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Conquering the Acropolis of Athens
A (Very Brief) History of Athens, Greece Athens, Greece is the oldest capital in Europe. The highest hill in the city, The Acropolis, consists of a flat-topped rock over one-hundred-fifty meters high with three incredibly steep sides. An easily defended fortress and military base from both land and sea, it only became a religious center dedicated to the worship of the goddess Athena much later during the rise and fall of the Mycenae civilization near the end of the Bronze Age. For the next four hundred years, Greece plunged into a dark age when little is known. What we think of as Ancient Greek civilization began around the fifth century…
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Murder, Murder, and Found Family
We have an interesting mix of reviews for you this month on SDP! Murder, Murder, and Found Family. But while one of these things is not like the other, the list does illustrate why our group works so well: we’re all very different writers and quite different readers and viewers. This makes for great variety when we’re writing reviews for our blog and great conversations when we get together. But we also value these different perspectives when we’re giving each other advice and critique. Often, one of us sees the things no one else does! And, apparently, this month it’s mostly murder. So let’s start there. Sahar Abdulaziz Murder Your…
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Ode to a Grecian Spring
Many countries celebrate May First as International Labor Day, but it’s more commonly referred to as Protomagia throughout Greece. Literally, the first day of May. It all started with the ancient Greeks who honored the Greek Goddess Maia, who was somehow related to a Roman goddess of fertility. Festivals and parades abound. The locals go out to the country to gather wildflowers or attempt the season’s first swim. This year it fell on a Monday, and being a major holiday, Athenians decided to enjoy a long weekend. Even the land celebrated; the countryside overflowed with flowers. Arriving in Athens later than expected on Friday, we barely had time for a…
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A LIFETIME IS NOT ENOUGH FOR MUSIC
The second book I wrote, Eli’s Heart, is a love story and more. Krissy Porter and Eli Levin meet as young teens when Eli, who is a piano prodigy, visits his older sister in Krissy’s town in Tennessee in the summer of 1953. They become good friends and are on the verge of romance, but their relationship is ended by Eli’s over-protective family. They find their way back to each other while college students and marry on Krissy’s twentieth birthday. The story continues as each of them builds a career in the music world. While Eli was born with an unusual gift for music, he also was born with a seriously damaged…
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All Book Edition!
This month, we have three book reviews for you in three very different genres. First up, a review of Silent Legacies, by local author and fellow member of the Pocono Liars Club, John Abel: M.A. Moore John Abel’s Silent Legacies takes the reader on a gentle but powerful journey through the trauma of war, and the power of forgiveness and reconciliation for those who survive it. The American Civil War remains the bloodiest conflict our country has known, pitting brother against brother. Neighbor against neighbor. It left a wake of physical destruction, personal loss, and guilt in its aftermath. But the victims of war are not only those who fought…
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Book Signing July 8th!
SDP author Evelyn Infante will be at the C. Simpson Used Book Shop on July 8th to sign copies of her books. Come meet the author and get your book signed!
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Dancing Under the Cobwebs
I danced myself dizzy to the rhythms of a bouzouki and guitar. I drank local wine from a carafe that never went empty. Even though completely sated by Greek starters, I ate succulent grilled lamb till I thought I would burst. Ever-present Greek salad with feta, long ropes of pasta with slow simmered beef, garlicky tzatziki, roasted beets, local salami, chunks of crusty bread, and plates of unidentified savories arrived unceasingly from the kitchen. Corfu! Definitely one of the most enjoyable evenings I had in Greece. You may be familiar with Corfu from last year’s BBC series about the Durrells. The Greeks call the island Kerkyra. Corfu is the anglicized…
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Book Signing Postponed!!
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Book Signing June 24th!
SDP author Sahar Abdulaziz will be at the C. Simpson Used Book Shop on June 24th to sign copies of her books, including her newest release, Who Killed Gary. Come meet the author and get your book signed!
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SDP Books Reaches Milestone!
It is with great joy and pride that we announce that Shaggy Dog Productions, LLC, the publishing imprint for The Lady Writers of the Poconos, has reached a new milestone: we have released-or have in the pipeline- 30 books! This is a momentous occasion for us all, and we want to take the time to celebrate all the wonderful achievements that have led to this major accomplishment. From our very first book back in 2015, Tressa’s Treasures, we have come a long way in our mission to bring the words of the Lady Writers to readers around the world. We have a wide variety of titles in our catalog, both…
