The Last Witness by Claire McFall

The Last Witness by Claire McFall was published by Sourcebooks Fire on January 7, 2020.  It was previously published under the title Black Cairn Point: Where Darkness Grows by Hot Key in 2015.

Publisher's summary:

From award-winning author Claire McFall comes a chilling psychological thriller about the sole survivor of a camping trip gone wrong and the truth behind that weekend, perfect for fans of Natasha Preston.

Heather agrees to go camping with Dougie and his friends because she's desperate to get closer to him, and a secluded beach sounds like the perfect place.  But the trip takes a sinister turn that brings Heather's plans to a violent end.

One by one, the group begins to vanish.

A year later, Heather knows she's just lucky to be alive.  And now, people are asking for answers, or else she will be the one to take the blame.  But the truth about what happened on that trip is far more terrifying than anyone knows…

A great pick for thriller readers looking for:

• paranormal suspense
• young adult horror
• mystery books best sellers

I had read the free sample on Amazon on a previous occasion and declined to read the book.  This time the sample seemed okay.  I still wasn't sure and looked at some reviews.  The reviews made the book sound really good, and the premise sounded interesting.  I decided to take a chance.

The book is much better once the young people arrive at their camping destination on the shore, which is shortly after the free sample ends.  The samples nowadays on Amazon are not long enough to make a decision.  They now strictly cut the samples at 10% due to the copyright law.  This is understandable, but with long books, I really need more than 10% to make a decision.  Many authors take forever to get the plot started.

The book switches between the present with Heather in a doctor's office being questioned and a retelling of what happened.  

I saw in reviews that only two teens came back from the outing and that three didn't.  I had no idea who came back aside from Heather.  The publisher's summary makes it sounds like something supernatural could be at play.  This vague information made me very curious.

The book is very suspenseful and interesting.  The story is creepy.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book up until the last chapter.  I'm not happy about how the story ended.  Even though the book is overall excellent, I finished the book feeling disappointed and displeased.  The ending ruined it for me.  

I have completely rewritten the end of this post several times, as I have struggled with how to convey information about how the book ended.

This is a spoiler and will likely cause most people who read this review not to want to read the book.  Honestly, I wish I hadn't read the book.  The book is fine until just the last few pages when the reader suddenly learns that the narrator was unreliable... that the entire book was not what actually happened. 

This was a waste of time.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book until the last few pages, when the author tears it apart.  Just, why?  I do not recommend this book unless you enjoy manipulation and deception.  

Let the Sky Fall Trilogy by Shannon Messenger

I tried to read the first book in the Sky Fall trilogy in May 2023.  I read around 80 pages and then lost interest.  I recently decided that I need to read the three books, even if I don't enjoy them much.  I love Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger, and I'd like to be able to read comments that are about the Sky Fall books.  

The Sky Fall trilogy consists of these books:

1.  Let the Sky Fall, 2013
2.  Let the Storm Break, 2014
3.  Let the Wind Rise, 2016

Publisher's summary of #1 Let the Sky Fall:

A broken past and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in this epic series opener from the author of the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series.

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents.  And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real.  But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental.  She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands.  She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs.  Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is.  He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand.  But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget.  And as the storm bears down on them, she starts to realize the greatest danger might not be the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them. 

The first book has some very good scenes.  One in particular is hilarious, and I love it.  Unfortunately, the book is slow-paced and boring.  Still, I liked it enough to continue to the second book.  The second book is mostly boring.  I tried to read the third book, and I just couldn't do it, aside from reading around 70 pages.

I was much more entertained by the Sky Fall reviews than I was by reading (or rather, attempting to read) the books.  I've mentioned how people have a problem with young adult books because they inexplicably believe that young adult books are aimed at children.  I saw that in the Sky Fall reviews.

Reviewers complain about the language and hints at sexuality.  They say that the books aren't clean and are inappropriate for children. 

Right, because the books are aimed at young adults.  I knew before I started reading the first book that it was not going to be like KotLC, since it is young adult.  This concept of young adult books being for older youth is so hard for people to grasp.

This trilogy is what happens when a publisher gives the author of a popular series a three-book deal on a very thin plot idea.  KotLC is a smash hit; Sky Fall is dull and boring.  This trilogy should have been written as just one book.  If so, the story might have been pretty good.

