The Inner Circle of Life

It is still a bit of a mystery to me how my friends come into my life. The best of them, the ones I would consider to be my inner circle, were almost immediate. They all have similar stories: we would meet in various ways, be aware of each other but have no real interaction, and then one day we hang out and never stop - not really. It is instinct. I am not a believer in fate, no choice in the things that happen in my life. But, the automatic way that these people entered my life, like it was supposed to be, unquestionably going to happen - is enough to make me think twice about Fate.

I do believe that we are meant to meet certain people, but it is always up to us how that meeting turns out, how we let them effect us in life. For me, it has turned into how I let them effect my interaction with other people.

I noticed about a week or so ago that I am alone for a good portion of my day, everyday. It took me so long to even think about it because I talk to one or two of my best friends every-single-day. They just happen to all live in different states than I do. Which is also why my being alone doesn't bother me. 

I choose to give my friends power. 

Maybe it is because I am an introvert who has very few actual friends. When I say friends, I mean that a friend be classified as someone who knows things about you because you tell them, and that you hang out with them because you actually like them. These are the people I would take a bullet for. I have one friend who I went to visit and we ended up spending two nights in her apartment doing not a lot except hanging out with each other and talking, because I missed her, because we were true friends. 

My circle of friends is small, but they have such a huge affect on me that I am starting to wonder if it would be smarter to add people to it. The fewer people that have an opinion I actually care about - the more those opinions actually matter. 

I am so thankful for the people that I am fortunate enough to have in my life, in that inner circle. It is a relief when someone actually understands my kind of crazy.

\

"Second Hand Spirits" "In a Witch's Wardrobe" & "Tarnished and Torn" by: Juliette Blackwell

Every so often I come across a series of books that I love and end up reading all of the books in the series even if I didn't start at the beginning. The Witchcraft Mystery series by Juliet Blackwell is one of those. They are not long, complicated books. I would put them in the "Bubblegum Mystery" category. They are just fun, easy literature that adds a little dessert to my day. :) 

The opening book to this is Secondhand Spirits and it introduces us to the main character Lily Ivory and her vintage clothing store she has recently opened up in San Francisco. She gets herself into a bit of trouble trying to rid a neighborhood of evil, but finds a bit of a family in the process. 

There are a few books between the first installment and In a Witch's Wardrobe but since there are only a few things that are continual in all of them, that didn't seem important. I actually read this book before Secondhand Spirits and fell in love with it all the same. 

In this one Lily attends an Art Deco Ball that gets her into trouble. She is like a supernatural "Murder She Wrote". Helping and hindering the local police at the same time while in the end catching the culprit almost all on her own.

Tarnished and Torn is the latest book in the series and has Lily attending an antique jewelry fair and in the process gets mixed up in what may - or may not - be a modern witch hunt! She gets to show us why she is one of the best witches in the business. 

One of my favorite things about this series is her side kick ... a pig who is actually a gargoyle thing. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries. I can't think of anything that would make it inappropriate for any particular age group, but I would say High School or above just for comprehension and being able to relate.  

NEON RUN 2013!!!!!

I love doing these fun runs! When I signed up for this one I was actually planning on doing it by myself, but then a couple of weeks ago my brother, Jacob, decided to sign up himself and his son, Kayden. So, I had people to hang out with while I was there... 

I was stupid and didn't take my camera on the actual run... silly Tamera... next time

This is Kayden while we are all getting decked out in our glowing gear

This is my niece, Payton, she got a glowing wand

This is Keaton , nephew, he did not run, but he was loving the neon body paint!

This is my brother, Jacob, and his wife, Karen. Not sure why Jacob is giving a stink face.

Here we are pre-race.. the boys are very intense.

Yea.. that's me

Everyone lined up to start the race

Kayden after he finished ... embarrassingly faster than I did

Kayden and I after

The three runners! Yea.. I had on neon nail polish just for the occasion

Jacob photo bombing me and looking a bit like a ghost coming out of no where with no arms

The smoky area is where they had the stage and the DJ

The finish line!!!

My time ... it's embarrassing really.... but oh so fun!!!

Exactly Where I Want To Be

(October 1, 2013 - Photo of the Day)

Have you ever looked up from what you were doing to suddenly realize that you were in fact very grateful to be exactly where you were in that moment? To not want to be anywhere else at all? Today I had that feeling. In my ever snaking path of life I find myself in school once again, and at one point I looked up from my walking in the “quad” (for lack of a better word) and could not think of any place I would rather be at that moment then on that path, on my way to class. Which, quite frankly, was a bit of a shock to me after the last few days. It seems like every other way I turn my education is just getting in the way of the rest of my life.

