Writers are important but so are readers. Readers and writers need each other. Writers provide their audiences with news, valuable information as well as entertainment.
First I love Sandra Brown books. Blood Moon is one of her newest books published this year 2025.
Blood Moon is a novel about Detective John Bowie who is just trying to keep his job. But he has a case that the police department arrested a suspect, prosecuted him and convicted him. But Detective Bowie has always questioned whether the right man was convicted.
Beth Collins is a producer of a true crime television show. Her boss is airing a show about the Crissy Mellin case. She feels that something wasn’t quite right about the Crissy Mellin case. Beth believes the real killer is still out there and is going to strike again when there’s another blood moon in just a few days. She convinces Detective Bowie to at least take a second look at the case.
Blood Moon
Bowie doesn’t want to get involved. However, his doubts about the case force him to get involved. Bowie also has an ex wife and doesn’t want to have another relationship. But Beth might just change his mind as they spend time together going over the case.
I always enjoy a Sandra Brown book. But for me this book wasn’t one of her best. But that’s just me. I didn’t enjoy or understand a lot of the scientific details about blood moons. I never did like science. For those, into science and the solar system, they will understand it better.
The characters were good. I liked all the characters. I was particularly fond of John’s teenage daughter. She was dealing with the usual teenage issues, as well as coping with her parents’ divorce. Beth was very believable as the girl who left the area and held a fast paced television producer position. John was the good cop dealing with an unreasonable boss and corruption in the police department.
Even though this wasn’t my favorite Sandra Brown novel, I would recommend reading it. The suspense is good and it keeps you guessing about who really is the killer.
I am a Sandra Brown fan. I have read several of her books and I enjoyed most of them. I think her early books were more romance than her newer books. I didn’t care a lot for those and ended up putting those aside. I may read those at a later date.
Some of Sandra Brown books that I have read include: Unspeakable, The Alibi, French Silk and Mean Streak. The first year I joined my book club, I choose her book “Overkill”. I have been a fan since then. I loved all of those books and I had a hard time putting those books down.
I just finished the Sandra Brown book “The Witness” and I recommend reading it. It’s full of intrigue, danger and love and romance.
At the moment, I have just started her new book “Blood Moon”. This is my book club choice for this year. It sounds very interesting but I have only read the first chapter yet. It will probably be another page turner. I am sure I won’t be disappointed and will be unable to put it down.
I never knew my actual grandparents. I saw my grandmother on my mother’s side a few times but never really knew her. It’s sad that I never really had grandparents in my life.
I made Madeline my adopted grandmother when I went to work for her as her caregiver. We sat and talked for hours when I had everything that was needed done. She told me some wonderful stories of her life. Madeline had grown up during the depression era and World War II. She had been a teacher and she told me about her college adventures and romances. She shared with me stories of the other man she almost married. Madeline lived away at college and came home on weekends by train. Madeline had a talent for music and she became a music teacher. Although her family couldn’t afford for her to go to college her church stepped in with a scholarship.
When Madeline came home as a teacher, one of the first things she did was form a school band. I remember her story of how she had friends, neighbors and other community members searching through attics for instruments for her students. And she managed to construct the first band for that high school.
Madeline married and had two children but continued teaching. But her family always came first and she raised two great children. She was loved by her students who still dropped in to visit with her when her health declined. Madeline was very active in church and community activities. At one of the town’s parades, Madeline was the Grand Marshall of the parade.
Madeline also did a lot of traveling after her retirement. When her sight failed, I would sit and read her the notes she had written about her travels. One evening we got out boxes of valentines from her grade school days. It was amazing to see old valentines with movable arms and legs. They don’t make valentines like that anymore.
I spent many hours with Madeline and I enjoyed every minute. She was a beautiful, unique woman who gave her time and love to so many others. I will never forget some of the lessons I learned from her. I always remember her kindness to everyone. I learned to be more tolerant of people. I offer find myself repeating something she would say. When asked if she liked a new food, she would either say she did like it. Or she would say “I wouldn’t walk around the block for it”.
