Darden North, MD

http://ninamansfield.com/blog1/?p=1138

The new year 2016 brought a special gift to me, the "opportunity" to be on the other side of the healthcare delivery system--the care receiver rather than the caregiver. Fortunately, I am blessed that my surgery went well. I only missed just over week of work, and a full recovery is expected. During those days away from my ob/gyn career, I spent time at home recuperating and was feed well by family and friends. The surgery had been scheduled long before the Ole Miss Rebels finished a stellar football season, and since my wonderful physician is not an Ole Miss fan he did not mind skipping our second trip to the Sugar Bowl in over 40 years. Fully alert, status-post anesthetic trance and requiring minimal post-op pain meds on the evening of January 1, I watched Ole Miss trounce Oklahoma State on a fairly large, widescreen TV from the comfort of my den couch. However, I missed being in New Orleans with my friends at the Superdome in what they described as great seats in an obvi...

My third novel and thriller "Fresh Frozen" is now available for purchase as an audio book on audible.com, iTunes, and Amazon. You can also download "Fresh Frozen" free with a trial membership to audible.com. If you enjoy medical thrillers or general suspense and fiction, I think you will like "Fresh Frozen." Actress and voice artist Flora Plumb narrates.  I enjoy listening to audio books after downloading them to my cell phone. Since you own the download, you can also listen from your computer, iPad, mini-iPad or any electronic device. Here is the link to download the audio book of "Fresh Frozen" from audible.com or take advantage of a free copy with a trial membership in audible.com. (That's a really great deal!) http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Fresh-Frozen-Audiobook/B01AVDH51M/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srImg?qid=1453580235&sr=1-1 Brief summary of FRESH FROZEN Tinker Murtagh thinks his new job is simple, ...

For years, organizers dreamed of the first ever Mississippi Book Festival. Beginning at 9:00 am on Saturday, August, 22, 2015, that dream became a reality. Of course, they say that when the Mississippi legislature, Greg Iles, and John Grisham signed on to participate, corporate sponsorship followed and it was a done deal. The Mississippi State Capitol Building in Jackson And despite the expected summer heat that continued to deal a blow to downtown Jackson, Mississippi, an estimated crowd of 2500 to 3500 ascended the halls and grounds of the early 1900s State Capitol Building, the location of the festival billed as “A Literary Lawn Party.”  "A Literary Lawn Party" Mississippi Capitol Building packed at the Book Festival About 100 authors participated in writing discussion panels in rooms filled to capacity by book lovers. I squeezed in to attend the author panel “Across Literary Boundaries,” moderated by Michael Farris Smith...

The inaugural Mississippi Book Festival is scheduled for Saturday, August 22, 2015.  Events will be inside the rotunda and outside on the grounds of the beautiful, historic State Capitol Building in downtown Jackson, Mississippi, and along adjoining Mississippi Street.  Among others, the author discussion panels will include: Contemporary Southern Fiction, African American History, Comics & Cartoons in Mississippi, Illustrated Children’s Books, Books for Young Readers, Civil Rights History, Romance, and Historical Fiction. Of course, the writings of Harper Lee and Eudora Welty will be discussed.  Holly Lange and the other busy festival organizers have assembled an impressive list of invited authors and government representatives as well as many other interesting folks for the day long program. An attendance of 3000 to 5000 people is anticipated. Why don't you join me and make it 5001?  Although event admission is FREE, there will b...

The Stranger by Harlan Coben My rating: 5 of 5 stars I had not read Harlan Coben in a while--in fact could not remember the title of that last novel. But now after completing this digital audio book in a few days, I'm hooked and will most likely soon read (or listen to) Coben's "The Missing." In "The Stranger," when a stranger confronts protagonist Adam Price with a secret in a bar just before the coaches select the local high school lacrosse teams, Adam begins to question the love and integrity of his wife and everything he holds true--or thought was true. He learns that she has faked a pregnancy, but for no good reason. In the audio version of "The Stranger," the performance may initially seem sing-song or "preachy," but this could be attributed somewhat to Adam's and the narrator's frequent use of simile and metaphor to describe other characters, settings, or the situation. Clandestine Internet websites, mystery-solving...

As an author I love to visit book clubs. Recently by video teleconference, I was the honored guest of the Yarn Spinners Book Club of Ackerman, Mississippi. Friend and member Frances Coleman tells me that the club grew from a group of women who like to knit and crochet. They soon found themselves talking about books and decided to devote one meeting each month to having a book club. The program is sponsored by the Mississippi State University Extension Service - Chocktaw County.  Last year the Yarn Spinners read and discussed my newest novel, "Wiggle Room," but in 2015 my second novel, "Points of Origin," a national IPPY award-winner in Southern Fiction, was the focus of intention. Pictured separately  via Skype and Facetime  are the guest novelist and the Yarn Spinners group with guests. The club shared with me the 23 discussion questions it considered including such concepts as what was the central conflict of the novel’s plot, how does one ...