Is it worth it?

Is it REALLY worth it?

This education that I have been drilled to believe that I will be a better person for. That I have convinced myself that I will be smarter, more attractive, better paid and an all-around more productive humane being for having finished.  

In the process of pursuing my education I have moved to Portland, Oregon. It’s a good city. But by no means is it a great one, and I have yet to feel any sort of connection to it. There is a blog, a truly fantastic blog that I love, called “Awash with Wonder” by a woman named Shannon. She recently wrote about her feelings toward San Francisco compared to her current city of Orlando, and the language she seemed to share with San Francisco, that she has been to only a few times – but not with Orlando, where she has lived for years now (the post is called “When a city feels like home” if you are interested). I am feeling a bit like that now. Only I have yet to find my true home. Portland and I definitely do not share a common language. We share a respect for what the other has to offer the other, and a few similar interests that keep us entertained. Unfortunately, Portland is my friend who is my friend because we happen to live in the same neighborhood and know some of the same people, but have no real particular interest in the other.

And then I have moments like today.

I am happy here. I am even involved here. I have no job yet – which may be part of the problem – but for once I have moved somewhere new that did not involve a pre-setup plan and I feel like I have a place here. A self-appointed place, but a place all the same. Portland has given me an outlet for all of the things that I have wanted to try over the years that are just not available in those itsy-bitsy towns I have a habit of living in.

My life so far has been a series of hopeful and sometimes glorious starts, very short middles, and sudden and complete stops so that another tangent can be explored. I am in no way prepared to give up my exploring, and feel like it would be dishonest to myself to do so. This City has given me yet another new start, which to the untrained eye may seem pretty par-for-the-course, but in fact is completely different. In everything that is truly embarrassing, I have to admit that I have put and exceptional amount of laziness into my life. I do not mean that I am an inherently lazy person – I always am trying to do something – but no real effort toward my life as a hole. Now, I have to choose to get up at 7am to be to class so that I may eventually get that degree and have something to show for what I am doing. I am joining groups and making long term commitments here. Ones that I would under no circumstances have joined in any other place before now because I knew a head of time that I would be leaving it all behind in just a few short months.

That translates into a few things happening. Those groups I am joining? They are writing groups, and racing groups, and groups that choose a time to dissect fairy tales. I am going to be signing up for Krav Maga here soon. I am making commitments to things that have always been close to my heart, and I find that I love that. When I first planned on moving here I figured it would be for the 9 months of the school year. Take the summers off, help keep the sanity of a very transient person in a very permanent place. I do not think that that is what will be happening now.

Because if, you haven’t noticed, it is when the insanity is at its peak that you look up and find yourself exactly where you want to be.

"The Book of Blood and Shadow" By: Robin Wasserman

"The Book of Blood and Shadow" by: Robin Wasserman

The Book Jacket:

" "You don't even know that you're living in a before until you wake up one day and you find yourself in an after."

One night. One body, Broken in a pool of blood.
One killer, lost in the shadows. One girl, left behind. Left alone, to face the consequences. To find the truth. To avenge the dead.

One night is all it takes to change Nora Kane's life forever. Her best friend is dead;her boyfriend has vanished. And the trail of blood leads straight back to her: The person who might be responsible. The person who might be next.

Desperate to save the people she loves and determined to find justice for the ones she's lost, Nora unearths a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. Something to which Nora herself might hold the key. It turns out her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries-and solving it may be the only way she can save her own life."

I am a bibliophile. Unfortunately for my bank account, maybe I am too much of one. I will soak in the written word anyway that I can. Including listening to it. "The Book of Blood and Shadow" was one such unabridged audio books.

The thing about audio books is that they are LONG. Probably because they can not speak out loud as fast as I can read a page, so these books tend to be in my life quite a bit longer than any other ones. I actually finished this one a few months ago while in Alaska, but it had been apart of my life for so long that I need a little break.

Here I am, back to tell all of you what an awesome book and author this is.

I would put this in the Young Adult / Thriller / Super Natural category.

I rather loved it. From the very beginning the author has you entranced with the back story of this girl. It takes a little bit to get to the actual story, but not too long, and once you are there it is a steady stream of clues and ancient history and what every conspiracy theorist would tell you is the actual history. I never wanted to take my ear buds out of my ears to go to work (and I may have kept them in a few times anyway).