Honestly, I couldn't help experiencing an unpleasant flashback to my memories of reading the Nancy Drew Girl Detective trilogies, especially #36-38 The Model Mystery Trilogy.  My review of the ND GD Model Mystery trilogy concludes with this statement:

The entire thing is a big convoluted mess and should have been written as a single-volume story, not three excruciatingly long books. 

While I wouldn't refer to the Sky Fall trilogy as a "convoluted mess," it does consist of "excruciatingly long" and boring books.

A Six-Week Autoimmune Flare of Mysterious Origin

The moral of this story is that a noticeable decline in physical well-being can be caused by something so ostensibly minor that you'd never suspect it of significantly impacting your health.

My summer break was not that great.  I had a lot of stress up until the end of June.  On June 23-25, I had to do a project outside in the summer heat.  The project was hard work, and I am very heat and sun sensitive.  I got up before daybreak each day and worked on this project from slightly before 6 AM up to 10 AM or so.  It was brutal.

Right before I did this project, I had thyroid labs done, and they were perfect.

Around July 1, I noticed that I was in an autoimmune flare.  Currently, my primary flare symptom is that my lips become unbearably dry.  My lips are dry all the time, but any flare increases the dryness to an unbearable level, resulting in my lips stinging for several days.  After a few days, the stinging subsides, and my lips return to my normal dryness, which is annoying but bearable.

Beginning around July 1, my lips began stinging.  I decided that my project of June 23-25 was the cause and figured that the stinging would subside within a few days.  It didn't.  

By July 8, I was really freaking out mentally.  My lips were stinging 24 hours a day.  They felt like they had been rubbed with commercial-grade paper towels.  It was very upsetting, and I spent hours online trying to figure out what was happening.  I was miserable.  

You need to understand that when my lips become inflamed that nothing helps.  All brands of lip balm irritate my lips.  Even brands for sensitive lips irritate my lips.  Aquaphor was my savior for a couple years until it badly burned my lips one night.  I looked like a clown the next morning.

I can only use Vaseline or petroleum-based hydrocortisone on my lips.  Everything else irritates them.  The Vaseline sometimes irritates my lips.  

During the last 4 1/2 years since my lips became unusually dry, I've tried drinking more fluid, drinking sports drinks, changing my toothpaste, and everything else you can possibly imagine.  So don't give me any advice.  I've read every piece of advice imaginable and acted on most of it, to no avail.  I just have to put up with it.

My bouts with stinging lips never last more than around three days.  This is why I was so upset by July 8.  I was past the one-week mark.

Around July 8, I realized that I had been bitten by something.  I worried that it could have been a tick.  I figured that I had been bitten when I did my outside project on June 23-25.

I was then really freaked out.  I am fearful of ticks and Lyme disease.  A former student of mine was bitten by a tick around 16 years ago and got Lyme disease.  It wasn't caught quickly, and she still has continuing very serious health problems.  

So... I worried about Lyme disease.  However, I talked myself down, reasoning that I probably didn't have Lyme disease.

I was distinctly more tired than was normal, which was odd for summer break.  I had an increase in muscle aches.  My thyroid was more swollen than normal for me.

I tested myself for Covid.  Nope.

I feared that I had Sjögren's syndrome, which causes excessive dryness.  I have suspected Sjögren's syndrome for years, but I tested negative in the past.  Most people with Sjögren's syndrome do test negative, so that doesn't rule it out.  I plan to be tested again later this year, just in case the test shows something.

But autoimmune thyroid disease causes dryness as well.  The problem was that I was on summer break, and nothing was going on.  Why were my lips stinging?  They continued stinging all of July and into August.

I was set to go back to work on August 8.

On August 7 as the day progressed, I noticed that the infernal stinging was easing.  By evening, it was gone.  Oh, the relief!  My lips had stung for approximately six weeks, and suddenly they weren't.  They were still dry, but the stinging had eased.

I was perplexed.  Something must have changed, but what? 

I thought back to recent events.  I purchased my new car on July 29, and it was a very tiring experience.  However, that would make me worse, not better.  I was feeling stressed about going back to work, but that would also make me worse, not better.  None of this made sense.  Why was I better?

I then realized.  I went to the dentist on August 5 to fix a broken filling. 

Bingo.

Let's back up to late June.

