June Newsletter from Magic Hill

Stories and News From Magic Hill

Possibilities Feel Endless In June

Odd, the irony that as I get older and my time on earth diminishes, the promises of spring expand.

Enjoy your June.

Lamoille Stories and Lamoille Stories 2:
A Great Father’s Day Gift and Summer Read

In the last decade I’ve had seven books come to market, three story collections and four novels. A decade on the perennial best seller is The Lamoille Stories. It traffics in the funny, odd, mischievous, and occasionally sad goings-on in the county I grew up in and is peopled with characters I knew (or made up to protect their reputations.) If you haven’t met them, now’s a good time. The Lamoille Stories (Vols I & II) have become my very best sellers.

It’s the perfect summer read for fathers both young and old who are drawn to nostalgia and descriptions of a day and age before simplicity became a hip lifestyle trend. You can findLamoille Stories and Lamoille Stories II and my other books at the following locations. Thank you for supporting me and your local independent bookstores.

Northshire Lila & Theron Link
Phoenix Lila & Theron order link
Flying Pig Lila & Theron order link
Vermont Bookshop Lila & Theron order link
Norwich Bookstore Lila & Theron order link
Bear Pond Books Lila & Theron order link
IndieBound.org Lila & Theron link
Amazon Lila & Theron Link
Amazon Schubart author link

What I’m Reading Now

I’m deep into Michael Ondaatje’s new book, Warlight, and finding it riveting. Ondaatje is best known for the book and film The English Patient. His newest new novel about about two siblings’ mother’s enigmatic disappearance and role in British Intelligence in WW II is keeping me from things I should be doing.

“Reflections” Shared at The United Church of Hinesburg

I was asked to give a talk to the congregation at The United Church of Hinesburg in May. It was about exigent life, the hardship and work that life doles out to us that forms character. Here’s what I said:

“Ever since word went out that this old hippy was about to stand behind a pulpit and presume to speak with any authority about salvation, I’ve suffered the slings and arrows of a few skeptical friends. One local pub-owner predicted …Read more

Check Out This Vermont Writer

Be sure and track down Bernie Lambek’s new novel Uncivil Liberties. I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy. It takes place in Vermont and goes deep into the civil liberties we enjoy, even when they don’t serve us well. If you like court room drama and local politics, you’ll enjoy Bernie’s new book.

What I’m Working On Now

I’m on my final read-edit for my own new novel, as yet untitled – a fictional exploration into how the Catholic Church has changed or failed to change during my lifetime – as told through the eyes of a priest who struggles to reconcile Church doctrine with his knowledge of the Life of Christ and his own human instincts.

Curved-Head Adze or The Gouger

In May, I posted this impressive hand tool on my social media with the questions, “What is this tool?”

If you guessed curved-head adze, you are correct. I call it The Gouger, as it is used for gouging out wooden bowls or creating voids in wood. I found it in France many years ago and fell in love with it.