Sweet Music - Volume One of The Moonlight Ridge Series

What kind of music drifts across the mountain ridge above the tiny rural Alabama town of Eden, and what are the secrets hidden on the mountain paths, under the ancient trees, and under the mysterious moon of Moonlight Ridge?

Discover a family history filled with a legacy of curiosity, courage and delightful eccentricity, in a setting where the natural fauna and flora of the woods of Alabama create a wonderland for two unusual children.

Can you hear children's voices, singing and laughing as they dance beneath sweet gum, dogwood, and sycamore trees, with the gentle Alabama breeze murmuring leafy music around them?

Wouldn't you like to see what these two precocious cousins see, hear the whispery secrets, and feel the ancient magic in the deep woods and on dusty red-dirt trails, as they look for answers and follow their hearts 'out on the mountain?'

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All these secrets and mysteries come to life on the pages of

Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge

Read it and discover an enchanted world you'll not soon forget.

Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge
A Novel

by

Ramey Channell

The Songs of Moonlight Ridge

A few weeks back, I hosted a contest here on Moonlight Ridge. Originally, I asked three questions about some of the songs featured in Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge, with a free copy of the book, like a carrot on a stick, to the first person to get all three answers!

Then, upon considering the possibilities of short-term memory loss and the possible unfairness of excluding those who had not yet read the book, I changed the rules (It's my contest, I can do that) so that anyone who left a comment was entered in the drawing for the free book.

Shelley who blogs at

http://bookfare.blogspot.com/

was the winner and has received her copy of SMOMR!

So, for anyone who may still be curious about the songs in question, here are the answers.

1- After chasing the hunting dogs, Rich Man and Poor Man, out of the house, what song did Great-granddaddy W.T. Greenberry sing to his marsupials?

Great Granddaddy W.T. sang Dona Nobis Pacem,
but in his version the words were "Oh, don't I know this possum?"

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2 - What is the origin, title, or some of the words, of the strange song the children heard while they were in the woods near Grind Rock Spring?

Lily Clair and Willie T. heard somone singing Desdemona's Song, also known as Willow, Willow, from William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice.
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3 - What song did Willie T. sing when he was in the hole?

Willie T. sang Au Clair de la Lune, (to the tune of Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms) as it had been handed down from Paw Paw Jack Levert, a Cajun from South Alabama who played poker for a living and made homemade fiddles on the side.

So, as Heny Hope would say, there you have it. If you want to find out more about these, and other alluring tunes from the mountain, get yourself a copy of Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge, and join the fun!

Contest Rules, They Are a'Changin'

Hey, y'all! Since it appears that we are struggling to remember the songs involved (!) I'm changing the rules of the contest. I can do that!.

Everyone who makes a comment on the Music on the Mountain post will be entered in the drawing for a free, autographed copy of Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge.

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So you guys stop running around in circles and scratching your heads. Just look at the three winsome pictures and say hi!

August 9, 2011

AND THE WINNER IS . . .

Shelley W.'s name was picked out of the hat by one of my possum friends, who was specifically trained to pick names out of hats in a non-discriminatory fashion!

Congratulations Shelley! Your signed copy of Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge will be on its way to you by Possum Express! Send me a message with your mailing address, and let me know if you'd like your website address displayed here.

Music on the Mountain

Welcome to all my friends and talented writers from SheWrites, and to all the bloggers in The Blogger Ball #5.

To celebrate today, I'm giving away a signed copy of my debut novel, Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge. Below are 3 questions about the songs featured in my book, and everyone who gets all three (easy) questions right, will be entered in a drawing for the first free signed copy.

1- After chasing the hunting dogs, Rich Man and Poor Man, out of the house, what song did Great-granddaddy W.T. Greenberry sing to his marsupials?

2 - What is the origin, title, or some of the words, of the strange song the children heard while they were in the woods near Grind Rock Spring?

3 - What song did Willie T. sing when he was in the hole?

Place your answers in "Comments" for a chance to win a signed (and personalized) copy of Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge. Everyone is eligible. I'll contact the winner for mailing address.

If you don't know the answers, ask somebody!

Here's the link to get back to 1st Books.

http://megwc.com/1stbooks/shewrites/

Book Review from Alabama Writers' Forum

Here we are, heading into the holidays, a perfect time for good books and good stories. Just out is a truly great review of Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge, posted on Alabama Writers' Forum's First Draft website. I was thrilled by the comprehensive description, and the way the reviewer identified with both the story and the characters. I just had to share this!

First Draft Reviews Online, Alabama Writers' Forum, November 2010
http://www.writersforum.org/

Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge
Reviewed by Perle Champion

In Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge, Ramey Channell doesn't narrate as Lily Claire, she is Lily Claire.

For those of you who've had no children, and/or have forgotten what it's like to be one, buckle up. This is not a slow walk of a book. Lily Claire's breathless detailed telling of just about everything that happens in her small world is told as if it was the most important thing in all the world, and you should know it.

Channell steps into Lily Claire's very person and stays there throughout the entire book. You, the reader, are her confidant as she learns of ordinary heroes, and ponders the serendipity of life. You are privy to the secret world of a childhood whose freedom few have known and many today would envy.

Around the mysterious map to an imagined treasure she and Willie T. find in an unlikely place, she weaves her history and that of all the diverse and sometimes eccentric folks and topics that inform her world. All are treated with that light childish and non-judgmental matter-of-factness that is so refreshing and true to the nature of the very young.

There is no heavy hand here about the "Ku Kluxes' " quick-to-lynch mentality or the superstitious nature of rural peoples that make the white lies Willie T. and Lily Claire tell necessary. It's just plain necessary to protect the slow one and the black one in their midst, who are the most likely scapegoats for a crime that was no crime at all.

Channell has the sure cadence of a storyteller that is not only simple, sincere, and to the point, but it's part of the music. Is there music on Moonlight ridge? Yes, but it is not just played, sung, or spoken aloud. It exists in the steady pace of the story, the people, the laughter, the polysyllabic names, and the language.

Having lived in the south off and on for many years, I didn't need the handy glossary at the back of the book to tell me that "boocoos" means "lots." Just goes to show that being raised in the South is useful. This book was not just boocoos of fun to read, it is a gentle reminder of my own idyllic summers when every day held the promise of adventure, just like Lily Claire's.

Perle Champion is a freelance writer and artist.


Thanks so much, Perle, for this wonderful and greatly appreciated review!