A Mingled Yarn

A Mingled Yarn explores the relationship between a woman who gave up her child for adoption 23 years before and a young woman who may or may not be her daughter. Set in San Diego and a ranch near Billings, Montana, it has the feel and pace of a mystery novel, but the mystery it solves is within the human heart.

R. P. Blackmur was an American critic and poet, as well as a professor of English literature and creative writing at Princeton University. At the time of his death, he had completed five books and numerous plays, poems, and short stories. He devoted most of his life to studies on Henry Adams - someone he saw in himself. In his lifetime, he received a share of adulation, but he was not successful in the way that success is commonly measured. In this work, Russell Fraser follows the course of Blackmur's self-declared failed genius. He tells the story of his precocious youth in Cambridge; his eclectic education; his years of poverty and renown as a poet, novelist, freelance music critic, and essayist; his obsessive marriage to artist Helen Dickson; his entangled friendships with T. S. Eliot, Delmore Schwartz, Allen Tate, and John Berryman; and, his passion for the wilds of Maine. He discusses Blackmur's crucial role in the literary magazines of the twenties and thirties; his unique influence as instructor of creative writing; the emotional and professional price he paid for a doubtful security at Princeton University; and, the torment of wavering between intellectual inertia and prolific inspiration. With empathy and insight, Fraser shows how the trajectory of Blackmur's career parallels the movements in the American literary scene; the experiments in poetry and fiction; the development of the New Criticism; the writer's conflict between order and anarchy, taxonomy and the full response; and, the emergence of the critic as artist. A biography, intellectual history, and literary criticism, "A Mingled Yarn" unravels Blackmur's complex character and celebrates his great achievement.

Following the threads of Nick Hutchinson’s extraordinary life and adventures, A Mingled Yarn weaves together theatre, farming, family, horses, social unrest, Shakespeare, drugs, manic depression, love and more. ​ Son of renowned actress Dame Peggy Ashcroft and master advocate Lord Jeremy Hutchinson Q.C. Hutchinson grew up around the greats of British Theatre. ​As a young adult in the sixties, deeply uncomfortable with the class structure into which he was born, his idealism and passion involved him in direct action in Europe he encountered revolutionary theatre practices and in Paris the student protests. His move to Canada-first to Montreal, a city in the throes of its own revolution-brought him finally to the Wild West, where he began to live his childhood cowboy dream. As artistic director of the horse-drawn travelling show, The Caravan Stage Company he mounted thought- provoking, audience - immersive productions under the open skies, later founding the Caravan Farm Theatre for farm centred shows- from a masked Animal Farm among real pig pens to a winter production of the Snow Queen on horse drawn sleighs and the first Caravan Shakespeare productions. A Mingled Yarn is a journey through modern theatre history. It is a testament to the power of theatre and the creative process-even when it borders on mania. But it is also a celebration of community and a simpler life, lived on the land. Hutchinson’s sweeping autobiography has broad appeal, particularly for creative people and theatre lovers, as well as those who find their peace in wide open spaces on the back of a horse.

Sasha and Connelly are entering the home stretch ... Sasha's 39+ weeks pregnant and just a tiny bit cranky. Connelly's just a tiny bit panicked. The couple's excitement at their impending arrival is mixed with a dash of nerves, a touch of chaos, and a hint of danger. And too many surprises to count. Note from Melissa: This novella (approximately 65-70 printed pages) is a baby gift for readers who can't get enough of Sasha and Connelly. It's definitely NOT a good starting point for the series—you'll be woefully confused. If you're new to the series, pick up Irreparable Harm (Book 1, available as a free ebook) instead. Keywords: women sleuths, mystery & thriller, mystery series, legal thriller, suspense, murder, bestseller,