I went to the dentist on June 27 for my six-month cleaning.  That doesn't have anything to do with it, but I noticed either slightly before or after the cleaning (between June 24 and June 30) that the outside front corner of tooth #18 had become sharp.  It had chipped just a little.  It seemed fine, so I decided not to worry about it.  I don't think it could have been repaired at that time unless I wanted to be extreme and get a crown to fix a mild chip in a tooth.  That would have been illogical.  I figured the tooth was okay.  It didn't hurt.  I just had a sharp corner that had not been like that before.

On the late afternoon of August 2, after the dentist was closed for the weekend, the front wall and part of the filling on tooth #18 broke off, causing a hole.  It didn't hurt.  I did clean the hole by aiming a water pick into it.  That was a mistake, but even then, it was just a dull ache.  I tested the tooth by biting down on it and found that it was mildly pressure sensitive.  But at least I wasn't in pain aside from some cold and pressure sensitivity.

On the morning of August 5, I called the dentist, and they worked me in that afternoon.  The filling was repaired.

I have to comment about the dental assistant.  She didn't seem to understand my concern, simply because I was not in pain.  I'm sorry, but a hole in a tooth needs to be repaired ASAP.  It will break further, and I will do anything to avoid extreme tooth pain like what I experienced in 2021.  

Fortunately, the dentist was not dismissive like she was.  The assistant's attitude was odd.

It's now apparent to me that the minor chip in tooth #18 must have also caused a crack in the filling, just not enough for me to know.  The filling must have become leaky, causing bacteria to get inside and then enter my blood stream. 

I had a leaky filling for six weeks.  That's why my thyroid became more swollen and why I was so tired.  My lips burned all of July and into early August because of what appeared to be a mildly damaged tooth.  Who would think that such a minor chip would cause that much discomfort for six weeks?

In 2022 in my post "What Happened with My Teeth and Some Advice," I mentioned how my health improved after two bad teeth were removed.  Having good teeth is extremely important.  If you have any kind of problem with your teeth, get it fixed if at all possible.  I guarantee that any bad teeth are impacting your health in some fashion, even if you don't notice anything.

The Season of Silence by Mary Francis Shura

The Season of Silence was written by Mary Francis Shura.  It was published in 1976 in hardcover with dust jacket by Atheneum Press.  The cover and internal illustrations were drawn by Ruth Sanderson.

Publisher's summary:

Susie Spinner was so sick that spring that she was shut away in her room for several weeks.  When she finally got well, she was startled to find that a great many things had changed in her private world. 

It seemed as if some immense force had taken hold on the layers of her life and twisted them so that what had been high had become low and what had been firm and solid under her feet was suddenly spongy and terrifying.

A strange tension had developed between her parents and her sister Carrie; and Carrie seemed to have totally broken off with Martin, who had also been Susie's special friend.  If that wasn't enough, Susie's best friend, Lindy, was all involved with Trevor Howard, who had always seemed to be the worst bully around.

On a forced, wandering, lonely walk Susie chanced on a grove in the Clary meadow, a place so magical that she felt it must have a spirit of its own.  It was in the grove that Susie later encountered the strange, sullen boy named Derek Born, who trapped her in a silence and a lie she couldn't escape. 

By the time it was all over, so many things were woven in together—the scent of wild flowers, the pain of death, and a  deep sense of betrayal—that Susie found herself more changed than anyone else around her.

I read The Riddle of Raven Gulch by Mary Francis Shura and decided to sample a few of her other books.  I chose books where the title and summary made the book sound like one I would like.  The Season of Silence was one of the books I decided to purchase. 

I found one immediately on eBay.  It was the first printing in hardcover with dust jacket, and it was signed by Mary Francis Shura.  I liked the book's appearance, and the price was reasonable for a signed copy.  I purchased the book and read it as soon as it arrived.  

As I began writing this post, I checked to see how common this book is.  I found eight copies for sale online.  I have access to eBay sales from the last three years.  Only one copy of this book has sold on eBay in the last three years, and it is the book that I purchased.  This book is a bit scarce, which is a shame since it's an extremely good book.

The protagonist, Susie, is in the 7th grade.  This is an upper middle-grade book.  The subject content and tone bears some similarity to young adult books, but the age of the protagonist makes it a middle-grade book.  Some minor changes easily could have aged the book up into young adult.

It's interesting that the story in The Season of Silence bears some similarity to Don't Hurt Laurie! by Willo Davis Roberts.  Both books were published by Atheneum Press and were illustrated by Ruth Sanderson.  They are very similar in appearance, so it's interesting that the stories are similar in content and tone.  Both of my books are first printings and are signed by the author.  Click on images in order to see them more clearly.