Madeline died when she was 102. Her last unselfish act was to donate her body to science. She hoped that doctors would find cures for some of the problems that she had suffered.
Annie and Josie Bassett were the daughters of Herbert and Elizabeth Basset. Herbert was an educated man who had been a teacher and then later served in the Union Army. During the gold rush years, his brother Samuel headed west. Herbert decided to move his family west because of his health. The family ended up settling in Brown’s Hole, Colorado. Brown’s Hole also had close borders to Utah and Wyoming. His wife, Elizabeth, renamed it “Brown’s Park” because of its natural beauty. The family settled down there and built a small cabin, started ranching, and their family grew to four children.
The Basset Family
Herbert tended to be quieter and calmer than his beautiful, wild wife. The Bassett family was very social and welcomed everyone into their home. Strangers, church-going neighbors, travelers, and many times even outlaws hiding from the law. Butch Cassidy was one of those famous outlaws. He was romantically involved with both Anne and Josie Bassett at different times. Members of the Butch Cassidy gang, the Wild Bunch, were welcome visitors.
Elizabeth Bassett, Anne, and Josie’s, mother was a beautiful woman. She could ride rope, shoot, and rustle cattle as well as the men who were devoted to the family. These men would do anything Elizabeth or her daughters asked them to do. Even if it meant breaking the law. Her two daughters took after her. After Elizabeth’s death when she was only 37, the sisters took over running the ranch. By this time, there was a feud starting between the small ranches and the big cattle barons. This feud was particularly between the Bassets and the Two Bars Ranch.
Butch Cassidy and The Wild Bunch
Anne Basset
Anne was involved with several of the outlaws that hung out at the ranch. But then she did become engaged to Matt Rash. Before they were married, though, the owner of the Two Bar Ranch brought in a hired gun. Tom Horn was hired to hunt down cattle rustlers, and Matt Rash was shot and died. After this, things escalated between the two families. Anne would drive many of the Two Bar Ranch cattle over a cliff in revenge. At one point, she stood trial for cattle rustling but was acquitted. Both Anne and her sister were admired and respected. The cowhands they worked with had a great respect for these two women. They admired them for their ability to run a ranch and work right along with the cowboys. Queen Anne, as she was often referred to was well-liked. On the other side the cattle rancher was so disliked that Queen Anne was given a parade in honor of her acquittal.
Josie Bassett’s cabin in Cub Creek
Josie Basset
While Anne was the more daredevil of the two girls, Josie was more domesticated. However, she could hold her own on the ranch, riding, roping, shooting, and rustling cattle. Josie was married five times. She divorced four of those husbands, and the fifth was rumored that he died of poisoning. Josie was charged with his murder but was acquitted. The fifth husband actually died from alcoholism. In her later years, she was asked if she poisoned her fifth husband. Her answer was a smile, and she just said that some husbands are harder to get rid of. Josie also stood trial for cattle rustling, but she also was acquitted. In her later years, close to forty years old she built a cabin in Cub Creek. During the years Prohibition Laws were in effect, Josie made her own whiskey, wine and brandy. Here at her cabin she lived off the land for the next fifty years. Josie died in May 1964. She had lived long enough to see automobiles, electricity, television and phones and two world wars.
Anne and Josie Bassett were an interesting pair of sisters. They grew up running wild and were friends with known outlaws. They were women who were before their time, women who took control of their own destinies. They were liked and respected for their independent natures. They did what women weren’t supposed to do. They became women legends of the old west.
The story of Ella Watson is a two-sided story. Ella Watson was a woman who owned a small ranch in Wyoming. She became known as a cattle rustler, outlaw know as Cattle Kate. There is the story the newspaper printed. This account was printed immediately after Ella and her boyfriend or partner were lynched. But then there is the story that was told after more facts were discovered. Ella Watson has been portrayed as an evil villain, but that is probably not the real story.
Ella married her first husband when she was only eighteen years old. She left him when he proved to be an abusive husband. She moved to Rawlings, Wyoming, where she first worked in a hotel. She also did something that was unheard of in Wyoming in those early days. Wyoming was not yet a state but a territory. Ella, a woman, filed a homestead claim for one hundred and sixty acres of good grazing land. After filing for the land she started raising cattle. The men in the territory did not take a woman rancher well.