There was a twist as well. One I did not see coming. As an avid reader these twists no longer come as frequently as they used to. This was a doosey though. Well done there Wasserman.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a Junior in high school and older. 

Someone Much Wiser than I Once Said...

The world sees each of us in such situational light that we sometime forget to take the masks off.

To let people see us for who we are - really 

I Moved to Portland

I moved to Portland, Oregon this week.

I suppose that it really is not any different than any other move I have done in the past. I am leaving behind everything that is normal for me… again. This time, though, is different. This time I am making the move to enter into “normal” society.

When I say that I left everything that I know behind me, I mean a complete change-not just the same job in a different state.

I uprooted everything. I went through every single box that was in my pile of crap in my parent’s garage. I had to find an apartment myself. I bought a bed. A real bed, not just a blow up bed (which for the record I have slept on an air mattress for as long as nine months straight).

I will be finding a real job that will be expecting me to probably stay longer than a “season”. I will be going to a full load of classes that will further my degree and my hopefully my future income. Because, let’s be honest, I really am only returning to school so I can potentially get paid more in the long run.

None of that was going through my mind in the early hours of Friday the Thirteenth though.

Because when it comes down to it, as much as I detest packing all of my stuff up, I LOVE unpacking it all. Suddenly, it is Christmas again – and I am giving myself all of the presents. I get to re-evaluate my life. See what is important to me, what I started and never finished, I remember things that I should always remember, and remember a few things that are painful to bring up.

In my head there is a truly beautiful video montage that plays all the highlights of the last few weeks with very inspirational music talking about being strong, moving on, and being happy.

You should see it – it is awesome.

In a strange turn of events I had the urge to bake some cookies tonight. A sort of christening I suppose. I walked the two blocks to Safeway, got some cookie dough, and came home and baked them. My apartment smelled fantastic. Like a little homeyness in my new home.

I have quite the project ahead of me. That is for sure.

Did I burn the cookies?

Yes, I did

I choose to not take that as a bad omen for my life here though.

I also chose to move onto an ice cream snack

Ice Cream never lets me down

"Learning to Breathe" by Alison Wright

“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break.” – Chinese Proverb

            It is perhaps a stretch to call me a true traveler of the world. I am more a woman with no real sense of, what I would call, relative distance. I make my home where I need to, for the time being, until it is time to move on. I have yet to make a decision on where to live based on where my family is, and this, I think, has given me a bit of a reputation for travel. I rarely go anywhere outside of the town that I am living in at the moment, though and have only been outside of the USA twice. My heart lies in that direction though - To be a true traveler of the world. That coupled with my ever increasing desire to read everything ever written, ever – has sometimes led me to little gem of books like this one, 

“Learning to Breathe” by Alison Wright.

            One of my favorite genera’s of books would be what I have dubbed “Adventure Travel/ Personal Essay”. There is probably a better name for it, somewhere, but this suits me well. Usually, to be in this category the books are about one person’s really long travel adventure to a really cool place around the globe. They take place in a time span of anywhere between a couple of weeks to about four years tops. The writer/adventurer gives a good story about what happened and what they were thinking at the time, but mostly just crazy people that they met on the way. (See “Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost” for a great example and another one of my favorites.) This book goes a step further. That step is why this book will be on my bookshelf of favorites and books to give to other people for a very long time. 

Let me explain:

            Alison Wright is a photo journalist. She has a soft spot for children and South East Asia. One day while on a bus in Laos she is in a terrible accident. Her organs were in the incorrect places and she could not walk for a very long time. She does not want to give up her old life of travel, adventure, and fun though (I mean, who would?) and so against her initial Doctor’s opinion she does exactly that. This book is a memoir of her journey to recovery, and even achieving her goal to summit Mount Kilimanjaro on her fortieth birthday. It was inspirational to read. While I cannot truly or fully empathize with her, I could see the direction she was coming from just from things that have happened in my own life. Sadly, I have found myself devastatingly wanting in my life since a couple of huge accidents that had my guardian angels working double-time. But, that is a different blog post.

            The step farther that Alison takes in her book is the spiritual one. I can tell from reading this that she is a deeply spiritual person, and that that side of things was just as important as overcoming the physical limitations that she suddenly had in her life. Maybe it is because I have been witness to this in my own life so recently, but she talks about how some things happened to her because the right person just so happened to be in the right place at the right time. How, through a courageous journey she has come out the other side with more clarity than she ever imagined before this happened to her.

            I recommend this book to EVERYONE. Alison will take you through this time in her life in a way that has you questioning your own purpose on this spinning rock, and whether or not you are fulfilling that purpose.

