Middletree

Like many Americans, I was a fan of NBC's "This is Us" from the beginning, and I'm one of millions who are looking forward to the onset of the new season tonight. Why do I like this show? Well, I'm not normally a fan of trying to explain why I like something. Ask me why I like mustard and not mayonnaise, or why I like strawberries but not peaches, and I'm going to give you a blank stare.  There is no verbal explanation why I like something. I just do. That said, I find it easy to name the many reasons why this show resonates with me. Sadly, NBC people responsible for marketing this show have missed all my reasons, and are putting a lot of undue focus on one thing: the show will make you cry. See here . And then there's this . Good grief. I have to say: the "grab a box of Kleenex" stuff is a bit of a turnoff. I'm not interested in watching a show because the marketers have convinced me that the scriptwriters can successfully manipul...

A few years ago, I encountered Shawn Smucker 's writing via the late, great Burnside Writers Collective website. In addition to Burnside, his work has been featured as part of several different projects, but " The Day the Angels Fell " is his first novel. It tells the story of 12-year-old friends Sam and Abra, who react to Sam's mother's tragic death by embarking on a quest to bring her back to life by any means necessary. Unbelievably, the means to do so present themselves in short order, and the quest is on. These two friends make deals with angels, figure out a mystery or two, and fight heroically, all while battling grief and fear, and coming to some hard but necessary conclusions about the important role that death plays in our world. This book contains all the elements I love in a work of fiction: (1) an original story that not only holds my interest but grips me; (2) multiple distinct characters with understandable and realistic motivations; (3) just...