I’m hoping to use this picture for my author photo. Photo credit: Max Youngquist

Book Review: McGarr and the P. M. of Belgrave Square by Bartholomew Gill (First Published in the United States by Viking Press, 1983)

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I’m back with another update on my quest to read all of the Peter McGarr mysteries by Bartholomew Gill. I just finished McGarr and the P.M. of Belgrave Square, Bartholomew Gill’s fifth Peter McGarr mystery. And I know I said this about Bartholomew’s fourth book, but his fifth book is now my favorite of the series.

What is this book about?

A dead body lies in a water-filled ditch for most of a day. It’s inconceivable to DCI Peter McGarr that the woman in the house overlooking the ditch failed to noticed the dead man. Furthermore, McGarr reckons she must have witnessed the murder.

The dead man is William Craig, an antiques dealer and business man, who until that morning had lived with his wife in the house with the view of the watery ditch.

McGarr quickly gathers a list of suspects: the wife, the son, the business partner, the gardener, the maid, a member of the Irish Republican Army, a former Nazi collaborator. Given the method of the murder, it appears personal. Curiously, considering the many valuable antiques in Craig’s shop, the only item is missing is a valuable painting.

The P.M. of Belgrave Square is a dog (not the Prime Minister), who has retired from the police force. P.M. lives next door to McGarr, and of course they’re friends. In many ways the dog is a canine version of McGarr.

Thoughts about story and character development in Gill’s mystery series . . .

For four books, I wanted to know more about DCI McGarr’s wife, Noreen. I wanted her to do more than cook a few meals for McGarr, drive him around occasionally, and look stunning in clothes that showcase her ginger-colored hair and green eyes. I wonder if Gill ever received fan mail from readers asking for more Noreen because in this book, she has her own story arc, something missing in the first four books. In the earlier books, Noreen was nice enough, but now she’s interesting.

There are still no female detectives. And the female temp with the competent computer skills, who I really liked, is absent from this book, but I hope she still works for the department. There is only one scene at the police station in this book, so it makes sense we don’t see her.

In Gill’s first five books, we learn a lot about the murder suspects and what makes them tick, but not so much about the detectives who investigate them. It’s nice to have interesting suspects with convoluted psyches and complicated motives. But I’ve been raised on police detective stories that also focus on the investigators and what makes them tick. We get a bit more of that in McGarr and the P.M. of Belgrave Square, as Gill gives us some insight into McGarr’s life through Noreen’s perspective on their marriage.

Turns out Noreen is concerned about Peter’s drinking and his smoking. Throughout the first four books, she seemed oblivious to his bad habits. There are cracks in McGarr’s facade, hints that something from his past has left scars, and Noreen is terrified about his willingness to put himself in harm’s way. His position as a DCI means he should be off the streets and at a desk, but Peter likes to be in the thick of an investigation. She believes he has a death wish. I wonder if she will make it as a cop’s wife.

The Irish Republican Army is back. Insinuations of IRA involvement always complicate McGarr’s murder investigations. He seeks justice for the victim or victims at hand, but Special Branch, or some other investigative entity, often wants to bury IRA involvement, either because they simply don’t want to deal with it or because they are deep into an investigation and don’t want their cover blown. McGarr doesn’t give a farthing for either reason — he solves the case in front of him. If that means rattling the IRA or interfering in an ongoing Special Branch investigation, so be it.

Gill’s Peter McGarr mysteries are dark. Set mostly in Ireland, I can’t imagine they would ever be endorsed by an Irish tourism board. McGarr’s Ireland is a land of dismal weather and stormy seas with only brief bouts of sunshine. McGarr’s Dublin is a city of coal dust, simmering class resentments, and political intrigue.

I wonder if I weren’t interested in seeing how Gill develops his characters over the series, if I would still be reading these books. But I think the answer is yes. The novels have just the right amount of darkness. The writing is good. I like the dialogue. The stories are interesting. The books are quick reads. And the pocket book size feels so comfortable in my hands. After I finished this book, I ordered Gill’s next three mysteries from Thrift Books. So, like Noreen is still sticking with Peter McGarr, I’m still sticking with Bartholomew Gill.

[To read my reviews of the first four Peter McGarr mysteries, click here for books one and two and here for book three and here for book four.]