            I am coming away from it a better woman for reading it, and I believe that in most cases it would be a benefit to your life to read it as well. Although I do have to warn you that it gave me the travel bug bad, so be prepared for that.

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“It had taken finding a stillness within myself to realize the answer to my question of why I had survived: for this breath. To be truly aware of each precious moment of time, right here, right now. For this very moment is all we have”

“We were all in this together, all companions in the pilgrimage of life.”

-Excerpts from Learning to Breathe

AA : Realities in Island Life

I think that I expected too much from this place and time. In a way this island has been a breath of fresh air in my system. Giving me the moment that I needed to catch my breath. I was still expecting to have more of an ADVENTURE though, and the fact that I have not is a bit depressing.

Which brings me to a few things that I have learned since being here....

1: The adventure is in your outlook on things. I came to a fishing resort and not only have I not gone fishing even once - but I have no desire to go. So when the only activities I do involve me hiking two whole miles to a small waterfall, I must find my own adventures. 

2: No matter where I ever live - the night is still my favorite time of day. It is a universal truth in my little world of wandering.

3: Like attracts like. This is something that I really should have figured out by now but it has really taken this long to sink in I suppose. But to be surrounded by awesome people, you have to be awesome. You have to be the intelligent, well read, active person you want to have around you.

4: There is a reason for me to be in certain places and meeting certain people where ever I go. This truth has never been more poignantly expressed to me than here in this island in the middle of nowhere. To know that the choice to come here brought me to someone who has changed my life for the rest of my life. Even if the most unfortunate of happenings occurred and I was to never see this man again after he steps on the float plane back to California - I will still have experienced this summer with him and have had the conversations we have. Out of all the times that I listened to God, the universe, my gut- whatever you want to call it- I will be eternally grateful that I listened this time.

5: You can never assume anything about anyone. They will always surprise you. I have found here a melting pot of people that has surpassed the wide variety that I have met in my travels so far. I have my usual misfits and travels and then I have people who have tried and failed at life in some way and are now picking themselves back up. They surprise me on a daily basis and in their own way they show me that humanity is going in the general right direction. 

6: I really suck at guessing people's age. This is now a concrete truth for me and I will no longer even attempt to guess anymore.

My season her is almost over. I feel in this moment that even though I will most likely not be returning to this place as I had hoped in the beginning, I will never regret the coming.

Alaska.... The early days

My newest adventure has been dubbed "AA" short for "Alaskan Adventure". I somehow thought it a good idea to go from being trapped on an Arizona Guest Ranch to being secluded on an Alaskan fishing lodge that you can only get to by boat or seaplane.

The first few days in my AA have been pretty good. I am freaking cold. Summer here apparently exactly like fall in the North West. Coming to this from Arizona has been a bit of a shock to the system. Hopefully my body will acclimate to this by the end of the week.

My hope is that this place will be somewhere I want to come back to next year. It's too soon to tell for sure, but I am hopeful.

Someone Much Wiser Than I Once Said...

"Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful  then no matter  how much we have we will not be happy - because we will always want to have something else or something more." 

- David Steindt-Rast 

I suppose that this goes along the lines of "Money can't buy happiness", but there is so much truth here. There is a weight lifted off my shoulders when I take a minute or two and think about what I DO have. The relationships, the employment that pays my bills, the health, the ability to have many hobbies, ALL OF MY BOOKS. 

I am usually thanking Heavenly Father, but it would also be applicable to thank whatever you wish. Whether it be a God, the universe, the Earth, or the thing itself. 

You will see how full your life really is. 

"The Good Girl's Guide To Getting Lost" by: Rachel Friedman

I loved this book!

I will say now that I recommend it to anyone and everyone. 

Beware: The probability of catching the travel bug is high.

"The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost" by Rachel Friedman was a fantastic distraction from my current very sedentary life. It is the story of how Rachel found her way in the world.. while seeing the world. 

(This is a video of one of her book signings)

I am a self proclaimed junkie when it comes to what I like to call "adventure travel" books. But most of the ones that I come across are written by people who are lucky enough to have made travel their careers or have had a successful career already and with a healthy nest egg in hand are emerging into the world. 

What I loved about this book was that she is basically broke.. and new to everything. 

I probably relate to her on some level that even I (in my gypsy ways) don't want to admit to. 

