Seeking destinations with character...

Medium of Murder wins Award!

27 October 2008

Medium of Murder book cover

While I was away on a press trip, at dinner with a long table full of writers, I received the following message from the editors at Red Coyote Press:

We’re happy to announce that MEDIUM OF MURDER has been honored as an Award-Winning Finalist in the
Fiction & Literature: Anthologies category of the National Best Books 2008 Awards,
sponsored by USA Book News.
 
Congratulations!
 
Best regards,
Susan Budavari and Suzanne Flaig
Red Coyote Press
It was a wonderful moment to share with other writers!
The next day I received a request to attend another book signing and this review showed up on Amazon:
“Quick Draw” by Sarah Parkin is nothing short of delightful! Her two eleven year old protagonists win out against a treacherously violent would-be murderer and thief. Having lied to their parents that each is spending the night at the other’s house, they are sleeping out at the local electronics store. With so many others, they await morning and the sale of the newest electronic magical device. With the outbreak of mayhem and violence, the boys are in great jeopardy, saved by quick thinking and their version of a “quick draw.” Parkin knows kids and is aptly able to portray them with empathy and insight.
This is so exciting!

Wildseed Farms

03 October 2008

Wildseed Farms

Wildseed Farms caught me by surprise.  Anyone with an ounce of nostalgia will find the drive through the Hill Country near Fredericksburg, Texas to the farm a thing of beauty. The long fields of flowers appear to call for people to come and play in them. As the largest working wildseed farm in the United States, Wildseed Farms is 200 acres of 88 varieties of flowers. With such gorgeous fields to dream in, over 350,000 people stop by to gaze at the fields and take photographs. The company developed a visitor center to welcome people with walking trails through the fields, and pick-your-own bouquet fields.  A Market Center provides a place to buy seed packets and garden tools. The Brewbonnet Biergarten provides a place to have a bite to eat and some liquid refreshment. It has now become a destination in it’s own right, rather than a stop along the way to somewhere else. But for me, the real delight was the Butterfly Haus. A 3,000 square-foot screed in structure provides a magical habitat for thousands of native butterflies and the plants that they like the best. An educational center provides a place to watch as eggs are laid, caterpillars spin into chrysalises, and then become beautiful butterflies. A trip to Wildseed Farms is worth the drive. In the end, Wildseed Farms was the big bloomer.

www.wildseedfarms.com

http://www.fredericksburg-texas.com/