Ella also met Averell Verill, who was many things in the small town near the Sweetwater River. He was the postmaster and land surveyor, ran a small general store, and was the justice of the peace. Ella helped him in his store, and he probably helped her with her homesteading claim. Averell also purchased land or filed a homestead claim. Between the two of them, they had a rather nice but small ranch.
Lawless Wyoming
This was a time when there was almost no law in Wyoming. Cattle barons owned large ranches, and the cattle business was booming. The cattle were allowed to roam and sometimes wandered from the herds. Sometimes, unbranded calves and cattle were hard to prove just who owned the cattle. At first, this wasn’t a big problem because the cattle barons were still making high profits. However, there were several seasons when drought hit the area and the market for beef bottomed out. The grazing land became overused from so many herds of cattle, and water became an issue.
Jim Averill Ella’s Partner
Ella and Averell owned property with a fairly good water supply. However, they had fenced-off sections of their property. From Western stories and movies, we have heard about cattle ranchers and deadly fighting over water rights. I would guess that this is what started the dispute between Ella Watson and the rich cattle barons.
On July 20, 1988, a group of landowners, who were probably drunk, went to Ella’s cabin and forced her into a buggy. After they had Ella, they went after Averell. Ella and Averell were then hung from a cottonwood tree. It was then that the stories began. Stories that Ella had been rustling cattle and that Averell had been running a house of prostitution in town. There really was no evidence of any of these claims. But this is what the newspapers printed, and these stories spread across the United States. These stories made Ella out to be a villain and female outlaw of the West. The men who did the lynching were never tried or brought to justice.
I wish I had learned that all people have value. Even those like me who think they don’t have value.
I was raised in a large but poor family. One very important lesson that I have learned in life is that I might have come from a poor family. However, I had a much better life than younger generations who are given everything they want. We had a stay at home mother and a hard working father. They both loved us very much. Today, I still have five living and loving siblings. I have often said that our family very closely resembled the Television show (The Waltons). I loved that show.
There is another story I would like to share. Dolly Parton had a big hit song with her song (Coat Of Many Colors) that her mother made for her. I can also relate to that. My mother was a good seamstress and she made me a coat. Now my coat was nice. My mother got a lot of compliments on that coat. It was all blue denim but she made it with love for me.
Being poor did have bad influences on me. I didn’t even know I was poor until another girl in third grade brought me an Easter egg. She said that my family was poor and I probably didn’t get anything for Easter. She was right. It was then that I started to notice that my clothes weren’t as nice as the other girls. My hair was cut by my mother and wasn’t stylish. I came to think I wasn’t as good as other children.
My self esteem suffered. I started to stay in the background trying not to be noticed. This pattern of behavior followed me throughout my school years. I decided against college because I felt we couldn’t afford the cost. I had started working in my junior year and I enjoyed having money of my own. I enjoyed being capable of affording some new store bought clothing. Years later, I did return to college. I wish I had done that when I was young enough to have enjoyed the experience.
But I didn’t always appreciate my large family. I hated that we were poor. But we survived and made better lives for ourselves and our children. But looking back, the one lesson I wish I had know was how terribly valuable everyone, including myself, is. The second lesson I wish I had know, was how valuable family is.
Daily writing prompt
Share a lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life.
Elizabeth was born the daughter of Hannah Lane and Samuel Blackwell in 1821, their third child. She was born in Bristol, England. Her family enjoyed a prosperous lifestyle there. However, riots broke out and they lost their business. Her father made the decision to move the family to America while she was still a young girl. Samuel Blackwell felt he would have more job opportunities in America. He also wanted to support the anti-slavery movement and women’s rights movement for his daughters. The Blackwell family settled in New York in 1832.