This is the description that is on her website:

Rachel Friedman has always been the consummate good girl who does well in school and plays it safe, so the college grad surprises no one more than herself when, on a whim (and in an effort to escape impending life decisions), she buys a ticket to Ireland, a place she has never visited. There she forms an unlikely bond with a free-spirited Australian girl, a born adventurer who spurs Rachel on to a yearlong odyssey that takes her to three continents, fills her life with new found friends, and gives birth to a previously unrealized passion for adventure.

As her journey takes her to Australia and South America, Rachel discovers and embraces her love of travel and unlocks more truths about herself than she ever realized she was seeking. Along the way, the erstwhile good girl finally learns to do something she's never done before: simply live for the moment.

Again: I recommend this book to everyone. 

And maybe plan a trip of your own

Potentials

I have been thinking of the mere existence of potential quite a bit the last few days.

It all started on Sunday. I went to church, something that is happening with more frequency and willingness in the last few weeks, and during Sacrament meeting (it's the equivallant to mass for all the non-Mormons that may stumble upon this page) and I was taking the sacrament (it's like communion - minus the wine) when I started to think about Christ. Now just in case you happen to be reading this and are not a christian... I think it will still be interesting... just bear with me.

So, the entire purpose to taking the sacrament is to remember Christ and his sacrifice to the world. Admittedly, I am generally not very good at this task. I can be seen doing everything from writing in my journal about something unrelated to staring at one of the babies that sits in front of me to entertain myself.

I, for once, was able to focus on the task at hand though. Christ and the infinite atonement that allows us to return to our Heavenly Father. I just kept thinking of all the doors that are opened up to us because of this sacrifice.

(Here is where we lapse into the gospel according to Tami and should never be taken as official LDS doctrine):

Because of this sacrifice, we are lifted from the previously insurmountable task of actually paying in full for every sin we make. All those pesky sacrifices and laws that quite frankly would have gotten very old, very quickly.

I, for one, am not quite able to imagine a world where we were bound by such things.

I also see a world limited. Thinking about it now, and most likely this is just a window into where I currently am mentally, I can not even describe how we would be limited. It is more a feeling of dread to be living under such drastic and intense rule.

it is as though this sacrifice not only opened the heavens to us, but the Earth as well. I wonder if we would still have the same cultures and divisions as we do now. Would we have the opportunities that we do now.

The world as a hole was given a second chance to become what they wished to be.. the best of what they could, would, and should be.

(Here is where any non-Christians can jump on... I promise no more talk of Christ)



POTENTIAL

No matter where you may believe we get it, or acquire it, or find it inside of ourselves - there is always that fact that we are never fully living up to it.

We can always be more, see more, love more, do more, experience more.

In my day of thinking of this I came up with an EXTREMELY LONG list of things I should be doing, that I am not. It was really kind of sad. My list of things that I already doing was pretty much narrowed down to two things: 1.I am a nice/good person 95% of the time and 2: I keep a journal.

There is so much more to this life. A continuance of learning and growth that helps us to achieve that height that we all want to be at.

The task of goal setting seemed the most appropriate sort of way to help myself achieve this potential I seek so wantonly after. The fact that I have yet to actually finish any goal ever has yet to really become important. The point is to change and become better. Maybe my penchant for falling off the wagon will change in the process.

Black Jack - Me Against the Dealer

(This is Linn. She taught me everything I know.)

So, as the good little Mormon girl that I was raised to be, I was not really ever exposed to gambling. The church itself frowns on anything having to do with gambling, even to the extent of not taking tithes from your winnings. This definitely limited my exposure to gambling to mostly things like Oreo cookies and SweetTarts. I have accidentally won the $50 pot playing some Texas Hold'em with the cowboys working at the first Guest Ranch I worked at. It was pretty much a fluke, as I had no idea what I was doing really, and none of them talked to me for a couple days. Needless to say, I was no longer welcome to play in their tournaments  I was welcome to watch though... someone had to heckle and keep the mood light. Looking back I have to say that the only reason I won was because no one noticed I was winning until the last few hands. I also think I was a better liar back then.

My relatively sheltered existence has been opened up yet again, and it was opened up to the game of blackjack. My fun loving GM here at Rancho de los Caballeros had a left over beer keg.. most likely from a group... that was going bad. What does one do when you have a bunch of beer you need to get rid of? You set up a casino night for your employees of course!

What is casino night, you ask?

My GM found a company that would come and set up tables and teach everyone how to play these games. We had blackjack, craps, Texas  hold'em, and roulette. My friends and I were pretty much accidentally smart enough to go directly to the black jack table.

Where Linn was waiting.

