A "beautifully written and deeply felt" memoir that "slices to the heart of why the dogs in our lives are so beloved" (Michelle Richmond, author of The Year of Fog). The Sexton family's long love affair with the Dalmatian breed began on a snowy morning in Linda's childhood. At the family home just outside Boston, Linda heard a whimpering coming from the basement. She discovered their first family dog giving birth to a litter. Witnessing the intimate act of birth had a profound effect on the family. Her mother, the renowned poet Anne Sexton, used the experience to complete the poem "Live," part of her third collection, titled Live or Die, which was later awarded the Pulitzer Prize. For Linda, the boundless joy of both breed and breeding triggered a lifelong love of the distinctively spotted canines. All told, thirty-eight Dalmatians will move through her life: the ones that cheer and support her through difficulty, divorce, and...
**A "beautifully written and deeply felt" memoir that "slices to the heart of why the dogs in our lives are so beloved" (Michelle Richmond, author of *The Year of Fog*).**
The Sexton family's long love affair with the Dalmatian breed began on a snowy morning in Linda's childhood. At the family home just outside Boston, Linda heard a whimpering coming from the basement. She discovered their first family dog giving birth to a litter. Witnessing the intimate act of birth had a profound effect on the family. Her mother, the renowned poet Anne Sexton, used the experience to complete the poem "Live," part of her third collection, titled *Live or Die*, which was later awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
For Linda, the boundless joy of both breed and breeding triggered a lifelong love of the distinctively spotted canines. All told, thirty-eight Dalmatians will move through her life: the ones that cheer and support her through difficulty, divorce, and depression; the ones that stay with her as she enters the world of professional breeding and showing of Dals; and, of course, the one true dog of her heart, Gulliver, her most stalwart of canine champions.
*Bespotted *captures an important piece of this literary family's history and taps into the fascinating world of dog showing/dog fancy. It is "a delight and a book of wisdom for all those who love dogs and people" (Erica Jong, author of *Fear of Flying*). Views: 513
Tom Lee's first novel is about a young jogger who is in a relationship with an older woman. She is both his coach and his mentor. Coach Fitz, as he calls her, seeks to instil a philosophy of running which combines 'controlled intensity' with a curiosity about places and their histories. A country boy, he is fascinated by the landscapes of the city beaches and parks through which they travel. And he has his own obsessions – with exercise routines, ancestral legacies, outdoor gyms, horse-racing, weather conditions and inner-city eating habits. Then, suddenly, their relationship falls apart, over the issue of sex – and he becomes a coach and mentor in turn, to a young man this time, as he attempts to orchestrate an ideal expression of his emotional, athletic and intellectual urges.
Tom, a young man struggling to forge some sense from his experiences, employs the services of an older woman as his running coach. A former psychoanalyst, Coach Fitz’s methods combine fitness training with an intense curiosity about the spirit of the places through which they travel. Enthusiastic and perceptive yet plagued by self-consciousness, Tom finds himself at once fascinated and troubled by his mentor’s peculiar ideas.
As they follow an eccentric course across parklands, streets and beaches, a conversation unfolds about the athletic body, architectural style and especially the emergence from adolescence into adulthood. But when his relationship with Coach Fitz breaks down, Tom finds himself dogged by past failures and obsessions, and sets out in search of a student of his own, in an attempt to orchestrate an ideal expression of his emotional, athletic and intellectual urges.
Weaving earnest, comic and dreamlike voices, Coach Fitz finds marvels in unlikely places: in outdoor gyms, picnic spots and water towers; in internet cafés, hotel restaurants and bottle shops; in goat’s cheese, olive oil and sourdough bread; and via the body in motion, in its squats and stretches, burpees and breath friends, run-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, warm-ups and cool-downs.
Coach Fitz is an exploration of the outdoor mentality that plays such a dominant role in the Australian psyche. It is remarkable for its observations about landscape and physical exercise, embedded in the training routines and dialogues of the runners. But most of all it is about the emotions and aspirations of youth, and the complications these engender.
Playful, philosophical and strangely captivating, Tom Lee’s first novel speaks to the contemporary fixation on self-fashioning and wellness, conjuring an immersive world of intimacy, awkwardness and elation. Views: 513
What started out as a pretty typical day, quickly spiraled when Dallon saw her. Buttoned up, full of curves, with a voice smooth as honey and eyes so innocent the flames of Hell warned him to keep on moving.
But then she walked into his bar, out of place and full of determination, wanting only one thing. Him.
What’s a guy supposed to do when temptation herself exits the Heavenly Highway straight onto Sin Street? He does the only thing he can …
Warning: What's done with a beer bottle in this little story may be illegal in forty-eight out of fifty states … and at least two territories. But they won't tell, if you don't.
Author's Note: This novella was previously published by Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. It has been lightly revised and edited from it's original version. Views: 513
It is 1872 when Mary Watson leaves her childhood home to work at Springbank Farm. She soon meets a handsome farmer, Joe Milburn, and becomes infatuated with him, but is he the right man for her? What will her future hold?
Mary’s story is woven into a background of rural life and crime. What happens in this remote valley leaves the community reeling in shock and seeking justice.
Find yourself in the secluded valley of Weardale, on the wide open moors and in the deep mines of the North Pennines, as this intriguing and dramatic story unfolds. Views: 513
Sometimes life can feel a bit suffocating... When a woman is found strangled in the London borough of Soho, the police think it's a suicide, but Violet Despuis knows better, and Cassie knows that if Violet thinks it's murder, it's murder. The two women find themselves needing to prove not only who committed the crime, but also that a crime was committed at all. As Cassie joins Violet in investigating the crime, they quickly find themselves embroiled in a controversy that lands them on the front page. And just in case that wasn't complicated enough, Jake is being secretive for some reason, and Cassie is pretty sure someone is following them. Cassie doesn't need to be a brilliant detective like Violet to come to the conclusion that they're in danger. Will they be able to solve the mystery before the next bodies discovered are their own? The Cassie Coburn mysteries are a cozy mystery series featuring a... Views: 513
Ailya has just died, again; leaving another mortal life lived relatively good but far from pure and not always virtuous. She is returning to the Gray City, a large metropolis located at the Crossing where those like her, not exactly evil just not going to Heaven, live alongside true hell spirits. Many of those spirits are trying to get past the hellhounds that guard the gate into the physical world and she must wait a period of time before attempting the Crossing again. Aliya is a Nephilim, a forbidden child of a fallen angel and a human woman. As a youth before the Great Flood, when her father reigned as a god-king, she met and fell in love with a true angel, Ezi, who was unaware of her heritage until he sought permission from God to marry her. After he is denied and given full disclosure of what she is, he confronts her and leaves in anger. But Aliya is offered an opportunity from God to repent and be redeemed. She must live one truly virtuous mortal life and she will be... Views: 513