Education
Samuel Blackwell did not want his children educated by the church. Therefore, they received their education through their parents and private tutors. Elizabeth could speak several languages, including French and German, as well as English. She also received education in music and literature. Elizabeth was fortunate that her father believed in education for his daughters as well as for his sons. This was a time when usually women did not have the same opportunities for education as men. In fact, it was rare for a woman to have access to higher education at all. For Elizabeth to become a doctor, she had to confront entrenched views. She had to challenge preconceived ideas about the roles of women in society.
First Work Experiences
When Elizabeth was eighteen, her father died unexpectedly. He left her mother, Hannah, with nine young children to support for. For some time, Elizabeth, along with her two sisters and mother, worked as teachers to support the family. Teaching was one of the few occupations that society accepted for women at that time. Together, the Blackwell women opened a private academy for young women in Cincinnati, Ohio. Elizabeth also moved to Henderson, Kentucky, to take a teaching position. However, her anti-slavery views clashed with the school’s teachings. She left after her first year.
During this time period, Elizabeth had a close friend who was dying of a disease that affected women only. This friend was the person who most influenced Elizabeth to pursue a career in medicine. She confided to Elizabeth how embarrassing it was for her to let male doctors examine her. Her friend wished that women were allowed to enter the medical field and treat women like her. This was the first time that Elizabeth had ever considered the possibility of studying to become a doctor. She had never considered medicine as a career. In fact, she had found the study of the body, diseases, and sickness to be appalling and disgusting. In honor of her friend’s thoughts and wishes, Elizabeth set her sights on becoming the world’s first woman doctor. It would not be an easy path to forge.
Elizabeth Fights for a Career as a Woman Doctor
At the beginning of her quest to earn a medical degree, many of her friends were against the idea. They tried to discourage her. They didn’t feel she had any chance of becoming a doctor due to being a woman. Elizabeth persisted even though she had no idea where to begin. So she began by studying with private doctors John and Samuel Dickinson, who were willing to teach her. She also spent a lot of time reading and studying on her own. From there, she began to apply to different medical schools. She was always told that they would not accept her because she was a woman.
Geneva Medical College
Finally, one school did admit her to their medical program of study. It was the Geneva Medical College in New York. Although she was admitted to the college, it was not going to be an easy road to her medical degree. The male students treated her as an oddity. They joked about her. Some went so far as to bully her. Some professors refused to let her in their classrooms and demonstrations. Elizabeth refused to give up no matter how much abuse she received and just worked and studied even harder. In Jan 1849, it paid off, and she received her medical degree and graduated first in her class. I wonder how chagrined and embarrassed those boys who had bullied her felt.
Continuing Studies
After graduating with her medical degree, she moved to London and Paris, where she continued studying. Here, she took courses in midwife studies. Unfortunately, it was here that she would be infected with an eye infection from one of her patients. She lost her eye due to the infection and thus ended her ambition of becoming a surgeon.
Doctoring in New York
Upon returning to New York, she set about helping poor women and children. She opened several facilities for women and children to receive medical treatment. She also opened the first medical college for women in New York. Elizabeth helped her younger sister Emily enter the field of medicine. Together, they opened and operated facilities for poor women and children, as well as supported many other causes. Doctor Rebecca Cole would be the first black woman doctor to work with Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell at her Infirmary for women and children.
Civil War
During the Civil War, Elizabeth helped the Union effort with her knowledge of medical practices. This included advocating for clean, sanitary conditions as well as proper personal hygiene in Union hospitals and army camps. She also worked with President Lincoln in establishing The US Sanitary Commission. She trained other nurses in proper sanitary procedures for wartime. These trained nurses helped to reduce diseases from spreading through hospitals and among the men in the army camps.
Elizabeth Blackwell’s Achievements
First woman to receive a medical degree
Worked and studied at Bartholomew’s Hospital in London
Opened a private practice when no hospital would hire her
Opened the New York Dispensary for poor women and children
Opened the New York Infirmary for indigent women and children
First woman listed on the British Medical Register
Opened the first medical college for women
Worked with President Lincoln during the Civil War to establish the US Sanitary Commission in 1861
Lectured at the London School of Medicine for Women
Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame 1973
Founded the National Health Society in 1871. Its goal was to teach people about the importance of cleanliness and living a healthy lifestyle
This is only a short list of the achievements of Elizabeth Blackwell. I am sure there are many others as well.
