Northern Exposure | The Musings & Artful Blunders of Scott D. Southard

In December, I began sharing one of my unpublished novels on this site.

Cassandra on the Island is…well… a hard book to explain or even describe. It is a work of literary fiction, but also funny, romantic. It is influenced a lot by the writing of Virginia Woolf and Northern Exposure (yes, I said both of those things). This is how I like to describe the work:

Cassandra on the Island is the story of second, third and fourth chances. These are the experiences that resonate for Cassandra, a young retiree from a dangerous past hoping to escape her memories and spend her remaining time reading books in a gazebo by the beach. Royal Carlton Island and its eccentric inhabitants though have other plans for her. A boat race, pirate treasure, glowing grave, recluse billionaire, fake vampire, and an opera-singing child are waiting…

Surprising, witty, romantic and unique, Cassandra on the Island is filled with the important days for Cassandra, and together each piece is one part of the picture that makes up her life.

On this page you, can catch up on the work today. There is an introduction and three sections out, with a new section scheduled for next Friday.

I hope you will check it out. And if you like it, please share with another reader or via social media (there are always links for sharing on the bottom of the pages and posts). I would love for more people to discover this book.

Cheers!

So when I started this blog, I had nothing but the best intentions. I made lists and lists of different things to write about.

… Then I sat down and did way too much about Disneyland and Game of Thrones (two things that should never be in the same sentence again).

Let’s have a brief tangent- I’m one of the few book readers that is thrilled that Game of Thrones is passing the books. The script writers for the show certainly have their problems (for example, they go darker than the books, amazingly), but one skill they do have is the ability to edit. They cut, cut, cut the books down to something a little easier to consume and that is no small feat. I’ll never be totally happy with the calls they make (poor Sansa) or even the calls Martin makes (poor Ned), but at least we’ll be getting an ending to the tale in the new few years.

Okay, where was I? Recently, I found my list of original ideas for blog entries, focused on only one current theme- what interests the guy writing this.

Hey, it’s my blog, what can I say?

Below are three items I always wanted to dive into and never got around to. Not to say they aren’t interesting, it’s just… I’m a very important and busy man (no, I’m not). I have a lot of writing responsibilities (ha!). These short essays are the best I can do (that is probably true). Continue reading →