Linn taught all us new comers how to play this awesome game! Basically, It is you against the dealer and despite my youthful games of "21" the point is not always to get to 21. I learned about bust cards and that you should usually only split your hand for A's and 8's. I learned about doubling down, but never really got any real money out of doing it. I stood at that table for 2 hours straight. I have seen all of the gambling shows that show people staying at a table for an entire day, and I finally understand how that can happen.

I did briefly try my hand at roulette.... oh how I failed with a flourish at that. I was there for a total of probably five minutes and lost almost a thousand dollars. I moved back to my new favorite game for the last twenty minutes of the night and won most of it back.

You lost a thousand dollars?!?!

The best part of this evening was that none of it was real money.

We started out with a thousand dollars in chips and were supposed to go from there. The point to this other than playing and having fun was that we could "buy" some of the swag that we sell at our gift shop. I now have yet another water bottle, and traveling coffee cup, and T-shirt, and bandanna. All of which have the company logo on them.

I have to admit though... I probably won't be trying to win my yearly rent money in Vegas anytime soon.

"The Lost Night" By: Jayne Castle

"The Lost Night" by Jayne Castle, who also writes under the names Jayne Anne Krentz and Amanda Quick, was great. It was fun, suspenseful, and original. 

This is a futuristic, romantic, suspenseful, and paranormal novel. I loved every minute of it. She makes brief mention of ancient Earth and the things and traditions that made it over to the new planet. I like that this book is futuristic and in its own right even a bit sci-fi, but without all of the spaceships and the like. The story flows very well, and leaves me excited for the rest in this particular series. 

Here is the official synopsis from her website:

"Even the mysterious world of Harmony has people who don’t quite fit in. They’re drawn to places like Rainshadow Island, a beautiful sanctuary where anyone can feel safe—and where secrets are closely guarded...

Schooled in an exotic form of martial arts, and with the ability to detect the auras of dangerous psychic criminals, Rachel Bonner and her dust bunny companion have found peace and quiet on Rainshadow Island, operating a bookstore and café.

But her tranquil new life is thrown into chaos when Harry Sebastian, the descendant of a notorious pirate, arrives to investigate strange developments in the privately owned woods known as the Preserve.

Immediately drawn to the amber-eyed woman, Harry must tread carefully. While Rachel’s special talents can help him track down dangerous rogues who have violated the Preserve, they can also sense the heart of darkness within him. But desire can weaken the strongest of defenses—and leave even the strongest man wanting more..."

I would definitely recommend this book. It's not exactly epic literature, but I enjoyed it.

"Moonfall" By: Tamara Thorne

Unfortunately, every roommate I have ever had during that most lovely month of October can attest to the fact that I commence complaining about the lack of good Halloween books for me to indulge in. 

Well, in this last week in January, I have finally found a really great Halloween book. 

Moonfall by: Tamara Thorne

Here is the official synopsis from her website:

"Moonfall, the picturesque community nestled in the mountains of Southern California, in a quaint hamlet of antique stores and craft shops run by the dedicated nuns of St. Gertrude's Home for girls. as autumn fills the air, the townspeople prepare for the festive Halloween Haunt, Moonfall's most popular tourist attraction. Even a series of unsolved deaths over the years hasn't dimmed Moonfall's renown. Maybe because anyone who knew anything about them has disappeared.

Now, Sara Hawthorne returns to her hometown... and enter the hallowed halls of St. Gertrude's where, twelve years before, another woman died a horrible death. In Sara's old room, distant voices echo in the dark and tormented cries of children shatter the moon-kissed night

But that's just the beginning. For Sara Hawthorne is about to uncover St. Gertrude's hellish secret... a secret she'll carry with her to the grave.."

But

I LOVED this book! I could literally barely put the book down long enough to eat or sleep or go to work for two days. Tamara Thorne is such a talented story teller. She has a talent for moving the story along without adding unnecessary violence or action. I loved the background that she sets the story up with. 

What the synopsis does not mention is the other main character, John, who you actually start the story with. You get to witness the tragedy of his brother's death, and the subsequent loss of friends and family soon after. I would almost say that it is more his story that Sara's. 

Another thing that I really live is how Thorne so seamlessly interweaves the Occult with Christianity, without actually going into too many details for either. 

She had me on the edge of my seat, loving how things were playing out on the page. 

I would definitely recommend this book, with exceptions.

This is in the HORROR genre. I know more than a few people who can not take it, even if they say they can *cough*Cate*cough*.  

I for one, will be buying more of her books, though I may keep them til Halloween.