Books by Elizabeth Blackwell
The Religion of Health
Essays in Medical Sociology
The Human Element in Sex
Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women
Medicine as a Profession for Women
Address on the Medical Education of Women
Again, this is only a short list of books and articles written by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. I believe she also wrote many articles about women’s health, as well as articles about sanitation, cleanliness, and hygiene.
Elizabeth Blackwell: A Lasting Legacy
Elizabeth forged a path into the medical field for many other women to follow, including her sister Emily. The two of them together changed perceptions in the medical profession. They worked together or separately to advance the acceptance of women. The field had viewed women as inferior, ignorant, and lacking sense. It also considered women as not having the mental attitude for the medical profession. Elizabeth proved them wrong.
This is a true story. The story of the dead woman in the bathroom. Two of the ladies who were there told it to me. Years later all but one of these women have passed on.
In our small town, just about everyone knew each other. They worked together, went to church together, or had some social events they were involved in. This led to close friendships for these four women, Gertie, Maggie, Ginny, and Martha. All of them were retired. Their friendship included afternoons of getting together and playing cards. All of them had been married, raised children, and assisted each other when they lost their husbands.
Martha was a retired elementary school teacher, greatly loved by her former students and the community. She was in her seventies but continued to be very active and healthy. She still continued donating a lot of her time to church activities and helped any children with schoolwork difficulties. She had recently started a part-time job in a small restaurant. This helped fill her time after her husband’s death.
Maggie had worked as a secretary and clerk until retirement. She was the one who was full of laughs and told some off color jokes in private. She usually kept the card group laughing at some of her stories she liked to tell. She also was still active in church and community activities.
Ginny was the quiet serious one. But like Maggie she had a few good stories of her own. She had worked for the local doctor for years and still occasionally filled in when he needed her. She was the oldest member of the ladies card club, but still stayed busy with various activities.
Gertrude (Gertie) was a combination of all the ladies. She had been quite popular with the gentlemen in her youth and she had some wild tales of her own. Gertie had been a nurse at the nearby hospital. After retiring she had worked as a private nurse in some of the wealthiest homes in the surrounding area. When anyone really needed her help she would still step up and help.
One day in early September the four friends gathered in Martha’s spacious dining room. The house smelled of freshly baked bread, and cookies. Moreover, each of the other three women had brought food and snacks for lunch. The smells gave the promise of an awesome lunch. Good food was as important as friendship, gossip and card games.
The four women quickly settled in the dining room. They began playing cards. They laughed and caught up with the latest news and gossip around town. There wasn’t much news or gossip and the conversation lagged as each lady focused on winning the card game. After the first game had been completed they took a break.
Maggie announced that she was going to use the bathroom and disappeared down the hallway. The other three ladies continued chatting and shuffling the cards, getting ready for the next game. Ten minutes passed and still Maggie hadn’t returned from the bathroom. Gertie, Martha, and Ginny looked at each other and wondered what was keeping Maggie so long in the bathroom. They patiently waited another five minutes, then Martha was sent to check on Maggie. The others were getting anxious to start the new game.
Suddenly Martha came rushing back into the dining room. She said there was something wrong with Maggie in the bathroom. Maggie wasn’t responding when Martha attempted to wake her. Maggie was just sitting on the toilet with her head resting on her chest. They needed to call the doctor right away. Gertie, the nurse, promptly went to check on Maggie while Martha made the call to the doctor.
Several minutes later Gertie returned. The other three women were stunned and unbelieving as Gertie said that Maggie had died in the bathroom. Martha and Ginny were confused and frightened by the sudden death of their good friend, Maggie. They clung to each other, cried and grappled to understand how this happened. It just wasn’t possible they said, Maggie had just been sitting at the table with them. They found this too hard to be believable.
The doctor’s office was close by and he arrived within a short time. After a quick examination he confirmed Gertie”s verdict that Maggie was indeed dead. She had suffered a massive heart attack. The funeral director was called, who also lived a short distance away. He arrived and transported Maggie to the funeral home, leaving behind three very shocked and shaken card players.
