After forty-four days of over 100°F temperatures in Dallas this summer (twenty-one of them consecutive) we are finally getting a break from the excessive heat. The high in Richardson today is only 93°. Those of you who haven’t lived in this particular level of hell might be thinking, “Does seven degrees really make that much of a difference?”
Yes. Yes it does.
There are a few clouds in the sky today and a breeze. My outdoor cats are playing rather than sleeping under the porch all day, and I sat in the swing for a few minutes this afternoon without my shirt immediately sticking to my skin. We are not done with our 100+ days; they will continue into September. But today’s blissful 93° reminds me that autumn still exists somewhere, and it will visit us eventually. That’s a good feeling.
The sky over the Richardson ISD Administration Building during my walk this morning
This summer’s unusually oppressive heat reminds me of a poem I wrote several years ago. This tritina was first published in the Texas Poetry Calendar in 2015. I wrote this one when I lived in Austin, so a few details no longer apply. The African dust doesn’t seem to affect this area as much, and we don’t have to watch out for rattlesnakes in our neighborhood here. Instead of limestone peeking out from the parched ground, here the dry earth opens up during the summer, cracking into deep ravines that will twist your ankle if you’re not careful. But the sentiment of the poem remains the same. We’re all holed up in the AC, waiting out these oven-like afternoons, appreciating all the under-100 days we get, and looking forward to the first real signs of fall.
August in Texas
by Carie Juettner
Dust from Africa hovers in the Texas sky,
turning the cloudless blue into a gritty gray,
filling my lungs with a sleepy silt that rattles
when I breathe. I suck in air, listen to the rattle
of the mower next door, kicking brown exhaust into the sky,
and glance at the thermometer—one hundred degrees in the gray
shadow of the porch. August is a heavy month—heavy heat, heavy gray
stones peeking out from the dead grass where a rattle-
snake coils in the shade of a rosemary bush, her tongue tasting the sky.
I squint at the sky, eyes burning in the gray sunlight, heart rattling for September.
Happy Book Birthday to The Ghostly Tales of Delaware!
My fifth book in the Spooky America series, The Ghostly Tales of Delaware, makes its debut in the world today, and I can’t wait to share it with readers. This latest collection of haunted history has some of the creepiest and most unique ghosts that I’ve come across so far. Witches? Headless horseman? Phantom screams? Haunted bathtubs? This book has it all! The scariest stories in the book (in my opinion) are “Screams in the Night at Lums Pond State Park” in Chapter 3 and “The Haunting of Maggie’s Bridge” in Chapter 10, but my favorite story might be “Bullies Beware” in Chapter 6. I like the idea of a ghost coming back to haunt the people who teased him.
The Spooky America books are recommended for readers ages 8-12, but they can be enjoyed by anyone who likes ghosts and learning local history. They’re perfect for reading around a campfire on a fall night or sharing with friends at a sleepover. And you don’t have to live in Delaware to enjoy these stories. In fact, you might like them more if you’re not in the state where these creepy characters reside. You’ll feel safer knowing there’s not a headless soldier waiting to follow you down a dark road or a swamp monster ready to leap out at you from the woods.
If you or a middle grader in your life would like a signed, personalized copy of The Ghostly Tales of Delaware, you can buy one directly from me. The books are $15 each, including shipping, and you can pay via Venmo, PayPal, or check. Just contact me and let me know how many you’d like, who they’re for, and where to send them.
The Spooky America books are also popular with cats.
One more thing… the Spooky America books are adaptations of the Haunted America series for adult readers. I couldn’t have brought Delaware’s ghost stories to kids without the amazing work of the original text, The Haunted History of Delaware by Josh Hitchens. To learn more about Josh and his books, plays, ghost tours, and horror podcasts, visit his website: joshhitchens.com.
I love making plans and setting goals. My monthly aspirations usually include books I want to read, words I want to write, places I want to go, and various types of exercise I want to incorporate into my schedule. However, after having major surgery at the end of June, my July plans looked a little different. With no yoga classes allowed and very few places I could go, I found myself with a new set of goals: Rest, relax, recover, recuperate, and… READ! Thankfully, books are on the list of approved items when you’re stuck in bed for a few weeks, and I took advantage of the extra time on my hands. I read six books in July. While they weren’t all winners, three of them definitely distracted me from my discomfort and helped me heal.
My well-loved copy bought from a used bookstore
1. Highway to Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore
This is the third book in Rosemary Clement-Moore’s Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil series. In this installment, Maggie (who’s still coming to terms with her supernatural powers) and her best friend (who’s also a witch) are on their way to a spring break getaway when car trouble gets them stuck in a small Texas town where cattle are being killed by a mysterious beast. There’s a rumor that the deaths are due to the mythical Chupacabra, but Maggie’s worried they have something much more familiar on their hands: a demon.