The Season of Silence is an excellent book.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

What Makes Selling More Difficult Part 2

This is a continuation of my post from yesterday.  In short, I am heading towards an immediate shutdown of both online stores, even though I'd prefer to stay open if possible.

What Makes Selling More Difficult 

I finally heard back from the international buyer who wanted me to find a cheaper option to ship four books via international mail.  The buyer thinks that I can ship the four books abroad for $3.95 media mail, and they say that Thriftbooks did it.  Thriftbooks couldn't have used media mail, but they may very well have a sweetheart deal with the postal service that allows them to mail books abroad for under $5.00.  I am not a large company, so I do not have access to sweetheart deals.

I decided to look at whether Thriftbooks has these books available and for how much.  They have three of the four books at a total cost of $46.07 before shipping.  The same three books in my store cost $17.97 before shipping.  Let's assume that Thriftbooks does ship internationally for $3.95, even though media mail actually starts at $4.63.

Those three books from Thriftbooks would cost $50.02 including shipping.  Those three books from me would cost $51.97. 

Thriftbooks doesn't have the fourth book on its site.  They do on eBay, but the orders wouldn't combine.  On eBay, the fourth book is $18.00.  The fourth book from me is $5.99.  All four books from me would cost $59.96.  If the buyer were to purchase three books from Thriftbook's site plus the one from eBay and were charged $3.95 shipping on both orders, the total cost of the books would be $71.97.

Whenever I am looking to buy certain books, I don't worry about what a seller charges for shipping.  I look at the overall cost and choose the seller who will deliver the books to me for less.  I also will choose to buy all of the books from one seller rather than several sellers if I see that one seller has all of them, so long as the cost isn't noticeable more.

I know what I would do in this case, if I were the prospective buyer. 

International buyers have a tendency to attempt to negotiate shipping costs.  It happens at least once per month.  They think they can bargain me down, like I have fake high shipping charges.  All I can do is check my charges up against what I will be charged and adjust for the specific buyer.  I cannot create magical discounts.

The situation might be better if I were to offer calculated shipping on Etsy.  I set up a shipping profile on Etsy for combined international shipping.  It returns an error message in the batch editor.  Apparently I would have to edit all 300+ listings individually to change them to calculated shipping.  I won't do it.

Therefore, I created a shipping profile on Etsy where I don't ship internationally.  I just changed all of my Etsy listings to that profile except for the four listings that this one buyer has in their shopping cart.

I know what will happen now.  International buyers will ask why I don't ship internationally.  I'd like to say it's because of how much time the shipping questions waste.  I won't do that.  More likely, I'll give them a rough estimate and overdo it by a bit.  If they are still interested, then I'll figure out the actual cost and edit just a few listings.  

If this doesn't reduce the time suck, then I will close my stores until October. 

What Makes Selling More Difficult

As I previously mentioned, I am attempting to avoid shutting down my eBay and Etsy stores completely this year as the school year begins.  My first work week was just two days, so I'm okay but rather tired.  It will be more difficult next week when I work five days.

Having a few packages to ship isn't what makes this hard.  It's the unexpected situations with buyers and prospective buyers that never seem to come at good times.  I had two such situations this week.  

One buyer asked if the international shipping for four books would really cost as much as Etsy quoted, which was about $86.00.  I took the time to figure the postage and found that it would be around $36.00.  I adjusted the shipping charge on the listings so that it would come out to that amount.  I was pleased that the shipping reduced by $50.00.  I let the buyer know, and I thought that they'd purchase the books.  They didn't.  Okay, alrighty then. 

That's usually what happens with international buyers who ask about shipping.  They almost never purchase.  Other international buyers just go ahead and pay whatever the shopping cart shows.  If the charge is too much, I refund the extra.  

That's what happened with another international buyer.  They purchased two books in separate transactions, which guaranteed that they were overcharged for shipping.  I combined the orders and refunded some of the shipping on the second book.  That was on August 2.  I shipped those books to Australia on August 3.  

The buyer reached out to me last night on August 8, just five days after the books were shipped.  The books haven't had time to arrive!  They asked for a refund because they didn't receive their books.  

The problem that worried the buyer was caused by Etsy's suboptimal handling of international orders that are shipped with their Global Shipping service.  Etsy has its own service like eBay does where international orders are shipped to a hub in the United States and then forwarded abroad.  eBay does better with this because the seller is given the tracking number that will be used for the entire journey.  Etsy only gives the seller a USPS tracking number to its hub, and then the tracking number changes to something else that the seller doesn't know.

