Three local authors to speak at Storyteller’s Cottage
Three talented local authors will speak at the monthly All Access Authors event at the Storyteller’s Cottage on Thursday, May 30, 7 p.m. Joseph McGee, Douglas Buck and Beth Caruso will each discuss their latest books, all of which fit May’s theme of One Nation, One Flag. The lively book discussions will be followed by a light reception and an opportunity to purchase signed copies of the authors’ books.
Joseph McGee will read from Letters for Annie: Memories from WWII. In 2007 Annie Connerton called John Lombardo in a frantic state to come to visit her immediately and to bring a box of war letters in John’s possession. Upon arriving Annie told John she started to have vivid flashbacks after watching the movie, Letters from Iwo Jima, that was shown during a local hospice movie event at her facility. She told John she wanted to read the letters and share the Lombardo memories with him before these flashbacks go away. This was Annie’s dying wish.
Douglas Buck will read from Constitution for a Free People, which presents all the principles and tools needed to create a charter for freedom for any government: city, county, state, nation, or colony on the Moon or Mars. It is based on the inspired original Constitution for the United States, with worthy safeguards to secure liberty for the people and curb the growth of power by any person or special group. It hails the U.S. Constitution as a charter of liberty and shows how the ideas behind its creation can become the basis for any government. This is not a history book, although some history is included. It is not a political science tome, although may be used as a handbook for students and statesmen. It is not a political tract, although conservative by nature.
Beth Caruso will read from One of Windsor: The Untold Story of the First Witch Hanging. Alice, a young woman prone to intuitive insights and loyalty to the only family she has ever known, leaves England for the rigid colony of the Massachusetts Bay in 1635 in hopes of reuniting with them again. Settling in Windsor, she encounters the American wilderness and its inhabitants, her own healing abilities, and blinding fears of Puritan leaders that collide and set the stage for America’s first witch hanging—her own, on May 26, 1647. This event and Alice’s family ties are catalysts that influence Connecticut’s Governor John Winthrop, Jr. to halt witchcraft hangings in later years. Paradoxically, these same family ties and the memory of the incidents that led to her accusation become a secret and destructive force behind Cotton Mather’s written commentary on the Salem witch trials of 1692, provoking further witchcraft hysteria in Massachusetts 45 years after Alice’s death. The author uses extensive historical research combined with literary inventions, to bring forth a shocking and passionate narrative theory explaining this tragic and important episode in American history and in the life of Alice (Alse) Young, America’s first witch hanging victim.
Admission is just $5, and seats can be reserved at storytellerscottage.com
Author to publish Magnets And Glue with Storyteller’s Press
Connecticut resident Kati Mockler is set to publish her charming children’s book, Magnets and Glue, with Storyteller’s Press, an imprint of the Storyteller’s Cottage.
The Law of Attraction is oh so fine. It’s Magnetic and Sticky! It’s working all the time! Magnets and Glue is a cheerful little book that introduces the Law of Attraction to children and ties it to behavior. With simple examples of how positive thoughts and behaviors can attract more joy in life, little thinkers will learn that emotions are their map to all the treasures life has to offer.
The public is invited to celebrate the launch of Mockler’s book at a free Author Launch Party on Sunday, June 2, at 3 p.m. Meet Kati, enjoy a free storytime, enter to win a free book, enjoy light snacks and drinks, and take home custom stickers and bookmarks. Register with Svenja@StorytellersCottage.com
Murder She Wrote Mystery Tea Party
Beginning June 5, on the first Wednesday of each month the Storyteller’s Cottage will host a Murder She Wrote-themed mystery game and tea party event from 1 to 3 p.m. Tickets are $20, and include admission to one of the immersive mystery room games followed by a charming tea party featuring a variety of desserts and herbal teas.
This fun and unusual daytime event is designed to introduce senior citizens to the convivial pleasure of mystery room games, an immersive intellectual activity where players work in teams to discover clues and solve a roomful of puzzles and codes to divine the solution to a mystery. Three different mystery room games are available at the Storyteller’s Cottage, including The Detective’s Dinner Party (a Victorian murder mystery), The Dame Disappears (a WWII spy mystery), and The Legend of the Fairy Queen (a time travel mystery). A different game will be featured each month. The cost is normally $33 per player, but for this special introductory event, tickets are reduced to just $20, which includes post-game refreshments. Guests are invited to bring friends or come alone and meet new ones! Tickets can be reserved at storytellerscottage.com/
The Storyteller’s Cottage is located in a vintage Victorian house at 750 Hopmeadow Street in the center of historic Simsbury. Parking is free, and is available on the street in front of the building, and in the Fiddler’s Green parking lot on Wilcox Street, behind the house. For more information, please call 860-877-6099 or visit StorytellersCottage.com.