Mariposa's Musings

Kellie Coates Gilbert is one of the amazing writers that I met at the 20 Books to 50K conference in Las Vegas last year. She is as warm and engaging in person as she is online. I’m thrilled to have her as a guest today. Tender, funny, bittersweet, and wonderfully moving, Sisters  celebrates the joys and heartaches that can only be shared by three sisters living in the mountain resort known as Sun Valley, the mistakes made in the name of love and the healing power of new beginnings . Kellie Coates Gilbert has won readers’ hearts with her compelling and highly emotional stories about women and the relationships that define their lives. A former legal investigator, she is especially known for keeping readers turning pages and creating nuanced characters who seem real. In addition to garnering hundreds of five-star reader reviews on Amazon and other retail sites, Kellie has been described by RT Book Reviews as a “deft, crisp storyteller.” Her books were featured as Barn...

One rainy Saturday night I decided to cook up a bowl of Cincinnati chili and enjoy my own creature double feature- The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and The Shape of Water (2017).  While both movies have a distinct styles, they are both visually stunning-Creature debuted as a black & white 3D flick while Water shimmers with color particularly green, the “color of the future” alluded to in the movie.  As the Creature (aka the Gill-man) in the water scenes in the original champion swimmer and diver, Ricou Browning appears to glide effortlessly through the Creature’s watery habitat. Differences in appearances aside, both films share the same central conflict,     The villains in both movies don’t hesitate to drive home their point with a big stick. Creature’s Mark Williams (Richard Denning) always has his harpoon at the ready while Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon) wields a wicked cattle prod. the wonder of scientific discovery vs. the driv...