Highway to Hell is a fun, snarky, paranormal romp through a rural ranch. The book is equal parts creepy plot, small town atmosphere, and witty dialogue. It’s got just the right amount of YA angst to make the characters’ relationships both hilarious and relatable. My only complaint about this third book is that it’s the last one. I desperately wish Rosemary Clement-Moore had kept the adventure going because I’d gladly follow Maggie and her friends anywhere.
Although you probably don’t have to read the first two books to enjoy this one, you should anyway because they’re all terrific. Start with Prom Dates from Hell and get ready for some otherworldly fun.
Image from Goodreads since I don’t have my own copy
2. My Contrary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
When I sat down in front of the fireplace in December 2017 to read My Lady Jane, the first book written by these clever ladies, I had no idea what sort of treat I was in for. The Jane books, and now the Mary books, take readers on romantic rides through alternate versions of history and literature in which wrongs have been corrected, villains have been thwarted, and also some people can turn into animals.
My Contrary Mary tells the much-altered story of Mary, Queen of Scots. Like all novels by the “Lady Janies,” the book is told from three different perspectives: Mary, her betrothed Francis, and Ari, daughter of famed seer Nostradamus. The three of them have to overcome everything from suspicious deaths and murder plots to secret identities and the awkwardness of finding oneself married to her best friend when she’s only sixteen. Plus, there are potions, disguises, and lots of modern pop culture references mixed in.
In these historical, magical, humorous, LGBTQ-friendly, YA love stories, all the right characters live happily ever after. I find them delightful. Picture the movie A Knight’s Tale. Now picture the movie A Knight’s Tale wearing your favorite sweatshirt and having a heart-to-heart with its best friend. That’s what these books feel like to me: silly, weird, funny, comfy. Predictable, but pleasantly so.
Although I read the first couple of books in print, I have since started listening to the audio versions, and I highly recommend them. Fiona Hardingham did an excellent job with the narration of this one.
The cover is one of the many things I love about this book.
3. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
A friend sent me a copy of Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts to read while I was recovering, and I’m so glad she did. I’d never heard of this book before, but I swear Kate Racculia wrote it just for me.
Vincent Pryce (with a Y) is an eccentric billionaire obsessed with haunted objects and Edgar Allan Poe. When he dies, he leaves a cryptic obituary written in his owns words inviting anyone and everyone to participate in a treasure hunt to earn a portion of his vast fortune. The players we follow in this exciting game are:
Tuesday Mooney, a researcher haunted (literally) by the ghosts of her past;
Tuesday’s friend Poindexter (Dex) Howard, a lost soul who has buried his theater-loving, drag-wearing heart to earn a living in finance;
Dorry Bones, a teenage girl with a dead mother and a distracted father who lives next door to Tuesday (thus earning the nickname “Nextdorry”).
Add in Pryce’s lovely young widow (who definitely knows more than she’s telling), members of the Arches family (another group of high-drama billionaires who supposedly had a feud with Pryce), and various other related characters, and you get a charming melting pot of unlikely heroes, ruthless villains, and a few people just trying to figure out who they want to be.
Over the course of a few weeks, the characters track down clues, investigate leads, and try to work out the puzzle of Pryce’s mysterious invitation before meeting at his funeral, a costume party on Boston Common on the third Friday in October, where the winners will be revealed. The book takes place all over the city of Boston, which should make it extra fun for readers who live there.
This novel checked so many of my favorite boxes. Smart, compassionate, likable characters? Check. Multiple points of view? Check. Mysteries, puzzles, and treasure hunts? Check. Ghosts? Check. Edgar Allan Poe, Ouija boards, friendship, cats, and references to 90s music and TV shows? Check, check, check, check, check. When I finished it, I just sat staring for a few minutes with a goofy smile on my face. My husband walked by and asked if I’d just finished a good book. He said I had that “afterglow.” (Ha ha! He knows me well.)
Although I ADORED Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts, I don’t necessarily recommend it to everyone. To truly love this book, you need to like quirky characters, have more than a passing acquaintance with Edgar Allan Poe’s work, and be okay with not every mystery being tied up in a nice neat little bow. If that sounds like you, get yourself a copy ASAP.
I want to thank whoever invented public libraries.
All three of these novels provided the lighthearted, amusing, engrossing plots I was looking for this month. But there’s no need to wait for an illness or medical procedure to knock you off your feet. These books can be enjoyed anytime! I’m doing well and getting back to a regular routine. August’s goals look a lot more familiar, with yoga classes, word counts, lots of outings, a little travel, and of course, plenty of time to read.
Carie Juettner 