Names in TSC

Mpepper/ December 8, 2022/ Writing

Every author has his or her own way of naming characters. For me, the characters often name themselves, but sometimes they tease me, kind of like a game of Rumpelstiltskin. They’ll make me guess. If they’re nice, they might give me hints like, “It starts with B” or, “It’s one syllable.” Then I have to figure it out from there.

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AMC’s Interview with the Vampire

Mpepper/ October 11, 2022/ Reviews

I have only watched the first episode of AMC’s take on Anne Rice’s vampires, but I have some mixed feelings. And yes, I understand why some changes were made, and I don’t have a problem with those. I don’t think Louis needs to run a slave-owning plantation in order to tell this particular story. His being a person of color

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Pre-Order The Ghosts of Marshley Park!

Mpepper/ September 9, 2021/ Announcements

Coming October 19! If you want to get the book on the day it comes out, pre-order now from your favorite indie bookstore! (Ebook available exclusively through Amazon Kindle—including via Unlimited!)

Books: Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow #3) by Rainbow Rowell

Mpepper/ July 19, 2021/ Reviews

I wrote a short review on Goodreads immediately after finishing this book. Then, a few hours later, I filmed a video review that rambles a bit. So here I’m going to attempt to organize my thoughts a little more coherently. For context, let me begin by saying I adore Carry On and like Wayward Son. Though the second book was,

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Books: We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra

Mpepper/ May 19, 2021/ Reviews

I didn’t like it, then I did, then I didn’t again. The set-up: high school sophomore Jonathan Hopkirk (“Jo,” age 15 at the start of the book but 16 by the end of it) and repeat senior Adam “Kurl” Kurlansky (18) are assigned by their English Lit teacher to write letters to one another. Jo idolizes Walt Whitman, dresses in

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Okay, but…

Mpepper/ April 15, 2021/ Uncategorized

This is about to be random, but I feel like I need to write about it somewhere, and since this is my blog, here it is. I’m re-reading The Once and Future King by T. H. White. I first read it when I was 13 or 14 years old because I loved, loved, loved all things Arthurian (and Robin Hood—The

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Television: Bridgerton 1-4

Mpepper/ February 16, 2021/ Reviews

So I’m halfway through this series or season or whatever (I feel like the usual ways to describe television no longer have meaning) when I realize this is the book—that is, the first book in this series—I was “warned” about from various sources. Okay, that was really convoluted, so let me try again. I didn’t realize “Bridgerton” was the name

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Books: Menfreya in the Morning by Victoria Holt

Mpepper/ January 22, 2021/ Reviews

I first started reading Victoria Holt books as a pre-teen. I wasn’t allowed to read anything with explicit sex, so I read a lot of historical romances of the chaste type. Regency romances were a favorite, as were gothic novels by the likes of du Maurier and Holt. Even if sex was present, it was off the page, and I

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Books: Recent Reads

Mpepper/ January 13, 2021/ Reviews

I’ve been meaning to make a YouTube video for this, and I might still do that, but for now it’s faster to just write about the handful of books I’ve read recently. Meghan and Harry: The Real Story Overall, I think Lady Colin Campbell is trying to be fair. She mentions numerous times how she wanted to Meghan to succeed,

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Free Ebook (Limited Time)

Mpepper/ January 5, 2021/ Announcements

The Kindle version of The Fall and Rise of Peter Stoller is free for a limited time! (And remember, you don’t have to own a Kindle to read Kindle books; you can download the app!) In 1960’s London, British Intelligence agent Peter Stoller is next in line to run the Agency—until he falls in love with cab driver, Charles, and

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