N.O.A. Rawle: Through the Eyes of a Stranger

As it's that time when one reviews the year, I thought it was about time I got my act together. If you have visited here recently, it might seem that I have been dormant for two whole years and you'll most likely have scooted off to more prolific writers/bloggers. My statistics have dropped, both in blogging and writing. That was a conscious choice. My health was suffering (too many sleepless nights creeping up on me) and I needed to devote myself to family and paying work (which I've had to literally double the hours of, what with wage cuts and crazy taxing.) So here are the last two years in review (an easily condensed version)! Stemming from my steampunk interests I've been sewing a whole bunch of things, all shamefully unfinished, apart from a Victorian style choker and a cute hat. The former is made out of a remnant of lace scooped up from the floor of a local seamstress and the latter was a gift from a friend which, if I am honest, I would never have worn a...

At some point in time you may have mused on the romantic idea behind pirates, adventure on the high seas, stolen loot and buried treasure. Rie Sheridan Rose takes those romantic notions one step further in her fantasy novel Mutiny on the Moonbeam, published by Mocha Memoirs Press. When Branwyn St. Clair stands up to her step father and stows away aboard the Moonbeam, she doesn't realise that it will lead her to to a life of adventure and pirating. Johnny Pate, the only human on the elven crew tries to keep her safe, but there are forces working behind the scenes that bring them together in ways which even they can't imagine. Throughout her blog tour , Rie Sheridan Rose has elaborated on the characters and their inspiration and motivation. I didn't read any of it until I got to the end of the book and to writing this review - it's like watching the film before reading the book - for me that just won't do! The characters pull you in and drag you helter-skel...