Okay.  So, this is the explanation that I sent the buyer.

I figured out the situation. You made two separate orders, each book in a different order.  As a courtesy, I combined the orders so that you would save on shipping.  I partially refunded the [second book] order to give you the discount.

I generated the Etsy Global Shipping label from the [first book] order.  Global Shipping first goes to a United States address where it is then forwarded to the international destination.

I had to mark [second book] as shipped, and I had to use a tracking number.  Unfortunately, Etsy only gives me the United States tracking number for the global shipping center in Illinois and not what will be the final tracking number to you.  They only have that information internally.  That information is attached only to the [first book] order, since I used it for the shipping label.

The tracking number on [second book] shows as delivered, but that just means that it has arrived at the United States address where it will then be forwarded to Australia.  This means it isn't lost.  We know where it is.

Ignore the [second book] tracking from this point on. Use the tracking number on [first book] to track your package.  It is still on the way, and both books are in the package.  I have attached a screen capture of the most recent information on the [first book] tracking.  It says "Received by Global Postal Shipping partner" on August 6.  The package is on the way to you.

Please check the [first book] tracking only, and you should see its arrival in Australia within a few more days.  The package will likely arrive within one week, possibly slightly longer.

Rest assured that if the package should disappear and never arrive, then you will receive a full refund.  Since the tracking shows that the package is still on the way, we need to wait to give it time to arrive.  I appreciate your patience, and I hope that my explanation helps to put your mind at ease.

I understand why the buyer thought the package was lost.  The tracking on the second order shows first, and they probably only looked at it.  That tracking shows that the package was delivered in Illinois.  I'd be worried too if I were in Australia.

You see, this is why it's hard to sell books as school opens back up.  It's the unexpected extra customer service that does me in.  I probably spent over 20 minutes typing up the response about the package to Australia.  I had to make sure that I explained it as well as I could.

Next week will test me further on whether I can keep my stores open.  The good news is that I have sharply reduced my eBay listings, so I probably won't sell much of anything there.  Many of my Etsy listings will deactivate when they expire in five days, so that will help.  I'd like to keep the stores open in a minimal capacity just so that I don't completely lose my search position on both sites.

One Last eBay and Etsy Update

I reduced the prices of my most expensive books on both sites.  I also extended my 15% off sale to run through Sunday evening.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

My current plan (subject to change at any time) is to leave my Etsy store open since many listings will soon expire.  I will deactivate most of my eBay listings.  I plan to leave my eBay bulk lots up as well as any stagnant inventory that I would really like to see go away.

There was one other time in the last few years that I did try to leave my stores open.  As I recall, I closed them both within two weeks of the start of school.  So, even though my plan is to keep some listings active, I will change my mind abruptly if I'm too tired in a week or so.

I finally organized all of my books that are currently listed for sale.  Since it's such a novelty for them to be mostly in order, I photographed all of them.  (Click on images in order to see them better.)

eBay shelves:

Mixture of eBay and Etsy books:

Etsy shelves:

eBay and Etsy Stores to Wind Down for the Start of School

If you wish to purchase any books from me in the short term, it would be best to do so by Sunday.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

I go back to work in one week.  The usual plan is to shut down completely.  I am mulling over some other possible options.  

These are the possibilities from most to least restrictive.

1.  If I completely close, I will do so by Monday or Tuesday of next week.  If I take this option, then I will likely remain completely closed until October.

2.  I could keep both stores open in a limited capacity.  The benefit of doing this would be to keep me from losing my position in eBay and Etsy search.  Both sites penalize sellers who have inactive periods.  If I take this option, then I would deactivate most listings except for a limited quantity.  The listings that would remain active might be my most expensive listings on both sites, which would be less likely to sell.

3.  I could close eBay and leave Etsy open.  I am billed yearly by eBay for my store subscription, so it makes no difference what I do.  For Etsy, I pay $0.20 for each listing to be active for four months.  If I were to keep Etsy open, then I could let my listings naturally expire as each one reaches the end of its four months.  Half of my Etsy listings would expire by the end of August.

I will make a decision at the start of the week.  If I pull everything down, then I will do so without warning and probably on Monday.  I think it would be best for me mentally and physically to shut down completely, so that is most likely what I will do.