Toledo Talks - A Fairy Garden

Toledo Cats

This week, in honor of springtime, I decided to talk about gardening. I've been gardening since I was a little girl. My first garden was a fairy garden. It was mostly a rock garden beneath Mama's magnolia tree. I'd sing to my dolls and every so often a fairy or two would stop by to listen. Whiskey Joe suggested I grow heather, and so I did. I planted purple heather the first year. When it's blooms reached toward the sky, Whiskey Joe taught me how to step through so I could visit the fairies myself.

Heather photo (Courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens)

I later added other colors to the mix. The fairies liked to visit the heather too. For years, I visited the fairies and they visited me. I didn't realize until I was older that they could be treacherous -- that they could steal the souls of infants.

I learned a lot about them later, both good and bad. I learned that like people, they were capable of hatred, greed, and love. At the time Whiskey Joe taught me how to pass through the heather, I had no idea he was a fairy himself. It was only after I thought he had died that I found him in the fairy realm, making music just like he had on the New Orleans streets. That story appears in Mind of a Mad Man.

Later Whiskey Joe told me the real story. How he'd fallen in love and decided it was time to go back to the realm where he belonged. He wrote a song about the day he met the woman he loved. He's agreed to sing it to us.

I am celebrating spring this week by participating in the Leaping Leprechaun blog hop and planting some potatoes and onions -- maybe a few other things, depending on the weather. Are you planning to do some gardening?  Have you ever planted a fairy garden?

Leave a comment with your email and I'll send you a coupon for a free copy of Rips in the Weave -- the story where all the trouble in the realms began. There are a few fairies in Rips in the Weave, but there are definitely goblins.

And don't forget, High Rollers is on sale for $1.99 through Saturday March 23rd. Get your copy today if you haven't. 

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the blog hop.

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Meet Whiskey Joe

Toledo Cats

I know. It's been a long time since any of us have had a chance to blog. There have been a lot of things happening in the realms -- things we can't really discuss yet, but we'll just say Khrou-ach has been very busy creating havoc this year and Caprice has had her hand in a few disturbances as well.

I'm glad we finally have a calm day because I've been meaning to let you in on a little secret. Whiskey Joe has agreed to star in some Dime Store Novel trailers, which we'll be releasing over the next few months.


Whiskey Joe is a bard -- the keeper of stories, the singer of songs. Although these aren't trailers, Whiskey Joe did a couple of screen tests to show how he can sing, dance, and play his guitar and harmonica. He's agreed to let us show them here -- to give you a sneak peek of what he can do.


Whisky Joe is also a good friend of mine. When Hanover and I were kids, we used to hang out on the curb and listen to him play his guitar and sing. And we weren't the only ones either. Many a hot summer day, we'd have a spontaneous parade with Whiskey Joe leading a gaggle of us through the streets singing. Watching him play his harmonica and dance along the road takes me back to those days. He was so good, people would stop their cars and watch. Nine times out of ten, we'd end up at my house or Mama's shop, where Mama would be waiting with a pitcher of ice cold lemonade and some homemade dessert -- cookies, brownies, little fruit tarts. I never asked how she knew what time we'd be there, but the ice would always be fresh in the pitchers and the cookies warm, right out of the oven.


So needless to say, I'm thrilled that Whiskey Joe has agreed to come out of retirement and be the spokesperson for our Dime Store Novel series. I know he's happy where he's at, but I've missed him and I know Hanover has too.

Keep checking back. I'll be updating you soon about when you can expect to see more of Whiskey Joe dancing and singing and playing his songs.