This story sounds like it could have been an episode of (The Golden Girls). I assure you this is a true story.
Maggie’s death ended the card game that day for the women. It would be some time before any of them recovered from the shocking death of their friend. As they say, life does go on. In the small town where the four friends lived, life went on. However, not one of them ever forgot the day that a friend died in one of their bathrooms.
A few years ago I joined our local book club. I love reading and I hoped to find new authors that I would enjoy reading their books. I have indeed found a few new authors that I am now trying to read all of their books. I really enjoy John Grisham, Linda Castello, and Nora Roberts. Now, I am going to read more books by Fiona Davis.
I have just finished the book “The Spectacular” written by Fiona Davis. I found it very interesting and entertaining. It first starts off in 1992 then reverts back to 1956. The story begins with Marion, the main character, being escorted back to Radio City Music Hall. For a short time, she had been one of the famous Rockettes. Then the story shifts to 1956. At that time, she faced difficult choices about her future. She needed to decide what she really wanted to do with her life. In the 1950s, many believed that women should be wives. They thought women should stay at home as mothers. But Marion had taken dance lessons all of her life and loved dancing. For Marion, this led her to difficult family issues.
The New York City Bomber
As Marion moves ahead with her life, relationships shift and change for her. One of these relationships is with her sister Judy. Marion and Judy’s relationship had been strained for several years. Just when their relationship appeared to be improving, the New York Bomber sets off a bomb at Radio City Music Hall, endangering both the audience and the Rockettes. The New York Bomber had been setting off bombs in public places for years throughout New York City and never been caught.
The Handsome Young Doctor
Marion meets a young doctor. He is working with the mentally ill. They set to work together to try to find the bomber. Peter Griggs creates a profile on the bomber. However, the police don’t put much faith in his profile. But working together, Marion and Peter Griggs just might be able to find the bomber when the police can’t.
In conclusion
I very much enjoyed this book. The characters were very real and it was a great story. I love history. This was the first time I had ever heard of the New York Bomber. He really did exist and terrified New York City for some years. The book is fiction but the bomber was real. The bomber added excitement to the book and held my attention. It also kept you interested. You wanted to find out if Marion would follow her father’s wishes and marry her high school sweetheart. Alternatively, would she follow her heart?
John Grishman is a well known author of at last count fifty books. Grishman is an attorney turned crime novelist. Having studied the law and worked in courtrooms, he has an inside knowledge as to how the law works. I have really enjoyed the majority of his books, but I still have several I haven’t read yet. But I did finish his book based on a true story titled “An Innocent Man” written and published in 2006 and I am currently reading his latest novel FRAMED which is an account of ten miscarriages of justice.
An Innocent Man Novel
This novel is the story of the life long struggles of a young man who almost died on death row before having his name cleared and regaining his freedom. It’s the story of a young man with a promising future in major league baseball who ends up on death row.
The story starts with Ron Williamson as a young boy exploring his athletic skills not only in baseball but other sports as well. It then moves to his career in the baseball minors teams and his realization that he has an injury that will never let him move to major league baseball.
After losing his dream of becoming a major league ball player, Ron’s life gradually begins to decline until he and a close friend are arrested for the murder of Debra Sue Carter. With no real evidence other than jail house snitches Ron is convicted and sentenced to death row. This takes place in the courts of a small county in Oklahoma where Ron is not the only victim of a very bad police investigation. There are several others who are wrongfully convicted and may still be serving time.
Justice Denied
Ron Williamson and his lawyers filed every appeal possible but all were denied until the Innocent Project took his case and eventually after eleven years Ron Williamson finally walked out of prison as a free man.
This was an awesome book in regards to how anyone can end up charged and convicted of something they had nothing to do with. A few parts of the story such as the different trials were a bit dry but other than that I would recommend reading any of John Grisham’s books. I personally was appalled at some of the law enforcement tactics which led to not only Ron Williamson’s conviction but other victims of the system.
History Lovers Corner 